Sweet N Salty Bars

These are kind of like the Rice Krispie Treats that everyone seems to love with the peanut butter in the mix and chocolate/butterscotch chip mix on top. But they're different. Who doesn't love the sweet and salty combo?! The pretzels and the Crispex cereal mixed with the peanut butter give it the salty part, but the chocolate on top gives it the sweetness. They're heavenly. Try them!

-1 c. white sugar
-1 c. Karo Syrup (light corn syrup)
-1 c. peanut butter
-2 c. crushed pretzels
-2 c. crushed Crispex cereal (or corn chex/rice chex)
-1 c. Cheerios (I used honey nut)
-1 1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

Stir sugar and corn syrup together in a large pot until sugar is dissolved. Turn stove top on to medium/high heat (7 or 8 on your dial). Bring syrup mix to a boil, but stir occasionally. Let boil for one minute, no longer! Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until well mixed. Stir in pretzels and cereals until coated. Pour into a 9X13 pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Spread out evenly, but don't push down  too much or they'll get hard. Put chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave another 30 seconds. Stir. If not all the way melted, microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring in between. Spread on top of bars. Allow to set up for a few hours. If you need them sooner, put them in the fridge, covered for 20-30 minutes. Cut into bars.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Has it seriously been a month since I've posted on here?! Holy cow. Well I can at least say that we've been really busy lately. Trying to sell our house... trying to buy another one.. it makes for busy days! Anyway, we had a cold front come through the last few days so it was definitely time for some soup. I put this together today. It was great...obviously, that's why I'm sharing it!! I hadn't even taken my chicken breasts out to thaw before I put them in the crock pot, so that makes life even easier! They can be thawed, but they don't have to be.

-3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
-1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
-1 can original rotel
-1 can red enchilada sauce
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 can black beans
-1 10 oz. pkg frozen corn or 1 can of corn
-1 t. ground cumin

-1 t. chili powder
-1 t. garlic powder
-1/2 t. black pepper

Stir all ingredients together, except chicken breasts, in the crock pot. Place chicken breasts in the crock pot. Let cook on low 6-7 hours (if chicken was frozen) or 5-6 hours (if thawed prior to putting in the crock pot). Take chicken breasts out and shred. Put chicken back in the crock pot for another hour at least. Serve with tortilla chips or fritos. Top with cheese, sour cream, etc.