Who doesn’t love a nice cold bottle of Snapple on a hot day? Maybe it is the “Best Stuff on Earth”, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it better (and cheaper) at home. And if you prefer diet, just replace the sugar with 12 packets of artificial sweetener.

8 cups water
2 Lipton tea bags
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Add the water to a large saucepan and place over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the tea bags and turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan and let stand for about 2 hours.
After 2 hours, discard the teabags. Add the sugar to a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the tea into the pitcher. Add the lemon juice and give it a good stir. Refrigerate until cold or serve over ice.

Makes 2 quarts.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 liters red table wine
1 cup grenadine
2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
1 1/4 cups sweet vermouth
strawberries, cut into thirds
oranges, slice and quartered
ice

Combine the sugar and water in a large container until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients except for the ice and mix well. Place in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. Serve on ice.

Serves 6-8

Why buy those little packets when you probably have all these ingredients in your kitchen already?

3/4 cup minced onion
1/3 cup beef bouillon
4 teaspoons onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed celery seed
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Mix together all of the ingredients. Store in an air-tight container

5 tablespoons of this mix is equal to 1 (1.25-oz) package

I love getting the Mexican pizza from Taco Bell. The perfect late night snack! It is really easy to prepare this at home and is a great dinner or snack idea to make when you have leftovers from a taco dinner.

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons water
8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
2/3 cup mild salsa
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup sliced black olives

Brown the ground beef over medium heat, then drain the excess fat from the pan. Add salt, onions, paprika, black pepper, chili powder and water, then let the mixture simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently. Heat the Crisco shortening in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. If the oil is smoking, it is too hot. Fry each tortilla for about 45 seconds per side, or until golden brown and let drain on paper towels. Heat up the refried beans in a small saucepan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
To assemble the pizza, spread about 1/3 cup refried beans on face of one tortilla. Next spread 1/4 of meat, then another tortilla. Coat the tortillas with two tablespoons of salsa, then split up the tomatoes and stack them on top. Next divide up the cheese, onions and olives, stacking in that order. Place pizzas in the oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.

I am a huge corn bread fan and nobody does it better than Famous Dave’s. I recreated this recipe using my new oven and it came out amazing! I recommend doubling the recipe because everyone is going to eat them up in a flash. You can prepare the glaze ahead of time and store it in a sealed container, in the refrigerator. Re-heat before serving.

1 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 (9-oz) package yellow cake mix
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Jalapeno Honey Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely diced
2 tablespoons red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup honey
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Combine the stone ground and yellow cornmeal, yellow cake mix, baking powder, cayenne pepper and salt in a bowl, set aside. In another bowl, add milk, buttermilk, oil, eggs, brown sugar and honey and mix well. Add the liquid mixture to the cornmeal mixture and mix lightly until no lumps, but do not overmix. Fold in the mayonnaise.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Spoon the cold batter into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a fork comes out clean and the tops are golden brown. While it is baking, make the glaze by heating butter in a saucepan until melted. Stir in jalapeño and bell pepper. Bring to a simmer. Stir in honey and cayenne. While stirring, return to a simmer. Remove from heat. Drizzle over the corn bread.

Serves 8-10

Steamed white rice tossed with freshly chopped cilantro, a dash of citrus juice and a little salt.

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro
2/3 cup white basmati rice
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Lime

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil over low heat. Add rice and the juice from half of one fresh lime, stir for 1 minute. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. Once boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro and the juice from the other half of the lime. Fluff rice with a fork.

Perfect for you summer ice cream sundaes!

6 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1/4 cup corn oil

In a double boiler melt chips and butter together. When melted, add oil. To serve, pour the sauce over ice cream and it will harden in a couple seconds.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

6 white onions, sliced and separated into rings
1 cup milk
3 eggs, beaten
salt, to taste
2 cups pancake mix

Combine milk, eggs, and salt in a mixing bowl. Soak the onions in this mixture for about 30 minutes. Place pancake mix in a shallow bowl. Heat oil for frying in a heavy skillet to 375 degrees F.

Remove the onion rings from milk mixture, dip in pancake mix and place in hot oil. Fry rings until golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Pack fried onion rings solidly, but loosely, without pressing too hard, into an 8-by 4-inch loaf pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn out onto serving plate.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

My grandma treated me to lunch yesterday at Friendly’s. It had been so long since i had been there. I forgot how much I liked the food and of course, we had to indulge in a little ice cream at the end. Here is a great recipe for making Friendly’s Peanut Butter Sauce at home. I love to put it on vanilla ice cream with hot fudge!

1 cup Reese’s peanut butter chips
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt 1 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips with milk and whipping cream in a medium saucepan over low heat, while stirring, until the mixture is smooth.
Stir in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Cool to room temperature. Serve over ice cream.

Sweet and spicy at the same time. You are going to love this dipping sauce.

2 tablespoons water
2 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup light corn syrup
6 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons chili sauce (Huy Fong brand or similar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash ground cayenne pepper
dash garlic powder

In a small bowl, combine the water and vinegar. Whisk in cornstarch and make sure no lumps are in the mixture.

Place a small saucepan over medium heat and add the cornstarh mixture, corn syrup, sugar, chili sauce, salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Stir frequently until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking for about 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Let the sauce cool, uncovered.

Makes about 1/2 cup.