10 Awesome Neighbor Gift Ideas

The holidays are such a fun time of year!   I love all of the fun treats and holiday traditions.  I have rounded up for you some awesome gift ideas that you can give this holiday season.  You can give them to your neighbors, family, and friends and they will absolutely love them.  Here are some fun ideas for you and Happy Holidays from The Recipe Critic!

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds

Easy Chocolate Covered Caramels

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Cups

Soda-Lighted Neighbor Gift

Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Pudding Cookies

Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies

Peppermint Kiss Sugar Cookies

Almond Joy Macaroons

Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

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Sometimes I think I buy bananas so they can sit on my counter and get over-ripe just so I can make a delicious treat.  With how amazing this cinnamon swirled banana bread was, I might just buy bananas every week so that I always have over-ripe bananas on hand!  This bread was AMAZING!!  My hubby took a bite of this and was screaming, This is the best banana bread you have ever made!!  This honestly felt like to me that it was a snickerdoodle banana bread.  The cinnamon was swirled through the middle AND the top of the bread had like a cinnamon sugary crust.  Wow.  Enough talking.  Use us those over-ripe bananas and make this as fast as you can!  Or go and buy some and let them get over-ripe.  You will love this!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Things that I changed:  Nothing
Things that I would do differently next time: I would put more of the cinnamon sugar in the middle than on top.  The top was awesome but I did have a little excess cinnamon sugar.  I am also going to try a glaze on top.  1/2 powdered sugar and 1 TBS heavy cream.  Doesn't that sound heavenly?
Will I make this again?  Heck yes

Ingredients: 
3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up
1/3 Cup melted Butter
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon Swirl:
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs Cinnamon

1.  Preheat your oven to 350.  Grease and flour a loaf pan.  I used a 9x5.
2. Mix bananas, sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla together.
3. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt on top.  Gently mix in the flour.  Be careful not to over-mix!
4.  Add half of the batter in the greased pan.  Spoon the cinnamon mixture on top of this.  Use most of it, only leaving a little to sprinkle on the top.
5.  Add the rest of the batter and then sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar on top.
6.  Bake for 50-60 minutes.  (Mine took 50) and adjust the baking time if you are using a smaller loaf pan.  

Recipe from Lovin in the Oven

Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

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We love ranch in our family.  Especially my boys.  Everything gets dipped in ranch!  I have a recipe for ranch tacos and I wanted to try to make ranch enchiladas.  Ummm it was safe to say my experiment turned out amazing!!  My hubby said these are the best and even heated some up again before going to bed.  The flavor combination of the ranch and salsa was delicious and the ranch drizzled on top was perfect!  I was so happy with how these turned out and our family loved them!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars

Ingredients:
3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 package chicken taco seasoning
1 package ranch dry salad dressing
1/2 cup bottled ranch
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can chicken broth
1 package white flour tortillas

1.   Cook and shred the chicken.  I cooked mine in the slow cooker with the ranch packet and taco seasoning packages in the chicken broth.  The chicken just peeled apart.  I cooked it on low for about 3-4 hours.
2. Mix the 1/2 cup of ranch and 1/2 salsa in a bowl.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread a very thin layer of the mixture on the bottom.
3. Start assembling the enchiladas by putting 2 Tbs of the ranch and salsa mixture on the bottom of tortilla.  Then put the shredded chicken on top of that.  Sprinkle with cheese and roll it up.
4. Line up the enchiladas in the 9x13 pan and sprinkle heavily with the cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and enchiladas are heated through.
5. Drizzle the top with ranch and enjoy!

Peppermint Buddies

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I had this thought the other day when I was eating my 100th Peppermint Kiss.  What if I made my favorite snack with peppermint crushed in it?  I loved the white chocolate and peppermint together and since I am kind of obsessed with muddy buddies, I decided to make this.  HOLY COW!  These were so good!  It was seriously like Christmas in my mouth and I couldn't stop eating them!  I think this became my favorite of all of the muddy buddy versions that I have made!  So addictingly good!

Things that I changed:  I kind of made this recipe up as I went along.  I copied it from my funfetti muddy buddy recipe.

Things that I would do differently next time:  I saw that they have chocolate mint peppermint candy canes!  I want to try this with those!

Will I make it again?  Yes!  Would also make a fun neighbor treat.

Ingredients:
10 ounces white almond bark (can also use white chocolate) 
1 teaspoon shortening 
5 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy canes
1/2 cup powdered sugar 

1. Measure the 5 cups Chex Mix and put in a bowl, set aside.
2. Melt the almond bark and shortening in a saucepan.  
3. Once melted add the crushed peppermint.  I used a food processor to crush the candy canes.  It worked great and made the candy canes very fine and the perfect consistency for the mix.
3. Pour the melted almond bark over the chex mix.  Stir well.  Let the mixture cool for a minute in the bowl.
4. In a large zip lock bag, add the powdered sugar.  Dump the cereal mixture into the ziplock bag and shake to coat them in the powdered sugar.
5. Give as many away as possible because you will eat them one by one until they are gone. ;)

10 Asian Inspired Slow Cooker Meals

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Don't you just love when you make something as great at home that is just like take-out?  I put together for you chinese dishes that you make in your slow cooker.  They are all absolutely fantastic!  Our family rated these all 5 star meals, even approved by the pickiest eater.  I felt like I had just made P.F. Changs at home with these meals and your family will absolutely love them as much as we did!

Slow Cooker General Tsao's Chicken

Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli

Slow Cooker Skinny Honey Sesame Chicken

Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken 

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Slow Cooker Asian Chicken

Slow Cooker Honey Soy Chicken with noodles

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken

Slow Cooker Asian Pulled Pork

Are you drooling yet because I sure am!  You can also enjoy these with a side of rice cooker fried rice!

Rice Cooker Fried Rice

Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball

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We are already in December!  I just thought it was the summertime.  Where does the time go?  December is full of holiday parties and family get togethers.  I feel like no holiday party is complete without a cheese ball.  I seriously love these things.  This cheese ball was awesome and didn't last long with my family.  This is probably one of the best cheese balls that I have tried.  I mean seriously, bacon makes everything better!  The flavor was awesome and this was really simple to throw together.  I even thought of a great idea of making two smaller cheese balls and giving them to the neighbors with some crackers as a gift!  My dad has already volunteered me to make this for his neighbors.  Man the perks that these guys get to having The Recipe Critic as their daughter.... hehe

Rating: 5 stars Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Things that I changed:  Nothing
Things that I would do differently next time:  I wanted to add the olives but didn't have any on hand.  Next time I will for sure!
Will I make this again?  Yes.  Tomorrow for my dad! :)

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz each) packages cream cheese (I used the fat free)
1 (1 oz.) packet dry buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
4 green onions, thinly sliced
5 pieces of turkey bacon, fried and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped black olives, optional
pecans or almonds, finely chopped for coating

1. Mix together the cream cheese and dry ranch packet.  I put mine in the mixer and used the paddle attatchment.  That made it so easy.  Otherwise, mix in a bowl until smooth.
2.  Add the cheese, onions, olive and bacon.  If you are short on time, buy the real bacon bits and add about a 1/2 cup.  I just used fried up some turkey bacon.
3.  Shape into a ball.  Roll it in the nuts to coat the outside.  You can make one big ball or two smaller ones.  
4.  Keep it stored in the refrigerator.
Recipe adapted form Awesome Recipes

The 12 days of Christmas Recipes

On the first day of Christmas the Recipe Critic brought to you..... the 12 days of Christmas!  Here are 12 amazing holiday recipes and great ideas for you this Christmas season!  Brought to you by 12 amazing bloggers, we share with you our favorite recipes!  

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

1. Egg Nog Cookies from The Recipe Critic

2. Roasted Grapes Goat Cheese Bruschetta from A Bubbly Life

3. Christmas Orange Bow Knot Rolls from Big Red Clifford

4. Sinfully Rich Fudgy Brownies from Mama Miss

5. Cottage Cheese Cookies from Hubby Made Me

6. Turtle Cheesecake Fudge from Inside BruCrew Life

7. White Chocolate Lemon Truffles from Max & Me

8. Egg Nog Pancakes with Egg Nog Syrup from High Heels & Grills

9. Peppermint Christmas Candies from Love, Pomegranate House

10. Mexican Hot Chocolate and Pie Crust Cookies from Last Night's Dinner

11. Peppermint Crunch Brownie Cookies from Six Sisters' Stuff

12. Overnight Egg Nog French Toast from Chef in Training

Take a look at all of the wonderful recipes!  Which ones are you making this holiday season?