FOODIE FRIDAY

So, I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions.  I've never done them because I always feel like I am setting myself up to just feel guilty for not meeting my goals.  This year however I am setting a hopeful goal for myself and our family to make dinner more often.  I will admit that I am horrible at fixing meals for my family.  It's not that I can't cook, it's that I don't.  It's a very bad habit that I want to change.  I don't want Ethan and Evan to think that all meals involve getting in the car and going somewhere.  Plus...I really do enjoy cooking.  So, as a way to keep myself more accountable and share some of the yummy things we try I am starting a "Foodie Friday" post each week.  My friend Emily has done this on her blog and I thought it would be fun.

Sometimes I may share sweets {because who doesn't love a good dessert recipe} which is what I am starting with today...

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn from Our Best Bites {my new favorite blog}...the most awesome stuff you will ever eat.  I usually do toffee a lot a Christmas but this was my go to stuff for anything I went to this December.  I made it for our Life Group, a couple of Christmas parties, our babysitter, and then made some more today because I happened to have all the ingredients and I just HAD TO HAVE IT!

The ingredients and recipe are below but you can go to the Our Best Bites website to get a very detailed {with pictures} step by step tutorial on how to make it.

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn

12 cups popped popcorn

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup Karo syrup

1 stick real butter

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

3 squares almond bark

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Place popcorn and pecans in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, butter {cut into pieces} and Karo syrup in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and then microwave for 4 more minutes, stirring after the first two minutes.  Add baking soda and vanilla. 

Pour mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir to combine {start stirring as soon as you pour the mixture before the caramel starts to get hard}.  Pour popcorn on to a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  

When popcorn is done, melt almond bark and drizzle over the popcorn.  The girls at Our Best Bites suggested spreading out the popcorn on a new piece of foil/parchment paper on your counter when you take it out of the oven so it won't stick to the foil on the pan...plus I was able to spread the popcorn out a bit more which allowed me to cover more popcorn with more almond bark.  


I'm not lying when I say this is some of the yummiest stuff you will ever eat.  I loved it, Jeff said it was so good that I should sell it {too bad it's not my recipe} and everywhere I took it people were talking about it.  Go make it RIGHT NOW...and if you happen to live in the general area of my house you can drop off a few bites to us as well, seeing as how we have almost finished our batch!