Hat Cookies

You need:
Fudge Striped cookies
Peanut Butter Cups
Colored Frosting

Place a glob of frosting on the peanut butter cup, squish it down on the cookie so that the frosting comes out-this forms the ribbon around the hat. Then pipe a bow and add a flower with the star decorating tip.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Fudge Brownies

The result of a pregnancy craving...

In mixer, combine:
2 1/4 cup flour
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup and 3 Tbspns. cocoa
1 1/2 tspn. salt
1 1/2 cup oil
6 eggs
3tspn. vanilla

Add:
Peanut Butter chips
Mini marshmallows

Pour into 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

In microwave melt 1 cup chocolate chips, stirring every 30 seconds. Then stir in 3 Tbs. Peanut Butter and drizzle over warm brownies.

Sports Birthday: Basketball Jersey Cake & Sports Balls Cupcakes

The Cake:
1 cake mix, prepared and baked as directed in 9x13 pan
Trim corners for arm holes and make a neck hole
Frost and decorate Jersey desired color, I did Ethan's blue and added blue sprinkles
Stars: I added powdered sugar to a can of premade frosting until I got the desired consistency to roll it out and used a cookie cutter to make the shapes

The Cupcakes:
Footballs:
Frost cupcake with choclate frosting
Add white frosting for laces
Basketball:
Frost cupcake orange
Add black or chocolate frosting for lines
Baseball:
Frost cupcake white
Add red frosting for laces

Farm Birthday: Tractor Cake & Animal Cupcakes

The Cake:
1 cake mix, prepared and baked as directed-I baked it in a cookie sheet that had deep sides so that I only needed 1 cake mix for the tractor and trailer
Frosting-chocolate, green, yellow, black, white
When frosting cakes I always freeze them first, it makes it a lot easier and the cake doesn't crumble so much with the frosting.
I drew the outline I wanted for the tractor on a pice of paper, then laid it over the cake and cut it out with a knife, then transfered it to the foil-covered cake board.
Toasted coconut for hay bales


The Cupcakes:
Cow:
Frost cupcake white
Add brown spots with chocolate frosting
Black frosting for mouth, eyes, and nostrils
Pink frosting for nose
2 long black sprinkles for horns
Cut a mini-marshmallow in half diagonally, dip cut sides in pink sprinkles for ears

Sheep:
Frost cupcake white
Add a 'Whopper' candy for nose
Black frosting for eyes
Add mini-marshmallows for wool (can cut these in half to make less bulk)

Pig:
Frost cupcake dark pink
Light pink frosting for nose
Black frosting for eyes, mouth, and nostrils
Cut a pink mini-marshmallow in half diagonally and dip cut sides into pink sprinkles (I found the pink mini-marshmallows in the bag of fruit flavored marshmallows) for ears

Chick:
Frost cupcake yellow
Red frosting for whatever that thing is on top of its head (I think this is actually supposed to go under his beak?)
Yellow sprinkles for feathers/wings
Black frosting for eyes
I used and orange sprinkle-covered candy that I cut into a triangle for his beak but you can also use orange frosting

4-Cheese Baked Penne

Cook 1 pkg. penne pasta as directed. Drain.
Mix seperatley:
1 can/jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic salt
1 can sliced black olives
Mix seperatley:
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp basil
Combine two mixtures then add to drained pasta.
Place in lightly greased baking dish.
Top with:
Shredded mozzarella
Bake in 350 oven for 45 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Mountain Dew Apple Rollups

2 granny smith apples peeled and quartered.
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter – I cut this down
1 ½ cups sugar – I cut this down too
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon
1 small can of Mt. Dew

Peel and core apple, cut into 8 slices each.
Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll ( I roll mine out a little)
Wrap pinching ends together – place in a 9X13 sprayed or buttered pan.
Melt butter, then add sugar, vanilla and barely stir. Pour over crescents.
Pour Mt. Dew around edges, sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 350 for 30 mins.
Serve with ice cream - spoon sauce over top. YUMMY!!

Pasta Salad with Chicken

16 oz package bow tie pasta
16 oz package spiral pasta
1 C. Mayonnaise
2 16oz bottles of Kraft coleslaw dressing
20oz can Pineapple tidbits, drained
2 cans sliced water chestnuts. Drained
2 Cups finely chopped celery
6-10 green onions, sliced
1 ½ cups grapes, cut in half
3 cans chicken breasts
1 cup cashews
1 cup craisins
2 cans mandarin oranges

Cook pasta until tender and drain well. While the noodles are still hot stir in the mayonnaise and one bottle of coleslaw dressing. Cover and refrigerate.

Just before serving add the rest of the ingredients.

This is a great recipe because it serves 24+ people, and everything can be done the night before so all you have to do is combine the pasta with the pre chopped ingredients.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

You will need:
Your favorite pizza crust
*You can also purchase crusts from your local take and bake pizza place, Hometown sells a large crust for $2
Your favorite Alfredo Sauce

Chicken breasts, cubed and cooked in skillet with olive oil, garlic, and basil
Diced tomatoes
Shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese

Spread alfredo sauce on pizza crust then add chicken, cheese, tomatoes and bake as crust directs.

You can also add chopped green onion, sliced black olives, diced bell peppers.

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

Sweet Pork Recipe:
3-4 pounds pork roast
2 cups Pace Salsa
2 cups Brown Sugar*
2 cans 7-Up (or Sprite, or Sierra Mist)
Place roast in crock pot. Mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour over pork. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Cilantro-Lime Rice
1 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing:
3 fresh tomatillos, cut into quarters
1 package Ranch Buttermilk Dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 to 1/2 cup buttermilk (or heavy whipping cream*)
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed cayenne pepper (or tabasco sauce)
Combine all ingredients in a blender and refrigerate at least one hour.


*If you use the cream, add it last and blend it until it is just mixed in.

Serve on a tortilla with melted cheese. Top with the rice, black beans, and the pork. Then add the shredded green leaf lettuce, parmesan cheese, dressing, crunchy tortilla chips, and anything else (salsa, guacamole, sour cream etc.) ENJOY!

Blueberry Crumb Pie

4 cups blueberries** (washed and drained)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbls. lemon juice
2 Tbls. butter

Stir sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Coat blueberries with it. Pour into uncooked pie crust. Cut butter (approximately 2 Tbls.) into small pieces and place in the blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Top with Crumb mixture.

Crumb Mixture
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter

Cut butter into the flour and sugar and mix together until crumbly.

Cover edge of pie crust with foil and remove 15 minutes before it should be done cooking, Bake at 425 for 35 to 45 minutes.

**Fresh apples or peaches or frozen/fresh blackberries can be substituted for blueberries.

Mini Cheesecake Easter Baskets

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
12 NILLA Wafers
1-1/2 cups BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, tinted green
36 small jelly beans
12 pieces shoestring licorice (4 inch each)
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.
PLACE wafer on bottom of each of 12 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over wafers.
BAKE 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top evenly with coconut and jelly beans just before serving. Bend each licorice piece, then insert both ends into each cheesecake to resemble the handle of a basket. Store leftover cheesecakes in refrigerator.

Poppyseed Bread

1/4 cup butter, melted
3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp poppy seeds (I did 1 full tsp)

Grease and flour one loaf pan and set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter, oil, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. In separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Add to first mixture and blend well, but do not overmix. (Overmixing causes tunnels and a coarse texture.) Pour into loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve plain or ice with Orange Almond Icing.

Orange Almond Icing**:
1 Tablespoon orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar.

In small bowl, mix all ingredients together.

**I made a double batch of the icing. When cake was finished baking, I let it cool on a rack for 10 minutes, turned it out onto a rack and drizzled the icing over the top. It absorbed nicely and made the bread wonderfully moist.
From Dinner's On Me

The following 10 recipes are from the 'Just That Good' blog.

Mexican Hot Pockets

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 C Salsa
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package Puff Pastry
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg

Instructions:
1. Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes.
2. Cook chicken until there is no pink inside.
3. Shred chicken, then put back in skillet.
4. Add 1 C of salsa, taco seasoning, and 1/2 C water.
5. Cool chicken mixture completely.
6. Heat the oven to 400°; spray two baking sheets with cooking spray, if needed.
7. Stir the egg and water with a fork in a small bowl.
8. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface; roll the sheet into a 14 inch square; cut into 4 (7 inch) squares. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet.
9. Place about 1/3 C chicken mixture onto half of each square; top each with 2 T of the cheese.
10. Brush the edges of the pastry with water; fold plain pastry over chicken mixture and press the edges with a fork to seal.
11. Place the rectangles on the prepared baking sheets; brush with the egg mixture.
12. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with additional salsa.

Ranch Chicken Wings

24 chicken wings and/or drumettes (I found a "party pack" that had 12 of each)
2 envelopes Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix
1/3 c. butter/margarine, melted
1/4 c. Tabasco sauce (I used Smoked Chipotle Tabasco - really great flavor without so much heat.)
3 Tbsp. vinegar
paprika

Combine margarine/butter, Tabasco and vinegar. Dredge chicken in ranch mix; then dip in margarine/butter mix. Arrange on a cookie sheet (I would line it with foil and spray with cooking spray) and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Turn over, then sprinkle again. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes more. Serve with bleu cheese dressing, if desired. (Doesn't really need it, though!)

Spinach Wraps

2 pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 can chopped green chiles
1 can chopped olives
1 8 oz block pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 pkg frozen spinach, drained well
1 pkg spinach flavored tortillas

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, using electric mixer. Then fold in sour cream, green chiles, olives, and pepper jack cheese. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer. Stir in spinach. Spread mixture evenly over the surface of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas tightly and cut each tortilla crosswise.

I added sliced turkey, ham, and red bell peppers to mine ... to make it a meal, instead of an appetizer. Oh, and to make it a little spicier, I added 1 TBS diced pickled jalapenos. YUM! They're great if you dip them in salsa too!

Cream Cheese Pie

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Filling:
2 (8oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice
3/4 c. Sugar

Topping:
1/2 pint Sour Cream
3 1/2 Tbs. Sugar

Beat together the filling ingredients. Pour into crust. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350-375 degrees, until center doesn't jiggle when slightly shook and lightly brown around the edges. Take out and leave five minutes. Mix sour cream and sugar and pour on top. Bake another five minutes. Cool. Place in refrigerator 5 hours

Fall-Apart Pork Chops

8-10 bone-in pork chops
2 bottles favorite bbq sauce
garlic salt
pepper

Garlic salt and pepper both sides of pork chops. Place in a 9x13 casserole dish ... you can stack these 2-pork-chops high, but no higher. Pour a ridiculous amount of bbq sauce over the top and make sure all the chops are coated with the sauce. I used 1 1/2 bottles of sauce on 10 chops. Cover tightly with a greased piece of foil. Bake at 300* for 3 1/2 hours.

Fire up your grill. Remove chops from oven. Grill chops for about 3-4 minutes on each side ... just until the sauce chars a little bit. Serve with more fresh bbq sauce on top. The meat is tender, flavorful, and juicy ... Enjoy!

5-in-1 Bars

Ingredients:
3 C graham cracker crumbs
2/3 C margarine
1/3 C sugar
24 oz milk chocolate chips
3 C coconut
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:
1. Mix crumbs with melted butter and sugar.
2. Press crumb mixture on bottom of 15 x 10 cookie sheet.
3. Top with chocolate chips, coconut, then sweet-ened condensed milk.
4. Bake at 350° for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Parmesan Garlic Bread & Marinara Sauce

1 French loaf
6 TBS butter, softened
8 oz shredded parmesan cheese
garlic salt
paprika
Marinara sauce
Preheat oven to 350*. Slice loaf in half, from end to end. Spread with softened butter. Sprinkle with garlic salt and paprika. Sprinkle again with parmesan cheese. Place loaves directly on oven rack and bake for 6-8 minutes, until cheese looks soft and edge of bread are starting to brown. Then, switch oven to BROIL and broil for about 2-3 minutes longer, keeping a close eye on it, so that it doesn't burn. Remove from oven and slice into large pieces. Serve with WARM Marinara sauce.

Pepperoni Bread

1 loaf bread dough, thawed if frozen (I just mix up pizza dough)
Spread dough on cookie sheet into a rectangle.
Combine:
1 egg
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic salt
little bit of water
Brush half of egg mixture onto dough.
Put sliced pepperoni down center of dough.
You can add any other toppings, we like sliced black olives.
Sprinkle with cheese (about 1 cup).
Fold dough in thirds, turn over and brush with remaining egg mixture.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Slice and serve with marina sauce as a dip.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cake

1 french vanilla cake mix
1 sm instant french vanilla pudding mix
¾ cup water
2 eggs
½ cup oil
1 cup sour cream
1 c + ½ c. chocolate chips

Mix first five ingredients at medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Then stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle ½ cup chocolate chips on top. Bake @ 350 for 30-35 minutes.

[you can really use any combination of cake mix/pudding mix/chips that you want.]

Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle

1 chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. peanut butter chips
4 1/4 C. cold milk, divided
1/2 C. whipping cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 small pkgs. Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
1 small carton Cool Whip
8 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups


Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour the batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.In a heavy saucepan, combine chips, 1/4 C. milk and 1/2 C. cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chips are melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Place the remaining milk in a mixing bowl; beat in pudding mixes on low speed for 2 minutes. Place pudding in the fridge for 3-4 minutes to set up a bit.To assemble, crumble half of the cake into a 4 qt. Trifle bowl or large bowl. Layer with half of the peanut butter sauce, pudding, Cool Whip and ½ of the crumbled Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups; repeat layers ending with Cool Whip and remaining ½ of crumbled Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

"Red Lobster" Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Mix:
2 cups flour
4tspns. baking powder
1 tspn. salt
1/4 cup margarine (don't use non-fat margarine)
2/3 cup milk-maybe more
Cut margarine into mixture with pasty cutter or 2 knives, then press mixture together with hands adding more milk as needed.
Add:
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese
Put onto greased baking sheet in globs, use hands or large spoon.
Mix and brush on top of biscuits:
4 Tbs melted butter
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ranch dressing mix (this can be omitted but I like them better with it)
Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-17 minutes until biscuits begin to turn light brown

BUTTERMILK BLENDER PANCAKES

From the kitchen of Diane Brinkerhoff
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup whole wheat kernels
2 heaping tablespoons cornmeal
2 TBSP. margarine
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1/4 teaspoon soda
In blender mix buttermilk(I used 1 1/2 cup water and 6 TBSP BM powder) and wheat kernels on high for 3 minutes! (don't shorten that time!) Add cornmeal, margarine, egg, salt, and brown sugar. Blend for 10 seconds. Add baking powder and soda. Pulse three times and let mixfoam up and get light. Cook at once on a hot 375 nonstick griddle. ( I used waffle iron).