“A good cook knows that it's not what's on the table that matters, it's who is in the chairs.”

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Anyone who knows me, or has been in my kitchen, knows I love Pampered Chef. This is one of the recipes out of the Season’s best catalogs. I made these for a party. I have been told that this is the BEST Peanut butter cookie recipe ever, but you need a cookie press. Buy one, they are a good investment—Call Wanda, she’ll get you one.Easy Peanut Butter Cookies (And they are Jay approved!)

1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter (Creamy)

Preheat oven 350.

By Hand: Mix sugar and egg until creamy. Add peanut butter, do not overmix.

Put in cookie press, and put them on stone cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes.

Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack.

Friday, November 24, 2006

This is one of my favorite casseroles, and it can be made the day before, though it takes an hour to cook if it's cold, if you have someone to put it in the oven an hour before dinner time, it's perfect. OR have all the stuff measured out (and burger cooked ahead), and dump in when you get home. It's really yummy!

Cheeseburger Casserole

2 cups cooked macaroni noodles
8-oz cheddar cheese shredded
1 lb. hamburger (brown)
1 Can of French onion chips
1 Can of cream of mushroom soup
1 Can of tomato soup


Combine cooked macaroni, hamburger, mushroom and tomato soup.
Layer 1/2 batter, 1/2 cheese, 1/2 French onion chips.
Pour rest of batter.
Top with rest of cheese.

Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes (if cold then 60 minutes)
When fully cooked add the rest of the French onion chips, bake for 5 additional minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving

Thursday, November 23, 2006


This is a Pampered Chef recipe, it ended up being one of Phyllis's favorites, great for brunch, a sleepover. Anytime. I always kept the ingredients on hand because you never know when a kid would spent the night. Simple. And Yummy!

Phyllis’s Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

1 can (8oz) Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 T butter or margarine, softened
2 T sugar
½ t ground cinnamon
2 T raisins (optional)
¾ c powdered sugar
2-3 t milk

Preheat oven to 350. Unroll crescent roll dough into one large rectangle. Pinch seams of crescent rolls.

Mix sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Spread over crescent roll dough.

Top with raisins. Starting at longer side (width) roll the dough, seal edges.

Cut into 8 slices. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes. Cool slightly.
Glaze: Mix milk and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006


Cornflake Chicken

7 cups of Cornflakes cereal, crushed to 1 3/4 cups

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 cup all purpose flour

½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

3 pounds of chicken

3 Tablespoons margarine or butter, melted

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Place crushed corn flakes in shallow dish or pan. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg and milk slightly. Add flour, salt, pepper. Mix until smooth. Dip chicken in batter. Coat with crushed cereal. Place in single layer, skin side up in a foil-lined shallow baking pan. Drizzle with melted margarine.

Bake about 1 hour if chicken parts (breasts, legs, thighs, wings), if boneless skinless breasts, bake 30-35 minutes.

In a million years if you told me I would eat cornflakes on chicken, I would have told you that you were nuts (I don’t even eat cereal with milk for breakfast). Aunt Shell and her family invited Phyllis and I over for dinner, that’s what we were having, Cornflake chicken, Poppa Don was making it. It was awesome! Phyllis to this day loves it, I love it, and I cannot make it without thinking of him, and all the love he had for us.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

In honor of holiday dinners everywhere... and my Gram...

Gramma Marge's Orange Jello Salad

1 small pkg of orange jello
1 small pkg of lemon jello
1 tsp of Knox gelatin
2 Cups boiling water
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
1 can mandarin oranges, drained

Combine jellos and gelatin with boiling water.
Stir 2 minutes.
Add Oranges and pineapple (with juice), and add softened orange sherbet.
Chill for 4-6 hours

Sunday, November 19, 2006

S'ghetti Mush

This is a different variation of spaghetti. My g-friend's mom got sick of plian ole spaghetti because that's was her brother's staple food...so she came up with this...

1 Jar of spaghetti sauce
1 pound of ground beef (I use turkey)
1 pkg of egg noodles
1 cup of cheddar cheese

Cook Egg noodles as directed. Drain.

Brown meat, add spaghetti sauce, cook through. Add cheddar cheese. Add noodles. Mix.

Serve.

Yum!

Apple Pie Bars


Filling
4 cups (1 1/2 pounds) thinly sliced, peeled tart cooking apples (I use Macintosh)
1 6 oz can apple juice
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 T cornstarch
1/2 c sugar

Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
2 slightly beaten eggs

Preheat oven 375

For filling:
In a large saucepan combine apples, apple juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Combine cornstarch and the ½ cup of sugar. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cool slightly.

For Crust:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add margarine and eggs. Mix on low speed until the mixture is blended and crumbly. Press 2/3 (3 1/2 cups) into greased 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan.

Spread apple mixture evenly over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over apples.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Cut into bars. Makes 48

Wednesday, November 15, 2006


I decided that I will start sharing my Christmas cookie recipes. Some are cookies I only make at Christmas time
, some are tried and true cookie recipes like choc chip, or peanut butter... Here is my Choc Chip cookie recipe. Enjoy!!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts


COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time (yeah right, who does this except in cheesecake!!), beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture.

Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE in preheated 375* oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Just in time for Thanksgiving! I don't even like Sweet Potatoes and I loved these!!

Sweet Potatoes

6 med sweet potatoes (or 3 large)
¼ c water
½ t salt
½ c light brown sugar
¼ c chopped pecans
¼ c butter

mini marshmallows

Cook potatoes, peel after cooked/cooled. Slice and place in baking dish.

Preheat oven to 350*


Combine butter, salt, sugar, and water. Stir over low heat until butter melts & sugar is dissolved. Boil uncovered. Pour over sweet potatoes and cover with butter mixture. Top with mini marshallows.


Bake 15-20 minutes until bubbly

Sunday, November 12, 2006


Scalloped Broccoli

2-10 oz pkg chopped broccoli
1/2 lb Velveeta
1 sleeve ritz crackers (crushed)
1 stick of butter, divided in two

Cook broccoli, drain well. Mix in 1/2 stick of butter and Velveeta. Place in buttered casserole dish. Mix crackers with remaining 1/2 stick of butter and sprinkle on top of broccoli mixture. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes until bubbly.

Saturday, November 11, 2006


Peanut Butter Bars

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar


In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, peanut butter and melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Spread melted chocolate over the crumb crust. Chill for about 5 minutes, then cut into bars before the chocolate is completely set, then chill until ready to serve.

Monday, November 6, 2006

I always make this for Michelle (my boss) for her birthday. It's so yummy, so easy, and so good!!






Death by Chocolate!!

1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix
2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered English toffee or Reese's Cups

DIRECTIONS

Prepare brownies according to package directions. Let cool.
Mix pudding according to package directions.
In a glass punch bowl, layer in the following order: 1/2 of the brownie, crumbled; 1/2 of the pudding; 1 toffee bar, crushed; 1/2 of the whipped topping.
Repeat layers in the same order. Save the last toffee bar to crumble and sprinkle on top before serving.

Refrigerate. Best if made the day before you serve it.

Friday, November 3, 2006


Sloppy joes...

I just had to laugh, I was on All Recipes.com and i get a lot of recipes from there really good, and some... well...

But I am making Sloppy Joes, and so I decided to go on the web page and look up recipes... I laughed... I love to cook... but... measure out a ton of ingredients or dump in a can.

Dump in the can.

1 lb meat (ground beef or turkey)
1 can sloppy joe mix.

Dinner is done.

AMEN