Extra chewy Granola Bars

Extra Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup of flour (I use wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup of honey
1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
2 cups of choc chips (or raisins, dates, you could also add nuts)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.  In a large mixing bowl combine ingredients.  Pat into pan and bake for 18-22 minutes.  Let it cool for a few minutes; cut into bars.  These could  wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen.
Mine never last long enough though to do that.  They get devoured!  A good idea would be to make a double batch if you wanted to freeze them. :-)

My favorite quiche recipe

Easy Bacon Quiche

Pie crust  - put it in the oven while preheating to prevent sogginess
3 eggs
1 cup of cheese
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 package of real bacon bits (I like real bacon bits, but you can also do the soy kind and they are tasty too)
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all together and pour into pie crust.  Bake at 425 degree for 10 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes. 

If you are serving for dinner, add salad & fruit on the side.  Yum!
This is enough for one pie, but I always double this recipe and bake in a 9x13" pan.
Quiche is very versatile.
 Another favorite is to add asparagas or mushrooms, if you like those types of veggies (my favorites!).

Fudgy Buttons

These taste a lot like a Resee cup!

Fudgy Buttons
Ingredients



Click here to see a picture at allrecipes.com
2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons baking cocoa

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon milk

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Directions

1.In a small saucepan, melt the butter; remove from the heat. Add cocoa and mix well. Stir in sugar. Add milk and stir until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper; flatten tops and shape into 1-in. patties. Refrigerate until serving.Ingredients


2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons baking cocoa

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon milk

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Directions

1.In a small saucepan, melt the butter; remove from the heat. Add cocoa and mix well. Stir in sugar. Add milk and stir until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper; flatten tops and shape into 1-in. patties. Refrigerate until serving.

Edible play dough recipe

Here's a fun alternative to play dough.  It's edible!  I made this with Ryan yesterday and he loved it.  Put it in the refrigerator when you aren't using it and it will keep.

Yes, that's a Kool-Aid smile (actually it's a Crystal lite smile!)

See my snake?

He and I both ate a few bites.  Its SWEEEET.

Tasty Clay
from  McCormick



INGREDIENTS1/3 cup margarine, softened, or shortening




1/3 cup light corn syrup



1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract or 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Peppermint Extract (I used Maple)



1/4 teaspoon salt



1 package (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar



McCormick® Assorted Food Colors and Egg Dye or McCormick® Assorted NEON! Food Colors and Egg Dye



DIRECTIONS

1. Mix margarine, corn syrup, extract and salt in large bowl. Add sugar; mix with hands until well blended. Add additional corn syrup if mixture is too dry.







2. Divide the mixture into as many portions as you would like to color. Add food color to each portion; knead well.







3. Shape into flowers and other stuff you can eat! Store in an airtight container.

Beef & Mushroom Lasagna

I clipped this recipe from a magazine. You can also find it at campbellskitchen.com. It was a hit with my family. :-)


Ingredients:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/4 cup milk

1 lb. ground beef

2 cups Mushroom flavored spaghetti sauce

9 cooked lasagna noodles (I  have used both lasagna and egg noodles.  Egg noodles are very simple and easy... especially if you have children!)

1 cup shredded Italian-blend or mozzarella cheese

Directions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth.

Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it's well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat. Stir in the Italian sauce.

Layer half the beef mixture, 3 lasagna noodles and 1 cup soup mixture in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles, remaining beef mixture, remaining noodles and remaining soup mixture. Sprinkle with the cheese. Cover the baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the lasagna is hot. Uncover the baking dish.

Heat the broiler. Broil 4 inches from the heat for 2 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Next time I make this, I may try to layer cheese into the dish as well as on the top. 

Texas Sheet Cake

This is my absolute favorite from scratch cake recipe. It is so good, that I made it this year for my boys' birthdays!

I got the recipe from:

http://southernfood.about.com


Ingredients:
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•2 cups sugar
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 cup butter
•1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
•2 eggs
•1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
•1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
•.
•Chocolate Frosting:
•1/4 cup butter
•3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
•3 tablespoons buttermilk
•2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
•1/2 teaspoon vanilla
•1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
Preparation:
Cake
Grease a 15X10X1-inch or jelly roll pan or a 13X9X2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. With an electric hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in a 350° oven about 25 minutes for the 15X10-inch pan or 35 minutes for the 13X9-inch pan, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Pour warm chocolate frosting over the warm cake, spreading evenly. Place cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly before cutting.
Makes 24 servings.

Frosting:
In a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth. If desired, stir in 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans.

English Muffin Pizzas

I bought some sourdough English muffins and made little pizzas from them. They were a big hit.

*Halve the English muffins
*Spread them with pizza sauce - not too much
*layer favorite vegetables (I used mushrooms & diced tomatoes)
*layer with favorite meat if you like (I used real bacon bits)

*Broil for a couple of minutes

*sprinkle with shredded cheese and place into oven

*Turn oven off and let sit until cheese is melted (cheese will melt superfast since oven is so hot).

*Serve with a tossed salad!