Triple Tasty Fudge Bars

My mother-in-law asked for the recipe since she really like them at a Christmas party we attended. The recipe itself comes from some random cook book I own.


Ingredients:

1 15-ounce package fudge frosting mix
1 18.5 ounce German chocolate cake mix
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
6 ounces of chocolate chips

Directions:

Prepare frosting mix as directed on package. I personally skipped this and just used the canned frosting.

Combine dry cake mix (I used Fudge rather then German Chocolate), 1/2 cup frosting, water, and egg. Stir by hand until cake mix is moistened (mixture will be stiff).

Pat into 9x13-inch pan, greased on the bottom only.

Beat sour cream into remain frosting. I used equal parts frosting and sour cream.

Spread over base.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes. Top will be puffy and an inserted toothpick will NOT come out clean (chocolate chips also don't really melt).

Cool and cut into bars

Pumpkin Bread

My mother-in-law gave me a couple of small pumpkins for the boys to decorate for Halloween only they never got to because we didn't have any paint couldn't really afford paint and I didn't really want paint in the house anyway. My boys have painted my couch twice now and I'm not looking to give them another opportunity. Suddenly I had 2 pumpkins that I couldn't just throw away because then I'd of felt bad, so I used this tutorial to make pumpkin puree. I had 12 CUPS of puree and no ideas what to do with it. This is a combination of several recipes and it turned out fabulous!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour SIFTED
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 and 1/3 cups pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 cups raisins (optional)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, pie spice, salt and baking powder. Add pumpkin, oil and eggs; mix well. Fold in raisins and nuts.

Pour into loaf pans and sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar to give it a little crunch, you can also sprinkle more nuts on top.

Bake for 1 hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool 15 minutes before removing from pans.

Individual pizzas

I am always on the lookout for quick easy lunch recipes. My boys refuse to eat sandwiches so I have to cook for them and MacNcheese gets old. A friend suggested this to me so I thought I would pass this on.

Ingredients:
Half an English muffin
Spaghetti sauce (or even just tomato sauce).
Cheese
Pepperonis.

Directions:
Spoon about a tablespoon of the spaghetti sauce onto the English. Top with grated cheese and a pepperoni. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
As with all pizzas these can be customized to each individual. My kids had great fun decorating there own pizzas.

salsa

This is a bottling recipe so be prepared that it is big. There are two ways to bottle hot and cold. Both are pretty self explanatory to bottle hot what goes into the bottle is hot then you hot water bath can it to seal it. Cold bottling is just cold ingredients going into the bottle, it usually has a longer processing time since it cooks while it seals. There's also pressure canning but for the point of this- hot water bath canning it is. This actually has the constancy of salsa you can buy in the store. The flavor of a fresh garden and is mild (want more heat add more peppers). I got 11 pints.

Ingredients:

• Lots of tomatoes (plum works well but any tomato will work)
• Divide the tomatoes, chopped 1/2 of what you have (we had about 6 cups of chopped tomatoes)
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1/3 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Place most tomatoes into water to loosen skins and set color. Drain, peel and crush. Otherwise you can use canned whole tomatoes (3 large cans which is what we did) and just use fresh tomatoes for the chopped tomatoes.
2. Mix chopped tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, salt, cayenne pepper and cumin into the saucepan with crushed tomatoes. Whip to desired thickness. Bring to a boil. Mix in red onion, yellow onion, jalapeno peppers and cilantro. Continue boiling until vegetables are soft and mixture has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat and bottle.
3. I assume anyone trying this has actually bottled before. If not after you fill each bottle to the neck wipe the rim of the bottle off with a wet, hot, clean rag. Place the prepared seal on top and secure with a band. This recipe is then put into a water bath canner for 20 minutes (please adjust for altitude as necessary ie I personally boil them for 30 minutes because I live at a high altitude). Pull them out from the canner and let cook completely before checking seals. FYI any unsealed bottles can be reprocessed with a new seal within 24 hours just use common sense with that some things shouldn't be cooked twice.

Creamy White Chicken Chilli - YUMMO!

1 lb. chicken cubed or cut into pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tlbs. oil
2 cans of great northern beans, drained

Saute onions and chicken and then sprinkle with garlic powder. Add the beans.

1 can chicken broth. Add more if it is to thick.
1 4 oz. can green chilis, diced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer unco vered for 30 minutes. Remove and stir
in sour cream and whipping cream

STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

I found this recipe on cooks.com, and decided that I would make it for dinner. I copy and pasted the recipe below. I hope that you enjoy it. The ingredients call for white bread and for preserves mixed with orange juice. I obviously did not use their suggestion. I have wheat on hand and so used what I had. As for the syrup. I mixed about 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, and 1/2 cup raspberries and cooked on high with 1 cup sugar and 1 T vanilla. Boil for 15-20 minutes, constantly stirring. My family loved it so I get to share it. Oh and I only got 6 things of stuffed french toast. Maybe I soak mine more than she does.

Ingredients:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. walnuts or pecans
1 loaf white bread
4 eggs
1/2 c. whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 (12 oz.) jar apricot preserves or seedless raspberry jam
1/2 c. orange juice

Directions:

Beat the cream cheese and vanilla together until fluffy. Stir in the nuts. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the mixture on a slice of bread. Top with a second piece of bread (like a sandwich). Repeat this process 10-12 times until the mixture is all used.

Beat together the eggs, whipping cream, vanilla and nutmeg. Dip the "sandwiches" into the egg mixture. Cook on a lightly greased griddle until golden brown, turn to cook the other side. Keep the cooked "sandwiches" warm by placing them on a baking sheet in a warm oven.

Meanwhile, heat together the preserves and orange juice. To serve, dust the Stuffed French Toast with powdered sugar and drizzle the warm sauce over the top. Makes 10-12 pieces.

Lasanga

Ingredients:

9 lasagna noodles
1lb ground beef
1 and 1/2 pints Spaghetti Sauce
1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
1lb grated mozzarella cheese- separate 1/2c
2 beaten eggs


Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the lasagna noodles cook them until al dente (8-10 minutes)

Brown ground beef over medium heat and drain off fat. Add spaghetti sauce to that. If you don't have my fabulous home made spaghetti sauce you can use any bottled spaghetti sauce or you can use

• 1 (16 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 4 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Meanwhile mix together beaten eggs, ricotta (or substitute for cottage cheese whichever your budget allows), Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese.

Ladle enough of the meat sauce into a 9x13 inch baking dish to cover the bottom in a thin layer. Form a layer atop the sauce with 3 of the lasagna noodles. Spread about 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Then ladle about 1/2 of the meat sauce over the ricotta cheese. Repeat layering once more. Top with the last 3 noodles and enough meat sauce to keep from drying out. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 c of mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees F) for 90 minutes and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Oh this can be prepared before hand and frozen (good for 30 days frozen).