Mimi's Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Oven 325 for 45 min

-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—

-1/2 c. Soft Butter

-1/2 c. Oil

-2 Eggs

-1/2 c. Sour Milk (milk with 1tbs lemon juice)

-1 tbs. Vanilla

----Mix----

-2 c. Grated Zucchini 

-2 1/2 c. Flour

-1 tsp. Baking Soda

-1/2 tsp. Salt

-1/2 tsp. Cinnamon 

-4 heaping tbs. Cocoa Powder

----Mix----

-spoon into greased 9x13 pan

-sprinkle 1/2c. Chocolate Chips and 1/4c. Chopped Nuts on top and bake till done. 

Peanut Butter Bars

I had a big craving for something sweet with peanut butter and chocolate so I went to the web site allrecipies and started searching- One of the first things to pop up was this awesome recipe! It looked so good the reviews all said amazing thing and so I whipped some up - so delish- so fast- Here is the actually recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Bars-I/Detail.aspx I change things up a tiny bit. Also it says you get servings for 12- I don't know who those 12 people are but they are probably sick right now- this is WAY more than 12.

INGREDIENTS:
bottom layer:
-1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted

-2 c. graham cracker crumbs
-2 cups powdered sugar

-1 cup peanut butter, softened

top layer:
-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
-4 tablespoons peanut butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter 
2. Press  into an ungreased 9x13pan
3. Chill for 15-20 min
4. Melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring until smooth
5. Spread over the prepared crust
6. Refrigerate until solid
7. Cut into squares.

Valentine's Day Treat

For Breeona's class this year we did these cute little treats!

I just made Rice Krispe Treats and when I melted the Marshmallows I added a bit of red food color to get the pink treats. Let your treats cool and harden. Take a cookie cutter and cut out all the hearts you can. Eat the leftovers. Push a sucker stick into the bottom of they heart and once they are fully set take the heart and dip top into melted chocolate. Sprinkle sprinkles.

 The best way to give these is to put them in a treat bag. This last year I did plastic wrap and it was much harder and took way to long! invest the extra couple $ and just buy some treat bags. lol

Grandma VanDeVenter's Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS:  5 cups flour 2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 2 1/2 cups shortning.  1 egg 1Tbsp vinager  water  momma I want to help!  DIRECTIONS:  Mix together: 5 cups flour 2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder  I'll just play with this instead. Add 2 1/2 cups shortning. Mix well until crumbly Mix 1 egg, 1Tbsp vinager in a 1 cup measuring, fill rest of cup with water. Add to flour mixture. Mix well   This will be sticky, make into five balls and roll out on floured surface or wrap in suran wrap and refrig. or freeze.  I place the wrapped balls in a freezer bag for extra protection. Enjoy this delish pie crust. This recipe bakes nice and flaky. It makes 5 crusts.









Monster Toes

For Halloween I wanted to make something cute for Breeona's class. We made Monster toes, check um out. They were so cute AND they were tasty! I found this origanal idea out there in blogland and once I find it again I'll link back!

Mimi's Creamy Fresh Peach Pie

Mimi's Creamy Fresh Peach Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 9in pie shell, baked

1 3oz pkg cream cheese

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1c. Fresh Whipped Cream or 1 sm pkg of Cool Whip

1 c. sugar

2 tbs. cornstarch

1 c. water

1 3oz pkg peach gelatin

3 c. peeled, sliced ripe peaches

DIRECTIONS:

Bake pie shell and set aside to cool

1st layer- Cream Cheese Layer:

Make whipping cream and put in fridge to cool, beat softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy.

Fold in Whipped Cream and spread in baked cool shell. Put in fridge to cool.

2nd layer- Peaches

In sauce pan combine sugar, cornstarch, and water until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly and thickened. Remove from heat, stir in gelatin until dissolved. Cool for a few minutes.

Get out pie and arrange peaches on top of cream cheese layer. Pour cooled glaze over top of pie.

 Chill-serve-eat

Fresh Whipped Cream

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. Whipping Cream

2 tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Chill bowl, beaters, and cream

In chilled bowl combine whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla. Beat with chilled beaters until soft peaks form.

Kevin Made Cupcakes

Kevin made cupcakes to help me out a few months ago. No not from scratch, from a box.....

I know! I don't know how he did it either.

Sorry my pictures are a bit orange but thats these cupcakes last worry

Its really too bad they also tasted nasty or we would have just filled um up with extra frosting..... maybe that was Kevin's plan all along.... he's brilliant!

Candied Yams

Ingredients:
1 (29 ounce) can sweet potatoes
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
-Place sweet potatoes in a medium baking dish. Distribute butter pieces evenly over the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Layer with miniature marshmallows.
-Cover and bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender and marshmallows have melted.

Slow Cooker Chili

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey -or beef
2  cans chopped tomatoes
1 can corn
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch ground allspice
salt to taste

Directions:
-Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place ground meat in the skillet, and cook until evenly brown; drain.
-Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray, and mix in turkey, tomato soup, kidney beans, black beans and onion. Season with chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, allspice and salt.
-Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High.

Pumpkin Cookies

350 - 10min

Ingredients:
2c- Brown Sugar
2c- Pumpkin- use the canned pumpkin stuff
1c-veggie oil
1- egg
2 tbs-vanillia
4c- flour
2 tsp-baking soda
2 tsp- baking powder
1 tsp- salt
1/2 tsp- ginger
1 tsp- cinnamon
1tsp- nutmeg
2c- choco chips

Directions:
mix and bake!

Three Layer Pretzel Cranberry Yummy

3 LAYER SALAD OR DESSERT

FIRST LAYER:
2 c. broken pretzels
3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 sticks melted butter

*Mix and press into 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.

SECOND LAYER:
1 c. sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. Cool Whip

*Cream together sugar and cream cheese then fold in Cool Whip. Spread on cooled first layer.

THIRD LAYER:

1 large box  Raspberry Jell-O
2 cans whole cranberry sauce
1 1/2 cups boiling water

*Dissolve Jello in 2 cup boiling water. Then add the cranberry sauce. When pretzel mixture is cool, spread the cream cheese and Cool Whip over mixture. Top with the third layer mixture after the Jello has started to congeal. Store in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/4 tsp minced garlic
2 14 oz cans or 4c chicken broth
2 14 oz cans stewed tomatoes, chopped, with liquid
1 c salsa
2 tbs cilantro
1c sweet corn

Extras:
onions, grated cheese, avacodas, chips, tortillias, sour cream, anything you would put in a taco


Directions:
-Cook and shred chicken
-put all ingredients (not extras) into crockpot
-Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10
-serve in bowls with extras on top

Yum Yum Cookies

Ingredients and Directions:
3/4 c. white corn syrup
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. margarine

-boil for three minutes

add :
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla

- pour over 5 cups corn flakes. Mix
- Drop on waxed paper by spoonful

Spiced Nuts

Walnuts

Pecans

Ingredients:
2 cups nuts ( walnuts, pecans, or almonds) toast nuts 350 for 5 to 10 min
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
6 TBSP water

Directions:
-Boil mixture until soft ball stage. About 4 min (Soft ball is when you take a bit of the syurp and drop it into cold water and it makes a soft ball when you touch it.)
-Add nuts. Remove from heat and stir until they glaze.
-Place on cookie sheet. Separate as they cool.

Fudge

Ingredients:

Large Cookie Sheet with sides/buttered
2 cubes butter
3 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 boxes pwd. sugar (7 cups or 1 2lb. bag)
2 cups chopped nuts

Directions:

-Melt butter, add choc. chips, stir until melted,

-add eggs and vanilla.
-Add pwd. sugar. Mix well,

-mix in nuts.

-Spread in pan, let set.

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:2 cups Macaroni
2 Tbsp margarine/butter
¼ cup flour
2 cup milk
salt
pepper
1 cup shredded cheese
16 slices cheese



Directions:-Cook macaroni as directed.
-Melt margarine in sauce pan,
-add flour, mix well,
-add milk, stir until thickened.
-Add shredded cheese. Stir until melted.
-Salt and Pepper to taste.
-Mix cheese sauce and macaroni.
-Spray a 9x13 pan.
-Layer macaroni then 8 cheese slices.
-Next layer, than last 8 cheese slices.
-Bake at 350 for 30 mins. or cheese is melted.

The Best Corn Muffins Ever

* *These muffins will be nice and moist!**

INGREDIENTS:
2 boxes corn muffin mix
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs
1/3 milk

DIRECTIONS:
preheat oven to 400. -grease muffin pan or use paper baking cups - mix all ingredients - let set for 5 min. - fill muffin tin - bake 15 to 20 min untill golden brown.

BBQ Ribs

INGREIDENTS:
rack of ribs
1 bottle of bbq sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Cut ribs into 2 or 3 rib sections - put in large pot, fill with water and put on slow boil for 2 hours - pre heat oven to 350. - Drain ribs and put on cookie sheet - cover in sauce - cover with foil - bake for 30 min - turn ribs and add sauce - bake 30 more min - last 15 min uncover and add more sauce if needed.

Tuna Pasta

INGREDIENTS: pasta
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tuna

DIRECTIONS:
cook pasta - drain - add soup and drained tuna - mix and serve

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
2 frozen pie shells
1can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 C. milk
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
2 C. cooked chopped chicken
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 small onion
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste


Preparation:Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Take pie shells out of freezer, separate, lay one pie shell flat, leaving the other in the pie pan, and thaw for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, defrost frozen veggies in microwave; chop and sautee onion. Mix chicken, defrosted veggies, sauteed onion, garlic, soup and milk in large mixing bowl. Pour into pie shell; top with flattened pie shell. Pinch edges together and poke holes in top crust. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until crusts are done.

Anything Goes Un-pizza

INGREDIENTS:
2 cans of pre-made crescents/croissants
1 can of chicken
assorted chopped veggies;
mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, peppers, olives
1 pkg. cream cheese
1/2 c - 1c grated cheese

DIRECTIONS:
mix everything but croissants in a bowl. Unroll four croissants on cookie sheet to form square. Attach the rest of the croissants from widest part of croissant out. When finished it should look like a star. Pile cheese, veggie, chicken mix on top. Carefully pull tip of croissant into center of mixture. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Garlic Fried Potatoes

I wanted some yummy potatoes. I wanted something different than I had cooked before. So, I went to the source, Idaho Potato. Here is what I found:

INGREDIENTS:
2 ounces butter, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
canola oil
2 large Idaho potatoes (12 to 14 ounces each), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Kosher salt
black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
-Combine butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.

-Using a large pot, Cover bottom with oil and heat. Fry diced potatoes in oil until tender, until browned.

-Drain potatoes on paper towels, and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the softened garlic-butter, tossing to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Go and Eat! Potatoes!

http://www.idahopotato.com/

Shane's Carmel Popcorn

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. dark Karo syrup
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar

1 c. unpopped popcorn

Directions:
-Pop popcorn. Remove unpopped kernels. Set aside popcorn.
-Mix first four ingredients and bring to boil. Rolling boil for 1 minute. (don't cook too long)
Pour carmel over popcorn and mix. At this point you can either make popcorn balls as it cools or spread on a cookie sheet and let cool.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts (pounded out thin)
4-6 pieces of ham
4-6 slices of Swiss or mozzarella cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup (can use any cream soup)
1/4 cup milk
dried rosemary

Preparation:

Put ham and cheese on chicken. Sprinke with rosemary. Roll up and secure with a toothpick. Place chicken in the slow cooker/Crock Pot so it looks like a triangle /_\ Layer the rest on top. Mix soup with the milk; pour over top of chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve over noodles or rice with the sauce it makes.

Fry Bread

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbs. shortning
1/3 c. milk
2/3 c. to 3/4 c. warm water

Directions:
Combine the ingredients and slowly add enough warm water to form dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until it is smooth, soft, and not sticky. Cover and let rest 1 hour. Shape into small balls and pat into flat circles about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Set aside.
In a skillet, heat 1/2 inch. vegetable oil. Brown dough circles on each side and drain on paper towels.

Serving Options:
*Serve with taco meat, chile beans and all of your other taco toppings for Indian Tacos.
-or-
*Serve with butter and jam
-or-
*Serve with butter and cinnamon and sugar

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken:
4 Chicken Breasts
1-2 c. flour
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil

Lemon Sauce:
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. lemon juice
3 1/2 tbs. brown sugar
3 tbs. honey
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp ginger
3 tbs. cornstarch

Directions:

Chicken:
Add pepper and salt to flour. Put flour into zip lock bag. Slice chicken into strips. Place chicken into bag and shake until chicken is chicken is coated.
heat vegetable oil in pan, when hot, fry chicken until golden brown.

Lemon Sauce:
Mix all ingredients and heat in pan over medium heat. Stir well so it doesn't clump. Takes about 5 min. to thicken.

Serve over rice with chicken and sauce on top.

Inside-Out Ravioli

preheat= 350
cook time= 30min.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 tsp. garlic
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 can mushrooms
8 oz. tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
2 c. macaroni cooked and drained
1 c. grated cheese
1/2 c. bread crumbs
2 beaten eggs
1/4 c. veg oil

Directions:
Cook macaroni. Cook spinach, drain saving liquid, add water to make 1 cup. Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic.
Add spinach liquid and next five ingredients. Simmer for about 10 min.
Mix spinach, macaroni , and rest of ingredents. Spread into 13x9 in. pan. Top with meat sauce. Cook

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Preheat= 350
Bake time= 10 min.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
2 c. oatmeal

Cream together butter, shortening, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in flour, soda, and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonful on a greased cookie sheet. Bake

Apple Crisp

preheat= 375
cook time= 30-40 min.

Ingredients :
Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
6 tbs. butter, cut into pieces
1/3 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix all ingredients

Filling:
6 c. peeled and sliced apples (about 4 or 5 apples)
1-2 tbs. brown sugar

Slice all apples into 1/4 in. thick. Put into bowl. Add brown sugar, mix gently

Place filling into greased 9x13 in. pan. Spread topping evenly over apples. Bake until topping is golden brown. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Creamy Cheesy Crockpot Chicken

Cook Time: 3 or 4 hours on high

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1/4 c. water ( I think this needs more water)
1 pkg cream cheese
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasonings

Directions:
Put 1/4 c. water in to crockpot. Place in Chicken breasts ( do not need to be thawed). Add salt, pepper, and seasonings. Cook 1 hour on high. After 1 hour cut chicken breasts in half. Add cream cheese and soup. mix .Cook for remaining time
Serve over rice.