Caramel Bars

Caramel Bars (Cake ‘n Crumbs Recipe)

1 box German Chocolate cake mix
¾ cup melted butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chopped nuts
1 (16 oz) pkg. Kraft Caramel Bits
1/3 cup evaporated milk
6 oz pkg. chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven at 350 degrees. In the top of a double boiler melt Caramel Bits with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Combine cake mix, melted butter, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and nuts. Press half into greased 9x13 pan. Bake 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the chocolate ships. Spread melted caramel mixture over the chips. Using your fingers, top with the remaining cake mixture. Overlap batter to cover most of the caramel, allowing some to show through. Bake 15 – 18 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely before cutting. Enjoy! Yields approximately 20-25 bars.

Help...

I just agreed to do a freezer meal party and I have know idea what main dish will freeze well. If you have any ideas for something that i can make a lot of easily (12) and will freeze well please let me know. Thank you!

Pizza Rolls

These are one of our family favorites. I make them quite often for our family, or potlucks, or lunch get-togethers. (I don't know if this picture scares you or encourages you, I overcooked them a little bit.) I made them for dinner last night and Lexi saw me rolling out the dough and said dissapointedly, "Oh, are we having pizza?" And I said, "Not pizza, Pizza Rolls." And her face lit up and she said, "Oh, those are the goodest thing ever!"

Pizza Dough
This is a great pizza dough recipe that I originally got for homemade pizza. So you can use it for that too. Just mix it, roll it out, and spread with pizza toppings. I've made the pizza rolls with Rhode's bread dough too, but like this better.

1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
3-4 cups flour

Mix and knead above ingredients. Roll out on floured surface.

Pizza Rolls

Pizza dough
5 oz cream cheese
1 lb shredded mozarella cheese
Pizza toppings (we like canadian bacon, green pepper, and onions)

Spread cream cheese on rolled out dough. Add your choice of pizza toppings, then cover with cheese. Roll up like a cinnamon roll and cut each about 1 inch (if you do it thicker they are doughy). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake 425 for 15 minutes. Dip in Pizza Sauce, parmesan cheese, or ranch.

Caramel Apple Dip

(you might say "what?" when you read that it has skor bits in it, but it really is so good!)

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. white sugar
1 c. skor bits

Beat together cream cheese with sugars. Add vanilla. Stir in skor bits. Serve with apples.

Oatmeal Crispies

This is a recipe from the Confessions of a Pioneer Woman's recipe blog. She's a riot and a great cook. Anyway, I made these this afternoon because I hadn't had a meal that didn't involve hot chocolate and twix, so why wouldn't I make cookies? They are divine warm with a cold glass of milk. Mmmmmm.

1 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans

(These are my instructions - her blog has more thorough ones) Combine shortening and sugars. Mix well. Add the eggs and vanilla. Again, mix well. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and b. soda. Add to shortening mixture. Then add oats and pecans. (I didn't use pecans as it would ruin the whole cookie experience for me!) Place on greased cookie sheet (I just did drop cookies) and bake in 350 oven for 9-10 minutes.

Fettuccine Alfredo

1 pound Fettuccine (or other type of pasta)
6 Tablespoons Butter
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 - 2/3 cup heavy cream
black pepper

Cook fettuccine to your favorite state of doneness. Drain. Melt butter over low heat. Add Fettuccine and toss well. Add cheese and toss gently until they are melted and blended. Add cream and sprinkle with as much pepper as you like. When cream is blended with butter and cheese remove pan form heat and serve.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

1/8 cup butter
1/2 of a 10 oz. pkg. of frozen chopped spinach (partially thawed)
1/2 of a 14 oz. can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 16 oz. container sour cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
garlic salt to taste

Melt butter. Stir in spinach and artichokes. Cook until tender, about 5 min. Mix in sour cream and cream cheese. Stir in Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Cook until thickened, 10-15 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

Hey, I just want to thank you all for letting me be a part of this amazing recipe blog. I have loved so many of your fabulous recipes! I hope I can contribute some that will be useful to any or all or some of you. I saw Jolene's request for zucchini bread and I have a great recipe I got from a lady I worked with when we were first married. She used to bring it to work and we all loved it. I've made it with our zucchini every year since. Hope you still have some zucchini to use!

Zucchini Bread

2 eggs
2 cups peeled and shredded zucchini
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Then mix dry and wet mixtures together. Grease and flour 3 medium loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Can add chocolate chips if you want.

Creamy Pasta with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Crispy Prosciutto

Creamy Pasta With Asparagus, Parmesan, and Crispy Prosciutto

Serves 4

Four finely chopped strips of bacon can be substituted for the prosciutto.

1	tablespoon olive oil
4	ounces thinly sliced prosciutto , cut into 1/4-inch strips (see note)
1	garlic clove , minced
1	cup heavy cream
2	tablespoons lemon juice
	Salt and pepper
1	pound fusilli or penne
1	pound asparagus , trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2	cups grated Parmesan cheese
3/4	cup chopped fresh basil

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Cook prosciutto until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cream and lemon juice and simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until just beginning to soften, about 8 minutes. Add asparagus to pot and cook until bright green and tender and pasta is al dente, about 4 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain pasta and asparagus, and return to pot. Add sauce, 1/2 cup reserved cooking water, cheese, and basil to pot and toss to combine, adding remaining cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle portions with crispy prosciutto. Serve.

Beef Taco Bake

Andy was a little skeptical of this, but it ended up being really tasty and he loved it.

Beef Taco Bake

Serves 4 to 6

If you can't find Ro-Tel tomatoes, substitute one 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes and one 4-ounce can chopped green chiles.

2	(10-ounce) cans Ro-Tel tomatoes (see note), drained, 1/2 cup juice reserved
1	(16-ounce) can refried beans
1	tablespoon hot sauce
1/4	cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
3	cups shredded Mexican-style cheese
1 1/2	pounds 90-percent lean ground beef
1	(1.25-ounce) package low-sodium taco seasoning mix
12	taco shells
3	scallions , sliced thin

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Combine half of tomatoes, beans, hot sauce, and cilantro in bowl. Spread evenly in 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.

2. Cook beef in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Pour off fat, then stir in taco seasoning, remaining tomatoes, and reserved tomato juice. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened and nearly dry, 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Spoon 1 tablespoon cheese into each taco shell and top with beef mixture. Arrange tacos upright in bean mixture, cover with foil, and bake until bubbling, about 10 minutes. Remove foil, top with remaining cheese, and bake until cheese is melted, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions. Serve.

Turkey Pot Pie w/ Stuffing Crust

My domestic nag, that lives somewhere within and surfaces every once and a while, hit last week and I decided to try three new recipes in a row. I got them out of my Cook's Country magazine and they all turned out pretty good.

This first is good and yes, you can guess that it would make Thanksgiving leftovers into a great casserole. (Excuse me for a second here - but am I the only one that doesn't want to be thinking about Thanksgiving leftovers in September, I mean come on there can not be that many domestic goddesses out there that are already thinking about Thanksgiving and what delicious creations they will make with the leftovers.) However this was quite good, oh and I used canned chicken from Costco that I shredded. The crust made this really good.

Turkey Pot Pie With Stuffing Crust

Serves 6 to 8

Although leftover homemade stuffing works best here, one 6-ounce box of stuffing mix, prepared according to package instructions and chilled, will suffice. You will need a 12-inch oven-safe skillet for this recipe.

3	tablespoons unsalted butter
1	onion , chopped
1	celery rib , chopped
2	tablespoons all-purpose flour
2	cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2	cup heavy cream
1	cup frozen peas and carrots mix , thawed
4	cups shredded cooked turkey
3	cups prepared stuffing (see note)
1	large egg , lightly beaten

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Melt butter in large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and celery until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in broth and cream and simmer until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add peas and carrots mix and turkey and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine stuffing and egg in large bowl. Place stuffing mixture between pieces of parchment paper and roll into 11-inch circle. Remove top layer of parchment and cut into 6 wedges. Arrange wedges evenly over filling and bake until stuffing is golden brown and crisp, about 12 minutes. Serve.

Taco Soup

Again, from Mary Jones (see cornbread recipe below). I'd forgotten about this until this morning when I was fantasizing about cornbread. I usually make the beef/tomato version, but this is very tasty too and SUPER easy.

1 family size chicken soup with rice (plus can of water)
1 can Texas or Ranch Style Beans (plus can of water)
1 can Rotell tomatoes or tomatoes with green chilies
1 chicken breast, boiled and shredded
1 can corn or 1/2 bag frozen corn
Water - see how you feel about it after the 2 cans listed above.

Combine and simmer for an hour or so. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Cornbread

This is a recipe I got from my friend Mary Jones whose life mirrors mine so closely it freaks me out. Her husband is Jeff (who grew up in Kennewick too) and her first 3 kids are Annalisa, Kyle and Kaitlyn. Seriously. We met them when we moved to Ammon (after all kids had been born). We both LOVE tennis and volleyball. Things start to separate from there. She had 3 more kids, and is probably one of the kindest, most righteous (without being self-righteous) people on earth. She's a great gal and a fantastic cook.

Apparently I can't make anything without a full cup of sugar and a cube of butter. Unfortunately, nobody in my family loves cornbread except me, so I don't make this often. It sure is yummy though. Great with her easy taco soup recipe that I'll post too. How's that for a super-long introduction?

Beat:
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cube melted butter

Add:
2 cups Bisquick (I like Pioneer Brand Buttermilk Biscuit and Baking Mix)
2 heaping Tbsp cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar

Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 for 20-25 minutes.