Creamy Lemon Bars

The snow has FINALLY melted! This is definitely reason to celebrate!! So, in honor of Spring actually arriving in this part of Idaho, I'm posting a super yummy, spring-y treat.

This recipe comes from Our Best Bites food blog. And the way they describe these is right on the money. They're more like lemon cheesecake bars - not your average lemon bars. They are oh-so-good!!

Here's what you'll need:

20 Nilla Wafers, finely crushed OR 3/4 C. Nilla Wafer or graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold real butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. grated lemon peel, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. baking powder
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides of the pan. (I doubled this and made it in a 9x13-inch pan.) Spray with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the Nilla wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup flour and the brown sugar. Chop butter into small pieces and then cut into the crumb mixture with a pastry blender.

Press crumb mixture firmly onto the bottom of your prepared pan.

Bake 15 minutes. While the crust is baking, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 2 Tablespoons flour, and baking powder; mix well. Blend in 1 Tablespoon lemon zest and lemon juice, then pour mixture over crust.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and remaining 2 Tablespoons of grated lemon peel just before cutting and serving.

Store leftovers in the fridge.

A perfect way to welcome Spring!!

Poppy Seed Chicken

My friend, Heidi, was so sweet to bring us a meal after we had our last baby (which was almost two years ago - didn't I say something about me having a problem with thinking about a recipe for years and then finally trying it?). It was so delicious! When I got her recipe, I knew I had to try it.

Want to know the best part about it? IT'S SO EASY!!!!!! My kind of recipe! So, thank you, Heidi for making my life easier and taste so much better!!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 C. sour cream

4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1 1/2 pkgs. Townhouse crackers OR 1 pkg. Ritz crackers

1 T. poppy seeds

4 T. melted butter

Cooked Rice

Mix together the soup and sour cream.

Add the chicken and place in a 9x13 inch pan.

Crush the crackers and spread on top of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle poppy seeds over all, then pour melted butter over crackers.

(The next time I make this, I'm going to combine the crushed crackers, poppy seeds, and butter. Then sprinkle it over the chicken mixture.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve over cooked rice.

See how easy that was?! LOVE IT!!!

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

Editor's Note:  If you liked these sticky buns, you can find an orange variation HERE.

Do you ever try a new food and fall so in love with it that it is always on your mind, but you just don't make it? Then a few years later, you finally give in and make it and you wonder why on earth you didn't make it sooner? It happens to me all the time.

This recipe is one of those. My friend, Kolette, made these sticky buns for a recipe exchange I hosted either three or four years ago. I remember them being soooooooooooooooooooooo good and sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo easy to make.

So, I made them this morning and everyone was in love! They are super easy and SUPER yummy. You must, MUST make them! ASAP!! Don't wait a few years only thinking about these like I did. Make them. You'll be glad you did.

Here's what you'll need:

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/2 C. pancake syrup

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, opt.

1/4 C. chopped almonds, opt.

Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired).

Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.

Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring.

I used two tubes of Pillsbury Grands biscuits this morning, but won't do that again. I'll either use the smaller biscuits or one tube of the grands, as stated in the recipe list above. These had to bake for about 30 minutes. Still amazing, but I'll be doing it the other way from now on (the way they're supposed to be made).

Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

Look at that!

SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!

You really need to try these soon!! Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Topper Cookies

Funny name, I know. I found this recipe in my file of my mom's recipes years ago. I don't ever remember her making them as I was growing up, but after reading the recipe, I was curious to see if I would like them, with a few changes.

Sure enough, I did. But, who can blame me? What's not to like about chocolate chip cookies with melted marshmallows and a chocolate drizzle on top? There's nothing to not like about them. It's just plain yumminess (I think I've just created a word)! They're super easy and I love it when I get requests for something so simple that people absolutely rave about!

Here's what you'll need:

Your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, I like THIS one or if you want a chocolate cookie then THIS one

Lots of large marshmallows, cut in half

Some melted chocolate chips

Mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Bake cookies, but take out of the oven a minute before they're done.

Top each cookie with a marshmallow half and put back in the oven to bake for an additional minute or until the marshmallow is puffed but not browned.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Place parchment paper under the wire rack then drizzle the melted chocolate chips (or a chocolate icing) over the cookies.

My, oh my we love these cookies!!!

Broccoli-Cauliflower Salad

This recipe comes from my next door neighbor's mother-in-law. It's one of my friends most favorite salad recipes. I was so excited to try it out and I'm so glad I did, but I just have to give one warning about it: it makes your fridge super stinky! I'd never made a broccoli-cauliflower salad before and was shocked when I'd open my fridge and get hit by the smell.

My best advice, make it for a barbecue or a potluck - something where a lot of people will be and have it eaten by the time you have to go home so that you don't have to store the leftovers.

But aside from the smell, it is a very delicious and healthy salad.

Here's what you'll need:

1 bunch broccoli

1 bunch cauliflower

8 strips cooked & crumbled bacon

1/3 C. chopped onion

1 C. chopped tomatoes

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1 C. miracle whip

1/3 C. sugar

2 Tbsp. vinegar

Combine the broccoli, cauliflower, bacon, onion, tomatoes, and eggs in a large bowl.

In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the miracle whip, sugar, and vinegar; mix well.

Add to the broccoli combination and combine well.

Salt and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated.

Beef Roast Stroganoff

I LOVE easy recipes! Especially ones that involve a crockpot. I love that I can just put a few ingredients together and turn the crockpot on and not even give it another thought. Well, that is until you can smell the delicious aroma of what you have cooking. Then that's all you can think about and you're salivating constantly until your husband FINALLY comes home from work and you can sit down and enjoy the meal you've put so little time into making.

Today's recipe is one of those. So good and so easy!

Here's what you'll need:

3-5 lb. beef roast

1 C. water

1/2 pkg. dry onion soup mix

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1/2 C. sour cream (opt.)

2 tsp. beef bouillon

1/4 tsp. pepper

All of the broth left over from the crockpot

Place roast in crockpot. Mix water and onion soup mix and pour over the top of roast.

Water does not need to cover the roast. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. When roast is done, take out of crockpot and shred meat; set aside.

In a saucepan, combine cream of mushroom soup, sour cream (if desired), bouillon, pepper, and the leftover broth from the crockpot. Bring to a boil. Add shredded beef.

(Just a note, when I took these pictures I used more sour cream that I specified in this recipe, which I won't do again. Your gravy will look darker and be more delicious than this.)

Serve over egg noodles or potatoes.

So easy, so good. Enjoy a good meal without much work!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

My friend, Jacie, she's hilarious. I mean so totally funny! I love being around her. We're a lot alike, well, not humor-wise, but we're both young moms with super busy kids, and when it comes to cooking, we like it easy. This recipe is Jacie's. I've changed it just a smidgen to make it work for what I had in my fridge and to make it a little quicker. But I'll give you both ways to make it so you can have some options. Having options is always nice.

Here's what you'll need:

2 pre-made pie crusts, room temp - Jacie's way

OR

1 tube of refrigerated biscuits - my way

1 (14 oz.) can chicken

1 (8-10 oz.) pkg. frozen peas and carrots (or veggies of choice)

2-3 C. frozen cube hash browns

4 oz. cream cheese (half a cube)

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 C. water

1/4 C. Italian dressing

Salt & pepper

In a large pan, on medium heat, heat chicken in Italian dressing and salt and pepper to taste.

Add cream cheese. After it has melted, add water and cream of chicken soup and mix until combined.

Add veggies and potatoes.

Now, here's where your options come into play.

Jacie, using pie crust, will put one crust in a pie pan, fill it with the chicken mixture, then top it with another pie crust. Make sure to make vent holes in the top crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting into. This is how you make chicken pot pie to it's true form.

I like bending the rules a little.

I use six ramekins, spray them well with non-stick spray, fill 3/4 full with the chicken mixture,

and top with a rolled out biscuit.

Place on a baking tray

and bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until the biscuit is golden. Brush with butter to make it look prettier. Then dive right in!

Don't they look so cute?! They're pretty good to eat too!

Breakfast Casserole

This recipe is my sister, Lynae's recipe. Oh, it's so good and it's so easy! I can still remember having it for the first time at her house and falling in love. I got the recipe as soon as I finished eating. Yum, yum! I think you'll like it too!

Here's what you'll need:

1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls

7 eggs

1-2 T. dried, chopped onion

1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled (or bacon or ham)

1 1/2 C. shredded cheese, any cheese you want

1/2 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies, opt. (if you decide to use chilies, just put the other half in a little baggy and toss them in the freezer to use another time)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out crescent rolls flat in a 9x13 inch baking pan, generously sprayed with non-stick spray; press the seams together.

Or you can buy those crescent sheets that are the crescent rolls in one full sheet - no seams. Super handy and there are so many things you could do with them!

Whisk eggs and mix in onion, sausage, cheese, and chilies.

Pour egg mixture over crescent dough and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Allow to cool, cut and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Bread

My sister-in-law just bought a Bosch and was asking me for a good whole wheat bread recipe. I immediately knew just the one!

I got this recipe from my aunt, Janell (the one who's a fabulous cook and I get lots of recipes from). I love how this recipe doesn't have the same texture and heaviness that most homemade whole wheat bread recipes have. And if you have a Bosch, it's a BREEZE to make!

Here's what you'll need:

3 1/2 C. hot water

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

3 T. instant yeast

2/3 C. oil

1 C. honey

1 C. all purpose white flour

3 T. gluten

2 T. dough enhancer

12 C. whole wheat flour (I grind my own using white wheat)

1 1/2 T. salt

For best results, grind your own wheat to make your own whole wheat flour. (If you have any flour remaining after making this recipe, place in a Ziploc bag and freeze. That will help to preserve the nutrients and help to make it stay fresh for longer.)

Using a Bosch mixer, combine ingredients in the order given; mixing well after half the flour, then add the other half of the flour and salt.

Add a little extra white flour if dough is too sticky. Knead in mixer for 8 minutes. Divide into 5-6 loaves. Place into greased loaf pans and rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing (if you can stand it).

It is so delicious and light and tender! Give this healthier recipe a try!!