Citrus Jello Salad

This recipe comes from a neighbor who is a very good cook, Virginia. She's like a legend around here. If you try any of her recipes, you know they'll be good!

In my hubby's family, there are two Jello salads that we all adore - this Citrus Jello Salad and Pistachio Pudding Salad (I'll have to get that one posted sometime). We lovingly refer to them now as Orange Fluff and Green Fluff.

So enjoy today's Orange Fluff (Citrus Jello Salad)! We do!!

Here's what you'll need:

2 C. boiling water
1 small box orange Jello
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2 small cans mandarin oranges
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple
1 (12 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

Stir Jello into the boiling water, off the heat, until completely dissolved. Add pudding and stir until it starts to thicken slightly.

Let mixture cool (I put it into the fridge to speed up the process). Spoon mixture into a large serving bowl and fold in drained oranges and drained pineapple.

Or you can add the fruit when it's still in the saucepan, like I did here, and then put it into the large serving bowl.

Fold in Cool Whip. Cover and refrigerate until set.

Yum, yum, yum!!!

Yummy St. Louis Potatoes

Several years ago, I flew out to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Marc and Shannon, in St. Louis. They are both very good cooks, but each in their own way. Marc can whip up anything with no recipe at all and have it turn out amazing. Shannon is more like me. We're good cooks when we find good recipes to follow. (I hope I'm not offending you by saying this, Shan!)

Well, she came up with this recipe all on her own. And I think it's pretty safe to say that this is my all-time FAVORITE potato recipe! It is sooooooo very good and very easy to make. So bless Shannon for coming up with this terrific recipe!!!

Here's what you'll need:

2 potatoes, sliced thin
1 onion, sliced into circles
3 T. butter, melted
galic powder
salt
pepper
1 C. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Place thinly sliced potatoes into a greased 15x18x1 inch pan. Drizzle butter over potatoes. Top with onion rings and GENEROUSLY sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Finish with Parmesan cheese and bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.

Delicious!!!!

Raspberry Pretzel Salad

My sister-in-law, Valerie, is the wonderful saint who introduced me to this salad. And, yes, I consider this a salad - a side dish. Some people consider it a dessert. But no, no, not me. I happily eat this right along with my main dish. FAB-U-LOUS!!!

This recipe takes some time to set up. So either make this the night before you'll need it or the morning of.

It is sweet and salty, crunchy and creamy. A truly fantastic recipe!!

Here's what you'll need:

Crust -
2 C. crushed small twisted pretzels (that's a little more than half a 1lb. bag)
3 T. sugar
3/4 C. melted butter

Combine and press into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 4 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Let cool.

While the crust is cooling, start on the second layer -
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 C. sugar
1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

Cream these ingredients together until nice and smooth. Spread over the cooled crust, completely covering the crust. Leave NO holes or else you'll have a soggy crust.

Now for the third layer -
1 (6 oz) pkg. raspberry Jello
2 C. boiling water
1 1/2 (12 oz) bags frozen raspberries

Dissolve Jello in boiling water off of the heat. Add the frozen raspberries. Stir until Jello starts to set slightly (a couple of minutes). Then spread over cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate until completely set.

You can use strawberry Jello and the sliced frozen strawberries, or you can do raspberry Jello with huckleberries. They are all VERY good!! You have to try this if you have never had this before. And if you have, you'll just have to make it again!

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

Out here in potato country, I'm always trying to come up with yummy ways to use potatoes. When I came across a recipe from Martha Stewart for Garlic Mashed Potatoes, I tried it and liked it, but decided I could make it better. This is what I came up with...

Here's what you'll need:

3-4 lbs. red potatoes
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. sour cream
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 C. butter or margarine

Dice your potates into cubes, leaving the skins on, just scrubbed clean. Put them into a large pot and cover them with water. Bring to a boil and let cook for approximately 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain the water. With the cooked potatoes in the pot, stir in the remaining ingredients and slightly mash. You don't want all of the potatoes totally smashed smooth, otherwise the skins will be weird in there with the smooth potatoes. You should still have some chunks in there.

You can alter the amount of salt and garlic powder to make these potatoes not quite as strong if you'd like. But this is how I like them!

Indoor S'mores

Now we need a quick and easy treat! I used to make these years ago when they were popular. But the trend died out and I moved on, forgetting how much I like them.

Recently, when I needed a treat for a gathering, I decided to make these and was reminded of how yummy they are. Oh, how I love s'mores!

Here's what you'll need:

8 cups Golden Graham cereal
5 C. mini marshmallows
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
1/4 C. light corn syrup
5 T. butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, measure the cereal. Butter a 9x13 inch pan. In a large pot, melt the butter, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and corn syrup over medium-low heat. When just melted, take off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Mix well. Then add the cereal, and if you want, more mini marshmallows. Press into the prepared pan and let cool.

You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips, like I did here. Or you can use milk chocolate. Either way, they're DELICIOUS!

BBQ Cups

And yet another quick and easy recipe! (Are you beginning to notice the trend in my life right now?) This idea came from a good friend of mine. It's very kid friendly.

Here's what you'll need:

Sloppy Joe mix
2 (10 oz) tubes refrigerated biscuits
cheddar cheese, shredded

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Flatten and press into bottoms of 2 greased muffin tins. Fill each muffin cup with about 3-4 Tablespoons of sloppy joe mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven just until cheese is melted. (I forgot about these. Don't do that.)

If you have any muffin cups not filled, just partly fill the empty cup with water to keep it from warping.

Tater Tot Casserole

The second recipe for today is another super quick and easy one. This time for dinner. My mom made this same recipe, but she topped it with mashed potatoes (some people call it Shepherd's Pie). When I came across this variation, I liked the idea of faster and easier, and the kids thought the tater tots where fun to eat. Win-win!!

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. ground beef, cooked
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans green beans
frozen tater tots
cheddar cheese, shredded

Combine the cooked ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and green beans. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Top with frozen tater tots and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.

Sorry, I did't get a picture to show you the finished product. We all snarfed it down too fast!

Cheese & Tomato Sandwiches

Wowie, it's been a while! I'm so sorry for the absence. Life has just been CRAZY with four little kids. And I know that it won't be letting up, so I will do my best to post new recipes, but I can't make any promises. Though I have a TON of recipes just waiting to be posted!

The first recipe for today is a very simple sandwich that my family, growing up, ate frequently. Quick and easy - LOVE IT!

Here's what you'll need:

sliced bread
favorite cheese
Miracle Whip or Mayo
thickly sliced tomatoes

Place your bread on a baking sheet. Top it with your favorite cheese. Broil it in the oven just until the cheese melts (only a couple of minutes). Take it out and slather with Miracle Whip or mayo. Then top with tomato slices and enjoy!

How easy is that?! Yummy!!!

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

Since I've had my little one, we have received an outpouring of support from our friends, family, and neighbors. One of my very good friends brought this treat over for our family and I thought I'd post it since it is a cool, yummy, and simple dessert to put together and it's PERFECT for summer!

But before I get into that, let me point out that she served her treat to us already individualized in champagne glasses. That is one thing I absolutely love to do when entertaining - find fun ways to serve individual portions of things.

You can use champagne glasses to serve a number of desserts (or really whatever you want, but I like them for desserts). It's also fun to use martini or margarita glasses to serve salads (green or fruit) in. The regular sized ones are fine for small servings, but the over sized glasses are more fun to use, in my opinion.

So there you have it, some fun ideas for the next time you entertain! O.k., now on to the strawberry shortcake trifle...

Here's what you'll need:

angel food cake
strawberries
Cool Whip

Cube the angel food cake into one inch cubes. Slice the strawberries. In the individual champagne glasses (or a trifle bowl), layer the three ingredients, starting with the angel food cake, then the strawberries, followed by the Cool Whip. Repeat the layers until the glass or bowl is filled.

How easy is that?! And so yummy too!

Pizzookies

Wowie!! Things are kind of crazy around here. For those of you who don't know, my new baby and the next older child are 15 months apart. I literally have two babies to take care of, along with two more kids. My time seems to be consumed with taking care of one baby and then the other. Phew! It's a bit exhausting!! So I'll do my best staying updated with new recipes, but I'm not guaranteeing anything!

I really enjoy checking out other cooking blogs for new ideas and recipes to try. When I was perusing through Our Best Bites, I came across today's recipe and decided I had to try it. I'm so glad I did. This recipe is SOOOOOOOO easy and simply delicious! Try this one out tonight!!!

Here's what you'll need:

Refrigerated cookie dough (you can use homemade, but this is faster and easier -what I'm all about these days!)

Vanilla ice cream

Hot fudge sauce

Caramel sauce

Divide the cookie dough into six ramekins, filling each ramekin 1/3 full. (I filled mine a little more full and put them into five ramekins. Next time I'll do six though.) Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges and puffy in the middle. Now, I'm not sure if this is supposed to happen or not, but mine fell in the centers. I wasn't too sad about this since it makes the perfect spot to put the ice cream and it doesn't change the way this tastes, by any means.

Allow the cookies to cool for about 15 minutes so you don't end up with ice cream soup! This is very hard to do, but believe me, it's worth it. Scoop ice cream into the centers and top with sauces. Oh my YUM! This was super yummy and way easy and everyone LOVED it!!

Lasagna

Once again, it's been a while since my last post. I'm so sorry!! But I do have a really good excuse. We've had our little baby! YAY!!!!!! So I'm just barely getting back into the swing of things. Yesterday was the first day that I actually cooked and it felt sooooooo good to be back in the kitchen making yummy food! I've decided that cooking is therapeutic for me. So I'm going to have to be doing more of it to get through these baby blues!

But I do have to say that I have so many WONDERFUL friends who are amazing cooks! We've be SOOOOOO spoiled by all of the meals that have been made and brought to us. How lucky am I?!

Well the recipe that I have for today is a delicious lasagna. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, making a few tweeks to it, of course, and everyone loved it. But the best part is that it makes a big 9x13 inch pan. So now we have LOTS of leftovers - now I don't have to worry about dinner for tonight and probably the next night too!

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 T. dried onion, or 1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 t. garlic powder, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried oregano
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 (14.5 oz.) cans Italian style diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
12 lasagna noodles
2 eggs, beaten
1 pint (2 c.) ricotta cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 T/ dried parsley
1 t. salt
1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Italian style shredded cheese

Brown the ground beef, onion, and garlic together. In another pan, combine the basil, oregano, sugar, salt, diced tomatoes, and paste. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes, adding the ground beef when cooked.

Cook the lasagna noodles, according to package instructions. In a bowl, combine the beaten eggs, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and salt.

In a 9x13 inch pan, layer 1/3 noodles, topped with 1/2 the ricotta cheese mixture, 1/2 the mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 the tomato sauce.

Then repeat. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with Italian style shredded cheese (or you can use a mixture of Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

Mmmmm - one of my FAVORITE foods!!

For a freezer meal, assemble the lasagna in a foil lasagna pan, using uncooked lasagna noodles.  Cover tightly with heavy duty foil or freezer foil, label and freeze.  To serve:  Thaw.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until heated through.

S'more Bars

I have always LOVED to cook and eat s'mores, so when I came across this recipe years ago, just after I got married, I thought I'd try it. I'm so glad I did! My little family and I love this yummy treat (as does everyone else that eats these). One of the best things about it is that it is so simple to make, just like the original s'mores.

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 C. margarine or butter
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 C. flour
1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs (about 1/2 a package graham crackers)
2 C. mini marshmallows (or as many as you'd like)
1/2 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

Beat margarine or butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add combined flour and crumbs; mix well.

Press onto bottom of greased 9 inch square baking pan.

Sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown.

Just a note: I made these for one of my good friends just after she had a baby. I decided to double the recipe to have some for my family as well. As we were hurrying out the door, so that we wouldn't be late, I was holding my baby in one arm and these treats (shown here) with the other hand. A bit of advice, don't do that! I ended up losing balance between treats and baby and the entire pan came crashing to the floor. There was chocolate and gooey marshmallow and shards of glass EVERYWHERE!! I was so mad that these so yummy treats were a total waste. Good thing I made two so at least my friend was still able to get some!

Steak Dry Rub

I've been waiting almost a year to publish this post. I made this last at the end of the summer last year and have been watching it come across the slide show that I have on my computer's screen saver. And now that grilling season is here, I can finally share my FAVORITE steak rub. Yay!!

Here's what you'll need:

2 T. McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning
1 T. rosemary leaves
1 T. seasoned salt
oil

Combine the steak seasoning, rosemary, and seasoned salt. Rub onto any kind of beef steaks and drizzle with a little bit of oil.

Place on a heated grill.

A trick for getting those cool grill marks is to lay your meat on the grill at a diagonal. After a couple/few minutes, turn (not flip) the meat to the opposite diagonal. When ready to flip, do the same the on the other side.

I didn't do that in the picture below, but I do that when we have company.

When finished grilling, put steaks on a plate and cover with foil. Let the meat rest for 10-15 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute. You'll also end up with juices collected on the plate.

Use the juices to spoon over steaks before serving.

Mmmm, mmmm, mmm, mmmmm, mmmmmmm!!! It makes my mouth water just looking at this! Give it a try.

Chocolate Strawberry Pie

Wow, it's been a month and a half since I've posted on here last. There has been a lot going on, including my sister passing away. So I apologize for taking such a long break. And thank you for your patience.

Today's recipe is one I threw together for a treat on Mother's Day. My wonderful husband cooked a DELICIOUS dinner for me and while he was working on that, I was pondering on what to do with the strawberries we had sitting in our fridge. My first thought was to make a fresh strawberry pie. I have a really good recipe that I thought I'd try. But then I remembered how long it took to make. That was out!

I decided to use the container of strawberry glaze to mix with sliced strawberries to make a quick, fresh strawberry pie. And using a graham cracker crust would make it even more quick. So I sat on my couch picturing this pie I was going to make, when all of a sudden, there was a flash of chocolate (genious, really). That's when I decided to make this pie a chocolate strawberry pie, and boy am I glad I did. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!!!! Everyone LOVED it! And I loved how quick and easy it was.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/4 C. chocolate graham cracker crumbs (or you could use 1 1/2 c. oreos and no sugar)

1/4 c. sugar

6 T. melted butter

Mix together and press into a 9 inch (I used a 9 1/2 inch) pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Or you could chill the uncooked crust for 45 mintues instead. But since I was going for the quick option, I baked it.

While the crust is cooling, combine one container of strawberry glaze with 2 lbs. halved strawberries. Dump into cooled crust and refrigerate. When you're ready to serve the pie, slice it and drizzle (or glob) warmed hot fudge sauce over top. Soooooo easy and yummy too!!!

Just take a look at this picture for a minute and try to taste the sinful combination of chocolate and strawberries. Now go make it; you'll be glad you did!!!

Death By Chocolate Trifle

First, a quick explaination, I've been extremely busy lately and will still be for the next week or two. So, I'm not so sure about how diligent I'm going to be adding more recipes until I get moved into our new home (hopefully next weekend). So, don't give up on me, more will be coming, I promise!!! But for my last post, until I get moved in, I leave you with a sweet treat!

Here's what you'll need:

9x13 inch pan of brownies, homemade or from a mix (I used a mix due to lack of time)
1 large pkg. chocolate fudge instant pudding
12 oz. container Cool Whip
Toffe Bits (I use about half of a bag)

Bake your brownies, cutting off the edges and cubing once cooled.

Using a trifle bowl,

make a layer of brownie cubes and sprinkle with toffee bits.

Then make a layer of pudding.

Top that with a layer of Cool Whip and sprinkle that liberally with toffee bits.

Start your layers over again - brownies, pudding, Cool Whip, and toffee bits. The top layer of Cool Whip I like to decorate by making fun little spikes. All you have to do is use the back of a spoon, touch it on to the Cool Whip and quickly pull up. Do this all over the top layer for a fun look.

Yum, yum, yum!!! This is one of the easiest desserts I make and it tastes so good and looks very impressive. You can also do the same thing in individual cups. It's super cute.

And trifles are one of the best things in the world. You can make your layers using anything you want! You can use chocolate and strawberries, or pound cake with raspberries and blueberries. Or try this specific dessert with oreos or the mint oreos (which I've done before and everyone loved them!). The possibilities are endless.

So if you don't have a trifle bowl, I would highly suggest getting one. No matter what you put in it (I also like to make a fresh fruit salad in mine), it makes the presentation more spectacular and they only cost about $10-$20. Enjoy!!!