Worms in dirt: fast version

Because sometimes you just need it RIGHT NOW!

The toddler didn't want to wait and neither could I since she seemed to cry nonstop until she got it. And I had things I had to finish up

Hunts pudding (4 pack for $1 that was in food storage)

Oreo's (also from food storage.... don't you store oreo's?)

Gummy worms ($1. They come in handy more often than I would have thought)

Carmel apple cheesecake bars

Base:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apples:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

Caramel Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cups half-and-half or cream
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.

Balsamic Chicken

Oh my stars this is good chicken

I thought I would pass along the recipe. You can get it here.

I made three pans tonight. 

1-For me

2-my boss

3-my bed-rest friend.

triple layer mousse

or as I like to say, a kitchen disaster! I recommend making this but doing it in a plastic cup... or a jar! :) LOL

You can get the recipe from Martha Stewart

I did not let the whipping cream get hard enough. Apparently following directions is important. 

It was supposed to look like this. HA!

Oh well. They were. DELICIOUS!!!!

cupcake in a jar

Jars are good for so many things. Trapping bugs, canning gummy bears, holding cell for fairies, and the easiest and most fun way to eat a cupcake!

Super easy and the "new thing"according the my Rachael Ray Magazine. 

Just layer cake, frosting filling.. repeat. 

Serve and eat. ENJOY!

Pita Pizza with raisins

DON'T you Dar say GROSS! :)

Well, you can because I did. But McKay thought it would be fun to try so we made it and we will be adding this to our monthly menu. 

Pita Pizza idea we got from mom's post

We got the recipe from this months Rachel Ray Mag. (I have a subscription as a gift)

This is probably one of her best mag with SO MANY recipes!

Pita's (or pizza dough, it doesn't matter)

NO SAUCE!!! (we tried with and w/o and w/o is MUCH BETTER)

YOU WILL NEED:

swiss cheese

olives

Bacon chopped up

onions (sauteed with bacon and butter beforehand)

Golden Raisins (add to the onions and bacon)

add the swiss cheese. Then add the sauteed mix of raisins, onion and bacon. 

Top with olives and back until cheese is melted. 

You tastebuds will thank you. :)

Best soup ever

Here is a soup I made up from a soup recipe I tried at Christmas and I like this better since I have the ingredients already from food storage.

I freeze my sour cream when it goes on sale for 60cents and so I throw a whole carton in a big pan from the freezer.

1/3-1/2 c. powdered milk.

2 sm. cans tomato sauce

3 cans black beans

1 or 2 cans corn (I used one can)

chicken I had cooked and seasoned and frozen in the freezer

1 pkg. taco seasoning

about 20 corn tortillas broken up

cheese grated or block about a cup

pour in water to fill the rest of the pan up to the top (large pan)

It is a thick soup and won't need crackers. Cook it for awhile to melt cheese and so corn tortillas become like soup.

ok I know these instructions are random since I didn't measure anything but trust me it's the best soup ever and if theres just 2 of you freeze the rest but you'll be surprised how much you'll eat by yourself. If it still needs a little kick I add some salsa.

Have a bowl of grated cheese to top it off with.

Navojo Tacos

So I haven't made this for years but just saw my old recipe and decided to try it again.

Fried Dough
2 1/2-3 c. flour
1 c. water
1/2 t. salt
3 t. baking powder
Mix and then take small portions ( I flatten them to hand size so they get cooked thru)
Fry them in about an inch of oil in a pan. Make sure oil is medium hot not too hot to burn or too low so it takes too long to cook.
When done I made chicken chili (chicken from my freezer and 2 cans of beans and 1 can tomato sauce and taco seasoning) To make more healthy add lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.
Lex and Parks loved them.

Turkey Taquitos

Think Taco-roll ups. Think EASY and CHEAP. That is what a Turkey Taquito is my friends.

Turkey meat (on clearance for .50 for 1lbs) With onions, cilantro, taco seasoning and crushed red peppers. Basically make taco meat any way you like. 

 Fry white or corn tortillas just for a few seconds so they are soft and pliable. 

Add cheese and meat onto the tortilla and roll up. Bake for 15 minutes at 425*F.

Just until golden brown and cheesy (like me)

I had extra so instead of baking them, I froze them like this first. 

Then I put three to a baggy and now we have a quick grab and go lunch option

Yumm yumm yumm....

barbecue or Alfredo pizza pita

Here are some pita pizzas . I love barbecue sauce as my family knows so you can use that or the tomato based pizzas. I pull out seasoned chicken from my freezer already cooked and then add anything you want. Parker loves the peppers and I love the mozzarella cheese. I like pineapple but the kids don't You can top it with parsley. You can also use sausage instead of chicken but much more fattening. aggh.

My favorite is the alfredo sauce yum and you can use spinach or artichoke the ingredients I never use but will with this pizza. The reason I like pitas is that it's fast if you don't have time to make a crust.
ALFREDO SAUCE

4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup of cream
3/4 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese grated from a block

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the flour, salt, milk and cheese. It's important to stir fairly rapidly--cream, when heated, has a tendency to curdle. (I use milk for last fat)Once the ingredients have fairly well homogenized, turn the heat up to medium and stir constantly until the sauce has thickened. Turn the heat down and cover the sauce; Add more or less cheese depending on taste, remembering that adding too much will cause your sauce to thicken.