Monday, December 31, 2007

CHEESE BALL

This cheese ball is a New Year's Eve tradition for us.
I think I've been making it since Jr. high school.
I make it in the morning so it can chill in the frig all day.
Here it is going into the frig this morning
:



Cheese Ball
2 packages cream cheese
2 packages thin sliced beef , diced
2 t. worcestershire sauce
diced green onions, or 2 or 3 T. diced onion


Mix all together, form into ball, refrigerate, & eat. Yum. :)
I hardly ever remember to get green onions, so I usually just dice a few tablespoons of regular onion.


And here's our snack spread for tonight, although I did forget to set the chips out.
1st there's the all important, super traditional Chex Mix! And look at this wonderful, huge, awsome bowl I got for Christmas from my S-I-L! It is HUGE & I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!


And here's the cheeseball with crackers, cheese in a can, chip dip, cheese & summer sausage, & olives. This is snack heaven. :) I will be grazing all evening.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
MAY GOD FILL YOU TO OVERFLOWING WITH HIS BLESSINGS.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Oatmeal Peanutbutter Scotchies

These oatmeal cookies won the Mrs. Fields & iVillage 30th Anniversary Cookie Contest
Oops, that link didn't work. Here's the link to that actual cookie winner:
http://photos.ivillage.com/food/mrsfields/2007/04/oatmeal_peanut_butter_scotchie.html
I also saw Claire make them here:
http://cookiedoc.blogspot.com/2007/12/cooking-with-kaitlyn.html
I also saw them over at Cookie Madness, but now I can't find her link.
We really love oatmeal scotchies, so we really enjoyed these too.
Here they are in a cookie jar my s-i-l gave me years ago.
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Scotchies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter (not the sugar free kind)
4 1/2 cups rolled oats (can do all old fashioned or do half old fashioned and half instant depending on your texture preferences)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 whole eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 bag of butterscotch chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in oats, soda, butterscotch chips and nuts until combined. Drop by spoonful on a greased cookie sheet or use parchment paper. Bake 350 degrees for 12 minutes (brown on bottom and some browning on top). Cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Makes 72 cookies.

And these are delicious with tea for breakfast. Oatmeal is a breakfast food, right?
:)




I really love our Christmas plates. My brother got them for us one year, & we always use them now in December. Helps to put us in the Christmas mood. It's now about time to pack them up for the year.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Mint Chocolate Cookies


I have always LOVED chocolate & mint, together or seperately.
So when I saw this recipe at Shazam in the Kitchen, I HAD to try it.
They are very good. They are nice & moist, almost like a brownie.

Mint Chocolate Cookies
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp mint extract
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in small bowl. In separate bowl, mix together melted chocolate, oil, sugar and mint. Add eggs one at a time stirring until blended. Add flour mixture into chocolate mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least 4 hours (no more than 2 days). Scoop out 1 tsp at a time into small balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place balls about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on the pan for a minute before transferring to a rack to cool completely.


I did one thing differently.
I doubled the recipe. :)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Sunday, December 16, 2007

DAD'S HOT CHOCOLATE MIX


I know this is a common recipe, but I call it Dad's Hot Chocolate Mix because he always made it. He always made a huge batch & kept it in a HUGE tupperware thing. Then he'd fill empty coffee jars (the instant coffee jars) & give them to us. He'd always refill them too.
I have 1 jar left that he gave me. I enjoy drinking it, but am sort of dreading finishing this jar.
I'll just have to start making it myself. That would make him happy. :)


DAD'S HOT CHOCOLATE MIX
1 Box (8 oz.) non-fat instant powdered milk
1 box (16 oz.) Quick chocolate milk mix
1 jar (11 oz.) powdered coffee creamer
3/4 c. powdered sugar
Mix all ingredience together & store in coffee cans or large tupperware. When ready to use, mix 1/3 cup into 1 cup of boiling water. ( I think my dad made
double double batches of this!)
I love creamy hot chocolate, so I never use water, I use milk.
Sometimes I put marshmellows on top, & sometimes whipped cream like the picture. And it looks really fancy to sprinkle just a pinch of chocolate milk mix powder on the whipped cream.
I drank the above cup of hot chocolate after watching the kids play in the snow, & wearing furry warm slippers while reading a Christmas letter from a friend.
It was perfect.
:)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Another contest at 5 Minutes for Mom

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away this Insignia Shelf System!


Here is a quick rundown of the product features of the Insignia® - 75W DVD/CD/HD Radio Compact Shelf System with USB Port
CD/DVD playback compatible with DVD/DVD-RW/DVD+RW/CD/CD-R/MP3/MP4
Digital AM/FM with 60 presets
HD Radio receiver
iPod device docking with charger and function control
Front USB input
Audio outputs: optical and coaxial
Video outputs:componet and S-video

You can win this system by entering at 5 Minutes for Mom or Best Buy has an excellent sale on it right now as well so you can pick one up for someone on your list. The system is already affordable at its regular price of $159.99, but right now you can jump over to Best Buy and grab one at $127.99 and save $32! (There is still time for guaranteed Christmas delivery too. Check out Best Buy for details.) (copied & pasted from their site)




Monday, December 10, 2007

HOMEMADE BEAN WITH BACON SOUP

This is probably one of our favorites! We've always loved Campbell's Bean with Bacon soup.
So when I saw this recipe over at the
W@H board, I knew we'd like it. Here is the origional recipe:
HOMEMADE BEAN WITH BACON SOUP
Soak 1 bag of navy beans in water for 3 hours (or overnight). Drain & add 9 cups of low salt chicken broth. (you can use boullion but it is too salty, if you use this, use only 5 cubes per 9 c. water.)
Meantime, melt 1 stick butter & saute 1 chopped onion & 5 chopped carrots. When onions start to carmelize, dump it all into the pot of beans & chicken stock.
Fry up half a pound of chopped bacon. Drain the grease & dump the bacon into the pot of beans.
Add 2 dashes of liquid smoke.
When boiling, cover & simmer for 4 hours or so, until thick & the beans are tender.


I always double this recipe, but I don't double the stock.
I use 2 bags of navy beans & 10-12 cups chicken stock. I usually have homemade stock in the freezer, but when I don't have enough, I have added canned & it's fine. So I double everything but the stock. I think 18 cups of stock would be too much. (we like thick soup)
Also, I put my beans to soak when I go to bed. I rinse them around noon & start the soup by 1 or 2:00 in the afternoon.
You cannot believe how this smells when it's cooking. Oh.My.Word. It is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!
A doubled recipe makes a large stock pot full. It's just perfect for a family of 4 for 2 days, with maybe a little left over to freeze for a rainy day.
And like most soups, it's even better on day 2. Sitting in the frig overnight the beans soak up more liquid & it gets really thick. You can even see how much thicker it is in this picture, taken on day 2:

Sunday, December 9, 2007

CARAMEL DIPPING SAUCE


Our daughter had this at chuch a few weeks ago & had a fit at how good it was.
So I told her to get the recipe. I was suprised to see that it had sour cream in it. She said that all she knew was that it tasted like caramel & that it was very good. So we bought some sour cream & made a double batch - which was a mistake (sort of) because it makes a lot. :)
Caramel Dipping Sauce
1 Stick of butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 8oz. sour cream
1 t. vanilla
Melt butter & brown sugar on top of stove. Add sour cream & vanilla. Let it simmer for about 1 minute. Let it cool down & then refrigerate.
We couldn't wait that long & we had some warm. We dipped apple into it & it was delicious. Because it was still warm, it was a little runny. Well, not really runny, just not 'thick, caramel like', if that makes sense. We have a lot since I doubled the recipe so I had to put it in a Country Crock butter bowl. It filled it about 3/4 full! LOL
The next day I got the munchies & pulled out a bag of pretzles to dip in it. Oh my goodness.....SO GOOD. You know how sweet & salty go so well together!
You do taste the sour cream, but believe it or not, it still tastes like caramel. Or maybe even a little butterscotchy.
It is good. I was trying to think of something else to dip into it & I thought it might be good drizzled on BROWNIES !

Saturday, December 8, 2007

LORI'S MOM'S CREME DE MENTHE CAKE

I really wish I had a better picture of the whole cake.
I've been having trouble with the flash settings on our camera. I think I've finally figured out a better flash setting, but this picture was taken back in August, before I messed around with the settings.


Lori's Mom's Creme de Menthe Cake

1 box white cake mix
liquid for cake along with 4 Tablespoons creme de menthe (to equal liquid for cake)Bake as directed, cool. ( sometimes I use more creme de menthe)
Cover cooled cake with a jar of chocolate ice cream topping.
Mix large container of whipped cream with 4 Tablespoons of creme de menthe & spread on cake. (I also add a bit of green food coloring.)
Cover cake with shaved chocolate from a Hershey's bar.

YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM!




Thanks to my good friend Lori for this recipe! She gave us this recipe a few years ago & we LOVE it so much. Our teenage daughter requests it now for her birthday every year. She's also got a hankerin' for me to fix it again.
I have never put ice cream fudge on cake before. It is SO GOOD! It makes me not understand why I haven't done this before!
I think this is the best cake I've ever had.
Ever.
:)
Thank you Lori!

Updated April 29, 2008
I now use the BIG Hershey's candy bar & look at the difference it makes!
So much more chocolate! It makes the chocolate curls on the above cake look pretty sad....lol!

Announcing the Holiday Bundle

**This is going to be a 'sticky' & stay at the top through Dec. 8. So scroll on down for any newer entries. **
There is a wonderful giveaway over at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Jocelyndixon/432336/

I am supposed to write about a special memory. I'm a terrible writer, so just bear with me. lol
Well, I have 2 children, so I can't just write about one of them.
Both of my babies were born just weeks after Christmas. They are 12 years and 3 days apart.
My 1st was born on a cold, icy, Saturday morning less than 2 weeks after Christmas. We didn't call anyone when we left for the hospital because the weather was terrible & we knew we had plenty of time since it takes a long time to give birth to your 1st baby. Well, 2 hours after arriving at the hospital our beautiful daughter was born! Family members started arriving an hour or so later. :)
Then 12 years & 3 days later, our son was born. After a full day of babysitting 4 or 5 little ones, those familiar tummy squeezes were happening every 2-4 minutes, so we left quickly for the hospital! This time we called our family while we were on the way to the hospital. An hour after arriving, our wonderful son was born!
Our children are our biggest blessings, & their births are my fondest memories.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Win an Incredible Prize Pack from Parents® Toys

5 Minutes for Mom are having another one of their wonderful giveaways! They’re giving away a prize pack of goodies from Parent’s Toys.
Check it out & enter soon!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY


Saturday, December 1, 2007

Bean Salad


1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
2-3 heaping T. mayo
1/2 t. salt
pepper to taste
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. garlic salt or powder
2-3 T. onions, diced small
2 celery stalks, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced
Combine everything in a bowl & refrigerate for a few hours.
I'm not a big bean salad fan, by my dh & ds LOVE this. :)