Ground Beef Cheesy Noodle Casserole

Ingredients
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 2 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce *
• 6 ounces of egg noodles
• 1 (4 ounce) cream cheese, softened
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup sour cream
• Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef; drain fat. Add next 5 ingredients and simmer. Cook noodles; drain. Mix cream cheese with green onions and sour cream in a small bowl. Add cheese mixture to hot, drained noodles and mix well. In a 9 inch pan, alternate layers of sauce and noodles. Top with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

You can use the tomato sauce that has basil, oregano & garlic

This has been one of my new favorite meals and if you don't have tomato sauce you can blend some diced tomatoes and that will work as well.

Oreo Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 jar (about 12 ounces) caramel ice cream topping
2 Hershey chocolate candy bars broken into small pieces
1 package Oreo cookies
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 half gallon containers of ice cream - I used chocolate and cookies and cream

Directions:

1. Combine the caramel ice cream topping and the candy bar pieces in a microwave safe dish and microwave for about 1 minute, or until the chocolate is melted.
2. Lightly spray the inside of a 9" pan with cooking spray.
3. Place 24 cookies in a Ziploc bag and crush them into small pieces. Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted butter, then press the cookie crumb mixture into the bottom of your pan, forming a crust.
4. Chop up 12 cookies, set aside.
5. Scoop half of one flavor of ice cream into the crust, pressing into an even layer. Drizzle with 1/3 of the caramel-chocolate sauce and 1/3 of the chopped Oreos. Then, scoop half of the second flavor of ice cream over the first layer, pressing it into an even layer. Cover it with 1/3 of the caramel-chocolate sauce and 1/3 of the Oreos. Scoop the remaining flavor of the first ice cream around the edges of the pan and the remaining second flavor into the middle. Drizzle with the remaining sauce and Oreos.
6. Wrap loosely in foil and freeze until firm (at least 4 hours, overnight is best).

*Adapted from a Pampered Chef Recipe

Grandpa's Baked Beans

Ingredients:
Size #5 can pork and beans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 small white onion, chopped
1 cup BBQ sauce
2 TB dark molasses
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 package smoked sausage links/cocktail links
Liquid smoke to taste (just a little goes a long way)

Directions:
Mix the BBQ sauce, molasses, mustard, and salt together. Then add the brown sugar, pork and beans, onion, sausage links, and liquid smoke. If possible, chill overnight, but at least for 3 hours. Bake at 350 for 30 - 45 minutes, serve immediately.

Ashley's Bountiful Brownies

Ingredients:
1 box of Brownie mix
Rice Crispies
1 bag of Chocolate Chips. ( I like milk chocolate chips)
Peanut Butter
1 Large jar of Marshmellow Cream

Step 1:
Make brownies according to packaging. I usually get the 9x13 pan size box. Any brownie mix will do. After the brownies bake let them cool.

Step 2:
Smear marshmellow cream all over the brownies. I find that if you heat the marshmellow cream up a little it makes smoothing it all over easier.

Step 3:
Melt 1 bag of chocolate chips. After the chips are melted, add enough rice crispies so that they are well coated, and there isn't excess chocolate. Or add enough rice crispies to cover the pan size you are using. At this point you can leave as is, or you can add a scoop of peanut butter to taste.

Step 4:
Put in fridge at least 1 hour before serving. You don't want to serve these babies warm.

Some drizzle caramel over the top before serving. You can add hot fudge, or any other toppings you would like.

Just make sure you put them in the fridge before you serve them. The marshmellow creme will melt and cause your topping to run off the brownie. That makes them not so bountiful!

Frog Eye Salad

1 box Acini Di Peppi pasta. Bring to boil, cook for 10 minutes, drain and cool.

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice

Mix sugar, eggs and pineapple juice together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring very frequently, until thick. Cool and mix together with the pasta. Refrigerate for a few hours or over night.

Remove from the fridge and add:
1 can tidbit pineapple
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 17 oz. container of Cool Whip
10 oz. package of mini marshmallows

Mix gently and serve.

Spicy Ginger Pasta

Spicy Ginger Pasta -
When I found this recipe, it originally called for chicken and broccoli - no peppers. But since we're not big meat eaters around here and I can never have enough veggies, I nixed the chicken and added the peppers. I think it's 100 times better (any veggies would be great in this dish). Also, careful with the ginger and red pepper flakes. This dish can get super spicy in hurry if you're too generous with either.

8 – 10 oz Angel hair spaghetti
1 cup Broccoli florets
1/2 Red pepper
1/2 Green pepper
1/2 Yellow pepper
½ cup chopped peanuts

Sauce:1 cup Kraft Toasted Sesame dressing (I have always used the low-fat version of this dressing to make it a bit healthier and it's still packed with flavor).
3 Tb Soy Sauce
½ tsp Garlic powder
¼ - ½ tsp Red pepper flakes
½ tsp freshly grated ginger. I really love the ginger, so I never measure. I do WAY more than ½ tsp. I just keep adding and adding.

Directions: Cook pasta according to package. When there is 3 minutes left, add the broccoli. Meanwhile, in a fry pan add a bit of olive oil (or plain Veg oil). Fry peppers. (When frying, I turn the heat way up to get the pan super hot before adding the peppers. It browns the peppers a bit, while keeping them a bit crunchy). Add the sauce to the pan. Turn down heat and saute until pasta is ready - makes a nice reduction sauce.
Put pasta in bowl. Pour sauce on top. Gently mix. Sprinkle peanuts on top.

Turkey & Swiss with Spicy BBQ dip

Turkey & Swiss sandwich with Spicy BBQ dip - Ok, this sounds so basic, but trust me the combo of the toasted sandwich with the magic dip (we may as well say it's magic because that's how it tastes in your mouth), makes this one of our favs.

1 Loaf french bread
3/4 lb deli turkey (make sure you get the yummy turkey from the deli. It makes all the difference.)
Provolone and Swiss cheese
Red Leaf lettuce or spinach
Roma Tomato
Red onion
Avocado (you can slice them, but we like to smash the avocado to it's more like a spread. Makes dipping a lot easier too).

Dip: And yes, this is hands down, the-not-to-be-trifled-with, money maker.
½ c brown sugar
½ c BBQ sauce (spicy honey from Kraft is best. Gives it a bit of a kick with a touch of sweetness)½ c water

Cut bread length-wise (don't cut all the way through). Place turkey on one side, and cheese on the other. Broil on low until cheese is bubbling and browned. While sandwich is cooking, heat ingredients for dip in small pot. Heat until sugar is dissolved. When sandwich is done, dress with toppings, cut into slices, and serve with hot dip.

Baked Cheese Dip

2 Loaves French Bread
16 oz Cream Cheese
8 oz Sour Cream
8 oz Salsa
3 C Shredded Cheese (I like to get the pre-shredded Mexican Blend)
Hollow out one loaf of bread by cutting off the top and pulling out the bread. Place it on a cookie sheet at bake for 5 min. at 450 degrees just to crisp it up.
Mix all the other ingredients together. Spoon into baked bread loaf and place bread lid back on top. Wrap in aluminum foil, place on cookie sheet. Bake 1.5 hrs at 350 degrees.
Cut the other loaf into chunks for dipping.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:
11 ounces dry Fettucini pasta
1 TB butter
2 tsp balsalmic vinegar
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken
5 ounces Pesto sauce (I use Classico Traditional Basil Pesto)

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, add the vinegar, and sautee the mushrooms and pine nuts. Add the chicken when mushrooms become tender. Heat until the chicken becomes warm.

Toss the pasta, pesto sauce, and mushroom/chicken mixture together and serve.

Makes two large servings.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

a small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

Lime Slush

Lime slush!

1 Can of Limeade
3 Cups of Sugar
8 Cups of Water
Juice of 6 Limes

Freeze, Let thaw for 1 hour. Serve with Sprite or 7 UP

Porcupine Grill Balsamic Dressing

1/2 cup honey
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
½ tsp. sesame oil
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar

This dressing is super yummy!

White Chicken Chili

This recipe is so easy!!

Ingredients:
· 1-2 lbs. chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
· (can use canned chicken or turkey chunks but I think the chicken breast is better)
· 4 15 oz. cans Northern White Beans, do not drain
· 2 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
· 4 4oz. cans chopped green chilies
· (can add or subtract depending on spiciness desired)
· 1 T. dried minced onion
· 2 tsp. Garlic powder
· 2 tsp salt
· 2 tsp. Cumin
· 2 tsp. Oregano
· 1 tsp. Black pepper
· can also add ½ tsp cayenne pepper if desired
· 2 c. sour cream
· 1 c. milk, half and half or whipping cream

Method:

Pour all ingredients into a large pot. Bring to slow boil, add sour cream and milk, half and half or whipping cream.
This makes a lot! Usually half of this feed a family.

Sorry there isn't a picture, I'll have to make it again and take a picture.

Homemade Oreo's

1 devil's food cake mix
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs

Mix the above ingredients together. Roll the dough into dime-sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. Don't make the cake as you normally would just put it in the mixer. Once mixed it will give you a "crummy" batter but when you roll the batter everything sticks together.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool cookies.

FROSTING:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cube of butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Mix all of frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost BACKS of cookies and place together to make sandwich cookie.

I found that I had too much frosting left over so you might want to half this recipe to start out with.

Buckeye Bars

I got this recipe from Mallory and they are delicious!

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
22 NILLA Wafers, crushed
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 of 8-oz. tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

LINE 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Beat butter and peanut butter with mixer until blended. Mix in wafer crumbs. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing well after each addition. Press onto bottom of pan.

MICROWAVE Cool Whip and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir. Microwave 15 to 30 sec. or until chocolate is melted; stir until blended. Spread over peanut butter layer.

REFRIGERATE 2 hours. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan before cutting to serve.

Fabulous Oatmeal Butterscotch (or chocolate) Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375
cream together:
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups butter
2 tsp. vanilla
4 med. eggs

sift together:
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
5 cups rolled oats

Gradually mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Then add 2 bags of chips (chocolate, butterscotch). Tip... split the dough in half; add chocolate chips to one half and butterscotch to the other (White chocolate chips and macadamia nuts are good.)

Shape into golf ball size mounds and place on lightly sprayed cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. (Will be under-done) Let stand 5 - 10 minutes; then place on cooling rack.

The full recipe makes a lot of cookies...I usually half the recipe and only use one kind of chips. They are super good!

Chicken Tortilla Soup---SUPER easy

Things you will need:

2 Chicken Breasts

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 T Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Chili Powder

4 Cans Chicken Broth

16 oz jar of Salsa (any salsa will do, I used Medium Pace Picante Chunky Salsa)

15 oz Canned Corn (drained)

15 oz Canned Black Beans (drained and rinse well)

Sour Cream, Tortilla Chips, Shredded Cheese to Garnish

Empty the cans of Chicken Broth into a large pan

Put Chicken Breast in hole in with the Chicken Broth. (I used chicken tenders so they would cook faster)

Turn the burner on High

Add all of your ingredients

Cook until the chicken is done

Once the chicken is done take it out of the soup and shred it. You can cube it or cut it into little pieces but I found that if you shred it, there is more to go around and you get a piece of chicken in every bite.

Next time I make this I am going to make it with 3 cans of Chicken Broth because the soup is very soupy and I like a "thicker" soup.

I put a dallop of sour cream and some shredded cheese on top. I also garnished it with chips, however you can crush them up and put them in the soup too.

Pepper Potatoes- Not spicy

Doesn't that look delish?

Here's how I did it.

8 small red potatoes
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Orange Pepper
1/4 of an Onion (to taste)

I cubed the potatoes so they would cook faster. I added a little extra virgin olive oil so the potatoes wouldn't stick to the bottom of the pan

Once the potatoes were almost done I added all of the peppers and onions. You can determine how long to cook this by choosing if you want a crisp or softer pepper.

I added a little salt and pepper. (to taste)

We paired this with apple sausage and it was a tasty meal, however add some seasoned meat and you have a Fajita mixture.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup plain yogurt

2 cups ritz crackers (crushed)

3Tb. parmesan cheese

1 and a 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1tsp. seasoning salt

2/3 cup melted butter (I used 1 cube instead of 2 cubes of butter)


Combine crushed ritz crackers, garlic, seasoning salt, and parmesan cheese in a flat dish. Dip the chicken breasts in the yogurt, then in the cracker mixture.

Place in a pan. pour melted butter over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

Household Tips

These were sent in an email to me and I thought I would share:

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. It really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for- get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away! To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar- row openings.

Reducing Static Cling Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and... ta da!... static is gone.

Measuring Cups Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out. Also I have heard that spraying the inside of the cup with PAM or the like will let sticky stuff slide right out.

Foggy Windshield? Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil- ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!