Lazy Cake Cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest of course, but it was super-easy! The cookies turned out moist and flavorful. You could easily substitute different cake mixes or additions for different flavor combinations.

One yellow cake mix

Two eggs

Five tablespoons of melted butter

Two cups of chocolate chips (I used MMs too.)

Mix ingredients. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cut into bars.

Bell Pepper and Beef Southwest Skillet

This is a recipe I’ve made a few times for the field and the guys really like it. They say, “Amanda, that was good.” As you can tell, it is kind of a big deal. ;) Seriously, though, you should try this. They do really seem to like it.




Ingredients:
1 pound of hamburger
1 16 ounce can of beef broth (can substitute beef bouillon cubes and water)
1 16 can of diced tomatoes with or without green chiles
1 can of black beans
1 package of taco powder
1 each- large GREEN Bell pepper and large YELLOW or RED bell pepper (can just use green if that is all you have).
2 cups of instant white rice
11/2 cups of Mexican or Monetary cheddar cheese (really, any cheese will do).

Other ingredients you can add, but aren’t necessary:
More beans- Black Eyed Pease, Chili Beans, Black Beans etc.
Garlic or Onion Powder
Cilantro
Onion fried with the Hamburger
Jalepeno

Cooking Directions:
BROWN meat in large skillet (may want to use a 3-4 inch pot). Stir in broth and tomatoes; bring to boil.

ADD peppers and rice and taco powder; stir. Cover; simmer on low heat 5 min. or until rice is tender.

ADD can of black beans and any other ingredients you choose.

TOP rice mixture with cheese; place lid on skillet allowing heat to penetrate the mixture and melt the cheese.

Can serve alone or with any of these ingredients:
Doritos or Tortilla Chips or Torillas to serve with
Sour cream

No-Knead Bread

Before Christmas, I received an e-mail advertising different books. One of the books was Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. It's about no-knead yeast breads. After looking at it on Amazon, I searched for no-knead breads and found a recipe online to try. I started the bread last Saturday afternoon and baked it between church and Sunday dinner. It turned out really good. The outside was crusty and the inside was soft.

If you have a large, oven-safe, lidded pot, dutch oven, or casserole dish and you like homemade bread, you should give this a try. If you don't have the right cooking vessel, borrow one. I borrowed Mom's 5L Corningware baking dish. Yes, it's a little smaller than the 6-8 qt. size recommended, but different reviews of other recipes calling for a similar size cooking vessel had positive comments on even using a 4 qt. dish.

Click here for the recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html.

Click here for a related article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html.

Brownie Cheesecake Pie

This recipe is courtesy of a box of brownie mix. Mom stumbled across it when I was a freshman in college. We made it a number of times. I took it up to college with me a couple of times. It doesn't take long for a full pan to disappear in a wing full of girls.

I decided to pull the recipe out for a family Christmas party. It had been too long since we've made this.

Brownie Cheesecake Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (We substitute an Oreo pie crust.)
8 oz cream cheese
3 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla
3 eggs
1 (15.1 oz) pkg Pillsbury Thick ‘n Fudgy Hot Fudge Swirl Deluxe Brownie Mix
1/4 c. oil
2 T. water
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, 1 egg; beat until smooth. Set aside fudge packet. Combine brownie mix, oil, 1 T. water, and 2 eggs; beat 50 strokes with spoon. Spread 1/2 brownie mix on the bottom of the crust. Spoon and carefully spread cream cheese mixture over brownie layer. Top with remaining brownie mix. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350° for 40-50 min. Microwave hot fudge in a bowl for 30 seconds. Stir in 1 T. water. Drizzle fudge over pie. Cool completely (about 3 hrs). Store in refrigerator.

White Trash... Classy, huh?

I found this recipe earlier this month and whipped up a bunch earlier this week. It was so easy to make! It literally took 15 minutes to whip up. I halved the recipe and still had plenty. The original recipe came from Heather's Helpings blog. Here's a link to the post:

http://heathershelpings.com/2011/12/11/white-trash/

I packaged them in ziplock baggies and stapled scrapbook paper on the top. Thanks Pinterest for the idea, and thanks Heather for the recipe!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

These are the ONLY Christmas cookies that we made when I was growing up. We usually make a double batch of the recipe shown below. Mom said when she copied it over she tripled the recipe from the original. This is a recipe that Grandma Sites makes each year for Christmas, along with a handful of others.

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. oleo
3 beaten eggs
4 1/2 T. milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
4 1/2 c. flour

Roll out 1/8” thick on floured board. Cut in desired shapes. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake at 400° for 5-8 min.

We DO NOT frost these cookies! People think we're weird but these cookies get sprinkled with colored sugar instead of getting frosted. These are the only cookies I think of when I'm hungry for Christmas cookies.

My brother and I like these just barely cooked through. Seth calls them burnt when they have just a hint of tan color on the bottom. Mom likes what Seth calls really burnt ones, the ones where the bottom is a nice toasty brown color.

Daddy Bread

This is a recipe I stumbled upon through e-mails from Lehman's Hardware Store. Aunt Deb and Uncle Gary love going there when they go to Holmes County. I've ordered a few things online from Lehman's, so now I get the e-mails on various deals. There was one on a bread bowl that had a link to this recipe.

Like the Four Cheese Chicken Fettuccine, this was part of the last meal I made for Kurt before he proposed.

Here's the link to Daddy Bread. I've only made it once, but I intend to make it again. It was very good!

Try it this holiday season. It makes three loaves, so you can keep one for home and take a couple to family gatherings.