Feast Your Eyes: I Made and Ate It!

I have a secret - I read, collect, bookmark and save recipes like a collector of fine art orrrr, dare I say it - "a hoarder."  Or maybe I should say,  "My name is Laurie, and I'm a recipeaholic."  Yup, that's me!  I like recipes!  I like to read them and save them, that doesn't mean I ever make them!

There you have it - my deep, dark secret hoarding.  The good thing about having all these recipes is that when the feeling moves me, I can always come up with something new to make.  

Recently, I made two new recipes (new to me) that I think you will enjoy as much as my dinner guests did.  You heard me correctly, I like to use my friends as guinea pigs.  You might come to dinner and get a tried and true dinner or you might get something I've never made before!

First up:

Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles from Ourbestbites.com.  I have to tell you there is not much danger of cooking anything bad if you're making something from their cookbook.

I made this out of their cookbook but the recipe is also on their site (click on the picture for the link.)   I do like green beans and bacon but what really makes this delicious is the rice vinegar, garlic, & onion drizzle over the top.  This is delicious.  I also like that I could get this ready early in the day and then just pop it in the oven at dinner time.

Next:  Candy Apple Salad:

This recipe is from Allrecipes.com.  I have never made it before but it was easy and very delicious.  I exchanged the peanuts (I'm not a very big peanut fan) for pecans.  Other than that, I followed the recipe and it turned out wonderful.  




If you are a recipeaholic like me, get out those recipes and cook something new today or make these recipes.  You won't be disappointed!  

I'm not hoarding any new recipes today cause today is my baby's birthday and I'm making him his favorite meal for his birthday!  
Happy 26th, Mikey!  

~Laurie

Easy and Cool Summer Barbecue Recipes

This morning I was going through my hundreds of emails.  No, I'm not that popular, I just don't check it very often.  Everyone knows that if you send me an email that you want me to look at, you had better text me and tell me to check my email!  


There was a Pillsbury email before I got to the delete, delete, delete, not going to read anything else, just want to clear out my box point that I clicked on and I found some great recipes for our 100+ degree weather that we've been having.

1.  Cranberry, Bacon and Blue Cheese Pasta Salad


2.  Grilled Buffalo Chicken Strips


3.  Ginger Fruit Salad


4.  Miami Black Bean and Corn Salad


5.  Raspberry Lemonade Ice Pops


All of these recipes are super easy and look delicious. 


Also check out the coupon link at the top of the page.  There are some great money saving coupons.  If you make the Raspberry Lemonade Ice Pops, there is a coupon for Yoplait.  I have to say I am a little disappointed that there are not any coupons for any of the other products used in these recipes.


Also check out the partner coupons.  There is a $1.00 coupon for any Sally Hansen Nail Color product and a $1.00 coupon for Huggies Swimmies. And no I am not paid by Pillsbury or anyone else - we can only hope.


~Laurie

Feast Your Eyes > Easter Quiche

Is everyone ready for Easter - just in case you want to panic - it is this Sunday!  


Mr. Glossy Flossy and I are dashing around trying to get our yard pulled together for the Easter Egg hunt, and get the pool open and warmed up for the "Kids gotta swim, even if it's cold and rainy!" Easter swim.  It was 37 degrees yesterday when I got up and it rained and the wind blew . . . but, we're opening our pool.  Crazy, I know but blame this on my sister-in-law who owned this house and lovely pool before us.  She would open the pool up for an Easter swim and my oldest son said that when he was a kid that was the best part of Easter because he would go back to school and tell everyone that he swam on Easter!  So, we continue this crazy tradition!


By the time Sunday morning comes I will be ready for my breakfast Mimosa, fruit and Quiche.  This is the easiest Quiche ever and goes together quickly and effortlessly (which is about all the energy I have left by Easter morning.)  I prepared this recipe for the Rebel Housewife Bridal Shower - I know you're still waiting for the post.  You'll have to wait a little longer as it will be posted next week.  

QUICHE

1 T olive oil                               4 eggs, large

1 large sweet onion, diced           ¾ c. half and half

¾ tsp. kosher salt                      8 oz. Gruyere, grated

½ tsp. black pepper                   1/8 tsp. nutmeg

½ c. fresh parsley, chopped        Pie crust

 

Heat oven to 375^O.

Sauté diced onions, ½ tsp. of salt, and ¼ tsp. of pepper in olive oil until onions are softened.  Add parsley the last couple of minutes of cooking.

Whisk together eggs and half and half.  Stir in Gruyere, nutmeg, remaining salt, remaining pepper and the sautéed onions.

Place pie crust in pie plate and crimp edges.  Pour egg mixture into pie crust.

Bake about 40 minutes, until filling is set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let rest for 5 minutes.  Cut into wedges.

Note:  Staying true to my belief that recipes are an outline of how and what to put in a recipe not a strict guideline - I don't always put in the parsley and contain your excitement - it will turn out great.  Also, I put in close to 8oz of Gruyere, not exactly 8oz.  I also usually put chopped ham in it (don't tell anyone but I use ham lunch meat and chop it up.)  I add my ham to my sauteing onions about the last couple of minutes.  I've added mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, feel free to add any vegie that floats your boat!  I don't think you can mess up this recipe.  At the shower, this quiche was cooked at 350 degrees because I forgot the recipe and couldn't remember what to cook it on and it turned out great and was delicious.

~ Laurie

Feast Your Eyes > Sweet Treats From Salty Snacks

I admit it - I love chips, crackers, etc. To tell the truth I love sweets too, and mashed potatoes annnnd fried chicken, annnd cheesy bread. . .  Okay, back to my post.  


Do you love chips and crackers like I do?  Did you know that you can make some fantastic sweet treats from Saltines, pretzels, and potato chips?  What could be better than a salty sweet treat that is easy to make and delicious.  Believe me they are all delicious and the bonus is that they freeze or refrigerate well; so you can make a bunch of each and serve them later.  I'm making and freezing these for Easter, which isn't all that far away...

First up - Saltines.  Great for settling tummies but even better for making the best, melt-in-your-mouth toffee!  Tastes wonderful but is very budget friendly.

Chocolate Toffee

40 Saltine crackers, approximately
1 c. butter
1 c. light brown sugar
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate (I sometimes mix some of each)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a large jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with sides) with aluminum foil.


Arrange saltines side by side in jellyroll pan, salted side up.


In a saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour over the crackers evenly.  Put the jellyroll pan into the oven and bake for about 5 minutes until bubbly.  Remove from oven.


Sprinkle chips over crackers.  When the chips have melted, spread them over crackers.  If you want Almond Toffee, sprinkle chopped almonds (or any nut) over chocolate before it cools. 


Let pan cool a bit and then put pan in freezer for 15 or 20 minutes. When cool, break into pieces and store in airtight container. 

Next up is potato chips.  What's better than a Peanut Cluster?  Making Peanut Clusters does not get any easier than this.  Make the whole thing in the microwave annnnd your done!  This recipe is from Taste of Home.

Peanut Clusters

2 c. peanut butter chips
1 c. milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts
1 c. crushed ridged potato chips


Mix peanut butter chips and milk chocolate chips together.  Melt in microwave.  Follow the directions on the chip package for melting in microwave  - chips are incredibly easy to burn in the microwave. That's the voice of "I can burn anything" speaking.  


Stir chips until smooth.  Stir in peanuts and potato chips.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper.  Refrigerate until firm.  


Tips:  I sometimes use semi-sweet chips or a mix of both semi-sweet and milk chocolate.  I always double this recipe because one batch is never enough!

Last but not least - Pretzels.  This took a little more time because I have short, stubby fingers and am a little uncoordinated.  This isn't difficult, it just has a few more steps to make because you have to unwrap all those caramels and snack size chocolate and try not to eat them before you use them in the recipe!  Anything that you make with caramels and Hershey's bars is truly delicious!  This recipe is all over the internet using Rolos, which sounds delicious, but I didn't have Rolos - I had caramels and Hershey's snack bars.  (I might not need my elliptical if I didn't have caramels and candy bars in my house.)

Pretzel Snap Turtles

Caramels 
Hershey's snack size chocolate bars
Pretzel Butter Snaps


Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Unwrap caramels and cut in half.  Unwrap Hershey's snack size chocolate bars and break apart the four sections.


Place pretzel snaps on cookie sheet.  Place 1/2 caramel on top of each pretzel snap.  Bake for 10 minutes.


Remove from oven and place one square of Hershey's on top of caramel and squish down a little.  Place back in oven for 2 minutes.


Remove from oven and place pecan on top.  I didn't use a whole pecan, just a half or so.


Let pan cool a bit and then put pan in freezer for 15 or 20 minutes.


There you have it - salty snacks and sweet treats in one nice easy to make package!


~Laurie

Feast Your Eyes > Lighten Up!

I've been noticing that Pinterest has been overloaded lately with a flood of dieting and exercise tips, and low cal recipes. This has made me feel A) Inspired to get on a treadmill and B) Like I want to stick my head in the oven to block out all this annoying dieting talk... When I do get into these random health kicks, my brain gets all gun ho and Billy Blanks bootcampish but then my mouth wimps out like a traitor, and eats the leftover Valentine's day candy in the back of the pantry.

My only saving grace is that I make dinner for my family almost every day of the week and we eat fairly healthy and always homemade. We just had the best baked salmon with a yummy coleslaw side which everyone had seconds (and some thirds) of:

 Doesn't it look good?


This is a great low cal side dish is one of my smeazy (smart, easy, lazy) recipe standbys, that you can make under 6 minutes.

Jazzed Up Slaw

• 1 bag of coleslaw cabbage mix with carrots, or one head of green and red cabbage, shredded plus 1 1/2 C. matchstick carrots. 
• 1/2 C.- sliced almonds, toasted.
• 1/2 C. - Dried cranberries or raisins
• 4 - green onions with stalks, chopped
• 1/4 C. - chopped parsley
• Coleslaw dressing, Asian vinaigrette, or honey Dijon dressing.

Sometimes coleslaw dressings can have alot of sugar in them, and not be very low cal friendly, so check out different vinaigrettes or make your own, if that's an issue.

It's ridiculously good.

Seriously.

~Angela

Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate - Birthday Party

Hard to believe my oldest grandson is 10 years old.  Check out the "10" on the jeep banner I made for him.

One of our birthday traditions is that you get to pick your birthday meal and your dessert on your special day.  Sometimes the same meal is picked year after year.  Mr. 2Wicked use to pick turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing (yup, the whole Thanksgiving meal) for years and years.  Then one year he decided to have Salisbury Steak.  The Future Mrs. 2Wicked has had a Seafood Boil for three years.  We're not cake eaters but we are all "dessert" eaters.  Some of our favorite birthday desserts are Strawberry Pizza, Chocolate Pie, Apple Dumplings and Heavenly Cake.


My grandson picked Pineapple Meatloaf, baked potatoes, salad - without tomatoes, garlic bread, and his great Grandma's cherry pie, and last but not least green beans.  He was very specific about the green beans; he wanted the canned, not fresh, short chubby ones - too funny.  That's a pretty sensible meal for a ten year old.  I'm just glad he didn't pick steak and shrimp, that would have been a spendy meal for 15 people.  As it was I made meatloaf using 5 pounds of ground beef - that's a lot of meat loaf.


This meatloaf recipe is the best ever.  A couple of things that make it special are pineapple, corn flakes and the way that it's cooked.  I like to cook mine on a rack or broiler pan so that it doesn't sit in the grease.  This gives it a delicious crust.  I've been making it this way for years and once you've had it this way you won't want to make it in a loaf pan anymore.

PINEAPPLE MEAT LOAF

3 lbs lean ground beef                2 tsp salt

½ c. chopped onions                  1 can crushed pineapple,

2 eggs, beaten                             drained (reserve juice)

1c. crushed corn flakes              2/3 c. ketchup

1 c. ketchup

Combine beef, onions, egg, corn flakes, and 1 c. ketchup and most of pineapple.  Shape into two loafs on rack over pan.  Sprinkle with remaining pineapple.  Combine 2/3 c. ketchup with enough reserved pineapple juice to form a sauce.  Pour over meat loaf.  Bake at 425⁰ for 45 minutes covered with foil.  Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

Note:  That's a large can of pineapple.  When making the sauce it should be thick enough to sit on the meat loaf and not slide off.  Most of the time I use more than 2/3 c. ketchup.  I think because I make it into two loafs and I like a nice covering of sauce.  If you don't have enough just mix up some more.


Enjoy!  I'm going to go enjoy the meatloaf and pie that I plated so that I could take a picture for all of you!


-Laurie

Feast Your Eyes > Valentines Day Floats

I scream! You scream! We all have...kids!
Wait.
Is that how that rhyme goes?
Oh, that's right.
We all have ice cream! (Although I think the other works too...)

Well, Valentines Day Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Floats, to be exact. Gaze upon this concoction of yummy:

How cute is this? All that pink frothy-ness is just perfect for a Valentine's Day treat, don't you think?

First you pour this:

Then you scoop this:

Then you look like this:

Happy Slurping!

~Angela

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Chinese New Year

Happy New Year's - that's Chinese New Years to you.  


If you didn't know, today is Chinese New Years and the Year of the Dragon.  I like any reason to celebrate and Chinese New Years offers some unique opportunities.  






Reasons why I like Chinese New Years:




Clean House:  You know what they say about a great way to get your house in order is to have a party.  Well, Chinese New Year takes care of this because traditionally before the new year, homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away ill fortune and to welcome good luck.  I understand this because a messy house seems like ill fortune and when my house is clean anything seems possible.


Buy new clothing:  Any celebration where buying new clothes is involved is okay with me!!!  New clothing symbolizes a new beginning, and having more than enough things to use and wear in the New Year.  Also red clothing is often worn because the color red is believed to scare away evil spirits and bad fortune.  

New Clothes + Red = Good Fortune 

Family Gathering:  Celebrating with family, again for the same reason I have a get together on New Year's Day - I want to begin the year the same way I mean to continue - surrounded with family and friends.


Gifts:  Gifts are usually brought when visiting friends or relatives at their homes.  Yep, that's right, come and visit me and bring me a little gift - 'cause I like gifts.


Fireworks:  I like fireworks (just ask my neighbors.)  Enough said about that!


Have a little dinner party to celebrate.  I'm going to give you my recipe for Chinese Chicken Stew.  I don't know where this recipe came from as I've had it for years.

CHINESE CHICKEN STEW 

2 lbs. boneless skinless               2 cans chicken broth
   chicken                                       2 TBL cornstarch

2 tsp five spice powder               2 red bell peppers,

1 tsp red pepper flakes                  coarsely chopped

2 TBL peanut oil                         4 TBL soy sauce

2 onions, coarsely chopped         2 TBL sesame oil

16 oz. mushrooms, sliced            4 green onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced                Cooked rice

 

Toss chicken with five spice powder.  Season with red pepper flakes.  Heat peanut oil in large skillet.  Add chicken, cook and stir till chicken is brown and almost completely cooked.  Add onion, green pepper and garlic, saute till chicken is completely cooked.  Add chicken broth (reserving 1/4 c. broth for thickening), mushrooms, and soy sauce, simmer for about 40 minutes.  

Mix chicken broth and cornstarch together.  Stir in cornstarch mixture, sesame oil and green onions; cook another 10 minutes or so until stew is a nice thick consistency.

Serve over rice.

Now for the disclaimer:  I kind of think recipes are like a rough outline and you can use some or all of it.

Don't like mushrooms - don't add them.  

Red Peppers -I'm using the mini sweet peppers because that's what I have.  I've used green peppers before also.

Red Pepper Flakes - I've been known to use 2 tsp. red pepper flakes because I like this a little spicy.  

Chicken - I usually use 3 lbs of chicken. 

Peanut oil - If I don't have it, I use olive oil.

There you have it! 

For dessert, I made fun Fortune cookies.  I dipped them in Almond Bark and then dipped in sprinkles.  You can't go wrong with sprinkles and a fortune!

Now I'm off shopping so I can start the Chinese New Year with new clothing.

-Laurie

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Happy Birthday Mama!

My Mama had her 81st birthday!

WOW!!!!  81 - there's a lot of wisdom in my Mama.  Some things she taught me:

• Work hard.  If my Mom did a job, there was no such thing as half-ass (ass was not in her vocabulary - no swearing was another lesson but that one didn't take.)
• Pray every day.  If something is not going right with someone and you tell her, her reply will be: "I'll put them on my prayer list."
• Never borrow money unless you can make your payment if you're unemployed.  This happened to my Mom and Dad.  When they first were married they borrowed money for a car and my Dad got laid off.  They had a hard time making the payments (they did make the payments, though.)
• Grow a garden.  She said many times that they ate well because they had a garden.  This is a legacy that she has passed down to her children and grandchildren.
• Stand up straight.  I sometimes see slouchers and I think that they look uncomfortable in their skin - like their trying to shrink and go unnoticed.  You look more confident standing tall with great posture - and also if you're over 50, like I am, and you're starting to shrink you still look tall.  Thanks Mom for that lesson.  
• Suck your stomach in.  This really goes with stand up straight because it is impossible to slouch when you're sucking in your stomach.  A multi-benefit wisdom: looking confident, takes inches off your waist, and makes your abs stronger (try it for a half hour.)  Also impossible to slouch in a chair.
• Exercise every day.  I'm still working on learning this lesson.  It seems to be hit or miss with me.
• Dance around the house.  My Mama would put an album on the hi-fi (for you young'uns, there used to be a turntable that played music, it wasn't just used by a DJ to scratch!) and dance around the house.  She just asked me the other day if I ever dance around the house.  Sometimes, but not enough.  After she asked me that I came home, danced around the house and felt amazingly good.  My Mama has a lot of wisdom.
• Put others first.  My Mama always asks about everyone - you, hubby, kids, grandkids, friends, etc.  She is genuinely interested in everyone's well-being.
• Make things, it's good for you, your brain, and your well-being.  Mama has made some amazing things over the years for her loved ones.  Now you know where Miss Angela and I get it!

That's her with one of her three favorite people, her grandson (the other two faves are her other two grandsons)!

Happy 81st Birthday Mama!!!!!!  We had a party for her and for dessert we had "Heavenly Cake."  The perfect dessert for an "Angel." Here's the recipe for you to make for your "Angels."

HEAVENLY CAKE

1 white jiffy cake                        2 sm. pkgs instant vanilla
1 20 oz crushed pineapple,            pudding
  drained                                      2 c. milk
8 oz. pkg cream cheese               9 oz. cool whip
½ c. milk                                     chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven 350^o.  Bake jiffy cake in 9X13 pan for 20 minutes.  Cool completely.  Spread drained pineapple over top.  In small bowl mix cream cheese & ½ c. milk.  In another bowl mix pudding with 2 c. milk.  Mix pudding and cheese together.  Pour over pineapple - spread evenly.  Spread cool whip on top.  Sprinkle with nuts or coconut or both.

I didn't use a  jiffy cake - I'm not even sure they make them anymore.  This is an old, old recipe.  I used half the batter of a cake mix and made cupcakes with the rest of the batter.

Happy 81st Birthday, Mama! 


-Laurie

Feast Your Eyes > Clam Chowder

Baby, It's cold out there.  Okay it's not really but yesterday it was 26 degrees at 6AM, today it's 44 degrees at 6AM.  There is nothing like a bowl of soup, chowder or stew when it's cold.


I just read that January is GO month as in "Get Organized", but I think January should be SOUP month.  In honor of my designating January as SOUP month I am going to share my easy Clam Chowder (Potato soup) recipe with you.


A few things that you should know about the way I cook:

• I sometimes forget to put an ingredient in.
• I hardly ever salt anything unless I'm following a new recipe or I am baking.  I don't do this intentionally, it just happens.

I have never had this recipe turn out bad - even when I didn't add the bacon, or the time I didn't have any clams and it became Potato Soup, or didn't have any celery, or the time I added a few carrots, or the time I didn't have half and half and used milk, or the millions of times when I didn't use chicken broth or last night when I forgot to add the salt and overcooked the potatoes because I was distracted.


So there you have it - a no fail recipe, which is the very best kind.

Here's what you'll need:

Oh - and one more ingredient :

and here's a bonus photography tip:

Don't feel all superior to your box of chicken stock and stand above it, but get down on it's level and snap that picture.  Learn from my mistakes.

CLAM CHOWDER

8 cups coarsely chopped potatoes

32 oz chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

¼ lb sliced bacon, crisp-cooked, drained

Chopped celery

1 small onion, chopped

2 cans minced clams, drained

32 oz. half and half

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

¼ tsp pepper

Add potatoes and salt to chicken broth.  Bring to boil, turn heat down and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking, brown bacon.  When bacon is about half-way done, add celery and onion and continue to sauté till bacon is crisp.  Drain bacon grease.

Add bacon, celery, onion, clams, half and half, cream cheese, condensed soup, and pepper.

Simmer for about a half hour and thicken with cornstarch or flour.

Now for the tips:

• How much is 8 cups of coarsely chopped potatoes?  I don't know and I don't measure.  However many potatoes I have I put in enough chicken broth to cover them - last night I didn't even cover them all the way because I used all my chicken broth.
• I used red potatoes because that's what I had, but you can use any kind of potato.  Also, check it out - I didn't peel them.  I'm kind of lazy like that - If I use red or Yukon gold potatoes, I don't peel them.  I like big chunks of potato because I tend to forget I'm cooking and little chunks always end up as Cream of Clam Chowder but it's all still good.
• How much is 1/4 lb bacon? I don't know that either.  Use as much bacon as you want - really you can not ruin this recipe.

• Notice how my onion is considerably bigger than the celery. Why, just because that's the way I like it.  If you want big chunks of celery - go for it.
• I usually drain my clams and use the liquid from one can of clams with the chicken broth to cook the potatoes.  Last night I didn't add any clam juice and IT TURNED OUT DELICIOUS!!!  Like a lot of clam flavor - use more clam juice.
• I used all the half and half last night, but if I don't use a lot of potatoes I will not use the whole 32 oz. Or, if I have more potatoes, I'll put some milk in also. At times I've also used all milk and no half and half. Any variation of this will turn out great.
• I cut the cream cheese in small chunks and add.  I used to cream it together with the cream of chicken soup but I'm too lazy to do that most of the time (I also don't want to get another dish dirty.)
• I've cooked this for longer than a half hour and again it turned out fine.
• Oh and one more tip - don't like clams, this make a wonderful potato soup.

A note about thickening your Clam Chowder:

I like to use cornstarch as a thickener because you can not mess it up.  How much cornstarch depends on how thick you want your chowder.  I like my chowder thick.  I mix the cornstarch with cold water and pour it slooooowwwwlllllyyyyy into chowder while stirring.  When it gets to the thickness I want I stop.  I don't always use all of the thickener and sometimes I have to mix up a little bit more.  Again, you can not mess this up. A guesstimate for how much I use:

1/2 c. cold water

4 heaping TBL Cornstarch.

Stir till cornstarch is dissolved.

You can also use flour to thicken but you'll have to look that method up as I'm faithful to cornstarch and don't stray.

There you have it - the "Can't Mess This Clam Chowder Up" recipe.  Oh, and I forgot to take a picture of my bowl of Clam Chowder before I chowed it down, because it was way to good to stop eating and take it's picture. Sorry!

- Laurie 

Feast Your Eyes > Talkin' Turkey

Is everyone else on the last bits of their Thanksgiving turkey, like we are? Is the announcement of leftovers for dinner met with howls and wails of, "NOOOOO!" and gnashing of teeth?

Well if you are like me, then your motto is, "No turkey left behind on my watch!" Woo those persnickety eaters back and waste none of that great leftover turkey, with our recipe of: Cheesy. Gooey. Yumminess. Which some people also call Turkey Tetrazzini  (boooring...).

What's great about this recipe, other than using up what's left of the turkey, is that you probably have the rest of the ingredients already hanging out in the fridge from Thanksgiving.  Check out the recipe:

Glossy's Talkin' Turkey Tetrazzini

1 - 16 oz package of uncooked spaghetti or linguine

4 c. - diced, cooked turkey

5 strips of peppered bacon

1 c. chopped onion

1lb - container of mushrooms (your preference)

3/4 c. -  frozen petite peas

1 t.- minced garlic

1 can cream of chicken and herbs

2 c. - Chicken broth or stock

1 1/2 c. - cream cheese

1/2c. milk or cream

1 t.- salt

3/4 t. - pepper

1/2 t. fresh thyme and parsley

3/4 cup of grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta and drain. Cook bacon, set aside and reserve drippings. Saute onions, mushrooms, and minced garlic in bacon drippings, add 2T. of butter if needed. Add in cream cheese, chicken broth, cream of chicken, milk, frozen peas, turkey, Parmesan, and rest of seasonings. Heat until bubbly and thickened. Combine pasta, turkey mixture, crumbled bacon and spoon into a greased casserole pan.

**optional- top with buttered bread crumbs, Italian cheese blend or crushed Ritz crackers.

Bake for 30 min or until bubbling.

Note- Yours will look extra creamy. Mine had double the noodles and less creaminess as my little assistant chef added in a whole lot of extra spaghetti...

Enjoy those leftovers!

~Angela

I Need Minions > DIY Christmas Cookbook Gift

Okay, all of you amazing cooks with "secret" delicious recipes - now is the time to share the bounty with your family and friends.  A couple of years ago I made cookbooks for all my kids with all my recipes that I cooked while they were growing up, plus all the new things that I have added through the years.  This was appreciated by all - at least I think it was.  If you don't already have a cookbook for yourself this will help you out because while you're making everyone else's cookbook you can also make one for yourself.  Two gifts in one, woohoo!

This is a fairly easy project.

Supplies:
Lots of Paper and Printer Ink
Few sheets of Cardstock
All your recipes
3" 9X8 Binder - it's one of those smaller binders
2 Clear Project Files from Office Depot

I printed all my recipes out 2 to a page and cut paper in half so each recipe page is 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  Then 3 hole punch each page to fit in binder.


Organize by category and put in binder.


Make divider sheet with tab for each category.   This one was made in Photoshop but you can make dividers in any program or you could cut scrapbook paper to the proper size and use that.

Leave the original cover or make a cute cover like the one above.

I also put 2 of these handy protectors in each cookbook so that they have a splatter free cover for easy use when they pull out a recipe.  I cut down a clear project file from Office Depot to 6" X 9" size and used my handy corner rounder to round the top right front corner.


As an extra bonus I am giving you this wonderful recipe for Pecan Tarts - I have been making these for about 30 years and they are the best tarts ever.  

PECAN TARTS

Shells:

½ c. butter                                1 tsp. almond extract

½ c. sugar                                 2 c. flour

2 egg yolks

Cream sugar & butter.  Stir in egg yolks, almond extract and flour.  Press evenly into tiny tart shells.  Bake in 400⁰ oven for 8 minutes. 

Filling:

½ c. butter                                1 c. chopped pecans

1/3 c. Karo dark corn syrup           1 c. powdered sugar

Bring butter, corn syrup and powdered sugar to boil.  Stir in pecans.  Spoon into baked shells.  Top with a pecan half.  Bake in 350⁰ oven for 5 minutes.

Note:  I don't usually top them with a pecan half before cooking.


Start printing & baking!
-Laurie

Feast Your Eyes > Pilgrim Parfaits

If you know me, you know that I love hats. The bigger, the better.  I would have totally rocked a pilgrim hat back in the early settler days! Since I probably couldn't get away with wearing one these days, except for on Thanksgiving (hmmm...), I decided to put one on my dessert:

How cute is she?

This dessert is from our usual easy recipes - there really isn't one. I started out with some ginger cookies (Anna's) that I had smashed up. Next, I grabbed a can of pumpkin pie mix and added 1 egg and some condensed milk (directions on the back of can). I baked it in a sprayed pyrex pan and then let it cool. You could also make this the smeazy way (smart and lazy) and use premade pumpkin filling either from the bakery section of your store or even from a cheap, store bought, pie. Then I grabbed my nifty Pier One mini parfait glasses and filled them in layers using the cookie crumbs, pumpkin pie filling, and then topped it with creamy whipped cream. I think repeating layers would look great too.

Next, it's time to pretty up your glasses. You will need:

                                  

                                     *A couple of sheets of black cardstock

                         *Circle punch or round template

                         *Gold or black mini cupcake liners

                         *Hot glue or clear crafter's glue

                         *Ribbon

                         *Double sided tape 

                         *Gold gel pen

Grab a 2 1/2" or 3" circle punch and cut out the brims of your hats. Make an "X" in the center so that your parfait spoon will slide in. Now grab your mini cupcake liners and glue them to your circles. I found this is the easiest by placing your liner open end up, and adding glue to the inner ruffled rim of the liner, then placing the cardstock brim on top of the liner after you've centered it.

Now make your belt buckle by cutting small squares of black cardstock and adding an inner square with a gold gel pen.

Glue your buckles on and admire your cool crafty skillz.

 Now give your little guys a fancy belt with any kind of ribbon you like. Secure with double sided tape.

Now you have a dessert that will blow away that certain family member that at every holiday, acts like their homemade pies are made from divine angel tears. After all the oohing and aahing over these babies, you could probably even get away with a "Booya! In your face!", or you could just quietly gloat, but really, where's the fun in that?

I wonder what else I can add a hat to...

~Angela