Dippin' things in chocolate

Who would have known? Well I didnt LOL maybe others dont either, but you can make the easiest holiday treats ever with Almond bark bars, and random things that would taste good covered in chocolate!

They have Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate Almond Bark Bars, I was able to pick some up at Wal-Mart for under $2!
I dont know if that is a deal or not as I have never bought them before, let alone heard of them.

I took Pretzel rods, spread Peanut butter on the top portion only and dipped in chocolate, sprinkles, and let cool.








I also have been dunkin Oreo Cookies,Butter cookies, freshed baked chocolate chip cookies...people have given me ideas, of potato chips, cheese cake bites, I even did cake balls, recipe and pics coming soon!

My Potato Salad!

I made some Potatoe Salad for Thanksgiving and I think it was pretty good if I do say so myself :)

It is pretty easy to make!

Potatoes
Mayo
Relish
Red Onion
Boiled Eggs
Vinegar

All I did was boil the potatoes, not all they way as you would if you were making Mashed Potatoes, but just enough that a fork will puncture it.

One cooled, skin and dice up into bite sizes pieces.

Add mayo (as much as you desire but not too much), Relish, Diced Red Onion, Boiled Egg (as much as you desire), A spoon of vinegar.

Mix together and put in fridge!



Greeeeat!

Banana Split Pie

I recently went to a friend's Philly Cream Cheese House Party and we each got to make and bring our favorite dessert. I of course brought my favorite Banana Split Pie! My granny used to make it when I was a kid and I made her make it all the time! So I had to learn to make it, and I did! I tied for winner of the best dessert brought, but it was by far NOT the best to me, they were ALL really good!
Here is what you need to make this YUMMY pie!



1 - Ready Made Grahan Cracker Crust (I would say two because I always get 2 pies out of this receipe)
1- 8 oz package of cream cheese - softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small can crushed pineapple - drained really really well (I put in strainer and push push push out all the juice)
1 lb of bananas, sliced
1 container cool whip, thawed
1 small jar maraschino cherries
1 tablespool walnuts, crushed


Prep:
Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.

Spoon into pie crust. Not too much because you wont have room for the rest of the ingredients.(this is why I say it will make 2 pies)

Next, layer each remaining ingredient in order: Pineapple



sliced bananas



cool whip

Top with Cherries and walnuts. (I slice the rinse the cherries well, if you dont the top of the cool whip will run red from the cherry dye)

Let this sit in the fridge for 1 hour.

YUMMMMM!

"Ghostly" Shepard's Pie

I was going to make Shepard's Pie anyway and I came across this reciepe so I tried it out *Yum* I did omit the garlic, eggs mixed in the potatoes, and onion, but other then that it was GOOD! Michael had his little cousin over for a sleep over and his cousin loved it! Michael ate a good amount of it, but Michael gets weird with his food sometimes, especially when he is excited and has other things to do!

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups Progresso® diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained (from 28-oz can)
1 jar (12 oz) beef gravy
1 3/4 cups water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 cups Betty Crocker® Potato Buds® mashed potatoes (dry)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten


1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray. Add beef and onion; cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.
2. Set 12 peas (from frozen vegetables) aside for garnish. Add remaining frozen vegetables, tomatoes and gravy to beef mixture. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.
3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat water, butter and garlic powder to boiling. Remove from heat; add milk. Stir in dry potatoes and cheese. Add egg; blend well.
4. Spoon beef mixture into ungreased 8-inch square (2-quart) or oval (2 1/2-quart) glass baking dish. With large spoon, make 6 mounds of potato mixture on top of beef mixture to resemble ghosts. Place 2 reserved peas on each mound to resemble eyes.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are set and mixture is thoroughly heated.



The picture on the site I got this from looks like this:


Mine looked like this:

First Grade Dinner

Michael got to put in a request for what HE wanted for dinner on his first day of First Grade! TACOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wasnt that bad...actually turned out pretty good (I made a different way then normal - which has always been the El Paso Taco Kits LOL)

I bought a BIG thing of taco seasoning...so I would just have it incase the want for tacos arised all I would need to do was to buy tortillas *which is hardly ever since we keep them in the house* Sour cream and cheese.

So I browned the meat, added seasoning per the directions *plus a tad bit more*
Then a friend made some for us at work one day and she mixed in refried beans to her taco meat - what a neat concept (well they do it at Taco Bell dont they?)

So then I added a can of Bush's fat free refried beans to the seasoned meat.

let it cook, and put it in tortillas, with Sour cream and cheese *we dont require tons of things on our tacos LOL*

He loved it this way!

I mean he loves them anyway but this way he ate TW0!

Asparagus & Pesto Pasta w/ Salad

I read a post today on DFWareamoms.com and someone wrote that they made Pesto pasta with chicken...got the wheels in my head turning...I didnt want to make chicken, and I couldnt get past the chicken in the can idea...so I was browsing the recipes.com site and found an Asparagus Pesto Pasta...I read it but didnt write it down...i winged it LOL

We went to the store I got the Pesto Basil Sauce it was found in the fridge section of the grocery store (you dont have to even cook it)

I got home fried some garlic and onion in a frying pan...with some oil...then added some asparagus when it was cooked, I removed it from the heat...adding the pesto sauce (since it says do not cook - I just added it to the hot asparagus, garlic and onion.

Boiled some spaghetti noodles, made some salad with Ken's dressing :) YUM!

Tossed the pesto mix with the hot noodles topped with Parm. Cheese!

Macaroni, Tuna Salad

This dish is so easy to make and so yummy to eat :) If you are in a cruch for time and money make this it is good for lunch or dinner :)

Box of Macaroni (I like elbow, but sometimes get the bow ties)
Mayo
Onion
Can of Tuna
can of peas(if you want them - if not that is totally up to you)

(some people like to put boiled eggs in it, but I dont, totally up to you if you want them in it)

So just boil the noodles, cool, and add mayo, chopped onion, and can of tuna, salt and pepper to season...use as little or as much ingredients as you wish :)

Put in fridge (I like to wait a few hours before I eat it and it always taste better the day after)