Hershey Sunday Pie

My mother-in-law was here helping my family out with the new baby over Valentines week and she and my boys brought my husband and me a slice of the Hershey Sunday Pie from Burger King for a Valentines Day treat.  It was amazing!  Talk about a mouth-watering dessert.  I instantly became obsessed with it!  My son asked me if we could make our own for everyone.  I had no objections about that one!  It was really easy and my kids think it was "the best pie" I've ever made.  

Crust
Option 1:  Package of oreo's crushed and pressed around the pie pan.
Option 2:  Buy a pre-made oreo pie crust

Layer 1:
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 C. Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Cool Whip
1 tsp Vanilla

Layer 2:
1 1/2 Cup Milk
1 (3.5 oz) Chocolate Pudding
1 Cup Cool Whip

Layer 3:
Cool Whip
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
Mini Chocolate Chips

 1.  For layer 1, cream all ingredients together and pour into the pie crust.
2.  Next, mix the milk with the chocolate pudding mix for 2-3 minutes.  When it thickens up, fold cool whip into the pudding.  Pour this mixture on top of the first layer.
3.  Decorate the top with cool whip around the edge of the pie.  Squeeze the Hershey syrup over the top of the pie in a criss-cross pattern.  Finally, sprinkle some mini chocolate chips over the top of every thing.
4.  Refridgerate for 3-4 hours before serving to allow pie to set up.  Enjoy!

~Stacy~

Chicken Pot Pie

   Our dear friends from Alabama had us over for dinner one night and she had cooked this amazing Chicken Pot Pie.  She is a really good cook to begin with but my mouth watered with this dish!  I always assumed it was a difficult dish to make because I had never attempted it and it just seemed like a lot of work.  This is not the case though.  It is simple to make and so delicious!  You will only need a few ingredients for this dinner.  I don't even add a side dish with it because it includes your vegetables, protein, and starch making it a complete meal!

You will need:

Vegetables of choice:
Carrots
Peas
Green Beans
Onions
Celery Corn
Or any other veggie you want add or eliminate from the above list.  Birds Eye brand vegetables have a frozen packet of mixed veggies with everything included but onions and celery.  This is a really easy substitute requiring no chopping!

2 Pie Crusts (refrigerated 2 pack is what I have used)
Cream of Chicken soup
Chicken Broth
Sage (optional)
Salt and Pepper

1.  You will preheat the oven to 375°.
2.  Grease pie pan and spread 1st pie crust into the pan.
3.  Sauté the vegetables until tender.
4.  Add chicken, cream of chicken soup, and chicken broth to the consistency you would like.  Once warmed, pour into the first pie crust.
5.  Spread second pie crust over the top, sealing the edges.  Cut about 5-6 holes in the top and cook for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

It is as simple as that!  Hope you enjoy this meal too!

~Stacy~

The Real Meaning of Christmas

   For our final post of "The 12 Days of Christmas," we wanted to just talk about the real meaning of Christmas.  Christmas has become the most commercialized holiday of any, which all of us can see.  Stores start putting their Christmas items out before Halloween has even come!  It is definitely fun to give and to receive gifts.  I would encourage everyone to take a minute and discuss or think about WHY we give gifts to each other.  When we think back to the Nativity story of when Christ was born, we remember the 3 wise men and the gifts of their finest riches which they brought to the baby Jesus.  The shepherds may not have brought physical gifts, but they dropped everything the minute they saw the star of David and the angel come to them.  They brought Christ their presence, support, and love.  As "the Little Drummer Boy" song says, he came with the gift of song and played his best for him.  The gifts we give do not have to cost a bunch of money or be the most glamorous, and especially we don't have to give EVERYTHING on each others lists!  Think about why you are giving what you are giving and what would be especially nice or helpful to those those we give to.  Put thought into what you do.

    If you are able to, try to give to people less fortunate than you.  Ask your local schools or churches which families could use some help this season, have something (maybe a can of soup and crackers) in your car you can just hand to someone on the street asking for help.  They will probably never know who were but will be ever grateful for that little meal you helped provide.  The giving of gifts during this time began with Christ's birth and we should remember the gifts he would ask from us are to be kind to one another, help a neighbor in need or someone less fortunate, be compassionate.  So let us do more of this kind of giving than the physical gifts this time of year and throughout the other 11 months of next year!

   Here is one more little video we want to share about the true meaning of Christmas.  We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.  We hope everyone has a blessed season!

Love, 

The Sissies 

  

Day 1   Day 2   Day 3   Day 4   Day 5   Day 6   Day 7   Day 8   Day 9   Day 10   Day 11

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

  Nothing is better than having hot chocolate on a cold night, especially on Christmas Eve.  Try changing it up just a bit, making it even better this Christmas Eve by adding in one of the many candy candy canes you are sure to have around your home.  Add 2-3 large marshmallows or a handful of small ones to make it a little creamier.
  The packets of hot chocolate are wonderful and easy, but my favorite has always been the hot chocolate my mom makes from scratch.  It is also very easy and so delicious.

Hot Chocolate

1/2 C. Sugar                                                          1/4 C. Cocoa                                                     

1/3 C. Hot Water                                                   Dash of Salt (I don't ever add)

3/4 tsp Vanilla                                                        4 Cups Milk

 Combine all of these in a large cooking pot and bring to a boil.  Stir and keep boiling for 2 minutes.  Add 4 C. Milk and 3/4 tsp. Vanilla.  Heat it through and serve when hot.  Spice it up by adding marshmallows, whipping cream, or a candy cane.  If you are serving more than 4 people, you will want to double or triple this and add more like a gallon of milk.  

**Suggestion for leftover hot chocolate if you use a gallon of milk.  Just put the remaining hot chocolate back into the gallon, refrigerate, and you will be able to warm it up and have it again in the morning.  It stores and reheats really nicely.

Day 1   Day 2   Day 3   Day 4     Day 5   Day 6   Day 7   Day 8   Day 10   Day 11   Day 12   

A Time to Give Thanks

  We have all collaborated again to share our best ideas for a fantastic Thanksgiving Day.  We hope you will enjoy all of the ideas!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin pie is kind of a staple for Thanksgiving, right?  I LOVE pumpkin pie but I also like variations of this great pumpkin treat.  One that I found this year is a pumpkin cheesecake and it is so incredibly delicious.

2 (8 ounce) packages Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup White Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
1 (9 inch) pie crust- Graham cracker or regular pie crust
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Frozen Whipped Topping

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325° F.

2.  In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Blend in eggs one at a time.
3.  Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into the bottom of the pie crust.
4.  Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir until blended well.  Spread this mixture over the batter in the pie crust.
5.  Bake in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until the center is almost set.  Allow the cheesecake to cool, then place in fridge for at least 3 hours.  (The original recipe called for 35-40 minutes, but I have made it 3 times now, and it was always closer to an hour cooking before it was completely done).
6.  Spread the cool whip over the top before serving.

Crafts for Kids

    For the past couple of years, the kids have made placemats or some cute Thanksgiving craft at school and they turned out so cute we want to share some of them!  

    This first one is a Turkey made from Pine cones, Acorns, Feathers, Googly Eyes, and Craft Foam pieces.  All you do for these is select an acorn for each pine cone.  The acorns will serve as the head, so pick the size accordingly.

   1.  You can have the turkey standing or laying down.  If it is standing, hot glue the acorn at the top, but facing forward.  If laying down, glue it at the top facing up.  

2.  Glue the googly eyes to the acorn for the face.

3.  Next, cut out a small triangle from the orange foam.  Glue it under the eyes, kind of curving it to form the beak.  You can also cut out feet with the orange foam if you want to add those.  

4.  Add feathers to the back or bottom (depending on how you have it positioned) to make the tail.  

**My son glued these to a paper plate for the display, but you can just have the turkey itself to display!

Another cute Turkey idea is with a toilet paper roll and construction paper.  

1.  First you need to make the feet so they can act as a base for the turkey.  Make it just about a 1/2" around bigger than the toilet paper roll.

2.  Make 4-6 large feathers to put around the back side of the toilet paper rolls for its tail.  Have the kids write something they are thankful for on each feather.
3.  Design a hat and beak from the construction paper and attach accordingly.
4.  You can draw on eyes or use the googly eyes for the bird.

Pilgrims and Indians

This one is another idea to be made out of toilet paper rolls and construction paper.
You will basically follow the instructions for the turkey, just adjust it to the Indian with feathers and the pilgrims in their hats.  So Cute!!!

Placemats

 We have several ideas for placemats, so take your pick, or do them all!

1.  The first option was one done at school.  They used long (11X14") construction paper, preferably 2 different colors.  You could use 8X10" sheets if you don't mind a smaller mat.

       a.  Choose your main color and cut length wise, strips about 1 inch apart all the way from one edge to  

           the other, width wise.  Leave about 2 inches at the end of the paper length wise.  (I hope all of this 

           makes sense.  Hopefully the picture will help with the visual of which directions the strips are cut and 

           weaved)

       b.  Take the second color of construction paper and cut it into 1 inch strips width wise.

       c.  Next, you will take one strip and start weaving over and under the long sheet, starting as close to the 

           2 inch margin as you can.  Continue weaving each strip until you get to the second margin.  

                ***If you get to the end and there is not enough space, just cut the margin a little wider on each 

                      side until the final strip fits. If the last strip has just a little extra room and you don't want to try 

                      to fit another strip in, simply spread the strips apart from each other a little bit.

       d.  Finally, decorate it with the child's name, pictures or drawings.  My son's teacher used some paint on 

            their hands and made a turkey out of it!  It turned out really cute.  (Laminate if you can for future
            years)

2.  The second idea was something Stacy did last year in Alabama.  Since there was no family there, we just had Thanksgiving with several of our friends and their families.  About a week before, we got all of the kids together with a bunch of old magazines.  We used 8X10" construction paper for this project.  We also had stickers and stencils, markers and crayons, and other little shapes they could add to their mat.  The kids went through and found pictures representing things they were thankful for.  

      a.  We had all of the kids glue their pictures and accessories to their paper however they wanted. 

      c.  Have them add their name somewhere on their design.  

      d.  Finally, my friend had a laminator, and if this is available, I would highly recommend it.  You can just 

           make this a one time thing though and skip the laminating!  

               ***If you want it laminated and don't have access to a laminator, one cheater way to accomplish  

                this is to use clear packing tape.  Just tape it across the paper length wise from top to bottom.  Do 

               the same thing on the back side to seal it.  USe your finger or scissors to go around all of the 

               edges one more time then cut the excess off.

3.  

Table Runner
I think a fun tradition to start would be this table runner. You buy a table runner and then have everyone in your family put their handprint in paint in a different color, add the year and voila! Something fun for the kids to pull out every year and see how much they've grown over the years. I think this is so cute!

Beadboard Turkeys

I came across these beadboard turkeys on pinterest and thought they are such a cute decoration for Thanksgiving! Here is the tutorial to make them.

We hope these fun ideas might help make a great Thanksgiving!

Love, The Sissies

 

Brown Paper Bag Apple Pie

This is such a fun pie to help use up those apples! We had a big bag full of yellow delicous apples that I wanted to make a pie with.  And don't worry like I did the first time... the brown bag will not catch on fire in the oven, I hope.  :)

Brown Bag Apple Pie

Crust:  (don't roll out)

1 1/2 C. flour

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 C. oil

2 Tbsp. milk

Combine together with hands, press it down in the pie pan evenly.

Filing:

 4 C. sliced apples

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 C. sugar (maybe a little more depending on tartness of apples)

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all except apples.  Add apples and toss together.  Pour into unbaked shell.

Topping:

1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. butter (do not soften)

1 C. sugar

Combine with fingers until crumbly, sprinkle on pie.  Put it in a brown paper bag, roll it up and staple it together.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Do not open bag when cooking.  Take it out of the oven and cool for a few minutes and then cut open the bag and enjoy the pie!  

~Rachel~

Raspberry Cheesecake Jello Dessert

   Michelle made this delicious Raspberry dessert for Easter this year and I finally made it for my family.  YUM!!  It is just a small twist to Heather's Raspberry Jello Dessert, but nevertheless, it is delicious too and a great side for a meal.

For this, you will mix:
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip
1 large container of Raspberry Yogurt (if you can find it, if not substitute with Strawberry or Vanilla)
1 3 oz box of Cheesecake Pudding Mix (again, if you can't find cheesecake pudding mix, substitute with vanilla, white chocolate, or french vanilla)
1 bag (8 -12 oz) frozen Raspberries

This makes quite a bit so mix in a large bowl and refrigerate.  I would also suggest to add the raspberries about 15 minutes before serving.

~Stacy and Michelle~

Pumpkin Dip

  I went to a friends house the other night and she had this amazing pumpkin dip.  I watched her put it together so I gave it a try.  I am  not sure I had it exactly like hers but it was pretty good either way!

All you will need is:

1 large container of cool whip (12 to 16 oz)

1 15oz can Pumpkin Puree (or 2 cups of real pumpkin puree)

Vanilla Pudding (either 1 large box or 2 small boxes)

1 tsp of Pumpkin Spice Mix

Mix the ingredients all together in a medium bowl.  Refrigerate before serving.  Serve with graham crackers or vanilla wafers or something similar to this.  I also had yogurt covered pretzels on had and they were pretty good too!

~Stacy~

Apples...

I always love this time of the year.  It reminds me of when we lived in Ohio during Medical School.  Every October we would take one of Austin's days off, or just the kids and I would go if he was too crazy busy, and we would make a day of going to the apple orchard and picking apples.  One time Stacy even got to come with me, remember that Stace?  There were SOOO many kinds of apples.  Apples for canning, for applesauce, for fresh eating, for pies....  I LOVED IT!!!  My girls also loved it.  As you were picking you could eat as many apples as you wanted.  They wanted you to try all the different types, and so we did.  It was the first time I ever tried a Honey Crisp and fell in love.  It has been in my top 3 since then.  We even planted a Honey Crisp last year just for me, and got 20 apples this year!!!  YUM!

During the fall I make tons of applesauce.  Usually I just do plain-jane regular.  Depending on the tartness of the apples I will add no sugar up to 1/2 C. per batch.  My husband and kids like it a little more tart, so more often than not I will not add any sugar.  Sometimes I will add a couple of dashes of cinnamon.  I have a friend that adds other fruits, like strawberry, raspberry or blueberry.  This year though I tried a new recipe and it is by far my favorite.  And all of my family's new favorite.  It is called Spiced Applesauce.  I found it in the little booklet that came with my sauce maker.  I wanted to share it with you because, yes, it is THAT good!

(These are a few of my favorite pictures of my girls 8 years ago at the apple orchard in Ohio. Now they are 11 and 9!!  I just thought these were just too cute not to share.) 

Spiced Applesauce

8 lbs apples, washed and quartered

12 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 C. honey

ground nutmeg

Place the quartered apples in a large pot with a small amount of water, cloves, and cinnamon stick.  Cover and steam until tender over medium heat, about 15-20 minutes.  Remove the cloves and cinnamon stick and put the apples through the food strainer.**  Add remaining ingredients to taste.

** If you do not have a food strainer you will need to core and peel the apples, instead of just quartering, and then steam them the same.  When they are done you can use a potato masher or a blender and puree them.  Both ways works wonderful!  

Don't forget to eat a little of the applesauce while it is still warm!  It is the best!  

Happy Fall!

~Rachel~

Pizza Poppers

  I came across this great idea on facebook.  I tried it the other day and my family LOVED them.  My kids kept saying how great they were.  They are very simple and inexpensive.

The recipe only calls for 8 things and most you have at home already!

60 Pepperoni's
Mozzarella Cheese- 30 inch squares
3 cans- Pillsbury (or off brand) homestyle biscuits
Pizza Sauce (I just used plain spaghetti sauce)
1 Egg
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning
Parmesan Cheese

1.  All you do for these are to spray a 9X13" glass dish.
2.  Flatten the biscuits out on a plate, one at a time.
3.  Put a little spoonful of the pizza (or spaghetti) sauce on the biscuit.
4.  Put one pepperoni on the biscuit, a mozzarella piece, followed by another pepperoni.
5.  Fold the sides up to each other until the bottom is closed up and put it in the pan.
6.  Once all of the biscuits are in the pan, take the egg and scramble it.  Spread it over the tops of the rolls.
7.  Sprinkle the tops with the garlic powder, parmesan, and the Italian seasonings.
8.  Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

The nice thing besides the taste with these poppers is that they are only 280 calories for 3 of the pizzas.  They are pretty filling and it still leaves some room to add something else to your dinner (or lunch)!  I will post a picture soon, I will be making these again very soon!

~Stacy~

Fluffiest Pancakes EVER

I used to just use the Bisquick or a store brand pancake mix, but then I found this recipe and found out how easy it was and more important, how good they were.  This recipe is MUCH better than any prepackaged pancake mix, I promise.  The are ultra fluffy and just plain good.  My kiddos love pancakes and like Percy Jackson (if you have read those books), they like their pancakes blue.  I will usually add blue food coloring to the batter to give them some fun pancakes.

For the recipe you will need this:

1 Large Egg
1 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup Milk
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

1.  Beat the egg.  Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix until smooth.
2.  Heat a skittle or frying pan, and add about 1/4 cup of batter.  Once batter has several bubbles in it, flip to other side, and cook until golden brown.

This recipe will make about 9- 4 inch pancakes.  Each is 100 calories!  I usually double the recipe for my family of 4 and have leftovers for the following morning.  These are also good to add blueberries to.  Just put them right in the batter.

Hope you like them!

~Stacy~

Super Easy Chicken Dinner

This is one of my favorite meals to make.  It is fast, simple, and really delicious.  It is also a really inexpensive meal.  What could be better?  I have made it in a couple of varieties, depending on my mood.  

To start, all you will need is a crock-pot and a whole chicken.  I can usually find a whole chicken for between $4-5.00.  Keep your eye out for these prices and grab a couple when you find them.  They freeze beautifully and cook as tender as ever after.

1.  To begin with, put your chicken in the crock-pot to allow 6-8 hours of cooking.  I just take it right out of the freezer and stick it in.  I would suggest closer to 8 hours if you get it directly from the freezer.  Just sprinkle the top with lemon pepper.  I will usually add between 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water even though there will be juices from the chicken.  It just helps bast it throughout the day.  

2.  If you want to add potatoes and carrots, peel them and add them along the sides.  I usually put the potatoes first so they are in the water/juice and cook better that way.  I also really like baby carrots (no peeling required!).  

   2a.  If you would rather do something like rice and gravy and corn, just leave the chicken in the      
   crock-pot by itself.

3.  Throughout the day, approximately every 2 hours, use the juice that has cooked off and pour it over the chicken, then close the lid again.  I use a turkey baster, but you can use a spoon or a cup measure just as easily.

4.  Finally, after 6-8, serve it.  It will just fall right off the bones.  I don't even pass out knives because it is so tender all you need is a fork.  It is just delicious.  If you made the potatoes and carrots, you can just serve the potatoes with sour cream, salt and pepper.  Your whole dinner is ready and it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare.

   4a.  If you chose the rice option, cook the rice and then make a gravy out of the chicken broth.  It is
   really simple.

         - Pull about 1 to 1 1/2 cup of chicken broth into a small pot and let it boil.  Mix about 1-2 tbsp of
         flour with water to make the consistency a thick water.  (Just past the paste point).  Once the broth         is boiling, add the flour water, again until boiling.  You can add just a little bit of salt and pepper           if you want.  Let it continue to boil until it is as thick as you like your gravy.
         -Serve with corn or beans and you are set!

~Stacy~

Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever

When Heather and I were in college, we had an RA come by one night to check on our apartment and she brought us these cookies.  They were honestly the best oatmeal cookies I'd ever had.  They had chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in them.  We HAD to get the recipe from her.  A few weeks ago, I was visiting in Colorado and had the privileged of eating these DELICIOUS butterscotch  cookies at a cookie store.  They reminded me so much of the recipe I now have and I had to make them again.  Hopefully you can enjoy them as much as I did!

1 C. Butter
3 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 C. Shortening
3 C. Brown Sugar
2 C. Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tbsp Vanilla
5 C. Flour
3 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt
2 1/2 C. Oats
2 C. Chocolate Chips
2 C. Butterscotch Chips

Mix butter, shortening, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large mixing bowl until creamy.  Add dry ingredients.  Add the chips.  Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350° for 11 minutes.

~Stacy~

French Dip Sandwiches

   I have always loved French Dipped Sandwiches and have tried to make them a couple of times, but they never turn out like a restaurants...until now!!!  My family recently visited my sister-in-law and she made these for us.  They were absolutely delicious.  I had to make them the very next week at home because I liked them so much.  Just the aroma in the house while it is cooking is enough to set you over the top!!!  My sister-in-law and her sisters also share MANY recipes on their blog Stir Occasionally.  I can't wait to check out more from there!

For the French Dip Sandwiches, you will need:

Ingredients:

4 pounds beef chuck roast

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

3 bay leaves

1 cup soy sauce

6 cups water

Directions:

Place roast in slow cooker. Season with garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves. Pour in soy sauce and water. Cook on low setting for 6 to 10 hours. Unlike most roasts, the longer the better.

To serve, place in hamburger buns or split french bread and top with your preferred cheese if desired. Feel free to dip your sandwich in the au jus left in the slow cooker too!

~Stacy~

Yummy Bars

This was one of my favorite treats growing up, and we were not even the ones who made them!  Heather's friend would always bring them over for us and they were usually gone in +2 days!  Finally, just before going off to college, we got the recipe from her so Heather and I could make them there, to impress boys there, and it did!  I have made them for friends and my kids now and they love them too.  I made them again today and my kids asked if they were really called "Yummy Bars" or if I just called them that because they are "Yummy".  The answer is, it fits for both questions.

The recipe is as follows:

6 Cups of Rice Crispies
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Caro Syrup
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Butterscotch Chips

(This will fill a 9X13" pan.  If you want a full cookie sheet of them, do 9 cups of Rice Cripsies and 1 1/2 cup of everything else).

1.  Put rice crispies in large bowl for mixing.
2.  In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar and caro syrup on medium heat until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling.
3.  Either turn the burner to low, or take pan off the burner and add the peanut butter.  Once the peanut butter is melted, add to the rice crispies until evenly mixed.
4.  Pour rice crispy mixture onto the pan and pat until flat.  (I recommend you spray your hands with cooking spray to pat flat.
5.  In another sauce pan, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips then spread over the rice crispies.
6.  We have always cut them into 1 to 1 1/2 inch squares to serve.

Raspberry Preserves

A couple of years ago I wanted to try something new.  I didn't know what the difference between jam and preserves was, so I decided to test it out.  I made one batch of raspberry jam and one batch of raspberry preserves.  The jam needs pectin, which sets the jam and makes it thicker, the preserves are more liquidy (I know that is not a word, but that is how I roll).  With preserves you don't smash your berries like you do with jam, It does'nt really look like it in the picture, but there are quite a few whole berries in each pint, unlike jam.  I don't mind the seeds, if you do you have have to get rid of half the seed like you do with jam.

At first I was not sure what exactly we would use the preserves for.  Me being one who does not like things to get soggy, definetly did not want them on toast.  What to do??  The first test was vanilla ice cream... umm, YES!!  Delish!  Our next test was pancakes/waffles... WOW!  My hubby and I never, and I pretty much mean never, put maple syrup on them anymore.  Seriously, so good!  When we were down to 2 pints left, my hubby started to get worried!  But don't worry, this year I made two batches, there will be plenty this year.

Easy Raspberry Preserves

8 C. whole raspberries

7 C. Sugar

1/3-1/2 C. lemon juice, depending on the tartness of the berries

PLace berries in a heavy bottomed pan and pour sugar and lemon juice on top.  Set the pot over low heat, stir everything together.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally.  As soon as you notice the first signs of boil, set timer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat when the timer goes off.  Cool to room temperature in the pan, then transfer to jars.  The preserves will keep in the freezer for up to 3 years, or a few months in the fridge.  

I actually process the preserves in a hot bath so that I can store them in my storage room.  Process them in the hot bath for 10 minutes (after the water comes to a full a boil).

Enjoy!

Rachel

Colorful Magic Cookie Bars

Colorful Magic Cookie Bars


Can you say YUM?  Don't these look delicious?  I was on the Kellogg's site looking for coupons and just browsed their desserts.  This is one that caught my eye!  What could be wrong with anything that has chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and crunchy corn flakes?  If you want to give it a try, here is the recipe!

Description

It's good that these bars are easy to make--just layer, bake and cut into squares--because they're so delicious that they'll disappear in no time.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 48 

Ingredients



• 1 1/2 cups Kellogg's® Corn Flake Crumbs
• -- or --
• 6 cups Kellogg's Corn Flakes® cereal
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 package (6 oz,. 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 1/3 cups (3 1/2 oz.) flaked coconut
• 1 can (15 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. Measure KELLOGG'S Corn Flake Crumbs, sugar and margarine into
13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Mix thoroughly. With back of spoon, press mixture evenly and firmly in bottom of pan to form crust.

2. Sprinkle walnuts, chocolate morsels and coconut evenly over crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over top.

3. Bake at 350° F about 25 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.


MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:

1. Microwave margarine in 12 x 7 1/2 x 2-inch glass baking dish on HIGH until melted. Add KELLOGG'S CORN FLAKES Crumbs and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Press lightly in bottom of dish to form crust.

2. Sprinkle walnuts, chocolate chips, and coconut evenly over KELLOGG'S CORN FLAKE Crumbs crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over top.

3. Microwave on HIGH about 7 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Hope you'll enjoy them too!

~Stacy~

Father's Day Dinner

I wanted to make a great dinner for my husband yesterday for Father's Day.  I know I have already posted the "Star Jones Lobster and Steak dinner," but I wanted to make it again for him and it turned out great.  My 6 year old loved the lobster so much, he ate 2 whole tails!  He kept saying over and over how good the lobster was too.  It kind of made my day!

Star Jones Lobster Tail and Stacy's Steak

The rolls are the recipe Michelle posted a while ago that I finally tried.  Click here for the link.

Grilled Green Beans

As for the green beans, this was the first time I tried them on the grill this way and they were AMAZING!!  I wish I had made more.  

1.  All I did for those was pull out about 2-3 cups of frozen green beans and put them in an 8X8" glass dish.  

2.  I put 1 tbsp of olive oil over the top of them and made sure they were all covered with it.  

3.  Then I salt and peppered them.  

4.  Finally, I just put them on the grill when I put the steak out there.  I left one of the burners off and just placed the pan over that burner so they weren't getting direct heat.  I stirred it when I turned the steak over and took them off just prior to taking the steak off the grill.  DELICIOUS!

Strawberry Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping

My husband loves cheesecake and I have tried a homemade recipe before and quite frankly, it was gross.  That is the reason I have always just done them from a box--they turn out everytime and they are good.  Well, I found this recipe in the July 2013 Issue of "All You".  I just had to try to make another homemade cheesecake again.  Turns out, it was Delicious too!  We all liked it.  So here is the recipe.

16 oz. Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
3 Large, lightly beaten eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. Lemon Juice
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 9-inch prebaked Graham Cracker crust
1 1/2 Cups Sour Cream
1 pint of fruit of choice

   1.  Preheat oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and 3/4 C Sugar with an electric mixer on medium until smooth.  Add Eggs, Lemon Juice, and 1 tsp Vanilla; beat until blended.  Pour into crust.  Bake until edges are set and center jiggles a bit, about 30 minutes.

   2.  In a medium bowl, stir Sour Cream, 3/4 C Sugar, and 1 tsp Vanilla.  Remove cheesecake from oven; let cool 5 minutes.  Spread Sour Cream mixture on top and return to oven.  Bake until topping is firm, about 15 minutes.  Let cool 20 minutes on a wire rack, then cover and chill 4 hours or overnight.

   3.  If desired, place half of the berries of choice in a medium bowl, sprinkle with 1 tsp Sugar and lightly mash.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Serve over cheesecake.

More recipes like this can be found at All You.

Graham Cracker Crust

If you don't have a Graham Cracker crust on hand, you can easily make one by combining a package of Graham Crackers- crushed, 4 Tbsp of Sugar, and 4 Tbsp butter, melted.  It should be soft and kind of clumpy.  Mash it around the sides first and make sure they are covered, then mash the rest down on the bottom.

Rhubarb Dump Cake

When we were growing up I remember every year for Father's Day my Mom would bake my Dad a Rhubarb pie. He LOVED rhubarb pie!! Now that I am all growed up, I love  rhubarb too! I love to make rhubarb crisp, rhubarb/strawberry pie or crisp and this delicious rhubarb dump cake.  This is my children's favorite rhubarb recipe, so I thought I would share.

Rhubarb Dump Cake

1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1/4" pieces (between 4-5 C.)
1 C. white sugar
1 (3 oz) strawberry jell-o
1 package yellow cake mix
1 C. water
1/4 C. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Spread rhubarb on the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle sugar over the rhubarb, followed by the jell-o, and finally the cake mix. Pour the water and melted butter over the top.  Do not stir.  Bake 45 minutes or until rhubarb is tender.


Hope you enjoy!!
~Rachel~

White Chocolate Popcorn

I, like Rachel and her family, also love popcorn! One of my favorites has been this caramel popcorn. A few years ago when we lived in Rexburg we had a New Year's Eve party with Meagan and John and Meagan made AMAZING popcorn...and ever since then I will get these random cravings for the delicious White Chocolate Popcorn. And the best part...it is so easy to make!

You will need:

Almond Bark

Popped Popcorn

Sprinkles (optional...but make it pretty)

All you need to do is have your popcorn popped and then I used 4-6 squares of the almond bark for a big bowl of popcorn. (2 bags of microwave popcorn, or if you use airpop then 2 or 3 batches)

Then, melt the chocolate for 30 seconds, then stir and repeat until it is all melted, and pour over the popcorn and add your sprinkles! I usually let it sit for a little bit so it gives the chocolate time to set.

Then enjoy!!

--Michelle--