Creamy Sausage and Tomato Dip

This is just the right amount of spice for me. Very creamy and has a great flavor. A huge hit at our super bowl party.

Ingredients:
1lb Italian Sausage
1-8 oz package cream cheese
1-14/4 oz can tomatoes w/ green chilis. (I used Rotel)

Directions:
Brown sausage. Drain grease. Add cream cheese and can of tomatoes. It's up to you whether you want to drain can of tomatoes or not. We drained ours and it turned out great. Stir until cheese melts and well incorporated. Serve with tortilla chips. You can also put in small crockpot on warm. Yields about 2 cups of dip.

*I doubled it. I made it all in a skillet and then put in small crockpot to serve and keep warm.

Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Oreo Cookie Balls

I made these for the super bowl party at my parent's house and they were gone by the end of the game. These are very delicious and rich and perfect for any get-together.

Ingredients:
1 regular pkg oreos (3 rows of cookies)
1-8oz pkg cream cheese
4 oz white almond bark or a bag of white chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips and they turned out great. But make sure you get a high quality chocolate chip)

Directions:
Add oreos to food processor and blend until fine. Add cream cheese to oreo crumbs and blend until dough-like. Chill mixture for 15 minutes then roll into bite-size balls. Chill balls for 15 minutes. Melt almond bark or chocolate chips in microwave making sure not to burn it. I melted my chocolate chips in a glass bowl on 50% power in 40 second intervals until it was all creamy and melted. If you have almond bark it should have how to melt it on the package. Dip chilled balls in melted chocolate using fork or toothpick so chocolate can drip off. Set on wax paper and let set approx. 30 minutes. If using sprinkles do so right away before chocolate sets. Once set I put the balls in mini cupcake liners to serve. These are best when chilled.

*I had a hard time covering the whole ball in chocolate at first but it got better as I practiced.

Recipe from Just a Pinch

Banana Banana Bread

I just think this recipe is delicious.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 6 bananas)

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated over for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack.

Recipe from allrecipes.com. All recipes I have gotten from there have been a success.

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love this recipe! My family loves it, it's fun to make around this time of year and it's just so easy.

1 large can of pumpkin (the stuff you buy for pumpkin pie)
2 boxes of spice cake mix
1-2 bags of chocolate chips (I like to use 2 bags and semi-sweet)

Combine all ingredients. Scoop into balls (as best you can) onto a lightly greased baking sheet. The dough is easier to make into balls when it's been in the refrigerator for a while. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-15 minutes (depending on your oven-just keep an eye on them). They are done when the bottoms of the cookie are a darker brown. This makes a lot, like 6 dozen or more.


Daughter rating= 5 (Loved it!)

Cinnamon Apple French Toast Bake

Having my husband wake up to the smell of this wonderful breakfast dish was such a treat for me. That is one of the reasons I enjoy cooking new things. This reminded me of a type of cobbler that can be cooked in a dutch oven or a breakfast you would have on Christmas or Easter morning. Mmmm, it was good.

Daughter rating: 4- Liked it!

Cinnamon Apple French Toast Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf (1lb) Cinnamon Bread - cut into cubes (I used Apple Friter Bread I found at Walmart. Leave the bread out for a little while to dry before putting in the pan. It will soak up the egg mixture better)
  
• 1-21 oz. can Apple Pie Filling
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese - cut into cubes (I used about 6 oz.)
  
• 5 Eggs
• 1 ¼ cup Half&Half
• 2 T. Maple Syrup
• ½ t Cinnamon
• Maple Syrup

Method:

Grease one 9-inch deep dish pie pan. (I used a large 9 x 9 baking dish and it worked great)

Divide cinnamon bread cubes in half. Place half of the cubes in the bottom of the pie pan.

Spread apple pie filling over bottom layer of bread cubes. (I ran a knife through the larger pieces of apple, while they were still in the can, so that the apple would be in small pieces in the dish)

Sprinkle cream cheese cubes over apple pie filling and top with remaining bread cubes.

In a small bowl mix eggs, half & half, maple syrup and cinnamon; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.

Remove covering and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes (until golden brown).

Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Slice, drizzle each serving with maple syrup and ENJOY! (my husband and I had it without syrup and it was still good.)

Again, thank you Studio 5 for the delicious recipe!

Fortune Cookies

I made homemade fortune cookies! Sometimes I see these new recipes or new craft projects and decide I want to try it. Then I get way in over my head. That's what happened with the fortune cookies. After I was finished I'm glad I did them but they were a longer process than I thought and not good to do on a Thursday night, wanting to have them ALL ready Friday morning. The pictures didn't turn out the greatest but you can get the idea. One day I'll put pictures up of each step, because I think that's useful when making these for the first time. I even put little fortunes in each of them, dipped them in chocolate, and put different sprinkles on them. They're not your average fortune cookies. They are sweeter and taste pretty good. They were fun though and Michael took them to work with him on Friday (to celebrate Valentines day since it was on a Sunday). They were a big hit there and I'm glad everyone enjoyed them.

Fortune Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons water
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Optional: food coloring or chocolate
• Pam spray

Method:

1. Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 1/2 inches long and not more than ½" inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray two or three 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.

2. 2. In a mixing bowl, on medium speed beat the egg white, extracts, water and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.

3. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl.

4. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should be thin enough so that it pours off of a spoon, but not too thick that it won't spread easily with the back of the spoon.

Optional: if you want to color the cookies, add the food coloring at this point, stirring it into the batter. Start with just a little bit, as it doesn't take much to change the color. You can also add a few tsps of melted semi-sweet chocolate at the point. Beat well. You can also divide the batter and try a few different things with it.

5. Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Some recipes call for you to tilt the cookie sheet to spread the batter, but I like to use the back of a round Tablespoon to spread it out a bit.

6. Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes). If you take them out and they are not coming off easily you can put them back in the oven for a few minutes.

7. Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.

To begin with bake only one cookie, then move on to 2, 3 and 4. I don't like doing more than 4, as any more and by the time I get to them they have cooled down and will crack with folding.

These cookies will be hot when you take them out and handle them. Clean, white cotton gloves can be used to avoid injury.

What I did: I dipped mine in different kinds of chocolate when the fortune cookies all cooled off. Then right after dipping them I put sprinkles on them. I put the fortune cookies in the refrigerator to harden and cool.

Click here if you want a video on how to do them.Before being dipped in chocolateIn the refrigerator cooling

Different sprinkles

Overnight Broccoli & Ham Strata

This recipe is a family tradition on Michael's side of the family. They have it on Christmas morning. When Michael described it to me it sounded interesting but good. It seemed more of a casserole than a breakfast. But I wanted to make it for him because he was away from his family for Christmas and I thought this would bring back a lot of memories. Well I'm so glad I did. It was sooo good. Michael enjoyed it so much and it lasted several days because it makes so much and is so filling. That is of course with only two people and a 14 month old. Thanks Mom Pfeil for the recipe!

Overnight Broccoli & Ham Strata

Ingredients 12 slices (firm textured ) white bread 1 bag (1 lb) frozen chopped broccoli – defrosted 1 lb (sharp or mild) cheddar cheese – shredded 2 cups (abt 12 oz) diced cooked ham 6 eggs 3 ½ cups milk 1 tsp. Dry mustard 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbs. Instant minced onion ½ tsp garlic powder 1/8 tsp. Pepper

Directions Using a 3 inch doughnut cutter, cut a ring from each bread slice, set aside. Cut the trimmings into cubes. Spread out the broccoli on paper towels to drain thoroughly. In a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, arrange in layers the bread cubes, ¾ of cheese, the broccoli, ham and bread rounds. Top with remaining cheese. Beat together eggs, milk, mustard, worchestershire, minced onion, garlic powder and pepper until well blended. Pour evenly over casserole making sure all bread round s are saturated. Cover and refrigerate 12 hours or overnight. Bake casserole uncovered in 350 degree oven about 1 hr or until center appear set. Cool at least 15 min before cutting into squares to serve. Serves 12.

Classic Apple Pie

For Michael's Christmas pie he chose apple. I had never made it before but it was pretty easy. Of course I took the easy way out and bought apple pie filling. But it's what I recommend if you don't have a ton of time and it's really good.

Classic Apple Pie

Ingredients
Double crust for a 9'' pie (homemade or purchased)
2 cans (21 0z) Apple Pie Filling or Topping

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 9'' pie pan with pie crust. Pour apple filling evenly into crust. Place vented or lattice crust over filling or create decorative top crust using cookie cutters to make shapes. Lay directly on fruit filling. Crimp edges to seal. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake an additional 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serves 6 to 8.

My tips
I made slits on the top crust because mine did not come with it. It worked great.

Egg Nog Pumpkin Pie

I found this recipe I think in the summer of 2009. I was watching Emeril and he had a Military Contest. It's actually called Stacey's "I don't have any evaporated milk!" Pumpkin Pie. She was a chef for the military and didn't have any evaporated milk so instead she used egg nog. I love pumpkin pie but this is one of the best recipes I've tasted. It's so moist and has such an amazing flavor. I made this for Thanskgiving and also for Christmas. Michael's mom growing up had all the kids choose a pie to have on Christmas. I thought this was a great tradition and so this is the pie I chose. I can't get enough of pumpkin pie and apparently neither could my husband or daughter. :).

Eggnog Pumpkin Pie


Ingredients
-1 pre-made pie crust
-1 small can pumpkin puree
-1 1/2 cups egg nog, storebought or homemade
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pumpkin, egg nog, eggs, and both sugars into a mixing bowl and mix on low until incorporated. Add salt, vanilla and cinnamon until just incorporated. Pour mixture into prepared pie shell and bake in preheated over for 45 minutes.

My tips:
I had to cook mine for about an hour. When it gets a brown spot on the top is when I knew it was done.
I recommend getting a deep dish pie crust because there is a lot of filling.
Stick a knife in middle, when it comes out clean it's ready.