Halloween Party Treats

Here are some of the recipes I used for the party.  First up is Halloween Party Mix.  Make this only if you are prepared to a.) do extra workouts or b.) gain 10 pounds.  Seriously.  This stuff is delicious and addictive. 

I made it the day before the party and stored it in ziplock bags.  I can vouch that it keeps very well as I was still snacking on this stuff a week later.  ;)  Click on the pic to be taken to the recipe.

Our main course for the party was chicken wings, but I set out some finger foods as well.  These Bone Slices were easy to mix up but quite tasty.  Click on the pic for the recipe.

I spread four tortillas with a simple but yummy crab filling and it made quite a few appetizers.  I made the filling the day before and chilled it in the fridge.  The morning of the party I spread the filling on the tortillas and wrapped them in plastic wrap.  I sliced and arranged them on a platter to look like a spine about a half hour before guests arrived.

I set out both a fruit and veggie platter, but each had fun twists for Halloween.  The biggest hit on the fruit platter?  Strawberry Ghosts.

There were absolutely no leftovers with these babies.  Simple to make but delish and oh too cute.  I made them the night before the party and they kept well in the fridge until the next day.

The veggie platter was gussied up with carrots made to look like fingers.

Again, very simple and cute.  Along with the fingers I set out some broccoli and grape tomatoes on tray.

Now on to the sweet treats!  I made three types of cookies.  As I chronicled in my live blogging posts, I made up some no bake cookies and simply pressed a candy corn on top to make them more festive.  I also whipped up a batch of Nutter Butter Ghosts, simply dipping Nutter Butter cookies in white chocolate and adding mini chocolate chip facial features.  Lastly, and star of the treat table, were Witches Fingers.

These were made with a basic wedding cookie dough tinted a light green.  After chilling the dough, shape small bits into logs, pinch to make knuckles, press with fork tines to make lines and press an almond slice at the end for fingernails.  After baking, if some of the nails fall off simply affix them back on with red decorating gel or a red jelly.  It will ooze and look like blood!

Here is a pic of my treat table at the party.  No bake cookies on the left, witches fingers and nutter butter ghosts in the middle and cupcakes all around!  I made 2 batches of cupcakes and decorated them all differently.  The cookies are displayed on regular platters just covered with black tissue paper for effect.  Next post will be pics of all the party fun!

Cooking Thursday

Last week I made a wonderful meal with the help of my favorite cooking magazine, Simple & Delicious.

 

Chicken Tortellini Alfredo  From Simple & Delicious

• 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated spinach or cheese tortellini
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup fresh baby carrots
• 3 tablespoons Crisco® Pure Olive Oil, divided
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges
• 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 jar (15 ounces) Alfredo sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute broccoli and carrots in 2 tablespoons oil for 5-6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in the mushrooms, onion and garlic; saute vegetables 3-4 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables and keep warm.
• In the same skillet, cook chicken in remaining oil over medium heat for 4-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Return vegetables to skillet. Stir in Alfredo sauce and seasonings; heat through. Drain tortellini; add to chicken mixture. Toss to coat

Peanut Butter Pie  From Simple & Delicious

3/4 cup peanut butter 
   4 ounces cream cheese, softened
   1 cup confectioners' sugar
   1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
   1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)

In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping; pour into prepared crust. Sprinkle with nuts. Chill until serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

The boys loved both dishes and I loved how easy they were to put on the table.  Check out Sandra’s site for more Cooking Thursday.

Cooking Thursday: Sweet Potato Casserole

This week I am going to share one of my “signature” dishes.  It’s the one that I get in trouble if I don’t bring it to a family gathering lol.  Everyone loves it and even those who don’t like sweet potatoes gobble it down.

Mom’s Sweet Potato Bake  Adapted from Taste of Home

3 cups sweet potato, mashed (you get the best flavor from sweet potatoes if you bake them)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flour
2 tbs cold butter

In a mixing bowl beat sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, butter, eggs salt and vanilla until smooth.  Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish.  In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans and flour and cut in butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over potato mixture.  Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly at the edges.

For more Cooking on Thursday stop by Sandra’s.  This one is for you, Renee!  :)

Cooking Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

This week I am sharing a recipe I found at Domestic Wonder.  It was so easy and super tasty…all the boys loved it!

My ds3 took this pic for me while he was eating…he knows I always forget to take pics before the food is all gone lol.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

2 chicken breasts (I used frozen)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans veggies (use any combination you like, or do like me and just toss in a frozen bag of mixed veggies)
1 1/2 cans water (I used the soup cans)
1 can refrigerated biscuits (I just used the cheapies,) quartered

Place chicken breasts in crock.  I don’t even bother to thaw mine and they do fine.  Pour soups on top (at this point you can sprinkle with some spices…I used poultry and seasoned salt.)  Add on your veggies and water.  Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.  Uncover, stir it up good, and add biscuits to top.  Cook on high another 2 hours.  Shred chicken and serve.  Yum!  For more delicious recipes head over to Sandra’s.

Cooking Thursday #4: Beef Lo Mein

I found this quick, easy and delish dish at Frugal Family Recipes.  I did doctor it up a bit.  My boys and I just love this one!

Beef Lo Mein

1 pound ground beef
chopped onion (or a bit of frozen seasoning mix is what I use)
2 1/2 cups water
2 pkgs beef flavored ramen noodles
2 cups frozen broccoli spears
Soy sauce

Brown the beef and onion (or seasoning mix) and drain.  Add in water and bring to a boil.  Add crumbled noodles and seasoning packets and broccoli.  Simmer covered for about 3 minutes.  Uncover and splash with soy sauce to taste.  Simmer about 3 more minutes until liquid evaporates and noodles are tender.  Yum!

Head over to Sandra’s for more Cooking Thursday.

Cooking Thursday #3: Slow Cooker Ribs

I’ve been making these for a while now and they always turn out tasty.  It’s a great alternative to grilling ribs (like now, when it’s below freezing outside lol.)  You could shred the meat up and serve it on buns as well.

It’s not the most appetizing pic, but I tell ‘ya they taste great.  ;)

Slow Cooker Ribs

4 pounds country style pork spareribs (or less)
1/2 cup frozen seasoning mix
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika

Place the seasoning mix in the cooker and top with ribs.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over all.  I usually cook this on high for about an hour and then turn it to low for the rest of the time.   Mmm!  Check out Sandra at Diary of a SAHM for more great recipes.

Cooking Thursday #2: Donut Muffins

Welcome to week two of Cooking Thursday, hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I am so glad she is hosting this as it reminds me to post the new recipes I try each week.  I found this recipe on Cookies on Friday.  It is simple, uses ingredients I have on hand and the boys LOVED it.

Mmm, look at those beauties.  I covered half with powdered sugar and the other half with cinnamon sugar.  The ones you cover in cinnamon sugar are dipped in butter first and come out crunchy on the outside and so moist and yummy inside.  Here is the recipe from Nicole’s site.

1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk
¼ cup sour cream
6 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
Topping
4 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup sugar combined with 2 teaspoons cinnamon
-or- ½ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 mini muffin tins with cooking spray. This recipe makes 24 muffins.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. In another bowl, combine milk and sour cream; stir to combine.
In a mixer bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture alternatively with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated, but don’t overmix.
Place 1 tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Bake muffins until they are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn them out of the pans. Apply topping while warm.
To apply the topping, roll the warm muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Alternatively, roll the warm muffins in powdered sugar. (If you top the muffins with powdered sugar, don’t roll them in butter.)
Recipe from Cuisine at Home Holiday Baking

Definitely a keeper.  :)  So what new recipe have you tried this week?

Cooking Thursday

Sandra at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom hosts Cooking Thursday (formally Slow Cooker Thursday.)  Ironically, my offering this week comes from the slow cooker lol.  The recipe is from the Crock Pot site itself, although I altered it slightly.

Apricot Chicken

1 jar apricot preserves
1 cup Russian dressing (I used French)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix (I omitted)
6 chicken breasts

Put your chicken in the crock.  Mix up the preserves, dressing and soup mix (if you are using.)  Pour over chicken.  Cook on high for 1 hour and low for 3 to 4 hours.

This turned out quite tasty, the boys and I all loved it.  The best part?  There were two breasts left over.  I shredded them, poured the leftover sauce over them and saved them for lunches for the week.  Oh, they made the BEST sandwiches!

Mmm.  Head over to Sandra’s to see more wonderful recipes.  :)

Serve It Up Sunday: My Menu For The Week

Sunday:  Frozen Chicken Strips, Mac & Cheese, Green Beans

Monday:  Tacos

Tuesday:  Crockpot Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

Wednesday:  Beef Burgundy, Noodles

Thursday:  BBQ Chicken Legs, Mac & Cheese, Mixed Veggies

Friday:  Oodles of Noodles Soup

Saturday:  Fend

Simply Made Sunday: Applesauce

Sorry I don’t have any pics for this one, ds1 took my camera with him to the beach the day we did this.

Ds4 is using MFW Kindergarten this year and this week’s lesson was A for Apple.  We taste tested and compared several varieties of apples and then made applesauce!  I just cut each apple (there were about 5 of them) into chunks and put them in a bowl.  While cutting you can take the time to show the little star or flower pattern in the core and count the seeds with your little one.  Put about 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add apple chunks and return to a boil.  Then lower heat and simmer about 25 minutes.  Add sugar to taste (we had such a wide variety of apples that ours was pretty sweet by itself)  and mash it all up!  This was so good warm, and I think would taste great with some ice cream on top.  Yummy and easy.

I’m including another recipe, this one from the Year of Slow Cooking website.  I made this one last year and it was super good!

This makes enough for 4 people. If you would like to freeze or can, use more apples.
--4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
--juice from 1 lemon
--1/2 tsp cinnamon
--1 tsp vanilla
--1 T brown sugar
--1/4 cup H20
The Directions.
I used a 4 quart crockpot for the applesauce.
Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla (I used imitation--we were out of the good stuff), and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork. My apples were very tender after 6 hours, and I used a fork.

Applesauce is an easy and fun kitchen project to do with your kiddos.  :)  Head over to Susana’s for more fun ideas.

Muffin Tin Monday: 4th Of July

This week’s theme for Muffin Tin Monday, hosted at Her Cup Overfloweth, is 4th of July!  Good golly, are you trying to tell me that June is really almost over?  Wow.  Well, here is my take on the theme.

Can you believe I still haven’t found a small muffin tin for this project?  I even searched flea markets and nary a one.  Sigh.  But ds4 loves his Christmas platter and muffin liners so as long as he’s happy, I’m happy. :)  We went with vanilla yogurt with chopped strawberries and blue sprinkles on top, peanut butter toast with strawberry and grape jelly stripes, watermelon balls, cheese cutouts and a little mini candy bar (only thing blue I had on hand lol.)

Looks a little unsure, doesn’t he?  It’s the white cheese.  He’s not a big fan of white cheese.  He did try it, though, I’ll give him that. :)  I look forward to visiting all the other muffin tin-ers this week, lots of creative moms out there!

Recipes!

I’ve started posting on my recipe blog again…don’t know how I got so far behind.  :)  Check it out, there is a widget on my sidebar that shows the latest posts and links to the blog.  I’m not a chef by any means, I just like to share recipes that I have found that my family likes. :)

Dinner Tonight

Was pretty darn good lol! I tried out a recipe from a Betty Crocker Slow Cooker cookbook. It's always a good dinner when you just dump it in the crockpot and forget about it until 5pm. :) Btw, that's a pic of the kind of crockpot I have right now...a Hamilton Beach Stay or Go, and I love it!

Chicken Alfredo Stew

1 jar Alfredo pasta sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups refrigerated cooked diced potatoes with onions
1 1/4 lb skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

In a small bowl, mix Alfredo sauce, water, basil and salt. In slow cooker, layer half each of potatoes, chicken strips, frozen veggies and pasta sauce. Repeat layers ending with pasta sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. My notes: This is very tasty and I didn't even follow the recipe very well. I didn't have any refrigerated potatoes and just used some diced fresh red potatoes. I also used some frozen thighs I had on hand, and about an hour before I served this up I took them out of the crock, removed the skin and bones, and replaced the meat. I also didn't do the whole "layering" part in the directions...just plopped it all in lol. Anyway, it turned out pretty tasty, especially with the hot cornbread I made to sop up the sauce with. Yum!

Million Dollar Cookie

So have you tried this one yet? I am glad a cookie recipe won the prize at the Pillsbury Bake Off this year. I can't wait for Food Network to broadcast the show...we really enjoyed watching last year and I have been a fan ever since of last year's winner's blog, Cookie Madness (even though her winning recipe was not for a cookie lol.) I like that this year's winning recipe is easy, uses everyday ingredients, and is quite adaptable. I made a batch and they went super quick! They look pretty and taste great. (Although my son said he wouldn't pay a million dollars for one...had to explain the whole contest concept to him lol.) Make a batch today!

Happy Earth Day and a Yummy Dessert

Did you do anything to "celebrate" Earth Day 2008? We had some fun with a few lesson plans I found on the internet. We learned about the history of Earth Day, discussed the 3 R's (although now there are 5...I'm out of the loop lol) and played a game at Recycle City. My kids realized that we already practice the three R's in our everyday life and suggested ways we could do even more.

Tonight for dinner we had Beef Quesadillas. They were pretty yummy, but next time I might add a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup to the beef and refried bean mixture. Just an idea. Now here is what we had for dessert!

Well, that's just part of it. We had Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcake. Yum! The pic above is of the shortcakes as they came out of the oven.
This is after you cut the shortcakes in half and pile on the sweetened strawberries and whipped cream. Yeah baby! And check out the family china lol. Here is the recipe, from the new issue of Simple and Delicious magazine.

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcake

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
Biscuits:
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs butter, melted and divided
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
whipped cream

In a small bowl, combine sliced strawberries and sugar. Cover and put in fridge until serving. In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 tbs sugar, baking powder and salt. In small bowl combine 1/2 cup melted butter and whipping cream. Add to dry ingredients until thick dough forms. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by 1/3 cupfuls onto a greased baking sheet. My tip here, I always use parchment paper for baking. Things always come out beautifully and clean up is easy. Brush with remaining melted butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Cut biscuits in half, spoon fruit onto bottom half, top with whipped cream and replace top of biscuit. Enjoy! (And don't forget to use the family china lol!)

Dinner Last Night

Was a pretty casual and easy affair. I made Pizza Roll-ups, a recipe from the July/August 2000 issue of Quick Cooking magazine (now called Simple & Delicious.) Sides were salad and cut up fruit (mango, pineapple, cantaloupe.) Everyone enjoyed the roll-ups and ate well.

Pizza Roll-Ups
1/2 pound ground beef
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tubes crescent rolls
Cook and drain the beef. Remove from heat and add tomato sauce, cheese and oregano; mix well. Separate crescent dough into eight rectangles, pinching seams together. Place about 3 tbs of meat mixture along one long side of each rectangle and roll up, jelly-roll style. Cut into three pieces and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Of course a ready made pizza sauce could substitute for the tomato sauce and oregano, and you can really use any cheese you like or have on hand. Yummy and also great as an afternoon snack.

In Like A Lion

It has been quite windy the past few days. The temps have been moderate, though, even a little hot...the a.c. runs every once in a while. I have exercised every day this week...Monday a walking dvd, Tuesday the weight lifting part of Denise Austin, and today another walking dvd. Last night we had tator tot casserole and broccoli. I made some chocolate chip cookie bars...very good recipe from Allrecipes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon water
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, vanilla and water; beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into 13x9 baking pan and bake at 375 for 20 to 30 minutes.