Christmas Treats

Our Christmas plates this year looked something like this - a few old favorites and a few new things I tried.  I had a definite favorite, but everything turned out delicious.  I was going to dip pretzel rods in caramel and milk chocolate and drizzle with white chocolate, but I ended up buying chocolate covered pretzels and drizzling them with white chocolate instead.  The peanut butter cookie recipe is here.  Here's the rest of the yummy goodness.

Holly's Scrumdiddilyumpscious Pumpkin Bars

Cake:

2 c flour

1-1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (3 oz) pkg cream cheese
1/4 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 c sifted powdered sugar

Sift together dry ingredients.  Combine wet ingredients and beat together.  Add dry to wet and beat until combined.  Spread butter in an ungreased 15 x 10 inch baking pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.  For the frosting, mix cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Spread over cake and enjoy.  I like to use a double batch of frosting (use a whole 8 oz package of cream cheese).  You can also make this in a 9 x 13 for more of a cake dessert instead of bars with a single batch of frosting.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons
1 (14 oz) pkg flaked coconut (5-1/3 c)
2/3 c sugar
6 Tb flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 tsp almond extract
1 pkg (8 squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl.  Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased and floured cookie sheets.  Bake 20 minutes or until edges of cookies are golden brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheets to wire racks and cool completely.  Dip cookies halfway into melted chocolate.  Let stand at room temperature or refrigerate on wax paper-lined tray 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.  Store in tightly covered container up to one week.

German Chocolate Bars

2/3 c butter, softened

1 pkg German chocolate cake mix

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tub coconut pecan ready-to-spread frosting

1/4 c milk

In a medium bowl, cut butter into cake mix.  Press half of the mixture (about 2-1/2 cups) in the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 pan.  Bake 10 minutes at 350.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked layer.  Drop frosting by tablespoonfuls over chocolate chips.  Stir milk into the remaining cake mixture and drop teaspoonfuls of this batter on top of the frosting.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until cake portions of the surface are slightly dry to the touch.  Cool completely.  Cut into squares.  Cover and refrigerate.

Toffee-Top Cheesecake Bars - my favorite - SO SO SO good

1-1/4 c flour

1 c powdered sugar
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 c butter
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 c (8 oz pkg) English toffee bits, divided

Combine flour, powdered sugar, cocoa and baking soda; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Press firmly on bottom of ungreased 9 x 13-inch baking pan.  Bake 15 minutes.  In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Add milk, eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth.  Stir in 1 c English toffee bits.  Pour mixture over hot crust.  Bake 25 minutes or until set and edges just begin to brown.  Remove from oven.  Cool 15 mimnutes.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 c English toffee bits evenly over top.  Cool completely. Refrigerate several hours or until cold.  Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Picnic Chicken Pitas

This is so good, great for a meal on the go, and made even easier by using rotisserie chicken. It's one of those meals I hadn't made for awhile, and when I finally made it again I wondered why it had been so long. Everyone absolutely loved it.

Picnic Chicken Pitas
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen broccoli florets, cooked and drained (I always use fresh broccoli - about 2 good-sized bunches)
2 c shredded cooked chicken (or diced)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 c mayonnaise
2 Tb prepared mustard
1/2 tsp salt, optional
1/8 tsp pepper
4 pita pockets (6 inches), halved
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (I do more)
Optional Ranch dressing

In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, chicken, cheese and tomato. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, salt if desired, and pepper; pour over the broccoli mixture and toss to coat. Spoon about 3/4 c into each pita half; top with bacon. I like to add Ranch dressing to the mayo mixture, probably about the same amount as mayo.

Banana Bread

I love, love banana bread, and this is a fabulous recipe. I love big chunks of nuts, and I never measure how much I actually put in. I make small loaves, mini loaves, muffins, mini muffins... lots of shapes and sizes of this yumminess. Cooking times vary with size, so watch it so you don't end up with banana nut charcoal.

Banana Bread
3 eggs
1 c oil
1½ c sugar
2 c flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c ripe bananas (about 3-4), mashed
1 c milk
1 c walnuts (more), coarsely chopped

Bake at 375º for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I like to make banana nut muffins or baby loaves. Cooking time is less with smaller sizes - just watch it.

Quesadillas

Awhile ago I took advantage of a 2 for 1 roast sale. One roast became our Sunday dinner, and the other roast was used to try out a new recipe for chimichanga meat. I tossed the meat in the crock pot with the ingredients and enjoyed the delicious aroma of Mexican meat cooking all day long. Then when the meat was falling apart and able to shred with a fork, I tasted some and was shocked to find there was no flavor. at. all. Apparently all the flavor escaped with the delicious vapors I'd been smelling all day and there was nothing left behind to flavor the meat. So in an effort to save this beautiful roast, I put these quesadillas together. It took some convincing to get the girls to try them, (different is scary, you know) but once they did they were hooked. Now this is one of the most requested meals at our house. I add a little more to the meat now, but feel free to add more kick. My family likes mild. I prefer flour tortillas, but you could use corn. Wheat is yummy, too.

Save-the-Roast Quesadillas

Roast, 2-3 lbs.

Oil - I like canola

Tortillas

Cheese - any kind you want, but a Mexican blend is especially good

Beans - black or pinto

Fresh Cilantro, chopped or torn

Optional:

Sour cream

Salsa

Guacamole

Tomatoes

Lettuce

To prepare the roast, season on all sides with pepper, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Place in crock pot with two cans of green chillies. Fill one of those cans with salsa and also add to the pot. Slow cook until meat is tender and shreds easily with a fork. This takes all day in my crock pot, but in a crock pot that works better than mine it should only take a few hours.

To prepare the quesadillas, you'll need 2 tortillas per quesadilla. Brush or spray the tortillas lightly with oil on one side. Place the oil side down on a baking sheet. Spread meat over tortilla; sprinkle beans, cheese and cilantro over meat. Cover with the other tortilla, oil side up. Place in oven and bake until crispy but not burnt. Take out and cut with pizza slicer. Garnish with optional toppings and enjoy.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I love peanut butter cookies, and I have this great recipe I love. I love them plain, but there's no better food combination than peanut butter and chocolate, so we like to dress them up a little, too. Here are two of our favorites that we like to make for FHE. I love getting the kids involved in the kitchen. They love making these and of course eating them, too!

Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1-1/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

You know how to make cookies. Cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg. Sometimes I add vanilla, too. Mix the dry ingredients and mix them in with the wet. I love to add chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate) to make the best chocolate chip cookies EVER. This batch makes about 2-1/2 dozen tablespoon-size cookies.



Peanut Butter Kisses
I know everyone knows how to do this, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway because it's so-o-o delicious. Unwrap kisses and press them into the cookies when they come out of the oven. Don't put them on the cooling rack first unless you want to poke a kiss-sized hole all the way through your cookie. With all the varieties of Hershey kisses available, you can easily find a taste combination you adore.


Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

For this one you need mini muffin tins and mini peanut butter cups. Roll a ball of dough about an inch in diameter. (I use the Pampered Chef small scoop to measure the dough, and the kids roll them into balls.) Place ball in mini muffin cup and press up the sides. Repeat until you run out of dough or muffin cups. Bake at 350 for approx. 10 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, press peanut butter cup into center of cookie. Carefully remove from muffin tins and cool.

Peasant Pasta

This recipe came from Rachael Ray "kid food" book. I'm always a little wary of supposed kid recipes made by people who don't actually have any kids and often wonder where they found kids who would touch their "kid-friendly" cuisine. I decided to give this one a try anyway, and it was surprisingly delicious. Honestly, it looks more like dog food than a delicious meal and it took the older kids raving about it to convince the younger kids to even try a bite, but when they finally tried it everyone loved it. We served it topped with Parmesan cheese with toasted french bread and a salad on the side.


Peasant Pasta
1 lb bulk Italian sweet sausage
1 can (28 oz) chunky-style crushed tomatoes
1/2 c frozen green peas
1/2 c heavy cream or half and half
1/2 lb penne rigate, cooked until al dente
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage and drain fat. Wipe out skillet and return to heat. Add cooked sausage crumbles back to pan and add tomatoes. Bring to a bubble and cook for 5 minutes. Add peas and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in cream, to blush the color of the sauce. Simmer until pasta is ready to drain. Toss two-thirds of the sauce with pasta and transfer to serving bowl. Top with remaining sauce and serve with grated cheese and crusty bread.

Honestly, the flavor is a little plain. The sausage makes it, but the tomatoes and cream aren't exactly bursting with flavor. Like I said, my kids loved it, but for me I might use hot sausage and add some more flavor to the sauce -- even your favorite spaghetti sauce would be a delicious alternative. So try it, play around with it, and it will be a dish your family loves.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole and Good Potatoes

My kids absolutely LOVE this meal, and the adults enjoy it a lot, too. Chicken Cordon Bleu is a favorite dish in my house, but it's not a recipe I turn to when I need something quick and easy. This casserole, however, is awfully quick and easy, and delicious, too.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
Approx. 4 chicken breasts cut into large pieces
6 slices provolone or swiss cheese
1-1/2 c cubed ham
1 can cream soup (I use cream of chicken)
1 box of stuffing

Spray casserole dish. Layer chicken pieces on bottom followed by the ham and the cheese slices. Spread can of soup over the cheese. (If you wanted to freeze it, you would do so right now.) Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. In the meantime, make stuffing. Spread over casserole and bake another 15 minutes. As you can see in the picture, sometimes I cook the casserole for the entire 40 minutes and serve the stuffing on the side. I think the stuffing can be overpowering in the casserole, so Mrs. Cubbison's Corn Bread Stuffin' is another yummy option. For the cheese I usually use a shredded 3-cheese blend of provolone, mozzarella and cheddar, and I often used sliced deli ham instead of cubed. You can sprinkle parsley over the top.


I love potatoes just about any way they come, and this version is no exception. Onion soup mix makes this a simple and convenient way to dress up potatoes.

Good Potatoes
Cube enough potatoes to fill a cookie sheet in a single layer. Toss with 1/3 c oil and 1 package Lipton onion soup mix, crushed. Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 40-60 minutes until golden and tender.