OUR CARAMEL CASHEW BARS

 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2-1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoons salt
TOPPING:
1 package (10 ounces) Kraft Caramel Bits...
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons water
2-1/2 cups salted cashew halves
Directions
In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and
fluffy. Combine flour and salt; add to creamed mixture til combined.
Press into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at
350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. 

 In a small saucepan, combine the caramel bits, corn
syrup, butter & water. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until
smooth. Will scorch easily.
Spread over crust. Sprinkle with cashews; press down lightly. Bake
for 11-13 minutes or until topping is bubbly and lightly browned.
Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

        SOME OF APRIL'S MENUS: 

CRANBERRY CHICKEN & CHEESY-RANCH HASHBROWNS, CARAMEL FRENCH TOAST & OVERNIGHT EGG BAKE, AS WELL AS PIZZA SLOPPY JOES, BBQ PULLED CHICKEN & DEVILED EGGS!

Easy Supper For 100! Hot dogs, cut in half, Pulled BBQ Chicken, Roast Beef & Cheese Sandwiches,

Baked Beans, Chips, Fruits & Veggies!

Breakfast for Supper for 100! January 2014! Waffles, Variety of Muffins, Fresh Fruit & Easy Hash Brown-Egg Bakes

Easy Christmas Treats 2013

                                                                                                                                                                          Easy Cranberry Chicken

Meal!

If you should be reading my blog, I'm undergoing some health tests right now and so that's why no new posts or recipes.  Contest available on my Pinterest page, if you are interested.  Hope to be back up and running in the near future.  God bless ya'!

For making egg salad, use a potato masher in a big bowl on the eggs before mixing with the other ingredients.

For easy-peeling, hard-boiled eggs, I found
this idea on the internet somewhere.......

Church friends and my sissy made these

cute tissue paper flower bouquet for our women's

salad luncheon at church last week. 

I thought they turned out great! 

Here's just some of the mini pizza's
we made last week at one of the churches. 
It's a good thing son snapped this
one photo before they were all gone.
We made, sausage, pepperoni and a combo of them. 
We also made Alfredo and Chicken Alfredo ones also.


Supplies
English Muffins
Bagels
Pizza Sauce
Alfredo Sauce
Baby Pepperoni Bites
Italian Sausage Bites
Grilled Chicken Bites
Pizza Cheeses/Mozzarella
Toppings of Choice

Line cookie sheets with foil.
Line foil with muffins/bagels halves. 
Spread sauces on halves.
Sprinkle with toppings and cheese. 
 Bake at about 375 degrees for 10 minutes
or until cheese melts and heated through.
 

Simple Open House Buffet for 50 people or more!

Swedish Meatballs/Chicken ala King,
salads, cookies & bars at one of our jobs
with Connie & Dougy!

A Birthday Lunch

Pulled Pork, Rotisserie Chicken
& Italian Beef Sandwiches,
potato salad, six-layer salad,
strawberry glaze salad & a cheese ball!  :-)
Recipes to follow...

 If you are up for a kitchen giveaway,
just say so in the comments!

BBQ Chicken Tenderloins

 

If you are blessed to have a 6 quart roaster, you may know the joys of owning one.  Son and I put 3 pounds of chicken tenderloins in our roaster, poured a little chicken broth and BBQ seasoning on top and baked them for about an hour at 300.  We poured in 8 ounces of cola and 12 ounces of BBQ sauce and cooked for another 30-45 minutes, checking once or twice.  They came out perfectly and we served them with corn and mashed potatoes. You could do this in the slow cooker for several hours, if you don't have a roaster.

Pasta Turkey Meatball Soup

This is Drew's quick version of Olive Garden's Pasta Soup.
This can be multiplied easily to serve up to 100.


32 ounces broth, of choice
2 pounds of turkey meatballs
16 ounces of D' Italia Pasta
2 cans/jars of pizza sauce
1 large bottle of V-8
1 bag of shredded carrots
1 small can petite, diced tomatoes
2 cans of red kidney beans
2 cans of white navy beans
Italian Spice
Parmesan or Italian Cheese for the top

Heat meatballs in broth until cooked through, in large stock pot. 
Add pasta and stir frequently.
Add all other ingredients except cheese and heat on low,
until ready to serve.





 

Mac-N-Cheese Soup

We make this for the kids at the church who don't care too much for soup. 

1 pound pasta of choice
16 ounces of broth
1 large can of evaporated milk
1 package of Velveeta, cubed
8 ounces of Kraft Triple Cheese
Spices of choice
More milk for thinning, as desired
Add diced ham or bacon or a vegie, if desired

Boil the pasta, drain and add the broth and milk.
While heating on low, add cheeses, stirring constantly.
When cheese is melted, add more milk and spices as desired.
Don't let the milk boil or scorch.
Stir until heated through.
 

Quick Valentine Treats

 

M & M Pretzel Rings

 

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Spray foil-lined pan. Place pretzel rings on foil. Unwrap Hershey Kisses and place in center of rings.  Put in the preheated oven for 3-5 minutes!  No longer or they will burn. As soon as you pull them out, have the M & M's and push them gently into the Hershey Kiss. Let cool.  Then place pan in freezer for 30 minutes.  Throw treats into a freezer bag and they will keep for several weeks in freezer.  We stock up on pretzel rings by New Years as they are hard to find around here after the holidays.  These work great for any holiday, as you just change the M & M colors.

 

Peanut Butter Balls

 

Crush one package of Nutter Butter Cookies finely.  Food processor works well or a rolling pin with cookies in a Ziploc bag.  Mix cookie crumbs and one package of 8 ounce cream cheese in mixing bowl with electric mixer till mixed well.  Shape into small balls.  Dip into melted chocolate almond bark or spoon chocolate in a fast sweeping motion over the balls and freeze for 30 minutes.  Place in freezer bag when firm.  Will keep several weeks in freezer.

Cornbread & Bean Dish

 

I use my slow cookers for about 75% of the meals I make at home, but here's a simple one that you can make an hour before dinner time. Not overly healthy, but will do in pinch. 

 

2 cans of baked beans (two 26 oz. or one 26 oz. and one 16 oz)

1 package of Lil' Smokies, or wieners, cut into bite size pieces

2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp. of brown sugar

2 tbsp. of mustard

1/2 cup or so of BBQ Sauce or ketchup

Drop of liquid smoke

2 packages of cornbread/corn muffin mix & what you need to make them, eggs, milk

 

We use 8 x 12 foil pans for these and spray them. Pour everything into the pan, except cornbread mixes, milk and eggs.  Gently stir.  In a separate bowl, mix up the cornbread mixes together, as directed on the package. Spoon over the top of the bean mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, depending on when the cornbread seems done and the bean mixture it heated through.

BAKED POTATO BAR

We did a baked potato bar at the church the other night,
thanks to new friend Maddie
who wanted to work at the church with us. 
The potatoes were on sale and I hoped with extra hand to help,
we could get them all scrubbed and baked within 4 hours. 
We did the meat sauces in advance to save time.
For those who wanted to top their
potatoes with meat, we offered
Grilled Chicken in Alfredo Sauce, Beef Chili &
Shredded BBQ Chicken--shown above.
We offered cheeses, broccoli, bacon bits, onions, tomatoes,
corn, beans, sour cream, ranch dressing, butter, chives, etc...
for other toppings.

Baked Potatoes for a Crowd
Scrub Potatoes. Wipe dry.
Poke a fork into each potato, 4-8 times.
Roll into olive oil.
Sprinkle with Italian or Pizza Spice
(Maddie's suggestion & we liked it!)
Place on foil-lined baking sheets. 
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes,
turn potatoes and then continue
to bake another 30 minutes or until potato
feels soft inside, but crisp on the outside.
We did 60 pounds for 100 people. We had plenty.

Easy Shredded BBQ Chicken

3 pounds of raw chicken breasts or tenderloins
8 ounces chicken broth
1-2 cups of BBQ sauce, to your liking

Cook chicken and broth in 5 or 6 quart slow cooker
for 4-6 hours. When fully cooked,
shred with forks and add BBQ sauce. 
Heat through for about an hour and serve.