○Wonderful Stuff○

When Doug and I were first married I tried this.  I really didn't want to because I HATE coconut and nuts.  But boy was I hooked!!  It is so ooey-gooey melt in your mouth goodness.  I guess that's why they call it WONDERFUL STUFF;)  My mom makes this all year long for her Seminary students - it was a huge hit with her YW too at girls camp!!  You can't go wrong wrapping this up and giving it away to neighbors and friends!!!!!

Wonderful Stuff -
1 box Rice Chex (we actually like Corn better)
(OR - the original recipe calls for 9 cups Chex and 8 cups Golden Grahmns)
1 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
3/4 cup butter

Stir together chex, coconut and almonds in a large bowl and set aside.  Bring sugar, syrup and butter to boil in saucepan.  Boil for 2 minutes without stirring.  Take off heat and pour over cereal mixture.  Stir until well coated.  Store in air tight container.  ENJOY - and TRY not to eat all in one sitting - LOL!!:)

-Pepperoni Poppers-

I found this new cooking blog from Celeste's friend called THE PIE HOLE!  On there she posted a yummy recipe for these cute little things.  She suggested they looked like eyeballs and to serve them for Halloween.  So we whipped up a batch and served them for lunch.  They were a HIT - we plan to make them a lot at our house:)  BTW they are so kid friendly, my daughter loved helping make these.

Pepperoni Poppers -

1 can thin crust pizza dough
4-5 pieces of string cheese
pepperoni or ham (my favorite)
ranch or marinara for dipping

Directions:
Separate the pizza dough into 15-20 small balls, around golf ball sized or a little smaller.
Cut the string cheese into 4-5 pieces and stuff into the center of each dough ball. Seal the cheese inside the ball.
Lay on greased baking sheet and press down slightly.
Place a pepperoni on top of each ball.  And an added olive for an eerie look - hehehe!!
Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through

•Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars•

School started and I feel like our lives have been crazy.  Plus I have made Cake Pops/Bites for the past three weeks so I haven't done anything very creative in the cooking/baking department:)  But I have this amazing neighbor that loves to spoil us with all of her yummy goodies every once and a while and last week she brought us these.  I called her up to get the recipe and she told me it was off of a can of Crisco or off the package of chocolate chips - funny huh!!  Because they were SO good:)  Also her daughter didn't want to wait to keep baking the cookies so she made them into bars.  Wow I don't know if I will make "cookies" again, this was so easy!!!!

Cookie Bars:
1 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 c. flour
1 pkg chocolate chips

Cream sugars with butter, beat in egg, add dry ingredients and stir in chocolate chips.  Press into greased baking sheet and bake at 375* for 10 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars.
ENJOY!!

Monkey Bread!

For our first day of school we decided to make a fun, yummy breakfast.  My mom makes this A LOT for her Seminary students and it's VERY easy.  I know you probably have had it but this is our version and it's good AND great to make the night before!! 

So now it's our new Back to School tradition...

MONKEY BREAD --

24 Rhodes dinner rolls - frozen*

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c brown sugar

1 sm. pkg butterscotch pudding - the kind you cook not instant

4 tsp. cinnamon

Melt butter, sugar, pudding and cinnamon in saucepan till dissolved - don't cook longer.  Place rolls in bottom of greased bundt pan and pour mixture over.  Cover and leave out on counter over night to rise.

Preheat oven to 350* and bake for 30 minutes.

*I accidentally bought Texas Rolls so I just added about 14-16 rolls to the pan and it definitely rose too high and didn't coat them very well.  BUT they sure tasted YUMMY!!!!   Just an FYI:)

EMJOY!

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes & Chicken

Scalloped Chicken & Potatoes:
1 box scalloped potatoes (including seasoning packet)
6 chicken tenders
3 cups water
Put potatoes in greased slow cooker first, followed by seasoning packet and chicken. Pour water over all. Cover and cook on low heat 4-5 hours.
 I found this somewhere out there on the internet...don't remember where but I have been dying to try it!  My husband loves Scalloped Potatoes so it was a huge hit at the dinner table.  I LOVED how it was fast, easy and yummy!  Only thing I would do differently is to double it.
ENJOY!!

Chicken Veggie Casserole

Since I post a lot of my recipe's here, don't really use any of my cookbooks I have collected and have a HUGE mess in my cubbard I decided to clean out and toss a lot of books and recipes that were collecting dust.  I find ones and think they sound good so I toss it in a pile to try later but lately I have just wanted quick, easy recipes.  So I have been trying a lot of the easy ones and tossing the ones that I just don't think will be good for my family.  Which has been great because I have come across some old favorites that I have forgotten about and hand written recipes from my Granny that I will cherish.  She was an amazing cook and I like to think I get my love for cooking/baking from her!!♥
Well this was a recipe that I clipped from a magazine that sounded yummy so we gave it a try last night and I think it will be a keeper...
(ps - stay tuned for lots more - I have been going batty waiting for this baby to come so I have been baking/cooking a lot to pass the days;)

Chicken Veggie Casserole:

1 can cream of mushroom soup or 1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. milk
 --whisked together
2 c. cubed cooked chicken
2-3 c. frozen vegetables
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese
3-4 c. cooked and drained egg noodles
2 c. shredded cheese ( I sprinkled some in mixture and set rest aside to put on top)

Combine all ingredients in a 9x13 dish and mix together well.  Cover and bake 400* for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Halfway through cooking I uncovered and sprinkled more cheese on top and cooked until cheese was melted:)  Enjoy!!

○Tator Tot Casserole x2○

My family loves Tator Tot Casserole but my husband is not a fan of mushrooms so I don't make it very often.  Which is funny because he LOVES this and he's willing to pick out the mushrooms while eating it...funny huh:)  So here is my version of a popular recipe and my friend Sara sent me another way her family enjoys it that I can't wait to try...

TATOR TOT CASSEROLE:
Brown 1-2lbs. ground beef with chopped small onion**
Place in 9x13 baking dish.
Pour 2 cans cream of mushroom soup** with 1/2 c. milk over top and mix well.
Arrange 1 pkg. Tator Tots over top of mixture.
Sprinkle 1 pkg cheese over top.
Cover and bake 350* for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.  Enjoy!!

**My tips --
We found Kroger brand tator rounds that have a strong onion flavor so we omit the onion and use those.
Since my husband doesn't like mushrooms I substitute one can of mushroom with one can cream of chicken (still tastes good).
I also uncover mine after 30 minutes and continue baking to give the tator tots a more crunchy flavor that my family enjoys.
This can be made in a disposable pan, covered well and frozen.  Just thaw and cook as instructed.

TATOR TOT CASSEROLE #2:
Brown in a large pan -
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped

Then add -
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups canned milk
2 pound package tater-tots

Mix lightly. Simmer 25-30 min.
Serve over rice.

--BBQ Chicken--

I have had this recipe in my drafts for over a month and finally got around to trying it...
Oh I wish I had sooner! It is DELICIOUS!! My mouth is watering for more as I type;) We all played out in the sunshine while it cooked last night and I could smell it's goodness drifting out the kitchen window. My son said it looked gross and made his eyes water...from all the soy sauce...but he gobbled it up and than some after his first bite!!
I have tons of other recipes waiting to be tried and posted but for now give this simple yummy chicken a try --

EASY BBQ CHICKEN

1 C. ketchup
1/2 C. vinegar
1 C. sugar
6 TBL soy suace
1 TBL mustard
1 TBL cornstarch (possibly more)

Brown the chicken. Combine ingredients and pour over the chicken in covered baking dish. Bake @300 for about 1 1/2 hours. Then enjoy! I would just use about three chicken breasts for the recipe above, but I like a lot of sauce.
--Sorry can't remember where I found it:(