Peanut Butter Cookies

1 yellow cake mix
3 medium eggs (or 2 large)
1/3 cup oil
3/4 peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix ingredients thoroughly. Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Press each cookie with a fork in criss-cross pattern to flatten cookie.

 Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove cookie from sheet and let cool.
***You may also bake in a 9x13 pan for 13-16 minutes and then spread with melted chocolate chips to make Peanut Butter Bars.

Tortilla Pizza

6-8 tortilla shells

1 jar spaghetti sauce

3 cups grated cheese

Desired toppings - browned sausage, ham slices, browned hamburger, cooked onions. (pineapple, vegetables)

 Spread spaghetti sauce on tortilla, then cheese, then desired toppings.
Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Yum!

Easy Rice Pudding

This would look prettier with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top but oh well.
It is so easy to make and a favorite at our house.

2-3 cups cooked rice
1 pkg. vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
cinnamon (optional)
raisins (optional)

Beat pudding mix and milk until stirred thoroughly. Add rice and mix. Add raisins and cinnamon as desired.
We warm ours in the microwave.

Fast & Ready French Toast

 I don't use a recipe for french toast I just add eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg if I have it and a little sugar and stir it up really good then dunk my bread into the mixture and cook it on a frying pan.
The trick is I cook lots of extra and then lay the cooked pieces on a cookie sheet and freeze them for about 15 minutes. Then I stack them and wrap them in foil. They are easy to pull out and warm in the microwave for a fast breakfast. =)

Delicious Roast

 1 Beef Roast
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
1 cup water
1 onion sliced
5 potatoes, peeled and quartered

 Place roast in crock pot, pour water on the bottom. Sprinkle half gravy mix on top of roast. Lay onions slices on roast. Place potato pieces around roast and on top if needed. Sprinkle remaining gravy mix over the top. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.

You can use the drippings to make gravy. If it is not thick enough thicken it in a sauce pan with a little flour or cornstarch.

Chocolate Pudding Pops! =)

4 cups cold milk
1 pck (8 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
2 teaspoons vanilla
(to make them sweeter you can add 1 cup sugar) We liked them fine without.

Mix ingredients with and electric mixer for 2 minutes.
Pour into cups or popsicle molds. We had popscisle sticks for ours this time, but we have also used regular cups and spoons.
When removing run under hot water and be careful not to pull the stick/ spoon out.
Enjoy =)

Ham Fried Rice

3 teaspoons canola oil
4 eggs scrambled
2 1/2 cups cold cooked rice
1 1/2 cups diced ham, fully cooked
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger (if you have it)

In a frying pan mix all ingredients, except eggs and soy sauce, and cook until heated through Add eggs and soy sauce stir into mixture. Serve

Homemade Fries & Hamburgers

The yummy dinner!

Peel potatoes and slice in fry slices. 

If you have an airtight bowl put the slices in that or you can you a gallon size zipper bag. 

 Then I add oil and seasonings. I actually never measure, I just eyeball it so I am going to guess that for this many potatoes I would add somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil and then any seasonings that you have on hand. I add onion salt, paprika, garlic powder or salt, parsley - because it makes it pretty. You could use seasoning salt or just regular salt. Then I zip up the bag or put my lid on my bowl, TIGHT, and then shake it up until the seasonings have coated all of my potatoes.

 Spread out into one layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until the edges are golden and a bit crispy. Cooking time will depend on thickness of the slices.

Jello Cookies

3 cups butter (no margarine)

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 pkg jello

2 tsp. vanilla

6 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

Beat butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well. Stir in all other ingredients and roll in 1 inch balls. Makes about 6 doz.

Bake at 350 on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Flakey Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 Tbls baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼  tsp baking soda

¼  cup butter

¾  cup dairy sour cream

¼  cup milk

Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450. In a mixing bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Mix with fork & fingers or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture is the texture of cornmeal.

Blend in sour cream. Stir in milk until dough clings together. It is a little lumpy.

On lightly floured surface knead lightly.

Pat or roll about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with floured 2 inch diameter item like lid or cookie cutter.

Transfer to baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter.

Oatmeal Raisen Cookies/Bars

½ cup plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt (optional)

3 cups Oatmeal, uncooked

1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered. Makes about 4 doz. cookies

Bar Cookies: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. About 24 bars

Applesauce Cake/Muffins





Mix together:

1 cup sugar

1 egg

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

½ cup butter

1¾ cup flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves (opt.)

Add:

1 cup applesauce

1 cup raisins (or nuts or chocolate chips)

My family doesn’t like baked raisins so I make it plain and they still love it.



Bake in greased 9x9 pan at 350 for 35-45 min.

Serve warm, it is so yummy.
Or serve with sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon, wipped topping or ice cream.





Melt in Your Mouth Banana Bread

2/3 cup oil
5 eggs
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 med.)
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 of an 8 oz package
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 325. Mix oil, egg and bananas in a bowl. Mix all dry ingredients in separate bowl making sure salt and baking soda are mixed in well. Add dry ingredients to wet, slowly until thoroughly mixed. Grease and flour loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Makes 2 9x5x3 (4 minis – bake 45 min.) Stick in knife or toothpick to check when done.

***I always double this batch and then just use the whole bag of vanilla pudding mix. If you don’t want to bake all of the dough right then place in freezer. Thaw completely and then pour into greased/floured pans and bake.

I also freeze bananas to use for later. When they look a little ripe I put them in the freezer with the peeling on, then peel before I add them to my recipe.

Easy Beef Stew

EASY BEEF STEW

2 lbs stew meat

1 onion, chopped

5 potatoes, peeled & cut into small chunks

8 carrots, peeled & sliced

1 can tomato soup

1 can whole tomatoes

1 can green beans with juice

Salt & pepper to taste

Thaw & brown stew meat, season with salt & pepper while cooking. Place all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours. Freeze half for an easy dinner later.

Make due Chicken Broth

Some recipes, like the pot pie, need a little chicken broth - I discovered a way to create it easily for those times I don't have it on hand or available to me.

1 cup hot water
2 Tbls. cream chicken soup
1 tsp. salt

Mix together well.
If I am using in a recipe that does not include chicken I strain off the chicken pieces by pouring with a fork.

Ham Pot Pie

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/3 cup flour

1 14 oz. can chicken broth (or 1 ¾  cup) (alternate= Make due Chicken Broth recipe.)
2/3 cup milk (fresh or canned)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

3 cups chopped ham

1 14 oz can green beans drained

Pie shell for 9 inch two crust pie

Go to Pie Crust recipe

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt butter in pan, add flour and stir until slightly bubbly. Add chicken broth slowly, stirring constantly. Add milk and stir constantly until consistency of gravy. Stir until sauce is smooth (3-5 minutes.) Add ham & beans, stir together well. Remove from heat.

Place pie crust in bottom of 9 inch pie pan. Pour mixture into pie shell. Cover with the other pie crust.

Trim & pinch edges to seal pie.
Bake until golden brown, about 30 min.

***I like to cut three leaf shapes and roll three small berries out of the left over pie dough and place on top of pie before baking for decoration.

Warm Rice, Milk & Sugar

This is a simple combination, one of the favorites at our house and another easy one that I like to remember. We like it for breakfast or sometimes an after dinner sweet.

cooked rice
milk
sugar
cinnamon
raisens if desired

Mix ingredients to taste and warm in the microwave.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

½ cup pancake mix
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
½ cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup peeled chopped apple
1/3 cup raisins

Heat oven to 415 degrees. Grease bottoms of muffin tin with vegetable oil. Combine pancake mix, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add remaining ingredients; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill cups 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 10-12

Fruit in the Middle Muffins

2 cups pancake mix
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Fruit preserves/jam

Heat oven to 415 degrees. Grease bottoms of muffin tin with vegetable oil. Combine pancake mix and sugar in a medium bowl. Add milk, egg and oil. Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat.

Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Spoon 1 teaspoon of preserves into center of each. Top with remaining batter, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12

Made with strawberry jam.

Ham & Eggs

Sometimes I just need a reminder of the easy things I can come up with instead of making the same old thing over and over. So that is what this post is. :)

Ham
Eggs

Slice Ham thinly & warm in a frying pan until browned on both sides. To sweeten drizzle honey or syrup over ham while cooking. Serve with eggs cooked as desired.

Hoot n' Nanny's (German Pancakes)

1/4 cup butter
1 cup milk
6 large eggs (or 9 med.)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbls cinnamon
1 Tbls. sugar

Melt butter in a 9x13 pan on 450.

Mix remaining ingredients.

 Remove pan from oven and pour mixture over melted butter. Bake in oven for 15-20 min. until golden.

 Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, or peanut butter for toppings.