Quick and Easy Breadsticks

Recipe taken from Jamie Cooks it Up Blog.

1 1/2 C warm water

2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour
1/4 C butter
3/4 C grated Parmesan or mozzarella cheese

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet).
4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.
5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. Doing all of the spreading and cutting of these bread sticks, in the pan makes cleaning up your counter so much easier!
6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around with your hands. Sprinkle the Johnny's Garlic Seasoning all over the dough, and then the Parmesan cheese.
7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.
8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1 inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter.

**I copied and pasted this recipe....because I LOVE the step by step instructions. These are so easy and so Yummy!!

A friend back in Carson City does a Halloween Party every year for all the kids/moms in the ward. It is so much fun and there are alot of creative treats made. Here are pictures from lastyears. Maybe they will give you ideas for fun treats for your Halloween Party!!

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Rice Crispy Candy Corns (My Kreation)

 Mummy Pizza

The kids can make these themselves!

Veggie Skeleton...some of it had been eaten by the time I got the picture. 

 If you look at the apples in the back, they are a mouth with teeth. I think she used slivered almonds for the teeth. As the apple browns a little the mouth looks even better!

 Cake Cemetary...Always a favorite with the kids.

I would love to see some of your Halloween Kreations! Post your pics on my Kristi's Kitchen Kreations FB wall! And who knows...there might be a prize for my FAVORITE KREATION!!

Grilled Cheese Pizza

 Sam wanted to be in a picture with the food! And yes, she ate every bite!

Bread (we love Grandma Sycamore's)

Mozzarella Cheese

Pepperoni

Garlic Butter

Parsley

Pizza Sauce

Not much instruction here....Sprinkle some parsley in your garlic butter and stir it up. Butter one side of two pieces of bread using the garlic butter (like you do for a grilled cheese). Layer mozzarella cheese and pepperoni on one slice of bread (the unbuttered side) and place the other slice of bread on top With both buttered sides facing out. Toast in a pre-heated frypan over med. heat flipping over after about 1 minute or until it is golden brown. Toast other side. Serve with Pizza Sauce for dipping!

**A friend gave me this idea! Thanks Kate! This is a very quick and easy twist with pizza. It was a BIG hit at our house! 

Crockpot BBQ Chicken with a KICK

4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
1/4 c vinegar
1/8-1/4 tsp Kick'n Chicken Seasoning.
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix all other ingredients together and pour over chicken. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.

*This is one of those yummy recipes that I pinned (pinterest) and told myself I HAD TO TRY IT! So glad I did! The whole family loved it. Kids even asked for seconds. Since making this in the crockpot, I have also made it in the dutch oven and it turned out super yummy too!

**I found this recipe HERE...And then instead of using the red pepper flakes, I substituted and use the Kick'n Chicken Seasoning! (I yummy seasoning my sis-in-law told me about...It goes so good in alfredo sauced pasta).

Easy Black Bottom Cupcakes

*1 Milk Chocolate Cake Mix

         Mix up cake batter according to directions on package.

*1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

*1 egg

*1/3 cup white sugar

*1/8 teaspoon salt

*1 cup chocolate chips (can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate)

         Combine cream cheese, egg, sugar, salt and chocolate chips.

Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Place about 1 TBS of cream cheese mixture in each cup. Make sure there are a couple chocolate chips in each one. Fill the cup to 2/3 full with cake batter. Bake according to cupcake baking time on cake mix package. Let cool and frost with your favorite chocolate frosting!

**Do you know how kids only take cupcakes so they can eat the frosting?...Well, not with these! The kids gobbled the whole thing up! They went really fast!

**I used the Hershey Kiss Chocolate Chips because I liked having the little bit bigger chocolate chip in them. Definately making these again soon.

**I give credit to my Sister, Julianne for this recipe and also, Allrecipes. com. Julianne made some like these for a family gathering a few years back and I LOVED them. So I searched for the recipe, found the cream cheese part on Allrecipes. com and put them together.

Mini Chicken, Bacon, Cream Cheese Taquitos

1/3 of a 16-ounce package bacon (about 6 slices), chopped
1/2 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 cans (12.5 ounces each) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained (or leftover cooked chicken)
8 flour tortillas (10-inch)
Vegetable oil

1.Cook the bacon in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain on paper towels.

2.Stir the bacon, cream cheese and chicken in a medium bowl.

3.Cut each tortilla into 3 (3-inch) circles using a round cutter. Spoon about 2 teaspoons chicken mixture in the center of each (one) tortilla round. Roll the tortillas around the filling and secure with toothpicks.

4.Pour the oil into a heavy 4-quart saucepan to a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil to 350°F.

5.Add the taquitos to the saucepan in batches and cook until well browned on all sides. Remove the taquitos from the saucepan and let drain on paper towels. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

 

*This recipe is one that I had pinned and ACTUALLY made it!! I found it here on the "Mommy, I'm Hungry!" blog. It is a VERY EASY recipe to put together. You could have the kids help put them together and then an adult do the frying.

**We definitely will be making these again. I would suggest adding some seasoning to the chicken mixture. I added a little onion powder and some chives. My Girls loved them...especially dipped in some Ranch.

Lemon Bars



1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 lemons, juiced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

**OH MY! These are SOOOO Good! One of my good friends shared this recipe with me. Thank you Alison for sharing! This recipe is quick and easy! I dare you to eat just one! So glad I was able to share these ones or I would have eaten the whole tray.

Pin It

Guest Post...Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I am so excited to share with you a post from one of my friends. She is very talented and has so many creative ideas. After you read her post, go check out her blog at Green Eyed Girl Crafts and then you will be able to see for yourself how talented she is! Thanks Vicki for sharing your talents with us!

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Hello Kristi's Kitchen Kreations friends... my name is Vicki ~ aka The Green Eyed Girl ~ and I am NOT a cook in any way ~ shape or form...I can't make delicious meals and have them turn out beautiful like Kristi... but I dabble a little in treats and traditions. Pretzels because a tradition when Kendra became part of our little family it's not official yet... but maybe she will want to serve them at their wedding reception...lol). We've made them for Valentines, Clover Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween and now Christmas. We are still learning... but we are getting better each and every time we make them.  Thank you Kristi for asking me to guest post... it's a first for me... and it's been fun!

Bagged and ready for delivery...

Warming the chocolate...

Note the jar Josh is pulling the pretzels from

Getting their chocolate coating...

Some had sprinkles...

Some had more chocolate...

The production line...

They were stacked everywhere...

In keeping with the Johnson family tradition of chocolate covered pretzels... we bought 2 of the big containers from Sams Club that had cute stars, trees and bell shapes (see top picture) for about $8.00 each plus about 8 pounds of white chocolate and in a matter of about 90 minutes we had over 1,200 of those bad boys completed and ready for delivery!

We are getting better with the "production" each and every time we make them. This time we decided to melt the chocolate (we bought 2 pound blocks instead of the chips) in the microwave first and then put the melted chocolate into the frying pan (it was on low) we found that this makes the chocolate stay warmer and the pretzel don't end up "swimming" in the chocolate because most of it will drip off and back into the pan... and we didn't have to keep re-heating the chocolate on the stove in the double boiler.  After they were dipped we put them on a waxed paper covered cookie sheet and moved over to the "decorating" section of the kitchen.

Our next big ah-ha moment was with the decorating bags. I had previously bought bottles (they looked like smaller ketchup bottles you use at a ballgame). Kendra would put several Wilton Candy Melts into the bottle and would microwave them until melted... stirring them constantly and sometimes they would burn a little because it was taking forever to get them to melt completely. This time I bought the Wilton Decorating Bags (I think there were 10 of them for $4.00)... these worked like a charm.  Kendra put several Candy Melts in the bag... zapped them for the time called for and then would "massage" the bag until all of the Melts were melted completely... then she snipped a very small piece off of the bottom and voila... the perfect decorating tool! (it's better to take just a little snip off ~ you can always snip off more if you want later).

Josh thought it was taking to long to just decorate each individual pretzel and decided they should just sweep across the whole tray with several passes back and forth with each of the colors. With this new idea they were much faster decorating than we were dipping and honestly... they looked just as good as when each one was done on its own!  Some of the pans Josh and Kendra used just the sugar sprinkles and others they did just the Candy Melts and on some they did both... they all looked so festive and tasted so good!

The pretzels would have set up a lot faster had my mom not cranked up the temperature to 86* in my house. Apparently when my mom and dad first arrived (Kendra and I were both running late at work and Josh was in the shower) my mom decided that it was a little "chilly" so she proceeded to crank up the heat to 86*... She claims she didn't hear the furnace kick on... so she just keep pressing the "up" button.  Josh was the one who noticed how hot it was getting and discovered that it was 86*. He first accused me of cranking it up and then my mom started laughing... she knew she was busted! Needless to say it gave us all a great laugh for the evening!

I hope that you and your family have at least one "fun" thing to do in the kitchen that everyone can do together... oh and don't forget to have your favorite Christmas carols playing in the background... you will be making memories for years to come!

Merry Christmas!

 

Swiss Chicken Casserole



6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 slices Swiss cheese

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

1 (8 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix

1/2 cup melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Arrange chicken breasts in the baking dish. Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast. Combine cream of chicken soup and milk in a medium bowl, and pour over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with stuffing mix. Pour melted butter over top, and cover with foil.
3. Bake 50 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

*Jim's Mom has fixed this several times for us and I Love it, but I had never made it for my family. I love the combination of the swiss cheese with the stuffing mix.

Mimi's Corn Chowder

I found this recipe HERE!

3 slices of crispy cooked bacon, crumbled

1/4 cup onion, diced

2 cups creamed corn

1 cup chicken broth

1 pint light cream**

6 saltine crackers, crushed

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

16 oz pkg frozen diced potatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or until potatoes are tender. Serve with your favorite soup crackers!

*Recently I went to Mimi's Restaurant and had their Corn Chowder! I love cream soups...especially Corn Chowder because no one really make Corn Chowder any more. Anyway, as I was doing my "Blog Surfing" the other morning I accidentally found this recipe for Mimi's Corn Chowder! I was so excited so I of course had to try it! It was really yummy! So glad I doubled the recipe so we could have left overs!

**Ok, because I am cheap and won't pay almost $4.00 for 1 pint of cream, I decided to pay just over $3.00 for a gallon of whole milk and used that instead of the cream. After letting the soup cook for 3 hours, it wasn't thickening like I wanted it to (because I added milk instead of cream). So I created a Rue with 1/4 cup melted butter and a 1/3 cup flour (for a double batch). Then drained some of the milky part of the soup off the soup, added it to the rue, mixing it till all the lumps are gone. Add enough of the milky part of the soup to the rue until it is pourable, but still thick. Pour the Rue mixture into the crock of soup. Give it a stir and let it cook that last hour. 

Candy Corn Rice Crispy Treat

I am so excited with how these turned out! Once I decided what to do, they were easy and were made with in 30 minutes or less!

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1 bag (about 2 cups) white chocolate chips.

orange and yellow sprinkles

1 batch of rice crispie treats

         -1 bag regular size marshmallows

         -1/4 cup butter/margarine

         -8 1/2 cups rice crispy cereal

               Melt butter in large microwave safe bowl for 30-45 secs. Add Marshmallows to butter and stir to coat marshmallows with butter. Place Marshmallows back in microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Take out, stir marshmallows till smooth. Add rice crispy cereal to marshmallows mix til all cereal is incorporated. Press into a well buttered 9x13 pan. (I sprayed my pan with cooking spray and it worked great!) Let cool.

After making the rice crispy treats I cut them into a triangle. (Cut rice crispies into squares then cut each square diagonally). Shape them into a candy corn. Melt chocolate according to directions on package. Pour some onto a small plate. Dip the top of the rice crispy into the chocolate....coating it well. Then add your sprinkles in the section you want to. I started with the yellow then did the orange. Do your sprinkles before the chocolate sets up then place on wax paper and let the chocolate set up. And VOILA! You have a yummy, fun, and easy treat to take to your kids class!

**I didn't have any yellow sprinkles so I made my own! It was SO easy. I poured about 1/8-1/4 cup of regular sugar into a bowl. Dropped 3 drops of yellow food coloring in and stirred till all the sugar was yellow. It worked perfect! I will definitely be using this trick again!




SASSY SITES!

Breaded Pork Chops

6 pork chops

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1-2 cups Dried Bread Crumbs

Combine eggs and milk, whisking very well, creating an egg wash. Pour some bread crumbs onto a plate. Completely dip pork chop into egg wash. Then remove from egg wash and coat it in bread crumbs. Then dip in egg wash again and then bread crumbs again making sure it is completely covered in bread crumbs. Fry in a hot skillet (use a couple TBLS of oil/margarine to fry with) for 2 minutes on each side. You want the outside edges to be golden brown, but you are not cooking it all the way through. Place browned pork chops in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. My pork chops are usually 1" thick. If yours are thicker you may want to cook them longer. Just make sure there is no pink in the middle.

**This was the first recipe that I remember making for Jim when we were first married....that didn't come from one of our Mom's. And it was so Yummy! I remember being so excited that I created something that was sooo good!

**I like to buy the big Pork Loins from Costco and divide them up into a couple roasts and several pork chops. There are even cutting directions on the package if you want to try to do this. It saves money! I think I pay around $20 for the Pork Loin and can get 2 roasts and 12 pork chops out of it. Enough for 4 dinners plus there are usually left overs from the roast to make into BBQ Pork Sandwiches for another dinner!

Cheesy Garlic Twists

Pizza Crust Dough

       I used THIS recipe for the dough.

Garlic Butter

     (1/4-1/2 cup butter or margarine softened. Stir in 1/4 tsp garlic powder.) 

1-2 cups Mozzarella Cheese

Italian Seasoning

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out in a rectangle shape.  Spread Garlic Butter over dough. Top with Mozzarella Cheese. Starting with long edge of dough, roll dough up like you would when you make cinnamon rolls. Slice rolls off end (about 1 1/2" thick). To make into stick/twist, grab a hold of opposite sides of the roll (not the edges that have been cut) and genlty pull to stretch it. When it's long enough to put a twist in it, then twist it once and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with some Italian Seasoning. Let rise till almost doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warmed pizza sauce. 

*These are so yummy! And easy! A big hit with the kiddos too!

Beef Stroganoff II

1 Can Roast Beef

2  Packets Brown Gravy Mix

1/2-3/4 Cup Sour Cream

Diced Onions

Sliced Mushrooms

1 Tbls Olive Oil

1 Package Long Wide Egg noodles

-Make gravy according to instructions on gravy packet. Stir sour cream into gravy till well blended. Drain juice off of roast beef then add roast beef to gravy. Allow to heat for a few minutes.

-Saute mushrooms and onions in olive oil.

-Cook noodles according to package directions.

When noodles are done, drain them, then top with gravy and mushrooms/onions. ENJOY!

This recipe switch up came from my Mom!

This recipe is similar to my other Beef Stroganoff recipe. My Mom found that canned Roast Beef is low in sodium so she bought some and used it for Beef Stroganoff. She added the sauteed mushrooms to hers too. Then she used the long wide egg noodles. I am not a fan of mushrooms but my hubby is, so I added them for him. I definitely like the chunks of roast beef! Good for a switch up from using ground beef!

*And yes, the Canned Roast Beef came from Costco. It comes in a 4 pack!

Soft Pretzels

Rhodes Roll Recipe

Rhodes Texas Rolls

Coarse Salt (or any other pretzel toppings you would like, ie. cinnamon)

Boiling water (approx. 4 cups or 6 inches in a pan)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Let your rolls thaw until they are soft but not starting to rise. Roll the dough into a long rope about 18" long. Twist dough rope into a pretzel shape. Place on a sprayed baking sheet, cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise 30-45 minutes. Bring water to a boil and add baking soda to water. Place pretzels in the water for about 30 seconds. While they are in the water spoon some water over the top to help boil the top.  Don't leave in much longer than 30 seconds or it will leave a big mess. Remove pretzel from the water with a slotted metal spatula or spoon and let them cool and drain on a cooling rack. After cooling, place pretzels back on the baking sheet and add the toppings you prefer. Toppings will adhere better if the tops are a little moist. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, and ENJOY!

Such an easy fun recipe that the whole family can participate in. My girls had a blast "creating" their own pretzel! These pretzels are chewy and yummy, just like they should be!

*For pictures of every step, click HERE to go to the Rhodes Roll Blog.

Baked Beans

Jim's mom shared this recipe with me.

3 cans Pork and Beans

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

3/4 cup Ketchup

2 tsp Worchestire Sauce

3/4 lb of Hamburger browned with 1/2 of a small diced onion

1/2 lb Bacon cooked and broken up

*I add 1/2 of a green pepper diced up.

Combine all ingredients, giving it a good stir mix it all up.  Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hrs.

*I covered mine with tinfoil for the first 1 1/2 hours, then uncovered the last half hour.  Covering them helps so they don't dry out completely. I diced the green pepper up so small that the kids had no clue they were in there. 

*This is a good recipe to go with any meat.

Chocolate Malt Icecream Cookie Cake

This is the cake Karissa chose for her birthday cake!  Oh YUMM!  Very Rich! Will cure any chocolate cravings you may be having!  This is also a Betty Crocker Recipe.

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® double chocolate chunk cookie mix

2/3 cup chocolate-flavor malted milk powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water

1 egg

1/2 cup hot fudge topping

1 cup crushed chocolate-covered malted milk balls

2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened

2 cups chocolate ice cream, softened

1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Or line 9-inch square baking pan with foil, leaving about 2 inches of the foil overhanging sides of pan; lightly spray with cooking spray.

In large bowl, stir cookie mix, 1/3 cup of the malted milk powder, oil, water and egg until soft dough forms. Press 1/2 of dough into bottom of pan. Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, press remaining 1/2 of the dough into 10-inch circle on large ungreased cookie sheet. After removing cookie crust in springform or 9-inch pan from oven, bake dough on cookie sheet 12 to 13 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool 15 minutes.

Spread hot fudge topping over crust in springform or 9-inch pan. In medium bowl, break apart large cookie until crumbly. Stir in crushed malted milk balls. Sprinkle 1/2 of the crumbled cookie mixture over hot fudge; press lightly.

In large bowl, combine both softened ice creams and remaining 1/3 cup malted milk powder until well blended. Spread ice cream mixture over crumbs in pan. Gently spread whipped topping over ice cream. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Cover with foil. Freeze at least 5 hours or until firm. To serve, remove sides of springform pan or lift dessert using foil out of 9-inch pan. Let stand 5 minutes. Use hot wet knife to cut into wedges or squares. Store covered in freezer.

**When grocery shopping for the ingredients, the store was out of the cookie mix. I made up my Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.  I replaced the white chocolate chips with baking chunks of milk chocolate. Only make half of the cookie recipe if making it for the icecream cake.

Meat Balls

This recipe was shared with me from a friend back home.  It is great for feeding a large group. I prepared 100 meatballs and took to a friend's potluck dinner.  I thought for sure there would be leftovers.  The pan was empty by the end. It is very quick and easy!!

This recipe is also found at Kraft Foods . Com 

2 lb. lean ground beef

1 pkg.  (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 cup water

2   eggs

1 bottle (16 oz.) KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

1 can  (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

**More sauce recipes listed below.

Make It

HEAT oven to 400ºF.
LINE 2 (15x10x1-inch) pans with foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and eggs until blended. Shape into 50 (1-1/2-inch) meatballs; place in prepared pans.
BAKE 16 min. or until done (160ºF). Meanwhile, bring barbecue sauce and cranberry sauce to boil in large saucepan on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
ADD meatballs to sauce; stir to evenly coat.

*Serving Suggestion

-Meatballs in sauce can also be served in a slow cooker set on LOW.

-If you don't have 2 (15x10x1-inch) pans, use any other shallow baking pans instead. Just make sure the meatballs are spread into a single layer in each pan.

*How to Freeze Meatballs

-Loosely pack cooled meatballs in freezer-weight resealable plastic bags. Lay bags flat in freezer so meatballs will freeze individually. Store in freezer up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator several hours or overnight before using as desired.

**Sauce Recipes

3/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp mustard

Combine in saucepan and heat til bubbly.  Pour over fully cooked meatballs.

**This recipe is the sauce that goes over my mini meatloafs.

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1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 cup canned undrained crushed pineapple in juice

Combine 30 fully cooke meatballs with BBQ sauce and pineapple in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer and heat til completely warmed.

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1 jar (12 oz) grape jelly

1 bottle (12 oz) chilli sauce

Combine ingredients in saucepan and heat through....till it bubbles good. Pour over fully cooked meatballs and stir til evenly coated.

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1 jar (12 oz) grape jelly

2 Tblsp mustard (or more if you like)

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and heat through. Pour over fully cooked meatballs and stir til evenly coated.

Tator Tot Casserole

1 lb ground hamburger

1/2 of a small onion, chopped

1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup

1 can corn, drained

1 bag tatortots

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Cook Hamburger with onion. Can season meat with some salt and pepper if you like.  Drain grease off of hamburger. Stir hamburger, soup and corn together.  Pour into an 8"x8" greased casserole dish and spread evenly.  Line tatortots over the top of the hamburger mixture.  Sprinkle the top with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or till bubbling around the edges.

*This is a very quick and KID FRIENDLY dish!  You can substitute the tatortots for other types of potatoes too...ie, hasbrowns. You can also substitute the veggies for whatever kind you prefer.

Fruit Smoothie II (G&G Norman's Version)

1/2 banana (can be frozen)

1/2 cup fruit (any variety, be creative!)

1/4-1/3 cup fat-free strawberry yogurt

1/2-3/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbl lemon juice
*if you are using thawed/fresh fruit, add a couple icecubes.  I use frozen fruit.

Place all ingredients in blender/smoothie maker and blend till all ingredients are flowing smoothie through mixer.  Pour into cup and enjoy!  If you want your smoothie thinner add more orange juice.  If you want it thicker decrease the amount of orange juice.

**This is our new favorite treat when we go to G&G Norman's house! They have a Magic Bullet Smoothie Maker and can whip these up very quickly.  The base ingredients are the same as the fruit smoothie that I previously posted, but changing a few ingredients really makes a difference in the flavor.  The strawberry yogurt instead of plain, orange juice instead of milk, and the lemon juice really adds too it too!

**The Pictures speak for themselves.  These Smoothies are MMM, MMM, GOOD!

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MORE PLEASE!

 The mark on the forhead is from her drinking from her cup and tipping it clear up til it is gone!