Oreo Dessert

1 pkg of regular Oreos
1/2 c. of butter
1 lg box of instant chocolate pudding
2-8 oz cool whips
8 oz. of cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar

Notes/Story: Crush the whole package of cookies either with a food processor, or in a bag and a rolling pin. Save a 1/2 c. to sprinkle on top of dessert when it's done. Pour remaining crumbs in a 13x9 pan. Melt butter and pour into crumb mix. Stir it up good and press crumbs in bottom of pan to make a crust. Make chocolate pudding according to package directions and let it setup in the fridge. In a mixing bowl blend cream cheese until nice and smooth and then add powdered sugar, mix. Then fold in 1-8 oz thing of cool whip. Top oreo layer with cream cheese mix, then pudding, then your last 8 oz thing of cool whip, and then sprinkle remaining Oreo's on top. Cover and refridgerate until ready to serve.

I made this for our girls' weekend for Sunday after meeting. It was super!

Dorito Casserole

2 pounds ground beef- browned  (I usually used less, either 1 pound or 1 1/2 pound-whatever we had on hand)
1 medium onion
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of onion (or cream of mushroom soup)
1 can enchilada sauce (mild)
1 bag dorito chips
Shredded cheese
Ripe (black) olives

Directions and Story: Line a 9 X 12 inch pan with 1/2 of a bag of largely crunched Dorito chips.
Brown hamburger with onion and salt and pepper to taste.  Add soups. Add enchilada sauce.
Pour over chips, sprinkle with cheese, olvies and the remainder of Dorito chips
Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes

I made this quick easy casserole often during the years the kids were busy with activities in high school.
We usually had all of the ingredients on hand and everyone liked how it tasted.

Monster Cookies

1 cup butter
3 cups peanut butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp corn syrup
4 tsp baking soda
9 cups oatmeal
2 cups M&Ms
2 cups chocolate chips

Notes/Story: Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350 for 6-8 min but depends on how monsterous you make them.

I think this was Kristin's recipe she made in high school a lot. Always a hit!

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Mix together in a large stand mixer
2 1/2 Cups brown sugar
1 1/2 Cups shortening  (I use 1/2 cup shortening and 1 cup butter)
3 eggs
Pinch of Salt

Add alternately and mix

1 1/2 Cup buttermilk and
2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 Cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 Cups regular oatmeal

1 1/2 Cup raisins (Soak the raisins in boiling water
and drain before adding to indgredients)

Directions and Story:  Wash raisins and bring to a boil with water. Drain before
adding to the other ibgredients.  DO NOT ADD RAISIN JUICE.  Drop from teaspoon on
a greased baking sheet and bake one cookie for a test.
You most likely will need to add more flour.
Bake in a 350-375 degree oven (I use 375 degrees) until they are nicely browned,
About 12 minutes.

Story-Grandma Kay made these as one of her favorate cookies. The recipe came from the Ransom County Gazette in 1981 from a lady who lived and worked in McLoud ND. It makes a huge batch.

Low Sodium Vegetable Soup

Add the following to a medium size soup kettle and brown over medium heat
Olive oil
1 Onion
2 Stalks of celery
2 Carrots

Add
6 Cups of cut vegetables (I used potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower)
4 Cups of liquid ( used water)
1 (15 oz) can low sodium dices tomatoes
1 Tablespoon herbs such as basil

Let simmer until vegetables are tender.

Sunday Dinner-Pork roast

Since we agree that the biggest meal of the day should be called the dinner, the noon meal on Sunday is our biggest Sunday meal-thus our Sunday dinner. Sunday supper is waffles or pancakes......

Roast Pork-
Rice and Gravy

Hot vegetable - Broccoli/Cauliflower
      sprinkled with cheese
Spinach/leaf lettuce salad with
      carrot and celery slices
Home made rolls
Fudge Ice cream dessert



Directions: Fresh pork roast, season with salt and pepper and add about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water to the bottom of the pan, bake covered in a 325 degree oven from about 9:30 until 12:00 (2 and1/2 hours). There is usually very little fat, so we make a flour based gravy with the drippings in the pan. 

Story:  We are looking for a Sunday dinner that is easy and quick and the dinner preparation can either be done the day before, or early in the morning before leaving for meeting.
This meal is a good 'winter meal', it's almost always good, and fairly inexpensive to make.
We start with a Fresh pork loin sirloin end roast. This is about $2.29 a pound and easily feeds 4-6 people. We plan on left overs for stir fry or pork sandwiches the next day.

This Sunday we

served Fudge Ice cream dessert

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cookie Dough:
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake filling:
10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 325.  Line an 8 inch square with foil and spray with cooking spray.  In a bowl, mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined.  Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 6 minutes.  Proceed to leave the oven on while preparing the dough. 
In a mixing bowl beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and vanilla  until smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips and set aside.
In another mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla.  Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.  Sprinkle the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter and then press it down lightly.  Bake for 30 minutes (or until the top feels dry and firm). Let the bars chill for a couple hours.
Story:  Another recipe that looked awesomely good on Pinterest!  The cookie dough is quite crumbly, not like usual cookie dough. These bars taste superb after being chilled for a couple hours. Next time, though, I don't think I'll make it with a crust.

French Bread - Quick Pizza

1 Loaf French bread
2 Cups spaghetti sauce or less (We like very little spaghetti sauce so I would put very little on bread)
1 Cup mozzarella cheese (grated)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (or just sprinkle the amount you like on the top)
pepperoni slices

Directions- Slice bread lengthwise, layer sauce, cheeses and pepperoni. Broil in oven until mozarella is melted. (Broil on low - if you have this option- to ensure the bread is heated through when the cheese is bubbling) Cut into serving sizes.  Serve with fresh fruit

Story-I made this from the 'Once a Month Cooking' Cookbook (Wilson & Lagerborg, 1992) and it was given great reviews from my family. It is quick, usually we have the ingredients, and inexpensive to make.

Fruit Slush

4 cups granulated sugar
6 cups water
Bring the above ingredients to a boil and cool 
Add:
1 - 46 oz can pineapple juice
2 - 12 oz cans frozen orange juice
1 -12 oz can frozen lemonade
Put in a 5 quart pail and freeze, stir mixture as it starts to freeze every 2-3 hours until frozen.
Scoop out a couple of large spoonfuls of slush into a glass and add ginger ale.

Story: Dianne made this for a New Year's Eve party, Christmas 2011 I made this, but omitted the sugar and water mixture, thus it became a fruit mixture with the ginger ale, Everyone thought it was good this way, too. It didn't make as much, but  was more concentrated. Easy and quick to serve for a cold beverage which ever way you choose to make it.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies

1 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions and Story:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars with a mixer until creamy.  Add cream cheese and continue to mix until all the lumps are gone.  Add vanilla and egg and then mix again.  Slowly add the flour (a little at a time).  Proceed to add baking soda and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.  (But I ended up baking them for around 15 minutes)
The story for this is that I had been Pinteresting all day, drooling over the good food I had found.  This was a recipe that sounded tasty and it wasn't too hard. Plus, I was feeling like chocolate.  When the cookies were done, there was a slight taste difference between regular chocolate chip cookies but, not too much. The dough sure was good though!

New Years Menu 2012

Cornish Game Hens (buy one for everyone-today, we needed 6)
Overnight mashed potatoes (yummm.....)
Cooked corn-frozen from cob
Gravy
Fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower)
Mandarin orange salad
Freshly baked biscuits

Cherry tarts with real whipped cream
(Tarts-crust for one pie rolled out, and cut into circles to fit individual tart pans) gently place dough in tart pan and use fork to put several small holes in dough to prevent dough from bubbling up when baking. Bake at 400 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.