Chocolate No Bake Cookies

These cookies are so easy to make and so delish. I love that when I'm in the mood for cookies, but don't want to take the time to bake them, I can just whip these up real quick.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
5 Tbsp. cocoa
3 cups quick oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup nuts
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Melt butter. Add sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Then drop cookies out with a big spoon on wax paper.

Sloppy Joes

Why do Manwhich, when you can do homemade instead?

2 lbs. hamburger
3 to 3-1/2 cups ketchup
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. minced onions
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Brown hamburger and drain. Then mix in the remaining ingredients.

Red Velvet Cake Treats

One of the gals at work brought these treats today and according to her they are "OOO LA LA YUMMY"!  So I got the recipe so I can try to make them some day.

Red Velvet Cake Treats
Cook red velvet cake according to package directions. Cool completely. Crumble cake into a large bowl. Add a softened container of cream cheese frosting. Mix frosting & cake together with hands and put in freezer until firm. Form mixture into balls and place on wax paper. Put back into freezer. The longer it is in the freezer, the easier it will be to handle. Dip cake balls into melted chocolate and place on wax paper and place back in freezer until set.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I haven't made these since we made them in our cake class last summer, but they are so GOOD! 

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

12 tsp. Pink colored sugar

1 pkg white cake mix

water and oil (based on cake mix instructions)

3/4 cup frozen pink lemonade mix thawed (undiluted)

1 Tbsp. lemon peel finely chopped

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Preheat oven to 350°. Spray pan with vegetable pan spray; sprinkle 1 tsp. colored sugar into each cup. Add water to pink lemonade mix to total amount of water called for o cake mix package directions. Follow cake mix package directions to prepare cake, adding chopped lemon peel. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating. 

Yellow Squash Casserole

This is a recipe I got from a gal at work. We tried it once, but squash isn't my favorite thing. When JoLynn gave me the recipe, it was written on the back of an envelope. It has floated around my kitchen since then. Since March of 2008 according to the postage stamp on the envelope. So in trying to clean my kitchen up I'm posting the recipe here so if I ever want it, I can find the recipe, without looking for that old envelope.

Yellow Squash Casserole
7 cups squash sliced
1/2 cup onion
1 cup shredded carrots
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
Stove Top Stuffing, divided
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Cook squash and onion in microwave until tender. Mix i carrot, soup, sour cream.  Put Stove Top Stuffing in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add squash mixture. Put more Stove Top Stuffing on top. Bake at 350° until bubbly.

Strawberry Fondue

Strawberry Fondue
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed
1/4 cup half and half cream
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
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Combine all in food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 mins. or until slightly thickened. Transfer to fondue pot or mini slow cooker. Serve with angel food cake cubes and fresh fruit. 


*When I poured the sauce out of the blender, it fit in a small sauce pan, but then it boiled over so next time I will use a bigger pot.

Parmesan Fondue

Parmesan Fondue
1-1/2 to 2 cups milk
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, cubed
1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
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In a large saucepan cook and stir milk and cream cheese over low heat until cheese is melted. Stir in Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Cook and stir until heated through. Transfer to fondue pot or mini slow cooker. Serve with French bread cubes and fresh vegetables. 

Cider Cheese Fondue

Cider Cheese Fondue

3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 loaf French bread, cubed

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In a large saucepan, bring cider to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Toss the cheeses with cornstarch and pepper; stir into cider. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Transfer to a small ceramic fondue pot or slow cooker; keep warm. Serve with bread cubes and vegetables.

Carrot Supreme

Every year my employer does a Thanksgiving lunch the a few days before Thanksgiving. They provide the turkey and rolls and then everyone else signs up to bring a dish. A few of the employees don't get to choose what to bring because in years past they brought something so amazing that no one would forgive them if they didn't bring it the next year. Before the sign up sheet even gets to their desk, their names and signature dish have been added. I am one of the employees who gets to bring whatever I want each year because I've never made something THAT amazing. But one of the dishes that is a must each year is my supervisors Carrot Supreme dish. It is so YUMMY! Each year I ask him for the recipe, but then I usually loose it. So here it is so I can be able to find it and so you can enjoy it.

Carrot Supreme
2 cups carrots, sliced and cooked
3/4 cup liquid drained from carrots
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1-1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. green pepper, cut fine
1 Tbsp. flour
4 Tbsp. cream or canned milk
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Cook onion and pepper in butter. Add flour, cream and liquid. Stir well until it boils (salt to taste). Place carrots into buttered casserole dish. Pour cream sauce over carrots. Cover top with buttered bread crumbs and bake at 20 minutes at 375°.

Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Its not quite as good as the Olive Garden, but this is the best recipe for Alfredo sauce that I have been able to find. In my small town grocery store, I can't always find Romano cheese. If that is the case, I just double the Parmesan cheese. The only time I have found Romano is in the spaghetti section where they keep the Parmesan cheese that can be sprinkled over spaghetti. I bought all 5 containers and I'm glad I did because they haven't had any since.

Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
6 egg yolks
salt and pepper to taste
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Heat milk and cream in a heavy bottom saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in cheese, then remove from heat.

Place egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly whip in a portion of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly add egg yolk mixture back into remaining cream mixture. Place back on very low heat and continually stir until simmering. Take sauce off heat so it thickens.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve over your favorite pasta.