Fried Ravioli Snack

Sandra Lee had these on her show a while back and they looked so good, I wanted to try them. I bought a package of cheese filled ravioli and deep fried them then dipped them in marinara sauce. Well......they weren't as good as I wanted them to be. For some reason I expected them to be semi crispy and they weren't. Then the type of marinara sauce I bought had a funky twang to it so all and all I wasn't impressed with these. :(

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

While searching through the apps on my IPhone I found one called iFood Assistant. It has all sorts of recipes for dinner or holidays and entertaining and even budget friendly recipes. You should check it out. Well here is one recipe I have tried from it and man on man is it good. The only thing is that it is very rich so you only need a little piece.

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

2 boxes (3.9 oz each) JELL-O chocolate instant pudding

2 cups cold milk

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip-thawed

2 toffee bars (1.4 oz each) such as Heath or Skor-chopped

1 Oreo pie crust

1 square semi sweet chocolate-melted

Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in half the Cool Whip and all but 3 tablespoons of candy. Pour into crust. Top with remaining Cool Whip and candy, then drizzle withe the melted chocolate. Enjoy. Keep in fridge.

Tator Tot Casserole

I made this for dinner the other night and it wasn't all that great. It was easy but the soup/sour cream mixture was a little too thick. If I make it again I will dilute it with some milk. Also I feel like it would taste better if you broiled it for the last couple of minutes so the tator tots would be a little bit crunchier.

Tator Tot Casserole

• 1 lbs. ground beef
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 10 oz. can low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 32 oz. package frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Brown ground beef. Season with salt and pepper, while browning. Drain. Spread ground beef in the prepared baking dish. Whisk together soup and sour cream. Spread over ground beef in an even layer. Sprinkle one cup of cheddar cheese over the soup layer. Top with tater tots. Bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

More Cookie Contest Ideas

I don't know.....what do you think? I like them both but they need to be refined somehow. Or maybe my piping just needs to get better?

The pink icing was too runny so it spread out too much. Any suggestions?

Your zucchini bread is better than mine!

My mother gave me some zucchini bread she made from her friend Sandy's recipe, and I have to tell you it was unbelievable! It was moist and flavorful and sooooo nummy num. It's a very simple recipe so I'm not sure what makes it so good. All I can say is thank you Sandy!

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

3 cups of flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine in bowl and set aside

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cup shredded zucchini

15 oz can pineapple (tidbits or crushed) well drained

Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Add sugar, oil and vanilla and beat until creamy. Stir in zucchini and pineapple. Add dry ingredients and stir only until combined. Pour into 2 well greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out on a rack and cool.

Pizza Bites

I'm always on the hunt for something good and fast for dinner. After surfing the internet one day I came across Chaos in the kitchen (a food blog) and they had a recipe for pizza bites. Well I made them for dinner tonight and they were a big hit with my family.

Pizza Bites

• 1 can refrigerated pizza dough
• 8 oz block mozzarella cheese
• thin sliced pepperoni
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• pizza or marinara sauce

1. Roughly chop pepperoni. Cut block of mozzarella into cubes.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray a pie pan with Pam.
3. Pinch off walnut sized pieces of dough.
4. In each dough piece place a couple pieces of chopped pepperoni and a cube of cheese. Seal dough around meat and cheese and place seam side down in pie pan.
5. Repeat, until you have filled the pie plate. (mine made 15)
6. Once assembled, combine oil and spices and brush over the dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
7. Now you can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze or you can bake right away.
8. When ready to bake: bake at 400°F for 16-20 min. Serve with warm pizza or marinara sauce.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

I wanted to try out this new recipe and so what better time than for Valentine's Day! The recipe wasn't written very well so this is sort of my adaptation.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

2 cups unsalted butter-soft

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon extract

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add both sugars and beat until fluffy, stopping occasionally to scrape the bowl. Beat in yolks, extract, zest and salt. Add flour a little at a time and beat until just blended.

Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes, or you can just roll dough into small balls and flatten to make round cookies.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.

I used royal icing to decorate these cookies. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of the officers at work asked me to make a cake for his wife for Valentine's Day. I had made a cake very similar to this in the past and I thought it turned out cute so I decided to give it another go. I think he was happy with it. Hopefully his wife will like it as well. Hope everyone is having a great V-Day!

A Sweet for my Sweetie!

It's almost Valentine's Day and I wanted to make something I've never made before for my honey....fudge! I personally am not a huge fudge fan just because it's too rich, but everyone I know loves it. I found this easy recipe on the internet and it turned out great.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

6 ounces (1 cup) semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar-sifted

sprinkles-optional

Line a 8 inch square pan with foil. In a double boiler, melt chocolate, peanut butter and butter. Stir to combine. Stir in sugar until it melts. Pour into prepared pan. Cool on the counter and cut into squares when set. Store int the refrigerator. (I put sprinkles on it while it was still wet to make it more Valentiney)

"IHOP" Pancakes

I can't remember where I found this recipe but I've been making it for years. It's easy and so nummy num!

"IHOP" Pancakes

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

(Tip: if you don't have buttermilk just add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the milk)

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder-heaping

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup oil

blueberries-optional

Mix it all together. Pour it in a hot pan. Wait for the bubbles to form. Flip. Then Eat!

Anybody want some cookies?

Made cookies the other day just because. This was a good recipe. It makes thin and chewy chocolate chip cookies which is just how I like em'!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (1 1/3 sticks) butter-soft

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg-room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup! NUMMMM)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until smooth about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheet leaving some space between for expansion. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool in pan for 1 minute then remove to cooling rack.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies

"Seven Layer Dip"

My husband requested seven layer dip to munch on while we watched the Super Bowl. Normally it would be seven layers, but my husband being the picky eater he is wanted me to leave out the olives and tomatoes. So here's the recipe for my five layer dip.

Five Layer Dip

1 can refried beans

1 packet taco seasonings (use a tablespoon or more if you like it spicier)

guacamole

sour cream

salsa

cheese

Start by putting the refried beans in a bowl and add a tablespoon or so of water and microwave them for about 1 minute to get them softened up. Add the taco seasoning to the beans and stir until combined. On a large plate spread out the beans. Then spread out the guacamole and then sour cream then salsa and cheese. Scoop it up with some tortilla chips and enjoy.

Linda's Birthday Cake

Cake made for a good friend of my mom's. Her hobbies are sewing and cooking and since her birthday is in February I gave it a little Valentines feel. Cherry chip cake with vanilla icing and clay topper.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Brownies

For Christmas I got several cookbooks, one being The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. Looking through the recipes, the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Brownies sounded so good. BUT I have to say that they were a major pain in the be-hind to make. I think I used every pan, bowl, measuring device I had. When they were done I didn't think they were worth the effort. I took them to work and they loved them so I tasted them again and they were much better?? Go figure. The recipe is very long so I'm not going to type it out, but if you want the recipe I will send it to you.

Mini Wedding Cake-White Cake

My sister asked me to make a cake for a party her and her husband were invited to. The party was to celebrate a Korean couple that got married but didn't have a wedding reception. I thought it would be nice to make a mini wedding cake. The cake was a classic white cake with raspberry buttercream filling and iced with buttercream. My sister said they all enjoyed it. Recipe for the white cake is below:

Old Fashioned White Cake

1 stick unsalted butter-soft

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups self rising flour

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch round pans. In a mixer on medium speed cream butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy about 3 minutes. Add the flour in three parts, alternating with milk and vanilla, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter, making sure no egg whites are showing. Divide batter between cake pans.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

Joel's Tasty Taquito Bake

One of my favorite things is getting a good recipe that someone has already tried. One of the detectives at work made up this easy recipe for a sort of chicken enchilada like taquito bake.

Tasty Taquito Bake

1 box of Chicken Taquitos

1 (10 oz) can of Rotel-drained

1 (10 oz) can of Green Chili Enchilada Sauce

1 (10 oz) can of Cream of Chicken Soup

Cheddar Cheese

Jalapenos-optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Thaw the taquitos a little by placing one layer in a 9x13 pan and setting out for about 30 minutes. In a medium saucepan combine Rotel, Enchilada Sauce and Cream of Chicken and heat to almost boiling. Pour the sauce over the taquitos and cover with cheese and jalapenos if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Serve them with some Spanish rice and dinner is done!