Sour Cream Noodle Bake

If you like lasagna, you'll like this recipe.  My kids loved it, my husband loved it, I loved it.  I found it on The Pioneer Woman blog.  Her recipes are always good.

This photo is copied from The Pioneer Woman blog.

If you copy the Pioneer Woman recipe exactly, I'm sure it is an amazing recipe.  I am always looking for recipes on the fly, so sometimes make do with what I already have, which I did with this one, and it was still really good.  I used plain old ground beef from Costco instead of ground chuck, plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, Penne pasta instead of wide noodles, shredded Mexican cheese instead of sharp cheddar, and I sprinkled in some dried onion flakes instead of using green onions. It was still yummy!

Chicken & Stuffing Crockpot Dinner

This recipe is a lot like one I've been making for years.  It was yummy, but I'm not gonna lie, I think I like my original recipe better.  Click here for the one found on Pinterest.  And it is good.

I used about 2.5 lbs of chicken tenders that were still frozen.  I also doubled the amount of cream of chicken soup and sour cream, but used plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream because that's what I had.

I served the chicken with cooked noodles and yummy roasted broccoli & cauliflower.

The recipe I'm used to and like a little bit better is as follows:

6 chicken breasts

6 slices Swiss cheese

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

2 cups stuffing mix

1/4 - 1/2 cup butter, melted

Lightly grease crock pot.  Place chicken breasts in pot.  Top with cheese.  Combine soup and milk, stirring well.  Spoon mixture over cheese.  Sprinkle with stuffing mix.  Drizzle melted butter over stuffing mix.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours or in high 4-6 hours.  My crock pot cooks fast, so I usually cook it on low for 4-6 hours.

Oreo Brownie Cookie Cake - FAIL!!

I'm not going to link this one because I don't want to make anyone feel bad.  I've seen this recipe all over Pinterest, and it should have been amazing.  It wasn't.  Maybe I did something wrong??  A layer of chocolate chip cookie dough, topped with a layer of oreos, topped with a layer of brownies.  This should have been the best thing ever, it sounded like a genius created it.  But the brownie batter wouldn't cook enough, and the cookie dough layer was crunchy and practically burnt.  It was really sad.  And a serious waste of cookie dough that I would have been happy to eat from the bowl. :o)

St. Patrick's Day Cookies

I love chocolate crinkle cookies, they are an all time favorite.  So when I found this recipe for green crinkle cookies, I knew I had to give them a try.  They aren't chocolate, but they are so chewy and delicious.  And easy to make!

You don't have to wait for a holiday to make these.  It's only the food coloring that makes them festive. :o)  The website I linked to also has a red velvet peppermint version that I'm dying to try.

RECIPE:

1 18.25oz box French vanilla cake mix

6 T butter

2 eggs

Green food coloring (A LOT!)

1 C powdered sugar

1 t corn starch

Preheat the oven to 375°. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. In a shallow dish, mix together the powdered sugar and cornstarch with a fork.  In a large bowl, mix together the cooled butter, cake mix and eggs. This will be a little hard to stir together. Add the green food coloring and make sure it is all mixed in.  Drop spoonfuls of batter into the powdered sugar and roll around until completely covered.  Roll in a ball and put on a cookie sheet.  Bake for about 9 minutes, until they are slightly puffed up.  They may look not quite done, but don't overcook or you'll lose the yummy chewiness.  Cool about one minute on cookie sheet and then move to a cooling rack.

CTR Cake

Last year, for Braden's Cub Scout Blue & Gold dinner, we made this CTR cake.  I cannot decorate cakes, it is not a skill I possess.  We found this cake idea and had to modify (meaning simplify drastically).  I have never used fondant and have no plans of trying it any time in the near future.  Instead, we just frosted the cake with green colored frosting, and then used a star tip to do the writing on top and a little around the bottom.  Not spectacular, but Braden was happy. :o)

Valentine Crayons

Last year I came across this great website for school Valentine's ideas.  We decided to make the crayons, because I had A LOT of broken crayons and this was a fun way to use them up!  The kids loved helping with this project and it worked out really well.  The only bummer is that my heart molds are now ruined for anything else.  But I think I found them in the dollar spot at Target, so I suppose it was worth it. :o)

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Um, hello! Why did I never think to make CHOCOLATE sugar cookies?! This recipe has changed my life. I frosted them with strawberry cream cheese frosting. The only complaint is how small of a yield. I doubled the recipe, but next time I will definitely quadruple, at least!  You can find the original recipe here.  I did not make the marble royal icing.  I actually used some leftover strawberry cream cheese fruit dip I had left over and told everyone it was frosting.  It was really yummy!!  I made these last year for a Valentine's Day treat, hence the heart shapes.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

6 tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated and no streaks remain.  Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness.  Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place cut outs on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes, just until set.  Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate as desired.