No Bake Cookies

I've loved these simple easy to make cookies ever since I could remember. Funny thing is that I have never had them as individual cookies! We've always taken wax paper and placed in in a casserole dish and just poured the mix in like a cake. We let it cool and then just break a chunk off!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy...I prefer creamy)

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the sugar, milk, butter and cocoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 1 1/2 minutes. Yes I said one and a half minutes! Any longer and the consistency is either too soft or too crumbly. Remove from heat and add oats, peanut butter and vanilla. Stir well and then pour onto wax paper or you can actually make it into real cookies by dropping it by the spoonful onto the wax paper. Let it cool and enjoy.

I myself can't help but set aside some of the mixture after I have poured it and eat it warm!! Yumm!

Irish Potatoes

While at Sam's Club one can't help but totally pig out on all the samples eh? I totally make it a point to and came across my new favorite potato! Irish potatoes...so easy to make and you don't even have to leave the country! Simply cut up your red potatoes into bite size pieces throw them in a microwave wave safe bowl, half a stick of butter, cover and cook for 12 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of Maggie's Irish Potato Seasoning. Can it get any easier than that? Super yummy! I can't get enough of them!

Pear Mangosteen Pudding

I really have not forgotten about my food/recipe blog as I do love to eat! I do however hate what it does to my figure but I'll stop there. As you can see I have a new love in the fridge. Pear Mangosteen pudding! Yummmmm! I love Kozy Shacks old fashioned tapioca pudding so much I can eat a whole thing of it in like 2 days and thats being conservative! Pear Mangosteen I had to try as soon as I saw it and its to die for! My taste buds really seem to call out for peachy, mangosteen, mango, pineapplely kind of things and this is a total hit! Its spring time, get your fruit on!

Veggie Bites

I'm beginning to think I'm somewhat of a late night binge eater. I come home from work and totally raid the fridge. I know this is not healthy and that I really need to stop but really, why does one continually open the refrigerator door repeatedly? I mean will anything new appear if I shut the door and open it approximately 42 seconds later? Very doubtful yet I continue to do it. After giving up hope on the refrigerated goods I dug through the frozen foods and came across these babies.



















They have sat in the back of my freezer for some time now and after trying them I don't see how! They were so yummy I ate the whole box! Yes I have issues but come on there are only 9 of them in the box and I can totally justify any food as being healthy. They are chocked full of veggies...spinach at that, and artichoke hello! I baked them in the oven and there are only 3 servings in the box so I really only ate 2 extra servings of vegetables thank you!! Can anyone argue with that???

Seriously tho, they are/were delish!

Hummus

Humm a what? Hummus! Ok, I've been seeing hummus this and hummus that in the stores lately and have been totally clueless as to just what the heck hummus was. Its chick peas. Ok, still lost...its garbanzo beans with a fancy shmansy name put on it to throw us all off! I'm so onto those bean people and all their names for one particular type of a bean! Gosh they really know how to confuse a girl!

Roaming my beloved health food aisles I came across several types of hummus dip. Beings as though I love hot and spicy foods I chose the Jalapeno one and grabbed a bag of hummus chips to go along with them. What did I think? Yumm! Its like bean dip cause essentially that's what it is aside from all the fancy name calling. The chips...yumm as well! I bought original flavored ones and they have a nice flavor to them and aren't all bland and boring like I was assuming. I can't really describe the taste to you but they were good enough that me and the kids woofed down the bag and half a jar of dip like nothing!



















So if you like regular bean dip chances are you'll like hummus!

Best Ever Bananna Bread

I have always loved homemade banana bread but always thought it was just too hard or beyond me to ever make it right. Making bread just sounds hard so my bread making experience has been very limited to oh say high school home ec. and the bread maker I owned years ago when they were the best thing ever. And they were but I just didn't use mine enough. So, in my attempt to master homemade banana bread I have to brag on myself and tell you I have exceeded my expectations above and beyond! And on my first try! I made the house smell so awesome as it baked and oh my gosh it was so good! The recipe I use came from my girl Denise Austin. I love her! She's so pretty and perky and just makes you feel all good even when you're just sitting there watching her workout because you can't keep up with her cardio!

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (I just throw in 2 medium ones)
1/2 cup light vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla













Line your loaf pan with foil overlapping the edges a bit then spray the foil with some nonstick cooking spray. Apparently it makes it easier to pop it out of the pan! Denise is sooo smart! See why I love her!

Mix all dry ingredients and whisk them together.

Mix all liquid ingredients separately and then add them to the dry mixture and combine the two well.

Pour into foil covered loaf pan and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes and you have the best banana bread ever!













This is the first recipe I've tried and one I think I will definitely be sticking with! It calls for yogurt instead of butter which I love. If you know me well enough, you will know that I try to avoid butter and love finding alternative healthy ingredients for my recipes. Trust me when I tell you you will love this bread!

P.S. I also like to sneak in some Milled Flax Seed because they all say its so healthy for you as you need those Omega vitamins and you can't really taste it at all. I usually throw a pinch in while baking or with oatmeal or yogurt or parfaits and that.

















P.P.S. Sorry for my poor photography skills on the pictures! I've already sat down and am entirely too lazy to retake the pictures. Oh and I forgot a few of the ingredients in the 'ingredients' picture so pretty much disregard that picture all together. Sorry!

Cookies 'N Cream Pudding

After announcing to 'blog world' on my other blog that I wasn't going to give in to sweets until I had my 20 year old body back....I've miraculously gained it back already! Boy that was quick! Ok, maybe not but ya know I decided that 20 year old body is still here, its just matured with age!

Ok, you want the real truth...me and the kids were at Target yesterday because I needed cough drops for the cold that managed to find me. Braden found and was carrying around an individual size bag of Cadburry eggs. Somehow the little stinker managed to open them by poking a hole in the side. So I did as any good mother would do and had 2 for good measure and let the kids devour the bag and pay for it at the checkout. I should be ashamed of myself but it doesn't stop there. We bought a bag of red Starburst jelly beans that I opened up when we got home. Hey I had to try them as they are Limited Edition!

So since I've decided my Matured 20 year old body isn't so bad after all I made this pudding upon request.

Ingredients:
8 Oreo cookies, divided
2 cups of milk
1 pkg. (4 serving size) Vanilla instant pudding
3/4 cup thawed Cool Whip, divided













Take 4 of the cookies and mash them up. I usually throw them in a sandwich bag and beat the snot out of them! (If only I could do the same with this cold)

Pour milk into a bowl, add dry pudding mix and beat with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in crushed cookies and 1/2 cup whipped topping.

Spoon evenly (if you dare) into 4 bowls and top each with a dabble of whipped topping and a cookie each!

This is a sweet dessert.













And yes I ate this too! I did go through all the trouble to make it all fancy in those new glasses I bought and still haven't used yet!

Black Bean and Rice Burgers

Call me crazy but I think I like bean burgers better than regular burgers. I do have a few burger joints that I love like Culver's (home of the butter burger) and Fuddruckers (with their awesome fries and cheese sauce yumm). Going out to eat with friends they always kinda give me a little 'huh' kinda look when I order a bean burger of all things on the menus. Chili's has a black bean burger that is so a frozen patty that has nothing on my homemade burger!

Ingredients
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 egg
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup salsa divided
1/4 cup sour cream













In a large bowl mash beans (I use a potato masher), add rice, onion, egg and 2 tablespoons of salsa and mix well. Drop by 1/2 cupfuls onto a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Flatten to 1/2 in. thickness. Cook over medium heat until each side is firm and browned.

For the sauce combine 1/4 cup salsa and 1/4 cup sour cream and mix well.














I serve mine on wheat hamburger buns with lettuce and cheese. I've actually made this into a casserole for a few of my coworkers and they all enjoyed it as part of our 'healthy dinner'. Both of my kids enjoy this bean and rice burger as well.

If you want my opinion on frozen ones I love Morning Stars' Spicy Black Bean Burger as I usually eat it by itself with a little salsa and sour cream on top!

Tostadas

Tired of tacos? Make tostadas instead!

I feel like I make the same dishes over and over all the time. So instead of just another night of tacos I've been trying to jazz em up a bit. Tostadas are basically tacos but presented in a more oh fashionable approach! I'm really missing the mall can you tell?

Ingredients:
2lb. hamburger
1 packet of taco seasoning(my favorite is Old El Paso)
Tostada shells
1 can of refried beans
Topping such as lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream...

Brown your meat, drain, add water and taco seasoning as you would normally make tacos. Add refried beans to mixture and cook till its all mixed and warmed up. Place tostada shells on baking sheet and heat up for a few minutes in the oven.
Top the shells with meat and bean mixture and then top with lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa or whatever your fancy!

PB 2

So while I was at the salon getting (all the latest gossip) my hair done Sat. we got onto the subject of powdered peanut butter. My hair dresser (who chopped my hair nice and shorter, yes I keep going shorter and shorter, and gave life back to my still red and blond do) said its good and tastes and looks like regular peanut butter. I told her I'm so a Jif girl and to be totally brutally honest because hello we are talking about (my ears being more visible with this shorter do) Peanut Butter here for Pete's sake! She swears that's all they eat and so being my hairdresser, the one girl in town I can go to for the low down on all the latest and greatest, I took my Jif girl self to the store and bought a jar of PB 2.












So which is which? One is my beloved Jif and the other PB 2. I'm sorry I don't have a fancy shmansy camera to give the best detail and texture in picture for you but just take a guess!

So you just add water and you have peanut butter! You really do! I now know the reason my hips are so wide. Have you ever measured out the suggested serving size of 2 tbsp.? Ya, I gotta tell ya I eat waaaaaayyyyyy more than that on any given day. It's like a big wake up call for me cause I'll fix whatever I'm fixing and then load up the knife and lick it clean. Yikes!

But lets be real here and compare labels











Just so there is no confusion the Jif is on the left and the PB 2 is on the right(I so didn't want to throw you off with the blue lid like Jif's crunchy PB). And that also goes for the guessing game above! Huge difference here when you put the two labels side by side! Huge!

So for my powdered peanut butter review:Yumm! A tad more work than just scooping it out of the jar and shoveling it down my throat but the whole measuring my PB will totally keep me from over indulging like crazy! It tastes and looks like regular PB. Nice nutty flavor, healthy and tasty alternate, way less calories, fat, and on my way to smaller hips I'm hoping! So now that you have my 2 thumbs up go out and get you some! And browse around that health food dept for a minute...all kinds of goodies just screaming wanna lose those hips Mama! That's what they yell at me...they may be kinder to you!

Sunflower Seed Cookies

Its ok to have cookies in the house! Really it is!

Roaming the aisles of the health food dept. of grocery stores is my 'thang'. Ok, maybe not really my 'thang' but I'm really into reading labels and trying new 'healthy' foods. I probably spend more time in that little corner of the store than I do shopping throughout the rest of the store but I've got to know what alternatives there are out there to the normal 'junk' I buy.

I'm slowly trying to wean myself and my family off all the 'junk' that's bad for us. We eat pretty well to begin with. I never fry anything. And we rarely ever have hamburgers and that at home(or anywhere come to think of it). I'de rather make sweets at home than buy already made ones. I never even buy french fries and try to avoid potato chips all together. On occasion I have been known to buy a bag of baked Ruffles and spicy bean dip! Yummy! But those times are pretty far and few between.

I've replaced 2% milk with skim, white bread to wheat(loving Sara Lee's Delightful Wheat), regular OJ for Simply Orange(we go through this like crazy with Felisha), sugar with Splenda(the only Truvia I can find is in packets for coffee....yuck), vegetable oil with natural canola(still trying to find a better replacement), white rice with brown (favorite being Uncle Ben's).....

Next up is the brown sugar(Splenda makes a brown sugar now), and a good wheat flour. I'm open for suggestions! And I'll be giving my two cents on our 'healthier' alternatives.


Back to the cookies! I believe these are local so I don't know where all you can find them. No ones really heard of them as they are found in the healthy side of the store! But they are de-lish! Even my kiddos love em!


















My main grocery store has been Hyvee for some time now. I never go to Walmart! Haven't step foot in one in about 8 months! For real! But I hit Sams Club all the time for milk and bread and fruit and that. I know! Really, I'm a Target girl at heart. But Hyvee is where I have been purchasing these yummies. Hyvee sometimes has little samples out that you can try and one bite of these and my shopping cart had cookies!

Apple Crisp

While making Apple Crisp (yes the box kind) today I saw that you can use 2 1/2 tbl. nonfat vanilla yogurt instead of butter to make your dessert fat free! So I gave it a go and you can not tell the difference!













Just had to share!














Hungry now? Go ahead! Its fat free, has apples and really isn't that bad for you at all! I may be making this more often now that I don't have to add butter!

Ya, I'm kinda anti-butter weird. I try to avoid excess butter and salt. Gotta keep my girlish figure ya know!!

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf

Remember 'Meatloaf I hate meatloaf double beat loaf'...or something like that anyway on the movie 'A Christmas Story'. Who doesn't just love that movie? Anyway we are having....meatloaf tonight. I found this recipe in a Kraft magazine called Food and Family. Its chocked full of recipes and is completely and absolutely FREE! Go on over to Kraft.com and sign up for this FREE magazine full of super easy recipes. Love it when they show up in my mailbox!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 eggs beaten
1 pkg. (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup water
1/2 cup BBQ sauce divided















Mix all ingredients in a bowl with the exception of 1/4 cup BBQ sauce. Shape meat mixture into an oval loaf in a 13x9 inch baking dish. This will make it easier to drain the fat when its done cooking. Pour remaining 1/4 cup BBQ sauce on top of shaped mixture and bake at 375 for about an hour or until center reaches 160 degrees.














Can meatloaf be any easier? This meatloaf has been made upon request quite often. Not a problem considering as easy as it is!

Enjoy,
Di

P.S. My 'finished' picture does not do it any justice as it is way more appetizing than its looking there!

Potato Soup

Being laid off has it's perks! I'm taking a liking to really trying to teach myself how to 'really' cook. I've always been the 'box' and 'can' kind of cook. If you can really call that cooking;) But I'm venturing into the homemade, slaved over, all day in the kitchen kind of cooking. Ok, we all know that may not be the case! Either way I'm trying...and my family is still alive! Points for me:)

I've never slaved over homemade potato soup. The lovely folks over at Campbell's always do that for me! Love em! I have these gigantic potatoes I bought at Sam's club and need to use them up before they start growing things. I've never understood how they can continually grow things when they are out of the ground. I mean once they are out of the ground they should be done right? I mean strawberries don't keep growing once they are picked. Neither does celery or carrots. Stubborn crazy potatoes, what are they thinking? It kinda freaks me out. Ok...sorry for the ditz moment there...but I'm just saying........crazy potatoes.

I came up with this concoction searching for potato soup recipes that were very very simple. Cause that's the way I cook! I happened to have all the ingredients (very few) so I gave it a go.

Ingredients:
8 med. to large potatoes
4 tsp. salt (give or take depending on taste)
1 cup sour cream
1 stick of butter
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp. pepper (depending on taste...just season till it gives you the taste you desire)
shredded cheddar cheese to top
8 slices of cooked bacon crumbled up (give or take...we love bacon)
4 scallions (I didn't have any on hand but would have made a nice touch)

Rinse, peel and slice potatoes into bite size cubes. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Add 2 tsp. of salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer till potatoes are very soft (about 40 minutes). Drain potatoes, discard water, return half the potatoes to pot. Mash other half of potatoes in a bowl with a potato masher. Return mashed potatoes to pot. Add butter and sour cream to potatoes stirring until melted. Add milk, pepper, and remaining salt and bring back to simmer. If you prefer it really cheesy you can add some cheese now and have it melt in. Otherwise its ready to serve with cheese, bacon, and scallions if you so desire.

Love me some Campbell's!

Alright so I know this is a recipe blog and all but this is soooo yummy. I don't know if its because I grew up surrounded by cornfields or what but I do love me some corn! This soup is so awesome I just had to share. I mean how many people really pay attention to the 'boxed' soups? It just happened to catch my eye one day. Thought to myself this is V8 and Campbell's so it must be healthy and yummy. Sure is! If you like corn and spicy this is great stuff! It has a bit of a kick so you need not add anything. Simply heat and serve!

My Kitchen

I'll just come out and admit it...I'm a bit nosey! There you have it! I'm curious about how others live and what they do just in general. Their interests, hobbies, lifestyles, religions, etc. When I go to someones house I tend to scope it out a bit so to speak. I just know some of you out there even make it a point to check out the facilities (I know you know what I mean ladies!). I just like to look around and see how things are decorated and what kind of things they like. They say you can tell a lot about a person by where and how they live, what they drive, how they dress, decorate, etc.

Yes I have even been known to gaze into windows at night when the blinds are open, preferably when someone else is driving! And no I'm not a Peeping Tom! I would have to get out of the car to qualify for that one!

So to satisfy curious minds I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pictures of my kitchen. That and I haven't posted anything in awhile!

I really like my kitchen and all my little pretties here and there. Although I'm not really sure what my house or kitchen at least says about me. Let me know what ya think!


























Note: My camera really sucks! These pictures really make it blah! A nice new camera will be my next big purchase. I'm thinking a Nikon D90 ought to do the trick!

In the close up of the sink you will see the handmade curtains by yours truely! Yes I know! Totally made them all by myself using fabric by Christopher Lowell! I love that man!

I do love to shop and any of you crazed home-party-goers like myself will probably notice I own a lot of At Home America and Southern Living at Home items! Who knew they could work together alright in the kitchen! You can go ahead and click on the photos to enlarge them a bit...its ok really...my kitchen is clean (was when I snapped the picture anyway, its since then blown up but we won't show that on here).

Happy Snooping!
Di

Luscious Lemon Cake

Craving a lusciously lemon dessert? I have just the fix! This cake is sooo good both warm from the oven or chilled from the fridge. Its basically a lemon cake cake with a lemon pudding mixture poured over top and while baking the pudding goes through the cake mixture and to the bottom of the pan creating an oh so yummy treat!

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg lemon cake mix
2 cups cold milk
1 1/4 cups water
2 pkg. (4 serving size each) Jell-O lemon flavored instant pudding
1/3 cup granulated sugar
powdered sugar to top














Prepare cake batter according to package and pour into greased 13x9-inch baking dish and set aside.
Next pour milk and water into large bowl and mix in pudding mixes and sugar. Mix this with a whisk like you were making regular pudding. Pour this mixture over the top of the cake batter.














Before putting this in the oven I am warning you...place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any sauce that will bubble over the sides of the dish as it bakes. Trust me it will! Bake at 350 for 55 minutes to an hour.














Let cake cool down for a few minutes and then sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. Pudding thickens as it cools but is ready to serve warm.














I'm sure you could make this cake any flavor you like...chocolate lovers use chocolate cake and pudding...strawberry lovers use strawberry and so forth. Personally I choose lemon desserts over chocolate desserts any day! Whats funny is that I'm not into lemon candies like lemonheads or lemon starburst or lemon skittles......just the desserts! Give me the warm gooey goodness of a lemon dessert and I'm one happy gal! Hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!

Corn Souffle

Hi everyone! We are sneaking some veggies in today...corn that is! This has got to be one of the easiest recipes ever and you probably already have all the ingredients awaiting you in your kitchen. I love this recipe best because a lot of others like it use way too much butter. When cooking I really try to avoid using butter and salt whenever possible. For instance when I make rice or something that says to boil water and butter....I skip the butter! Shhh....no one can tell! And on my baked potatoes...I add everything but the butter! I also try to buy no salt added canned veggies. But hey that's just me! Back to the recipe, I make this as a side dish and it works well as a potluck dish too.

INGREDIENTS:
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
2 tbsp. butter
1 can of cream style corn
1 can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1 8.5 oz. pkg. Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
handful of cheddar cheese (give or take to sprinkle on top)















First melt the butter and cream cheese in the microwave. I usually cut the cream cheese up into cubes a bit to help it melt faster. A minute is all my microwave takes but give or take on others. Stir this mixture up.















Add the remaining ingredients except for the cheese and mix well. It will look a little something like this.















Pour into your greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with as much cheese as you so desire. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until the top turns slightly browned.















Like I said earlier its a great side dish but one of my good friends Tina likes to take the leftovers and add salsa and sour cream to it and eat it as a meal for lunch or snack and its just awesome all over again! Another option is to use Mexican style corn for a little kick!

Creamy Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

This has got to be one of my favorite recipes. I make this dish quite often as my family is always requesting it. Even my sister calls often asking for it so I know this meal is sure to please! Its so simple and just delicious!

INGREDIENTS
2 cans of cooked cubed chicken
1 can of cream of chicken
8oz. sour cream
1 tablespooon of poppyseeds
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 sleeves of Ritz crackers











Mix chicken, cream of chicken, sour cream
and poppyseeds in a bowl.












Melt the butter then mix it with crushed up ritz.











Pour the chicken mixture in a large casserole dish and then pour the butter/ritz topping mixture over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.












Serve as is or over brown rice and enjoy!!