Welcome Whit, Ashli and Janae

We have three new bloggers!! Whitney is my bestest friend from highschool. Ashli is a new friend and ward member from Columbus. And Janae is a cousin of mine, amelia, heidi, and Ashlee S. Welcome Welcome!!!

Chocolate Chip Fudgey Cups

2 pkgs pull-apart cookies
1/2 bag of MILK chocolate chips
2-3 TBSP milk
Mini cupcake tins

Okay, so my pics aren't that great but these are very simple and yummy! They are a hit with every age group. I love making them for YW or RS events. Of course for FHE too! I made this batch to go camping, they tend to pack a little nicer and last longer than regular cookies (which end up in pieces) I have always used the Safeway brand of pull-apart cookies(economical reasons only) I am told that the Nestle Turtle pull-aparts are awesome. I have tried it with normal cookie dough and it doesn't work very well--the cookie itself turns out too soft.
Pull apart cookie and roll into a ball. (this picture shows "mini" only because they were out of the regular size--if I use the "mini" I roll two sections together) Place into mini-cupcake tins sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake according to package directions.
Let cool for 1-2 minutes and then, with a pizza cutter gently press in the center. (don't go clear to the bottom--just enough to make a "cup") Let cool for another 8 minutes and then dump out of pan and cool upside down.
With a half of a bag of MILK choco-chips and 2-3 TBSP of milk place in microwave for 20-30 seconds. Then stir 'till smooth
Spoon melted chocolate mixture into the formed cup. Let cool then serve. I am not always my mother's daughter, can you imagine my mom using store bought cookie dough? That's funny to think about! I'm sure even my MOM would eat these. If I have time I like to chill them, then the chocolate sets more. My family loves them right away!!! ENJOY--and no mocking!!!

Foil Vegetables on the fire (or grill)

This was a saved post and it looked complete so I hope you don't mind Nicole, but I am publishing it!

Colorful Veggies in Foil
Ingredients:
1 zucchini squash, chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 yellow squash, chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb. mushrooms, quartered
1 pkg. cherry or grape tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2/3 c. Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
Parmesan Cheese

Wash and cut all veggies. Toss with dressing to coat. Attach 2 pieces of foil together by folding edges 3 times. (like if you were sewing a hem) Dump all veggies onto foil.
Fold sides up over the ends of the veggies.
Close top by bringing last 2 sides together and "hemming" the last 2 pieces together. This is how it looks when it is done.
I cooked mine on coals in a firepit. The coals or briquettes should be grayish. This means they are hot enough to cook the food. We used really dry firewood and it took about 30-40 mins. to get them hot enough. To be safe, plan on an hour.Place foil dinners directly on hot coals. Cook about 6 minutes per side. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve.

I got this recipe from Kraft Foods' Food and Family Magazine, recipe can also be found online: http://kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/sensational-foil-pack-vegetables-106267.aspx

You can also cook them on the grill. Cook 3-4 minutes, then flip over and cook another 3 mins.

*This same meal we also had foil dinners.

Homemade Pasta...

I don't know if you guys will like this one but, my kids love to make this...that's how easy it is
2 1/3 c flour
1 tsp seasoning of your choice (optional) ie basil, sage, marjoram really anything works
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 c water
1 tsp cooking oil or evoo Step 1- Mix together flour, spice, salt in large mixing bowl
Step 2- Beat eggs in seperate dish with water and oil
Step 3- Mix dry ingredients well and then make a "well" in the middle and then pour in egg mixture in center of the "well"
Step 4- Mix with a fork flour and egg mixture. It will take a few minutes to get the right texture it starts out crumbly but then turns into a nice dough like texture...as seen below
Step 5- divide dough in to four sections

Step 6- Roll each section out with a rolling pin about a quarter inch thick. You can cut into strips or if you have a pasta maker roll it through your pasta maker. You can get creative and make cute bow tie pasta or whatever--because my kids make this I end up with funky strips. (it tastes fine even though the presentation might not be as great as Ashlee's)
these are the funky strips I end up with...
Step 7-Boil the fresh noodles for about 3 minutes sometimes this takes less or more time depending on how thick you make your noodles.
Step 8- Drain and serve...serve with whatever kind of sauce or meat. Below Britt did just plain old marinera sauce with some grilled chicken. This really is so easy if you've never done it and I love the taste of homemade pasta. My kids love to add parmesean cheese into the dry mixture and it actually makes yummy cheesy pasta.
I hope you give it a try! Jay had a great time documenting our Pasta Process...

Summer Splash Pasta Salad

By Ben & Ash

Hey y'all! Ben and I came up with this little dish this evening. Ben wanted a pasta salad so we went to the grocery store and bought some veggies and this is the end result. So delicious!! It was a very easy, fast, healthy and tasty meal. Enjoy!

Our first rule for making ANY meal is to do all prep work first! Meaning, chop veggies, clean your meat, if using canned items, open all cans, etc.

Ben does not follow recipes, he just makes it up as he goes so everything is just kind of "to taste" and what not in this recipe. :) Use as much or as little of whatever vegetable you want.
This is how we did it...

7-8 asparagus stalks (is it called a stalk??? Anyway...)
4 mini sweet peppers (they come in a carton at Costco)
6 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Half of a box of bow tie pasta
Italian dressing to taste
Fresh chopped basil and fresh ground pepper to season
Feta cheese

Cook pasta and drain.
Sautee asparagus and peppers to tender crisp in about 1 tsp. olive oil.
Grill, broil, or "Foreman" your chicken.
Shred or chop chicken.
Combine all ingredients, minus Feta in a bowl.
Sprinkle with Feta cheese upon serving.
Enjoy as a main dish with a crusty roll or as a side salad.
*Serve with white wine. :)

Pumpkin Cookies

...or should i call these our "weekly treat"...because that's what they've turned into! SERIOULSY, I'm addicted to these things. The good thing is they aren't COMPLETELY bad for you....and they're so dang easy!


*PREHEAT OVEN 375 degrees

• 1 box Spice Cake mix
  
• 1 (15oz.) can pumpkin
  
• 1/4 c. applesauce (opt) for moisture
• semisweet chocolate chips (i prefer mini chips)

*Mix first 3 ingredients well then fold in amount of chocolate chips desired.

*Drop batter onto baking sheets (teaspoon size or bigger) and bake for about 15 minutes. My oven in Ohio cooks a little hot, so i cook at 355 degrees for 15 minutes.

These are very moist (eek, i hate that word) cookies! The texture is a little different, so if weird textures bother you, you may not like them. That's ok though, that means there's more for me!

ENJOY!!!!!

Market Street Potatoes (on a budget)

My favorite side dish is the Market Street Potatoes that Market Street serves with their brunch. However last year I came across the recipe and made it, but it cost over $20 just in the cheeses that the recipe calls for. So this is my fake and cost effective version of it. although definitely not the same, still pretty good.

Serve with breakfast or dinner!
serves 6-8 people

Ingredients:

4lbs red potato cut into large bite-sized pieces
3-5 green onions chopped
2 oz cream cheese (optional) diced
sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
real bacon bits to taste

Take washed and chopped potatoes and mix with enough sour cream to generously cover all the potatoes. I used about 1/4 of the tub, but the more you add, the better!! Note: to reduce cooking time microwave the potatoes for 6-10 minutes before mixing with other ingredients. Then mix in green onions, cream cheese, bacon, and a couple hand fulls of cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper, garlic, season salt or whatever you have in your cupboards. Top with a generous helping of cheddar cheese. Bake covered in pyrex @ 350 until potatoes are soft. (If you don't microwave first that will be at least 90 minutes)

So here is the deal

So i want to invite those who are interested in becoming contributors to my blog to let me know and then invite me over for dinner so i can see if you can cook or not and then i will see... Just kidding if you are interested let me know and I would love to add you on

So here are the rules

you can post any sort of recipe, but it has to be something you have actually made yourself. We would prefere it if you can snap a pic to go along with your post. lets try to keep all commentary and descriptions breif and get down to buisness

So far i would like to welcome Amelia and Jami as contributors
lets see who posts first.....

We'll see what happens

My intentions for this blog is to post pics and recipes
we will see how it goes...