Pretzel Turtles

Oh, these are SO good! Thanks to one of my favorite blogs for the recipe & cute picture.

Easy Pretzel Turtles

small pretzels

Rolo candies - one bag has about 55 candies

Pecan halves - or optionally peanuts, cashews, and m&m's

Optional: almond bark or white chocolate for drizzling

These are so simple to make. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper for easy handling, but you can also put them on foil, a silpat, or directly onto the cookie sheet.Unwrap your Rolo candies and place one on top of each pretzel.

Place pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Any longer is probably too long. You just want the chocolate on the outside to look glossy and melty, but they should still hold their shape.Remove pan from oven and take a pecan and gently press it right into the center of the chocolate candy.

Let cool before removing from teh tray.

Cheesecake Fondue

I have to thank my friend Katie for this most amazing recipe. She had a fondue party the other night & this was her dessert fondue. We dipped Strawberries & brownie pieces into it. It was so good that I made it a few days later for my family. It was eaten up very quickly.

Cheesecake Fondue

1 block cream cheese

1 small jar marshmallow cream

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 Tbsp milk

Combine in a pot on the stove & bring just to a boil. Transfer to a fondue pot or I put it into a double boiler pan. Serve with strawberries & brownies, or any other treat you may like- pound cake, angel food cake, etc.

This is really similar to the fruit dip I like to make, but warmed instead.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

These are a fun festive treat for the holidays. I made them for a chuch activity the other night & they were really good. My kids thought they were pretty great, too.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

1 pkg cream cheese

3/4 c. butter

1 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

8 oz semi sweet chocolate, melted (You can use baking squares or choc chips)

1 pkg white baking chocolate, or candy melts ( I used green candy melts)

**12 peppermint candies, crushed

Preheat oven to 350. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar & vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Blend in the melted chocolate. Shape about a Tbsp of dough into a rope & curve into candy cane shapes. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool for 5 minutes ,then move to cooling racks. Microwave the white chocolate and drizzle over the cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. I left the cookies on the cooling racks & put another cookie sheet underneath to prevent a huge mess.

**I found some Andes peppermint baking chips & mixed them with some crushed peppermint & they were SO good!

Potato Crescent Rolls

These are a holiday staple at our house. I thought I had posted these long ago & during Thanksgiving I was informed that they were not on my blog. I am sorry to anyone who needed them!! They originally came from my Aunt Becky. I know this because it say's on my Mom's recipe card "Becky's Rolls". Don't you love your Mom's old recipe cards? I think someday I may (in all my spare time) scan in some of my favorites of hers and my Grandma's. Anyways, on to the recipe.

Potato Rolls

1 c. warm milk
1 c. instant mashed potatoes
1 Tbsp yeast
½ c. warm water
2/3 c oil
1 tsp salt
½ c. sugar
2 eggs
6 c. flour

Mix 1 c. milk with 1 c. potatoes. Mix yeast with warm water and stir to dissolve. Put a pinch of sugar in this and let it set until activated (bubbly on top). Mix potatoes, oil, salt, & sugar. Add yeast and eggs. Mix and add flour a little at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky. Let it rise until doubled- about 1 hour. Separate dough into 4 even sections. Roll out on a floured surface and put about 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil on the dough rub it out evenly. Cut into 8 crescent shapes (like a pizza). Roll up and pinch ends. Bake 15 min at 400 degrees.

Healthier version- This is what we usually make now. I know we severly disappointed my brother on Thanksgiving when the potato rolls were wheat! So we had to make some fresh white ones the next day for him. I however, prefer the wheat version.

4 c. wheat flour, 2 c. white, reduce sugar to ¼ c. increase salt to 2 tsp, add ground 2 Tbsp flax seeds. Delicious this way, too!

Sweet Chex Mix

I got this recipe from a friend last week (Thanks Katie!!) It's really good. We've been munching on it for a few days.

1/2 box Golden Grahams ( I didn't have it, so I used corn Chex)

1/2 box Rice Chex (about 5 1/2 c.)

1 c. coconut

1/2 c. sliced almonds

1 c. sugar

1 c. corn syrup

3/4 c. butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 bag M & M's (I added these to it)

Bring sugar, butter & corn syrup to a boil in a large sauce pan. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla, cereal, almonds & coconut. Spread ont a cookie sheet. Add M&M's after it cools for a minute so they don't all melt right away.

I left the coconut off half because some of us don't like it. But, let me tell you, I am not a big coconut lover & this tastes so good with it in there.

Modified Pumpkin Cookies & Thanksgiving Recipes

I had a bunch of kids over this weekend & they wanted pumpkin cookies. I didn't have time to get to the store & did not have a spice cake mix on hand. So here's what I did:

1 yellow cake mix
1 can pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp nutmeg
chocolate chips.

Bake 375 degrees for 15 minutes. It's just like the recipe I posted before, but it's modified for when you don't have a spice cake mix on hand. They were just as delicious.


Does anyone have any essential Holiday Recipes that they couldn't live without? I'd love to hear some of yours. Below are links to some of my favorites. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving weekend!!!



For some Thanksgiving recipes check out these posts:
Pies!
Cranberry Apple Bread Pudding Cups
Pie Crust Cookies
Orange-Cranberry Sauce

Spaghetti Squash

Have you ever replaced pasta with spaghetti squash? I have heard about this tip for a while & finally tried it. I LOVED it. I actually did half pasta, half squash & it was so good. I even mixed some into my kids spaghetti & they didn't even notice. I always cook with whole grain pasta, so it's healthy, but I tend to over-eat. This is a good way for me to cut down my portion size & still feel like I have a plate full of noodles. If you are trying to cut back on calories or on carbs, this is a great substitute.

To cook the squash, I cut mine in half, removed seeds, & put it into a microwave safe dish. I microwaved it for about 10 minutes total. I only made half of it, the other half is in my fridge to be used again. I checked it part-way through. You can also do the same & roast it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 1 hour. If you have never had spaghetti squash, it's a fun new veggie you should try. Once it is cooked, you just take a fork to it & it shreds easily into noodle shaped pieces. Oh & it's so tasty & healthy. Just serve it like you would pasta. I have even seen it baked with sauce & cheese over the top in a casserole. Yum, I want to try that sometime.

You can't beat a good euphonious

Warning! Chocolate lovers only...

First of all- I am never sure where the time goes. My goal is to post 1-2 times a week. But life seems to get in the way too often.

Now, on to business.

I am in search of the perfect moist chewey chocolate cookie. I tried these last night & they were good, but not up to the perfection standard. If any of you readers have it- that perfect chocolate cookie recipe, PLEASE, oh, PLEASE share with me.

Here is Nestle's White Chip Chocolate Cookie recipe- that I changed & added chocolate chips instead of white chips & threw in some toffee bits. It was good, however the cookies were not as moist as I would have liked. Ok, I may not be selling these cookies too well. They really were good. They were VERY rich & chocolatey. I just have extremely high dessert standards. The toffee bits were definitely a nice addition. You should try it.

2 1/4 c. flour

2/3 c. cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 c butter

3/4 c. sugar

2/3 c brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 c. white chocolate chips, or chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. toffee bits

Mix butter, sugar, eggs, & vanilla. Add dry ingredients & mix. Last add chips & bits. Drop onto cookie sheets & bake 9 minutes @ 350. Eat them hot & melty from the oven cause that's when they are the best. Just try not to burn your tongue. (Yes, I am that pathetic when it comes to chocolate & cookies, I just can't wait for all that cooling stuff).

Chili Cook-off

We had the annual chili cook-off this past weekend. Here was the winning recipe in my book. Thanks, Dimond family, it was amazing!


Sweet-n-Spicy Peach Mango Chili

Place the following ingredients into Crockpot and cook on LOW for 12 hours.
4 cups Water
2 packets French Onion Soup Mix
3 tbsp. Chili Powder
4 lbs. Stew Meat (Cubed)
1/2 cup Bacon (Pre-cooked and Crumbled)

Add the following ingredients and cook on HIGH for an additional 2 hours.
1 (48-ounce) Santa Barbara Mango with Peach Salsa (Medium) - from Costco
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans Pinto Beans (Drained)
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans Kidney beans (Drained)
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans Black beans (Drained)
Add the following 15 minutes before serving.
1/4 lb. Pepper Jack Cheese (Shredded)
1 (16-ounce) Sour Cream

What's in your crockpot?

I like cooking in the crockpot. It makes for an easy dinner time. I did it a lot when I was working full time. Not as much anymore, since I am mostly home all day. I have a few favorite recipes, though. One favorite is this Stuffed Chicken Roll recipe. We had it for dinner last night. I really love it. Another favorite is this Stringy Beef recipe that I got from my sister years ago. It's still high on our favorite list.

Here's another quick & easy crock pot recipe that we call "That Chicken Stuff". Or, if you'd like a better name for it, let's call it Creamy Cooker Chicken. I haven't made it in a while, but it's one of my husband's favorites.

Creamy Cooker Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 packet dry onion soup mix
handful of diced carrots
4 diced potatoes
1 diced onion
about 1/4 c. water

Put all into the crockpot & cook on low for 8 hours. The chicken will be soft & fall apart & vegetables will be tender.


What are your favorites? I'd love to hear from you what your favorite easy crock pot meals are. I'll share my crockpot chili next.