Stained Glass Cookies

When I was student teaching many years ago we did this with our kids in the preschool class. I remembered it being really fun, but didn't have the recipe for it, so I decided to experiment. It turned out pretty good. The kids loved it. That's what really matters, right? After I did it, I thought it would be a really fun Valentine's Day cookie to do with hearts.

Find your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Make them according to directions. Just do a center cut-out when you roll them out into shapes. I used a little bottlecap to cut out my centers.

Line your baking sheets with foil to prevent sticking to the pan. Put the cookies on the tray & place a hard candy in the center of each. Bake according to recipe directions. Let them cool almost completely before trying to remove them from the foil. I took the foil off the tray with the cookies on it & put it on a cooling rack. If you don't let them cool, they will be gooey & stick to the foil.

Homemade Bisquick Mix

I learned about this back when I was teaching foods classes. It's a Bisquick replacement. You can make it in bulk & store it for when you want to use it for biscuits, pancakes, waffles, etc. I don't really use Bisquick much, but this is a nice & easy mix to have on hand for quick breakfast foods.

Homemade Biscuit Mix (like Bisquick)

6 cups all-purpose flour (Use half wheat to make it a little healthier)
1 tablespoon salt
3 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup shortening

Recipe using self-rising flour:
10 cups self-rising flour (this already has salt and baking powder added to it)
2 cups solid vegetable shortening

You can use either recipe above and come up with the same results. The procedure for making Biscuit Mix is the same for both recipes. Choose the recipe that fits the status of your ingredients the best.

In a very large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together first. Then measure the shortening by using a one cup measure to scoop up a big glob of shortening. Pack it down tightly, and level off the top with your finger or a dull knife. You should put a total of two cups of shortening into the flour. Now use your hands to mix the shortening into the flour. It should only take a few minutes before the mixture resembles lumpy cornmeal in texture. Now you are done.

Store the Biscuit Mix in a tightly sealed canister. It can be stored longer if kept in the fridge. Use it anywhere you see Bisquick or Biscuit Mix called for.

Check out the Betty Crocker website for lots of easy Bisquick recipes, including pumpkin pancakes & strawberry shortcake! Yum!

Here is one to get you started:

Classic Pancakes

2 Cups of Bisquick mix (Your own homemade blend or the store bought)
2 Eggs (Beaten)
1 Cup of Milk

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together until fully blended. Then pour 1/4 cup portions onto a greased griddle or pan.

Lemon Cream Chicken

Sorry for the long lack of posting. I took a nice long Holiday reak. I have decided it is time to get back to real life now.

This is a delicious recipe. We made it & all 3 kids downed it so fast & were saying Mmmm! throughout the meal. That's a big deal at my house! I, too was saying Mmmm! Enjoy.

Lemon cream Chicken

1 Qt. cream (yes that means it's gonna taste good, right?)

4-6 chicken breasts

6 lemons, juiced

1/2 c. parmesan cheese

1/2 stick butter

salt & pepper

olive oil

In a large skillet saute chicken in the olive oil until browned on each side. Pour in half of the lemon juice & continue to cook chicken for about 5 more minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Remove chicken to a baking dish. Combine rest oflemon juice, cream, & salt & pepper. Cream together & pour over the chicken breasts. slice butter & place on each piece of chicken. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake @ 375 for 25-30 minutes.

I improvised this recipe to save time & dishes & just mixed it all together in the saucepan. I didn't bake it. It was simple & very delicious this way, too.

We served it with Rice pilaf & gren beans. It would probably be really good over pasta, too.

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