Candy Bar Brownies

These brownies are very easy and very gooey! The great thing about them is they take only a few simple items and can be changed simply by using a different type of candy bar.


1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 (2.16 ounce) bars chocolate candy bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake mix with melted butter or margarine and condensed milk. Spread out 1/2 of the mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Slice candy bars into little slices. Lay these on top of the baked crust. With the remaining batter-place it on top of the candy bars. I usually get my hands wet or spray them with cooking spray, then pick up some dough and pat it down and lay it over the candy bar layer. You won't be able to cover the entire pan and that's okay. Put pan back into the oven and bake it for another 20 minutes.


TIP OF THE DAY: Buy the long flat packages of 8 little candy bars when they are on sale for $1.00 (which is so much cheaper than the little ones in a bag) and throw them in the freezer to use in recipes like these. Depending on how much your family loves chocolate, you might have to hide them! :)


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Strawberry Bread

Mexican Lasagna

This is one of my family's favorite Mexican dishes. It's a great make ahead dinner that provides lots of leftovers.

1 lb. lean ground beef or chicken
1 small onion, diced
2 cans refried beans (I use fat free)
1 to 1 1/2 cup salsa
1 (8 oz) container sour cream (I use low fat)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use 2%)
12 flour tortillas (I use low carb)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef or chicken with onions in large Dutch oven. Drain meat and return to pan. Add beans, salsa, and sour cream. Mix till combined and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring often. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Cut tortillas into wedges. Spoon a small amount of meat mixture in pan and spread to cover bottom. Layer tortilla wedges to cover bottom of pan. Spoon 1/2 of meat mixture on top of tortillas. Spread 1/3 of cheese over meat mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

TIP OF THE DAY: When covering a dish with foil that is topped with cheese- spray the foil with cooking spray before putting it on top of the pan. It keeps the cheese from sticking.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Candy Bar Brownies

Snickerdoodle Muffins

As much as I love Snickerdoodle cookies, when I saw this recipe for Snickerdoodle Muffins- I just knew I had to try it! Even though I couldn't taste any of them (my tummy does not like food right now) they were a BIG hit with both my family and Madison's teachers.

2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

¾ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp cream of tarter

1 and ¼ cup sour cream

2 and ¼ cups all purpose flour, sifted

1 cup sugar and 2 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and cream of tarter. Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl occasionally. Using a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop, scoop out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin around in the mixture until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar. Place muffin in muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray. I made mini muffins and got 48 tiny muffins but if you use a regular muffin tin, you should get about 12 to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 12-15 minutes for mini muffins and 20-22 minutes for regular muffins in a 350 degree oven or until they are golden brown. Do NOT overbake.

TIP OF THE DAY: If you don't want to take the time to sift the flour for a recipe, simply put your flour in a bowl and fluff it up by mixing it gently with a fork.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Mexican Lasagna

Lemonade Cookies

These lemon cookies are so moist and lemony! They are nice change from the normal chocolate chip, oatmeal, or peanut butter cookies. Madison and I made these today to take them to a nearby nursing home since today is National Grandparents Day. They were a big hit!


1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 t baking soda
6 oz. can lemonade- divided in half (pink lemonade also works great)
1/2 cup sugar


Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs and mix till combined well. Sift flour and soda together. Add to butter mixture alternating with 1/2 the lemonade (3oz). Drop dough using teaspoon or cookie scoop on cookie sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately brush tops with remaining lemonade. Sprinkle with sugar. Place waxed paper between stored cookies so they don't stick together.


TIP OF THE DAY: It's very difficult to find lemonade in a 6oz. can so I usually buy a large can and divide it. I freeze the extra portion for use later or simply double the batch.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Snickerdoodle Muffins

Bacon and Cheddar Dip

This is a fabulous and easy way to spice up plain ranch dip. It's great with veggies like carrots and celery as well as with chips.


1 pt sour cream (I use reduced fat)
1 oz. packet Hidden Valley Original Ranch Party Dip
6-8 slices bacon (I use turkey bacon when I can get away with it :)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Cook bacon till crisp. Cool and crumble into small pieces. Mix sour cream and ranch dip mix. Stir in bacon pieces and cheese. Mix together and serve with veggies or chips.


TIP OF THE DAY: When in a time crunch, this recipe (along with many others that call for crumbled bacon) works great with bacon bits or precooked bacon in place of bacon.



Tomorrow's Daily Special: Lemonade Cookies

Corn Casserole

My family (minus me) loves corn and this is a great alternative to corn on the cob.

1 pkg Mexican corn bread mix (I use Jiffy brand)
1/2 cup cooking oil or 1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cans cream style corn
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1-2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients well in large bowl. Spray 9 x 13 inch pan or 1 quart baking dish. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. Do not over bake- the more you bake this, the more like cornbread it becomes.

TIP OF THE DAY: Shredded cheese can be frozen for up to 2 months, so when you catch it on sale, buy an extra package, write the date on it with a Sharpie, and toss it in the freezer.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Bacon and Cheddar Dip

Turtle Cake

If you love turtle candies, you are going to LOVE this cake. It's a little time consuming to make- but so worth it!

Cake
1 box German chocolate cake mix (w/ pudding)
All items listed on cake mix to make cake
½ can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
½ stick butter, melted

Filling
½ can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
½ stick butter
½ cup chopped pecans
1 package caramels, unwrapped

Frosting
1 stick butter
¼ cup cocoa
¼ cup milk
1 box powdered sugar

Mix cake mix as directed on box, adding ½ can Eagle brand milk and ½ cup melted butter to batter. Bake in 2 round (greased and floured) pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool in pans for 20 minutes then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

For filling melt caramels, ½ can Eagle brand milk, ½ stick butter over medium heat, stirring often. Stir until melted and then stir in pecans. Place one cake layer on a cake plate with wax paper around edges (this is important!). Pour half of filing over cake. Carefully put second layer on top of first layer, and repeat process. The filing is liquid and will spill over the sides so be careful. When filling has cooled and hardened, run a knife around the edge of the cake and remove wax paper along with extra filling.

For icing, combine butter and cocoa in mixer until well mixed. Add milk and then slowly add powdered sugar. Mix until frosting consistency- add extra milk if necessary and frost cake.

TIP OF THE DAY: Rather than putting a whole sheet of wax paper under a cake while frosting it- and then trying to transfer the cake,use small strips of wax paper. Tear off three narrow strips and angle one under each side- scooting it to cover about 1/3 of the edge of the cake. When you finish frosting the cake, carefully remove the wax paper strips to leave a clean plate!

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Corn Casserole

Mushroom Pork Chops and Potatoes

My sweet mother made this often and it's one of my little family's favorites. My dad often requests this when I come to visit because he loves it and misses it so much!


4-6 lean pork chops with bones
4 baking potatoes
1 cup sour cream (I use low fat)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I use low fat)
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
salt
pepper


Sprinkle with salt and pepper and brown pork chops in large frying pan- about 4 minutes on each side. Do not worry about cooking them completely- they will finish cooking while in the oven. Wash and peel potatoes. Slice potatoes in thin slices. In large bowl mix sour cream, soup, onion and mushrooms. Add potato slices and mix till combined. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Spray 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray. Pour potato mixture into pan and then place pork chops on top. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.


TIP OF THE DAY: To cut the cooking time down on this dish, peel potatoes, boil them briefly, and then cut into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the less time it takes to cook.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Turtle Cake

Fruit Dip

This simple dip is so yummy- you will want to eat it by the spoonful! I have to only make it to take somewhere because I could sit down and eat the entire bowl by myself!


1 cup sugar
1 cup pineapple juice (drained from a can of pineapple chunks)
2 T flour
1 egg
8 oz container fat-free Cool Whip
Fresh fruit (sliced apples, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, mandrian oranges, bananas)


Beat together sugar, pineapple juice, flour and egg. Cook over medium heat in small saucepan until thickens- stirring constantly. You'll know it's done when it changes from cloudy to clear. Chill. Fold in Cool Whip and serve with fruit.


TIP OF THE DAY: When trying to hull a strawberry, use a drinking straw. Poke the straw through the end of the strawberry and it will easily and cleanly poke out the top- leaving you with a pretty berry!


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Mushroom Pork Chops and Potatoes

Monkey Bread

We used to have this every Christmas morning at my grandmother's house so it's a recipe that has great memories attached to it for me. It's now one of Tony's favorites so it gets made just about every time we have company come to town.

4 cans biscuits
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
2 t cinnamon
1 cup sugar

1 stick butter,melted
1/2 cup brown sugar

Cut biscuits into quarters. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray. Dip biscuit pieces into butter and then into cinnamon/sugar mixture. Drop covered pieces in pan. Mix melted butter with brown sugar and any remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture. Pour over biscuits in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Place platter on top of pan and VERY carefully flip over. Be sure the platter has an edge as the hot syrup like mixture will spread out.

TIP OF THE DAY: Make this the night before, cover with foil, and place in the refrigerator. When you wake up, immediately take it out of the fridge and let it sit for about 20 minutes before baking or be sure to add about 20 minutes baking time.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Fruit Dip

Banana Pudding Bread

This is great alternative to banana nut bread and not only tastes great, it smells super yummy too! If you love banana pudding, you will love this too!


1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
30 vanilla wafers, finely crushed
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts, divided


Beat butter in mixer at medium speed till creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time; beating after each one. Combine flour and next three ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with banana and milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition. Stir in 3/4 cup walnuts. Spoon batter into a greased and floured loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes- 1 hour or till a toothpick comes out clean- loosely covering with foil after 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.



TIP OF THE DAY: When you have bananas that are overly ripe- instead of throwing them away, peel them and place them in a freezer bag and freeze them. When you get the urge to make banana bread or a banana cake, just take a bag out of the freezer and let it thaw in refrigerator!



Tomorrow's Daily Special: Monkey Bread

Shrimp Dip

This is one of the best dips EVER! Even people who don't like shrimp love this dip. It's a family favorite.


1 lb. shrimp, boiled , peeled
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
salt and pepper
dash lemon juice


Finely chop onion and garlic in food processor. Add shrimp, cream cheese, lemon juice, and spices. Fold in mayonnaise. Serve with Fritos.


TIP OF THE DAY: In a recipe like this, use frozen shrimp which is much cheaper than fresh shrimp. I watch for them to go on sale at Kroger and try to always keep a bag in the freezer.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Banana Pudding Bread