Christmas Cookies

As you requested, Chris. I'd be happy to come over and test bake them with you any time. HUGS!

Minty Middle Treasures
(From Betty Crocker)
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup shortening
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
About 2 dozen foil-wrapped rectangular chocolate mints, unwrapped (Andi’s mints)
Almond frosting (below)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Beat sugars, shortening, butter, vanilla, and egg in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.

Shape about 1 tablespoon dough around each mint. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool completely.

Mix Almond Frosting and drizzle across each cookie as desired.

Almond Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 to 2 teaspoons milk
¼ teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla or peppermint)
a few drops of food coloring, if desired

Mix until smooth. Spread onto cooled cookies, or transfer to a bag to drizzle over cookies.

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Chewy Ginger Snaps (from the ginger people)

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
3 ½ oz chopped Ginger Chips, or candied ginger (baby ginger if possible)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until light and creamy. Stir in molasses and egg. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix well. Stir in crystallized ginger chips. Dough may be chilled for up to an hour. (But I never do it.) Form into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes; cookies will be soft. Let cool on cookie sheet before moving. Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies.

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Drop Sugar Cookies
Makes approximately 32 medium-sized cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup salted butter
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup coarse sugar crystals or regular granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar until it is nice and creamy. Mix in 1 egg yolk at a time and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well. Using a medium scoop, form dough balls and roll them in sugar crystals. Place cookie balls on an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Do not flatten the dough. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the surface of each cookie has a cracked like texture. Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

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Snowballs
(From Betty Crocker)
Makes about 4 dozen

These cookies have many names: Snowballs, Russian Tea Cakes, Swedish Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, and Butterballs are just a few. No matter what you call them, they are bite-sized yumminess!

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup finely chopped nuts (I pulverize almonds in my food processor)
Powdered sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Beat butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and the vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour and salt. Stir in nuts.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about an inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and carefully roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

Minestrone

This is the best minestrone EVER! It makes about 12 quarts, so you need a large pot (or two). This doubles as a fresh meal, OR a freezer meal, OR BOTH--portion into ziploc bags, freeze flat, then stack for a quick meal. (Pasta doesn't freeze well, so you would add the shells in when you rewarm.) In the photo, I added six smallish zucchini, chopped up, with the veggies at the beginning. Feel free to change it up depending on what you have on hand.

Minestrone Soup
(Makes approximately 12 quarts)

To one gallon of water add:
1/4 cup olive oil
one chopped onion
4 stalks celery, sliced
8 sliced carrots
2 TBS chicken bullion
2 TBS beef bullion
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup pearl barley
Simmer for 45 min.

After simmering, add the following--JUICE and all:
1 package (box) frozen, chopped spinach
2 cans green beans
1 can peas
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can kidney beans
3 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
Simmer 2 hours, minimum.

Boil 1 to 2 cups of macaroni shells according to package directions (or pasta of choice) and add right before serving.

Homemade Granola Bars

I have a few recipes for homemade granola bars I want to try out, but these ones I HAVE made, and they are yummy! They are chewy, yet crunchy, and the best part is: I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S IN THEM!

CHEWY CHERRY ALMOND GRANOLA BARS
Makes 18 bars

• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups whole almonds
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup dried cherries (or Craisins)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine oats, wheat germ, and almonds in a small glass or metal pan. When oven is heated, toast the mixture for 10 minutes.

While oats and nuts are toasting, line the 9" x 13" pan with foil, allowing some to hang over on all sides. Spray well with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium until butter and sugar are melted. Do not allow liquids to boil!

Remove oat mixture from oven, and turn the oven off. Remove sugar mixture from burner, and turn off the stove. Pour the oat mixture into a mixing bowl and cover with sugar mixture until combined. Add in the dried cherries (or Craisins) and mix until evenly distributed.

Pour granola into 9" x 13" pan. Using a spatula--spray the bottom with non-stick spray--spread until granola makes an even layer. Let cool at room temperature for 3 hours. Cut into bars.

I wrap them in strips of wax paper and keep them in an air-tight container.

Meatloaf

So...Aaron and I came across this meatloaf recipe!  I made it for dinner on Friday night and it turned out really good!!  It was so good that we had the leftovers for dinner on Saturday!!  I actually cut this recipe in half since there's only 3 of us in our family!

This is what you'll need:
2 pounds ground beef
2-3 eggs
Finely chopped (I used a food processor on pulse) celery, onion, carrots - about 3/4 - 1 cup of each
1 1/2 - 2 cups of breadcrumbs - Italian seasoned if on hand.  Otherwise, plain works too.  May need more breadcrumbs depending on the consistency of the meatloaf.
About 3/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
Bacon (optional)
Mushrooms (optional)
Brown Gravy (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix everything together (Except for the bacon)

Form into a loaf (wrap bacon) and place on a baking tray.  Bake for 1 hour.  (If you add bacon, cover loaf with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes.)

Some people eat meatloaf with ketchup, we have ours with brown gravy.
Prepare gravy as directed on package and add mushrooms in.

I hope you all enjoy!

Bubbly Margaritas

Margaritas are one of my preferred drinks of choice so when a friend told me about the Bubbly Margarita I had to try it. It was DE-LI-CIOUS! (Right, Chris???)

1 can frozen Lime aid
1 12 oz Corona
1 can 7up
1 Can Tequila (use lime aid can to measure)
fill with ice and serve on the rocks

This serves maybe about 4 people or one super thirsty person.

Hamburger Cupcakes

This last Sunday was my nephew JD's birthday and I asked my sister if I could make dessert! I was in the mood to bake and I wanted to make something cool! While surfing the net, I came across a picture of hamburger cupcakes! I thought it looked really cool and thought that I could probably duplicate it! I was actually impressed with myself because I thought they came out really good! And the best part....everyone LOVED them!!

These are the ingredients I used:
Step 1.
Bake brownies according to box directions.
Step 2.
Make cupcakes according to box directions.

Step 3.
Prepare condiments-Divide frosting into 3 separate bowls but leave more in one bowl for the "ketchup". Reserve each bowl to one food color so that red represents ketchup, yellow = mustard, green = lettuce.

Step 4.
Prepare buns & meat-Cut cupcake in half. Use a 2" circle cookie cutter to cut the brownie "meat" then cut in half (depending on the cupcake's height). Add a brownie circle to the bottom of the cupcake. Add the "ketchup, mustard and lettuce".

I hope you guys give it a try and enjoy making it like I did!