Jalapeno Dip Recipe I love to cook and I have been looking up all sorts of recipes and then tweaking them to my family’s liking. We will be having this tonight for New Year’s Eve!! It is super easy to make and we served it with tortilla chips. It is absolutely delicious.

We love to make this for breakfast and it is super quick and easy:)  Prep time is only about 5-10 minutes.

This is super easy and absolutely delicious:)  Enjoy!!

Photo & Recipe Credit

We are definitely going to try to make these. Aren’t they super cute?  This would make for such a great idea for a dessert at our feeding the homeless on Wednesday, 11/27!!

YOU WILL NEED

• 3/4 cup (180 mL) sugar
• 1/2 (2.5 mL) teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 15-ounce (420 oz) can pumpkin
• 12-ounce (336 oz) can evaporated milk
• 16 ready-made mini pie shells
• small peanut-shaped or oval cookies
• Pecans
• Cake decorating gels

HERE’S HOW

• With the help of an adult, preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius).
• Combine sugar, salt, and spices in a small bowl.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs gently, then add in the pumpkin and spice mixture.
• Mix in the evaporated milk a little at a time.
• Distribute the mixture evenly into the pie shells.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Decorate with the cookies, pecans, and cake decorating gels as shown.

Text by NGS staff
Photograph by Rebecca Hale
National Geographic Kids magazine

RECIPE FOR CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE BARS WITH STREUSEL TOPPING!

I love the fall months and love to dabble with all sorts of apple-type recipes.  I found this recipe and we tweaked it a bit to  best suit our taste.  This is simply amazing.  Jamie (my hubby) gave it a 15 on a scale of 1-10.  It is very rich, but is simply AWESOME!!  It is very easy to make and my kids helped me with it:)

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1/2 cup caramel topping (The Marzettis caramel is the best)

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
In a small bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Step 2
In a separate bowl, mix with an electric mixer cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Now add eggs, one at a time and vanilla. Stir to combine and pour over warm crust.

Step 3
In another bowl, stir together finely chopped apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg (optional). Spoon this mixture evenly over the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set.

Step 4
Now, drizzle with caramel topping and serve – SIMPLY DELICIOUS:)

Let us know what you think of this recipe!!  Again, my family loves it!!

Crockpot Meatloaf

If you are like our family, your days are packed with all kinds of activities and sporting events. Because of that, I have been dabbling with some crockpot recipes. I love to cook so it has been fun to try several different ones. This is now one of my family’s favorites. It is very easy to put together and takes about 5-6 hours to cook. I made it again tonight and it is absolutely delicious.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 teaspoons dried minced onion
2 teaspoon salt
3 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

DIRECTIONS:
Step 1
Combine eggs, milk, bread crumbs, onion, and salt in a large bowl. Add ground beef and stir well to combine.

Step 2
Shape into a round loaf and place in your crockpot on low for 5-6 hours or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

Step 3
Saute mushrooms for approximately 5 minutes. In a small bowl whisk ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.  Spoon sauce over meatloaf and now add mushrooms. Return to slow cooker and cook on low for about 30 minutes.

Let me know your thoughts on this recipe?

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

If you are like our family, your back-to-school days are packed with all kinds of activities and sporting events. Because of that, I have been dabbling with some crockpot recipes. I love to cook so it has been fun to try several different ones. It is super easy to make and only takes approximately 4-5 hours to cook. This is one of my hubby’s favorite meals I make. He gave it a 12 out of 10, LOL:) It is absolutely delicious.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs. chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 cup salsa, homemade or store bought
1 cup petite diced canned tomatoes
2 tbsp. taco seasoning
1 cup onions, diced fine
3 tbsp. sour cream, reduced fat or regular

Step 1
Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the meat then add the canned tomatoes, salsa, and onions on top. Pour a 1/2 cup water over the mixture and set on low and cook for 4-5 hours. The meat is cooked when it shreds or reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.

SERVE:
When ready to serve, break up the chicken with two forks then stir in the sour cream. We served ours in individual flour tortillas and added tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese. It is simply AMAZING!!

Let me know your thoughts of this recipe?

Recipe for Crockpot Pork Chops and Rice!!

If you are like our family, your summers are packed with all kinds of activities and sporting events. Because of that, I have been dabbling with some crockpot recipes. I love to cook so it has been fun to try several different ones. So far, this has been my family’s favorite pork crockpot meal. They actually all gave it a 10/10 (Jamie and the kids). Isaiah, my 11-year-old son, actually made this meal tonight. It is super easy to make and only takes approximately 4 hours to cook.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
6 Pork Chops
1 cup of rice (I used 1 bag of success rice – DO NOT COOK)
1/2 to 1 Green Pepper diced
1 small onion diced
1 cup fresh mushrooms sliced
6-8 beef bouillon cubes (depending how much flavor you want)

Step 1
In skillet brown pork chops, turning once.

Step 2
Line the bottom of the crockpot with 1 cup uncooked enriched rice. Place pork chops on top of rice.

Step 3
Slice the green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Saute them in a skillet. Once sauteed, pour over pork chops.

Step 4
Boil 3 cups of water and add 6-8 beef bouillon cubes (the more you add the more beef flavor you will have). Stir occasionally until the cubes dissolve. Once completely dissolved, pour over chops and vegetables. Cover and cook on low setting for 4-5 hours.

This is what the finished product looks like:

It was delicious per my family! Let me know your thoughts if you make this dish!

Recipe for Crockpot Chicken Supreme

If you are like our family, your summers are packed with all kinds of activities and sporting events. Because of that, I have been dabbling with some crockpot recipes. I love to cook so it has been fun to try several different ones. So far, this has been my family’s favorite chicken crockpot meal. They actually all gave it a 10/10 (Jamie and the kids). It is super easy to make and only takes approximately 4-5 hours to cook. I made it tonight and they asked when we were having it next, LOL:)

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
6 slices of bacon
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
10 oz can of condensed cream of chicken soup
Approximately 4 oz of fresh mushrooms (approximately 1/2 of a pint of fresh sliced mushrooms)
1/2 cup diced swiss cheese (you can also use Havarti, but we prefer Swiss)

Step 1
In large skillet cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon and place in refrigerator

Step 2
In bacon drippings in skillet, cook chicken over medium heat 3-5 minutes until light brown, only turning one time. Place in a 4-6 qt slow cooker.

Step 3
In skillet, saute the mushrooms in the bacon drippings. Once sauteed, add the soup and heat it. Once heated, pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low setting for 4-5 hours.

Step 4
Top chicken with diced cheese and sprinkle with bacon. Cover and cook on high for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This chicken will literally fall apart when you serve it. We served it with baked potatoes and poured the extra sauce on the potato. It was delicious per my family! Let me know your thoughts if you make this dish!

S’Mores Recipe

Okay so yet another recipe. I have been dabbling with all sorts of new recipes and my kids love this one. It is super easy to make. It is absolutely delicious.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter
1 bag of regular marshmellows (10-15 oz)
1 12 oz box of Golden Grahams cereal
1 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate)

Step 1
In large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add marshmallows and keep stirring until completely melted. This will form a marshmallow sauce. Remove from heat.

Step 2
Add Golden Grahams and stir until they are all well coated (kind of like rice krispies treat).

Step 3
Stir in the chocolate chips

Step 4
Grease a 9 x 13 pan and press the S’mores down. If you like chocolate melt 1/2 to 1 cup and drizzle the chocolate over it.

This is a delicious. Let me know what you think if you make it:)