Lemon Bars

I know to make a good lemon bar is hard. I don't know how mine have turned out good but they have. I have just followed the recipe the way it told me to. This has become a favorite of the neighborhood!

This is for the crust.

2 c. flour

1 c. soft butter

1/2 c. powder sugar

Mix all this together it should look like this in your mixing bowl:

Grease a 13x9 pan and press the dough into the bottom of it. I have a small roller so I rolled it out as evenly as possible. Bake on 350 for 15 to 20 min. Make sure that it is golden brown.

Lemon Layer

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix together until smooth. It will look like this:
Pour over crust. It should evenly lay out on the crust and look like this:

Cook on 350 for 20-25 min. When you take it out of the oven and let it cool shake powder sugar on the top. It will look like this:

Spaghetti Pie

This is a super easy recipe and a fun change from spaghetti but sill having spaghetti. I know that sounds strange, but it didn't in my head so there you go! ha ha ha

2 cans spaghetti sauce

4 tbs butter

2 lb browned hamberger or lean turkey meat

2/3 c parmesan cheese

12 oz package spaghetti

4 beaten eggs

shredded monterey jack cheese

Brown the meat in a pan and simmer the spaghetti sauce together.

Cook the noodles and drain the water when cooked all the way. Put the noodles back in the pan after it is drained. Add the butter, cheese and eggs to the noodles. When it is all mixed together pour it into a cake pan.

Pour sauce over the noodle mixture. Cover and bake 15 min on 350.

Take it out and cover with shredded monterey jack cheese. Bake it for 10 more min.

French Bread

I have never tried french bread before more cause I was really scared to make it. I have herd that it is very hard to make so I just bought it. After the last couple of day I will never buy it again. I have found an amazing and easy recipe.

4 c. flour

2 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c. warm water

In a mixing bowl you are going to put all the ingredients and mix it up. If you don't have a mixer then you can also mix it in a bowl and kneed it by hand. If you are using a mixing bowl then you are going to mix the dough for 3 min and then let it sit for 5 min and then mix it again for 3 more min. Take it out of the bowl and kneed it by hand on the counter top. I do this for about 2 to 3 min. Roll it into a big ball. Place it into a bowl that is greased. I know this sounds strange, but it works great. I spray pam in the bowl and then put the ball of dough in and then flip it over so that all sides have the spray on it. Put plastic wrap over the top of it and let it rise for an hour and 30 min. When it is done rising it should look like this.

Take it out of the bowl and kneed it one last time by hand. Cut the dough in half and leave half in the bowl while you shape the other half. Once you are done with this then put it on a cutting board to rise and shape the other half. Place a damp towel over the dough and let it rise for 30 min. (I tried rolling out one of the loafs and the other I didn't. I would not roll the dough out at all shape it by your hand and don't kneed it anymore. The flatter loaf is the one that is rolled out and it was less airy. I find it works better not rolling it out.) This is what it will look like.

While it is rising for the last time turn the oven on 450 and place the stone or cookie sheet in the oven to warm up. Before you put the bread in the oven take a pear knife and slice the top 3 or 4 times and then place the bread on it when it is done rising. Here is the trick when you place the bread in the oven to cook throw 1/2 c. of water on the bottom of your oven. I know this sounds weird, but the steam will really help the dough to cook more evenly. Cook the bread on 450 for 20 min.
This is what it will look like when it is done. You can cook the bread one at a time or together. I have cooked mine together and it has been great. One of the loafs went all weird on the side, but still taste great!

Baked Beans

I was trying to make a more meaty meal tonight. My husband is on a low carb high protein diet so I found this recipe and made it for dinner tonight with the corn bread. It turned out great. You can do it two different ways in a crock pot or bake it in the oven. I decided to use a crock pot tonight just because it was easier for me.

2 large cans pork and beans

1 c. ketchup

2 tbls mustard

4 tbls brown sugar

2 tbls bbq sause

1 lb sausage

1 lb hamburger

Fry the sausage and hamburger together. Drain and mix all the ingredients together and either spread it on a 13x9 pan and bake uncovered for 1 hr and 15-20 min on 325 or put it in a crock pot for about 2 hrs.

Corn Bread

I have never made corn bread from scratch. I normally use a mix, but never like the way it turns out. This my family and I loved. It was really good and super fast to make. I used a small baking dish if you want it for a bigger family then you will need to double it.

1 c. corn meal

1 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbls baking powder

2 eggs

3 tbls oil or shortening

1 1/2 c. milk (or if you want it sweeter you can do half a cup of milk and a can of sweet & condensed milk)

mix and bake for 20 min at 450

Cinnamon Rolls

I love cinnamon rolls, but to tell you the truth I never made them until this christmas for our breakfast after we opened presents. My mom always made them for our family for Christmas morning. I always thought that they were too much work so I never really wanted to learn to make them. I love making them now. They are super easy just a lot of steps to take with them. And they are so worth the time too.

Dough:

2 tbls yeast

1 c. warm water

2 c. scalding milk

1/2 c. honey or more if you want it a bit sweeter

2 eggs

4 c. flour

2 tsp salt

Put the yeast in the warm water and set aside. Mix everything together and then add the yeast. Add in 5 more cups of flour. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Take out of bowl and roll out. I usually cut the dough in half so I get 2 pans of cinnamon rolls out of it sometimes I can get 2 1/2 just depends on how much you want and how thick the dough is. Once it is rolled out mix cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl. Brush melted butter on the top of the dough and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mix onto the dough. I use about a cup of sugar and two tbls of cinnamon. Roll up the dough and cut it to desired thickness. Once it is all in the pan I use the rest of the butter and brush it on the top of the rising rolls and sprinkle the extra cinnamon and sugar on it also. Let it rise for about 25 min and then cook it for about 15 min.

Cream cheese frosting:

2 8oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. butter

2 lbs. powder sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

This is what it will all look like when it is done. I put it on while the cinnamon rolls are still warm. It is a really good treat to have for breakfast or whenever you like.

Sweet Chicken

I had a friend on Facebook put this recipe as her status and so I decided to try making it. It turned out really good.

6 pieces of Chicken

Catalina Dressing

Apricot Preserve

Pineapple Preserve

1 pkg onion soup mix

What I did was put the chicken in a pan and mix about half a cup of the Preserves with the onion soup mix and pour Catalina dressing on top of the chicken. Then spread the Preserve mix on top of the chicken. I cooked it on 350 for about an hour and a half because my chicken was frozen. If it is not cook it about an hour or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

I put this over rice and my family really loved it. Sorry I don't have a picture of this. I made it for dinner last night and forgot to take a picture of it.

Choco-Holic Cake

Cake:

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

1 pkg chocolate instant pudding

1 c. milk

1/2 c. sour cream

4 eggs

1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix together and place in a bunt cake pan. Make sure it is really greased so that it doesn't stick.

Cook on 350 for 45-55 min. Make sure that when you poke it it comes out clean.
Let cool about 15 min and put on a cooling rack to set.

Glaze:

1 bar unsweetened chocolate baking bar or 2 oz.

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbls water

1 tsp vanilla

melt the chocolate bar and butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir until smooth remove from the heat and add in the powder sugar, water and vanilla. Pour glaze over the cake. It will look like this. Mine didn't work out the best cause mine stuck in the pan a little bit.

Bread

Well I got my cool mixer the other day. I have not been feeling good and so I have not been able to use it until today. Now that I have a great mixer I can make bread. The hand mixer was not so great with making bread so I had to wait. This bread can be made into rolls. I made them into two loafs of bread because with my two girls gone this is a better way for us to eat it then to have a huge pan of rolls. Here is what it looks like in a couple of steps.

6 c. flour (you may need to add another cup if it is really sticky or runny)

1 tsp salt

1/2 c. sugar

2 packets or 2 tbls. yeast

2 c. milk or buttermilk

4 tsp baking soda

1/2 c. shortening

1 c. warm water

1/2 c. honey

This is what it looks like with all the dry ingredients. Put the water in a bowl before you add the dry ingredients and add the yeast to that. Let it sit till you are done adding all the ingredients.
After everything is mixed you need to let it sit in the bowl to rise for about 45 min. It will look like this in the bowl. It is going to be a little bit sticky and that is ok.

What I do is cut the dough in half and then roll it out. It helps get all the air out of the dough. I roll it up like a cinnamon roll and then put it in the pan.
Let it rise for about 30 min or till your desired height. I like to just have it sit for 30 to 45 min. Preheat your oven to 350 and cook it for 25 min. It will be brown on the top of the bread.

Let it sit in the pan for about 10 min to cool.

If you don't want your bread to be so sweet you can fix that by not adding the honey to the dough. My family likes the bread kinda sweet so I add honey to my bread.

Pound Cake

3 c. sugar

3 c. flour

6 eggs

3 sticks of butter

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1 8oz. cream cheese

I am going to complain for a min cause I had to use a hand mixer to mix all of this up with. I miss having a mixer. I am getting a new one but it is not coming for a couple more days. I keep checking with fedex to make sure that it is coming and coming faster, but it is not. I am very sad about this, but there is nothing I can do. Ok back to our cake. Mix all the ingredients together with either a hand mixer or a mixer. It will look like this when it is all mixed up.

You can either put it in a bunt pan and fill 3/4 of the way high. Cook it on 350 for 50 min. Poke a knife into it and make sure it comes out clean. You will have enough to make one bread pan also. If you don't want to put it in a bunt pan then you can make 3 bread pans with the cake.

This is what it will look like when it is done. You can add strawberries and cool whip to it and it makes a very good dessert. I also have friends that have it for breakfast. No matter how you eat it it is wonderful.

Chicken Enchilada's

Tonight I made a Chicken Enchilada with white sauce. I love the white sauce.

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c. sour cream

3 stalks of green onions (diced)

1 can diced green chili's

1/2 onion

1 can black olives (diced)

1 Rotisserie Chicken

Shredded cheese

Flour Tortilla's

salt and pepper to taste

You are going to need to debone the Rotisserie chicken and get all the meat off that you can. Keep that in a separate bowl. Mix together all the other ingredients in another bowl. I didn't put how much cheese because I like a lot of cheese and so does my family. With all the ingredients add as much cheese as you feel comfortable with. Mix all but about 1/4 of the soup mix with the chicken. Put that aside. In a 9x13 pan you can do this two different ways:

First is to take the chicken and soup mix and roll it into the tortilla's and put it in the pan side by side. When your pan is full add the 1/4 of the soup mix on top of the rolled enchilada's and cheese.

Second you can lay the tortilla's flat on the bottom of the pan and the chicken mix on top of it and then lay tortilla's on top of the chicken mix and another layer of chicken mix. You can do as many layers as you have chicken mix. The top layer should be the soup mix with no chicken and add cheese to the top of it.

Cook on 350 for 30 min's. It is great with french bread and a green salad.

Peanut Butter Bar's

Here is the Recipe:

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 c. peanut butter

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 c. flour

2 c. oats

Mix all of this in a big bowl. Butter should be soft when you mix together. I usually pull out the butter about an half hour to an hour before I make anything just so that it can have some time to soften. I also always use real butter. There are two kind of real butter and that is salted and unsalted. I always get the unsalted just because I don't want more salt in a recipe then what it calls for.

The first picture that you see is with it all cooked. That is what it should look like. You will need to cook it on 350 for about 10 min. You will need a 13x9 pan. That is a big cookie sheet. Once it is all mixed together you will put the dough on the cookie sheet and use your fingers to press it all down so that it fits to the pan. Put it in the oven after it is all pressed and ready on the pan. Check it at 10 min to make sure that it is browning. If it is not brown then you will need to put it in the oven for 2 more min. Do not keep it in the oven for longer then 12 min. It will over cook it.

After you pull it out start making the frosting.

4 1/2 tbls butter

3 tbls cocoa

3 tbls milk

2 1/4 c. powder sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Put this on the bars. It will still be hot and that is ok. Let it cool with the frosting on top of it. It should look like this:

They will be gooey if you cut into them warm, but still good. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does.

Beginning....

I just wanted to start with who I am and why I am doing this. My name is Sara and I love to cook. I am always trying to try new things to create. I look at recipes and I will try them and adjust them to what tastes I like. I have been cooking different things since I was 12 maybe even before that. I always watched my mom cook for our family growing up and wanted to be just like her. I wanted to be the kind of mom that you wanted to be at their house cause you knew that mom would have something good to eat. I know that budgets have to be considered so I do try to make things that you don't have to spend a fortune on. I hope that this can help others to try new things and if you have questions feel free to ask. I am starting this because a friend of mine asked me to. I am cooking all the time and she wants easy recipes. I love easy recipes they work wonders for me and the busy schedule I have with my kids. I love making treats also so if there are more treats then anything else I am sorry for that. I love making them and then having one or maybe two and then giving the rest of them away! ha ha ha my neighbors love me cause I am always giving them something sweet.

I will try posting pictures of how things are looking when I am making them. For me pictures help me to make sure that I am doing it right. Yesterday I tried making a mint brownie and there was a question to whether the recipe was right. Well I was wrong and the brownie was really dry. Everything that I make doesn't always turn out right, but I keep trying till I get it right or where my husband likes it! I also broke 2 mixers in the last 3 weeks. I just ordered a new on so right now I am using a hand mixer. I won't be doing breads till I am able to get my new mixer. I will be posting things that are easy to do by hand or with a hand mixer. I love using the mixer, but I know that not everyone has one.

Also if anyone has fun recipes please post and share with everyone. I would love to try new things and see how they work and how my family likes them. I love trying new things.

Tomorrow I am going to be making a Peanut Butter Bar. I don't know if anyone els' school had Peanut Butter Bars at lunch, but mine did and they were the best thing ever. I found the recipe and this is what I am going to be sharing with you. I will post the recipe and the steps that I am taking with making them. I hope this is of help to someone or anyone.....