Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

I remember eating this dessert a long, long time ago before I knew much about cooking. I might even have been a kid at the time. I remember thinking when I ate it that whoever had made it must be the Best Cook Ever.

It combines refreshingly sweet strawberries, cream cheese, and a buttery sweet & salty crust. It is so good & worth the few steps involved in making it. If you take it to a potluck, maybe you will become the Best Cook Ever to someone.

Copied & pasted from allrecipes:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
• 4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries [I used about 4 cups of fresh ones.]
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix together the pretzels, 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.

Yummy Green Smoothie

Smoothie season is upon us! What a cool, delicious way to sneak in, er uh, enjoy lots of fruits (and even veggies) all at once!

I like trying different ingredients and combinations, but this particular green one is my mainstay. It is sweet and really doesn't taste like spinach at all.

You need:

2 bananas, peeled
1 apple, cored & cut into chunks
2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup crushed ice
1/2 cup water

Blend until smooth & creamy. Serves 2.

Sometimes I add a few tablespoons of oatmeal and a pinch of cinnamon. It ends up tasting a lot like like an oatmeal cookie. If it's not sweet enough for you, trying adding a teaspoon or two of honey. Enjoy!

Rosemary Bread

Unfortunately for my waistline, my girl Sugar Baby loves to bake & try new recipes. This one was her latest and it was soooo good. I can turn down sweet breads and cinnamon rolls if I want to, but I cannot say no to good, crusty, savory breads. This one was so fragrant & flavorful that I was really hoping no one else would like it, so I could have it all! Unfortunately, it was popular with them all. The pepper gives it a nice, slight punch.

Sugar Baby found the recipe at our favorite place - allrecipes.com, of course. Here it is:

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary [she used about 2 Tbs fresh]
  
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select white bread cycle; press Start.

(Sugar Baby used her bread machine to make the dough, but shaped it into a circle and baked it in the oven at 350F until it was golden brown.)

Easy Nachos

I love easy meals, especially for lunch. We have some variation of this at least once a week. The sour cream sauce is what really makes it special. You can even double it if you're wanting a restaurant-yummy meal.

Spread these ingredients on a large pan or cookie sheet in this order:

• tortilla chips (about 1 bag, 12 ounces?)
  
• 2 cups of refried beans
• 1 to 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Bake at 375F for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the beans are hot. Meanwhile, mix:

• 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce (I use 1/2 of the small cans)
• 1/2 cup of sour cream

Drizzle the sour cream mixture over the hot beans & chips. Top with your favorite toppings, like olives, tomatoes and lettuce.

Very tasty and very easy!

Easy Granola Bars

I like these granola bars because they are easy, versatile, and all of my kids like them!

Ingredients:

4 cups of oats (instant or old fashioned)b
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup of applesauce (today I substituted pumpkin butter and no one noticed)
2 tsp of baking powder
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1/4 cup of chopped nuts (today I used sunflower seeds)

Combine everything and press into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I know it's not quite the right season for this recipe, but I thought I'd go ahead and share it anyway. We were given a huge white pumpkin last week. One of my favorite parts about fresh pumpkins is roasting the seeds. Here's how you do it:

Take your seeds out of your pumpkin and put them in a bowl of water for a little while. This makes it a little easier to separate the pumpkin membrane from the seeds and washes off your seeds. Drain them & rinse them (getting as much of non-seed off as possible). Pat them dry.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and stir it into the seeds, giving them a nice tasty coating.

Spread the pumpkin seeds out on a lightly greased cookie sheet and sprinkle them with salt. Roast at 300F degrees until they're golden brown. It may take an hour. Stir them once or twice while baking.

Enjoy!