Chocolate Dump Cake

Today I am in the mood for Chocolate. ( ok everyday)  I found this great recipe on Pinterest  for

Chocolate Dump cake. Here's what it looks like, I am drooling just looking at the picture.

I got all the ingredients at Aldi....... Cake mix .99
                                                         Pudding .49
                                                          Milk Chocolate chips ( This is what I am using) 1.29
                                                           Milk already had so no cost.
                                                            Total = 2.77  or about 3.00 with tax


Here's the original link, Hope you enjoy http://www.eatliverun.com/chocolate-pudding-dump-cake/

Lemon Blossoms

These little things are way addictive. Be warned! lol

The recipe is from Paula Deen
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/lemon-blossoms-recipe/index.html


Enjoy

Popcorn in a Brown Paper Bag

I am totally over that peee- yew smell if those metal lined microwave popcorn bags not to mention the $$$

I had read several times that you could pop popcorn in a brown paper bag?

So, I thought lets give it a try!

Step 1 you will need brown paper lunch bags, and a bag your choice of popcorn

Step 2 measure out 1/4 cup dry popcorn. I used 1/2 cup but it was a lot!

Step 3 put it in microwave for about 3 min....keep a eye on it ,when it starts to slow down take it out

Step 4 Enjoy!

- I was very surprised at the amount it made
- Make sure to use 1/4 cup when starting, The 1/2 cup almost over flowed
- This is totally money saving.  Supermarkets sell it at $ 4 a pound and usually $6
 ordinary popcorn is about $1 a pound or less, good organic popcorn is $2
 also, I think Costco sells it for $3 for 12lb.

- Your saving money
- your getting rid of that awful microwave smell
- your not putting those metal lined bags in the landfill
- you can recycle your brown paper bags
- No hydrogenated oils
- Who knows if those microwave bags are toxic

- If you want you can add oil to your bag
- you can also add butter or seasonings to your popcorn
- I paid 1.99 for the popcorn and 1.00 for the bags

The 1/2 a cup filled this big serving bowl!

Enjoy.....

Crock pots and Pork chops

- My Crock Pot took a dirt nap!! Well I am not surprised, I had  it for 15 years! and before that it was my Mom's. So I would say it had a long life.  But, the good news is,  I got myself a new one.  If your in the market for one and You have a Aldi , get in the car now!!!! and go go go! they have them for 19.99!!! CrAzY !!!!  Crazy good that is. Here's a picture of my pretty new baby!

7 Quart and a 2 year warranty...

easy clean up

-I love that you can remove it from it's base to put in the dish washer! I know, I know, these have been around for quite sometime, but my old one did not do this.....and I am so excited that this one does!  Hey it's the little things in life right?....lol

- I will be breaking it in this Saturday , We are having Ranch house pork chops with parmesan mashed potatoes.

Yummy!

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
4 lbs peeled, cubed potatoes
5 Tablespoons real butter
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
6 cloves roasted garlic (directions are below)
1- 1 1/2 Cups warm skim milk (any milk will do, I used skim)
1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.
Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, Parmesan, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Season to taste if needed. For thinner mashed potatoes add more milk, slowly until your desired consistency.
Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot. I put a little parsley on top to serve.

Roasted Garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place bulb of garlic with skins on, wrap lightly in tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from foil and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove garlic from skins, place in a bowl and mash with a fork until completely mashed. Set aside. One garlic bulb will have around 12 cloves.

- You can find the recipe for this over at Real Mom Kitchen     click here http://realmomkitchen.com/287/ranch-house-crock-pot-pork-chops-with-parmesan-mashed-potatoes/

-Pork Chops will never be boring again!  After I make this, I 'll let you know, how we liked them!
-Have a great day Sweeties! oxoxo

2 Doritos Dinners

Yes that's right! Doritos for dinner!  Who would have thought.  And I have two recipes for them also. So get the kids ready to do some chip crushing!

- start with two of these or your favorite style

I got this first recipe from my friend Melissa, thank you Melissa! This is on monthly dinner rotation in our household now. Yummy!

1 pound of ground beef (you can use more than one pound, if you want)
1 package of taco seasoning mix... ( I only use a tablespoon)

1 tomato cut up
lettuce shreds (you can shred yourself, but we are lazy and buy pre-shredded)

2 cup of shredded cheese (we use the pre-shredded Mexican style)
Catalina Salad Dressing  ( we use half a bottle)
Tortilla Chips, Corn Chips, or Doritos-style chips

Brown  ground beef and drain in a colander, then rinse in water to remove all grease. 

put beef back into skillet and prepare as directed on the taco seasoning mix, with water. 

add to large bowl with lettuce, tomato and cheese. toss. add salad dressing to taste and toss again.

Crush Doritos (kids Job) and add to salad and mix in!

Meal 2: 

Mexican Dorito Casserole 
Serves 4-6

2 c. shredded cooked chicken
1 c. shredded cheese (or more if you are a cheese hound)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (canned tomatoes with jalepenos-mild)
1/2 packet taco seasoning (or more- to taste)
Bag of doritos

1. Pre-heat oven to 350-f degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except doritos.

3. In a greased 2 qt baking dish, put a layer of crushed doritos (about 2 cups), then a layer of the chicken mixture. Repeat once more, ending with a layer of chicken mixture. Top with more shredded cheese, cover, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till bubbling hot.

Source: Domestic Chicky 

We had this two nights ago! Here is the finished product

Warm cheesy goodness, oh and don't judge me on the snowman potholder!
like you don't use them year round..lol

Tell your kids they are going to have chips for dinner!...hahaha....oxoxo

S'more Cookies, Yes please!

This cooler weather has me in such a baking mood. Today I made some S'more Cookies. YUMMY!!!! Did I mention they were YUMMY!. haha.  They have a graham cracker base, they are a chocolate chip cookie with chocolate and Marshmallows baked in.

Graham crackers broken in half

Dough chilled for a Hour

Scooped and ready for the oven

After 5 min of baking, add Hershey Bar

All done and cooling

gooey yummy goodness

Finished Product!

Recipe as follows: S'mores Cookies
Source: Ice Cream Before Dinner

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Tomato Pie part 2

before going into the oven

fresh out of the oven

We had Tomato pie for dinner again! Yummy, But this time I tried a recipe from Southern living magazine. Well folks,  I am hear to tell you...it truly was the best I have ever had! My husband loved it and my 6 year old asked for seconds. What's great about this recipe is . It's meatless, so it saves you $$$$. the cost of meat is rising. Also, tomato are in season right now, for most of us here in the south we are growing them in our back yards.  Here are some pictures of the before it went in the oven and when it came out.






-Southern living recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-pie-50400000114511/

Grown up S'mores

Basic S'mores

There are lots of ways to have S'mores. We have three takes on them at my house. There's your basic S'mores. Like the above picture

kid's S'mores, ok ok my hubby's favorite too.

This is how are kid's like them. With Reese's peanut butter cups

Grown up s'mores 

 Then there's how I like them, Granola thins, Giant marshmallow Roasters (have you seen the size of these things?) And Starbucks coffee Liqueur.  Just soak your Marshmallow's in the liqueur, then roast. yummy!

 you may also like Bailey's Irish Cream

Or Bailey's Mint Chocolate