Christmas Bark......

Here's a recipe that I want to try out this year. It looks so easy and yummy too.

Ingredients:

• 35 saltine crackers
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• toffee bits or chopped walnuts for topping

1. Line a sheet cake pan with foil or parchment paper. Lay crackers on the pan in a single layer.
2. Stirring frequently, melt butter and sugar together in a small saucepan. Stir until bubbly.
3. Pour butter mixture over crackers. Spread with a spoon. Bake at 400° for 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to the oven for 2 minutes.
5. Spread melted chocolate chips evenly over crackers.
6. Top with chopped walnuts or toffee bits.
7. Set aside to cool. Refrigerate until set. Break crackers into pieces for serving.

Runza Casserole.....

I was looking at some menu's this morning and came across this Runza Casserole recipe. Since my hubby is from Nebraska I have to put this on my list of recipes to try. For those who may not know they have Runza Restaurants there.

French Toast Mix Recipe......

This is a recipe that I got from Brandon's sister several years back and I love it so much. I have to say French toast is probably one of my favorite items for breakfast with bacon as a close first as well. I also like to use French or Italian bread, which makes the best french toast, but you can use bread if that's what you have on hand. Enjoy and let me know if you try it out:)

French Toast Mix

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup flour

Combine all the ingredients as listed and whisk well.

Thanksgiving Recipes......

We are staying home for Thanksgiving this year, so Brandon invited a friend from school over to enjoy dinner with us. It will be a nice relaxing day of cooking & baking, which are two things I really enjoy. To find a few of the recipes that I will be making you can go here.

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess 5:18

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

I needed to make a dessert last week and I came across this pumpkin pie recipe in a Midwest Living magazine. It turned out really good and I will definitely make it again. You can find the recipe here on the Taste of Home website. I used evaporated milk instead of the whipping cream. I also thought about putting a crumb topping on it. You can find the crumb topping recipe here and also the Streusel Pumpkin Pie recipe.

5 Star Brownies......

Do you ever just need chocolate? I decided to try out this from scratch brownie recipe and they were delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup shortening, melted
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Directions:

• In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until blended. Beat in butter and shortening until smooth. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to egg mixture. Stir in nuts if desired.
• Line a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan with foil and grease the foil; pour batter into pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
• Using foil, lift brownies out of pan. Discard foil. Cut with a star cutter or into bars. Yield: about 3 dozen.

German Apple Pie

This is a super easy recipe. I usually used a tart apple like granny smith, which hold up the best for baking. This time I used some of the free apples that the kids and I found down by the library. They are a nice tart apple like the granny smith and the hubby thought the pie tasted great.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cups of apples
pie crust of choice

Mix together the the first 5 ingredients & then add the sliced apple. Mix together well and pour into pie crust. You can either top it with another crust or make up a crumb topping. For my crumb topping is use: 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c. flour, & 1/4 c. cold butter. Cut butter into the flour & sugar till it forms a crumb mixture.

Bake pie at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool & enjoy! Refrigerate if the whole pie is not devoured.