I have no idea why I generally only make these cookies around Christmas time. I think I’m going to have to make these more often. Every year, I forget how incredibly awesome they are. Until I bite into one. Mmm.

I just want to gobble this up.

Now, I make these with my homemade raspberry jam, but any type of jam will work. However, I will have to admit that the homemade raspberry is the best jam in the world! Yeah, I’m a bit biased.

These are quite easy to make.

Jam Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups butter/margarine
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup thick jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
4. Press 2/3 of mixture into 11″x7″ glass baking dish.
5. Spread jam and top with remaining crumbs.
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
7. Cool and cut into bars.

I hope you enjoy them!

I make anywhere between 17 and 23 dozen cookies each Christmas season. I also bake bread and make homemade jam. I generally give most of them away to family, friends and co-workers. This year, I have no family and no co-workers and just a smattering of new friends in my new home state.

One of the types cookies I make pretty much only at Christmas are No Bake Cookies. I have no idea why I don’t make them at other times during the year because they are SO easy and literally only take about 15 minutes from start to finish. Oh wait… probably because I don’t need to eat them year-round

I thought No Bake Cookies were pretty much something everyone made  so I never put in my recipe section here, but some of my Twitter friends said they don’t have recipes for it. So here it is:

Mmmm... total chocolate and peanut butter yumminess!

No Bake Cookies

Cook and boil the following for 1-2 minutes and then take off the heat:
– 1/4 pound (4oz) of stick butter
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa

After removing from heat, add the following:
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (but I generally add 2 teaspoons because I love vanilla so much)
-  3 cups of quick oats

Stir well and then drop from spoon onto waxed paper. Let cool and harden. Enjoy!

See? Now wasn’t that easy?

Huzzy loves carrot cake. It’s his favorite dessert. So for his birthday (and just before he left on last deployment… not this one, but the one previous), I made a homemade carrot cake for him. Complete with homemade cream cheese frosting.

This recipe came from a lovely restaurant in my hometown that has since closed down (obviously not because of this awesome carrot cake!)

Carrot Cake  

Ingredients
1/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Bake in a 9″ x 13″ greased and floured pan.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 cup of margarine
1 1/2 to 2 pounds of confectioners (powdered) sugar

Directions

1. Melt margarine.
2. Beat margarine in with cream cheese.
3. Add powdered sugar as desired.
4. Uh… don’t put the frosting on the cake until the cake is cooled

Note: This frosting is awesome, but it is sweet and rich!

Enjoy!!

I made this recipe the other day and it’s absolutely divine. I’m not exactly sure where I got it because I wrote it down a while ago.

Peel, cut and core the apples.

This is perfect for anyone… even toddlers. I gave a batch of it to my friend who has a toddler and they nearly fought over it!

And bonus… it makes your house smell a-mazing!

Crockpot Applesauce

Ingredients

• 8 large apples (I used Gala and they were perfect… not too sweet, not too tart)
• 5-6  tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of water
  

  Ready to cook!

• 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla
  
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1. Skin the apples and cut into quarters (take the cores out, of course) and place into slow cooker.
2. Add in the liquid ingredients and mix.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients.
   

   All done. Looks perfect!

4. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. At about 4 1/2 hours, I mashed up the apples with a potato masher and let them cook for the rest of the six hours. The six hours to me was perfect… still some small chunks of apple, but the chunks were so soft that they melted in your mouth. Perfect for a little kid because they won’t choke… or an adult like me who likes stuff that actually tastes homemade and not totally processed.

This made somewhere around six to eight cups of applesauce. I froze some of it and it was still awesome (and was a great frozen treat as it was thawing!)

Enjoy… let me know how it works out for you!

My mom made an amazing pumpkin bread last year and this year I decided to try it. It is soooo yummy, so I thought I’d share it with all of you!

Ingredients

Combine ingredients one at a time.

4 eggs beaten
3c sugar
2c pumpkin
1c oil
½ c water
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 1/3 cups flour

Directions

Almost ready.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the ingredients in order, one at a time.
3. Spray baking pans with cooking spray.
4. Pour batter into baking pans approximately 3/4 full.
5. Bake for approximately one hour.
   

   Mmmm

NOTE: This recipe makes 2 large loaves or approximately eight small ones. I filled my small loaf pans too full (I filled them to the top).

This is the best, most juicy roast ever!  And it’s absolutely easy to boot!

Ingredients

• A boneless beef chuck roast (whatever size will fit your crockpot)
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I’ve used cream of celery and even cream of chicken in a pinch and it was fine!)
• 1 envelope Lipton’s Onion Mushroom Soup Mix
• 5 or 6 white potatoes, cut in large cubes
• A medium or large size package of baby carrots (depending on how many you want)
• Any other vegetables you might like. (I just use carrots and potatoes)
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

1. The first thing I do is put a Crockpot liner in (no cleanup!). If you do not have a liner, you’ll want to spray some olive oil or cooking spray along the bottom and sides of the Crockpot.
2. Place the roast in the bottom of the CrockPot.
3. Take envelope of Lipton’s Onion Mushroom Soup Mix and sprinkle the entire envelope evenly over the top of the roast.
4. Spread both cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup evenly over the top of the roast (note: you can’t mess this up…it will all mix together eventually, so don’t worry if you can’t completely cover the roast).
5. Cook on HIGH for at LEAST 3 hours (yes, that’s right, high).
6. After 3 hours, throw the chopped potatoes and baby carrots directly into the CrockPot. Note: if I am cooking it for longer than six hours total, I don’t throw the veggies in until about 2 1/2 hours before serving… that way, they aren’t complete mush and have a bit of firmness left to them.
7. Cover everything in the CrockPot with freshly cracked black pepper.
8. Cook everything on HIGH for at LEAST 3 more hours (again, yes, high).
9. Occasionally, you may want to check on the roast, spoon gravy on the top of the veggies, or add more pepper.

Enjoy!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these (thank God for auto-posting so I don’t have to actually do it on the day it posts!

This is slightly browner than what I'd like but still was awesome.

This recipe was introduced to my family from one of my childhood friend’s moms. I can’t believe I totally forgot about it until my mom mentioned she was making it. So I’ve made it twice now in the last month… once as a dessert to go with a meal I made a friend’s family after she had surgery and then again for our FRG’s 4th of July BBQ.

It’s so yummy and kid-friendly… who wouldn’t love chocolate syrup drizzled on top of whipped cream! Come to think of it, it’s PMS-friendly too!

Cream Puff in a Pan

Spread on the cream cheese, pudding and milk mixture

Ingredients

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   

   Mmm... hungry already!

2. Bring water and margarine to a boil in a saucepan. Take off heat and immediately stir in flour.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time. Spread onto a greased 10 x 15 baking sheet.
4. Bake  until very lightly browned (about 25 minutes). Let cool.
5. Beat softened cream cheese in mixing bowl until smooth, add pudding and milk. Mix until blended, spread over cooled crust.
6. Top with whipped topping, drizzle chocolate syrup over top. Ready to serve or refrigerate until ready. I put toothpicks in top to keep foil off the topping.

Notes: My mom has tried fat free topping and it is a little runny.  I love “French Vanilla” pudding vs the regular vanilla.

Pistachio Pudding Salad, "Green Fluff" or Watergate Salad

This recipe is something that my family has always made. We call it Pistachio Pudding Salad, my husband calls it “Green Fluff” and I’ve recently found out the universal name is Watergate Salad. It’s always made in my family for the major holidays. And now for Huzzy’s birthday, too. This is one of his most favorite things ever.

Ingredients

Make a paste with the pineapple juice.

1 package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 small can of crushed pineapple
1 8oz tub of Cool Whip (double everything else if if you use the larger tub)
1 12oz bag of colored mini-marshmallows (white will do, but there is a definite taste difference)
1 can of stemless Maraschino cherries (size is up to your preference)

Mix in the Cool Whip

1. Drain crushed pineapple, setting juice aside in a cup.

2. Place the pudding mix in a medium to large bowl. Add in enough pineapple juice to make a paste.

3. Thoroughly mix in Cool Whip.  Be careful not to over-mix.

4. Fold in marshmallows.

Add in the marshmallows and then the cherries!

5. Add in Maraschino cherries, either whole or sliced in half, leaving a handful for garnish.

6. Garnish the top of the salad with the rest of the Maraschino cherries.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make this and how you like it. I’ve found that many

in the Pacific Northwest have never heard of this, but it’s a staple in the Midwest… or at least Michigan!

So I was begged to provide the recipe for this fruit dip. This amazing ambrosia of a dip that my Grandma makes. I’m giving you fair warning: this stuff is addictive. And is not pleasant to a woman’s hips or a man’s gut. But it is so delectable that you really couldn’t care less. And you will give yourself permission because you are eating it with fruit, which is, after all, very healthy. Don’t worry, I’ll let you keep your fantasy… just don’t ruin it for me, either!

Grandma’s Fruit Dip (Ambrosia)

Ingredients

Are you ready for this? Because it’s a long list. Better get a piece of paper and a pen.

• One 8oz package of cream cheese
• One 15 or so oz tub of marshmallow cream (fluff)
• Fruit of your choice (strawberries are best in my opinion, but apples, bananas, etc are all amazing)

Seriously, that’s it. You just blend them together with a hand mixer or on a very low setting with a stand mixer. And no, I don’t have photos because my hips can’t take it so I haven’t made it lately.

I’m ducking and running before you try it. Because you are going to curse the day you read this… and love every minute of it.

It’s been a while since I’ve done an “Mmm… Monday.” Apparently it’s been nearly four months. But I’ve been too busy with DCO school, moving, Huzzy’s deployment and other stuff. And my camera died.

I got a new camera on Friday, so it’s time to go back to Mmm… Monday!

This week’s recipe is one that my mom used to make all the time in the heat of summer (ya know, when it was 90+ and we didn’t have any A/C!). Rather than cooking over a stove or baking for a long time, she’d make this. It only requires the stove for about 16 minutes, so it doesn’t heat up the house too much.

And, you get many servings of veggies. I can even add veggies I don’t like (like radishes) and not even taste them because of all the other flavors. It’s awesome.

Huzzy loves it and so does his former roommate. In fact, I got his former roommie to take care of the dogs once if I made it for him. Of course, I did!

Vegetable Pizza

Ingredients
-2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
-2 packets of cream cheese
-1 bottle buttermilk ranch dressing (you’ll use probably 16-20 ounces)
-Any veggies you want
(I generally use broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, cucumbers, carrots and celery)

Uncooked dough rolled out.

1. Preheat the oven according to the directions on the crescent rolls.
2. Roll crescent rolls into cookie sheet (that has an edge on it) and pat together so there are no gaps. (I don’t always need all of the dough).
3. Bake crescent rolls according to package directions (until starting to turn lightly brown).
   

   Choose your veggies.

4. Let cool completely.
5. Cut up vegetables into small pieces (less than 1/2 inch in diameter).
6. Whip cream cheese and buttermilk ranch dressing together (enough dressing to make it creamy but not runny at all). Will be very thick.
   

   Okay, you didn't get a photo of the entire pizza. It was kinda eaten before I remembered to get one. But you got a photo of the last two pieces before I ate them this evening!

7. Spread mixture onto cooled dough.
8. Add vegetable toppings. Load it up… no mixture showing!
9. Cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

You can actually eat it right away, but everyone agrees that it is best when it’s cold. In fact, it’s at its very best the next day! Enjoy!

If you try it, please let me know how you like it.