My FAVORITE Fruit Dip

Sorry it has been a while since my last post.  Seems like I have been saying that A LOT lately.  I thought I would share with you all one of mine and my families most FAVORITE recipes.  It is super easy and oh so YUMMY!

 

Best Fruit Dip Ever


2 pkg (8oz) cream cheese softened
1 jar marshmallow cream
Maraschino Cherry juice

Place the top 2 ingredients in a mixer and start mixing it together.  Add the maraschino cherry juice a little at a time and keep mixing together to get to the consistency of a dip.

That is it.  You will love it.  I have to make it several times during strawberry season.  That is the best way to eat it.  I like it best after it has been chilled.

Enjoy!

I will be at the SNAP! Creativity at Your Fingertips Conference  this weekend so if you happen to be there please find me and say hi.  I am so looking forward to meeting everyone IRL.  :O)

Oh fudge...and last minute projects!

I thought that would caught your attention... :O) I finally finished my ornament wreath and am loving it... I got the ornaments at Walmart. They were a package of 4 for only $1. The colors match my new tree perfectly... :O)

I had the ribbon left over from my PB knock off here.

It has wire in it so it was super easy to get it just right. Love that!!

Look how shiny!! I have been wanting to make one of these since I saw them last year...

Now I do... :O)


Next are the teacher gifts I did this year for my kids teachers...

I got the $1 candles at Walmart and just cut some scrapbook paper to size and wrapped it around and secured it with some tape. Then I printed off the tags and cut them and attached them to the front of the candles... SUPER easy and inexpensive... Got to love that....


Now, how about the fudge....

Me, well not so much of a fudge fan but the hubbs is... Well, that is before I came across my aunts recipe... I love this fudge!! It is so creamy and easy to make. Double score in my book!!

Just needed to show you all how yummy it all looks! :O)

Now for the recipe!

Million $ Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 can evap. milk

1/2 cup butter

Bring to a boil and cook for about 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla and stir.

In your KitchenAid (which I recommend for this recipe) brake up into pieces the following.

2 jumbo Hershey bars

2 packages chocolate chips

1 pint marshmallow creme

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour hot mixture over all and beat until gloss is gone ( the dough hook works best.)

You are going to fall in love with how easy and creamy this is....

Enjoy and have a wonderful Christmas time!!! :O)

Can you keep a secret?

I can too... Well, that is what I am trying to tell/show the hubs... It is all because of him I have to keep the secret.... If I was in Austria I would be singing it from the top of the mountains... You know like in The Sound of Music.. The hills are alive.... I love that movie... :O) When he will let me tell, you all will be the first... :O)

Anyways, the hubs is at it again... He brought these beauties home this morning for me.... Do you think he is trying to butter me up for something? Getting ready for Mother's day? Or just loves me that much... :O) I like to think the last but know it is probably the first.... LOL
Aren't the colors beautiful? He knows I love tulips. They are so romantic in my book. They make me happy.

Not to sure about that pitcher/vase... It is more of a raspberry rather than a red. Sorry for the terrible pics but we are having yucky weather right now.. I am thinking about painting the pitcher white. What do you think? I think it will work much better. It is plastic so should not be a problem spray painting it.

I thought I would share another recipe with you all. Do you ever watch 19 kids and counting? I do for some reason.. Still not sure why but I do... Any hoo, they showed this recipe called Chicken Etti and I thought I would try it. I have to say it was pretty good. But I changed the name to Chicketti or Turketti as it was last night. It is just a lot easier to say.

Here are the basics. I forgot to put the chicken broth in the picture, sorry...

You will need: 1 package noodles (I prefer penne rigate for this)
3 cups cooked chicken or turkey (I used leftover turkey for this and yes

I did fix a whole turkey dinner in May... It was DE-lish!!!)
1 can green chilies
1 cup chicken broth

1 lbs Velveeta cheese

1 can diced tomatoes ( I used my homemade canned salsa)

1 can cream of chicken soup

First boil your noodles, drain, and place in a casserole dish.

While the noodles cook mix in a large pot on medium the following: green chilies, chicken broth, cheese, tomatoes, and cream of chicken soup. Stir until melted together.

After you place the noodles in the casserole dish shred your chicken/turkey and place on top of noodles.

When the cheese and soup mixture is all melted together pour over the noodles and chicken/turkey.

This is what it should look like. Make sure to mix it all together. You want to coat every noodle.
After it is mixed place it in the preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

If you are like me, everything is better with more cheese.. I take it out around 27 minutes then add a layer of shredded cheese to the top and put it back in for 5 more minutes.

It comes out looking like this.... YUMM-O!

Pair it with a nice salad and dig in.... I have made this twice now. Once with chicken and once with turkey. They are both wonderful.. Can not tell you which one I like more. I might have to say turkey right now because there are leftovers in the fridge. I know what I am having for lunch. Do you? Hope you all enjoy this recipe... Have a great week! :O)

Sunday Dinner

Okay, so this is my first post about food. Well, actually food with a recipe. but, before I get to the recipe a little story and some pics for your entertainment.... Not really but anyways... I have been wanting to learn how to make wheat bread for quite a while now. I have tried to make white and it has been ok but it never turned out rising as high as I would have liked. I could not figure out why. Then one day I found two of the most wonderful food blogs eva.... Enter My Food Storage Deals and My Kitchen Cafe. My Kitchen Cafe has step by step directions on making bread and everything you need to know about yeast. I read and reread to make sure I new what I had done wrong and what I need to do to make my bread turn out the way I wanted it to. I printed out the wheat bread recipe from My Food Storage Deals and away I went. This is what my wheat bread looked like coming out of the oven. Don't laugh at my misshaped loaves. I told you I am not an expert at making bread.. Now you know why... But, I must tell you this was the EASIEST bread recipe eva!!!

See this loaf? Look at how high it raised. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Light and fluffy and yumm-o! I think this recipe is a keeper for sure!!! Now here is MY made up recipe for spicy taco soup. Caution: this is spicy so some kids might not like it. But you can adjust it to your liking.

The majority of ingredients comes from your pantry. SCORE! What is not pictured is the hamburger, garlic, and, minced onions.

Ingredients: 1 lbs ground beef

1/2-3/4 T minced garlic

1T minced onions

Brown meat then add garlic and onions and simmer. Drain meat mixture and put in a large stock pot.

Add to stock pot: 2 cans pork and beans (do not question my madness for some reason it works)
2 cans corn
2 cans diced tomato ( w/chilies if you like. That was all I had.)

2 cans diced chilies
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can black beans

1-2 packets taco seasoning

2 cans filled with water ( I use the pork and beans can)

Mix and let it come to a boil. Cook for about 7-10 minutes then let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

I like to serve mine with a little Parmesan cheese on top. You can put what ever you like with it. Tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream. Almost everything is a possibility.

This recipe can be changed with your imagination. I also use it for a vegetable soup. I just leave out the chilies and add canned carrots and canned green beans. Season to your liking. I still use taco seasoning but not as much. NOTE: DO NOT add noodles to the soup. If you like noodles in with your soup cook noodles separate and put them in a bowl them spoon soup over the noodles. Macaroni noodles are the best with this soup.

I hope you try it and like it as much as we do... Let me know what you think and anything different you came up with for it.... Until next time... Have a great week!!! :O)