Hopscotch

Ingredients:
6 oz package butterscotch chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups miniature marshmallows
2 cups chow mein noodles

Melt the butterscotch chips in microwave. Stir in the peanut butter.
Mix in a large bowl: miniature marshmallows & chow mein noodles.
Add butterscotch mixture and mix thoroughly. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. OR spread mixture into a greased 9" square pan. Chill till set. Cut in squares.
Enjoy!

Chicken Manicotti

Ingredients:

• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 lb (4 oz) Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
• 2 c. frozen broccoli florets
• 12 manicotti shells, uncooked
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Mix soup, water and Velveeta in microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, or until Velveeta is melted and mixture is well blended. Pour one-third of the soup mixture onto bottom of 9x13 baking dish; set aside. Add broccoli to remaining soup mixture.
3. Stuff pasta with chicken strips; place in baking dish. Cover completely with remaining soup mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil.
4. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until pasta is tender and chicken is cooked thru.

**To speed up the process a bit, I boiled the noodles half-way and stuffed them with fully cooked chicken...then it only took about 20 minutes in the oven.**

Texas Roast

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lb roast (beef or venison is best)
• 1 env. dry onion soup mix
• 1 can cream of mushroom
• 1 soup can 7-up/sierra mist
  

Directions:

1. Place roast in roaster or large casserole dish.
2. Sprinkle dry onion soup mix over meat.
3. In bowl, mix cream of mushroom and 7-up.
4. Pour over roast
5. Cover and Bake at 325 for 2-3 hours (or until tender)

This roast makes its own gravy. Today I put everything in the crock-pot and let it simmer on low all day. Equally delicious with potatoes or noodles.

Hot Spiced Tea

Ingredients:

• 1 large can Pineapple juice
• 1 large can Apricot nectar (juice)
• 1 large can frozen Orange juice
• 1 large can frozen Lemonade
• 2 pkgs. strawberry jello - (or 1 large)
• 1 pkg. Red Hot candies
• 4 TBSP of Instant Tea
• 4 quarts (1 gallon) water
  

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together and heat on stove. Drink and enjoy.
   

Almond Bark

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rice Krispies
• 1 block vanilla bark (can use almond bark)
• 1 cup craisins
• 1 cup almonds
  

Directions:

1. Melt bark. Add Rice Krispies, craisins and almonds. Stir together then spread out on wax paper. Let cool then break into pieces.
   

How to peel a hard boiled egg without peeling

I posted this on my personal blog a while ago. This is a much better medium for this knowledge. I present to you "How to peel a hard boiled egg without peeling: Essential cooking information for the 21st century"

1. Slow boil for approximately 12 minutes with two inches of water above eggs and 1 tsp of baking soda
2. Cool with ice or running cold water over them
3. Tap both ends and remove shell
4. Then blow!
   

Broccoli Wild Rice Soup

1 pkg. (6 oz) Uncle Ben's Chicken & Wild Rice
5 c. water
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 carrot, shredded
2 t. dried, minced onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese

In large saucepan, combine rice, contents of seasoning packet and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring once. Stir in broccoli, carrot and onion. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in cream soup and cream cheese. Cook and stir until cheese is melted.

Heath Coffee Cake

1/2 c. butter, softened
2 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. baking soda
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 Heath candybars

*Topping*
2 Heath candybars, chopped very finely
1/2 c. dry mixture (above)
1/4 c. chopped pecans (opt.)

Blend butter, flour, brown sugar and sugar together. Set 1/2 c. aside. Add buttermilk, baking soda, egg and vanilla to mixture. Blend well. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake for 30 minutes at 350*.

Carmel Corn

2 bags puff popcorn
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. butter
1/4 c. + 2 T light corn syrup
3/4 t. salt

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in saucepan and stir till bubbly. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 t. baking soda, stir. Pour into shallow pan (9x13 pans or jelly roll pans work good) and bake for 1 hour at 200*, stirring every 15 minutes.

Hot Spiced Cider

Ingredients:

• 8 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 inches stick cinnamon
• 1 tsp whole allspice
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 8 thin orange wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. In a saucepan combine cider and brown sugar.
2. For spice bag, place cinnamon, allspice, orange wedges and whole cloves on a double-thick, 6-inch-square piece of 100% cotton cheesecloth. Bring corners together and tie with a clean string. Add bag to cider mixture.
   
3. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
4. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
5. Remove spice bag; discard.
   

Cranberry Turkey Crescent Pinwheels & Petite Salads in Parmesan Bowls

Delicious...especially the salad dressing.

Pumpkin Roll

Roll: 3/4 cup Bisquick

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin

3 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Filling: 1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz. cream cheese

6 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375'. Grease jelly roll or flat pan, then line with wax paper and grease it. Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy Add pumpkin and dry ingredients. Pour into pan and spread out. Bake for 13-15 minutes and flip onto a powdered towel( generously sprinkle powdered sugar on a kitchen towel). Roll up in towel and cool. Prepare filling, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth, then add remaining ingredients. Unroll and spread with filling, roll back up and refrigerate. Serves about 10-12.

Shauna Vallery

Crockpot Chocolate Candy

23 oz. milk chocolate chips

10 oz. peanut butter chips

11oz. caramel bits(Kraft know sells them in a bag)

8 oz. toffee bits(Heath)

6 oz. macadamia nuts(chopped)

10 oz. white chocolate chips

4 oz. German chocolate squares

6 oz. white chocolate squares

Layer ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Drop clusters on wax paper or spread in a jelly roll pan. Let cool. Makes approx. 200 pieces(depending on the size you make). Can be frozen for a month or two. Enjoy!

I made this for some of the boy's teachers and our family last week, it is out of this world and so simple!! You could substitute with other nuts or leave them out. You can be a little creative with this recipe, make it your own. You could even top it with some crushed candy canes to make it seasonal! Sorry I don't have a picture, it was consumed too quiclky.

Shauna Vallery(us 4)

Shrimp Dip

2 pkgs. cream cheese
frozen salad shrimp, thawed (can also used canned)
cocktail sauce
green onions

Spread cream cheese on a plate. Spread cocktail sauce over top. Top with shrimp & then green onions. Serve with Townhouse crackers, Wheat Thins or Ritz.

Variation: Mix in sour cream to make the cream cheese more spreadable. Either way is good! My picture shows a lot of onion since we like it, but you can use as much as you like. I don't have exact measurements. Just do what you think looks good.

Hearty Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:

• 8 servings ~ 2 ¼ quarts
• 1/2 # ground beef
• 2/3 cup chopped onions
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 4 T butter, divided
• 1 T & 3 T
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1 3/4 lbs.)
• 8 ounces American cheese cubed (2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:
In a 3 quart saucepan, brown beef. Drain and set aside. In the same saucepan sauté onions, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 T spoon of butter until vegetables are tender about 10 minutes. Add broth potatoes and beef and bring to a boil reduce heat and cover and simmer for 10 - 12 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter and add flour; cook and stir for 3 - 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup. Bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and Add cheese, milk salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. NOTE: Substitute other vegetables: Broccoli instead of potatoes for a nice Broccoli & Cheese Soup. Same goes for mushrooms. You may use ground turkey instead of hamburger or chicken or clams and make clam chowder! Versatile!

Overnight Baked French Toast

You've probably all seen this one on my blog already! It's great for making for breakfast when you have overnight company. Click on it to make the recipe bigger to save to your computer or print. I probably won't do all my recipes in Smilebox but sometimes I may post them this way.

Carmel Corn Snack Mix

8 c. "Puffcorn"
4 c. Rice Chex
2 c. mini pretzel twists
1 c. pecan halves

Combine the above ingredients in a large roaster pan.

1 c. brown sugar (packed)
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/4 c. LIGHT corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda

In a saucepan: combine br. sugar, butter and corn syrup. Cook & stir over medium heat until it boils.
Reduce to med-low and cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
Remove from heat, quickly stir in vanilla & baking soda.
Pour over popcorn mixture in large roaster, stir until well coated.
Bake @ 300 for 30 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes.
Spread mixture on wax paper to cool.
Break into clusters - ENJOY!

Ben, Heather & kids

Recipes Wanted!

• My goal is to make this a place for people to share and receive recipes. It may take time to get this figure out and running smoothly, so bear with me.
• I'm hoping to have each week a featured group or maybe we'll need a longer time frame (we'll see). Example: Week 1 - soup recipes, Week 2- dessert recipes, Week 3- Beef recipes, and so on.
• I would like to include anyone that is interested to be able to post their own recipes directly on the blog, rather than on the comment section, if that theory will work. (We can have up to 100 authors on this account).
• I do realize I'm creating this during the holidays, so I'm going to wait until the beginning of the year to "start". In the meantime I'll try to figure more things out!
• If you are interested in contributing recipes, please leave a comment (I'll need your email address to add you to the blog account) or email me at country_rhythm at yahoo dot com
• Hopefully with some luck and help from you, this will be a useful blog!

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