Dirt Cake

This cookie crumb/pudding dessert tastes a lot better than it looks! For Halloween, I decorate with gummy worms and even found gummy skeletons. This dessert can also be made to look like the "dirt" from a flower pot, or the "dirt" in a child's Tonka dump truck. Use your imagination; the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:
8 oz Cool Whip
16 oz pkg Oreo cookies, completely crushed into crumbs
3 c. milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Directions:
Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar and fold in Cool Whip. In a separate bowl, mix together the pudding mix, vanilla, and milk. Fold cream cheese mixture into pudding mixture.

In a trifle bowl, layer crushed cookies and pudding-cheese mixture alternatively until gone, finishing the top with cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate for at least two hours. Decorate with gummy worms or however you like.

Crispix Candy

This is a messy but awesome treat.

Ingredients:
1 box Crispix cereal
1 stick margarine
1 c. creamy peanut butter
12 oz. pkg butterscotch
1 box confectioners sugar

Melt margarine, peanut butter, and butterscotch in double boiler. Pour over cereal, stirring until completely coated. Put in large plastic bag. Pour in confectioners sugar and shake.

To make this a special holiday treat, shake in a bit of colored sugar into the confectioners sugar. Be sure to shake shake shake (your booty.) Couldn't resist!

Dragon's Eye Brew

Another tasty punch for a Halloween party. 

Recipe Ingredients

36 large seedless green grapes

18 large raisins or dried cranberries, halved lengthwise

4 (1-liter) bottles cold ginger ale

3 (1-qt) tubs lime sherbet

Recipe Preparation

To make dragon eyeballs: Make a lengthwise slit with a paring knife in grapes. Holding grape between thumb and index finger, gently squeeze to open slit and insert a raisin sliver. Freeze eyeball grapes until rock-hard.

To make brew: Stir 2 liters of ginger ale and 1 qt of sherbet in a punch bowl until blended. Float scoops of the remaining sherbet on top of brew mixture. Pour remaining ginger ale over sherbet scoops (it will create a foamy top). Decorate with frozen eyeballs.

Easy Halloween Cheese Ball

You can decorate this cheese ball to look like a spider by adding "legs" made of black pipe cleaners and black dots for eyes. It's cute instead of menacing. 

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix

2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

½ c. bacon bits

1 ½ c. chopped nuts or use freshly cracked black pepper for Halloween ball

In a medium size bowl, mash cream cheese. Mix dressing mix and Cheddar cheese into the cream cheese. Shape the mixture into a ball. Roll the ball in the chopped nuts. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve. For Halloween, serve with shaped crackers. Life of the party!

Country Beef and Vegetables

When searching for recipes, the word "simple" catches my eye; another word I like is "country."  Now if I could find something with both of those words, how great kitchen-life would be!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/2 soup can water
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
16 oz. bag frozen vegetables, thawed
6 c. hot cooked rice
shredded cheddar cheese to taste

Brown beef in large skillet and drain. Stir in soup, water and Worcestershire.  Add vegetables; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve over rice; garnish with cheese.

Taco Soup

An easy crock pot dish for a cold winter day. Or any other time.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans chopped Italian style tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel
2 cans pinto beans
1 can corn
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

Brown ground beef with taco seasoning. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and let cook for 4 hours.

This is good served as a soup or with tortilla chips. If you like hotter spices, add a dash of hot sauce.

Witch's Brew

A spooky, fun Halloween punch!


1 quart grape juice (like Welch's Grape Juice)
1 quart orange juice
1 litre ginger ale
icy handdecorative items if desired (gummy worms, frozen grapes)

Mix grape juice and orange juice in punch bowl. Pour in the ginger ale. Add icy hand and/or Halloween decorations.  To make icy hand, fill 2 non-powered, non-latex disposable gloves with water and tie with a rubber band. Freeze. When ready, peel off glove and put in punch bowl. 

Country Fried Chicken

Years ago I used to listen to an AM radio station that had a morning talk show. My favorite part was when folks - usually elderly women - called in their favorite recipes. This is one of my favorites from that show.

Ingredients:
2 fried chickens (this can be leftover, pre-made from the deli, or frozen)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

Put fried chicken pieces in a large pan. In separate bowl, mix together soups and add 3 cans water. Stir well. Pour over chicken. Bake 1 hour at 350°.

This is one of my mom's favorite dishes; she calls it "smothered chicken" which I think is a hoot.

Lemon Icebox Pie

Tart, tangy and oh so good. I used to not bother with the meringue, would just top with Cool Whip. The meringue is worth the extra effort though.

Ingredients:

4 oz. lemon juice (fresh squeezed works best, with pulp)

1 can Eagle Brand milk

3 eggs, separated

graham cracker crust

2 t. cream of tartar

1/4 c. sugar

Beat egg yolks until creamy. Add EB milk and juice from lemons. Pour into crust. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add cream of tartar and gradually add sugar. Pour over top of pie and bake at 375° until golden. 

To be honest, I can eat this pie all by myself in just two days. Sigh.

Baked Zesty Fries

This recipe is a healthy alternative to the traditional French fry - a "low guilt" version, if you will.

Ingredients:
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. pepper
2 large potatoes (1 lb), cut into sticks
1/4 c. chicken broth

Mix powders with pepper and set aside. In large shallow dish, toss potatoes with broth. Place on baking sheet and add seasoning mixture. Toss until evenly coated. Arrange potatoes in single layer and bake for 30 minutes at 450°.

These fries are good dipped in Ranch dressing. Or ketchup if you're old school.

Orange Sweet Rolls

Before getting too excited about having sweet rolls right away, please note that they have to be refrigerated overnight. They are worth the wait though.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter

1 c. cream cheese frosting

1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix

24 frozen dinner rolls, defrosted

zest from one large orange 

Lightly grease and flour a fluted tube pan (I used a Bundt pan) and set aside. Melt butter with frosting and set aside. Place pudding mix on a sheet of wax paper. Cut rolls in half. Coat each half in the pudding mix and place in bottom of pan. Sprinkle with orange zest. Continue until all rolls are used. Sprinkle remaining mix and zest on rolls. Slowly pour butter/frosting combo over the rolls. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350°. Uncover the rolls and back 30 - 35 minutes until golden.

When I made these rolls, I thought orange zest was freshly squeezed orange juice. No really, I did. So that is what I used.  The rolls were good but not very orangey tasting. I googled "zest" so now I know what to do next time I make these!

Pot Roast

There are at least a trillion recipes out there for pot roast. I've tried about five and this one worked out the best. Crockpot cooking is great if you have time in the morning to get everything prepared. For me and most other working women that means weekends only.

Ingredients:
3-5 lb beef roast
1 can cream of celery soup
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
1 soup can water
Potatoes to taste, peeled and chopped
Carrots to taste, chopped

Put potatoes and carrots in crockpot then add roast. Pour soups and water on top. Cook on low 6 - 8 hours.

If there is broth left over after the meat and veggies are devoured, save it for future recipes that call for beef stock. See how smart I am?