Snowy Mashed Potato Casserole

I have relied on the boxed instant mashed potatoes for years. Then I tried this... yum.

Ingredients:
4 lbs potatoes (about 12 medium)
1 pkg 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c. sour cream
2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 t. minced garlic
1 T. chives
1/2 t. paprika
1 T. margarine

Peel and slice potatoes and cook in boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; mash in large bowl. Add cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper and garlic. Beat at high speed until smooth and light. Stir in  chives. Spoon into lightly greased baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika and dot with margarine. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

No gravy needed for this mashed potato dish. Probably no leftovers either. A guaranteed hit at potlucks.

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.