Squash Pasta Bake Recipe

Along with the 2 recipes below, I've been eating this meal weekly while on my new diet.
(Visit HERE if you'd like to read about the new diet I've been doing - calorie shifting)

It's really yummy!  A small serving fills you up... I cooked up the whole box and in the last two weeks have had it 8 times (or either lunch or dinner).  I also didn't make it into a bake because I was too hungry at the time of making it and kept it as a pasta... just stirring the cheese and everything together (I also used less sauce... just enough to coat).

Here is where I got the recipe
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Squash-Pasta-Bake

• Prep/Total Time: 25 min.
• Yield: 2 Servings

0 5 25

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped yellow summer squash
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup cooked small pasta shells or small tube pasta
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce
• 3 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

• In a skillet, saute squash in oil for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Stir in pasta and spaghetti sauce; heat through. Transfer to a greased 3-cup baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 5-10 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Yield: 2 servings.

Nutritional Facts 1 serving (1 cup) equals 241 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 11 mg cholesterol, 661 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 8 g protein.

Apricot Turkey Sandwiches

I LOVE this sandwich and I love that there's (turkey) bacon on it too.  Mmmm.  The flavors just mesh so well to me.

Here is where I got the recipe and picture (It got a rating of 5 stars)
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Apricot-Turkey-Sandwiches

The recipe makes 2 sandwiches, so obviously cut everything in half if you're making it just for you. (The Nutritional Facts is just for 1 sandwich)

• Prep/Total Time: 15 min.
• Yield: 2 Servings

15 15

Ingredients

• 2 turkey bacon strips
• 4 pieces multigrain bread, toasted
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam
• 3 ounces thinly sliced deli peppered turkey
• 2 slices tomato
• 2 slices red onion
• 2 pieces leaf lettuce
• 2 slices reduced-fat Swiss cheese
• 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Directions

• In a small skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain.
• Spread two toast slices with jam. Layer with turkey, bacon, tomato, onion, lettuce and cheese. Spread remaining toast with mustard; place on top. Yield: 2 servings.

Nutritional Facts 1 sandwich equals 338 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 40 mg cholesterol, 1,109 mg sodium, 43 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 23 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 starch, 2 medium-fat meat.

Loaded Tortilla Wraps

Uhh, has it really been over a year and a half since we posted on this blog.  Oops!
Well, that's changing right now...

I just made some amazing wraps, that I adapted from allrecipes.com.  They are called Easy Snack Wraps, but mine were fully loaded and fell apart as I picked them up.  I cut them in half, not in bite size pieces... so they weren't really a snack.

I made two wraps with different spreads, different meats, and the same ingredients. 

I think what made this wrap so yummy was the spread.  (You can make it to taste, but this is what I did)

Ranch Spread                                                                      Onion Spread
4oz cream cheese                                                                4oz cream cheese
1 tsp Ranch Dressing Seasoning Mix                                 1 tsp Onion Soup Mix
Combine and mix well                                                        Combine and mix well



With the Ranch Spread, I used turkey lunch meat and with the Onion Spread I used corned beef lunch meat (I bet a pastrami would be yummy too!)

Ingredients
* 1-2 Tbs spread     *lettuce     *shredded carrots     *chopped tomatoes    
*chopped olives     *mozzarella cheese     *corn     *meat 

... All topped on a tortilla. 
Roll up the tortilla, place toothpicks in to secure wrap and cut in half. 
I'd eat a half for a hearty lunch.

I made enough for 4 lunches, with fixin's for lots more!

What I'd try next time....
*I would probably include some avocado as a layer. 
*I'd like to try ham with a Italian dressing mix spread; omitting the lettuce and carrots and adding pineapple... maybe grilling the ham first, too.
*Also, like I've noticed with taco salad, this wrap piles up high and quick.  Before you know it, you can 't close it up.  I got a small tortilla this time, but I'd go bigger next time.
                                         Haha, see?.....  →

Cookie Dough Pie

This is so easy to make and actually a lot of fun to assemble.  It tasted really good too... which is surprising because there are only a few ingredients.

Cookie Dough Pie
*15.25 ounce package Chips Ahoy Cookies- Original kind
*8-12 ounces Cool Whip- I used 8 ounces, but I probably would use 12 ounces next time
*2 cups milk

Quickly dip cookies in milk, shake off excess liquid, and layer in 9 inch pie plate, breaking cookies to fill any gaps. Once the first layer is complete, top with a thin layer of Cool Whip. Repeat twice more making last layer of Cool Whip a bit thicker. Garnish with chocolate syrup if desired. Place in freezer 2-3 hours before serving. Serves 6-8.

Note- You must dip quickly or your pie will be very soggy. Make sure to shake off excess milk as well so that you do not have a puddle of milk in your pie. You will have leftover milk but you do need that amount to get the cookie completely immersed. The final product will be like a soft cookie dough-like consistency. On the right is the pattern I made on top of the pie with chocolate syrup.
That's it.  So yummy!!

Ooooh... we got it! ♪♫ Hot Chocolate!

So I haven't tried these yet, but I used the handy dandy tool I added to the right side to find these recipes. 
I figured, what could be cooler than some warm HOT CHOCOLATE?!


These are homemade hot chocolate recipes... how cool is that?! 
I've never thought of that before.  If you try it before I do, let me know if it tastes good.☺


Recipe #1:  Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
*1/2 lb powdered milk
*1 lb powdered sugar
*1/4 lb coffee creamer
*2 ounces unsweetened baking cocoa

Directions
1.  Place all ingredients into large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
2.  Then place in sealed containers, ziploc bags etc.
3.  Place 1/3 cup into a mug and fill with hot water
4.  Enjoy!
This makes 21 servings

Recipe #2:  Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
*1/2 cup granulated sugar
*1/3 cup hot water
*1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
*4 cups milk
*1/8 teaspoon salt
*3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
*Mini marshmallows or Peeps

(Ok, side note - Who still has peeps?  Are there Christmas peeps... I don't even know??)

Directions
1.  Mix cocoa, sugar, water, and salt in saucepan.
2.  Over medium heat stir constantly until mixture boils. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
3.  Stir in the milk and heat, but do not boil.

4.  Remove from heat and add vanilla; blend well.
5.  Serve immediately, topped with marshmallows or Peeps, whipped cream or a spoonful scoop of vanilla ice cream

Italian Crock Pot Chicken

I had this for dinner at my sister-in-law's house Monday and thought it tasted great! Who knew it would be this simple too.

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 envelope Italian dressing mix.

Combine soup, cream cheese and dressing mix. Pour over chicken in crock pot and cook all day on low heat. Serve over noodles or rice. (We had it on rice and I thought it was very tasty! You could make this practically fat free too. I would even serve this to guests, I thought it tasted so good)

Hamburger Cake and Fries

I made this cake for Tyler's birthday and I got a lot of questions about it, so here's how I did it.
It seems like a lot of directions, but it was pretty easy...just time consuming.

CAKE:
1 box of white, yellow, or pound cake mix(I used white)
1 box of fudge brownie mix
1 tub of white frosting

CONDIMENTS:
lots of airheads
5 green airheads
3 white airheads
4 red airheads
**This is what I used, but if you're more creative and can think of something better, do it, because I think this wasn't the best idea and I'd do it again differently...but it worked.
Slivered almonds (or rice crispies)
1 Tub of Whipped Cream

FRIES:
Sugar Cookies (I've got a good, easy recipe if you need one)

KETCHUP:
It only took about a 1/4 tub of frosting, if that, so I used some extra I already had.
*Add red food coloring until you reach desired color and mix well.
*Place the frosting in a ziplock bag

OTHER THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Food coloring
-red -blue -yellow
9" round cake pan(s)

Sorry, I don't have any official directions...these are just off the top of my head

DIRECTIONS:

*Bake White Cake Mix in two greased 9" round cake pans according to package directions. Let cool.
*Bake Fudge Brownie mix in one 9" round cake pan according to package directions. Let cool. (I placed wax paper inside my pan and greased that, for easier removal)
*Make sugar cookie dough. The dough typically needs time to set in the fridge for at least an hour.
*Start on condiments
-Place the airheads, either one or a few at a time, in their appropriate colors, in a microwave safe bowl with a little bit of water, to melt. (It was between 10 and 15 seconds for me....and they will be hot!) They cool off quickly so be sure to mold fast. You can only do one piece of condiment at a time.
From these I made lettuce, tomatoes, and with yellow food coloring- the cheese (the lettuce I spread into any shape and then curled up the edges a little with my finger, the tomatoes I molded into flat circles, and the cheese, while it was still hot added a drop of yellow food coloring, kneaded that in, and molded them into triangles.)
-The frysauce (it was supposed to be mustard, but the color didn't turn out right) was a mixture of red and yellow food coloring. I did one part red and two parts yellow for the frysauce. Place in ziplock bag.

By this time my cookies were ready to bake.
*Roll out cookie dough about 1/4" thick and with a pizza cutter grid the dough into long skinny strips. Place on cookie sheet and follow sugar cookie recipe directions. In between each sheet of cookies baking, I worked on my frosting for the burger.

*Frosting for buns- I used one part blue, one part red, one part yellow.
Mix and add more until it is your desired brown. (I ended up using like 10 parts of all 3 three to achieve the color I wanted)

THE CONSTRUCTION:

-CAKE-
*Choose which white cake would look better on top- one that has a more even round top- and set aside.
*Take the other cake out of the pan and place it on a plate or cookie sheet. Cut off the rounded top so that it's flat and the other layers can easily be stacked on it.
*Frost both cakes; reserving a little frosting for touch ups at the end... your fingers will mess it up a little in the process of moving. No need to frost the parts of the buns that won't be seen, unless, of course, you just love frosting!
*Set bottom bun on your serving tray or plate.
*Frost the top of the bottom bun with Whipped Cream, so that it looks like mayonnaise.
*Take lettuce leaves and place speratically around rim of burger, so that they will peek through.
*Take brownie round out of pan and place on top of lettuce
(Optional-- I tried to mash up brown cookies to mix up with chocolate frosting- to cover the brownie with, but the cookies I bought, I didn't know, had caramel in them so they didn't crumble. This might give a good texture effect on the burger. The brownie alone had good texture though too---Instead I put chocolate frosting on top of brownie...so it wasn't visible, because I was worried the cake would taste too dry with out much frosting)
*Place your tomatoes and cheese on the rim of the brownie, so they will peek through.
*Use your frysauce (or mustard) frosting to fill in any exposed sections, or wherever desired. To do so, cut off corner of zip lock and squeeze through hole.(If you're having difficulties squeezing frosting through... don't force it. Your hole may be too small, and you might have a minor explosion if you don't make the hole a little bigger)
*Place top bun on top of tomatoes, cheese, and frysauce.
*Touch up bun frosting where needed.
*Place Slivered almond pieces on top to look like sesame seeds.
***Side note*** Be sure to place your layers of brownie and cake on straight. I didn't so mine kept sliding...and that's why my mayo is squirting out so much. If you need to, you can place some sort of dowel in the center of the cakes, to keep it all in place.

-FRIES-
*Place sugar cookies on tray in desired display
*With ketchup frosting in zip lock, cut tip off one corner of the bag and squeeze frosting through hole. (If you're having difficulties squeezing frosting through... don't force it. Your hole may be too small, and you might have a minor explosion if you don't make the hole a little bigger)
*You can also spiral a mound of ketchup up for dipping

(So... if you're wondering what is on the fries and under the ketchup frosting , it's blackberry pie/cake filling. I was going to use strawberry pie filling, but before I went out to buy it, I noticed I already had some blackberry filling and the picture on the outside of the can looked red enough to me. After opening the can I realized it wasn't very red at all and added food coloring to it in a ziplock bag to try to make it more red. I squeezed it onto the fries, but it looked like maple syrup! That's why I tried covering it up with frosting. The hint of blackberry was pretty tasty though.)

I believe that's it, but I may be forgetting something. Congrats if you got through all that! Just ask if you have questions. Enjoy!

No Bake Cookies

1/2 cup margarine melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cocoa

Bring to fast rolling boil, let boil for 70 seconds, then remove from heat. Stir in:
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups quick oats

Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper or foil and let cookies set. Enjoy!
Jenna Folsom

Chocolate Trifle EASY

I'm all about the easy recipes!!

Ingredients

1 package (18 1/4 oz) chocolate fudge cake mix
1 package (6oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 carton (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
6 Heath bars (1.4 oz each) crushed

Directions

*Bake cake according to package directions. Cool.
*Prepare pudding according to package directions. Set aside.
*Crumble cake; reserve 1/2 cup.
*Place the remaining cake crumbs in the bottom of a 4 1/2 or 5 qt trifle dish or decorative bowl. Layer with half the pudding, half of the whipped topping, and half of the crushed candy bars.
*Repeat the layers of cake, pudding, and whipped topping.
*Combine remaining crushed candy with reserved cake crumbs; sprinkle over top.
*Refrigerate 4-5 hours before serving.
Yeild: 8-10 servings.

The fun thing about this recipe is you can change it up just about anyway you like. For instance, instead of using chocolate cake you could use strawberry cake, or instead of chocolate pudding you could use butterscotch pudding, instead of Heath bars you could use fruit or chocolate chips or Oreos...the possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Sock-It-To-Me-Cake

Ingredients

Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil

Topping:
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions
Beat all the cake ingredients. In the bottom of a well greased Bundt pan, put a layer of the topping. Then put a layer of the batter. Continue layering, ending with topping. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Leave in the pan for 25 - 30minutes.

Ever since I was a little girl I remember having this brunch cake with our Christmas breakfast. My mom would always make it with a sausage-egg casserole. We make this cake as a dessert by it self a lot of times though. It always reminds me of Christmas though, and there isn't much better than that. Hope you enjoy!