Cinnamom Muffins

These were a hit at Christmas brunch!

CINNAMON MUFFINS

4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup nuts, (I never add them but you can if you want :)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil (or melted butter)
2 eggs

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet. Stir, do not beat! Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees in greased muffin pan. Makes 16. This recipe easily halved; also stores really well in refrigerator so you can bake only as many you need at a time. Also can be baked using cupcake liners, but bottom of muffin will not be as soft.

Crockpot Lasagna with White Sauce

This is one of our favorite crockpot recipes. Just add a nice side salad and some garlic bread and it's great for inviting friends over for dinner! If you can't find mini lasagna noodles, a 16 0z. package of wide egg noodles work fine.

1 pound ground beef
1 onion --chopped
1 can diced tomatoes - (14 1/2 oz)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 beef bouillon cube
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 package mini lasagna noodles - (8 oz) --cooked and drained

***WHITE SAUCE***
2 tablespoons butter or margarine --melted
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese --divided

Directions:

1. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain.
2.In a skillet, brown ground beef and onion, until onion is tender. Drain fat. Transfer meat mixture to crockpot.
3.Stir into crockpot: tomatoes, tomato paste, bouillon, and seasonings. Add cooked lasagna noodles.
4.In a small bowl, mix melted margarine, flour, salt, pepper, milk, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Stir into crockpot.
5.Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours or on HIGH 2 to 3 hours.
6.In the last 30 minutes, turn crockpot to HIGH, if cooking on LOW. Top with remainder of mozzarella cheese. Serve when cheese is melted.

Creamy Basil and Tomato Pasta

I thought since there are only goodies on here so far that I would break out and start on entrees. This is my abosolute favorite. It takes some time but it is to die for.

2 lbs tomatoes, chopped (abt 3c)
1 pkg (8oz) Cream Cheese cubed
¼ c Kraft sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing
½ c chopped fresh basil
1 pkg (16oz) linguine
½ c toasted pine nuts

Toss tomatoes w cream cheese and dressing, cover and refrigerate 2hrs. Add cooked pasta, tomato mix, and pine nuts in large bowl. Toss lightly and serve

Pull-A-Parts

One of my favorite treats!! It's really good for sunday mornings.

12 frozen dinner rolls
1 cube melted butter
1 c brown sugar
1 c walnuts
1 package of cook & serve butterscotch pudding (or any cook and serve pudding)


Spray bottom of bunt pan, add walnuts, rolls, butterscotch pudding, brown sugar and butter into the bunt pan-in that order

Let sit over night. Bake 350 for 20 min.

Chocolate Peanut Sweeties

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups confectioners sugar

5 dozen miniature pretzel twists

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Beat in sugar until combined then shape into 1 in. balls and press one on each pretzel. Place on waxed paper lined sheets. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Melt chocolate chips in oil. Dip peanut butter ball into chocolate and return to waxed paper pretzel side down. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. Store in the fridge.

"Roca Rocks"

I adapted this recipe from a simple toffee recipe from the "Friend" Magazine years ago. I thought it tasted like Almond Roca, and so I tweaked it and turned it into what I call "Roca Rocks".


1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter-no substitutes
1 cup of chopped almonds (you may chop them up in a blender)
1/2 package of chocolate chips

1.Place the brown sugar, butter and 1/2 of the almonds in a sauce pan. Cook and stir on medium heat until it is at a vigorous boil. Once it is boiling, do not stir, and let it cook until each reaches 250 degrees (hardball stage).
2.Remove from heat and immediately poor the mixture onto a greased, foil lined cookie sheet. Let cool-you can even put it in the refridgerator or freezer to speed it up.
3.While the mixture is cooling, melt the chocolate chips.
4.Once the sugar and butter mixture is completely cool, break it into little peices.
5.Dip the broken peices in the melted chocolate, then roll them in the remaining choped almonds. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden.
Enjoy.
Helpful hints: This works best on a "dry" day. Don't try to make it while it's raining or humid outside, or it might not get crunchy. Store in an airtight container. Do not refridgerate.

Candy Cane Cake

I know I just posted this on our family's website, but it's worth another post...

Kaitlyn wanted to make a "Christmas Cake" yesterday. One of our favorite flavors is chocolate mint, and so I thought I'd try out making a chocolate mint cake. I just used a chocolate cake mix and added 2 tsp of "peppermint extract". You can also add some crushed candy canes. For the shape, I just baked the cake mix in an 8" square pan and an 8" round pan. Click on the picture below to get the details on how to make the shape.

I also added 1 tsp peppermint extract to the white frosting I made to give it a candy cane flavor as well. It was delicious and fun to make!!

Peanut Butter Pie

We had this for Johnny's birthday last year. It's one of his favorite's.

1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup whipped topping
10 peanut butter cups
1 chocolate crumb crust- 9inches

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and peanut butter until smooth, fold in the whipped topping. Coarsely chop half of the peanut butter cups; stir into cream sheese mixture. Spoon into crust. Quarter remaining peanut butter cups; arrange over top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.