Raspberry Cream Pie

This was a new pie I tried this year. I like to make at least one new pie each year - just to mix it up a little. I still have to make all the favorites, of course. This one ended up being a huge hit! It will definitely be made again!

 

Raspberry Cream Pie

1 graham cracker crust

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

2/3 c. frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate, thawed

8 oz. Cool Whip

1 c. fresh raspberries (I used extra)

In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and the raspberry lemonade concentrate. Mix well. Fold in the Cool Whip. Put 1/2 the raspberries on the bottom of the crust. I used more than 1/2 c., but I really like raspberries. Top with the filling and smooth. Chill or freeze for 6 hours. Top with remaining raspberries just before serving. 

I know this recipe says to chill or freeze, but I found that leaving it in the refrigerator let it "melt". It worked better for me if I kept it frozen.

Potato Chowder

This is another family favorite soup. We all love potatoes and this is another meal that everyone will eat. Those are always so nice to have! No one likes to spend the time cooking dinner only to hear the whining about how they don't like the food. No complaints for this one!

 

Potato Chowder

3 3/4 c. water

4 1/2 Tbsp. butter

3 cubes chicken bullion

6 c. potatoes, diced small

5 green onions, diced

Put all of the above ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. 

9 Tbsp. butter

9 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. pepper

2 1/4 tsp. dill

1 1/2 tsp.salt

22 oz. frozen corn or 1 1/2 cans corn, drained

3 3/4 c. milk

While waiting for the potatoes to cook, melt butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add flour and stir. Add milk in slowly, stirring until smooth after each addition. When all the milk is added and mixture is smooth, add to potato mixture after potatoes are tender. Add seasonings and corn. Serve. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, if desired.

Fudge

Fudge is a must at our house at Christmas time each year. Son #2 is especially fond of fudge and occasionally makes it during the year as well. What's not to like about all that CHOCOLATE???

 

Fudge

1 can evaporated milk

1/4 pound butter

4 c. sugar

1 jar marshmallow cream (I use a 7 oz jar)

12 ounces chocolate chips

chopped nuts, optional

Combine the milk, butter, and sugar in a saucepan on the stove. Cook over medium-high heat to 234 degrees, or until it forms a soft ball in cold water, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and marshmallow cream. Stir thoroughly to mix well. Add nuts, if desired. You are supposed to pour this into a greased 9x13 pan, but I pour it onto aluminum foil and let it harden. Once it's hardened, I cut it into small pieces and enjoy! Can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I love soup in the winter when it is cold outside. This is one of my favorite soups and it is super easy to make, which only makes it better! The recipe is really easy to adjust to make or less, whatever the amount you need.

 

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 bag frozen broccoli pieces

2 cans cream of potato soup

2 soup cans milk

Velveeta (can also use shredded cheese)

Blend soup and milk together in the blender until smooth. Heat in pan on stove. While the soup is heating (stir frequently of the bottom will scorch), steam the broccoli. Add to soup when it is at the consistency you like. Melt Velveeta or cheese in soup and heat through. Serve when hot. For this amount of soup, I use 1/2 pound Velveeta.

To make more: simply add another can of soup plus a can of milk. Get a bigger bag of broccoli and add more cheese. You can add more can of soup/ milk until you get the amount you need. To feed my family of 7, I use 4 cans of soup and milk, 32 oz. broccoli, and a pound of Velveeta.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

I love chocolate. All things chocolate. Unless it has nuts. Then forget it. Unless they're peanuts. Peanuts are good and peanut M&M's are the best. Anyway, these cookies satisfy chocolate cravings. Thank goodness. I intentionally don't buy a lot of chocolate. I figure I can have it if I made it. Somehow the work cancels out the calories. I don't know how, but it does. I don't usually use mixes in baking, either, but Ghiradelli makes a fabulous brownie. I use that mix. And I use that mix for these cookies. Yum.

 

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

1 pouch Ghiradelli brownie mix

3 eggs

1/3 c. oil

1 1/4 c. flour

powdered sugar

Mix brownie mix, eggs, oil, and flour together. This will make a stiff dough.  Put about 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl. I use a cookie scoop to shape my cookies, but you can also roll the dough into balls. Roll your ball or scoop in the powdered sugar and place on a cookie sheet. I used parchment paper under mine because I thought the sugar might melt onto the pan and make them stick. Bake at 350 degree 12 minutes or until done.

Granola Bars

In my quest to make taking lunch to school cheaper, I began making granola bars. The cost of those little bars can really add up when you have 4-6 kids taking them to school each day! I tried multiple recipes and mixed and matched things to make one that we all liked. The boys were so happy - they like them more than the store bought ones!

 

Granola Bars

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. honey

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

2 c. quick oats

1 c. crispy rice cereal

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. Crasins

Over medium high heat, melt butter in a pot on the stove. Add honey and brown sugar until it starts to boil. Turn the heat down a little and let boil 2 minutes. While it is boiling, mix oats, cereal, cinnamon, and Craisins together in a large bowl. When the 2 minutes are up, and vanilla to butter mixture and stir, then pour of oats and mix thoroughly. Pour onto greased small jelly roll and press together. The way I found best to do this since I only have a large jelly roll pan is to push the mixture to one end and pack it together. This made about 12 granola bars for me - I cut them in 4x3 rows. Actually, when I made them, I always at least doubled the recipe. I tried tripling it once and pressing the bars into the entire pan, but they weren't pressed together enough and fell apart easily. They need to be packed tightly together to stick in bars.

Creamy Lemon Pie

One of the pies that is a must for the boys each year for Thanksgiving. Sometimes they really make me laugh... the things I expect to be popular are ignored and the things I don't think they'll care about are the popular ones. This was one of those pies. I thought it sounded good so I made it, not expecting them to get too excited about it, but they ask for it year after year. Go figure.

 

Creamy Lemon Pie

1 graham cracker pie crust

3 egg yolks ( I save the whites and make Divinity out of them)

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 c. lemon juice

Cool Whip

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the eggs yolks then add sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Mix well and pour into pie crust. Bake 8 minutes. Chill. Spread Cool Whip over pie before serving.