York Peppermint Ice Cream Bars

My daughter and I share the love for everything mint chocolate.

We are not sure if our obsession has to do with just complete love for the flavor...or out of desperation for something hubby won't grab for when he is in a sugar mood.

The girl and I know that we can have peppermint patties, Thin Mints, and mint chocolate chip ice cream undisturbed.

While at BJ's one day, my daughter spotted these. She had the big, wet, puppy dog eye look going....so of course I said "yes"...no ulterior motive....nooooo.

From the first bite we were in love.

Not too pepperminty (is that a word?)
Not too chocolately (another questionable word)

But very, very large. We tend to cut them and split them.
Would I buy these again? Absolutely!

Disclaimer: This is my opinion and my opinion only. There has been no compensation for this posting.

Snowball Cookies

My daughter had a friend over and I thought these cookies would be fun for them to make. I ran to the store, grabbed the ingredients and set the butter out to soften.
The night went on, and they were too interested in watching movies. Cookie time with Mom was out of the question.

Fast forward to the next day, I came home from work thinking we would get right into cookie rolling.
Nope...her friend had a school project to work on and was going to be leaving shortly, in fact, her father was on his way.

My only child spent the rest of the night in hiding. She (forever!) has needed decompression time after a friend leaves, or when she comes home from a friend's (especially one with siblings). She is one of those very few who enjoy being an only child and only remembers when she deals with sharing her "space". So...no cookies then either.

Fast forward again. I came home from work, made dinner, and then sat down on the couch with a book.
All of a sudden my hubby is going "what in the world ARE you doing"?
I couldn't stand it anymore.
I had ingredients. I had soft butter.
I was baking cookies at 9 pm on a work night. Anyone who knows me knows this is too "late" for me to start a project on a work night.
There was no way I was going to be able to sleep without these being made.

Hubby test-ate one for me that night. He gave it two thumbs up.
Brought a couple with me to work the next day for an afternoon treat. Oh yum!

I can see these easily making their way into my Christmas cookie list. The original recipe has candy sugar rolled on it for the holidays. Hint taken!


Filling:
6 oz peanut butter chips
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
¼ Cup powdered sugar, sifted
¼ Cup peanuts, finely chopped

Cookie:
3 Cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ Cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Combine chips in a double boiler and heat until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
2. Add powdered sugar and peanuts. Mix well.
3. Let chocolate mixture sit at room temperature until firm enough to shape.
4. Roll ¾ inch balls and set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
6. In large bowl combine flour, butter, and vanilla.
7. Knead until well blended.
8. Shape into one 11-inch roll log. Cut into ¼ inch slices.
9. Take a slice of dough, and use your fingers to gently spread out.
10. Place a chocolate ball in the center of the slice.
11. Shape dough around filling, seal and roll into a ball.
12. Roll ball in powdered sugar.
13. Place on un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
14. Cool slightly, and then roll in powdered sugar again.

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Filling Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

Slightly lumpy, but very much delicious snowball cookies!

This recipe was shared on: Let's Dish Recipes

Meatball Minestrone (Crock Pot)

I am always online in search of new recipes to try. I have even hoarded multiple versions of the same recipe...just because sometimes slight variations make a world of difference.

I came across this recipe here, on the Jamie Cooks It Up site. It looked easy, family friendly, and (of course, my fave) was made for the crock pot!
I did change the directions, the original called for frozen meatballs (so feel free to use if you would like) I preferred to make my own.

My daughter's friend was going through a rough time the other day and so she decided to invite her over. Get out of the house, change of scenery, laughter with friends...you know what she was aiming for.
This soup happened to already be in the pot cooking away for dinner.
It seemed like it was "meant to be". Broken hearts need comfort...what better comfort than a big bowl of delicious homemade soup with people who love you?
Now that is good for the soul!

I will add, even with the four of us eating this..and then me taking it to work for lunches, there was still a LOT left. This does freeze well, which means another meal is ready to go!
If you decide to put your pasta in the crock to cook, it will get mushy. It will soak up most of your broth.
Your call, but consider this a public service announcement!

Ingredients:
3 (14.5 oz) cans Italian style stewed tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
4 Cups beef broth
1 ½ Cup carrot, sliced
½ Cup onion, chopped
1 Cup green beans
1 Tsp oregano, dried
1 Tsp Thyme, dried
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can garbonzo beans
6 Cups meatballs, cooked
1 (16 oz) box ditalini pasta
1 (10 oz) can tomato soup
Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1. In large crock pot, pour 3 cans tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce.
2. Add beef broth.
3. Slice up your veggies, add to crock pot.
4. Add seasonings.
5. Add beans
6. Add meatballs
7. Cook on high for 6-8 hours.
8. Add tomato soup. Mix well.
9. Cook pasta according to package directions.
10. To serve, add pasta to bottom of bowl and spoon soup over. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

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Ingredients: Fresh green beans can be used, but I had frozen on hand

Little baby meatballs for my soup!

This was so hearty and filling, yum!

Random funny food pages

I don't even know how I stumbled across this stuff....random internet clicking I guess!

They are funny enough I figured this should be shared with my readers, don't you agree?

I had a ball with the nostalgic cereal one. I think I have tried any and all of those cereals. :::sigh::: there are quite a few I wish would come back!

37 People who are worse cooks than you

21 Unusual food monuments

28 Food tattoos

25 Ugly foods

25 Cereals from the 80's

18 Snacks in a mug

25 Foods you will never eat again

Meatloaf wrapped in Bacon

My man hearts his meatloaf!
My man also hearts bacon. He goes so far as to call it "meat candy".
Marry the two and I have the happiest man in the world.


Ingredients:
1 ½ Lbs ground beef
1 Packet onion soup mix
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Worcestershire
Salt and Pepper
1 lb bacon

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients
2. Wrap with bacon: Lie bacon strip next to strip on parchment paper. Move meatloaf to middle of bacon. Using each side of the parchment paper, wrap each side with bacon
3. Cook on a cookie sheet in parchment paper for 45 minutes at 350
4. Remove parchment paper and cook 15-20 more minutes until bacon is crispy.

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Layered raw bacon strips

Add your favorite meatloaf mixture

Use the sides of the parchment paper to help you roll the bacon in one big layer around the meat

Crispy and delicious!

Breakfast Casserole

We are not a breakfast family.
Scratch that, we love love love breakfast for dinner!
As a general rule, we don't have a meal until lunch though.

I had a good friend and her (gorgeous, sweet, smart) daughter come here for a visit last summer. We did a bunch of touristy things, you know how it goes.
One morning, on our way to pick them up, we were stopping for coffee. Sent a text asking if they wanted anything...a bagel for each.
They get in the car and devoured said bagels. She mentioned something about not being able to wait as long as they did yesterday.
Whoops! Leave it to us to starve our friends!
Yes, I am that kind of person. Apparently.

My friend and I are still on speaking terms, thankfully, and she tells me she reads my blog faithfully. Wonder if she will remember and laugh about my torture methods.

While making sense of my box of random recipes, I found this one. It is hand written by me, so I assume I had made it at some point in my life...but just to be on the safe side, I made it again to ensure it is as yummy as it sounds.

My daughter had friends spending the night. Just because we don't eat first meal (as a general rule, and rules are made to be broken) doesn't mean they should go hungry.

Made this the day before, as stated, and cooked it up in the am.

In my handwritten instructions, it just says sausage. It does not specify Italian or breakfast. I used bulk sweet sausage instead of cutting up links, but I think it would be just as good either way.


Ingredients:
1 Lb sausage
1 (8oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
½ pint half and half
6 Eggs
6 Slices of bread
Butter

Directions:
1. Cut edges off bread. Butter bread and place in 9x13 dish.
2. Brown sausage, drain, cut into small pieces and put over bread.
3. Sprinkle cheese over sausage
4. Mix eggs and ½ and ½ together. Pour into dish.
5. Refrigerate overnight
6. Preheat oven to 350. Cook for 45 minutes.

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Ingredients

It was a hit! The girl and her friends went back for seconds.

Chocolate Layered No-Bake Cheesecake Bars

Darling daughter of mine marches to the beat of her own drum.
I love this about her!

When her birthday rolled around this year, we were at the store to pick out the ever important birthday cake. (I want it noted for the record, this was a last minute thing...otherwise it would have been homemade). She very carefully checked out every cake, cookie, and danish in the store. If it was sweet....she looked.

It was a bit comical, I had visions of a wine enthusiast examining a fine glass of wine for legs.

She circled the bakery, and kept coming back to this one item. I think she knew it was the item, but wanted to check the other options before she admitted to it.
Folks...my daughter had mini cornbread loaves for her birthday cake.
Yup, that is my southern born baby!

Flash forward to her "friend" party...a bunch of giggly girls hanging out at the mall eating pizza.
There had been a kiosk set up at the mall with Girl Scout Cookies....
Can you fill in the blanks?
Her friends bought her a box of cookies and they make-shifted her a fake candle (it was the food court after all, they tend to frown upon fires) and had themselves a jolly good time.

This recipe (adapted from a recipe on the inside of a Baker's Chocolate box) ended up being the "real" birthday cake. We birthday-ed it up by adding rainbow sprinkles.
I can honestly say, it was birthday-licious!


Ingredients:
1 ½ Cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ Cup butter (melted)
½ Cup plus 2 Tbsp Sugar
8 Squares semi sweet baking chocolate
4 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
1 Tsp vanilla
1 Tub (8oz) whipped topping (thawed)

Directions:
1. Line 9x13 inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.
2. Mix graham crumbs, butter, and 2 Tbsp sugar.
3. Press graham mixture onto bottom of pan
4. Refrigerate while making the filling
5. Melt 6 chocolate squares as directed on package.
6. Beat cream cheese, ½ cup sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended.
7. Stir in whipped topping with whisk.
8. Pour half of the batter into a medium bowl. Stir in melted chocolate.
9. Pour chocolate mixture over crust. Cover with plain batter.
10. Melt remaining 2 chocolate squares, drizzle over batter
11. Refrigerate 3 hours until firm

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Aren't the sprinkles just beeeautiful?