Party Girl Punch

I served this at Lauren's birthday Friday night and it was SO good!  I think it would taste even better on a hot summer evening...I'll have to make it again then to test that theory!

  Ingredients

1 pkg Strawberry or Raspberry Kool-Aid

6 ounces frozen lemonade

6 ounces frozen orange juice

6 ounces pineapple juice

2 (20 ounce) bottles 7-Up

Change to: gallon US Metric

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Directions

Mix Kool-Aid according to package directions

Add the frozen juices.

Refrigerate.

When ready to serve add 7-Up! 

Cheese Please

 

So remember this gorgeous girl that I got for Christmas?  I decided to try her out the other day.  

(Week?  Time is flying this month!)

 I was able to pick up 4 lbs of cheese at Albertson's for $6.00 total.  I love combining a good coupon with a good sale!
Last time I did this I had to hand grate 6 blocks of this cheese by HAND.  Seriously, it took forever and my hand hurt that day!

My life is so hard!  Ha!

 Would you lookie there?  So easy.

And within 15 minutes I had 8 bags of cheese with 2 cups each in them to put in the freezer.  

Love it!

Peppermint Trifle

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix 

1 Large Package Instant Chocolate Fudge pudding

2 small containers whipped cream

Red food coloring

1 cup powdered sugar

1 package crushed candy canes

Make cake according to directions on the box.  Let cool completely and cut into 1" squares.  Make pudding by adding 1/2 cup more milk than package calls for. You want it to be a little bit thinner and more of it. Mix powdered sugar and whipping cream until thick.  Add food coloring until you get your desired color.  (*You could use cool whip instead for a lighter version!)

In a trifle dish or punch bowl, cover the bottom evenly with 1/3 of the cake squares.  Cover the cake with 1/3 of the pudding.  Next add the whipping cream and then a thin layer of crushed candy canes!  Repeat!  In my dish I could only layer everything twice.  You want to make sure you end up with a pretty layer of crushed candy canes on top!

Served chilled - it looks so pretty and tastes yummy!

Linking up to Somewhat Simple and Crazy Domestic and No Minimalist Here!!

The Great Freezer Fill Up!

I got a GREAT deal on ground beef at Albertson's last week. It was on sale $1.58 per lb and then I had a 50 cents off coupon making it $1.38 per lb! Cheap! I bought 20 lbs and got to work.

Browned the meat with a bit of salt....

Drained the fat...

Put 2 cups each in freezer bags for future meals. I made a few batches of taco seasoned meat and a batch of sloppy joe seasoned meat.

MMM!! I love having things like this ready to go for dinner on busy nights!

I also scored 4 blocks of 2 lb Tillamook Cheese for $2.99 each on sale WITH a coupon. I grated all of that and bagged it the same way.

Chicken Pot Pie

Not sure where I even got this recipe, but it is now a family favorite and my go-to recipe for when I need to take in dinner to someone. It's EASY!! And it tastes so good for being semi-homemade.

You will need:
1 cup pre-cooked, diced chicken
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 1/2 cup frozen hashbrowns
(I like using the southern style, but shredded will work also)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 9" pie crust
(I buy the Wal-Mart brand pre rolled crust that come 2 per pkg for about $1.50 Saves time and it tastes homemade. )

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a saucepan, over medium heat, cook onions in butter till soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk.
(I use this Chicken Base that I get at CostCo. It stores well in the refrigerator and is inexpensive.)

Simmer everything over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.

Put one of the pie crust into the pan. In a bowl, mix chicken, veggies and hash browns together.

Dump into pie pan.

Pour hot mixture over the chicken, veggies and hash browns. Spread evenly.

Put second pie crust on top and pinch edges together. Slit at least 4 holes on top. I use a fork to make decorations with.

Here is the fun part. If you want to, you can freeze this at this point! So often times when I make this, I make two pies at once...one to eat or give away, and then one to freeze and eat later on a busy night!

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 425 degrees if the pie is not frozen. If frozen, let the pie stand for one hour before baking, then bake at 425 degreees for 55-60 minutes or until center is bubbly through the slits. Cool 10-15 minutes before serving.
Serves 6-8 people

Christmas Salad

I know it's too early to think about Christmas but whenever I make this salad the colors remind me of that time of year. (And it is a fancier salad that I bring to a lot of holiday parties!) It is SO good!!

You will need:
1 bundle fresh spinach leaves (I remove the stems, yuck)
1 head of iceberg lettuce
1 bundle of romaine lettuce
1 small cont. plain feta cheese
1 cup craisins
1 cup chopped glazed (candied) walnuts
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1 bottle Brianna's poppy seed dressing

Wash all lettuce and dry. Chop into bites sizes pieces and toss together in large bowl. Crumble feta cheese onto salad. Add craisins, walnuts and onions. Toss together. Add a bit more of everything to decorate the top of salad. Serve with poppy seed dressing.

It feed a crowd and it's delicious! Enjoy!

M&M Cookies

OH!! These are so good that I stole the recipe for them. Which is funny to me because I have since seen this recipe word for word a few other places.

So the "big family secret recipe" that was not to be shared with others? Not so secret after all.

Why do people recipe horde like that? So weird. Anywho...here is the yummy recipe free for the taking!

Ingredients:
1 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Mix together.

Add 2 1/4 cup white sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Mix together.

Add 1 cup M&M's.
Mix.

Drop 1 spoonful size cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheet spacing them about 1" apart.
Decorate with more M&M's pressing them slightly into the dough so they won't fall off.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!