kool-aid cookies

kool-aid cookies.
Adapted from joanne fluke "apple turnover murder"
DROP cookies

preheat oven 325 degrees.depending on size, makes about 6 dozen cookies

ingredients:
1 package (aprox .16 oz) of kool-aid, the unsweetened kind - * any flavor
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup softened butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 large eggs slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in cup when measuring)
1/2 cup white surge in bowl for rolling dough in

to make:
mix the kool-aid with the sugar. add softened butter and mix until fluffy.
add eggs and mix well.
mix in salt and baking soda until well incorporated.
Add flour in 1/2 cup increments mixing well after each addition.

prepare cookie sheet with non-stick spray or parchment paper
 With hands, roll dough into balls aprox, 1 inch in diameter
roll cookie dough ball in white sugar and place on cookie sheet.
bake 325 for 10-12 minutes... or until they just start to turn golden around the edges.
dont' over bake!
let cookies cool on sheet for about 1 minute then remove to wire tack to cool.

*NOTES: Black cherry makes the best flavor cookies )watermelon is also a favorite.
Peach-mango was different..not too bad ,
also did a lemon-berry(think it was blueberry?) they went over well at a tea part.
we're not fans of grape in this house but they'd probably be good too.
hoping to try strawberry soon!

Desert dips with cream cheese

Chocolate chip cookie dough dip

1(8oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confection/powder sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Monster Cookie Dough Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, slightly softened 
1 cup creamy peanut butter 
2 cups powdered sugar 
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 ½ cups rolled oats, old fashioned or quick (see Note)
2/3 cup plain M&Ms (give or take)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
1. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter until smooth. 
2. Add in the powdered sugar, brown sugar, flour, and vanilla.
3. Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer or just a wooden spoon, mix in the oats. You may want to use more or less here. I really like the oats in it and a thicker dip so I added a lot. Remember that the dip will also firm up a bit in the fridge.
4. Add the M&Ms and chocolate chips.
5. Store in the refrigerator until serving. Serve with pretzels, graham crackers, or apple slices. You can dip or spread this depending on how thick you made your dip. Try not to eat it all like I did!
6. Note: You can use more or less oats to adjust the thickness of your dip. Start with about 1 1/2 cups oats and keep adding until you reach your desired thickness. If you use quick oats you might use less since it’s finer and will make the dough thicker.


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Red velvet Cake batter dip
(works with chocolate cake batter too-see below)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 c. red velvet cake mix
2 c. powdered sugar
3-4 tbsp. milk
Instructions:
In a stand mixer, whisk together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Whisk in the red velvet cake mix, 1 cup at a time. Add 1-2 tbsp. of milk alternately, if necessary, to keep consistency smooth.
Whisk in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternately with tablespoons of milk. Continue adding powdered sugar and milk until it reaches a consistency and a sweetness that you like.
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Chocolate cake batter dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups Devil’s Food Cake Batter (the mix)
4-6 Tablespoons milk, depending on desired consistency
2 cups powdered sugar

For the pie crust dippers
1 refrigerated pie crust, from a pack of 2
1 tablespoon melted butter
Sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions
For the dip
Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add cake batter and 3 tablespoons of milk and mix until well combined.
Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar, mixing well. Add an additional 2-4 tablespoons of milk, depending on how thick you want your dip. Taste and add more powdered sugar if you want it sweeter (if you add more sugar, you may need more milk.)
For the dippers
Unroll pie crust and cut out desired shapes. Re-roll once or twice as needed. Place cutouts on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar.
Bake 350° for 5-7 minutes until golden. Cool completely and use for dipping. (Makes 3 dozen.)
Note: You can also use fruit, graham cracker sticks, or a spoon for serving.
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Cake Batter Dip

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted & cooled
1/2 cup powder sugar   
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup Funfetti cake mix (mix powder, not batter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons milk
1 - 2 Tablespoons sprinkles
  

Directions
*With an electric hand mixer beat cream cheese, powder sugar and cake mix together until combined.
Add in vanilla, milk, and butter, Mix for about 2 mins until smooth and creamy. (Mixture will be thick)
Pour in bowl and top with sprinkles and refrigerate until chilled. When it first comes out of the fridge it will some what hard giving it a few minutes to come to room temperature helps.
Serve with animal crackers, vanilla wafers, or your favorite cookie
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Banana bread dip:

 INGREDIENTS: 8oz Cream Cheese -softened,
 1 cup banana quick bread mix,
1/4 cup butter -softened,
2 tbsp milk,
1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2tbsp walnuts.

 DIRECTIONS: Mix and beat together the first 5 ingredients. Then fold in half of walnuts into the creamy mixture. Use the remaining walnuts for your topping. Serve with graham crackers, or Nilla wafers. Enjoy!

Eggnog Mini Loaves

From tastes of home magazine - gave these as christmas good- very tasty!

here is the link: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Eggnog-Mini-Loaves

Says it is diabetic friendly - BUT there is sugar in it...maybe it would work well with splenda too..

30 Servings 

Prep: 15 min. Bake: 30 min. + cooling Ingredients 

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

2 eggs 

1 cup eggnog 

3/4 cup sugar 

1/2 cup butter, melted 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

2 teaspoons rum extract 

Directions In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

In another bowl, beat the eggs, eggnog, sugar, butter and extracts; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into three greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

 Yield: 3 loaves. Editor's Note: This recipe was tested with commercially prepared eggnog. Nutrition Facts: 1 slice equals 105 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 27 mg cholesterol, 106 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 2 g protein.

*******MY NOTES. This is a nice , sweet but not too sweet quick bread that I make every year for gifts. All my friends and family love it. I’ve also made it boozy by adding about 2 tablespoons of Kahlua  to make 1 cup with the eggnog. I’ve used rum too, a spiced rum and skipped the rum extract. 

FYI this pairs well with the blueberry jam (kinda like a freezer jam )  recipe here http://flirtysrecipestorage.blogspot.com/2011/12/blueberry-jam.html

BLUEBERRY JAM

BLUEBERRY JAM (tastes of home magazine)

Good for diabetics because there is no sugar added

Ingredients
1/3 cup thawed apple juice concentrate
1 envelope plain gelatin
5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Pour the apple juice concentrate into a saucepan; sprinkle with gelatin and allow to soften for several minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, finely chop blueberries, 1 cup at a time. Add lemon juice, spices and 2 cups of chopped berries to gelatin; heat over medium-low until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in remaining berries and mix well.
Pour into jars or plastic containers; store in the refrigerator up to three weeks.OR freeze up to one year. Yield: 4 cups.

Gave out as christmas gifts- it went over very well.

green beans , stewed tomates and italian spices

This is a combination of several recipes I found for green beans and stewed tomatoes ,with an italian touch ;) Making it for friends tonight- we'll see if there needs to be any tweaks.

Ingredients

1lb. Fresh Green Beans

or 2 cups of frozen

or 1 can cut green beans (14oz)

2 Tb butter,

or 1 Tb olive oil.( I like butter)

1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced - red onions work nicely too,

or 2 scallions

1 Garlic Cloves, crushed/minced

1 tsp dried Basil

1 Tb dried parsley or 1/4 cup fresh-chopped.

3 ripe medium to large Tomatoes, diced or one can stewed tomatoes(10 or 14oz)

1 Tb balsamic vinegar

1 tsp steak sauce

2 Tb water

salt & pepper to taste ( I do not use salt )

Optional (as seen in other recipes)

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped pepper green..or yellow for a splash of color:)

1.if fresh green beans - Trim the ends off the beans, cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths.OR drain the can of beans

2.FRESH only->and optional In a large sauce pot cook the beans in lightly salted water for 3 min. Drain the beans and set aside.

3. In a non-stick skillet, heat butter/oil and add onions,(celery and green pepper at this time too) garlic and basil. Cook for 2 min. or until soften

4. Add remaining ingredients, except the beans, and cook for 3 minutes.

5. Add the beans.

6. Cover and cook for an additional 10-15 min. until beans are tender, stirring often. (you can simmer without a lid but may need to add water as it simmers to keep mixture moist.)

7. ENJOY!!!!

Today I am using fresh green beans, vadalia onion and yellow pepper,plus I am skipping step 2 of the process..... I am SURE I will do this again with frozen or canned beans no doubt!

Mini- cheese cakes

I searched through several recipes and each one was slightly different then the others... so this is what I came up with adding different components of other's recipes

.. I've gotten rave reviews on how little a bite packs alot of flavor!!

1 8oz package cream cheese

24 vanilla wafers

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 c sour cream

1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp almond

1/4 tsp nut meg

1/2 tbs lemon juice

375 for 20-25m -tops get a light golden....

in mini-muffin tin- I used the mini-cup cake papers - place 1 vanilla wafer in the bottom of each cup.

In medium bowl, mix softened cream cheese, sugar and sour cream with beater on low to medium, add egg. Mix well until creamy. Add all other ingredients & mix thoroughly. Spoon cream cheese mix by rounded teaspoon full on top of each vanilla wafer. Should make 24 easily, may have a little extra, go back and fill in if you think a few need a little more.

Bake as directed above until light golden brown on top.

Serve with jelly- I put three different kinds of jelly in small dishes with a spoon for guest to choose which fruit they would like. My fav is red raspberry ( seedless jam!) , Blueberry, and Cherry. Have of course used strawberry too and even spooned apple pie filling & drizzled with caramel- that was a huge hit!!

fresh tomatoes over pasta( a tomato pesto?)

We tried to grow some tomatoes this year. I don't recall what type they were but as you can see they came out small. They're bigger then a cherry tomatoe, smaller then a plum, but very tasty and sweet. There were about dozen + I didn't know what to do with them so I made a one dish pasta ( probably could have been stretched to two..lol)

I'm not one to really measure so these are estimates. It was really tough to do a 'free-hand' recipe like this but I'm glad I tried it. If you decide to attempt to re-create this- let me know what you think please! (be kind -as I said, it was my first try..lol)

I guess it's sort of like a tomato pesto sauce... enjoy!

This is a full tomato flavor dish so it you don't like tomatoes as a whole- don't try this dish.

Ingredients used:

15-20 cherry Tomatoes - or in my case...12-14 small tomatoes ;)

1 clove of garlic- If you really like garlic add more ~ think I should have used at least two

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

Fresh herbs

Basil- chopped - came to about a tablespoon

Oregano- chopped - little over half a tablespoon

Italian flat leaf parsley- chopped- half a tablespoon

1 teaspoon sugar, pinch of mint flakes ***

salt & pepper to taste

I sliced and quartered the tomatoes to prep them for the sauce pot.

In a sauce pot heat up the olive oil over medium heat then add onions & garlic -saute until onions become clear. Add the fresh chopped herbs , turn to a simmer, let cook a few minutes so all the herbs and flavors blend well with the oil.

Add the sliced tomatoes to the pot and turn the heat back up to medium high. STIR FREQUENTLY. My father taught me to add something to tame the acidity of the tomatoes.

*** This is the point where I add a little sugar. Some of my friends add mint, others I know add carrots. I think carrots would have been nice and colorful to the dish,but would have definitely made it taste on a whole new dimension , so it's up to you what you like. Also if you use fresh mint, be careful to only use a small amount as it easily over powers the dish. I decided along with the tsp of sugar, to add a dash of dried mint I had - just a small pinch ;)

Taste as you go- and adjust as you like !!

Remember to stir frequently until the tomatoes start to soften and break down a bit. Not too much- we still want some chunk to it and not boil the taste of the tomatoes out. It's a personal choice of course, others may like the freshness of the tomatoes and only want them heated up a bit... I preferred the consistency as seen in the photo below :

Serve over and mix it in with your favorite pasta- or, I bet this would be good over rice too!

I also sprinkled in some parmesan cheese when I mixed it up and served it..

NOTE: I tried a little more with some shredded mozzarella .... definitely go with the parmesan- It pairs much better with this !! :)

BUON APPETITO!