Pumpkin and Sausage Stuffed Shells

1 jar Aldis Pumpkin Chipolte Pasta Sauce**

abt 15  lg pasta shells

mozzarella cheese

1lb  package ground sausage (could use hot or sage sausage)

Boil shells until al dente. Drain

Fry up sausage with bell pepper and mushrooms or any other veggie you would like - onions or zucchini might be good - would be great place to use leftover vegggies

Pour a small amt of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Place drained empty shells on top of the sauce and spoon fill w the sausage mixture. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the shells and sprinkle w cheese Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly

** I did find a recipe for a pumpkin chipolte sauce here  if you don't have an Aldis - I have not tried it

Galaxy Themed Card Holder

For my daughters space themed wedding

I couldn't find a card holder that 

really worked well with the theme 

so I made one!

It started with 50/50 mix

of glue and water

and Sunday's newspaper

I found if I mixed it and put

it back into the empty

bottle and used it to

spray a small amt

it worked best 

Now I will say this is VERY messy!

I started covering it with the colored pages

of the paper and alternated 

with black and white print

this kept me straight on which layer

I was on

I did 5 total layers

I left an area big enough for the slot for card 

and a hand to fit into

The last layer I used a paperbag

Once all covered I let it dry for 

4 days

I then covered it with jet black paint

I let that dry for a day 

Then drew the constellations 

on it.

I picked the astrological signs

of the bride, groom and their children

I then added when they 1st met, engaged, and married

I filled in with their favoite ones.

I used othe old school method of

pencil to transfer then used

a silver fine point paint pen

After that I put 2 layers

of Modpodge

I let that dry for a day

 then I cut the slot out of the ball

 and gently pulled the ball out 

I decided it needed some bling 

so I used one row of rhinestones

For the base i covered a stryofoam ring

from the Dollar Tree

with satin ribbon 

and add rhinesotn bling from the Dollar Tree

Pretzel Buckeye Brownies

I got the orginal recipe here

Of course I adapated it a bit

Heat oven to 350°F. 

1 box brownie mix (I like Aldis brand)

2 eggs

1/4 C water

1/2 oil

Mix according to 

the pkg instructions

Pour abt half on top 

of a parchment line pan

• Peanut Butter Swirl
  ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  ½ cup powdered sugar
  2 tablespoons butter, melted
  ½ teaspoon vanilla
• In small bowl, mix Peanut Butter Swirl 
  ingredients until smooth. Drop by spoonfuls  
  on top of brownie batter in pan. 
  Spoon remaining brownie batter 
  between peanut butter spoonfuls. 
  Use knife to swirl the two together. 
  Top with remaining pretzel twists.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or
•  until brownies are set
  and appear dry around edges.
  Cool 30 minutes.

Chocolate Glaze

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter

In small microwavable bowl,

 Microwave Chocolate Glaze ingredients

uncovered on Medium

(50%) in 1-minute intervals until melted

 and smooth,

about 3 minutes. Heat just until melted;

do not overheat. Drizzle over

cooled brownies.

Let stand 20 minutes before cutting.

Swordfish Tacos w pineapple salsa

Tonight, we wanted to try something different 

and had swordfish left over so I decided to make

 fish tacos with pineapple salsa. 

I was worried it 

might be too sweet but it wasn’t at all! I got the 

recipe for the salsa here (I did not use the rice 

vinegar as it was tart enough). It was nice change 

and perfect for the hot weather. 

Layer the taco's

fish

shred cabbage

pineapple salsa

and sprinkle w cheese

Pineapple Salsa - est calories 248 per recipe

                                     2 cup chopped fresh pineapple

                                       1 Cup chopped red pepper

                                        1C chopped purple onion

                                                cilantro to taste

                                       chopped jalepeno to taste

                                               1Tbsp lime juice

Easter Meal

 Lemon Tartlets

Pretzel Chicks and Chocolate Peeps

Strawberry "Carrots"

Deviled Eggs Fruit Salad Carrot salad

Beef Sliders, Ham, Mac n Cheese

Salted Maple Bacon Truffles

I needed to adapt this a bit as I found it to be too moist

The original recipe can be found here

Salted Maple Bacon Truffles makes abt 54

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 cups flour

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp maple extract

1/2 cup finely chopped, cooked bacon (1 used 2 pkg of prechopped bacon)

 

Topping

1 pkg chocolate almond bark

1/3 cup very finely diced, cooked bacon

coarse sea salt

 

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.

Add in the flour, condensed milk, maple extract, and bacon.

Stir until well combined. 

Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 Tbsp),

scoop dough onto a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap

or parchment paper.

Roll the dough into balls so they are round

Freeze balls for about 20 - 30 minutes to firm up.

When dough is chilled;

melt chocolate on the stove top in a pan

Be careful not to over heat the chocolate or it will seize. 

Dip a ball into the melted chocolate

and then shake off any excess.

Quickly sprinkle a pinch of the very finely diced bacon

and a smaller pinch of sea salt onto the top of the truffle

before the chocolate solidifies.

Repeat with the rest of the truffles.

 

Once they are all dipped they do not have to be frozen.

You only freeze them for a short time

to make them easier to dip. 

Because of the bacon they should probably

be kept in the fridge until ready to serve. 

  

Green Tomato Cake

Wonder what to do with those extra pesky green tomatoes?

 Tired of fried green tomatoes?

Make Green Tomato Cake!

This is a very moist spice like cake that freezes well.
I made the cupcake version this time

Green Tomato Cake 

Makes 1 - 9x13 inch cake pan

can make cupcakes as well

1/2 C butter or margarine 

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1C white sugar

 1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs 

1/4 tsp salt

2 C all-purpose flour

 1/2 C chopped nuts

1/2 C raisins 

4 C chopped green tomatoes

1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 Tbsp salt

Wash, peel and dice green tomatoes. 

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt.

 Let stand 10 minutes.

 Place in a colander 

and rinse with cold water and drain.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. 

Cream butter and sugar. 

Add eggs and beat until creamy.

 Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda and salt. 

Add raisins and nuts to dry mixture; add to creamed mixture. 

Dough will be very stiff. Mix well. 

Add drained tomatoes and mix well.

Pour into a prepared 9 x 13 inch pan. or muffin tins

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes (for loaf)

abt 15-20 min for cupcake
or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar or 

frost with your favorite caramel 

or cream cheese frosting.

Breakfast Sausage Biscuits

I got the recipe from here

This is perfect for those grab and go

breakfast moments

I wish I would've made

them when my kids were teens

I used 2 rolls of sausage and rolled it to the edge
baked at 350 until brown

I used pork sausage which shrank  ALOT!

I will try turkey next time to 

see if there is less shrinkage
I cut them in to squares
and put it on the top of the English Muffins

I added salsa to the eggs

before I put them in the oven
baking at 350 until set

After cooking I sprinkled

cheese instead of using slices

Cut those into squares

and topped the sausage

Wrapped them up and froze them

Cookie Monster Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

I used a rack similar to this

Fill the cups abt 1/2 full with cake batter

make according to the package instructions

I used

because they didn't fill up

completely  I added some frosting

before decorating with a tip 223

I used

Add lg  eyes from Wilton

These were the best way

to serve because they can be held

by small hands and

they really don't get

much cake or frosting