7 Layer Bars

So this is pretty much my favorite cookie ever! You've all probably had them in some form. They have a bunch of names such as: 7 layer bars, hello dollies, and magic bars. I've always called them 7 layer bars and Ben and Jerry's call them that too...just sayin'.

I'd like to conclude this blog post with the reasons that I love these bars. I love coconut and these deliver coconut plus chocolate and butterscotch! I love cookie bars because you can assemble it so much faster than scooping cookies. Finally I love how super easy they are to make!! Good luck!

7 Layer Bars
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve plus 5 or 6 more crackers)
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts work great)
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut (As I've mentioned before I use Baker's brand)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Crush graham crackers into crumbs. Combine crumbs with melted butter until coated. Press crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Cover crust with chocolate and butterscotch chips, nuts and coconut. Drizzle the entire can of sweetened condensed milk evenly over the rest of the ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Allow to cool and set for about 30 min. before cutting and eating.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My kids love macaroni like most kids do. So over the last year or so I've been trying different recipe for homemade macaroni and this is the one I like the best. It's from Taste of Homes again and it was a big hit with the kiddos! Give it a try with your kids and take a break from the blue box :)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
4 cups uncooked pasta (Penne is pictured above)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk (the recipe calls for 2% but I've used all kinds)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Dash ground nutmeg
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup Velveeta

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until it make a smooth paste. Gradually add the milk. Stir in salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses until melted.

Drain pasta; stir in cheese sauce. Transfer to a 9x13 in. casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly!

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Here's a fun treat! A fruity rainbow complete with marshmallow clouds and chocolate treasure! It was very quick to put together and I could barely keep my 3 year old from eating it so that I could take a picture. My wonderful husband is sending me out for a girls weekend out of town with some friends...so I decided to make a few surprises that he could give to the kids for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. But when you have 4 daughters rainbows can be a delicious snack any day of the year so I'm sure I'll be using this again! Have fun!

Fruity Rainbow Snack
1 carton strawberries (chopped)
4 clementine oranges (peeled and sectioned)
1 cup pineapple (I used canned but fresh would be delicious too!)
green grapes
1 small carton blueberries
red grapes
mini-marshmallows
Rolos candies (you can buy these in a bag or in the little candy bar rolls)

Arrange fruit in a rainbow. Strawberries on the outer rim of the plate and then follow the order of rainbow colors (oranges, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, and then red grapes). Make a cloud (using the marshmallows) on one end of the rainbow and a pile of gold (using the Rolos) on the other. Watch your kids faces light up! Enjoy!

Baked Linguini with Meat Sauce

This is one of Alex's favorite meals. We have it every Valentine's day and it is pretty delicious. It's super dense and filling too though...so be prepared to have a ton of leftovers! It's kind of the same layering idea as lasagna. I would say that it's easier to make than Lasagna but uses just as many dishes to make it :)

My kids love this pasta too. It might just be because I serve it with asparagus...and given the choice between pasta and asparagus they go with the pasta! At any rate they gobble this up!

Baked Linguini
1 lb. linguini
1 lb. ground beef
1 (26 oz) can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 T. sugar
1 (8 oz) brick cream cheese
16 oz. sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

Boil linguini noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, cook beef and drain. Add tomato products, garlic and sugar to the meat. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, and green onion.

Drain pasta and place in the bottom of a 9x13 in. baking dish. Cover pasta with cream cheese mixture and then meat sauce. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 min. or until heated through. Top with cheddar and bake an additional 5 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes before serving.

Cheesy Corn Dip

Have you ever looked at the picture for a recipe and thought it was going to be delicious but then when you read the ingredients it was totally different than you thought? So I saw a recipe for corn dip in a magazine and cut it out with the intent to use it. But I was just going off the picture. By looking at the picture I assumed it had tomatoes and cheese in it. But then I realized it was really pimentos and barely any cheese. So then I decided that I would just make up a recipe that I thought encompassed the flavor I was imagining the picture to have :) So here's what I came up with! It's basically how I make queso and then I added some corn. Quick and easy! Enjoy!

Cheesy Corn Dip
1 can tomatoes with diced green chilies (do not drain) -I use Rotel
1 (16 oz.) brick of Velveeta (diced into 1 in. cubes)
1 can sweet corn with red and green bell peppers (drained)
1/4 cup flour

Cut up cheese and place in large saucepan. Add the whole can of tomatoes and chilies (do not drain). Melt cheese over medium heat until totally blended with tomatoes and chilies. Drain corn and add to the cheese mixture. Add flour and whisk into dip until smooth. Allow to thicken. Serve warm with tortilla chips. (I kept mine in a crockpot on warm for the entire party so that it didn't get to thick)

Angel Food Cake Trifle

This is another delicious recipe from my friend Juli! She gave it to me a few years ago and I've used it several times for parties, holidays, etc. It serves a lot of people and it is super easy to put together. It's great in the summer because if you buy the angel food cake (which I always do) there is no baking involved. The original recipe called for just strawberries but I kind of combined it with another recipe I had and added some blueberries, bananas, and kiwis. My 3 year old helped me put this one together and she was super excited to tell everyone how fancy it was! Give it a try!

Juli's Angel Food Cake Trifle
1 large box vanilla pudding (prepared according to package directions)
1 angel food cake (cut into 1 inch cubes)
1 regular sized box raspberry jello
1 cup boiling water
1/2 carton strawberries sliced
2 kiwis chopped
1 banana sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
2-3 cups whipped cream (I prefer to make my own but cool whip would work too)

Prepare vanilla pudding according to package directions and refrigerate until set. Meanwhile, chop up angel food cake and fruits. Place chopped cake in the bottom of trifle bowl. Combine raspberry jello with 1 cup boiling water. Allow to cool slightly and pour half over cake. Arrange fruits on top of cake (reserving a few pieces for garnish). Pour the other half of the jello mixture over the fruit. Cover with prepared pudding and top with whipped cream. Arrange a few pieces of fruit on top as desired. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to let jello chill. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Buttermilk Heart Pancakes

Happy Valentine's Day! I got this idea from pinterest. They had a big fancy recipe involving red velvet and buttermilk pancakes. I cheated and used food coloring. I'll explain that later. But first...a quick rant...what is the deal with red velvet? It's in like everything! Pancakes, cheesecake, muffins, cookies, etc. I'm just not a big red velvet fan and they keep tainting otherwise delicious things with it. Why now? Why the sudden craze? ...and we're back!

So, back to the recipe at hand. You can use any pancake recipe you want. I've included a recipe here since this is a recipe blog and all. Just divide the batter in half, dye one of the halves another color and then mix and match the hearts.

I loved this idea! Now I don't have to spend a bunch of time making pancakes into shapes. Just make regular circle pancakes using your favorite recipe and then cut the shape out that you want. Think of all the holidays you can cover using the same method :) Snowmen, easter bunny, turkeys, whatever! For birthdays you could cut out the child's age. So easy! Just promise that you will use this new found power for good!

Heart Pancakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 T. cooking oil

To make batter: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture and set aside. Combine egg, buttermilk and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened (batter will be lumpy). Add additional buttermilk to thin batter, if desired.

To make heart pancakes: Divide batter in half and dye one of the halves your desired color. Cook pancakes over medium heat. Make sure to cook pancakes slowly so that they don't brown too much. Once pancakes are done cooking cut out hearts using a heart shaped cookie cutter. Mix and match colors to get the desired effect.