Peanut Butter Play Dough

This is tons of fun to play with and completely edible! You can make a lot at a time and refrigerate or freeze and just pull it out when your ready for it!

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 1/2 cups honey
4 cups dry milk powder

DIRECTIONS
In large bowl, cream together peanut butter and confectioners' sugar, then beat in honey and fold in milk powder. Divide into 15 equal portions and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

St. Patricks Day Breadstick Shamrock

Here's a tasty new twist on the traditional St. Patrick's Day shamrock -- sweet green pretzels fashioned from canned refrigerated bread stick dough and coated with a sprinkling of colored sugar and cinnamon.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
	Canned refrigerated bread stick dough (we used Pillsbury Original Breadsticks)
	Colored sugar
	Cinnamon

1. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat it with cooking spray.
2. To create the clover shape, mold 3 sections of bread sticks into hearts and press them together as shown. Attach a small stem, decorate, bake according to the package directions, and serve them up to your lucky guests.

(from family fun magazine)

Café Rio Sweet Pork

Ingredients:
5-6 lb roast
1 tbsp cumin
1 c brown sugar
12 oz bottle taco sauce (not salsa)
24 oz bottle of Coca Cola or Dr. Pepper

Cook roast on low 12 hours in crock pot with water added half way up roast. After 12 hours drain water off roast and add remaining ingredients. Continue cooking 4 more hours. Shred the meat and cook 1-2 more hours.

Recipe from Lindsey

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3/4 C. Sugar
• 3/4 C. Brown Sugar
• 1 C. MELTED Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 2 1/2 C. Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 12 oz. Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix sugar, brown sugar and butter until butter is no longer seperated. Add eggs one at time and vanilla extract and stir until creamy. In seperate bowl mix dry ingredients. Slowly add flour mixture to creamy mixture. Add Chocolate chips and roll into balls on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Beef Brisket Sandwiches

• 5-6 lb. beef brisket
• 1 bottle heinz chili sauce
• 1/2 can dr. pepper or beer
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• seasoning to taste
• 6 hoagie rolls of choice

Season the brisket on both sides. Place in crock pot and pour chili sauce, dr. pepper (or beer), and olive oil over the top. Cook on low setting for about 5-6 hours (or until tender). Increase heat to high and cook for about 1 hour longer. Take brisket out of crock pot and cut against grain (meat should just kind of shred). Put shredded meat on hoagie rolls and you can top with some of the sauce from the crock pot. You can also add sauteed mushrooms and cheese for added flavor! =)

Oatmeal Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup Oats
• 1 3/4 cup Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 3/4 cup Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 12 oz. Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour boiling water over oats and let set for 10 minutes.

Pour melted butter over sugar and brown sugar and stir until creamy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Melt chocolate and add to creamy mixture. Add oatmeal; Mix well.

In seperate bowl, stir together dry ingredients and slowly add to oatmeal mixture.

Add half of the chocolate chips to the batter and pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan.

Top with remaining chocolate chips and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Rocky Mountain Cookies

1 C. Sugar
1 C. Brown Sugar
1 C. MELTED Butter (Melting it will help keep the cookies soft =))
(Cream these ingredients together and add:)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs (one at a time)

In Seperate Bowl:
2 C. Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

Add dry mixture slowly to creamy mixture, then add:

1 C. Oats
1 C. Rice Krispies
12 oz. Chocolate Chips (I use semi-sweet)

Roll into balls and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Smoky-Flavored barbecued Ribs

• 3 ½ lbs pork loin back ribs
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 3 tbsp. liquid smoke
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• ½ cup cola
• 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce

1. Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray
2. Remove inner skins from ribs. Mix brown sugar, pepper, liquid smoke, garlic and salt; rub mixture into ribs. Cut ribs into smaller pieces so they will fit in pot. Layer ribs and onion in pot. Pour cola over ribs.
3. Cover and cook on low heat setting (8-9 hours) or until ribs are tender. Remove ribs from crock pot. Drain liquid and discard.
4. Pour barbecue sauce into shallow bowl. Dip ribs in sauce. Place ribs in slow cooker and pour remaining sauce over ribs. Cover and cook on low setting for 1 hour.

Cream Cheese Cookies

• 1 pkg cake mix (any flavor)
• 1 pkg cream cheese
• ¼ cup margarine
• 1 egg
• 1/ tsp. vanilla

Cream margarine and cream cheese. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Add cake mix and mix well.

Form into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes

German Pancakes

1 cup milk
1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
1/3 cup butter

Place a 9x13 pan in a 375 degree oven. Allow to heat. In a blender, combine all ingredients except butter. Blend until smooth. Don't overblend. Once the oven is hot, place the butter in the pan in the oven and allow to melt. As soon as it is melted, pour the batter into the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes.

(I like to put orange juice concentrate over the top sometimes too)

CORN FLAKE KRISPIES

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup butter
• 30 marshmallows
• 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 3 1/2 cups cornflakes cereal

DIRECTIONS

Combine the butter and marshmallows in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Stir in the toasted almonds and cornflakes. Press into a 9x13 inch baking pan and let sit for 1/2 hour. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

These homemade versions of a favorite snack food are filled with healthy fruit and nuts and are very simple to make.

Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes

Makes 16

• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter or almond butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 crisscrossed rectangles of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang at 2 opposite ends. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds and cranberries.
2. In a small saucepan, whisk together oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, cinnamon, salt and 1 tablespoon water over low heat until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly; whisk in egg white. Pour over at mixture; stir until moistened. Spread evenly in bottom of pan; smooth top.
3. Bake until top is firm, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Lift out of pan, using paper as handles. Let cool completely, cut into bars with serrated knife.

Salisbury Steaks

* 6 Ritz crackers ( I personally use @ 8-10)
* 1 cup milk
* 1 beaten egg
* 2 lbs hamburger
* pinch of onion salt
* salt and pepper
* 1 or 2 pkgs brown gravy

soak crackers in milk for 2 minutes. add beaten egg, hamburger, pinch of onion salt, pepper and salt. mix together; form into patties and brown in frying pan on both sides. put browned patties in casserole dish. mix gravy according to package (you can use one or two packages- personal preference decision here)
pour gravy over meat (can also add canned mushrooms) Bake at 350 for 45

RECYCLE

So one of my "green moves" for the year is to recycle our pop cans. . . At first i thought i would be a pain since we live in an apartment and have very
little room to store them but it will pay off. We went to turn in our meager 2 bags this week and we got $3.00 i can't believe how easy it easy to make an extra dollar or two and recycle at the same time!
I urge everyone who does not already recycle their cans to do it!

Cheater Pot Pie

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 (5 ounce) can chicken chunks, drained
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated layered biscuits
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly butter a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with melted butter; reserve some of the melted butter.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine mixed vegetables and chicken; cook until vegetables are tender. Fold in soup; mix well. Pour in milk and mix until smooth; mixture should not be runny. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.
3. Remove from heat and spread mixture into bottom of pie pan. Separate biscuits into layers and place gently on top of mixture. Drizzle remaining butter on top of biscuit layers.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.