Walnut Coconut Chocolate Bars

You Will Need:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine melted
• 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut 
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (regular or fat free, I used fat free and these turned out great)
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9" casserole dish with oil and then dust it lightly with flour. Add melted butter and distribute the butter in the casserole dish evenly, next sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly and pat down, (do not mix), sprinkle flaked coconut over crumbs, then chocolate chips, drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly. Top with nuts. Bake 24 minutes. Let them cool only for a few minutes, then cut them into squares while they are still a little bit warm. This will make cutting them easier. These are very rich, so I like to cut them into small bite size squares, but you can also cut them into bars if you'd like to. 

Enjoy!

Spinach Dip

You Will Need: 

• 1 (10 oz.) box of chopped frozen spinach (thawed and well drained)
• 1 (16 oz.) container sour cream
• 1 (1 oz.) packet ranch dressing/dip mix 
• tortilla chips, crackers or  chopped vegetables 

Stir ingredients together. Chill for an hour or so. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or chopped vegetables.  Makes 2 cups. 

Enjoy! 

This delicious recipe was introduced to me recently by my sweet mama. It's become one of my favorite dips! 

Peanut Butter Fudge

You Will Need: 

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt on med-low heat the first 3 ingredients until well blended. Remove from burner, mix 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) until smooth. Spread in 8"x 8" or 9" x 9" pan lined with wax paper. Chill 4 hours. Remove from pan and cut in squares. 

The first time I tried these was a few years ago, when my daughter in-law brought some to our home during the holidays. I love these! They are delicious! 

Enjoy! 

Chocolate Fantasy Dessert

You Will Need: 

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup margarine melted
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Combine and press into 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (softened)
• 1 cup cool whip
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

 Combine and  spread over cooled crust

3 1/2 cups milk
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
1 large box instant chocolate pudding
more cool whip for the top layer
small chocolate bar to grate over the top 

In a large bowl combine puddings and milk. Stir until thickened. Pour over first two layers. Cover with cool whip. Grate small chocolate bar over all. 

Note: This recipe uses a 12 oz. container of cool whip, (although I could only find the 16 oz. size so that's what I bought).  

This recipe was given to me by my Aunt about 29 years ago, she typed it out for me and I am sharing it here just as she has it on my typed copy. 

This is a great dessert to feed a crowd! It is so rich and delicious! 

Enjoy!

Cucumber Salad with Parmesan Cheese

You Will Need: 

• 3 cucumbers (peeled, sliced, and seeded
• 1-2 roma tomatoes (sliced and diced)
• 1/4 of a small red onion (diced) or 1-2 green onions chopped
• 1/4 cup oil (canola)
• 1/2 tsp. salt and more to taste
• pepper to taste
• dash of sugar or more to taste
• parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top)

Mix the ingredients together, the longer it sits the better it tastes, refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with Ritz cracker or Captain Wafer crackers. Will keep up to 5 days refrigerated. 

Enjoy! 

Crockpot White Chicken Chili

You Will Need: 

• about a pound of boneless chicken strips (about 6-8 chicken strips)
• 1 Tablespoons of chili powder 
• salt, pepper and garlic powder, plus more chili powder
• 1 can cream of chicken soup 
• chicken broth carton 32 oz.
• water as needed for desired consistency 
• 1  (4 oz.) can of diced  green chilies fire roasted and peeled (medium)
• 4 to 6 cans (15 oz.) white kidney beans (cannellini beans) drained and rinsed
• 1 envelope dry onion soup (dip) mix 
• shredded cheddar cheese for topping
• sliced green onion for topping 
• tortilla chips or jiffy cornbread (or any brand of sweet cornbread) 

Grease bottom and sides of crockpot. Wash chicken strips, place in the bottom of a crockpot and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder and some chili powder. Add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, can of diced green chilies, white kidney beans (that you've drained and rinsed), envelope of dry onion soup mix and tablespoon of chili powder, mix ingredients together, try not to stir the chicken from the bottom too much. Turn crockpot on high heat for about an hour, turn it to low for about 4-6 hours. Stir after about 4 hours or so, if you can. About an hour before final cooking time, remove chicken strips from crockpot onto a plate and shred them with two forks, place back in the crockpot and stir. Note: The chicken strips will be already falling apart and they will be easy to shred, you may be able to just shred them inside the crockpot, sometimes I do. You can add hot water toward the end of cooking for desired consistency.  

Serve topped with cheddar cheese and green onion. You can serve it with jiffy cornbread or any sweet cornbread. 

Enjoy! 

Black Bean Quesadillas

You Will Need:

• 8 corn tortillas (taco size) 
• 1 can black beans (15 oz. drained and rinsed)
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese or colby jack Mexican mixed cheese
• 1/4 cup picante sauce 
• 1 tsp. oil plus a little more for rubbing on the corn tortillas
• homemade guacamole dip (for this you will need 1 ripe avocado mashed and creamed and sprinkle of garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste) 
• tortilla chips to eat with the guacamole dip

Heat rinsed drained beans in a small pot with some water, bring to a boil, then drain water from  beans. In a bowl, combine beans and picante sauce. Rub oil onto each side of the corn tortillas, heat 1 tsp. oil in a non-stick skillet on medium heat, add one corn tortilla to the skillet cook 20 seconds or so on each side, sprinkle tortilla with cheese, then add bean mixture to the center of it, top with shredded cheese and top with another corn tortilla (like a sandwich), mash with a spatula. Use a spatula to carefully flip the corn tortilla, to brown the other side of it. Cook 1-2 minutes until golden brown on both sides.

Makes 4 Quesadillas

Eat with homemade guacamole dip with tortilla chips, chips and salsa or both and some Mexican rice! You can even add some of the homemade guacamole to the top of your quesadilla if you'd like to.

Enjoy!

Easy Mexican Rice

You Will Need:

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1/8 cup oil
• 4 oz. of tomato sauce (1/2 of a small can)
• 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 Tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 cups chicken broth
• dash of cumin
• dash of black pepper
• dash of garlic powder

Heat oil, rice and optional onion in a non-stick skillet on med-high heat, add rice, stir often and cook until it becomes a golden brown color, then add other ingredients to skillet and stir, cover and reduce heat, and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork.
Serves 4-6

Enjoy!

Marinated Chicken Strips

This Chicken recipe has a wonderful and unique flavor, slightly sweet, with a little kick from the spicy brown mustard.

You Will Need:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 6 Tablespoons oil
• black pepper
• 1 lb. to 1 1/4 lb. of chicken strips

For Marinade, mix together the first eight ingredients in a bowl, wash chicken strips, and beat them with meat mallet tenderizer and then sprinkle with black pepper, place chicken pieces in a gallon size freezer bag and pour the marinade mixture over the chicken.  Refrigerate 3-8 hours. When finished marinating the chicken, remove from bag, place chicken in a preheated lightly greased non-stick skillet, cook on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side, or until done (no longer pink).

Enjoy!

Chopped Steak with Onion & Mushroom Gravy

You will need:

• ground sirloin meat (enough for your size family) 
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 small can mushrooms or mushrooms with stems (drained)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 heaping Tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tsp. canola oil
• salt, black pepper, and garlic powder

Directions: 

In a nonstick skillet, add oil, onion and mushrooms, cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or so until onion is tender and transparent looking. Remove from skillet, place in small bowl and set aside. 

Make patties from the ground sirloin meat, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides. Add to skillet and cook on medium heat about 15 minutes (flip them every 4 minutes or so)  until they are no longer pink inside and liquid runs clear. When they are done, remove them from the skillet place on plate and set aside. 

Add cornstarch to 1/4 cup of cold water, stir well and set aside. (this is called cornstarch water)

On medium heat, to the skillet add beef broth, stir to remove beef bits from bottom of pan, stir in the cornstarch water, continue stirring, turn up the heat to medium-high heat, bring to a boil, keep stirring, when thickened (after about 5 minutes or so), add onions and mushrooms back to the skillet, salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low until ready to serve. Serve gravy over patties, or you can add the patties back to the skillet until ready to eat. 

This is great with homemade mashed potatoes!

Enjoy! 

Note: This is a thin gravy, for a thicker consistency, you can add a little more cornstarch mixed with little bit of water (a little bit at the time) and boil, and repeat, until desired thickness.