Mmm-Mmm Mondays: Last Minute Strawberry Shortcake

I know I've got a winner recipe when my kids taste it and say, "Mom, you should put this on your blog!"  This super quick and easy Strawberry Shortcake was one my daughter and I thought up as a last minute dessert for our family night. 

 15-Minute Strawberry Shortcake

 1 can of large refrigerator biscuits (we used butter-flavored)

1 large box instant vanilla pudding

strawberry jam

Directions: Bake biscuits as directed on can.  Mix pudding as directed on box. Open jar of jam like your common sense tells you to. Cut each biscuit in half, then put pudding and jam on top.  Couldn't be simpler, right?

Everyone in my family loved the way this tasted, and I loved how easy it was to put together--      only 15 minutes total!!

Mmm-Mmm Mondays: Back-to-School Breadsticks

• My kiddos and I had so much fun making this recipe--and it was educational, too!  So easy with only 3 ingredients and keeps the kids busy for at least 30 minutes.  All I can say is it was worth the mess!

 Here is all you need for the fun to begin!

• • 1 Loaf RHODES Bread Dough, thawed but still cold
  • 1 egg, beaten or melted butter
  • coarse salt, sugar, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or parmesan cheese and garlic salt

• coarse sugar, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or parmesan cheese and garlic salt

Added To Shopping List!

With a knife or scissors, cut thawed loaves into 4 long strips.

 

 Roll each piece into a rope 1/2-inch in diameter and form letters by cutting and overlapping where necessary.  

 

Place letters on a sprayed baking sheet. Brush with egg or melted butter. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap.

Let rise 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with coarse sugar ,seeds or parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Bake at

350 deg. F 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Now wasn't that easy?  Not only did my preschooler get to practice his alphabet, but we also made some great memories that my children will never forget.

Mmm-Mmm Monday: Easy Toffee Treat

Hi my friends! Sorry I'm a little late today--just trying to get in those last magical memories of summer before the kiddos go back to school this week!
And now onto the sugar rush....I first had these yummy treats about a decade ago at my sister-in-law's house.  I was thrilled last week when I saw the recipe posted on C.R.A.F.T.  A perfect recipe to do with kiddos, I had to try it!  It is so simple to do, and takes just a few minutes to bake.

Ingredients

4 ounces saltine crackers 1 cup butter 1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup toffee chips

4 ounces saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup toffee chips

Melt butter and brown sugar together in saucepan. Bring to boil, then boil for 3 minutes.

Pour butter mixture over saltines that are laid out on cookie sheet. Spread evenly over crackers.

 

Bake at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers and let sit for 5 minutes.  Spread over crackers and swirl a little, just for fun!

Sprinkle toffee pieces over the chocolate.

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then break up into pieces.  

I think I gained 5 pounds last week from the chocolate-toffee-buttery-goodness.  Gonna have to run a few extra miles this week to make up for it!

Mmm-Mmm Monday: Wacky Watermelon

Did you know that August 3rd was National Watermelon Day?  I guess I missed the "watermelon boat" on that one this year!!  But designated day or not, we are always watermelon fiends at my house, and we eat it several times a week during the summer. 

One summer day I thought, let's get a little wacky with it and cut some up with cookie cutters.  Let me tell you, it is so much faster to make watermelon cookies than sugar cookies, there is a lot less mess, and it is still super fun for the kiddos!  Here's what we tried this time....

While we were eating, one of my kids said, "Hey, Mom, these are really cool.  You should put them on your blog!"  Children don't miss much, do they?

Phil the Crockpot Goes on Safari

Phil has been out of the country the last few weeks (I've missed you!), and is back today to bring you Mmm-Mmm Mondays with an African flavor.  After going on safari in Kruger National Park last week, he took a drive through some of the native townships in South Africa and tasted his first curry dish.  Of course, now he wants to share a little bit of that spice with you (although a much milder form--this one won't make your eyes water unless you want it to!)

African Beef Curry

2 lbs. ground beef, browned

2 onions, diced

2 green peppers, diced

2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 apples, peeled, cored, and diced

2-4 tsp. curry (or more to taste)

6 c. prepared rice

Add all ingredients except rice in slow cooker and mix well.  Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours, then serve over hot prepared rice. 

My family shocked and surprised me by loving this  (even my picky 3-yr-old complimented me!), so I have doubled the recipe for all of you.  I plan to do this the next time I cook this one up!

Mmm-Mmm Monday: Fiesta Pasta Salad

Meet Jessica from one of my new favorite blogs "Or So She Says".  She made this FABULOUS pasta salad that not only looks festive, it's a party in your mouth! 

It's on my menu for dinner tonight.... care to join us?

 

Fabulous Fiesta Pasta Salad

The ingredients for the salad: bow tie pasta,cherry tomatoes, olives, shoe peg corn, black beans, green onion and green pepper. (This is great with chicken too!)

The ingredients for the dressing: white vinegar, vegetable oil, taco seasoning and ranch dressing.

While the pasta is cooking, chop up all your pretty vegetables.

When the pasta has cooked, let it cool for about 20 minutes, then add all the vegetables,

and the corn and black beans.

Mix together the white vinegar, vegetable oil and taco seasoning.

Then add the ranch dressing. (However much you'd like)

Mix together and add to the pasta salad.

Fiesta Pasta Salad

Ingredients
10 oz bow tie pasta

1 can black beans

1 can corn ( I prefer shoe peg)

1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

green onion

green pepper

(4 ck breasts)

Dressing

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

1pkg. taco seasoning

ranch dressing (about 1/4 cup)

Directions

Cook the pasta until al dente. Chop up all the veggies. Mix together the dressing. Add as much ranch dressing as you like to the dressing- I did about 1/4 cup. Add the veggies, corn and beans to the pasta. Add the dressing and mix everything together. It's even better the next day!

S'more Brownie Tarts

I was having so much fun with the giveaway I forgot to post my Mmm-Mmm Mondays awesome recipe!  If you're craving s'mores, but don't have a campfire in the immediate area, give these sweet little things a try.  We loved them at our house!

The ingredients are so simple, it's a great recipe to make with kids or grandkids!

 Make the brownie mix as directed on the box, then fill the mini graham cracker pie crusts about half-way.  Can you tell which one my kids filled?

Bake at 350 deg. for 20-23 minutes.  Let them cool for 2 minutes, then top with a few mini-marshmallows and broil until golden.

 We broiled these for 90 seconds, which we found was a little too long!  Black tops, the kitchen filled with smoke, and my hubby laughing in the background at our ruined dessert.  Nice.

You know when your marshmallow starts on fire?  Yep, that's what they taste like.

This batch turned out perfect, broiling them for about 45 seconds.

What an fun and simple summer treat!

Mmm-Mmm Mondays: Red, White, and Blue Kabobs

Thank you to Whitney over at SistersStuff for this fun and easy 4th of July recipe.  I just had to try it with my kids to see if it was as easy as she said it was. 

Not only was it super easy, it was also fast and FUN!  So all 3 criteria were met for it to have a permanent home in my recipe book. 

   

So maybe ours didn't turn out as pretty as theirs, but they tasted 

just as yummy!

I had to change a few things on the Sisters Stuff recipe.  For the original CLICK HERE.


skewers
blueberries
white almond bark
red/blue decorator's sugar
strawberries
large marshmallows

Melt almond bark in microwave about 1 minute, then stir.  Dip marshmallows and fruit into melted almond bark, then dip again in sugar crystals.  Allow to cool and thread onto skewers with blueberries and strawberries.  

If you have a great 4th of July recipe, don't be shy!  Link to it in your comments below.  We'd love to try it!

Mmm-Mmm Mondays: Phil the Crockpot with Delicious Turkey

Summer is officially here, which means I start avoiding heat like the plague--this includes a hot kitchen from baking in my oven.  So my two favorite ways to keep my family fed between June and September are
 1.  Grilling outside (which my husband or son usually take the reins on)  OR

 2.  Pulling out my trusty cooking side-kick, "Phil" the Crockpot.  He's such a part of our family, my kids actually named him!

One of our favorite recipes Phil the CP helps us make for dinner is a Cranberry Turkey Roast, yummy for Thanksgiving, even tastier for a Father's Day feast, but absolutely to die for when my 9-yr-old makes it without any help from me!  Seriously, with only 3 ingredients it is pretty hard to mess this one up.

Cranberry Turkey Roast

1 16 oz. can cranberry sauce

1 envelope onion soup mix

3-4 lb. boneless turkey breast

Mix cranberry sauce and onion soup mix together in slow cooker, place turkey roast on top.  Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours.  

It is hard to believe that something so simple can 

taste so delicious!

Mmm-Mmm Mondays: Dutch Oven Chuckwagon Bread

Getting your kids to eat wheat bread is not always an easy task.  We tried this recipe while camping, and the bread was eaten up in 10 minutes flat!  No kidding!  We also love this recipe because you can add in raisins, pumpkin, chopped apples, or even chocolate chips to change the flavor a bit. Hearty Dutch Oven flavor inside and homemade jam on top--we're in heaven!

Quick Chuckwagon Wheat Bread

1 egg beaten 

2 c. buttermilk   

3 T. molasses or honey

1 1/2 T. butter, melted

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 c. raisins

Combine egg, buttermilk, molasses and melted butter.  Mix dry ingredients separately, then add to egg mixture. Stir in raisins and spoon batter into 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake in 12" Dutch oven at 400 deg for one hour.

from "Log Cabin Dutch Oven"  by Colleen Sloan