Cake Mix Cookies

This recipe originally called for lemon cake mix, but I used the red velvet and chocolate that I had on hand and they tasted really good. You can use any type of cake mix that you prefer. They are easy to throw together and taste great!

Cake Mix Cookies
(Recipe found on pinterest via angelastrand.com)

1 (15.25 ounce) box cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the cake mix, eggs and oil. Put the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Form dough into small balls and roll in the powdered sugar. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for about 6 minutes, watching closely and removing when the edges just begin to brown. Leave cookies on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Sugar Cookie Truffles

This was another yummy cookie that I tried for Christmas this year. They were a lot of work, especially when you don't take the shortcut of buying premade sugar cookie dough and they didn't turn out as pretty as I would like them to have. They were pretty tasty though and went very fast when I brought them out to all our events that we were going to over Christmas.

Sugar Cookie Truffles
(recipe found on pinterest via munchkinmunchies.com)

1 16 ounces package of sugar cookie dough - I used this recipe instead.
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 ounces white melting chocolate OR 1 cup white chips
1 tablespoon shortening
sprinkles for garnish

Bake cookies according to package directions...BUT baking until cookies are crisp, but NOT burned. Cool cookies completely on wire rack before moving on to the next step.
Line baking sheet with wax paper. Crumble the cookies into the food processor. Process until the cookies are a fine crumb. Add the cream cheese and process until the mixture starts to hold together. Roll mixture into 1" balls, placing on prepared baking sheet and chill in refrigerator for an hour. Melt white chocolate and shortening on medium power in 30 second intervals until just melted, stirring well after each interval. Dip each ball into white chocolate with a fork tapping off the excess. Return to baking sheet to set. Sprinkle with sprinkles while white chocolate is still wet.

Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites

This one is going to take you a ways back to Christmas time! :) These were honestly my new favorite Christmas cookie... I like to try a few new recipes each year and there are a lot of recipes that I try once and don't make again. There are a handful that I try and know that they are going to be made year after year - these are in that category!! They were scrumptious, pretty to look at and a hit every where that I took them.

Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites
(Recipe found on pinterest via www.createdby-diane.com/)

1 (30 ounces) package Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough (refrigerated section) or I used this recipe...
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Roll two teaspoons of cookie dough into a ball for each cookie. Place balls of dough into paper liners mini cupcake/muffin pan. Make a well/indentation into each ball of dough with a flour dipped mini rolling pin or the back of a measurement teaspoon. Beat room temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar. Stir in vanilla. Place filling into a piping bag, cut off edge of bag. Place one teaspoon or so of filling into each area of cookie dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes or until cookie tested with tooth pick comes out almost clean. Don't over fill the cookies with filling as they will rise when baked. Let cool before removing from cupcake pan.

Weekly Line Up - 5/8-5/14

Here is my weekly line up for the next few days! We have a lot going on this spring and are heading out to my nephews baseball games as much as we possibly can. That means looking for easily packed meals that are at least a little bit healthy and can be eaten hot or cold! I love watching the boys play though, so it is totally worth it! Enjoy spring!

Friday - Peanut Butter/Banana Roll-Ups, Grapes, Chips
Saturday - Pick Your Own Night (Getting back from a day at Chuck-E-Cheese for the kids' birthdays)
Sunday - Mother's Day (Night out of the kitchen!)
Monday - Chili Rubbed Pork Chops
Tuesday - Crescent Dogs
Wednesday - Pizza (Mama has bunco finale - supper out!)
Thursday - Spaghetti

Extras -- monster cookies, chocolate covered strawberries

Coming Soon...

Again, I have to ask - are you still out there? Cause I'm still here... I've disappeared off the face of the earth for a while, but I am making my way back. I have to - the new recipes that I have been trying are piling up everywhere, my pictures are getting lost and I'm forgetting what pictures go with what recipes. I have to jump back on the wagon! :) So, come back on Monday and I PROMISE there will be a new recipe! And I promise that I will try really hard not to disappear again (at least not for a while)! It's hard to ignore those babies of mine though - I have to take advantage of them while I have them because they are just growing up way to fast right in front of my face! So, the little things, like sitting down to a computer to type up my recipes get pushed to the back corner... But, I have to carve out room for myself and I really enjoy sharing all these new glorious recipes so here we go! Enjoy! :)

Twix Bars

Once again I took these to a party and didn't get a picture... But, they were delish and gone before I could bring them home to get a picture at the end of the night!! I didn't even say what they were, we were in a darkened bar area where you couldn't see very well and people were still walking up to me saying "I love your bars... they taste like a twix!" That's just what I like to hear. They didn't have that crispy crunch of a Twix bar, but they still had that same delish caramel, chocolate taste! hmmmm... salivating a bit over here - I might need to make these again soon! :)

Twix Bars
(recipe found on pinterest via mykitchenescapades.com)

Crust:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
Caramel:
2 1/2 cups caramel squares (you will need to buy 2 bags)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Chocolate:
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 and spray a 9×13 pan lightly with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, beat the butter until soft, then add the salt, vanilla and sugar. Beat until smooth. Add the flour and carefully combine. Press mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan and bake for about 35 minutes until the edges begin to brown. Set aside to cool completely. Melt caramel squares and cream in a medium microwave safe bowl in the microwave. Heat for 3 minutes on high, stopping to stir after each minute. Spread the melted caramel over the cooled crust and place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to allow the caramel to cool. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips for 2 minutes, stopping to stir after the first minute. Spread evenly over the cooled caramel and return the pan to the refrigerator until the chocolate is set.

Tortellini Bake

Once again I was looking for a quick and easy meal that I could throw together without a lot of trouble. I had a bag of tortellini in my freezer that I have had for a bit and I wanted to use it up. So, I planned my meal around that and this recipe! :) It was tasty - a little too much on the pasta sauce, but as I have said before, I'm not a bit red sauce person. I know that my kids love it though, so I suck it up and try different recipes even if it includes pasta sauce!

Tortellini Bake
(Recipe found on pinterest)

1 bag (19 or 20 ounces) cheese filled tortellini
1 jar (15 ounces) alfredo sauce
1/2 jar pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Combine tortellini, alfredo sauce and pasta sauce in large bowl. Stir to cover tortellini in sauces. Place in sprayed 9x9 baking dish and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.