Breakfast Cookies

3 ripened bananas, smashed
1/3 cup applesauce
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon


Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a mixer combine all ingredients and mix on medium speed until completely combined.  Spoon onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 15-20.  Let cool.  Serve.  Keep refrigerated for up to a week.

Banana Muffins (Gluten Free)

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 ripened bananas
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease muffin tin with cooking spray.  In a blender or food processor blend oats, bananas and yogurt until smooth.  Pour into a mixer and add the rest of the ingredients.  Mix on medium until smooth.  Spoon into muffin tin, dividing evenly.  Bake 20-25 minutes.  Remove from tin to cool.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting

Cake portion:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 small box chocolate instant pudding
1/2 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
15 oz. canned pumpkin (separate 2 Tbsp. out for frosting)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting portion:
1 cup or 2 sticks butter, softened
2 Tbsp. pumpkin
1/4 ground cinnamon
4-5 cups powdered sugar
2-4 Tbsp. milk

Cake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 2 9x5in. loaf pans.  In a mixer combine all cake ingredients except for chocolate chips.  Mix on medium speed until smooth.  Add chocolate chips and mix on low until completely mixed in.  Pour into loaf pans evenly.  Place in the oven and bake for 55-65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:
In a mixer mix butter, pumpkin and cinnamon on medium speed.  Gradually add powdered sugar and milk.  Mix until smooth.

Cool cakes for about 10 minutes, remove from the pans and place on a cooling rack.  Once cakes are cool frost and serve.C

Corndog Muffins

2 packages of corn muffin mix(each package says it makes 6 muffins)
1 package of hotdogs
cupcake liners

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice up all the hot dogs.   Mix up corn muffin mix according to package directions.  Fill each liner about 1/3 full.  You will have about 18-20 muffins worth.  Put about 8 slices of hot dog in each.  You may add more if you can.  Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes or until muffins are golden around the edges.  Serve.

Beef Taquitos

3 14oz. cans of beef or 2-3lbs. cooked and shredded beef
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup water
white corn tortillas, at least 30
cooking spray(vegetable oil)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large skillet, combine all of the ingredients except for the tortillas and cooking spray(obviously).  Cook on med. heat until everything is well mixed and combined.  Warm the tortillas in any sort of non-stick pan on medium heat(I use my griddle because I can do about 5 at a time).  Heat one side for about 1 minute then flip and heat another minute.  Stack all of these on a plate and cover them with foil.  Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable oil.  Once everything is ready put a strip of the meat, about 3/4 of an inch thick, down the center of the tortilla and roll it.  Lay the tortilla flap side down on the cookie sheet.  Repeat until cookie sheet is full or meat mixture is gone.  Lightly spray all of the taquitos with the vegetable spray.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven and back for about 20-25 minutes.

Most Delicious Loaded Baked Potato Soup

1 lb. of bacon, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
8 medium red potatoes, chopped
1/4 cup of flour
2 cups of chicken stock or broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 cups of heavy whipping cream

Garnishes:
More chopped bacon or bacon bits
chopped green onions or chives
shredded sharp cheddar
red chili pepper

In a 6-8 qt. pot cook bacon until crisp over medium heat.  Remove the bacon and place it on paper towels. Cook the onions and the carrots in the bacon fat until the onions are translucent.  Add the potatoes and cook for 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn the heat to low and whisk in the flour, stirring constantly until the flour has cooked and the liquid in the pot has thickened a bit.  Add the stock/broth and half the bacon(the other half will be used for garnish).  Add salt and pepper.  Turn the heat up to medium-high and let it simmer for 25 minutes, turning the heat down as the soup boils.  Cook and stir until the potatoes are soft.  Add the whipping cream and cook for 5 minutes(still stirring).  Serve and garnish with toppings listed above.  Enjoy!  I promise you will!

Homemade Goldfish Crackers

1 cup of flour
1 cup or 8oz. of shredded cheddar(sharp or medium) cheese
1/4 cup of cold butter, cut up
2 tsp. of onion powder
2 tsp. of garlic powder
2 tsp. of paprika
3-4 Tbsp. of water
Parchment Paper
salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Food processor instructions:
In a food processor, add flour, cheese, butter and seasonings.  Pulse until it looks like coarse meal.  Gradually add the water, while pulsing, until dough balls up on top of the blade.

Dough/Pastry Blender(wire thingy for pie and pastry making):
In a medium to large mixing bowl, add flour, cheese, butter and seasonings.  Mix with the dough blender until it looks like coarse meal.  Gradually add water until it becomes the consistency of dough.

Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 20 minutes(can be stored for up to 24 hours).
Take half of the dough and roll it between two sheets of parchment paper until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out with a small cookie cutter(shape is your choice).  I made my own fish cookie cutter.  I cut a strip of an index card and wrapped it in foil.  I bent it into the shape of a fish and tape the ends together with scotch tape.  This works great since you don't have to push down hard on it.
Remove the top piece of parchment, remove the extra dough from around the shapes. Place the shapes with the bottom parchment onto a cookie sheet. Salt the shapes and cook in the oven for about 15-17 minutes.  Let cool for about 10 minutes. Repeat until dough is all used up.

Homemade Microwave Caramels

1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of corn syrup
1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2  cup of granulated(white) sugar
Wax Paper

In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl combine all ingredients.  Put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Then stir with a whisk and put in the microwave for another 2 minutes.  Then stir with a whisk and put it back in the microwave for another 2 minutes.  Stir with a whisk and pour into a greased 8x11 cake pan.  Let it completely cool and cut it into candy-sized pieces.  Remove each piece from the pan and wrap it in wax paper.  Store in an air tight container.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Homemade Granola Bars

(Please excuse my inability to rotate a dang picture.)

1/4 cup of butter

1/3-1/2 cup of peanut butter

4 1/2 cups(or one bag) of small marshmallows

6 1/2 cups of granola

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

In a large(6qt.) pot, melt butter and peanut butter on low heat.  Once butters are melted, immediately stir in marshmallows.  Continue stirring until marshmallows are melted.  Immediately add the granola.  Stir until it is completely combined and then turn off heat.  Gradually stir in chocolate chips.  Once everything is thoroughly mixed, spread evenly onto a greased cookie sheet.  Once it is evenly spread in the cookie sheet put it in the fridge to chill for about 20-25 minutes.  Cut into bars and wrap in plastic wrap.  Store in an air tight container.

Homemade Fruit Snacks(made with JELLO)

6 oz. of your favorite Jello flavor
1 oz. (or 4- .25oz. packs) of gelatin
2/3 cup of water

In a small saucepan on low heat, whisk in the Jello and gelatin.  Whisk over heat until Jello and gelatin are completely mixed in.  Pour into a measuring pitcher and pour into silicone ice cube trays(sometimes I spray these with cooking spray, but I don't think it's necessary) as seen above.  These ones are from Ikea.  Put in the fridge to chill for about 10-15 minutes.  Pop them out and start over again.  I do about 4 flavors and put one of each flavor into a little jewelry ziplock bag.  Don't worry about it not being enough because these are pretty decently sized fruit snacks.  They are the consistency of gummy bears.  These make about 28 bags of fruit snacks.

Breakfast Pizza

2 8oz. can of Crescent roll dough
1-1 1/2 lbs. of cooked breakfast sausage, ham, or bacon, chopped
1 1/2 cups of frozen shredded potato hash browns, thawed
1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan
5-6 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Unroll the crescent dough onto the sheet and press seams and spread it out until it meats all ends.  Make sure you have a slight edge up on the longer sides for a crust.  In a mixing bowl, mix the eggs and milk.  Add some salt and pepper to taste to this mixture.
Evenly disperse the hash browns and meat over the crescent dough.  Next, evenly pour the egg mixture over the crescent dough.  Top with cheese.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until crust is browned.  Cut and serve.

Burritos-Danielle Style

1-1 1/2 lbs. of ground turkey
1 can of re-fried beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/4 c. of fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. chili powder
3 tsp. of cumin
3 tsp. of onion powder
3 tsp. of garlic powder
2 Tbsp. of Cholula hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of shredded Mexican-style cheese
10 burrito(lg.) tortillas

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet or non-stick frying pan brown your ground turkey.  As this gets closer to being done add your tomatoes and seasonings(except the cilantro).  Let them simmer for a minute or two then add you re-fried beans.  Continue to cook and stir until the beans are completely incorporated into the meat mixture.  Let it simmer for about 2-3 minutes.  Heat up your tortillas in the microwave on high for about 1 1/2 minutes.  Turn off your burner and add the cilantro and mix that in.  When you fill your tortillas put a small handful of cheese in and then a spoonful(pretty good-sized) of your meat and beans.   Fold/roll your tortillas and lay the burritos in a lightly greased(like cooking spray) 13x9 dish.  You should have a total of about 8-10 burritos.  They can even be slightly layered when trying to fit them in.  Cover your dish with aluminum foil and bake in your oven for 20 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!!

Grammy Jeanne's Flappy Joys

1 lb. of ground turkey

1 10 oz. can of chicken gumbo soup

2 tsp. of onion powder

3 Tbsp of ketchup

3 Tbsp of mustard

These ingredients sound weird, but this is delicious! I promise!

Brown the ground turkey in a skillet over medium-high heat. Then add the can of soup, the onion powder, ketchup and mustard. Mix it all together until is if fully combined and turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns with a slice of cheese on top and enjoy!!