Blueberry banana pie

Pies don’t have to be hard or take forever to put together. This pie requires no baking and is always a crowd pleaser!

You will need: 1 graham cracker pie crust, 1 can of blueberry pie filling, 2-3 bananas, 8oz of cream cheese, 1 tub of whipped cream, and half a cup of sugar

Start by slicing the bananas and laying them on the pie crust. Once the pie crust has been covered with the bananas pour the can of blueberry pie filling over top and spread evenly. * Do not spread it all the way to the edge because when you put the whipped cream topping on top it will push the blueberry filling outwards a little. 

In a mixer, whip the cream cheese and sugar together. *Make sure the cream cheese is room temperature. Once blended fold in or mix in on low the tub of whipped cream.

Take the whipped cream mixture and spread it on top of the pie. You can now serve it or refrigerate until you’re ready to serve!

*This pie is great for cook outs and bbqs. For the 4th of July you can give it a festive twist and replace the bananas with strawberries, that way when you cut into the pies it’s red, white, and blue and tastes good!

Cheese ball

This is an easy recipe for an hors d’oeuvre or light snack that everyone will love.

4 ingredients…12 oz of cream cheese, 1 package of real bacon pieces (if you prefer you can cook bacon and chop it up), 1 packet of ranch mix, and 3-4 tbs of diced jalapeños (you can add more or less depending on your taste). * I like to use the jarred diced jalapeños and pour in about a tablespoon of the juice.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve.

*If you’d like to be a little more fancy…

You can also put it in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes to harden. Then lay out some plastic wrap, place the cheese ball mixture on top of the plastic wrap, wrap it up, roll it into a ball, peel back the plastic wrap and then press bacon pieces all around the ball.

Asparagus and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Lasagna

I was watching the food network a few summers back and Giada de Laurentiis was making this asparagus and sun-dried tomato pesto lasagna (from scratch of course) and thought it sounded good but could be easier.

This has become a family favorite, even my two year old ate 2 pieces!

You will need…

1 bundle of asparagus- chopped into bit size pieces, about 1/2 of a white onion- chopped, 1 to 2 tbs of minced garlic, small container of ricotta cheese, 1 package of real bacon bits (This is optional, and you can always cook and chop your own bacon.), 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 jar of sun-dried tomato pesto, 2 cups (or more) of  shredded mozzarella cheese, and 9 lasagna noodles (I like to use the oven-ready noodles to cut back on time.)

Start by sautéing the asparagus, onion, and garlic *with a touch of salt and pepper.

After they have cooked for about 7-10 minutes, until the onions are translucent and the asparagus is bright green, put the sautéed mix in a bowl to cool for 10 minutes or so.

Once the sautéed mix has cooled a little, add the ricotta cheese, bacon, and parmesan cheese. Mix well. *This is your filling between layers.

To assemble the lasagna:

Start with spreading a spoon full of the sun-dried tomato pesto on the bottom of the baking dish. *This will help it not stick and keep the noodles from burning.

Then lay down a layer of noodles to cover the baking dish (*I use 3 noodles per layer) and spread about 1/3 of the jar of pesto on top of the noodles.

Next, spoon HALF of the asparagus filling and spread it to cover the noodles.

Top with mozzarella cheese, and repeat this process one more time.

You will have a layer of noodles at the top, spread the last 1/3 of the pesto to cover the noodles and then cover the top with mozzarella cheese.

Loosely cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Easy Apple Pie Cheesecake

Have a cook out or pot luck and need a dessert? Want to look fancy?  Want something quick and easy? This Apple Pie Cheesecake is your answer!

You will need…

1 can of apple pie filling (You can use any flavor pie filling, if you don’t really like apple. *Cherry would be really good.)

2 (8 oz) cream cheese (at room temperature)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 graham cracker pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Start by mixing the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and eggs together. (*Use a hand or stand mixer to do this. I used a fork once and I couldn’t get the cream cheese smooth.) Once those ingredients are mixed together and smooth, set it aside.

Spoon 3/4 of the pie filling into the graham cracker pie crust, and spread out to cover the bottom. Then pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the pie filling.

Place the filled pie onto a baking sheet or shallow baking dish, and put it in the preheated oven. Before closing the oven, pour a cup of water (or enough to cover the bottom of the baking sheet) on the baking sheet, *this will keep the cheesecake from cracking.

Cook for 35 minutes. (Until the edges of the cream cheese filling start to turn a light golden brown.)

Let the pie cool for 30 minutes, then add the remaining 1/4 of the pie filling to the top of the pie. Place the pie in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes before serving.

Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Have left over chicken? Here’s a dinner idea that is a family favorite in my house.

You could make stuffed crescent rolls with a number of different filling and flavors but this is a basic recipe to get you started.

You will need:

2 tubes of crescent rolls (I use the great value brand)

2 cups (more or less) of cooked chicken

12 ounces of room temperature cream cheese

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp of salt and pepper

*This time I added about 2 tbs of Ms.Dash (original), but you could leave this out, add taco seasoning, or any other flavor you’d like.

Mix the cream cheese, chicken, shredded cheese, salt and pepper, and seasoning in a bowl. Open the tube of crescent rolls, there are 8 triangles of dough, take 2 of the triangles and you will want to put them together to make a rectangle. Press the dough to flatten it out a little, then take about 1/4 of a cup of filling and place it at one end of the dough rectangle. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the edges together (*you could use a fork on the edges to look fancy). Continue forming dough rectangles, filling them, and folding and pitching them closed, until you have 8 stuffed crescents.

Cook them on a baking sheet, follow the instructions for cooking the crescent rolls. *I use the longest time on the cooking instructions (13 minutes).

Total time: 35 minutes (depending on how long it takes to put the dough triangles together and stuff them)

Crock-pot pork chops and rice

So this is a recipe is taken from a dish my mom makes. It was a hit with my family last night, especially my 2 yr old who had 3 servings!

You will need…

3-4Pork chops (regular cut, not thin or thick)

a can of french onion soup

a can of beef consomme

2 cups of rice (I used 10 minute brown rice. You can use 10 minute white rice or *regular rice but you will want to put it in an hour earlier than what I have listed.)

1 cup of water

Place the pork chops in the crock-pot on low and pour in the french onion soup and beef consomme. Let this cook for 2 hours. *You can let it cook longer if you’d like, it won’t hurt. After the 2 hours (or longer) add the 2 cups of rice and 1 cup of water. Stir and let cook for another hour. Viola! Dinner is ready!

Total cook time: 3 hours

Quick Quiche

It’s Sunday morning and I was out of pancake mix and didn’t feel like cereal. So while looking around my kitchen I was thinking what do I have and what can I make?

I look in the freezer…frozen biscuits, sausage patties, hash browns…bllleeehhh. BUT WAIT! A frozen pie crust!

I knew I had eggs and cheese, so I thought I’d try my hand at quiche. I’ve never made a quiche before, but I know that it’s eggs with stuff mixed in, in a pie crust. So I pulled out a cookbook to see what temperature and for how long to cook a quiche, then I began.

6 eggs

a cup of shredded cheese (I used mozzarella, but you can use whatever you have on hand or your favorite type of cheese. Also, I didn’t have enough shredded mozzarella, but I had some slices of  mozzarella, so I just tore them up into little pieces and added it to the mix. It’s all going to melt anyway, right. )

salt and pepper (about a tsp of each)

onion powder (again about a tsp)

1/4 cup of milk

Then I realized I had a package of “real bacon” bits, so I threw that in too.* (If you have other things you’d like to add to your basic cheese quiche like bacon, sausage, ham, or spinach just add a cup of it to the egg and cheese mixture.)

I wisked (I just used a fork) everything together in a bowl, then poured it into a 9 inch frozen pie crust.

Cover a baking sheet with foil, then place the filled pie crust in the middle of the baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. It will come out a nice golden brown. **Use a butter knife to check the middle of the quiche to make sure it is fully cooked. Since all ovens cook a little differently, if your quiche is not cooked in the middle after the 25 minutes, continue cooking and checking it in 5 minute increments until the center is solid.

Total prep and cook time was about 30 minutes.

Hello world!

I’m starting this little venture by request, so I hope you all enjoy!