Berry Squares

Sometimes pie filling can be your best friend. Like with these berry squares. So yummy! Mix up the ingredients for the crust, throw the pie filling on top and you've got yourself an easy dessert! You can certainly half the recipe for something smaller or make the whole thing and freeze some for later. I used raspberry, but switch it up to whatever floats your boat! A really easy and tasty treat!


Berry Squares



1 cup butter ~ softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
2 21-ounce cans berry pie filling (I used raspberry)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 15x10x1 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time until combined.

Add vanilla.

Add flour, a little at a time.

Spread 3 cups of the batter into the prepared pan.

Gently spread pie filling over batter.

Dot mixture with remaining batter.

Bake 45 minutes or so until lightly browned. Cool.

Drizzle with powdered sugar glaze (recipe follows)


Drizzle

1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons milk

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and vanilla and enough milk to reach drizzling consistency. 


Cut into bars. About 4 dozen.

 

The line up!

 

In a large mixing bowl combine 

the butter, sugar and salt until fluffy. 

Add eggs, one at a time until combined.

 

Add the vanilla.

 

Then the flour, a little at a time until all combined.

 

Press about 3 cups of the batter 

into the pan then top with the pie filling.

 

Dollop the remaining dough on top.

 

Bake until golden brown then 

drizzle with the glaze. Allow 

to cool before cutting.

 

Delish!

S'mores Ice Cream

My poor ice cream freezer is almost 40 years old. The bottom of it is so rusted from all the salt it's been exposed to over the years. But it makes THE best ice cream. I tried one of those new-fangled ones and it just wasn't the same. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it finally dies. But I'm using it all I can until it decides to give up the ghost. Like in this yummy ice cream. Holy cow but this was good. If you're a fan of s'mores, then this is for you!!! Totally tastes like a cold s'more....how is that even possible???? Give it a try!!

S'mores Ice Cream



5 eggs, mixed well
2 cups sugar

Cook and whisk eggs and sugar over double boiler for 10 -15 minutes or until eggs are thick and pale.

When eggs are cooked, remove from heat and pour into your ice cream freezer.

Add:
1 can eagle brand condensed milk
1 quart heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 7-ounce container marshmallow cream

Whisk until smooth. There may be some lumps of marshamallow cream left. That's ok.

1 quart half & half

Mix all ingredients (except half & half) well and pour into ice cream freezer. Add 1 quart half and half to fill line and freeze according to freezer instructions.

When ice cream is done stir in:

3 4.25-ounce chopped milk chocolate candy bars (I used Hershey's Symphony bars)
1 sleeve rough chopped graham crackers

Then drizzle in 1 more 7-ounce container marshmallow cream. Stir with a knife but don't mix in completely.


 
Let's do this!

 
Cook the eggs and sugar over a 
double boiler until thick and pale.

 
Like this!

 
Then add the egg mixture, sweetened 
condensed milk, salt, vanilla and 1 
 container of the marshmallow cream 
to your ice cream mixer.

 
If some the marshmallow cream 
doesn't get all mixed in, that's okay. 
It may look like this.

 
Then add enough half and half to 
top off the mixture and turn on your machine.

 
In the meantime, chop the chocolate.....

 
...and the graham crackers.

 
When the ice cream is done churning, 
pour it into a large container then sprinkle 
with the chocolate and crackers. Stir to combine.

 
Then plop with remaining marshmallow 
cream on top and swirl through. 
Place in the freezer to harden.

 
So good, guys!!!!

Loaded Baked Potato Pizza and a $1.00 off coupon from Mama Mary's!!!!

WAIT!!! I know what you're thinking. Baked potato and pizza?? Well...I'm here to tell you that this is incredible! It tastes just like a loaded baked potato. I used my favorite Mama Mary's thin crust pizza for this, but their thicker crust would be great, too. And so easy! Just think how happy the kids would be to see this waiting on the table after a long school day. It's nice to have new things to eat to kick off a new school year and this is perfect! Give this a try....I think your family will love this as much as mine did!

Click HERE to get the coupon.

Click HERE to visit Mama Mary's website for more great recipes and ideas.

Click HERE to "like" Mama Mary's Facebook page.

Loaded Baked Potato Pizza



2 potatoes ~ cooked (I used 6 mini Yukon Golds, boiled until tender)
1 pound bacon ~ cooked crisp and crumbled
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese ~ grated
1 cup cheddar cheese ~ grated
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and the ranch dressing. Spread over crust.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

Place potatoes in a large bowl and pour butter mixture over potatoes and toss potatoes to coat. 

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over crust then sprinkle with the rest of the ingredients, ending with the cheddar cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes until hot and bubbly. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing. 



 

Okay....here we go!

 

Mix up the sour cream and the ranch 

dressing and spread it over the crust.

 

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top.

 

Combine the melted butter, garlic 

powder and the Italian seasoning.

 

Toss the butter mixture with 

the sliced, cooked potatoes.

 

Layer all the toppings and bake!

  

So delicious!

Scroodles

This is a super easy dish and it brings back fond memories for me. Whenever IT Guy and I would go visit his parents, his mom would makes this dish lots of times. I always loved it because it was so easy but so good. After we had kids and we'd go visit, my kids would eat this and always enjoy it. It's family friendly, I guess. We like to add El Pato Mexican tomato sauce to give it a little extra kick but you can increase the regular tomato sauce by one can and eliminate the El Pato if you're not spicy yourself. Or add some diced green chile...or some cheese on top. Make sure you use Rotini pasta because they look like little corkscrews....hence the name Scroodles! Just go make 'em!!
Scroodles

1 16-ounce box Rotini pasta ~ cooked and drained
1 pound ground beef
Medium onion ~ diced
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 8-ounce can El Pato Mexican tomato sauce (found in the Mexican food aisle) *see note
Salt \ pepper

In a large skillet, cook the onion with the salt and pepper in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef and cook until meat is done.

Add the sauces and stir.

Add the pasta and stir.

Heat through and serve from the skillet!

*NOTE: You can use 3 cans of tomato sauce and eliminate the El Pato for those who don't want the spice.

 

Our ingredients.

 

Brown the onion and ground beef.

 

Add the sauces.

 

Cook and drain the pasta.

 

Add the pasta to the meat mixture.

 

Serve in the skillet!! Enjoy!

Hash Brown Chili Bake

The guys in my family love stuff like this and they were pretty happy with this creation. I mean, really. What's not to love? Chili, potatoes and cheese??? Yeahhhh buddy. They loved it! I made two smaller pans of this...we ate one and I froze the other for future use but if you've got a larger family, then by all means throw it all in one 9x13 inch pan and chow down! We had ZERO leftovers from our pan....it was THAT good.

Hash Brown Chili Bake



1 pound ground beef
1 small onion ~ diced
3 tablespoons chili mix
1 cup salsa (or tomato sauce)
1/4 cup water
Salt & pepper
1 15-ounce can pinto or chili beans
1 26-ounce bag frozen country style shredded hash browns
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and salt & pepper until meat is done. 

Add chili mix, salsa, water and beans and stir until combined and warmed through. 

Pour chili mixture into prepared pan.

Spread hash browns on top of chili.

Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes until lightly browned.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake another 5 minutes.


 

The goods.

 

Brown the onion and ground beef 

with salt and pepper until browned.

 

Add the chili mix, beans, salsa 

and water to the meat and stir.

 

Pour into your prepared pan(s).

 

Sprinkle with hash browns and 

bake covered for 30 minutes. 

Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.

 

Add the cheese and bake another 

5 - 10 minutes until cheese has melted.

 

Like this!

 

Serve it up!

Mini White Chocolate Mixed Berry Tiramisu

I whipped these up the other day because I had some lady-fingers in the freezer and because I wanted something sweet. I guess the latter would be the bigger reason I made them, truth be told. This was perfect because it only made about four of these little desserts and sometimes you only want a little bit of something. IT Guy loved them...so did #1 son. What I really liked about this was that there was NO cooking! Perfect for a quick little summer dessert.

Mini White Chocolate 
Mixed Berry Tiramisu



1 3-ounce package ladyfingers
1 3-ounce package white chocolate instant pudding
1 1/2 cups half & half
2 cups berries (I used blueberries and raspberries)
1/2 cup sugar

In a medium sized bowl, combine the berries and the sugar and allow to sit for a couple of hours so the berry mixture will be juicy.

Split lady fingers in half and dunk one side into the berry liquid for a couple of seconds.

Immediately place the ladyfinger along the side of a dessert cup. Repeat until there are ladyfingers all around the sides of the cups.

Mix white chocolate pudding with the half & half.

Layer dessert cups with pudding mixture and berries.

Cover and chill until ready to serve.
 
Okay...let's go. This couldn't be easier!

 
Combine the berries and sugar 
and allow to sit for a couple of hours. 
Then dunk half a lady-finger into 
the juice for a few seconds.

 
Place the lady-fingers in a small dish. 
I used some sundae cups. Then mix up 
the pudding and start layering with the 
pudding and the berries.

Then mix up the pudding and start layering with the pudding and the berries.

 
 
Yummy!!!