Holiday Chex Mix

The other night at work one of the girls brought this in to share with everyone and it was one of those snacks that you just can't stop eating. It reminded me a lot of my mom's cracker jack popcorn recipe. If you like cracker jacks, you will love these. It was pretty festive with the halloween colored M&M's and the candy corns in it, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this could be a year round snack, you would just have to change the M&M's to the season and choose another candy in place of the candy corns. It would look adorable to give to people in little holiday sacks. This is super yummy, and you won't regret making it.

4 1/2 cups corn Chex

4 1/2 cups wheat Chex

2 cups peanuts, dry-roasted

4 cups popped popcorn

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 cups butter (4 sticks)

1 cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 bag milk chocolate chips

1/2 bag white chocolate chips

1 bag chocolate covered pretzels

1 bag Holiday M&M’s

2 cups candy corns or other Holiday candy

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease large roasting pan. Mix cereal, popped popcorn, and peanuts in a large bowl. Pour into prepared pan. Combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in medium, heavy duty saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, without stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour evenly over cereal mixture; stir to coat evenly. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan, stirring frequently to break apart mixture. When completely cool; stir in remaining ingredients. Store in airtight container.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

My neighbor brought this over for us to enjoy back in September.
I asked for the recipie because it was so yummy!

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
6-8 slices swiss cheese
6-8 thin slices of ham
2 eggs beaten
bread crumbs

Sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 c. milk

Directions:
Fillet chicken breasts in half and pound our flat with a mallet. Put one slice of cheese and one slice of ham on each piece of chicken. Roll up, dip in beaten eggs, roll in bread crumbs. Place seam side down in sprayed baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until juices run clear. Mix sauce together and heat up. Top each piece of chicken with sauce. (Great with mashed potatoes.)

Pumpkin Bars

Thank you Paula Dean for these decadent Pumpkin Bars/cake. This is seriously a to die for cake recipe, it bakes up much more like a dense and moist cake then it does like a bar, but she calls them bars, so I will as well. These are very simple to make, and trust me you won't want to take them to a party because you will be keeping them all to yourself! The cream cheese frosting is the finishing touch, so don't forget it.

Bars:

• 4 eggs
• 1 & 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Spider Cakes

These are too fun not to share!

Ingredients

• 1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
• 1 can dark chocolate frosting
• 1 can chocolate sprinkles
• 24 large marshmallows
• ¼ cup M&M’S Candies
• 48 red or black licorice laces
• 1 toothpick

Directions

Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions. Line cupcake pans with paper-liners. Fill each cup with 2/3 cup of batter. Bake in a preheated 350°F for 18-21 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the chocolate frosting in a resealable plastic bag. Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the remaining frosting. Then, coat the tops with the chocolate sprinkles. Cut the marshmallows in half crosswise. Using the reserved frosting, attach two marshmallow pieces to each cupcake as eyes. Dot the center of each marshmallow piece with frosting and attach M&M’S Candies. Then, attach another marshmallow piece with frosting and attach Candies for the mouth. Cut each licorice lace into four equal pieces. Press four holes into 2 sides of each cupcake using the toothpick. Insert a licorice piece into each hole for each spider’s legs, 8 pieces per cupcake.

Helllo Dolly Bars

This is a treat that I first remember eating when I was a counselor at a local girls camp. We use to love these, and everyone always gobbled them up quickly. They are super sweet, and yet super easy to make. They would surely be a good treat to fix with your kids, as they are so easy and mostly involve sprinkling things into the pan, and what kid doesn't love helping mom make a great treat. They would be perfect for sharing with neighbors around the holidays, or just nice as an after school snack. Make a batch with your kids, and they'll thank you!


2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 9x9 inch baking pan. Layer the chocolate chips, coconut and pecans over the crumbs. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top, do not mix it in.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Let cool completely then cut into squares.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

When I saw this on Taste of Home I knew I would be a fan, simply because it's a recipe I could use my leftover pumpkin on, you know when you make something and have some left over in the can, and don't quite know what to do, cause it isn't enough for another dessert. We'll this recipe is perfect for that. It's got a wonderfully subtle pumpkin flavor, but is sweet and creamy, and absolutely delicious!

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Gingersnap cookies

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and ginger until blended. Serve with gingersnaps. Refrigerate leftovers. This is also great on Zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, served with apples or any other favorite treat.

Pumpkin Gingerbreat Trifle

What could be better than gingerbread and pumpkin combined in an easy to make dessert? I have seen a number of different trifles like this, and found this simplified recipe on Taste of Home, and instantly decided this was the one, simply because of prep time with the pre-packaged mix's.

2 packages (14-1/2 ounces each) gingerbread cake mix
1 package (4.6 ounces) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 can (29 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

Prepare and bake gingerbread according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
Meanwhile, for pudding, in a large saucepan, combine pudding mix and milk; stir until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cool to room temperature. Combine pumpkin and brown sugar; stir into pudding.
In a 4-qt. glass serving bowl, crumble one gingerbread cake; gently press down. Top with half of pudding mixture and whipped topping. Repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate overnight. You can garnish with crushed gingersnaps if desired.

Pumpkin Pecan Fudge

The other day I was out with my kids enjoying the festivities of Halloween in our area, and we went into a quaint little candy shop where they had homemade fudge, and I saw a fudge that I'd never had before, Pumpkin Fudge with nuts. After trying a small piece I knew I had to find a recipe to duplicate it. This one comes pretty close. It is very rich, and super creamy. If you like pumpkin pie, you surely won't be disappointed with this fudge. I found this recipe at Annie's Eats, a cute little site I just discovered. This is divine,it just says fall to me, and I hope you enjoy it!

3 cups sugar

¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

2 tbsp. corn syrup

2 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice

9 oz. white chocolate, chopped

7 oz. jar marshmallow crème

1 cup Pecans or walnuts, chopped and toasted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Stir together first six ingredients in a 3 ½ – quart saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234° (soft-ball stage).

Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour into a greased parchment or aluminum foil-lined 8-inch square pan. Let stand 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares.

Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert

19 ice cream sandwiches
1 12oz container of cool whip
1 jar (12 ounce) hot fudge topping
1 c. chopped pecans, or 1 c. smashed candy bar (skor, butter finger, the possibilities are endless)

Cut one ice cream sandwich in half. Place one whole and one half sandwich along the short side of an ungreased 9x13 pan. Arrange eight sandwiches in opposite direction in pan. Spread with hot fudge then half of the cool whip. Sprinkle 1/2 c. nuts or your favorite candy bar over the top. Make another layer with the other ice cream sandwiches, top with cool whip and nuts/candy bar and freeze. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

I LOVE Applebee's oriental chicken salad. The only thing I change is grilled chicken instead of the fried. If you aren't frying the chicken, this is a real quick and simple copy cat of their original.

Dressing
1 c. honey
1/2 c. rice wine vinegar
1 1/4 c. mayo
1 3/4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

Salad
Vegetable Oil (for frying)
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 c. flour
1c. corn flakes
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
6 boneless skinless chiken breasts
10-12 c. romaine lettuce
2 c. chopped red cabbage
2 c. chopeed napa cabbage
2 c. shredded carrots
4 green onions
4 Tbsp. slice almonds
1 can rice noodles (about 1 1/2 c.)

For dressing, combine honey, vinegar, mayo and mustard in a small bowl; blend thoroughly. Refrigerate.

Preheat oil in deep fryer or deep pan over medium heat to 30 . In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk. In another bowl combine flour with cornflake crumbs, salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in milk mixture then in crumbs. Fry until golden and cooked thoroughly. ( I always have them give me the grilled chicken on this salad so if you like it that way grill it and omit this step.)

Prepare the salad by tossing the romaine with cabbages and carrot. Sprinkle green onion, almonds and rice noodles on top of lettuce mixture. Cut chicken into bite size chunks and place on salad Serve with oriental dressing on the side.