OREO TRUFFLES

OREO TRUFFLES
or "Snowman Poop" as we like to call them in Idaho. :)

★★★★★

WHAT YOU'LL NEED: 
1 16oz. PACKAGE OF OREOS
1 8oz. PACKAGE PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE
2 8oz. PACKAGES OF BAKER'S SEMI-SWEET BAKING CHOCOLATE

HOW TO MAKE IT:  Remove all Oreos from container and place in a ziploc bag and close. Crush Oreos into fine pieces. Next, place crushed Oreos in a large bowl and add in the cream cheese and mix well. LET THE CREAM CHEESE SIT OUT FOR A LITTLE WHILE BEFORE MIXING SO IT'S SOFTENED UP. Once these two ingredients are mixed thoroughly, roll batter into several 1 inch balls. You will then need the BAKER'S chocolate melted. IT'S UP TO YOU HOW YOU WANT TO GO ABOUT MELTING IT. Once the chocolate is melted, dip the rolled Oreo/cream cheese balls into the melted chocolate using a spoon and then place on a wax-covered baking sheet. When finished with this step place baking tray in refrigerator or freezer to cool for 1 hour. To keep for longer, cover and store in fridge/freezer.

TIPS: You can also use other types of chocolate, like white chocolate, for dipping. Or be creative and drizzle lines over the top of truffles, (white chocolate over semi-sweet or vise a versa).

PUDDING CLOUDS

PUDDING CLOUDS

★★★★★

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 Large pack of chocolate pudding mix
1 tub of cool whip
Chocolate sprinkles or chocolate powder

HOW TO MAKE IT: Make chocolate pudding according to directions on box. Before chilling in refrigerator, in a clear plastic cup or glass, pour about one inch layer of chocolate pudding and then add a one inch layer of cool whip and alternate layers until the container is full. Then top with chocolate sprinkles. Let chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Serve. Yum!

So, NOT my picture, but until I make them this will give  you an idea of what it look like. Except the ones I make have more layers. :)

BANANA BREAD

BANANA BREAD

★★★★★

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

3 ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
nuts or chocolate chips (if desired)

HOW TO MAKE IT: Peel and mash bananas, add in oil and eggs and mix well. Then add in flour, baking soda, and sugar until fully blended. Stir in chocolate chips or nuts if you choose. Pour batter in to two bread pans and bake in preheated oven at 350 ℉ for 30-45 minutes.

Yes, it was delicious.

I made one with Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, and one with  Toll House Swirled Milk Chocolate & Peanut Butter Morsels. (It's all about the Toll House, baby).

TIPS: ADD 1/2 TSP OF PURE VANILLA EXTRACT TO THE BATTER. Mmm, Mmm.

CRESCENT ROLL LASAGNA

CRESCENT ROLL LASAGNA

★★★★★

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 JAR SPAGHETTI SAUCE (of your choice)
4 PILLSBURY CRESCENT ROLL TUBES
CHOPPED VEGGIES OF YOUR CHOICE (if desired)
GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE
SHREDDED MOZZARELLA CHEESE
1 POUND GROUND MEAT

HOW TO MAKE IT: Brown meat in a skillet on the stove. Once it's browned add in spaghetti sauce and sliced vegetables (my mom uses mushrooms and tomatoes). After that's all cooked add in some GRATED Parmesan cheese to thicken sauce. Next, take a baking sheet and spray with non-stick spray. Then, open up two crescent roll tubes and without tearing the pieces apart lie them DOWN LONGWAYS ON BAKING SHEET. Now, scoop the meat sauce onto the crescent rolls you just laid out and add the Mozzarella cheese to the top until meat is covered. After this, fold the edges over SLIGHTLY TO KEEP EVERYTHING INSIDE. Next, open up the remaining crescent roll tubes and cover the rest of the sauce. Now that you've got the lasagna prepped it's ready to bake. Put in oven preheated to 375 ℉ for 18-22 minutes, or until the crescent rolls are a nice light brown.

TRY THIS: If you like Ricotta cheese you can add this to the lasagna on top of the meat before you cover it. Just mix the Ricotta with some Parmesan and whah-lah. Also, if you like sesame seeds you can lightly butter the top of the lasagna when it's all covered and ready for the oven and sprinkle the seeds over the top and bake.

Delicious looking outside...

with an even more delicious inside! YUM!

TIE-DYE CAKE

TIE-DYE CAKE

★★★★★

WHAT YOU'LL NEED: 
1 box of vanilla or white cake mix
ASSORTED food coloring (the more the colors the more awesome the cake)
CAKE FROSTING (OF YOUR CHOICE)

HOW TO MAKE IT: Mix all batter components according to box cake instructions, then evenly separate the batter into bowl or containers, (one container for each food coloring color you have). Next, drop enough food coloring into each bowl and mix until the batter is (red, orange, green, blue, purple, etc.). The more food coloring, the brighter the color. Obviously. Next, get a spoon for each color of batter and spoon out a little at a time into the baking pan you're going to bake the cake in. You'll continue to do this until the whole bottom of the pan has batter, then you'll layer the batter with a different color on top of the color underneath it. (I know, I'm terrible at explaining things. I'll be sure to post pictures with this one). After the whole pan is filled, bake like usual, and then frost once cake has cooled. This cake takes a while to make, because you have to layer all the batter, but the results are pretty awesome.

This is what your first layer should look like.

The batter and all the different colors. My friend Milae decided to use knives instead of spoons.  Whatever floats your boat, but honestly, we probably didn't have any clean spoons. That semester I honestly think we had MAYBE 5.

And the final product! Isn't that awesome?!

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

★★★★★

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
8 oz. cream cheese (packet not out of tub)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 box of brownie mix

HOW TO MAKE IT: Mix brownie batter according to box instructions and pour into 8x8 baking pan. With a mixer mix cream cheese, vanilla, egg, and sugar. Then drop spoonfuls of the mixture randomly over brownie mix in pan. Next take a knife and slowly swirl the mixture to make a "swirly" design. After everything is in the pan and ready, bake in preheated oven at 350 ℉ for about 30 minutes. You might need more or less time if you use a different sized pan. Once brownies are baked allow for them to cool completely before cutting.

Thank you to my sister, Haley Pendergast, for the recipe. This is her specialty.

First put the brownie mix from the box into pan.

Then add the cream cheese mixture.

Swirl around with a knife. You get this awesomeness.

And presto. The final product ready to be chowed down.

OREO MILKSHAKE

OREO MILKSHAKE

★★★★★

What you'll need: 
2-4 scoops Vanilla ice cream
2-4 Ice Cubes
4-6 Oreos
1-2 cups milk
(I guessed on all this cuz I haven't made one of these in ages)

How to make it: Depending on how much you want to make add in a couple of scoops of ice cream, ice, and a few Oreos, pour in about a 1/2 cup-1 cup of milk (enough so that everything will blend without the blender blades getting stuck). THE AMOUNT OF INGREDIENTS Kind of just depends how thick and Oreo-ey you want it.:)

Tip: You can use Cookies and Cream ice cream instead of vanilla to save the trouble of getting Oreos.