Foodie Friday!!!

Foodie Friday!

Cheesy Christmas Trees

Okay- I had requests for main courses, and "easy, fast" main courses. This is a problem for me, because if I'm making an easy or fast or....well, ANY main course, the recipe would be "Take tortilla, grate cheese, fold in half, heat for 30 sec. in microwave." Or "Put prepackaged ham and prepackaged rolls on pans, heat in oven and cook microwave birdseye veggies in microwave." THAT is how we roll around here...so I just don't HAVE any easy \, fast main course  recipes. BUT, for the love of all my readers, I will work on finding some, and get back to you in Foodie Fridays to come!


I DID also get a request for an appetizer. 

Cheesy Christmas Trees

Now, this IS a "Christmas" recipe...but ONLY because it's from a Christmas recipe book. You don't have to make your toasts in the shape of trees. Instead, you could do any shape you can find a cookie cutter for, or, like my sister in law used to do when she lived with me, just make it on regular baguette bread, sliced, as a midnight snack while we watched movies late on the weekends. So, don't be fooled by the title!

Ingredients

 1/2 cup mayonnaise (The REAL kind. NO MIRACLE WHIP! EW!!!) 

1 tbsp dry ranch style salad dressing mix

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

12 slices firm white bread (This also works on sourdough, baguette, rye, and the best of all: PUMPERNICKEL - though, pumpernickel isn't terribly firm, just slice it thin)

1/4 cup red bell pepper strips (or diced)

1/4 cup green bell pepper strips (we usually use orange bell peppers instead. Or yellow. They are both TONS more delicious than green ones- which are only used in this recipe because of the festive color.)

1. Preheat broiler (We used our toaster oven.) Combine mayonnaise and salad dressing mix in medium bowl. Add cheeses; mix well

2. Cut bread into slices (or shapes if you're doing that.) Spread each slice with about 1 tablespoon mayo mixture. Adorn with bell peppers and  place on baking sheet.

3. Broil 4 inches from heat 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbling, serve warm.

DELICIOUS!!!!

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Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna 

Ingredients: 

1.Lasagna Noodles

2. Marinara Sauce (I prefer Prego brand)

3. LARGE tub of Cottage Cheese

4. Mozzarella Cheese (Large Brick)

5.1 Package baby Spinach leaves.

6. Chopped White Onion

7.Black Pepper

8.Italian Seasonings

9. Onion Powder

10. Garlic Salt

Chop 2 big handfulls of the baby spinach and mix with cottage cheese in large bowl. 

Mix in chopped white onion, and spices. 

The original recipe had actual measurements, but I don't even remember what they are. Personally, I like it heavy on the spices, but you can make it heavy or light- just however you prefer it. 

Shred the Mozzarella cheese!  DO NOT MIX the cheese in with your cottage cheese and spinach mixture.

Pour just enough sauce into your casserole dish to coat the bottom: 

Cover with one layer of noodles.

Oh! First- Preheat oven to 350 degrees!

(^^^^^^^^^cottage cheese mixture!) 

Cover the first layer of noodles with HALF the cottage cheese mixture. 

cover THAT with 1/3 of the mozz. Cheese!!!

Do it all over again with just enough sauce to cover the layer of cheese.

Add a second layer of noodles

and the second half of the cottage cheese mixture.

add the 2nd 1/3 of the cheese.

More sauce (remember, just enough to cover the cheese!) and then the LAST LAYER of noodles. 

Use the rest of the sauce to cover your last layer, 

Use the rest of your cheese to top it off

Bake for 1 hour- let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.

It might be a bit soupy, but it's DELICIOUS. And one of the best cooks I've ever known told me that if it's soupy, that's how you know it's home made. So....yeah!!!

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Foodie Friday, including Friday's Flash Giveaway!!!

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My Mom's Famous Fruit Salad

This is one of those salads "from my childhood." My mom made it all the time, and it's ALWAYS good. She used to sometimes add walnuts. I don't care for those. But you can try it. Now, since I'm all grown up and stuff, I make it all the time too. And people are always asking me what it is, exactly. The best news is, it's simple and takes like 5 minutes!

Ingredients:

2 packages regular Philadelphia cream cheese
1-2 LARGE cans of mandarin oranges
1-2 LARGE cans of chunk pineapple (you can also use wedges or crushed. I prefer chunks because it's so yummy!!!)
2-3 jars of STEMLESS maraschino cherries.

Put the  cream cheese into a microwave safe bowl, and soften it until it's mixable and creamy. Usually, this takes about 1 minute 30 seconds, but I do it in 30 second increments, and mix in between.

While you are softening your cream cheese, drain the fruits in a colander in the sink. I do it in order of color- cherries first, because they're red. If you put in the pineapple or oranges first, and cherries last, it stains them all red. LOL. It doesn't change the flavor, it just looks prettier when you have a colorful salad.

Cream cheese should be easy to mix and creamy!!!

I had to add both the fruit and the cheese to a bigger bowl...LOL. Mix them together until the fruit is well coated. Chill for about a half hour, and serve! SO delicious!

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