A Few New Recipes & Something A Little Different!

I have been very proud of myself this week! I made a menu plan for the week on Monday morning before going to the grocery store, and I've stuck with it!! Woohoo!!!! :-) I just love it when a plan comes together!

Today I have a few new recipes to share with you all, and I hope that you will like them. The first is what's for dinner tonight in our house.

SLOPPY JOE BAKE:

Here are a few items that you will need to make this dish:

**NOTE** You will also need a large yellow onion, I already had onion cut up in my fridge from a previous recipe!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 Lb. Ground Beef
1 Large Yellow Onion; chopped
2 Cans (14-16 oz each) Sloppy Joe Sauce (Manwich)
3 C. Rotini Noodles; uncooked
1/2 C. Water
1 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. Brown the beef and onion in large pan over medium heat 8-10 minutes, or until beef is no longer pink. Pour off drippings. Stir in sloppy joe sauce, uncooked rotini and water; mix well. Spoon beef mixture into pan; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until pasta is tender. Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake uncovered for 5 minutes.

All set for the first time in the oven:

And here is this delish meal all dished up:

The steam is just rolling off of this as I was taking this picture!

Since this is a pasta dish, I thought that it would be fitting to also share a recipe that I have acquired for homemade alfredo sauce. I have used this and it is so yummy!

ALFREDO SAUCE:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 C. Butter

1 Pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese

1 C. Half & Half

1/3 C. Parmesan Cheese

1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

Pepper to Taste

In a saucepan melt the butter and the cream cheese. Add all the other ingredients and stir together. I heated just until boiling and then let it sit for about 3-4 minutes.

I have a wonderful group of friends that I am lucky enough to attend church with, and each Sunday night except for the first Sunday of the month, which is Bibly Study night we head over to one of our friends houses for a fun time of fellowship, and of course, FOOD!!!! Everyone brings something, and the fun part is not knowing if you are going to end up with 10 desserts and no main dish or vice versa! There are times that it doesn't work out to go anywhere, but in the end it's fine because if I've made something, it is no problem getting the brother to help eat it up! With tomorrow being Sunday I decided that I needed to figure out what to make...I decided on this:

RASPBERRY DESSERT

(Doesn't this sound yummy?)

Here are items you will need:

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 C. Butter
4 C. Powdered Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Stick Margarine
Raspberries
Cool Whip or Whipped Cream

Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy; set aside.

Here is the creamy mixutre:

YUMMMMM

Mix graham cracker crumbs and margarine together. Press in bottom of 9x13 pan. Spread the creamy mixture over crumbs. Sprinkle with whole, well drained or fresh raspberries. Top with Cool Whip. Chill.

Here is the finished dish:

It is going to be so hard to not touch this scrumptious dessert! So easy, and the BEST part? No baking required!!! Thanks Aunt T. for this recipe, it's sure to be a hit!

Okay, since this is my blog I can do with it what I want, right? In that case, I decided that I wanted to share some crafty items with you!  I know that this is a cooking blog...but I like to spice things up a little bit every now and then! Haha I would like to first share with you an AWESOME item that I won from my cousin's blog: My cousin J. is EXTREMELY crafty! I LOVE it! This is something that she made, and her plan was to give 1 away, but due to the overwhelming response she got she decided to make one for everyone that commented on that particular post.

It is a flower pin! She made them right around Valentine's Day! Don't you just love the back? I received mine in the mail today, and I can't wait to put it to use! Thanks so much J.!!!! She makes A LOT more than just these cute things, if you can't checked out her blog yet, you really should! Here's the link to get you started: http://cleveringfamily.blogspot.com/ 

I also have other talents, other than cooking! SHOCKING, I know!!! ;-) I LOVE to crochet, and have kept busy crocheting baby blankets for a long time. I love to find new, different types and colors of yarn and make them into blankets. I then give these blankets as gifts to family and friends as they have new babies! My cousin J. and I talked at Christmastime about setting up an Etsy site to sell the crafty things that we make. We have yet to do that, but it is in the works. In the meantime here are some of the blankets that I have made since Christmas.

I LOVE this Pink Camo yarn! And this blanket!

A nice blue and green for a boy!

This one is Blue Camo, and I love this one too!

This yarn was so fun to work with.

This one I made and gave to my brother and sister-in-law for my nephew that is due to arrive in May of this year! I can't wait to meet him!

I have a few more that are done as well, but I won't post all of the pictures now! If you want to see more, just let me know. I have made several more, but I have given some away as gifts already this year...as far away as Texas & Iowa, and close to home here in Michigan. If any of you are interested in any of these blankets, please let me know.

Thanks for letting me veer of course a little on this post! I hope that you enjoyed it.