White Trash

Tomorrow is our Christmas supper club with Sunday school. We will be playing Dirty Santa and I decided to make one of our gifts. This would allow me to also have something to give our hostess and her family. This recipe made so much that I would be able to have those two gifts plus two more that I plan to give to our neighbors. I stuffed a lot in each container, but I could have made even more smaller packages. Y'all try this if you are looking for a yummy gift to give for Christmas this year.

White Trash

2 c. rice chex cereal

2 c. corn chex cereal

2 c. cheerios

2 c. salted peanuts

2 c. plain M&Ms

1-1/2 pkgs. white almond bark

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Melt almond bark according to package directions. (I used the double boiler directions this time.) After melting, quickly mix all ingredients with almond bark. Once thoroughly mixed, lay out on wax paper to cool. Break apart to package.

**Note: Not made by white trash! (I think!)

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is a picture of it bagged...for picture of it in a bowl, click on recipe link below.

I don't know what my problem is! I always seem to try new recipes whenever I am taking food to folks. You would think that I would have learned by now not to do this, but I just can't help myself. I try to think away from the typical casseroles and such. It was our turn to make dinner for our friends who just recently added a sweet baby girl to their almost two year old twin boys. I had come across this Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe and it sounded really good, so I made that for them. Once it was made, I scooped The Dish Washer and I some out to try, because obviously if it had been bad I wouldn't have given it to them. It had a great taste though, so it is sent...I hope they like those flavors! My only complaint about it was that something crazy was going on with the cheese when I added it. I don't know if I added it while it was still too hot or what, but it wanted to stick to my spoon or the bottom of the bowl instead of being really creamy. Maybe when they reheat it, it will all even out. Ashley is a reader, so she will have to let us know how it worked out. Hey, it's not my recipe so you can be honest!

I didn't think the boys would be too crazy about soup, and I know they like quiche so I made them some mini Christmas tree broccoli quiches using the mold that my mom gave me recently. I was tempted to add some food coloring to make them green and fun but I thought I would just let the broccoli be the only thing green. I made The Dish Washer try one of those too before we sent them off. He gave it the thumbs up, so off they went too.

I wrapped it up with Chocolate Chip Pound Cake for dessert. That recipe I wasn't concerned about! I've made it a dozen times or more and could even eat the whole thing myself!

Crustless Quiche

I came across this recipe and had saved it because The Dish Washer loves a quiche. It was very easy and traditionally bakes in a 9x9 pan, but I scooped it into my Wilton mini Christmas tree mold to bake these.

Crustless Quiche

5 eggs
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1-1/2 c. cottage cheese
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
2 c. chopped vegetables or meat
(I used 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen broccoli florets, thawed and chopped)
1/2 c. cheese

In a bowl, whisk eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir in cottage cheese, butter, ground mustard. Add the vegetables/meat and cheese, stirring gently.

Place in well greased 9x9 baking dish. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. Cut into squares to serve.

**Baking time will vary depending on what you bake in.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This is my all time favorite cake ever!  It is so simple to make that I make it as gifts, whether Christmas or hostess gifts all the time!  I love to eat it warmed in the microwave for about 15 seconds to get the chocolate chips melty again.  YUM!!!!!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1 butter cake mix
1 small pkg. instant chocolate pudding
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

Mix first 5 ingredients. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Bake in greased/floured bundt pan at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Candy Cane Bark

We are back from Disney World and exhausted! As soon as we got back into town, we had to leave again to cheer our team on to victory! So glad we didn't miss out on that. Today we had our supper club, and all we took were the drinks. I would have loved to make something, but I just couldn't find the time. Now, we are trying to get back into our regular routine, in addition to trying to decorate for Christmas. It has been raining here this afternoon and we didn't want to bring home a wet tree, so we have put that off for one more day. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow because I am really ready to put our tree up! The Dish Washer is Clark Griswold when it comes to lights on a Christmas tree. I love it! We usually have to plug the lights into a surge protector.

We ate a lot at Disney, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as junk food is concerned. (Well, I guess the deep fried snickers I had counts as extraordinary!) I did get to see the cheerleaders come down the street for the parade. The group was much smaller than I remembered it being twelve years ago. The crazy thing is a little girl that I used to babysit was in it this year, so reliving the glory days didn't work...I felt really old!

Now that Christmas is right upon us, 'tis the season for goodies!! I first had this when I was working in a retirement community. We made it for the residents one day and it was so incredibly easy and good. I've even thought it would make a good tea/after dinner mint.

Candy Cane Bark

1 package almond bark (Cand-i-Quick)
1 box candy canes, unwrapped and finely crushed

Melt almond bark according to package directions. Mix in crushed candy canes and pour onto wax paper in a thin layer to cool. Break into small pieces and package.

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One year at church we had a Christmas program called "Candy Cane Lane." I was Candy Cane Jane! Anyway, our director gave us a framed copy of the story of the candy cane. Here it is:

"The Candymaker's Witness"

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas candy cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy: white to symbolize the virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God.


The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reached down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs, who like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as the "candy cane" - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the real meaning is still there for all who "have eyes to see and ears to hear." We pray this symbol will again be used to witness to the wonder of Jesus and His great love that came down at Christmas.

Zucchini with Parmesan

Here's this recipe, as promised.

Zucchini with Parmesan

8 medium zucchini
olive oil
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese


Remove the ends of zucchini and, if large, cut in half. Slice at a diagonal. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in sauce pan and add onions. Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat, until they start to brown. Add zucchini, salt and pepper to the pan to cook, tossing occasionally for 10-15 minutes, until just cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cook 30 seconds more. Remove to serving platter. Serve immediately.

I'm working on putting some recipes up for Christmas. They will be good food treats to give as gifts. I won't have pictures to go with them until I make them myself, but I'll go ahead and add them in case you want to fun ideas. I don't know about you, but I love giving food as presents!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Happy Veteran's Day! This is a time to remember and thank all of the veterans, who have fought to make and keep this country what it is. Thanks for what you do! (If there are any veterans that read this.) The reason this day is so special to me is because when we were very little, my Grandaddy would take Tossie, Sister and I on a fun adventure.

He and Tos would pick us up and we would make our way to the Air Force Base where he worked. We would have our picture made in front of all the airplanes and act silly. Then, and I may get some of this out of order, we would have lunch at Burger King. We would go and meet his friend that had a radio program AND be on his show. You can imagine how exciting that was for us! Mom said she always listened and was so worried what we might say. I was too young to remember if anything too controversial was said. HA! We would also play at this really great park down by the river. On our way home we would stop and pick cotton. I remember picking up pecans at the church and playing on that playground with Grandaddy too, but I am not sure if that was the same day. It was so much fun! Then we all changed to a different school and didn't get the day off, so those days ended.

He started it up again when My Cousins Whose Names Start With "A" were old enough to enjoy it.

So, in honor of my Veteran Grandaddy, here's a recipe for him. If you know him, you know he loves, and I mean LOVES, homemade ice cream. I prefer the store bought myself, but every time we get together for cook-outs or he has a special occasion, my mom always makes him ice cream.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk
1 large can evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
milk

Mix first 4 ingredients in freezer container (this is using the old school freezers that require salt and ice). Add milk to fill to the top of the line. Freeze.

Maybe mom can tell us how much milk she adds to the rest of the ingredients when she makes it in the new ice cream freezer. Do the containers make the same amount? It seems a little smaller to me, but it might not be.