Brownies

8 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
3 sticks butter
4 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Spray 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Microwave butter and chocolate squares for 30 second intervals until they're melted together.
Mix other ingredients into chocolate mixture. Stir thoroughly.
Pour batter into pan/stone and bake for 35-40 minutes, or unitl toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Sweet potato casserole

2 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
cooking spray
miniature marshmallows

Spray down pan/stone/crock with cooking spray.
Mix together the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and orange juice (and pecans, if you choose). Pour into baking pan/stone.
Top with marshmallows.
If you're using a crock, like I had to because my oven was otherwise occupied, wait until casserole is thoroughly cooked, then throw the marshmallows on top. When they start turning gooey, serve.

Jello poke cake

white cake mix
green jello
red jello
cooking spray

Make cake mix according to directions on back. Let cool completely.
Take a toothpick, or fork, and poke holes into each layer of the cake.
Mix jello with only the hot water and don't let it gel. You'll need to use it immediately.
Pour one color of jello on each cake layer, allowing it to soak in. DO NOT use all of the jello-just enough to color each layer.
Allow to set for about an hour.
Remove from pans.
Instead of icing, use whipped cream as the frosting. Sprinkle with holiday sprinkles. Keep refrigerated until time to serve.

NOTE: I have also done this in a 9x13 inch pan and still used both colors and it turned out just as well. Plus, you don't have the hassle of layering the cake.

Reindeer dust

5 cups oatmeal (use 1 cup per child you have)
glitter

Mix the two together in a large zip lock bag.
Sprinkle outside, (over snow is gorgeous!) to "guide Santa's reindeer" to the right house.

Sugar cookies

8 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups butter
2/3 cup shortening
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla

TOPPING:
colored sugar
sprinkles
icing

Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until all flour has mixed in very well. Put plastic wrap over bowl and set in fridge for 1 hour, to help dough stiffen up.
After an hour, turn dough out onto flour surface. Kneed and roll dough until it's thin enough to make your cookies. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on cookies sheets/pans/stones. Pour sprinkles or other toppings over each cookie.
Bake on 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until edges are very lightly browned.

Pizza crisps

This is so quick and easy, it's ridiculous. Whether you're on the run and need a quick meal, or want the kids to help out, it can work for many situations.

1 lb ground turkey
1 cup diced pepperoni
2 cans pizza sauce
4 cups shredded mozz cheese
sliced sourdough or french cocktail bread (sliced thin)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown turkey meat.
If you're like us, you need a meat mix and a cheese only mix. So divide up the ingredients, mixing 2 different bowls full of pizza toppings. Spoon mixes onto thinly sliced bread. Bake 10-15ish minutes, or until lightly browned.

Gingerbread house

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. molasses
7 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 c. water

Cream butter and sugar thoroughly with electric mixer. Beat in molasses. Blend all dry ingredients. Alternately add blended dry ingredients and water to the butter-sugar mixture. Dough will become stiff, so that the last dry addition may need to be blended by hand. Work dough until it is smooth in consistency. If dough sticks to your hands, lightly dust them with flour. Carefully though, too much flour makes dough dry and hard.
When dough is easy to work, you're ready to roll it out and make your gingerbread house pieces. If you're not going to make your gingerbread house right away, wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate (up to 1 week). Bring to room temperature before rolling (3 hours).
Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Patterns for gingerbread houses may be of your own design or found in Gingerbread kits. Be sure to cut two front-back pieces, two side walls and two roof pieces.
Gingerbread House Notes:
1. After baking the house pieces, place the pattern over each part while they are still warm and trim to pattern size any puffy or out of shape lines.
2. After baking, remove from cookie sheets and let dry overnight on oven racks in a 200 degree oven. You want all pieces to be solid and dry (like bricks).
3. Use stiff consistency icing to glue walls together and decorate with candies.

Mexican BBQ chicken

various chicken pieces (we used 5 boneless breasts, 2 boneless thighs, and 6 legs)
1/2 cup taco seasoning
1 tbsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup lemon juice

Place chicken into crock pot. Mix all ingredients together. Pour over chicken. Crock on high for 6ish hours until done.

Lemon pecan squares

BARS:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, melted
6 eggs
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
3/4 cups pecans, chopped

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tbsp milk

Mix together all ingredients for bars until batter is smooth. Pour into large bar pan/stone. Bake on 375 degrees for 30ish minutes, or until edges are slightly browned. Remove from oven. Pour glaze over top. Serve.

Snickerdoodles

I'll have to post the ways I make soap later, when I have time to actually make some.

4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 1/4 cups shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (milk will do in a pinch)

TOPPING:
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together all dry ingredients in 1 bowl. Mix together all wet ingredients in another. Slowly combine the two until mixture is smooth. Mix together topping ingredients and set aside.
With a small scoop, put balls of cookie dough mixture onto pans/stones.
Press flat bottomed glass into topping mixture. (if it becomes too sticky, you can dip the glass into cooking oil, then the topping) Press on each cooking ball to flatten.
Bake 12-15 minutes. These are not supposed to brown, so keep a close eye on them!

GOING GREEN: Conserve energy in your bathroom!

Some simple suggestions:
*Turn the water off when you're brushing your teeth
*Take shorter showers
*Change your showerhead to a low flow
*Change lightbulbs to energy saver bulbs (after the others have burned out. It's just as wasteful to take them out with life still in them and throw them out to put in the energy saver ones)
*Put a brick (or a tall slim bottle full of pebbles) in the tank of your toilet. This reduces the amount of water you use at each flush.
*Use those plastic shopping bags as bathroom trash bags. And, make sure your trash is FULL before you throw it out!
*Use toilet paper and tissues that have been made with post consumer recycled materials. A great company for this is Marcal.
*WOMEN: There are GREAT eco-friendly feminine products for you to use. Sea sponge tampons and cloth pads save a TON of room in our landfills!
*Use natural cleaners in your bathroom. Vinegar and baking soda are a must if you want to stay natural!
*When you reach the end of a tube of toothpaste and you cannot squeeze out anymore, cut open the end and dip your toothbrush in! You can easily get 3-4 more brushes before having to throw the tube out.
*When your child gets sick, it's recommended that you throw their toothbrush out, to avoid the child getting sick again. If the toothbrush was at the end of it's 3 month life span, toss it. However, if it was fairly new, simply boil it for 2-3 minutes. Boiling kills the germs and saves you from needing a new toothbrush. (I would boil up to 2 months into the toothbrush's lifespan)
*Recycle those nifty little cardboard centers to your toilet paper rolls. If you have small children, they can be used in their crafts. Otherwise, recycle them with your regular paper cardboard. Also ,if you use a toothpaste that comes in a bottle (like Crest), peel off the label and rinse the bottle and recycle it with the rest of your plastics. And don't forget the cardboard boxes your soap comes in or plastic shampoo/conditioner/body wash/bubble bath bottles.
*Unplug things you don't use. Some electrical items pull just as much energy when they're just plugged in as they do when you're using them. So unplug that electric toothbrush and electric shaver, until they start dying. Recharge for a full day, and unplug again.
*DO NOT THROW OUT THOSE LITTLE BITS OF SOAP! Let them dry out and save them in a small plastic container. DO NOT mix different types of soaps. I will blog tomorrow (hopefully with pics) about what to do with those.

Tuna melts

sliced bread of your choice (I used sourdough)
cans of tuna, drained (we had to use 4 large cans)
spicy brown mustard
mayo
sliced swiss cheese
various veggies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Put heaping spoonfuls of drained tuna on 1 slice of bread. Top with some mustard, then a slice of the swiss cheese. Place in oven just until cheese has melted. Spread mayo on the other slice of bread and place on top of melted slice. Can also top with whatever veggie you'd like.

ALTERNATE: Basically follow the same directions, except mix tuna, mayo, and mustard. Scoop into pita pockets. Top with strips of swiss cheese. Melt in oven. Top with veggies.

Vanilla latte

Total rip off from Starbucks, but totally worth it. This recipe is for a total pot (10-12 cup) of coffee.

4 cups milk
6 cups water
6 tsp decaf coffee
3 tbsp sugar free vanilla syrup (Da Vinci brand)
1/2 cup Splenda or sugar

Put the coffee grounds in the filter. Pour everything else together into the coffee pot. You are going to percolate everything together so pour it all into the back of the coffee maker. When it's done, enjoy.........and believe me, you will!

CLEANING TIP: Since you are brewing milk in your coffee maker, each night you need to clean your coffee maker in a solution of 1 cup white distilled vinegar and 1 full pot of water. Once that has run through, run through another pot of plain water. You MUST do this nightly so that there won't be any build up to fight with later or, you don't ruin your coffee pot and need another.

PS- Coffee grounds are excellent to compost, so instead of trashing them, put them out in your flower beds!

GOING GREEN: Enviro-friendly gift wrap!

Environmentally-Friendly Gift-Wrap Options
by Farrah Parkes on Sep 10th 2007 7:00PM

The plastic grocery bag appears to be going the way of the dinosaur. If the trend continues, disposable gift wrap might not be far behind. Here are five alternatives you can turn to if the over-priced Hallmark gift bags disappear from the shelves:
Re-Purposed Paper: Of course, your basic uncoated wrapping paper is recyclable and probably not the biggest threat to the environment. But, if you prefer "re-use" over "recycle", then consider other paper options. Brown paper bags, magazine pages, your old Biology notes that you kept for no reason whatsoever... (oh, don't pretend you don't have those). But please, while those crazy Brits might think nothing of wrapping their fish and chips in newspaper, spare your friends and family the aggravation of newsprint all over their fingers and bright shiny gifts.
Gift Boxes from re-purposed cardboard: I'm loving these two tutorials for paper gift boxes. Only one calls specifically for re-using materials (they recommend cereal boxes) but both could easily be made out of any light cardboard you've got sitting in the recycling bin. You might also want to whip out the rubber stamps, paint, or whatever recyclable bling you've got, to make the cardboard a wee bit more festive.
Fabric gift bags: If you know your way around a sewing machine, you could try your hand at making your own fabric gift bags. If drawstring isn't your thing, McCall's has a free pattern for a gift bag with handles. (just skip the whole crazy quilting step and go to the last set of instructions).
Fabric CD Case: This also requires a little bit of sewing skill, but if you're up to it, the possibilities are endless. CDs might also be going the way of the dinosaur, but video games, DVDs and books could all get their own custom fabric case.
Fabric Wrap: If sewing just isn't going to happen for you, the Japanese government has instructions for wrapping gifts with fabric, instead of paper. Yes, the Japanese government provides its citizens with gift-wrapping instructions, got a problem with that? I can't say the directions are particularly clear, but it's worth a shot. In the spirit of re-using, you might want to save this option for your crafty pals who'll definitely make use of a random piece of fabric after they've opened their gift.

Creamy wild rice soup

This is a total rip off of Tastefully Simple. I just can't justify $8 for a box of soup that doesn't even serve my whole family, so I came up with this.

8 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cups whipping cream (can use milk in a pinch)
4 boxes of Ricearoni's long grain and wild rice
leftover turkey or chicken

Pour everything into a stockpot, or a crockpot, including the seasoning packets with the rice. If you're using a crockpot, cook on low for 4ish hours. If it's in a stockpot, about 45 minutes.