Coconut Fruit Dip

This is the best fruit dip I've ever, ever had. It's especially amazing with raspberries. This recipe makes a lot, so for a small-ish crowd, halve it.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 can cream of coconut (found on the alcohol aisle with margarita stuff)

1 8 oz cool whip

Beat cream cheese with cream of coconut until well blended (you might have small lumps still). Fold in Cool Whip and enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Bars

Long time, no post. I've been making these for a long time and they're probably my favorite treat of late. They really turn out perfect every time and are so, so easy. Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Of course.

Bars:
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened to cool room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest (optional, but don't leave it out cause it's so good in these)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk or cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Press and/or spread the sugar cookie mixture gently into an even layer into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10-13 minutes. Don't overbake! The bars shouldn't have any color around the edges and barely be set in the middle. Let the bars cool completely before frosting. For the frosting, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth (if the mixture has trouble coming together, add a drop or two of milk). Add in the vanilla and mix. Add the milk or cream and mix until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add food coloring, if desired.

M&M Cookies

Stacie forwarded me a new M&M cookie recipe that I knew I had to try out.
And they were delicious.
And they were even delicious the next day!
It made about 2 dozen cookies.  Maybe 2 1/2 if you don't eat cookie dough while you bake.
My little family eats cookie dough so mine made 2 dozen.

Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose Gold Medal Flour
• 3 tablespoons Instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1-1 1/2 cups Mini M and M’s
• ***I used 2 cups total.  I didn't have a full bag of mini M&Ms because I had used them for a previous dessert.  So I used 1 1/4 c mini m&ms and 3/4 c of mini chocolate chips.  I love chocolate but I wouldn't recommend more than 2 cups total of whatever you choose***

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream your butter and sugars until well combined. Add your egg and vanilla mixing to combine. Add your flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt, stirring to combine. Add chips and m and m’s stirring to combine.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Recipe source:  Picky Palate

Spaghetti Pie

This one's from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. We really loved it! The only thing I did differently is not put any extra sauce on top after it was done baking. It calls for 2 c. sauce in the dish and the remainder to be served with it, so all I did was the 16 oz. tomato sauce (I didn't add the 28 oz. crushed tomatoes).

12 ounces thin spaghetti or vermicelli noodles
1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 small white or yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
16-ounces tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, divided

DIRECTIONS:
Lightly coat a deep 9 or 10-inch pie plate with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the noodles until al dente according to package directions. While the noodles boil, heat a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef or turkey, breaking it into pieces with a wooden spoon. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally and continuing to break up the meat, until the meat is cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and drain the excess grease, if any. Return the skillet to medium heat and stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil and oregano. Simmer the sauce over medium or medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

When the noodles are done cooking, drain and return to the pot. Immediately stir in the cream cheese and toss the noodles by lightly lifting them up and over with tongs until the cream cheese is mostly melted. Stir in the cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Toss until the noodles are evenly coated. Stir in 2 cups of the red sauce. Keep the remainder of the red sauce warm on the stove.

Scrape the noodles into the prepared pie plate and using a flat spatula, press the noodles evenly into the dish so they are tightly pressed together and evenly flat across the top. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese across the top.

Bake the spaghetti pie for 20-22 minutes, until it is hot and bubbly and the cheese is golden on top. Let the dish rest for 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve with remaining red sauce.

Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Fat Punch

3 C apple juice
2 C cranberry juice
18 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
Juice of 3-4 lemons or 1 1/2 small bottles of lemon juice {the kind that looks like a lemon}
3 C sugar {I add 2 C sugar and then taste for sweetness and add until it tastes good, usually 2 1/2 C or so}
3 {2 liter} bottles of ginger ale

Mix all together but the ginger ale.
Add the ginger ale before serving.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can pinto beans (Original recipe uses red kidney beans.  I don't like them personally, but you can use them if you like)
1 15 oz. can great northern beans
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
12 oz V8 juice
1 Tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon thyme
½ pound ditali pasta (little round circles)

Brown the beef, drain. Add onion, carrots, celery & garlic. Saute for 10 min. Add remaining ingredients except pasta and let simmer 1 hour. Cook the pasta until al dente (a little firm) and then add to soup 5-10 min. before serving. Can also add pasta to each individual bowl to preserve leftovers (pasta sucks up all the liquid if sits too long).
Serves about 8.

Homemade Salsa

I got this recipe from my friend, Stacy. It is super delicious! I did change a couple things, and that is the nice thing with salsa. Add a little more or less of the things you want to make it to your taste. (hotter, more/different peppers, etc.)

Ingredients:
1 box of tomatoes from the Layton U-Pick (1 box equals about two 5-gallon buckets filled)
6 bell peppers, half green & half red (take out seeds&cores)
5 onions
8 jalapeños, not seeded (unless you like it super mild then take out seeds)
14 anaheim peppers, not seeded
1 1/3 cups vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/6 cups sugar
1/2 cup salt
Any additional seasonings you like: garlic, pepper, cumin, paprika, etc are all good

In a large pot, bring water to a boil.  Cut tops off tomatoes and blanch tomatoes in pot until skins start to split. (about 2-4 min. usually)  (Easy: You can also use an Instant Pot, set to pressure cook at 0 minutes.  Once it comes to temp, and beeps, continue with the same instructions.)  Dump into sink full of cold water & ice cubes. Repeat until all tomatoes are done.  Peel skins off of tomatoes and then drain water in sink, leaving just the skinless tomatoes.  You can also put the tomatoes into a large bowl if you'd rather, allowing the water to drain off as it sits. Take your tomatoes and blend them in a food processor or blender.  When you finish all the tomatoes, put them through a very fine strainer if there's a lot of liquid. You will want to strain off a large amount of the liquid so your salsa isn't too runny.  (If using all Roma tomatoes, you'll strain a lot less liquid or even none at all FYI.)  I probably strain off at least 8 to 10 cups of liquid when I use regular garden tomatoes! Pour your tomatoes into a large stock pot. Set on stove top.

In a food processor, chop up all your peppers and onions as finely as you like. Add them to the tomatoes in the large pot. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Pour salsa into jars, place lids on and put them into a steam bath. Use a steam canner and place water into the bottom, around half full. Once you have about 2" of steam coming out of your steam canner, start the timer for 20 min for quart jars or 15 min for pint jars. Reduce heat if needed, but make sure you allow a steady stream of 2" or more steam. When time is up, remove jars and let cool. (For me, this makes about 20 quart jars) Enjoy your salsa!