Fried Apple Pies (recipe from allrecipes.com)

FRIED APPLE PIES

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 apples
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Peel and dice apples. Add sugar and cinnamon. Cook in a saucepan on low heat. Cook until soft, then mash with fork to form a thick applesauce.
2. Sift flour and salt together. Cut in the shortening. Add water and mix with fork.
3. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick on a floured board. Cut with a large cookie cutter (4 inches in diameter).
4. In each round, place 1 heaping tablespoon fruit. Moisten edges with cold water, fold and press edge with a fork.
5. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Fry pies, a few at a time, 2 to 3 minutes on each side; cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

Secret Surprise Cookies

1 C soft sweet butter or margarine
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 C chopped nuts (optional)
1 pkg milk chocolate kisses
Confectioners' sugar

At medium speed, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add flour and nuts; beat at low speed until combined. Chill dough. Using about 1 tablespoon of dough, wrap dough around chocolate kiss to make a ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes; do not allow cookies to brown. Remove from oven and roll in confectioners' sugar while warm. Let cool. Makes about 40 cookies.

***Note from my grandmother: I didn't chill dough and it worked okay. I didn't roll cookies in sugar; they were sweet enough and well flavored. I rolled out the ball of dough and pushed the chocolate kiss up from the bottom and covered it.***

Mini Pizza Muffins

Pizza Muffins (adapted from Lick The Bowl)
Makes 24 mini muffins

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt (optional)
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or whatever kind of cheese you want)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed pepperoni (I left the pepperoni out b/c my daughter isn't a big fan of it)
1/2 cup pizza sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, seasonings, and salt (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the cheeses and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the muffins with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls (soooo good)

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and fresh pepper
• 32 oz tomato sauce
• 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

(Recipe from www.skinnytaste.com)

My Chili (recipe changes every time I make it) lol

Liz’s Chili

1 lb mild or hot breakfast sausage

1 (16 oz) can dark kidney beans (drained)

1 (16 oz) can light kidney beans (undrained)

1 can DelMonte Zesty Spicy Chili diced tomatoes

2 cups V8

1 green pepper (diced)

1 red onion (diced)

1 (16 oz) bag of frozen corn

Garlic

Crushed Red Pepper

Cayenne Pepper Powder

Chili Powder

Curry Powder

Cook sausage in large skillet or cast iron dutch oven until slightly brown. Pour in both cans of kidney beans and can of diced tomatoes. Add 1 cup of V8, green pepper, and onion. Let simmer on medium heat for a few minutes. Meanwhile, cook corn in microwave as directed on package (I like to use the Birds Eye vegetable steamers). Stir in remaining cup of V8 and cooked corn to skillet. Add spices to taste. Let simmer over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Goes great with homemade cornbread!

Cream Cheese Squares

Cream Cheese Squares

2 (8 oz) can refrigerated crescent roll dough

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup margarine (melted)

¼ cup white sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Press one can of the crescent rolls into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Spread over the crescent layer. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and lay them on top of the cream cheese layer. Do not press down. Pour the melted margarine over the entire pan. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden.

**I cut the amount of sugar in the first part in half and also added chopped hazelnuts and drizzled honey on the cream cheese mixture before putting on the top layer of dough. I also cut the margarine back to a ¼ cup melted and the sugar for the topping back to 1/8 cup.**