Jean Pocket Bean Bags

Liz submitted this really cute craft!  Bean Bags made out of pockets from your old jeans!  I love them!  Thanks for sharing Liz!

I found this easy bean bag pattern in an old craft book of my moms.  Basically you cut out the butt pocket of your blue jeans (no holes in front or back) around the sewn edges, fill with rice or beans and sew two seams along the open edge.  Watch for fraying edges.  I used pockets from women's & men's jeans and added 3/4- 1 cup of rice.  I made 14 bags and used about 2/3 of my 10 lb bag of rice.

Double Chocolate Cookie Bars

Double Chocolate Cookie Bars
submitted: Summer Thatcher
From: Heidi Bakes Blog

24 OREO cookies
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Set aside 6 cookies and grind the rest in a food processor or blender.  IN a small bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and butter until well blended.  Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Over a double broiler or in the microwave (for 1 minute), melt 1 cup of chocolate chips together with the condensed milk.  Stir and add the vanilla.  Stir frequently until smooth.  Spread evenly over the crumb crust.  Sprinkle the remaining cup of chocolate chips over the top.  Break remaining cookies into pieces by hand and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in the oven.  Cool completely before cutting into the bars.

Creamy Bacon Carbonara

Creamy Bacon Carbonara
Submitted: Summer Thatcher
From: Just Get off Your Butt and Bake

2 eggs
1/4 c. Heavy Cream
1/3 c. Parmesan
Fresh diced Parsley or dried flakes (Basil would be good also)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Red Pepper flakes
(I doubled the sauce recipe, and it was perfect)

1/2 lb. bacon
1 small onion, chopped (opt.)
3 mushrooms sliced (opt.)
1/2 lb. pasta

Beat the eggs, cream, Parmesan, parsley, salt and red pepper together in a bowl.  I just used a fork.  Fry the bacon until crisp, then crumble and set aside.  With 1-2 TBS bacon grease, saute the onion and mushrooms until the onions are translucent and golden.  Drain the pasta and while still warm, add to the onions and mushrooms.  Pour cream mixture into the pasta, and stir over low heat for one to two minutes.  (**I doubled the sauce recipe and I saved a bit of the pasta water, just in case my sauce got thicker than I liked, add a bit if you need it).  Don't do this on high heat or you will make scrambled eggs.  Serve with additional Parmesan, and a loaf of Crusty French Bread and a salad!  You will love it!

Peaches and Cream Tart

Peaches and Cream Tart

submitted: Summer Thatcher

Crust:
2 c. Macaroon Cookie crumbs (almost 1 pkg. cookies)
1/4 c. butter, melted

Combine crumbs and butter. Put in spring form pan or mini cheesecake pan. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Filling:
1 c. heavy cream
2 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2/3 c. sugar
4 TBS orange juice concentrate
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract

Whip whipping cream till stiff, set aside. Beat cream cheese, sugar, OJ, vanilla and almond. Stir in whipping cream. Spread over crust. Refrigerate 2-4 hours or freeze 1 hour. Peel and slice peaches (or strawberries, raspberries, blueberries...) and sprinkle with sugar. Put fruit on top of filling before serving.

If you want you can make some homemade whipped cream (1 c. heavy cream, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 tsp. almond) and put on top before the fruit...so good:)

Mexican Meat

Mexican Meat
Submitted By: Chris Cosme

This was a recipe that was made at Enrichment.

9lb beef roast, fat removed (sirloin tip roast and top round roast work well)
3 large onions, chopped
2, 4 oz cans chopped green chiles
1, 7 oz jar taco sauce
1 16 oz. jar salsa ( I use Pace)
2 tbs. minced garlic
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 of a medium jar of roasted red peppers, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
cajun/creole seasoning, pepper and oregano to taste

Season roast with salt and pepper. Brown roast with a little bit of oil on both sides. Remove roast from pan and place in a crock pot. Sautee' chopped onions with remaining drippings. Deglaze pan with taco sauce and add to the crock pot along with all of the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 8-10 hours until meat is tender and shreds easily.

Salsa

Salsa
Submitted By: Chris Cosme

This is the salsa we made at Enrichment.

Salsa
2 large tomatoes chopped
1 can original rotel
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
1 jalapeno seeded ( or more if you'd like it spicier)
salt and pepper to taste

Sunshine Lemon Bars

Sunshine Lemon Bars

Submitted by: Liz Rasmussen

Source: Duncan Hines

Hands-On Time:
10 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour and 30 minutes
Servings:
Makes 24 servings.

Ingredients:
1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 large egg
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice

Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Stir together cake mix, butter and egg. Spread mixture evenly into bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Blend together sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Pour mixture over top of cake mix mixture.

Bake for 23 to 27 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into 1 1/2x3 1/4-inch bars.