Cheese Danish

I love cheese danish.  Don't you?  I made this recipe this morning and wanted to share with all of you!  It's very easy and the family will enjoy every bite!

Cheese Danish made with Crescent Rolls

2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 packages 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Topping:

½ cup melted butter

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon (Add a drop of doTERRA Cinnamon Bud oil for a little extra cinnamon taste.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with a non-stick spray.  Lay a roll of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together.  Press to the edges of the dish.  In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth.  Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls. Lay the other tube of crescent rolls on wax paper.  Pinch the openings together and press out.  Lay the dough on top of the cheese mixture.   Mix cinnamon, sugar, and butter and pour the mixture over the top before putting it in the oven.  Bake for 35 minutes until the top is golden brown.  Cool for 20 minutes before cutting.

Another option:

If you prefer glaze instead of the cinnamon topping, you can do this.

Glaze:

1 egg white
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

Brush the egg white on top of the danish.  Bake for 35 minutes until the top is golden brown.  Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth and creamy.  After the danish has cooled for about 20 minutes, drizzle the glaze over the top.

Good Gravy!

Who doesn't like a little gravy now and then?  They other night I was craving brown gravy with mushrooms in it.  It's strange how we crave things like that.  I made some hamburger patties and put them in the gravy for a little while after I made it.  The next night I used the gravy over rice.  So good!

Brown Mushroom Gravy

1/4 cup butter
1  8 oz. package fresh sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup plain or gluten free flour
1 can beef broth
salt and pepper to taste 

Melt butter in a pot over medium heat.  Stir in the mushrooms until mushrooms are soft.  Add in flour, salt, and pepper.  Stir in the beef broth.  Continue to stir to make sure the flour doesn't clump up.  Reduce heat to low and let cook until it thickens up to your liking.

Spring Mix

 I wish it were Spring!  The weather would be warmer and we'd all be getting ready for SPRING BREAK!!!  Instead, it's January and we are expecting a Wintery mix in a couple of days.  YUK!  

Last week I attended a lady's event with my friend at her church.  One of the ladies at the church has her own catering business.  She made a salad very similar to this one.  She used sugared pecans and I have plain pecans.  Sugared pecans taste better, but plain ones are better for you.  Either way, the salad was good!

Spring Mix Salad\

1 box of Spring Mix salad mix
1 red apple diced
1/2 cup cranberry sauce
1/4 cup Craisins
1/2 half container of Feta Cheese Crumples
Poppy seed dressing, to taste

Mix all ingredients together and divide into 2 bowls.

Chicken Little

	Thursday night was a late night.  I had PTA at school and we had a student event along with it.  The students loved attending STEAM Night.  They always like making things and being able to take them home.  These nights are always exhausting.  Teacher's have a long day at School and then have to stay for the festivities.  I needed something easy to make for dinner.  I had a pack of chicken and these random ingredients.  Seemed like a perfect idea!  The chicken was SO GOOD! Chicken and Broccoli Dinner
	1 cup of bread crumbs
	1  cup Water
	4 Boneless skinless chicken breast
	4 cups Broccoli Florets
	1 cup Shredded Mozzarella cheese
	1 pkg. real bacon bits 4 TB. Ranch Dressing
	Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a large sheet of heavy-duty foil with oil. Roll chicken breasts in bread crumbs. Top chicken with 1 c. broccoli.  Add 1 cup of water.  Sprinkle each chicken breast with 1/4 of the cheese and bacon bits. Drizzle with 1 T. ranch dressing.  Bring up foil sides and fold to seal, leaving room for heat circulation inside Place packet on a cookie sheet and bake 25-30 min. Remove packets and let stand 5 min.  Cut slits in foil for steam before opening.  Serve with rice and a salad.

Cherry Salad

The kids and their spouse or significant other and the grands are coming for Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow afternoon.  Who's the most excited?  The grands?  The kids?  The spouse or significant other?  Nope!  ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I get so excited when we are all together!!!  We are having Chicken Crescents, corn, lima beans, cherry salad, gluten free sausage balls, and a chocolate trifle.  And maybe some chocolate chips cookies!  Then after we eat, we get our stockings and OPEN PRESENTS!!!!!  I can't wait to see if everybody likes what they get this year.  We have a big mess of paper to clean up and new things to play with.  SO.  MUCH.  FUN!!!!  My favorite part is the stockings.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's because everybody gets excited over little things as much as the big.  

So what recipe am I sharing?  The Cherry Salad!  If you use gluten free marshmallows, you can include this in the gluten free category.  Notice the size of the bowl because it makes A LOT!

Cherry Salad

1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

1 can cherry pie filling

1 large can of crushed pineapple, drained

2 ½ cups of miniature marshmallows

1 16 oz. Cool Whip

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Blend cream cheese and sugar.  Add Cool Whip and mix well.  Sir in pie filling, pineapple, and miniature marshmallows.  Stir in sweetened condensed milk.  Cover and chill.  Best if made the night before. 

 

Christmas Festivities

Christmas is a wonderful, crazy, busy time.  Do you need a tasty drink that will be festive for your Christmas parties?  Try this one.  It's also good during the hot summer months!

Strawberry Citrus Slush

2 cups fresh lemonade
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 lemon, juiced
4 drops doTERRA Lemon oil
4 drops doTERRA Lime oil
3 cups ice
3 tablespoons white sugar

Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth or at desired consistency.
For a more smoothie like consistency, add 2 cups of strawberries and 2 cups of ice.  Pour into glasses and enjoy.

Thanksgiving Treat

Well, HELLO!  It has been a while, hasn't it?  Lots of things have been going on since my last post in August.  School started for one thing and we all know how exhausting that can be whether your a parent, kid, or teacher.  Then my mom gave us a scare with a trip to the hospital.  Next, we started house hunting, found a house, packed up, moved closer to my mom, and now we are selling our other house.  We moved in to the new house about 2 weeks ago and we're still surrounded in boxes, trying to find things (Hubby found my alarm clock last night!), and trying to find a place for everything.  I hate moving.  It's too much trouble, yet this is the 4th time in 38 years we have done it.  Since it's just the 2 of us left at home, we downsized.  I didn't think it would be so hard, but it is.  Goodwill LOVES us.  We gave away 11 packed carloads of things and we have already started a collection to donate again.  It feels really good to let go of things.  Each of the kids also took some items they wanted.  There were even some things for the Grands.  It took me forever to pack up because I went through things to take out what I didn't need or want and sometimes I'd get stalled because I would start reminiscing.  I found an ancestry project my daughter did in 8th grade.  I found a handwritten recipe from my Grandma!  She made these special brownies at Easter and Christmas every year, but she called them her "chocolate cookies."  Oh, how I miss my Grandma.  The recipe was a special find.

Speaking of recipes, here's one that will be a great one for Thanksgiving or Christmas parties.  You make it ahead of time!  You know how I love recipes like this! Before you get started, run by Wal-Mart or the grocery store and pick up 12  1/2 pint Mason jars.  They are small and the perfect serving size!  You could also do it in a 9x13 baking dish if you don't want to bother with Mason jars.  You could even use juice glasses and top them with Press-n-Seal.  Whatever is easiest for you!  The jars are just so stinkin' cute!

Chocolate Eclairs in a Jar

1-2 sleeves Graham crackers, crushed
2 (3¼ oz.) boxes instant French vanilla pudding
3 ½ c. milk
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed
1 can of milk chocolate frosting

Crush your graham crackers up into small pieces.  I usually put them in a ziploc bag and roll over them with a rolling pin. Use about 2/3 of the crumbs in the jars.  Save the remainder.  In a bowl, combine pudding mix, and milk.  Mix for 2 minutes with an electric mixer.  Add in Cool Whip until blended.  Divide mixture up among the 12 jars.  Fill each one about 2/3 full.  Add another layer of crushed graham crackers on top.  If you need more crumbs, crush up more crackers.  Open the can of chocolate frosting and remove the foil top.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Spoon or pour the frosting into the jar to top it off.  Refrigerate for 6-8 hours with the jar lids off so the frosting can firm up.  Guests an pick up a jar and spoon and enjoy.  These would also make nice little take home desserts!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope yours will be AMAAAAAZING!!!