Slushy

This is one Dan's Fam used to make, but I loved the added raspberries

Banana Slush Punch
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

6 cups water, divided
4 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 cups (48 ounces) pineapple juice
2 12- ounce cans orange juice concentrate
1 12-ounce can lemonade concentrate (pink or yellow)
3 liters Sprite or ginger ale

Instructions:

In the jar of a blender, combine 3 cups water, bananas, and sugar. Blend until smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl or pot, combine remaining water, pineapple juice, orange juice concentrate, and lemonade concentrate and mix well or blend with an immersion blender. Add banana mixture.

Divide the mixture evenly among 3 freezer-safe containers or gallon-sized Ziploc bags and freeze for several hours or overnight (at least). When ready to serve, place 1 container of banana mixture at a time into a drink bowl or jar and pour 1 liter of chilled ginger ale or Sprite over the banana mixture. Mix with a spoon (or immersion blender) and serve immediately. If desired, you can garnish with frozen berries.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Source: The Way to His Heart

Ingredients:1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)

1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
4 ounces cream cheese
20 jumbo pasta shells
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup Monterrey jack cheese

For toppings:

3 green onions

Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a pan brown the ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Stir together and mix well. Set aside and cool completely.

While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to package directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board or baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with 1-2 tablespoons of the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Evenly cover shells with taco sauce. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes with the foil removed. Top with green onions or olives if desired. Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

Candy popcorn

This recipe is a fun way to incorporate color into a popcorn buffet. It's simple and can be made in advance. Try various color combinations and mix-ins for the holidays. It packages up really cute for favors and gifts. (Bonus—kids love it, too!)

Ingredients:
¼ C butter or margarine
4 T light corn syrup
½ C granulated sugar
1-3.5oz box flavored JELL-O (don NOT use sugar free)
7-9 cups popped popcorn (I like air popped, but microwave works great, too) 

Method:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place popcorn in an extra large mixing bowl.

Place corn syrup and butter in a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir until butter is melted. Add sugar and Jell-o and stir to combine. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over popcorn and stir until all the corn is well coated. Spread mixture evenly onto prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool to room temp. You can then break the popcorn apart and serve in bags or jars, prepare for gift-giving OR just dump it in a bowl and eat it all yourself!

Our favorite flavors are raspberry and lime, but pineapple and strawberry are REALLY lovely, too. The possibilities are endless.

White Chicken enchiladas

These were super easy and Mike loved them.

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese (I also sprinkled some chili powder to add flavor). Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies. Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Pumpkin Pie Crunch

1 16 oz can of pumpkin
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup margarine or butter melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.  Combine 1st six ingredients in a large bowl.  Beat well, pour into pan.  Sprinkle dry cake mix over the top, then the walnuts and margarine.  Bake for 50-55 minutes.  Cool and top with whipped cream.  ( I think this tastes better cold the next day if you want make ahead of time).  Fabulous, not so much on the healthy side, but hey it's Thanksgiving time.  Just throw in an extra workout that week :)!

Cranberry-Orange Jellied Salad

I made this last Thanksgiving. And I will probably make it again this year.  I know it sounds kind of weird.  But it is really good.  Everyone loved it.

1 pkg orange flavored gelatin
3/4 Cup boiling water
Juice and grated rind of 1 orange
3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Stir in orange juice, rind and cranberry sauce.  Chill, stirring occasionally to keep fruit and rind evenly distributed. refrigerate. Serves 6.

Thia Doughnuts

Thia Doughnuts

Don't ask me why they are Thai, we had these at a restaurant trying to use up some funds from groupon and I thought they were so yummy! I thought to myself, "Why pay $6.50 for these, I can make them at home for nearly nothing!" These are beyond easy.

Recipe
dough (whether store bought or made from scratch. I went easy and purchased mine)
flavored syrups
-Chocolate
-Cherry
-Caramel
-Anything you want, you can make a raspberry one very easy
oil to cook the dough

Cut the dough into little pieces (maybe 1 inch) and throw in your hot oil to make little baby doughnut holes. Cook until light brown. Put on a plate and drizzle your syrups of choice on top. That's all folks, easy and yummy!