Lemon Monkey Bread

12 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed but still cold
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp melted butter

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Lemon Monkey Bread, Tex Mex Egg Bake, Fruity Salad 

Cut rolls in half and place in a greased 9x13 pan.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Mix lemon zest and sugar together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle half of the lemon sugar mixture over the rolls.  Cover and let rise till doubled.  Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture on top.  Bake at 350 degrees about 20-25 minutes.  Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over rolls while still warm. 

Well who doesn't love Monkey Bread?!!!  I love this stuff and we use to have it every Christmas at my mother-in-laws house.  I have to say that I haven't had any in a long time (hint, hint Nana).  I have tried to make regular monkey bread myself but I can't make it as good as Nana's.  When I saw this recipe for Lemon Monkey Bread I just about went bananas!  ;)

I made this for a breakfast/brunch and it was so good!  The only thing is that to me, if you use all the sugar and zest mixture it can be a bit much.  So as you sprinkle it on before and after the rolls rise just eyeball how much you think you need.  If you want yours really sweet then by all means use it all!  This is really a nice change from the traditional recipe so try it out on your friends and family! 

Overnight Tex-Mex Egg Bake

12 oz bulk spicy pork sausage
5 cups frozen southern style hash brown (32 oz bag)
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
3 cups shredded Colby-Monterrey jack cheese
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
salsa

Spray a 13x9 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally until no longer pink.  Drain on paper towel.

Spread frozen potatoes in baking dish.  Sprinkle with sausage, green chiles and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk and salt with fork or whisk until blended.  Pour over potato mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese.  Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 12 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake uncovered 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Cut into square and serve with salsa.

This was a great brunch/breakfast dish!  I love stuff like this.  The salsa made it very tex-mexy!  The only thing I would change is that it needed a lot of salt and pepper so I think the next time I make this I will salt and pepper the hash brown really well before I pour the rest of the ingredients on top of them.  Make this for a crowd or a special family breakfast get together.  They will love you for it!

Chocolate Cobbler

3/4 cups sugar
1 cup self rising flour
2 tbs cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 tbs melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together and spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Top mixture:  mix together and sprinkle over batter.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cocoa

Pour 1 1/2 cup of hot water gently over the topping mixture.  DO NOT STIR! Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Okay, this sounded so good, it looked really good and it smelled really good.  I served it warm with vanilla ice cream and it was a big hit with everyone except.....me.  I just didn't care for it.  To me it needed to be sweeter or needed cinnamon or something added to bring out the flavor.  It was just okay for me but it is worth a try.  Easy to make and your guest will like it.  It makes it's own hot fudge sauce as it bakes.  Give it a whirl. 

Fire Crackers

1 box multi grain saltine crackers
1 1/2 cups oil
2 packages of dry Ranch dressing mix
3 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil

Using two large gallon size storage bags, place two sleeves of saltine crackers into each bag.  Mix all seasoning ingredients together and divide evenly.  Pour seasoning mix with oil into each bag and seal.  Toss gently to coat the crackers.  Let set but toss about every 15 minutes until oil is absorbed and all crackers have been seasoned.  Transfer all the crackers in to a fresh bag and keep sealed air tight.

These are sooooooo good!  I love seasoned crackers and these babies have a kick to em too!  They are good with cheese or just by themselves.  A lot of ingredients but easy to make and it seems that they get hotter the next day.  I did spread them out on a cookie sheet lined with paper towel in a warm oven for about 5-10 minutes just to help absorb the oil and dry them out faster so I could start eating them sooner!!  Yum!

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Jalapeno Crescent Rolls

1 can crescent rolls
1 4 oz can chopped jalapenos
1 8 oz container of cream cheese

Mix jalapenos and cream cheese together and set aside.  Gently unroll crescent roll dough so that all of the squares/triangles stay together and you have one large, square sheet of dough. Pinch any holes together. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough surface.  From one of the long sides, gently, but tightly as you can, roll the dough up jelly roll style.  Using a serrated knife, cut dough into eight equal slices.  Place rolls, circular side up on baking sheet and cook at as directed on crescent roll can. 

OMG!  These are fantastic.  I could eat all eight by myself!  I love spicy foods and these are spicy!  They are best if you can serve them warm.  I served them with King Ranch Chicken but I've also had them as an appetizer.  So simple, so delicious!

Carrot Cake Muddy Buddies

5 cups rice Chex cereal
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 cups carrot cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a large plastic bowl (that has a lid), melt chocolate chips in 30 second increments until melted.  I add about a tsp of vegetable oil to help make the chocolate smooth and silky.  When chocolate is melted, add cereal and stir gently to coat the cereal.  In a separate small bowl, combine carrot cake mix (just the powdered stage from the box mix) and the powdered sugar.  Sprinkle this mixture over the coated cereal.  Place the lid on the large bowl and shake the bowl to coat the chocolate coated cereal with the powdered mixture.  Keep shaking until all the powdered mixture is absorbed.

These are great!  I made these for a girls weekend and they liked the surprising flavor of the carrot cake.  I usually make these at Christmas time with milk chocolate and peanut butter.  These are our favorite but the spicy carrot cake flavor is nice for a change.  I got this recipe off of Pinterest and if you go to their website you will see other flavor ideas.  I think I'll try the red velvet cake flavor next!

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

No Bake Cookies - March Sugar Block of the Month Club

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups raw oat

In a large saucepan, combine milk, sugar, butter and cocoa.  Gently bring to a boil, stirring and cook for 1 minute.  Take care not to burn or overcook this mixture or the cookies will be crumbly.

Remove from heat and promptly stir in vanilla, peanut butter and oats until thoroughly combined.  Drop spoonfuls onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and allow to cool in the fridge or freezer.  Takes about 20 minutes for the cookies to set.  Makes about 3 dozen.

I have always loved no bake cookies but oddly we never had them when I was growing up.  The first time I tried them was while I was dating my husband and I think his oldest sister had made them.  She usually brings them around at Christmas time too and the only other time I ever have them is when we stop at this little Czech bakery off the highway in West, Texas.  They have them package up in little 'to go' cups so I grab one for the road when I stop in there.  I've never made them but these were very easy to make and pretty tasty.  These past few months I've been donating my sweets to the Senior Center because we are all on a healthy living quest around here.  This time I kept a few of the cookies (everything in moderation) (PLUS I just love these things) and I sent the rest home with my son's fiance'.  Did ya hear that?  YES, I said FIANCE'!!!!! 

I am happy to report that my youngest son Marshall, after dating for four years, has asked our precious Cristina to marry him!!!  We are so excited!!!!!!  I could not ask for a more perfect girl for him or a daughter for  me!!!  She is sweet, kind, thoughtful, generous, loving, beautiful, smart, ambitious and crazy about my baby boy.  The big day is not for awhile yet but I will keep you posted on updates for the happy day!!!

Okay, so go try the no bake cookies and here is a picture of this month's quilt block.  It's called Forget Me Not and was pretty easy to put together, a lot easier than last months!!!