Dinner menu...Yum!

Ok so today I thawed out some of the treats I made a few weeks ago.

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes...Super Yum!


(from Cooks.com)

• 2 lbs. frozen hash browns, thawed
  
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and divided
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (Jane Ann substituted dried minced onion)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 pint (2 cups) sour cream (regular or light)
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 cups crushed corn flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine thawed hash browns with 1/2 cup melted butter and all the remaining ingredients except the corn flakes. Spread into a 9×13″ baking dish. Mix 1/4 cup melted butter and the crushed corn flakes together and sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 1 hour. Serve hot.

This was just okay for the kids, but I absolutely loved it..

Also:
Chocolate Chip Fudge Toffee Bars


Originally from Pillsbury.com

1/2 C butter, melted
2 C graham cracker crumbs (32 squares)
1 8 oz. bag toffee bits
1 roll refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 12oz. bag chocolate chips
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 T butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Grease 13x9 baking dish and heat oven to 350.

Have the roll of cookie dough sitting out for around 10 minutes to soften up.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of melted butter, 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and 3/4 cup of toffee bits. Pour mixture into the greased pan and press evenly until mixture covers bottom of pan. Refrigerate for around 15 minutes.

In a 2 qt saucepan, heat the milk, chocolate chips and the tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Stir frequently until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Spread the mixture over the graham cracker crumb mixture.

In another medium mixing bowl, break up the cookie dough and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs until blended. Crumble the mixture evenly over the chocolate layer and the sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup toffee bits on top.

Bake for about 25-35 minutes or until it's golden brown. Cool completely before cutting, probably around 2 or more hours.
These are good but very rich!! I cut it into quarters and froze two quarter separately. We devoured the first on pretty quickly but that was enough. They froze great and tasted just like the day I made them.

Have a great day!

Homemade Snickers bars

These are like crack, incredibly easy and very addicting!!!!
The do take some time to make, but are so worth it! I think I gained 3 lbs alone just by making these!

There are two ways you can do the chocolate layer, normal like the recipe shows or you can use the little bowl of Baker's Dipping Chocolate. I use that a lot as you will see!

So step one
makes one 9×13 pan

bottom chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Thoroughly grease you baking pan. Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

I stuck it in the freezer while prepping the next layer. It was done in about 5-10 minutes

This part is the most time consuming, but some of the best stuff. After I finished pouring I went to put the pot in the sink and realized I left a spoonfull of the yummy stuff there just as I turned the water on to soak. For a brief moment I wanted to grab it back out of there!! lol

nougat layer
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Let cool completely.
And back to freezer.

**Side note, another time I made this I used 2 cups mini marshmallows and 1TBSP of light cornsyrup as I was out of fluff. It still worked but it didn't quite taste the same. So it is possible.

caramel layer
1 14-ounce bag of caramels
1/4 cup whipping cream
Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth – this took about 10 minutes for me. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely.

And back to freezer, at this point I left it about 10-15 minutes to make sure everything was hardened and set.

Defiinitely the most tedious of layers as unwrapping all those damn caramels...They used to sell the bits you could buy to skip this part. But I dunno if they quit selling them all together or just here in my area.

Top chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

back to freezer as the kiddos couldn't wait to eat them!

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, then cut as desired. These can stay at room temperature, but they do get gooey. I like them refrigerated best!

makes one 9×13 pan
bottom chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Thoroughly grease you baking pan. Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.
nougat layer
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Let cool completely.
caramel layer
1 14-ounce bag of caramels
1/4 cup whipping cream
Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth – this took about 10 minutes for me. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely.
Top chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, then cut as desired. These can stay at room temperature, but they do get gooey. I like them refrigerated best!