Leftover salad

Today I made a yummy salad for lunch:

3/4 head green cabbage

2 carrots, grated

2 leftover pork chops, chopped

1/2 can crushed pineapple

balsamic vinegar salad dressing sweetened a bit with agave nectar

Mix and serve.

The kids even liked it!

Easy from scratch holiday drinks

Snow day! I decided to make some egg nog from scratch. It was surprising easy and so much more healthy than the store variety.

Here is the recipe:

Egg Nog:

In saucepan beat 2 1/2 cups milk, 1/3 cup sugar, ground nutmeg (to taste) and 6 eggs. Cook over med heat until thickened but DO NOT OVERCOOK OR BOIL. Add a splash of vanilla. Cool pan quickly in sink of cold water. I added a spash of half and half, but not necessary. Chill.

I also made hot cocoa. Way too many scary ingredients in the mixes from the store, and the expensive ones that contained high quality ingredients are essentially the same as in this recipe made from scratch:

Hot Cocoa:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder (Hersheys)

dash of salt

1/3 cup hot water

In saucepan, mix and bring to a boil. Boil for two minutes. Add dash of vanilla.

Add 4 cups milk and heat on low. Do not boil. Serve hot.

Making this today...

For my son's 13th birthday. Man I feel old. I know it's not vegan. We are starting on that adventure on Monday.

LAYERED ICE CREAM CAKE http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html

Makes a 9”x 13” Pan

24 Ice cream sandwiches

8 oz. Cool Whip™

1 Hershey’s™ chocolate syrup bottle

1 Smuckers™ caramel syrup bottle

2 king size Butterfinger™ candy bars chopped up

1st layer -12 ice cream sandwiches

2nd – half of whipped cream

3rd - half of Butterfinger™ bars, Squeeze 1/2 of caramel &

chocolate over that.

4th - rest of ice cream sandwiches

5th – Cool Whip™

6th - rest of Butterfinger™, caramel & chocolate

You can freeze this and eat as desired! Yummy! Yummy!

Love Eggnog?

I got this recipe from my cousin. Haven't tried it yet but I hear they are best warm out of the oven. Yum.

Hashbrown casserole

HASHBROWN CASSEROLE
1 (32 oz.) pkg. frozen hash browns (2 lbs.)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. milk
1/2 diced onion
1/2 t. pepper
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/4 c. melted butter
3 c. cornflakes, crush cornflakes in Ziploc™ bag, pour
melted butter in & shake.
Spray casserole dish with oil. Layer 1/2 hash brown first. Then pour 1/2 of soup mixture = cream of chicken, milk, onion , salt, & pepper. Then half of the grated cheese. Repeat… Hash browns, soup mixture, grated cheese. Top with crushed, buttered corn flakes. Bake at 350 for 45 min.

Apple cranberry french toast casserole

Yum! I made this for our brunch this morning and it was a hit! I may make some more for the kids' breakfast tomorrow morning. I used raisins instead of cranberries, just because it's what I had. Still awesome!

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
3 apples – peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup dried cranberries
1 French Loaf, cut into 1 inch slices
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in melted butter or margarine. Stir in chopped apples and dried cranberries until evenly coated. Pour into prepared pan.

Arrange french loaf slices in an even layer over apples.

2. In same bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Pour over bread, making sure every slice is fully soaked. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate over night. THIS IS KEY!

3. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Remove dish from refrigerator while the over is heating. Bake covered for 40 minutes. Remove cover, and bake 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

From www.5dollardinners.com