#246 - Tuna Rice Casserole

(by Shirley McNevich)

2 - 6oz. cans tuna (drained)
1 - 10oz. package frozen peas (cooked according to package directions and drained)
3 cups cooked rice (cooked according to package directions and drained)
3/4 cup water
1 - 10oz. can Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
2 slices of bread

In a large bowl, combine tuna, cooked peas, and cooked rice--mix well with a spoon. In a separate bowl, combine the cold cheddar cheese soup and water. Pour cheese soup mixture on top of tuna mixture and mix with a spoon. Pour everything into a greased casserole dish. Break up two slices of bread into bite sized pieces and place on top of casserole. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

#245 - Whole Wheat Soda Bread

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 cup flour
2 TBSP Domino's dark brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 TBSP cold butter or margarine
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Quaker old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. By hand in a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Add butter and mix with your hands. Stir in the whole wheat flour and the oats. In the center of the dough, make a large hole and pour buttermilk in the hole. Mix the dough and buttermilk with a fork until well blended. Drop the dough on to a floured countertop. Knead the dough for 1 minute. Shape dough into a ball and place on the cookie sheet. Flatten out the dough into a 6" circle. Use a knife and cut a cross into the top of the loaf. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until brown.

#244 - Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan

(by Shirley McNevich)

4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg, slightly beaten with a fork
3/4 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 - 26-28oz. jar Ragu pasta sauce (room temperature)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Dip chicken in the beaten egg and roll chicken in the bread crumbs, coating well. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 glass baking dish with Pam. Arrange chicken in the dish. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Test chicken to make sure it's no longer pink--return to oven a few more minutes if still pink. Remove from oven and pour pasta sauce over the chicken. Top with the mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

#243 - Chocolate Oreo Cookie Cake

(by Shirley McNevich)

2 cups sugar (1 white, 1 dark brown--Domino Brand)
1/2 cup Parkay Margarine (1 stick)
2 eggs
1/2 cup Hershey Cocoa
1 TBSP vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 TBSP baking soda (Arm & Hammer brand)
1 cup buttermilk (or powdered buttermilk--follow directions on label to equal 1 cup buttermilk)
2 cups sifted flour (measure flour before you sift it!)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup coarsely crushed Oreo cookies
Vanilla frosting (ingredients listed after recipe)

Beat Parkay margarine and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, and cocoa. Mix baking soda in buttermilk until it starts to fizz. Pour buttermilk into batter. Stop mixer and add flour. Mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add boiling water and mix. In a Ziploc bag, coarsely crush Oreo cookies until you have enough for 1 cup--take out 3 TBSP of crushed Oreo cookies to use later in the frosting. Stir the rest of the 1 cup crushed Oreo cookies into the cake batter. Pour batter into long cake pan 13 by 9 by 2. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Test if it's done using a toothpick. If toothpick comes out clean, it's done. If it doesn't come out clean, leave in a few more minutes and retest. Frosting: 1/2 box Domino's Powdered Sugar (1 lb. size); 1 stick Parkay margarine; 2 tsp. imitation vanilla; 1.5 TBSP milk. Feed in mixer. The longer you beat it the creamier it gets. When finished making frosting, stir in the 3 TBSP of crushed Oreos that you had set aside. Frost cake when it is cool. You can add more crushed Oreos to the top for decoration if you wish.

#242 - Whipped Sweet Potato Bake

(by Shirley McNevich)

3- 15 oz. cans sweet potatoes (drained)
1/2 stick Parkay or butter (melted)
1 tsp. McCormick ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. McCormick ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups Jet Puffed miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer, combine sweet potatoes, melted butter, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg--beat on medium speed until well blended. Grease a 1.5 quart baking dish with Pam. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the baking dish and top with the marshmallows. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potato mixture is heated through and marshmallows are lightly browned.

#241 - No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

(by Shirley McNevich)

1/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
2 cups white sugar
1 stick Parkay margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup Jif peanut butter (smooth, not chunky)
3 cups quick Quaker oats oatmeal

In a medium saucepan, add cocoa, white sugar, Parkay and milk--stir and bring to a boil over medium heat--boil for 1 minute after bringing to a boil--stir constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla and peanut butter. Beat with a spoon until smooth. Stir in the oatmeal. Drop teaspoonsful on wax paper or saran wrap. When cool, store in airtight containers.

#240 - Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 - 17.6 oz. package brownie mix with milk chocolate chunks
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup canola oil
9 unwrapped mini-Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
1/4 cup Jif creamy peanut butter
1 - 16oz. can vanilla frosting
Multi-colored sprinkles (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 muffin holes in 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. At medium speed, beat brownie mix, eggs, sour cream, and canola oil until light and fluffy (3 minutes). Evenly divide the batter among the 9 cupcake liners. Place one unwraped peanut butter cup in the center of each cupcake on top. Bake 25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool. Stir peanut butter into the can of vanilla frosting. Frost cupcakes and add sprinkles.

#239 - Ham and Cheese Casserole

(by Shirley McNevich)

2 cups cooked ham (diced)
1 small chopped onion
2 cups dry macaroni
1 TBSP cornstarch
2 fresh tomatoes (diced)
2 cups shredded sharp cheese
4 cups milk
2 slices of buttered bread broken in bite sized pieces

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Set aside. Dice the ham, chop onion, and dice tomatoes. Make cheese sauce by heating 3 1/2 cups milk and stirring in shredded cheese until melted. In a cup, add 1/2 cup of milk and 1 TBSP cornstarch--stir until mixed. Add cornstarch mixture to the cheese mixture and stir until it thickens. In a greased 2 qt. casserole, add ham, onion, tomatoes, macaroni and mix them together. Pour cheese sauce over the top. Add buttered bread pieces to the top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-60 minutes.

#238 - Hawaiian Bread

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 - 12.5 oz. can Dole crushed pineapple (undrained)
1 - 10oz. Baker's angelflake coconut
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

In a large bowl, combine pineapple, coconut, beaten eggs, sugar, flour, salt and baking soda. Mix thoroughly. Put batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pan. Slice.

#237 - Pistachio Bundt Cake

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 - 3.5oz. box Jell-O instant pistachio pudding
4 eggs
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp. almond extract OR vanilla

In a mixer, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, and almond extract OR vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into a greased bundt cake or angelfood cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pan. When cool, sprinkle top and sides with powdered sugar (or substitute your favorite glaze if you wish).

#236 - Orange Drop Cookies

(by Shirley McNevich)

2/3 cup Crisco
1 egg
2 TBSP grated orange rind
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup orange juice squeezed from the fresh orange that you used to get the rind from
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixer, combine Crisco, white sugar and egg thoroughly. Add orange juice, orange rind and beat. Add baking soda, salt, baking powder, and flour--mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonsful about 2" apart from each other on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees 8-10 minutes or until cookies are brown on the edges.

#235 - Dirt Cake

1 - 8" Flower Pot (new)
1 garden trowel (new)
gummy worms
plastic flowers (new or washed)
16 oz. Oreo cookies
1/2 cup Butter, softened
8 ounces Philly cream cheese, softened
1 cup Domino's powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 - boxes Jell-O Instant Chocolate Fudge pudding
3 cups milk
12 oz. Cool Whip -- thawed

Crush the cookies fine to resemble potting soil and set aside. Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until the mixture is smooth. Set aside. Combine the pudding mix and milk until well blended, then fold in the Cool Whip. Gently fold the cream cheese and pudding mixtures together. Layer 1/3 of the cookie crumbs followed by 1/2 of the pudding mixture, 1/3 of the crumbs, the rest of the pudding mixture and topping with the remaining cookie crumbs. Refrigerate 10 to 12 hours. About half an hour before serving, remove from the refrigerator and decorate with flowers and worms. Serve by digging out portions with the trowel.

#234 - Springform Cheesecake

(by Shirley McNevich)

3 - 8oz. packages Philly cream cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
6 egg whites
1 TBSP vanilla
1 springform pan
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 TBSP cinnamon
1/4 lb. melted butter (1 stick)
8oz. Breakstone's sour cream
1/8 cup white sugar
1/2 TBSP vanilla

In a mixer, combine 3 packages cream cheese, 3/4 cup white sugar, and 1 TBSP vanilla--beat well. In a separate mixing bowl, beat 6 egg whites with 1/4 cup white sugar--beat until they are very stiff. Add the egg white mixture to the cream cheese mixture and beat well. Set the cheesecake batter aside. Crust--in a bowl by hand, add 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/8 cup white sugar, 1/2 TBSP cinnamon, and the 1/4 lb. (one stick) of melted butter. Mix well by hand, then press crust mixture into a well greased springform pan. Do not prebake crust. Pour cheesecake batter into crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. While it's baking, make the sour cream topping in a separate bowl by hand--add 8oz. sour cream, 1/8 cup white sugar, 1/2 TBSP vanilla and stir together with a spoon. After cheesecake is baked, remove from oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees. Spread the sour cream topping over the top of the cheesecake and sprinkle 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs over the top. Bake at 475 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven--cool. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

#233 - Lemon Cheesecake

(by Dot [Schuck] Amerman - friend)

1 - 8oz. Philly cream cheese
1 - 3.5 oz. box lemon Jell-O instant pudding
2 cups milk
1 - Pre-made graham cracker crust
graham cracker crumbs (optional)

In a mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Blend in 1/2 cup of milk and beat. Add pudding mix and the remainder of the milk and beat. Pour batter into graham cracker crust. If you want, you can sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs over the top. Refrigerate overnight before serving. Keep refrigerated.

#232 - Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 box Duncan Hines devil 's food cake mix
1 - 21oz. can cherry pie filling
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure almond extract

In a mixer, combine all ingredients and beat on low for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. The batter should look thick and well blended. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 cake pan and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour batter into cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Place the cake in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes--test with a toothpick for doneness. Remove cake from oven and cool on wire rack. Use our icing recipe #2 for vanilla icing.

#231 - Garlic Bread

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 stick of butter, softened
2 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
2 TBSP McCormick's garlic and Italian herb seasoning
1 loaf French or Italian bread

By hand in a bowl, mix butter, garlic/Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese until well blended. Cut the bread in 1" slices but do not cut all the way through the bottom of the loaf. Spread the garlic mixture on both sides of each slice. Wrap entire loaf in foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. To serve, tear off the slices from the loaf.

#230 - Chewy Brownie Cookies

(by Shirley McNevich)

2/3 cup Crisco
1 1/2 cups firmly packed Domino's dark brown sugar
1 TBSP cold tap water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 - 12oz. package Nestle's 12 oz. chocolate bits

In a mixer on medium speed, combine Crisco, brown sugar, water, and vanilla. Add the eggs and mix well. Add baking soda, salt, cocoa and slowly add flour. Mix at low speed until blended. Remove from mixer and stir in chocolate bits with a spoon. Drop teaspoonsful on greased cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until cookies are set--ONLY bake one sheet of cookies at a time and do not overbake. After removing cookie sheet from oven, allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing them.

#229 - Oreo Cheesecakes

(by Shirley McNevich)

3 - 8oz. packages softened Philly cream cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 package Oreo cookies

Place cupcake liners into muffin tins. Place one Oreo cookie on the bottom of each cupcake liner. In a mixer, beat the cream cheese, add the sugar and mix until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg. Mix until smooth. Spoon batter over each Oreo cookie in the cupcake liners until they are each 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the center of each cupcake is almost set. Remove from oven, cool completely and refrigerate overnight before serving. They can be drizzled with melted chocolate or Cool Whip if desired. Keep refrigerated.

#228 - Really Easy Brownies

(by Hannah Garman - friend)

1 box graham cracker crumbs
2 cans Borden's condensed milk
1 - 12oz. bag Nestle's chocolate bits

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together using a spoon. Pour batter in a greased 9 x 13 x 2 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool and cut into squares.

#227 - Sour Cream Cookies

(by Harriet Weaver - friend)

5 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

In a mixer, combine butter, sugar. Add eggs and beat. Add sour cream and beat. Add baking soda, salt, nutmeg and vanilla--beat well. Add flour one cup at a time and mix--if it gets too stiff for mixer, continue adding flour and stirring by hand. Drop teaspoonsful on a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle a little white sugar over the top of each cookie before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.