Sausage is a popular breakfast item because it’s tasty and can be used in a variety of different ways. Sausage is usually bought ground or in links and there are even quick cooking varieties in both patties and links. If you are looking for ideas for using sausage, you’ve come to the right place. Below are 10 different ways to use this popular breakfast food that are quick and easy for those on-the-go mornings. Read more »

Quick, easy and divine desserts to impress holiday guests

(ARA) – The holidays are a time for gathering together with family and friends and enjoying delicious food. But when you are deciding what to serve or bring to your next celebration, don’t feel that you have to toil away in the kitchen for hours or even break the budget to provide tasty treats for your guests. Read more »

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 cups flour
3 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
4 medium onions, quartered

Method:
Preheat oven to 425. Grease muffin tin.

Add the onions to a food processor and pulse until pureed. Take 2 cups of onion puree and place into a bowl. Add butter, sugar, eggs, salt and sir well. Add the baking powder and flour and again, stir well until smooth. Gently stir in walnuts.

Spoon the muffin mixture into the muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. Leave the muffins to cool down for about 10 minutes, then put them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Ingredients:
1 cup banana, mashed
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mixed nuts, chopped (optional)
½ cup butter or margarine
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups unbleached flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
2 eggs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix the cinnamon with a bit of sugar and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and whisk in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Grease large loaf pan and dust with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Pour in butter mixture and put into the preheated oven for about 1 hour.

Serve warm!

Eight slices week old bread
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins
2-teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg

Pull bread into small pieces.
Combine and beat eggs with salt.
Scald milk and butter in a 2-quart saucepan.
Combine and mix eggs, cinnamon, bread and sugar. Stir well while saturating bread. Mix in raisins and then pour mixture into a 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Place this in Dutch oven atop a trivet. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean. Finish by sprinkling sugar and cinnamon.

By Barbara Myers

1.  Keep an ongoing grocery list.  Most people can start one about five minutes after returning from the grocery store.  Post it so everyone in the family can use it.

2.  Take a sheet of paper and make three columns.  First, list seven to 21 of your favorite quick and easy entrees.  You might include grilled pork chops, chicken pot pie and several crock pot dishes.  Keep a supply of beef, chicken and pork in the freezer.

3.  List the vegetables your family enjoys on a regular basis.  Frozen and canned varieties are the easiest to store.  Include potatoes as well.  Make sure you keep a good supply of each vegetable in your pantry/kitchen.

4.  List bread possibilities.  Refrigerated and frozen bread (dinner rolls and loaves) stay fresh for weeks.  Just check the expiration dates before buying.

5.  Before weekly grocery shopping, choose seven entrees for the week.  Check your freezer inventory.  Buy in bulk during sales to save money and time.

6.  Keep in stock the basics you use regularly:  broth, mushroom soup, rice, pasta sauce and jars of gravy.  You will always be able to whip up a quick meal.

7.  When your inventory is low on any item, add it to your grocery list.  Buy more than one at a time to avoid running out.

8.  Since your pantry/kitchen stays well-stocked, you can easily make a meal using your list.  Throw some chops on the grill, along with dinner rolls wrapped in foil, and warm a bag of frozen corn on the stove.  Bon appetit!

Free “50 Ways to Manage Your Time” tips booklet.  Visit:
I Need More Time

Copyright 2002-08 Barbara Myers

What You Need:

1/2 C barbecue sauce
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1 (28 oz.) can pork and beans
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (4 oz.) pkg. Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (10.8 oz.) can buttermilk biscuits
2 tbsp. cornmeal

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the barbecue sauce and mustard into a large saucepan over medium high
heat.  Pour in the pork and beans including the juice.  Add the garbanzo beans and kidney beans and stir to mix all the ingredients together.  Gently stir in the shredded cheese.  Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and then remove from the heat.

Spray a large casserole dish with a non stick cooking spray on the bottom only.
Place the bean mixture into the prepared casserole dish.  Separate the biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.  Place the cornmeal in a small bowl.  Roll each biscuit quarter through the cornmeal to lightly cover.  Arrange the biscuits on top of the casserole.

Bake 25 minutes or until the biscuits are a golden brown.
6 Servings

Casseroles made with biscuit toppings need to be assembled quickly while the
filling is still hot. The heat from the filling cooks the biscuits from the bottom while
the oven heat cooks them from the top.

It’s Halloween! With just a few little changes or additions to things that you probably already make, you can put the spirit of Halloween on your table.

Scary Eyeballs – Add a little more mustard into the egg centers or a thin dollop under where you will lay a black olive into the creamy center.

Ghost Sandwiches – Cut your bread into ghosts, add the filling of your choice and your children will have a ghostly treat for their school or after school sandwich.

Wormy Hot Dogs – Thinly slice your hot dogs and then microwave. This will make them curl to look like worms. Put them on a hamburger bun and dress with mustard, catsup and pickles to make a slimy swamp underneath.

Ghostly Toast – Toast your bread. When it is cool enough to cut, with a gingerbread girl cutter or a plain knife, cut to make a ghost body. Top with whipped cream cheese or flavored yogurt with raisins or dates cut for eyes.

Orange Jack O Lantern – With a toothpick, gently carve a face into the orange. Careful not to injure the meat/pulp of the orange, your child will have a small version of the Jack O Lantern that is healthy and edible.

Graveyard Snack – Take a cup of plain or buttered popped popcorn; add a half cup each of mini pretzels, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, goldfish crackers and raisins.

Spider Snack – Taking two round crackers, such as the ritz, put peanut butter in the middle. Take 8 small pretzels and stick all around, 4 on each side to make the legs. Add raisins for eyes.

Salty Bones – Making breadsticks for your spaghetti tonight? Here’s a Halloween twist. Unroll a tube of refrigerated breadstick roll and separate the triangle pieces. Stretch each individual piece to make a long bone like figure. Cut about a 1 and a half inch slit in each end with your kitchen scissors. Roll the remaining 4 flaps into what would make the end of a dog bone. Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake as directed.

Goblin Tongues – Using mini bagels, spread cream cheese or mayonnaise, your preference, onto bagel. Cut slices out of circular pieces of bologna lunch meat to look like tongues and put into the top center of the bagel, leaving it to hang out like a tongue.

These are just a small sampling of things you can do to impress the kids or grandkids. Nothing fancy, quite simple for you but they’ll love them. Presentation and excitement is part of children accepting new and different things. Let them help you when creating these treats and they may just be a little more receptive to the new Halloween changes in foods they already love.

What You Need:

4 bananas, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
2 t Halloween sprinkles
2/3 C semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 C milk chocolate frosting

How to Make It:

Cover a serving plate with wax paper.
Place the banana chunks, cut side down onto the wax paper.
Place a toothpick into each banana chunk.
Place the banana chunks into the freezer for 20 minutes or until hard.
Place the Halloween sprinkles into a small cup and set aside.
Dump the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave the chips on high for 60 seconds.
Remove the melted chips and stir until smooth.
Place the frosting into the bowl with the melted chip.
Stir the mixture until blended together well.
Place in the microwave on high for 15 seconds.
Remove and stir until the mixture becomes a dip consistency.
Remove the bananas from the freezer.
Dip each banana into the melted chocolate mixture until completely covered.
Sprinkle each dipped banana with the Halloween sprinkles.
Place the banana chunks back onto the wax paper.
Put the all the dipped banana chunks back into the freezer for 1 hour or until the chocolate has completely hardened.

If the chocolate frosting mixture begins to harden before you have all the bananas coated place it back into them microwave and heat on high for 10 to 15 seconds or until soft.  Be sure to stir the mixture before you resume the dipping process.

Makes 10 servings

Preparation Time:  approximately 15 minutes
Freezing Time:  approximately 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time:  approximately 1 hour 35 minutes

Nutritional Information (approximate values per 2 chunks)
Calories 190; fat 8g; sodium 0 mg; carbohydrates 30g; sugars 23g; protein 1g

What You Need:

12 oz. white candy coating, chopped
Green paste food coloring
22 peanut butter filled oblong sandwich cookies
11 miniature Tootsie rolls, cut in half lengthwise

How to Make It:

Place the candy coating into a microwave save bowl.
Heat the candy on high for 1 minute.
Remove and stir.
If the candy is not completely melted and smooth continue heating at 30 second intervals, stirring after each time until melted and smooth.
Add enough green paste food coloring to reach the desired color.
Dip each cooking into the green frosting until completely coated, letting any excess drip back into the bowl.
Place the coated cookies on wax paper.
Press half of a Tootsie roll into the top of each cookie to form a nail.
Let the cookies stand for 15 minutes or until the coating has hardened.

These no bake simple cookies take very little time to make and even less time to eat.  The kids will love them and so will the adults.  There so simple to make even the kids can join in the cooking fun.

Makes 22 cookies

Preparation Time:  approximately 10 minutes
Cooking Time:  approximately 1 minute
Cooling Time:  approximately 15 minutes
Total Time:  approximately 26 minutes

What You Need:

8 C of milk, divided
1 C mint chocolate chips
1 C instant hot cocoa mix
16 large marshmallows
16 Crows candies
16 lollipop sticks

How to Make It:

Pour 1 C of milk into a saucepan and place the pan over low heat.
Stir in the chocolate chips and hot cocoa mix.
Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until the chips has completely melted.
Add the remaining milk and stir to blend in well.
Cook 5 minutes or until the milk is hot.
Cut a slit into the top of each of the marshmallows.
Insert 1 piece of candy into each of the marshmallows slits.
Insert 1 lollipop stick into the bottom of each marshmallow.
Pour the hot cocoa into mugs.
Place 2 of the prepared eyes into each cup just before serving.

Halloween can be a cold gloomy nigh and a cup of hot cocoa can really hit the spot.  All ages will get a kick out of these eerie cups of cocoa and they are one of the simplest Halloween treats to create.

Makes 8 servings

Preparation Time:  approximately 10 minutes
Cooking Time:  approximately 10 minutes
Total Time:  approximately 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 small onion, diced
½ c celery, diced
10 oz broccoli, cut up in florets (you can also use frozen broccoli)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Minute Rice (uncooked)
¼ lb Velveeta cheese
¾ stick butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8” square casserole dish.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onions and celery, until the onions are translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the cheese starts melting.

Pour mixture into the greased casserole dish and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

This is a very easy rice dish to make. Serve immediately with a tossed salad.

Serves about 6.

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
1 gallon apple cider
1 tbsp. whole cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. allspice

Place the spices into a piece of small cheesecloth and make it into a bag,
putting a rubber band around the top. In a large soup pot, place the apple
cider, with the spice bag and allow it to simmer for approximately 20
minutes. Dip some of the cider out into a large cup and use a cinnamon stick
to stir it.

What You Need:

12 gummy spiders
1 vinyl glove
1 gallon green fruit punch, chilled
2 (1 liter bottles) ginger ale
1 qt raspberry sherbet

How to Make It:

Fill an ice cube tray 2/3 full of water.
Add a gummy spider to each second of the ice cube tray.
Place in the freezer for 4 hours or until completely frozen.
Fill the vinyl glove with water and tie the end closed.
Freeze the glove for 4 hours or until solid.
Pour the fruit punch into a 7 qt. punch bowl.
Stir in the ginger ale until well combined.
Add the raspberry sherbet.
Place the frozen spider cubes into the punch.
Lay the frozen hand in the middle.

Kids love the scary aspect of this punch along with its great taste.  Use any type of fruit punch you like and lemon lime soda can be used in place of the ginger ale if you prefer.

Makes 32 servings

Preparation Time:  approximately 10 minutes
Freezing Time:  approximately 4 hours
Total Time:  approximately 4 hours 10 minutes

What You Need:

4 qt. popcorn, popped
2 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 C of sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
1 C of water

How to Make It:

Preset the oven to 200 degrees.
Place the popcorn into a large heat proof bowl and place in the oven to keep warm
Put the chocolate into a heavy saucepan placed over low heat.
Stirring constantly, heat the chocolate for 5 minutes or until completely melted.
Stir in the sugar and the corn syrup until blended in well.
Add the water and stir to blend in.
Adjust the heat to medium and stirring constantly cook until it comes to a steady boil.
Continue cooking until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees or hard ball stage.
Remove the popcorn from the oven and pour the chocolate mixture over the popcorn stirring until the popcorn is evenly coated.
When the mixture cools enough to handle form it into 3 inch balls.
Place the balls on a wire rack to cool.

These popcorn balls are a fun change from the classic popcorn balls most of us grew up with.  When forming these balls, dip your hands in cold water to keep the popcorn from sticking.  Wrap the popcorn balls in plastic wrap and tie the tops with a spooking Halloween ribbon.

Makes 1 dozen