Meatball Sandwich Casserole

Meatball Sandwich Casserole

You will need:

1 bag of frozen meatballs (I use Mama Lucia Brand, personal preference)

1 jar of marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce if there isn't any marinara on hand

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup Italian blend cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 loaf of fresh Italian bread, sliced

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 400. 

Place entire bag of meatballs in pot with sauce (I also add garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste) and cook over medium heat until warmed completely through, about 10 minutes. Stir as needed to keep meatballs from sticking to pot. Once heated through remove from heat. 

Place meatballs in the center of a 9x13 baking dish, layer mozzarella and Italian blend cheeses over meatballs topping off with the Parmesan. 

Take the slices of Italian bread and line the pan all the way around with them so that they are kind of keeping the meatballs toward the center of the pan. The bread slices will be standing up in the pan as shown in the picture. You have creative freedom here with the bread...you can lightly butter and garlic the bread prior to placing it in the pan if you prefer or even brush lightly with olive oil and garlic. The choice is yours. I have made it plain and as noted above and all are delicious!

Place in oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven, serve and enjoy!

Val's Banana Bread

Val’s Banana Bread

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed

¾ cup margarine

1 Cup Milk

2 Eggs

3 bananas very ripe, mashed

2 Tablespoons of Orange Juice

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp salt

3 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped nuts, raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

Cream sugars and margarine. Add other ingredients in order given. Beat 3 minutes. Pour batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note: If you don’t have 3 ripe bananas, consider substituting ½ a cup of apple sauce per banana, or ½ cup of chopped strawberries or any combination of ripe fruit. 

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Truffles

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Truffles/Cake Balls

1 – Family Size Fudge Brownie Box Mix (13x9) pan size

Eggs (as called for by the box directions)

Oil (as called for by the box directions)

Water (as called for by the box directions)

1 – 16oz container of chocolate frosting

1 – 20oz package of almond bark chocolate (or your favorite candy melts)

Directions

Bake brownies according to directions on package

Let cool completely

Crumble brownies in bowl and mix in container of frosting (mix well)

Refrigerate for 30 mins or until it will hold together when rolled into a 2 inch ball

In a double boiler or chocolate melter melt almond bark

Roll brownie mixture into 2 inch balls (I did 12 balls at a time and left the remainder of the mix in the freezer while I was dipping the dozen cake balls so it stayed cold)

Dip balls in melted almond bark and set on wax paper to dry.

Yields approximately 5 dozen

**This can be made with any cake/frosting combo and/or vanilla almond bark or other candy melts.

Soft Pretzels (Quick, Easy & Yummy)

Soft Pretzels (Frozen Bread Dough)

(www.cdkitchen.com)

 INGREDIENTS:

2 loaves (16 ounce size) frozen bread dough
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon water
coarse salt

DIRECTIONS:

Separate thawed bread into 1 1/2" balls. Roll each ball into a rope 14 1/2" long. Have children plan and design pretzel shapes (letters or numerals).

Put pretzels one inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Let stand for 20 minutes and brush with combined egg white and water. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Place a shallow pan containing 1" of boiling water on bottom rack of oven; bake pretzels at 350 degrees F on rack above water for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Quesadillas

Chocolate Quesadillas (www.hersheys.com)

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 (7 to 8 in. each) flour tortillas
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup marshmallow creme
• 2 small bananas, sliced
• 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Chips, HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

1. 1 Lightly coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray. Place tortillas on clean work surface, coated sides down.
2. 2 Spread 1 tablespoon each peanut butter and marshmallow creme on half of each tortilla. Arrange 1/4 of the banana slices and 2 tablespoons chocolate chips over marshmallow creme; fold each tortilla over to cover filling.
3. 3 Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat 1 minute. Add two quesadillas; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until tortillas are golden brown and crisp, turning once. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Serve warm. 4 servings.

Strawberry Short Cake Cake

This short cake recipe has been passed down through the
generations in my family. I remember my great grandmother making this when I was very young and we continue to make it today.

Short Cake (for a two layer round cake)
3 cups of flour
5 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
½ shortening
1 ½ cups of sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk

Beat all ingredients until smooth. Pour into greased cake pans and bake at 350
degrees F for 25 mins.
*Note for this recipe I used torte pans to make it easier to
put the filling inside. You can use regular cake pans and pipe some frosting
around the first layer to make edges so your filling will not run out the sides
and down the cake.

Strawberry Filling

1 – 21 oz can of Strawberry Pie Filling

Or
1 c. sugar
3 ½ tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. Karo syrup
1 1/2 c. water
4 tbsp. strawberry Jello
1 qt. strawberries
Mix sugar and cornstarch, add Karo syrup and water. Bring to boil and cook 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Add Jello, cool mixture. Slice strawberries into mixture. Let cool. Place first torte cake on platter pour strawberry filling into the center, being careful it doesn’t run over the sides. Place second torte cake on top. Frost with Duncan Hines Flavor Creations Strawberry Short Cake Frosting. Decorate top with strawberries or however you like.

Circus Cotton Candy Confetti Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter/margarine (I use ½ cup of each)
3 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
¾ cup of rainbow sprinkles
1 Duncan Hines Starter Frosting
1 Packet of Duncan Hines Cotton Candy Mix In

Cream butter, margarine and sugar: add eggs and vanilla
blend well. Add rainbow sprinkles. Add powder and flour gradually. Chill dough
overnight.

Roll into balls and balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let set on pan for 2-4minutes before moving to cooling rack.
When cooled frost with Duncan Hines
creation cotton candy frosting.

Sprinkle with additional rainbow sprinkles or
any other sprinkles (optional)