Easy Resurrection Rolls

Note:  "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."  Matthew 28:6    It is Holy Week.  It is a special time to remind my boys of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf so we can have eternal life with Him.     These easy resurrection rolls remind us that after three days he arose and when they came to the tomb he was not there.   

Easy Resurrection Rolls

Ingredients

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
8 large marshmallows
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F on lightly grease a baking sheet.   Separate crescent rolls into individual triangles.  Mix together cinnamon and sugar.   Dip a marshmallow into melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture.  Place marshmallow in center of crescent roll and wrap the dough around.  Seal marshmallow tightly inside!  Place on a baking sheet.    Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

 He is NOT here!    He is RISEN!

Bass Pecans

Note:   Our local newspaper had an article about the new Bass pecan store yesterday.    As a southern girl finding good pecans are very important to me.    I am very, very lucky in that my next door neighbor gives me two HUGE bags of Yazoo County pecans every year for Christmas.    These are huge pecans and are always delicious.     These bags usually last me the entire year.    However, I am always on the look out for great recipes.    I decided to add these to my website because they all sounded so great.

If you have never heard of Bass Pecans you have to try them!   Yum!

South-of-the-Border Cheese Ball

1 pound Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup jalapeno peppers (finely chopped)
Dash salt
Garlic cloves (minced) (optional)
1 cup Bass pecan pieces
Soften cheeses. Add jalapeno and salt (and garlic, if desired), and mix until smooth. Chill mixture in refrigerator until firm enough to shape into a ball.
Roll ball in Bass Pecan Pieces and chill until serving time. You can roll into logs, if desired.
Also, they may be frozen and stored for later use.

Butter Pecan Fudge

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup Bass pecan pieces (toasted)
Combine white and brown sugars, whipping cream and salt, bring to boil and boil 5 minutes (stirring constantly).
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Stir until smooth; add pecans, spread in buttered 8-inch square pan.

Pecan Magic Bundt Cake

1 1/2 cup Bass pecan pieces, divided
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped apples (4 to 5 large apples)
Shortening for greasing the Bundt pan
Very finely chop 1/2 cup of the pecan pieces. Grease the Bundt pan and line the greased pan with the pecans (covering the entire inside of the pan). Lightly press them to the sides.
Set oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs till light colored.
Add sugar, oil, and vanilla. Blend well. Mix together flour, soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to egg mixture.
Add apples and the remaining cup of (coarsely chopped) pecan pieces to the batter.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (It may seem like there is not enough batter, but it will be delicious.)
Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or cheddar cheese.

Warm Toasted Marshmallow Smores

Note:    It is supposed to be super cold tomorrow and for some reason the kids started talking about making Smores.    I was making a grocery list and as I was looking up a recipe I ran across this recipe on Betty Crocker.   Can you say YUMMMY!    We will be trying it tomorrow night when the forecast is supposed to be brrrrr freezing!

Warm Toasted Marshmallow Smores

Ingredients
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.  Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.   Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 4 to 5 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Note:  How did I miss that today is National Chocolate Cake day?    It is too late for me to make a chocolate cake, but I have everything to make a chocolate pecan pie.    Plus I can share the biggest portion of it with our neighbor who LOVES pecan pie!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

One 9-inch (deep dish) unbaked pie shell
6-oz. (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter/margarine
2 eggs

Directions

Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar, brown sugar & flour. Blend in melted butter until smooth. Blend in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. This pie freezes well.

Copycat Snapple Lemon Iced Tea

Note:     For the 40 days leading up to our discipleship weekend, our youth pastor challenges us to fast.    He says it can be food or something that we feel we cannot do without.    Many of our students give up Facebook or texting, but this year I decided that I needed to give up carbonated drinks.   I have had quite an addiction to them and knew that giving them up would be quite a sacrifice.    During my days of fasting I started drinking Snapple Lemon Iced Tea along with my water.      It may be the best stuff on earth, but it is also the most expensive so I had to find a copycat recipe!

Copycat Snapple Lemon Iced Tea

Ingredients
8 cups water
2 Lipton tea bags
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Directions
Add the water to a large saucepan and place over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the tea bags and turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan and let stand for about 2 hours.  After 2 hours, discard the teabags. Add the sugar to a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the tea into the pitcher. Add the lemon juice and give it a good stir. Refrigerate until cold or serve over ice.    Makes 2 quarts.

Copycat Suddenly Salad

Note:  My Big Guy loves Suddenly Salad.    Don't ask me why, but he does.    However, it seems crazy to me to spend that much money on a box when I can make tons of us homemade and get the same taste.    Just don't tell him!!

Copycat Suddenly Salad

Ingredients
2 cups Rotini pasta
1 cup peas, frozen
2/3 cup Mayonnaise (Hellmanns or similar)
1 package ranch dip mix
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup bacon — cooked crisp & crumbled (or bacon bits)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Directions
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add pasta and carrot shreds, allow them to boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Drain into a strainer and rinse under cold water.  In a medium sized bowl, mix together the peas, the entire packet of ranch dressing mix, bacon bits, onion powder, and mayonnaise.  Add pasta and carrots. Stir together until everything is combined. Chill and serve.

BLT Dip

Note:    A friend of mine asked for this recipe recently and she said it was the first thing to go at her party.    Funny...it is always the first thing to go at mine too!

BLT Dip

Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
Assorted crackers

Directions
Mix all the ingredients together, chill and serve with crackers!  Easy!