Ribbon, Rainbow or Easter Jello

I made this a few times when my kids were really little and I saw the recipe posted on "Hold the Onions" so I made it for our Easter dinner. My grand-kids said it tastes like a popsicle. Make sure you are going to be home or a while, or plan to do a few things in between each layer. Each layer has to set for 20 min. and there are 12!! Also, make sure your refrigerator shelf is level or you'll have funny layers.


3 oz grape jello
3 oz berry blue jello
3 oz lime jello
3 oz lemon jello
3 oz orange jello
3 oz red jello (cherry, raspberry)
2 cups sour cream
Boil 1 cup water. Pour into a bowl and add 1 box of jello (starting with the grape). Mix until jello is dissolved. In another bowl place 1/3 cupsour cream. Add 1/2 cup of the jello water to the sour cream. Stir until combined. Pour sour cream mixture into 9x13 pan. Place in fridge for 20 minutes or until firm. Add 3 T cold water to the remaining 1/2 cup of jello water. Pour over sour cream mixture in the 9x13 pan. Continue with all the other jello ending with red. Serve with whipped cream on the side or on top.

Marie Callendar's Cornbread

I am kind of in love with cornbread. I'm always on the look out for the best cornbread mix or recipe. I was searching the web for Marie Callendar's cornbread recipe and found this one. It's not really a recipe but rather 2 mixes put together to make cornbread. Supposedly this is the one they use. It was SO easy and I loved the finished product. Might just be my new favorite!

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 box Jiffy Golden cake mix

Make each mix according to directions on box in separate bowls. Then, combine mixes and pour into greased 9x13. I used a smaller pan because I like thick pieces. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (I found Jiffy mixes at Walmart).

Asian Cabbage Salad

This could possibly be one of my favorite salads. I love it. So much that I ate 3/4 of it last night for dinner because my husband didn't like it. I told him his taste buds needs more culture. I also love it because you get to snack on dry ramen noodles while you make it. Just like I used to when I was a kid. Sick huh. This salad is big enough for dinner, perfect for a shower, and simply delicious!

2 cups cooked chicken, diced
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 package chicken-flavored ramen noodles
4 green onions, sliced
2 Tbs. sesame seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Put cabbage (can use pre-shredded cabbage too or regular lettuce if you don't fancy cabbage) and chicken in large bowl. Break up ramen noodles into small pieces and sprinkle on top. Add onions, sesame seeds and almonds.

Dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 flavoring packet from ramen noodles

In small bowl, whisk all ingredients together. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Can be made ahead and refrigerated for several hours.

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla w/Tropical Salsa

I was browsing through the recipes on Foodnetwork.com and came across this recipe from Wolfgang Puck. I've never tried any of his recipes, but this one sounded good. I was right. The quesadilla was savory and the salsa was sweet. Perfect combination!

Quesadilla

1 breast chicken
1/2 red onion
cheddar cheese
1 can of black beans
BBQ sauce
wheat tortillas

Cut chicken breast into small pieces. Dice red onion. Place chicken and onion in small skillet over medium heat. Heat until chicken is cooked through and onions are translucent. Stir in 2 Tbls. BBQ sauce. Put small amount of butter in large skillet over medium heat. Place one tortilla in pan. Top with cheese, chicken and onions, couple scoops of black beans, BBQ sauce and a little more cheese. Place second tortilla on top. Heat until cheese begins to melt then flip. Heat other side until cheese is completely melted.

Tropical Salsa

2 mangos
1/2 fresh pineapple
1/4 red onion
1/2 red, sweet bell pepper
cilantro
lime

Dice mangos, pineapple, onion and bell pepper. Put in bowl. Chop up some cilantro. Add to salsa. Cut lime and squeeze juices over top. Stir and serve.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

This is a Hershey's recipe I got in the mail a few years ago. So easy and so heavenly if you like chocolate and cheesecake together. Chances are that you do. You can see that these got left in the oven a tad too long, but luckily the middle still tasted good.

3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 graham cracker crusts

*Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add chocolate chips. Pour into two crust. Bake 10 minutes at 450. Without opening oven door, reduce temp to 250 and bake 25-30 more minutes, or until set. Cool completely on a wire rack and then refrigerate until chilled.

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

For Activity Day, we made homemade ice cream in a bag. It was a hit! The girls loved making it, shaking it and eating it. It was very easy and so fun! Perfect for a summer activity with the kids.

(not my picture)

1 gallon size ziploc bag
1 pint size ziploc bag
ice
rock salt
1/2 cup half and half
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Fill gallon-size bag half full of ice and 6 Tbs. rock salt. Put half and half, sugar and vanilla in small bag. Seal and place in large bag. Seal large bag. Shake it up for about 10 minutes until mixture becomes ice cream. Enjoy! You may want to double the ice cream. This recipe only makes about a 1/2 cup.

Warm Pudding and Ice Cream

This really isn't a recipe but more of an idea. Growing up, my mom loved to make us pudding. It seems like she always made it on Sunday nights. A few weeks ago, she made cook and serve chocolate pudding to pour over ice cream. Man oh man, was it good! I guess I forgot how dreamy this concoction is. I think it's better than hot fudge. But that's just me. It's a great idea for a quick, easy and delicious dessert!

1 pkg. cook and serve chocolate pudding
vanilla ice cream

Simply follow the directions on the package and pour over vanilla ice cream. Buy the large package. You'll be happy you did.