Twice Baked Potato Casserole

I don't recall where I found this recipe, but we tried it last night and we all loved it

8 medium potatoes
8 ounces cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter softened
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 pint sour cream
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
crumbled bacon and chopped chives for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pierce the potatoes and place on baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft. Peel and mash the potatoes in a large bowl. Add the sour cream, one cup of the cheese, sour cream and butter. Mix well. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and mix again.

Pour into casserole dish and bake for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and return to oven until cheese melts. Sprinkle the bacon and chives on top and serve.

Note: we used low fat cream cheese, non fat sour cream and reduced fat cheddar. It came out great, lots of flavor.

Audrey :)
http://mytuppereware.com/audreyoka

Win A Tupperware Cereal Storer

Win this Tupperware Cereal Storer by guessing how many Cheerios are inside. This contest ends June 30th at 11:59 p.m. pacific time. The person who comes closest to the exact number of Cheerios in the container will win the container. In the event of a tie, I will draw a random winner from amongst all correct answers. Leave a comment with your answer. Must be 18+ and have a U.S. mailing address.

Good luck

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

NOTE: If you join Blogger and don't have a blog, please update your profile with your email address. Otherwise, I have no way of contacting you if you win. This is true on all blogger contests. Please do not assume that gmail accounts are valid, you must have an email address on your blogger profile for me to see your email address.

Congratulations Barbara

Congratulations to Barbara of Corpus Christi Texas. She is the winner in the Tupperware bowl contest.

Stay tuned for a new contest coming in the next couple of days.

Audrey :)

Chinese Food

I admit, I love chinese food!! There are times that without even realizing it, I've had chinese food 3 or 4 times in a week. I wanted to share a very simple chinese casserole dish with you today:

Chinese Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 - 6 ounce can crisp chow mein noodles

Brown ground beef, onions and celery together. Mix remaining ingredients together and add to meat mixture; stir and put in large buttered, casserole dish. Cover and bake for about an hour at 375 degrees. Uncover, stir and sprinkle with Chinese noodles and bake for another 15 minutes.

Note: You can also make this with chicken. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and brown with onion and celery, then follow remaining directions.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Using Potato Chips In Cooking

Many of think of potato chips as those crunchy chips we put on a plate alongside a sandwich. However potato chips can add a wonderful flavor to many recipes.

One of my favorite recipes using potato chips is something I call “Crunchy Chicken”. I coat chicken pieces with either melted butter, mayonnaise, sour cream, or plain yogurt. You then roll the chicken pieces in crushed potato chips. My kids have always loved this recipe. If you use flavored potato chips, such as barbeque or sour cream and onion, this will add to the flavor of the chicken. I have always used chicken pieces with skin on. The skin ends up very crunchy and salty from the potato chips.

Have you ever put potato chips ON your sandwich? My kids have always loved putting potato chips right on the sandwich itself. You can do this with tuna fish sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or even egg salad sandwiches. Many of enjoy lettuce on our sandwich’s as lettuce is crunchy. Well, so are potato chips.

Have you ever tried potato chip cookies?

Potato Chip Cookies

5 cups crushed potato chips
2 cups flour
1 cup each, brown sugar and white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I prefer omitting these)

Mix crushed potato chips with the two sugars. Beat the two eggs and add to sugar and chips. Stir in milk and vanilla. Mix the flour and baking powder together and then slowly add to other mixture. Mix well. Grease baking sheet and drop by rounded teaspoonful. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.

Do you have a favorite brownie recipe? Next time you make the brownies, try adding 3/4 cup crushed potato chips to the mix. If the brownie recipe calls for salt, do not add salt, when adding the potato chips.

Potato chips are not just for munching with your sandwich.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Lots Of Home Ideas

I came across the most delightful blog today. http://homemakerbarbi.blogspot.com/ Barbi offers recipes, household tips, freebies and lots more. I've just read her blog from start to finish and loved it. Stop by and say hi to Barbi.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Potluck Party

What a fun way to get and share recipes. Here's one of the most asked for dishes and it's so simplet o make:

Potato Cheese Casserole

2 pound bag of frozen hash brown potatoes
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 pint sour cream
2 cups shredded cheese
1 stick of butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a 9x12 baking dish. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until tender and golden brown.

Note: substitute cream of chicken of soup for the mushroom soup for a different flavor

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Chocolate Covered Fruit

I think all of us have eaten chocolate covered fruit. It is one of the most wonderful taste combinations, chocolate and strawberries, or chocolate and pineapple or chocolate and....

Making chocolate covered fruit is not only simple but also very elegant looking when preparing desserts for guests.

The simplest way to make chocolate covered fruit is to buy chocolate chips and melt them down. I buy both brown chocolate and white chocolate. I’ll buy either chips or bars and then melt them over a very low fire. Adding a bit of shortening makes the chocolate a bit smoother and easier to dip the fruit in.

All fruit must be dry before dipping. If you wash the fruit, make sure to paper towel off the water, so that when you dip, the fruit is dry.

I line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and after dipping transfer the fruit to the waxed paper. I then chill in the refrigerator.

Mix and match strawberries, pineapple wedges, maraschino cherries, apples and pears. I’ve also dipped dried food to add to the platter I’m making. If you don’t use white chocolate, try using marshmallows, and dipping half of the marshmallow in chocolate, so that you have a lot of white showing on your platter.

I’ve seen beautiful skewers with mandarin oranges used as spacers. Dip your fruit in chocolate and put the orange slices, un-dipped in the middle of your dipped fruit.

Try dipping strawberries or maraschino cherries and adding them to the top of pudding or ice cream for a very pretty visual look.

Make or buy a pound cake. Cut the pound cake into squares. Dip half of the square in chocolate and mix on the platter with your dipped fruit.

When you use fruits such as strawberries and pineapple you are able to have green on your dessert platter also.

Are you feeling brave? Once you dip the fruit, try sprinkling coconut or chopped nuts over the chocolate. If kids will be eating the fruit, try sprinkling M&M’s or Reeses Pieces over the fruit.

It’s fun to arrange dessert platters with assorted fruits, some in white chocolate, some in milk chocolate, some with nuts on them, and some with coconut on them. Experiment and enjoy a delicious yet very simple dessert.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Cakes

I love a good, moist cake. One of my favorite cakes is a yellow cake with a custard filling and whipped cream frosting. Of course that cake is bakery bought. However I do have a few great recipes for home made cakes. Enjoy!!

Death by Chocolate Cake

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 small box chocolate instant pudding

12 ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

powdered sugar

Beat eggs, sour cream, water, and oil together in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed. Add cake mix and pudding mix. Beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into Bundt or tube pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour. When cool, sift powdered sugar on top of cake.

Milky Way Cake

I admit, I love Milky Way candy bars. So combine these candy bars with cake and wow!!

8 regular Milky Way candy bars
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup buttermilk

4 whole eggs

1 cup walnuts chopped

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:
3 regular milky Way candy bars
1 stick butter
2 teaspoon milk
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Melt butter and candy bars; set aside. Beat eggs, one at a time. Add remaining ingredients to eggs and mix together. Fold in Milky Way bars and butter mixture. Bake for 1-1 1/2 hours in a 13x9 pan.

For Icing: Melt candy bars and butter. Stir in milk and powdered sugar. Add additional milk if needed. Beat until smooth and spread on cooled cake.

Audrey :)

http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka