This is a recipe from the new crockpot menus cookbook I am working on. It’s one of those recipes that can be used in the dead of winter or on a hot summer’s day because barbecue and your crockpot are both perfect for summer.

Tips:

• Lay the ingredients that will take longer to cook on the bottom of the crockpot. For example, put things like carrots, potatoes and turnips in first. Then place the meat on top of that.
• Even though this is a crockpot recipe, like most crockpot recipes, it can be cooked on the stove. Just set it on simmer or your lowest setting and let it cook all day. Some things that are more casserole-like can be baked in the oven at about 250 degrees for a couple of hours, too.
• Crush a large amount of graham cracker crumbs and store them in an airtight container. This will make future baking easier because all you need to do is scoop out what you need for a recipe.

There is nothing like a piping hot bowl of stew on a cold winter’s day. We love the favorite standbys but here is a different twist on regular beef stew.

Menu:

Barbecue Beef Stew*
Rice or Noodles
Coleslaw
Hello Dolly Cookies*

Barbecue Beef Stew

1-2 lbs. stew meat
1 cup onion, sliced
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cups beef stock
1 can (8 oz.) tomatoes
1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms
1/3 cup barbecue sauce

Saute onion, pepper and garlic in oil. Add salt, pepper, beef stock,tomatoes, mushrooms and barbecue sauce. Cook meat and all of the other ingredients in a crockpot on low heat for 8-10 hours. To thicken, mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water and add to stew before serving.

Hello Dolly Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup nuts
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter and graham cracker crumbs and press into an 8 inch pan. Add coconut, chocolate chips and nuts in layers. Drizzle with condensed milk. Bake 30 minutes. Cutting is easier if you chill for 30 minutes or more.

photo by: jetalone

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Using Leftover Cookies

I was looking at pie crust in my Betty Crocker cookbook and I found cookie crust. I had one of those aha moments… This would be a perfect way to use hard or overcooked cookies! From: DD

Good idea. I recently had a similar aha moment for cookies too. I have several "rejects" of my gingerbread men. They taste fine– They’re just missing a head or a leg so I can’t use them for gifts. I think I am going to use them to top my apple crisps. I will crush them, add some melted margarine or butter and sprinkle on top of my apple crisp instead of its usual topping. I thought all the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the cookies would be really yummy on top of an apple or peach crisp.

       -Jill

Photo By: Manchester City Library

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Fudge is my favorite Christmas candy and this is my favorite Christmas cookie. My mom made these every year. I remember getting up at 5 in the morning before everyone else to get ready for school. I would sit on the kitchen floor with my dog and  pop  one of these cookies into my mouth and then pop one into my dog’s. We both loved our early morning treat sooo much.

Walnut Butter Cookies

1 cup butter
6 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup nuts
powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar together. Add flour, vanilla and nuts. Roll into walnut sized balls onto a greased cookie sheet and lightly flatten. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, place on waxed paper and sprinkle with or roll in powdered sugar.

For more delicious quick and easy recipes like this, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

photo by: little blue hen

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Homemade Christmas Cookies

Start Now

If you haven’t already started baking your holiday cookies you need to do it now. At the very least you can get a head start on things with a little planning.

• List what cookies you want to bake for the holidays.
• Divide the list into cookies you will give away, cookies for parties, cookies for school activities, etc. and also list the ones you will be serving for your own family closer to Christmas.
• Make the list of ingredients you will need and then go buy them so you will have them on hand. Stock your pantry.

Get as much as you can done ahead of time (now).

• Most cookie dough can be refrigerated or frozen so mix as many batches as you can. Some great doughs for this are basic chocolate chip or sugar cookie dough. You can take these two and add almost anything to them: chips, dried fruit, candy etc.
• Freeze the dough in small batches. If you only want to bake one or two cookie sheets at a time you don’t have to thaw the whole batch. I do this all year around. I keep small rolls of dough in my freezer. When I hear the grandkids are on their way, I pull out the dough and have a hot pan of cookies when they get here. It makes the house smell good for them, too.
• If you will be using colored sugar or coconut, mix it up now. To make either one, place the sugar or coconut into jars with a couple of drops of food coloring and shake. Store it in there until ready to use.
• If you love shortbread and like to give it as gifts, do it now and store in an airtight container. Shortbread cookies are one of those cookies which are better if they are aged for at least a couple of weeks.
• If nothing else at least measure out your dry ingredients. Place them in plastic bags so they’re ready to use.

Baking

• Be sure to use what the recipe calls for, whether it is butter, shortening or margarine and never use margarine that is whipped, soft spread or reduced fat. Your cookies will spread everywhere if you do.
• Pre-heat your oven
• It is best to bake only one sheet of cookies at a time but if you must do more, leave a couple of inches around the sheets for air circulation.
• Let the baking sheet cool between batches because placing dough on a hot sheet can make the cookies spread too much.
• If your recipe calls for oatmeal or nuts, toast them before using them.
• Fill a container that has large holes (like a sugar shaker) with flour to sprinkle your board before rolling out cookies.
• Make sure when you roll out cookies to cut that they are all the same thickness. Each individual cookie must not have thin or thick spots either or they will bake unevenly. You can buy rubber bands to put on your rolling pin to get an exact thickness, but they are expensive.
• I have always used 2 strips of cardboard (the thickness that I need) covered in foil and just lay them on each side of the dough with each edge of the rolling pin laying on a strip.
• If you don’t have cookie cutters or enough time to use them, just roll out your cookies and cut in squares or diamond shapes with a pastry cutter or pizza cutter. Sprinkle with colored sugar and bake.
• Use a wire cheese cutter to slice chilled refrigerator cookie dough.
• If you are making huge batches of cookies and do a lot of baking, you might try using old oven racks to cool them on. Just place something under each corner to make sure it is raised up slightly off of the table.

Storing and Shipping

• Cookies keep very well for a very long time without freezing. Most cookies don’t have ingredients the health department calls "toxic" (their words not mine) and are very safe to keep for long periods.
• Always completely cool cookies before storing and never store crisp cookies and soft cookies together. Store soft cookies in an air tight container and crisp cookies in a container with a loose lid.
• I find that tins work best for storing cookies because sometimes the cookies pick up the flavor of plastic ware if it was previously used to store something like spaghetti with garlic. This is especially true if the cookies have a lot of butter.
• If you have cookies that have ingredients like cream cheese, they will need to be stored in the fridge, but the recipe will usually tell you if you need to do this.
• You can freeze cookies up to 3 months.
• When shipping cookies, be sure to give them plenty of time to get there and always mark "perishable" on the package.
• Soft moist cookies, cookie bars and drop cookies ship the best.
• Metal tins are really the best shipping container for cookies, but if you don’t have one then a sturdy cardboard box will work. Line the box with plastic wrap or foil then place the cookies in it. Crumble up wax paper to place on top sides or anywhere you need cushioning. I then slip the whole thing into 1 or 2 plastic bags.
• I wrap that box in bubble wrap and place inside another box. You could also use newspaper, peanuts or even popcorn for cushioning at this point.

Misc. Tips

• Cookie ingredients can be very expensive, especially for Christmas cookies. If you need to save money, choose your family’s favorites that have the least expensive ingredients.
• For example, my family loves sugar cookies about the same as chocolate chip cookies. The sugar cookies cost much less because they don’t have things like chocolate chips and nuts in them, so I would bake the sugar cookies.
• Another way to save on ingredients is to use less of things like nuts and baking chips. You really can get by with putting half a bag of chips instead of a whole one into chocolate chip cookies. The same goes for nuts. If that same recipe calls for 1 cup of nuts, use just 1/2 cup.
• When giving cookies as a gift, make them look more attractive by putting them in cellophane bags and tying with a ribbon.
• Instead of just slapping cookies on a platter for your Christmas dinner or party, add a couple of votives or one large candle in the center of the platter for a more festive look.
• Save those dried out cookies or that handful of leftover cookies. Freeze them and use them in place of any recipe or dessert that calls for a graham cracker crust.

       -Jill

For lots of great recipes and tips about scratch cooking and frugal living, take a look at our Dining On A Dime Cookbook here! You’ll find almost 500 pages of very helpful information to help you learn to work all kinds of magic in the kitchen!

photo by:princessindisguise

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Christmas On A Budget!

With consumers’ fears of a financial squeeze, many people think that a nice Christmas is out of the picture this year. But I say "Not so!" Here are a few ideas to help make Christmas memorable without breaking the bank!

• Go Potluck! You buy the turkey – Have everyone else bring the side dishes and drinks. Turkeys in our area are .59/lb this time of year. If you buy just the turkey, it will only cost you about $10-$15 to feed everyone for a large family gathering.
• Celebrate Christmas the week after Christmas. Take advantage of the after Christmas sales and plan your large extended family gathering for the week after Christmas. Besides being less expensive, it is unlikely to interfere with anyone else’s Christmas plans.
• Don’t give gifts or give inexpensive gifts to hairstylists, babysitters, teachers and others. I found several wonderful small scented jar candles on clearance for .25 each. I will put three of them in a small basket (purchased at the thrift store for .25) with some tissue paper, ribbon and nice note. A great gift for $1.25!

• Break up gift sets. If you find an item that comes in a gift set at Christmas, give parts of it to different recipients. This is great for bath or perfume sets.
• Yard sales and thrift stores equal great savings. You can find a lot of new or nearly new items for pennies on the dollar. For our son, we found a working telescope in the box. It cost $1.00, so we saved $24! He got what he wanted and we didn’t have to take out a home equity loan!
• Make memories, not more junk. Most kids get more than plenty for Christmas from grandparents, aunts and uncles. If you can only afford one gift for your child, make it a memory! Wrap a note in a box with instructions for a treasure hunt.. Send your child all over the house with clues and then have the real gift sitting under the tree when they return. Simple, but a great memory for them!

Here are some more great recipes for Christmas!

Mint Chocolate Cookies

2/3 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:

2-3/4 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup half and half cream
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp. salt
Green food coloring

Cream butter, sugar then add milk and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and chill for 2 hours until firm. Roll dough on floured surface about 1/8 inch thick Cut with 1-1/2 inch cookie cutter and place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 5-6 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool on racks. Combine filling and spread on half of the cookies, then top with the other halves. Makes about 7 dozen.

(This recipe may not sound appealing with vinegar in the title but it really is yummy. For something different this year, try having an old fashioned taffy pull! It’s a great party for teens or adults. Use different taffy recipes and play fun, silly games or watch a Christmas movie while eating the candy you made along with popcorn and cookies.)

Vinegar Taffy

2 cups dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
food coloring
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine first four ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking to 260°. Remove from heat and stir in soda, vanilla and a few drops of food coloring. Beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into a buttered pan. When cool enough to handle butter hands and pull until light in color. Pull into long strips and cut into 1 inch pieces. Makes 8 dozen.

Herbed vinegars make great gifts especially if you want to give something different than the sweets most people get at this time of year. They’re also good for those who have to watch their sugar. Don’t forget the cooks in your life too!

If you’re trying to make it in time for Christmas, you’ll want to make it soon as it needs to age before it is used.

Herbed Vinegar

2 cup white vinegar
1 cup fresh herbs: basil, mint, dill, rosemary, chives or oregano (choose one)

Decide which herb you’d like to flavor your vinegar. Place the vinegar in a glass jar or bottle. Add herbs, seal and let steep for 2-4 weeks. The longer you let it steep, the stronger the vinegar. Remove herbs and put in 2 or 3 sprigs of the herb for decoration. Seal bottle with cork and then pour melted paraffin around the top and tie with a ribbon for gift giving. Makes 2 cups.

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How To Mail Christmas Cookies

Many of you will have loved ones far away for the holidays and for those separated from their families a gift of a box of cookies from home is such a wonderful treat. Here are a few tips about how to package and ship cookies so that they survive in the mail.

• Pick cookies that are soft and moist. Bar cookies work nicely, too.

• Don’t send cookies with frosting, cream cheese or other fillings or cookies that need to be refrigerated to prevent them from melting.

• Keep crispy cookies and soft cookies in separate containers.

• I love using metal tins to store or ship my cookies. Metal tins keep the cookies fresher and more well protected. You can buy metal cookie tins for very little money at a thrift store. You can double box the cookies, putting a smaller box inside a larger box, but be sure to line the inside of the box with plastic wrap, wax paper or foil – enough to fold over and cover all the cookies when you have them stacked in the box. If you use a tin, you don’t need to do this step.

• Lay one layer of cookies in your tin or box. Then top the first layer of cookies with wax paper and place another layer in the box. If there are any spaces between the cookies, crumple tiny pieces of wax paper to fill in the spaces. The main thing that will cause cookies to break is shifting, so be sure there are no spaces.

  You can use plastic wrap or parchment paper but I find that wax paper works best because it has more body and cushioning volume than plastic wrap and it is less expensive then parchment paper.

• After you lay the top layer of cookies in the tin or box, top it with one more piece of wax paper. Some people lay a piece a bread on top of the cookies to help keep soft cookies moist. Next, place a layer of bubble wrap*, popcorn or just wad up a few more tuffs of waxed paper. (I usually use the waxed paper.) Then place the lid on or close the first box.

  *Don’t buy bubble wrap if you don’t have any. When you double box cookies in this way, wadded up newspaper packed tightly should work fine, too. Just make sure the smaller box or tin can’t shift of or move.

• Place a layer of bubble wrap or popcorn into a second box to act as a cushion. Then place the first box of cookies in and add more cushioning. Remember- leave no spaces – Shifting is a no no.

• Alway place your address inside of the box in case something happens to the outside of the box.

• Mark the box "perishable" so the shipper will be more careful with it.

• You also could use Pringles cans in place of cookie tins.

• For added freshness, wrap the cookies individually in plastic wrap if they are going to be shipped a great distance or are going to be in transit a long time, like when you’re shipping them overseas.

• Some cookies that ship well are:

  • Snickerdoodles
  • Oatmeal
  • Shortbread
  • Peanut Butter
  • Gingersnaps
  • Monster cookies
  • Butter walnut
  • Ranger cookies

For more money saving tips like these along with hundreds of delicious quick and easy recipes, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

Photo By: Beck Gusler

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Leftover Halloween Candy Tips

Here are some tips for using all of that extra Halloween Candy!

• To prevent sugar shock, have a big bag of popcorn waiting when everyone comes back from Trick or Treating. It’s easy to fix and will counteract some of the sweet stuff.

• You can freeze candy up to a year in the freezer.

• Don’t forget to buy discounted Halloween candy for Christmas stockings and parties. Most kids don’t care if their Christmas candy is orange and black or if it has silver and gold wrappers instead of red and green.

• Use leftover Halloween candy in Christmas baking and for making gingerbread houses.

• Use grated or chopped chocolate in place of chocolate chips in cookies.

• It is easier to cut candy into pieces if you freeze it first.

• Break Butterfinger candy bars into peanut butter cookie dough.

• Sprinkle chopped chocolates on a white or chocolate frosted cake or use them to top ice cream and cheesecake.

• Mix leftover chopped chocolates into cake mixes.

• When making cupcakes, decorate the tops with one Hershey’s kiss or a mini candy bar.

• Pour some leftover candy into a basket or pretty bowl to give to someone for a special gift.

• Even a Christmas bag full of an assortment of candies would be a gift that would delight anyone – kids, adults, co-workers or neighbors.

• When making apple butter, instead of your usual spices use 1/2 cup red cinnamon candies and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon for every 10 cups apples and your regular amount of sugar.

We talk a lot about what to do with leftover candy but don’t forget you can also do nothing with it but eat it! …my favorite thing! Stockpile bags of candy to use for school parties, birthday parties and so on. In my case, I have a huge candy jar I keep full for when the grandkids come to visit. I can go through pounds of it that way. It keeps forever so don’t feel that you have to hurry and use it.

Jill

From Karen:

After the kids are done halloweening, I grab 24 candies for each child (I have 4) to save for a countdown to Christmas instead of buying the calendars in the stores. I usually keep them in a bag but you can get the kids to decorate shoe boxes or stick the candy to a calendar with tape.

Here are some leftover candy recipes for you to try:

Stained Glass Cookies

Cut a hole in the center of rolled out sugar cookie dough. Place a hard colored candy into the center. Bake as usual. The candies will create a stained glass look.

Candy Bar Milk Shakes

1 cup mini candy bars, chopped
2 cups (1 pint) ice cream (chocolate or vanilla)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 1/4 cups milk

Chop candies in a food processor. They are easier to chop if they are partially frozen. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until blended. This makes a thick shake. Add 1/4 cup milk for a thinner shake. Makes 2 milkshakes.

Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies

45 mini Hershey’s candy bars
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
Preheat oven to 325°. Chop candy bars. Cream butter and sugars in a bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well. Fold in candy bar pieces. Scoop batter onto a greased cookie sheet with a teaspoon. Bake 9-11 minutes until golden. Let rest on cookie sheet 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely. Makes 2-3 dozen.

Photo By: i eated a cookie

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Tips:

• To keep French bread from going stale, slice it, place it back in the wrapper and freeze. Take out just the amount you need when you’re ready to use it. I especially like doing this because the frozen French bread is much easier to butter before placing in foil to warm in the oven.
• Add vanilla pudding to any cake mix (or chocolate pudding to chocolate cake mix) for a more homemade tasting cake.
• To stretch canned frosting, add a package of softened cream cheese. You can also add cream cheese to cut the sweetness of any frosting.

Menu:

Fillet Bundles*
French Bread
Bacon Wrapped Corn*
Easy Macaroons*

Recipes:

Fillet Bundles

4 (6 oz. each) fresh or frozen fish fillets, thawed
Parmesan cheese, grated
Cayenne pepper
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 small sweet red pepper, julienned
Salt

Place fish on heavy foil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper. Top with zucchini and pepper. Salt to taste. Seal up in foil. Grill covered over indirect heat for about 8-10 minutes until fish is flaky.

Bacon Wrapped Corn

Large ears of corn, husks removed
Bacon
Chili Powder

Wrap each ear of corn with bacon and sprinkle with chili powder. Wrap well in heavy foil. Grill uncovered for 20 minutes over medium heat until corn is tender and bacon is cooked. Turn once.

Easy Macaroons*

1 pint pineapple or orange sherbet, softened
2 tsp. almond extract
1 package (18 1/3 oz.) white cake mix
6 cups flaked coconut

Mix sherbet, almond extract and cake mix well. Stir in coconut. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Makes about 6 dozen.

Photo By: Gudlyf

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I dedicate this recipe to my granddaughter Elly. She just recently tried the new pretzel M & M’s and loved them so as soon as I saw this recipe I knew she would love it.

This Pretzel M&M Cookies recipe is another great no bake cookie recipe. It’s perfect for summer but don’t forget to use different colored M & M’s for other seasons: pastels for Easter, red and green for Christmas, etc.

Pretzel M&M’s Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
5 cups rice crispy cereal
2 cups pretzel sticks
1 cup plain M&M’s

In a large microwavable bowl, heat sugar and syrup on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add peanut butter and blend. Mix in remaining ingredients. Press into a well greased 15×10 x1 pan.

Photo By: Qfamily

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Fourth of July Recipes

Most of us have our favorite dishes and traditions for the Fourth of July so, instead of giving you a menu, I thought I would give you some new dishes to add to our old standbys and favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad and baked beans.

• Don’t wait until Christmas to make pretzels rolled in chocolate. Roll pretzel sticks in melted white chocolate and then in red and blue sprinkles. Serve in a pretty glass or vase.
• Add a tablespoon of sugar to your deviled eggs for extra flavor.

Recipes

Pig and Cow Burgers

1 lb. hamburger
1/4 lb. Italian sausage (or any sausage)
1 egg
1/2 onion, chopped

Mix everything and make into patties. Chill for 30 minutes. Grill. Add a slice of pepper jack cheese and a dollop of barbecue sauce and serve on an onion bun.

Tomato Cucumber Salad

2-3 tomatoes, cubed
2-3 cucumbers, cubed
Fresh dill, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. sour cream

Mix ingredients and serve.

Grilled Mixed Veggies

1 med. yellow squash, peeled and sliced
1 med. zucchini, peeled and sliced
6 fresh mushrooms
2 large tomatoes, cut in 6th’s
1 sweet red pepper, julienned
1 green pepper, julienned
1/2 cup baby carrots
1/4 cup prepared Ranch dressing
1/4 cup prepared Italian dressing

Mix veggies and divide onto 6 squares of heavy duty foil. Mix dressings and drizzle on veggies. Seal well. Grill on each side for 10-13 minutes.

I haven’t tried this recipe myself but these cookies sure sounded good. They seem perfect for the Fourth so I thought you might like to try them.

Independence Cookies

2 cups butter flavored shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. white chocolate chips
12 oz. dried cranberries
12 oz. dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening, sugars and eggs. Add flour, soda and salt. Fold in chips and berries. Chill until firm. Roll into balls about golf ball size and press to 1/2 inch thick. Bake 10-12 minutes.

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