Egg Nog Bundt Cake

This is a super easy cake that looks very pretty finished. It flavor is so yummy! We love Egg Nog at our house and the girls look forward to "egg nog season" every year.

4 TBSP melted butter

1 pkg White or Yellow Cake Mix

1 1/2 cups Egg Nog

2 eggs

1 tsp Rum extract

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Bake 350 for 40 min in greased bundt pan.

Glaze:

2 cups powder sugar

2 TBSP melted butter

3 TBSP Egg Nog (more if you like the glaze thinner)

1 tsp vanilla

a few shakes of nutmeg

( in the picture I followed the glaze exactly as the recipe and didn't make it any thinner- that should give you an idea of how thick the glaze turns out with 3 TBSP egg nog)

The cake tastes the best after it has cooled and been in the fridge for a while- it also cuts much easier if it's been in the fridge for a few hours. Store in the refridgerator.

Easy To Freeze Meals

With Baby #4 here- life is much more busy. You can never plan when the baby is fussy, toddler needs a diaper change, preschooler has a meltdown, and 2nd grader needs help with homework. It is always right when I need to be making dinner. Juggling these four girls at this particular time in their lives has been a test. I knew life would be getting more hectic and so before Ava was born, I decided to do a little- No- a lot of cooking- then freezing. I went through my recipes and started to test if they would freeze well for reheating on those inevitable hectic days. Having dancing 2 times a week that you don't get home until 5:30 doesn't help with getting dinner ready either.

So, I have a new label over on the side that says "Easy to Freeze". These recipes I have made and froze and reheated on a busy day. I hope that they will be of help to you on your busy days too. Good luck and enjoy!

Audrey Cox

Super Easy Key Lime Pie

This is SUPER easy and VERY yummy! My kids really like it- and it's so versitile- you can change it to be any flavor you want.

1/4 cup water

1 pkg. lime flavor jello (you can even use Sugar Free if you'd like)

2 6 oz containers Key Lime Pie Yogurt (you can use the regular of Lite versions)

1 8 oz. container Cool Whip

1 graham cracker pie crust

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the water for 45 -70 seconds or until boiling. Add the jello and wisk until jello is dissolved. Add Yogurt and fold in Cool whip. Spread in crust. Put in fridge for 3-4 hours. Enjoy!!

Wild Rice Casserole

This is such an easy recipe. I got the idea from one on the internet and then adjusted it to the ingredients that were easily available to me. I took a picture of the rice and sauce I use so that you would know what I bought. I just got them at Walmart (the only place to buy groceries around here).

4-6 chicken breasts or boneless thighs, boiled and chopped up

1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice cooked according to package directions

1 can French cut green beans

1 jar Bertolli Alfredo sauce

Combine all the ingredients and spread in a 8x12 pan. Crumble a package of Ritz crackers over and melt 1/2 stick butter/margarine and pour over crackers. Cook at 350 for 40 - 50 min. Everyone really likes this recipe- even Alyssa who is not even 2 yet (however, she is an excellent eater)

Blueberry Breakfast Cake (or dessert)...

This is so yummy! My kids love it so much that it never makes it out of the oven and until breakfast the next morning- so usually it's dessert or afterschool snack and leftovers for breakfast.

1/2 cup butter/margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1-1 1/2 cups blueberries (you can use fresh or frozen)

Struesel Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup cold butter/margarine

Combine butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat well. Add milk, flour, salt, BP- mix well. Fold in blueberries. Put in a square baking pan (9"). I like to line it with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Then I can easily remove it and cut it nicely.
Combine struesel topping ingredients and mix with a pastry cutter. Sprinkle on top and cook at 375 for 35-40 min. Remove and cool for 10 min and the lift foil from pan and fold down edges so it can cool completely. Good warm or cold.

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

This is a great breakfast casserole (we had it for dinner the other night though). It would be a great Christmas morning recipe. I just made it up but it turned out really yummy.

1 pkg frozen Hash browns (shredded kind), thawed out
1 pkg frozen peppers/onions combo (some brands have a few other things in it- like a few red pepper and/or a little bit of celery), thawed out
12 eggs
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb sage sausage (the kind in the roll- like ground beef) cook and crumble up
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp Dry mustard
1 cup half n half (or you can use milk)

Dump hash browns in a greased 9x13 pan. Dump peppers/onions combo, and cooked sausage over potatoes and 1 1/2 cups cheese. Stir around with a fork to incorporate all of it together.
Mix eggs, half n half, salt, pepper, and dry mustard. Wisk until combined. Pour over veggies/sausage mixture. Top with the rest of the cheese (1 cup).
Cook at 350 for about an hour.
I covered it for 45 min. and uncovered it for the rest. Use your best judgment- however crusty you want your cheese to determine doneness.

Summer Fruit Salad

Sorry for the lack of recipes this summer, but there has been a lack of cooking anything worth sharing this summer. It's hot, I'm uncomfortable, and cooking is the last thing I've wanted to do. Something I do love eating every summer (and anytime in between) is fruit- especially when I'm pregnant. I have passed on my fruit hog genes to my children as well. So this is a salad that I "made up" this summer and my family will down the whole salad in one sitting. Needless to say "WE LOVE IT"

1 pint blueberries

1 container strawberries

~20 grapes cut in half

1 or 2 bananas (if you put in bananas, make sure you don't add them until right before you serve it so they don't get all brown and squishy)

1 0r 2 mangos

1 or 2 peaches

The good thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever fruit you have or what is on sale at the store. These are just the basics. I wouldn't add melons though- wounldn't go with the sauce.

Sauce:

1/3 pkg Instant Vanilla or French Vanilla pudding

Enough orange juice to make it a slightly thickened sauce ~1/4- 1/2 cup

Stir together with a fork until smooth and slightly thickened and pour over fruit. Chill for ~10-20 minutes. I make it- put it in the fridge- get it out after we've eaten dinner- and it's gone in 10 minutes.

ENJOY!!