Not Yo' Mama's Pudding

This recipe came from a lady at my church (Vanessa Schaumann) who got it from Paula Deen.  I adjusted the ingredients a little bit and have included the recipe exactly as I made it.  I served it as a nice dessert at a Relief Society activity a few months ago.  It tasted great and was very pretty with all the fruit on top.

1 bag Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies
2 cups milk
1 (5oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

• Crush the cookies and sprinkle them on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  (If you don't want to crush the cookies you can just layer the bottom of the dish with whole cookies)
• In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix.  Blend well using a handheld electric mixer.
• Using another bowl, combinet he cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth.
• Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.  Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding and stir until well blended.
• Pour the mixture over the cookies.  Refrigerate several hours so the cookies soften a bit.
• When you are ready to serve top the pudding with your choice of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. - it looks a tastes great if you use a variety).

Pepperoni Rolls

We really like the pepperoni rolls a local restaurant has to offer.  When I saw a smiliar idea floating around on pinterest lately I knew we had to try it.  We made these a few months ago and loved the results.  I didn't really use any one recipe, just looked at the pictures and recipes and made up our own version using our favorite go-to dough.

1 batch of best ever pizza crust (http://tishastips.blogspot.com/search?q=best+pizza)
marinara sauce
shredded cheese (we used mozarella and cheddar this time, but you can use what you have on hand)
mini-pepperoni

1. Make one batch of pizza crust.
2. Roll the dough out thinly on a floured surface.
3. Spread marinara sauce over the top.  Leave a few inches uncovered at once edge of the dough.
4. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Sprinkle with mini-pepperoni.
6. Roll tightly like you would a cinnamon roll.
7. Cut into slices like you would a cinnamon roll.
8. Place on cookie sheet.
9. Cook at 350 degrees for 15+ minutes (I just checked on them periodically until I though they looked done.  Your's could take you less time or more time depending on the size of your rolls, how much stuff is in the middle and how your oven cooks).
10. Enjoy!

Poppy Seed Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup poppy seed
1-1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom of 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Mix 30 seconds with a spoon. Pour into pan.
3. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
   
4. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely (about 2 hours). Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you want.
   

Caesar Dip

1 package (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Caesar dressing
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup Caesar croutons

• Beat cream cheese, Parmesan cheese and dressing with electric mixer until well blended.
• Spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate; top with lettuce and croutons.
• Serve with crackers.
  

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

We got this out of an old Family Fun magazine. We were almost out of bread-flour and were looking for an alternative recipe. I still like my cinnabon-clone recipe better, but this one is good if you want to use whole wheat.

For the dough:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups bread flour
1 package or 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 large egg, beaten

For the filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Combine the milk, sugar, salt and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until it's hot (about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes). Set it aside and allow the butter to melt and the mixture to cool until it's just warm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine the flours, then stir in the yeast. Stir the egg into the milk mixture, then stir the milk mixture into the flours. Continue stirring until the mixture forms a soft dough.
3. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface. Sprinkle it with more flour and pat into an oval shape. Fold the dough in half and knead it. Give a quarter turn and repeat. Keep kneading, sprinkling with flour when necessary, until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic (it should bounce back when poked), about 10 minutes.
4. Oil a clean bowl, add the dough, turn to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth, place it in a warm spot and let it rise until it has doubled (about 45minutes to an hour).
5. Make the filling. Combine the soft butter, brown sugar and cinnamon with a fork until well blended.
6. Grease a 9x13-inch pan and set it aside. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and sprinkle it lightly with flour. Roll it out with a floured rolling pin into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
7. Using your fingers, spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch strip uncovered at one of the short ends. Beginning at the opposite end, roll up the dough to make a cylinder. Pinch the ends and the seam closed with your fingers.
8. Using a serrated knife, cut the cylinder into 12 rounds. Place each in the prepared pan. cover the pan with a damp towel and let the rolls rise 45 minutes.
9. Heat the oven to 375. Bake the rolls until light brown, about 18-20 minutes. Allow them to cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
10. Frost using your favorite glaze or cream cheese frosting.
    

Coconut Cream Pie

Emerson really wanted me to make a coconut cream pie for his birthday. I found a recipe on allrecipes and I think it turned out great.

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs
3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (9-inch) pie shell, baked (we almost forgot to do this)
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.
   
2. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cups of the coconut and the vanilla. Pour into pie shell and chill 2-4 hours or until firm. (We chilled our's overnight)
3. Top with whipped topping and the remaining coconut.

To toast coconut: Spread it in an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Glitter Candles

Materials:
candle
double-sided tape
glitter (any color you want)

• Cover the entire candle with double sided tape. If you want to get fancy you could so stripes instead. We kept it simple since 4-year-olds were making the candles.
• Put candle on a surface like a shoe-box lid that can catch excess glitter. Sprinkle glitter all over the tape. Shake all the loose glitter off. We used Christmas colors, but you can use whatever colors you want.
  
• Display or give as a gift.