Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients:

32 oz. bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans of cream of chicken soup  (I prefer to use cream of mushroom)
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese ( I like using Colby/Jack)
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups finely crushed corn flakes
2 Tbs butter or margarine melted


Directions:

Grease 9x13 baking dish and preheat oven to 350. 
In large bowl combine soups, sour cream, cheese, onion and the 1/2 cup of melted butter.
Gently fold hash browns into mixture.  
Pour mixture into pan.
Combine crushed corn flakes and the 2 Tbs. of melted butter and sprinkle on top of 
potato mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes. (I bake it for 40 to 45 minutes)

* If wanting to you can use cubed potatoes instead of hash browns but you will need to increase 
baking time to 55 minutes.

* You may also want to try adding a little ham and some peas to make a complete meal out of it.

CREAMY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups water
• 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper 
• pinch of red pepper flakes

directions:

Peel and remove seeds from butternut squash.  Then cut into 1 inch chunks.  In a large pan combine butter, olive oil, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and squash.  Cook for 10 minutes then add water and simmer until squash is tender.  Stir in cream cheese and remove from heat.  Spoon mixture into a heat safe blender and blend until creamy.  (Do in batches of 3).  Return soup to pan and keep on medium heat until ready to serve.  Garnish with chunks of cream cheese and a basil leaf.  You can also add 3 cups of cooked broccoli to your soup and people will think that you slaved all day making home made broccoli cheddar soup...Ummmmm Ummmmmmm Gooooood!!!

This soup will clear your sinuses and cure what ails you...it's great on a cold night and reminds me of when I didn't feel well all I wanted was soup! (and still do)

Roasted Red Pepper, Feta and White Bean Dip‏

Ingredients

• 1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, drained and coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried Pita bread, cut into triangles, toasted
  
  

  Directions

  1. Combine beans, peppers, lemon juice, garlic, oil, cayenne, salt and black pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth.
  2. Add the feta and oregano and pulse to just combine. Transfer the contents to a small bowl.  
  3. Serve with toasted pita wedges. The dip can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

  As I get older everyone has probably heard me complain about how much weight I have put on and how I am always trying to lose a few pounds.  Well I ran across this recipe on Family Circle's FB page  and thought it would be a quick and easy low calorie snack.  It is great for party entertaining, appetizers, or football games.  I love recipes like this...it reminds me of when I was a young newlywed and we had no money to go out, so instead we invited friends over and played cards or other games, had snack foods, listened to music of the 70's and shared some good times!!!

White Chocolate Mousse Pie‏

Ingredients

• Crust:
  13 chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies, ground (such as Oreo)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 17 oval vanilla-and-chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Pepperidge Farm Milano)
• Filling:
  1 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 12 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Garnish:
  1 pint strawberries, hulled and halved
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), thawed

  Directions

  Crust:
  1. Set aside 1 tablespoon of ground chocolate cookies for garnish. Stir together remaining ground cookies and butter in a bowl until combined. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Arrange oval cookies around the edge of pie plate, alternating with vanilla and chocolate facing out.
  Filling:
  2. In a small glass measuring cup, sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup of the cream and let stand 5 minutes to soften.
  3. Combine cream cheese, white chocolate and gelatin mixture in small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat for 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into large bowl; place over ice bath. Stir until thickened and cooled.
  4. Whip remaining 1 cup heavy cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Fold a third of the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture until well-combined. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until just blended.
  5. Spoon mixture into prepared crust and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
  Garnish:
  6. Before serving mound whipped topping in center of pie. Sprinkle with berries and reserved cookie crumbs.

This is a recipe I ran across one day  while browsing the Internet...I was on my FB page and Family Circle Magazine posted it to their wall.  They posted it as a Mothers Day Dessert and I can't help think about my own mom when I look at this recipe.  It reminds me of when I was a child.  My mom use to get all these magazines (including Family Circle) in the mail and she would carefully read them in her spare time cover to cover paying close attention to the recipes and a lot of times clipping them and then trying them on us kids.