*My friend just requested this recipe, so I thought I'd go ahead and share it on my blog.  This is THE BEST summer salad recipe and is a HUGE HIT everywhere we take it.  I first tried this salad at a family gathering and just had to have the recipe.  I'm sure you'll love it too!

Combine the following salad ingredients in a large bowl:
2 bags Baby Spinach
2 qt. strawberries
2 cans mandarin oranges

Mix the following dressing ingredients in a jar; shake well and add just before serving:
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. vinegar
2 tsp. red onion
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 c. vegetable oil

(This dressing is a sweet & sour dressing and it great made and served on other salads as well.)

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My mom is from a large family (11 children).  One of her sisters is an excellent cook.  She just has a way of making everything taste extra good ( I think the secret ingredient is sugar!).  Her Ham Loaf recipe is the best around.  I shared it in a church cookbook and I've been asked to share the recipe with many people. 

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Mikki sent us over to this blog for our Favorite Friday this week~ we're to share our favorite crock pot recipe.  I've already shared a easy Chicken Cacciatore recipe and one for BBQ Beef.  So, this time I'll share Ashley's favorite crock pot recipe~ Crock Pot Lasagna.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. hamburger
12 oz. wide egg noodles
lg. jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 stick butter
8 oz. Velveeta
8 oz. shredded mozzarella
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Fry hamburger.  Cook noodles, drain.  Add butter to hot hooldes.  Layer (in crock pot)- sauce, burger, noodles, cheeses (layer 3  times).  Pour a little sauce on top.  Sprinkle with Pamesan cheese.  Cook on low for 4 hours.

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*We had these for lunch today and they were too yummy (and too easy) not to share the recipe!  Now, I tend to be a "dash, pinch, and dump" type chef, so some measurements aren't exact (use your own judgement and/or taste).

INGREDIENTS:
3 pounds boneless beef chuck shoulder roast
2 c. ketchup
1 med. onion, chopped
1/4 c. cidar vinegar
1/4 c. dark molasses
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
dry mustard (or a squeeze of regular mustard)
salt & pepper, garlic powder~ to taste
2/3 c. brown sugar (because I think everything tastes  better with brown sugar!)
Sesame seed sandwich buns

DIRECTIONS:
Place roast in slow cooker.  Combine all other ingredients in bowl and mix well.  Pour sauce mixture over roast.  Cover;  cook on LOW 8-10 hours or on HIGH 4-5 hours (I actually turned on my crock pot last night at 10 and cooked it through the night until 7:30 this morning.)
Remove roast from sauce;  cool slightly.  Trim and discard excess fat from beef.  Using two forks, shred meat.  (Mine was so tender that I couldn't even remove the roast from the sauce~ so I just shredded it right in the sauce and removed the fat while doing so.)
Let sauce stand 5 minutes to allow fat to rise.  Skim off fat.
Return shredded meat to slow cooker.  Stir meat to evenly coat with sauce.  Adjust seasonings, if desired.  Cover;  cook ow LOW 15-30 minutes or until hot. 
Spoon filling into buns and serve.

*I served this with a simple salad and mac & cheese (for the kids) and it was quick and easy.
*Though my hubby isn't a hunter and I'm not a huge venison fan, I think this would be an awesome way to use a venison roast also. 

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*The ladies on my message board are going crazy over this recipe that I shared as part of our "favorite fall recipes" discussion.  This recipe originated from one of Brian's co-workers (she's an excellent cook and even does some catering).  I'm not much of a cookie person, but I went crazy over these~ so yummy!  So, I had to ask for the recipe.  I'm sure your family will love  them too~ and they're perfect for  this time of year.  Let me know if you try them.

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*This recipe is from a Mennonite cookbook.  We tried this one today and it was a big hit in our family (we shared with some friends too!)  It's still rainy and ugly here, so it seemed like a good baking day.

Ingredients:
2/3 c. butter
2 T. hot water
2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:
Melt butter.  In a bowl, combine butter, hot water, and brown sugar, stirring until thoroughly mixed.  Cool slightly.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
Fold in nuts and spread batter into greased 9x13" baking pan.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over top.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Cool slightly and cut into squares. 
*These will be chewy in the center.

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*If you like coconut, you need to try this dessert~ it's so easy and very yummy.  I recommend a glass or metal pie pan, though.  I made mine in a stoneware pie pan, and mine didn't get done properly in the middle. 

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. self-rising flour
1/2 c. butter, melted
11/2 c. coconut
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in order.  Place in greased 10 inch pan (no pie crust is needed).  Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

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*I got this recipe out of the Ragu Soccer Moms cookbook.  It was so very simple, but so yummy!  I had this in the crock pot yesterday all day~ when we got home I had a migraine and had to go to bed.  Ashley cooked noodles and served this over noodles and everyone loved it.  We'll definitely make this again. 

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 lbs.)    *I used breasts because that's what I had in the freezer
1 26 oz. jar of Ragu Old World Style Pasta Sauce
1 sliced bell pepper
1 sliced onion
Pinch or two of garlic powder
Pinch of ground black pepper    *I used lemon pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. 
Serve on a bed of rice.  (That would be yummy, but my family prefers noodles.)

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*This yummy recipe originally came from my friend Amy~ you can visit her homeschool blog here and her homestead blog here.  I'm going away with my Mom this evening~ to a Ladies Night Out event at her church.  My Mom signed me up to bring a dessert.  I'm not a huge dessert fan (unless it's pie~ which I'm not good at making!)  However, I am a huge appetizer fan!  This cheeseball is appetizer crossed with dessert~ making it fun to make and even more fun to eat!  LOL  Since I just made one, I thought I'd share the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup  butter, softened (no substitutes)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. confectioners sugar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 c. miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. finely chopped pecans
Graham crackers, regular and chocolate

Directions:
In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars. Beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap. Shape into ball. Refrigerate for another hour. Just before serving, roll in pecans. Serve with graham crackers.

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.....have a recipe for Lasagna?!

I had no idea~ I've always just kinda "mixed and dumped"!
Actually, I have alot of "recipes" that I don't use actual recipes for.

But, Crazy Hip Blog Mama's assignment for today is to share our Lasagna recipes,
so I'm going to try......

1 box of lasagna noodles~ cook until al dente, or just barely starting to get tender, drain

1 lg. jar of Prego spaghetti sauce (either traditional or flavored with meat)~ it HAS to be PREGO, and it HAS to be the BIG jar (not the biggest plastic one)

Spread a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" pan.  Lay 3 of the lasagna noodles over sauce

In bowl, combine the following: small container of ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, and spices to taste (I just dump in some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and some nutmeg)

Spread some of the cheese mixture over the noodles.

Then continue to layer: noodles, sauce, noodles, cheese~ until the noodles are all.  Pour remaining sauce over all.  Top with parmesan cheese and bake in 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until cheeses on top are getting brown.

*Sounds like a goofy recipe, I know!  LOL  But, it's one of my most requested dishes among my family and friends.  Must be something good about it!  I love to make several at a time, and freeze one or  two for later on. 

*Oh, occasionally I will add some ground  beef to the recipe.  My family actually prefers it without meat.  If I do use the beef, I brown it and add it to the sauce, then follow the same method as above.

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