Lemon Crunch Pie

Lemon Crunch Pie

1 1/3 cup self-rising flour

1 cup nuts (pecans are best but walnuts are great too.)

1 stick butter or margarine softened

11 oz cream cheese

1/2 lb. powdered sugar

1 can lemon pie filling (or make your own). You can actually use any flavor you are adventurous enough to try.

Whipped topping 16 oz. divided

nuts to garnish

Layer 1 Combine flour, nuts, and butter

Press into 13×9 pan, bake in 350° oven until

lightly browned about 15 minutes

cool (If you are impatient stick it in the freezer or fridge)

Layer 2 Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar and fold in

8 oz. of whipped topping  Spread on cooled crust

Layer 3 Spread 1 can lemon pie filling

evenly over layer 2

Layer 4 Spread with whipped topping

Layer 5 Sprinkle with nuts

Dark Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Dark Chocolate is my favorite. And sometimes you just NEED chocolate you know? When you have no sweets made, you make some. This is my version of No-Bakes. This makes a small batch.

Dark Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter

2 Tablespoons of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa

1/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli  + 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (or for gluten-free use  1 ½ cups of oats)

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 ½ minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, Muesli, oats, and vanilla. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper. Let cool if you can wait! These set up really fast.

Leftovers

There are many ways to save time and money on groceries. One way is to cook the right amount! And throw away less. I hate throwing food away! But sometimes even with the best of intentions, you will end up with leftovers. Or maybe you save money by cooking ahead and having “planned overs”. I do both.

Today I looked into my refrigerator and realized I had leftover white beans. I knew I had to make something with these or freeze them. I decided to make my version of White Bean Chili. I did not measure anything. I heated the beans and I stirred a couple of spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon into them as well as two cans of chiles. I had a couple of chicken breasts which I quickly boiled on top of the stove and chopped in my little Ninja. I stirred it all together and voila’ White Bean Chili!

I would like to encourage you to be creative with your cooking as well as with your use of leftovers! In all my years I only remember one creation from leftovers that we had to throw away! So as Miss Frizzle would say, “take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” You may discover something great!