“Do you accept guest articles on your Grandma Stories blog? If so, what are the requirements for submitting a guest post?” I’m often asked if would accept guest articles on my blogs. Yes, I do accept guest post submissions on Grandma Stories, and you don’t have to be a grandma to write for this blog. I only ask that potential guest writers carefully review the guidelines and requirements for submitting guest posts here before emailing me to ask questions.

To submit articles for publishing on this blog, guest writers must be careful to follow legal standards for content and use of images within their guest posts, and adhere to a few specific guidelines for guest posts. Submitting guest articles for this blog is easy – just email me through the contact form with any specific questions or post topic ideas and I will respond promptly, or just email me with a copy of the guest article being submitted with whatever image is appropriate for the content.

Guest Article Submission Questions and Answers:

• Do guest writers have to have a blog or website of their own? No.

• Do you pay for guest posts? No.

• Do you require guest writers to agree to write and submit articles on a weekly/monthly basis? No.

• How many external links are allowed? Usually two, but sometimes three depending on the length of the article being submitted.

If you have your own website or blog, you can embed a link to it within the guest article and/or linked within your self-written byline paragraph at the bottom of your article that describes you and your site as a way of promoting you and/or your blog site or business.

No affiliate links and no “sponsored posts” are permitted. Guest writers who do not have a website or blog of their own may link to their Facebook page, Myspace page, Twitter page etc, or none at all – it is up to you.

Submit a Guest Article? Why?

Writing guest articles for publication online is a great way of expressing your creativity through words. If you don’t yet have a blog or website of your own but have been considering starting a blog, submitting guest posts helps to “get your feet wet” so to speak. There are many reasons for guest writing on blogs, especially for beginner blog writers wanting to get a couple links pointed at their site to build its search engine rankings.

I often find that people are more creative than they think they are, and writing articles is a great way of expressing that creativity. I’ve had people tell me in detail about a book they read or a product they tried, what they liked or disliked and why, and without even thinking about it for very long they discover they’ve just verbally written a guest article on that topic. When I ask them to write it down or type it out on the computer and send it to me as a guest post, they become very excited about the idea of doing more creative writing projects in one form or another.

Some blog writers are strictly confined within a specific niche on their own blogs and want to widen their horizons by guest posting on other topics of interest to them and others, but don’t want to start a new blog on that topic for various personal reasons.

Before submitting guest articles to me for possible publication on this blog, take the time to consider the kind of articles and subjects that fit best on this site. Grandparenting, Grandparent Visitation Rights, Aging, Health, Recipes, Crafts, Skin Care, Hair Care, Older Women’s Issues, Older Men’s Issues, Gardening, Canning, Recycling, Holidays, Religion/Spirituality, Technology and more. I prefer not to allow guest posts on Politics, nor do I write political opinion articles on any of my blogs, although I’ve been known to share my views on Facebook from time to time.

If you are unsure about a topic you would like to write and submit as a guest post, contact me and ask. I’m pretty easy. Religion, spirituality, bible/scriptural matters relevant to real life and family living are fine, as long as the content of the post is not highly controversial or inflammatory to individual beliefs or that negatively target specific religions or denominations.

Submitted guest articles do not have to be perfect, and I rarely ever reject guest posts unless the article has so many spelling/grammar mistakes that I would end up needing to virtually rewrite the entire article myself. Guest articles are run through spell checker and grammar checker, and I verify outbound link destinations and punctuation. Other than that, no changes will be made to the actual content of your guest article.

Submitted guest articles must be your own original work and must not be republished anywhere else on the web. No duplicate content. Articles are checked for duplicity with copyscape and google. Articles must have a minimum of 650 words, 800 + words are preferred, and image(s) must be free of copyright use restrictions and optimized appropriately. If you have an idea for a guest post you would like to submit, pitch your idea by emailing me through the contact form and I will reply promptly.

Guest articles should be submitted via word doc with desired image(s) attached. Once the submitted article is approved and published on the blog, the author will be notified via email along with a courtesy link to their published article. I retain the legal right to publish, edit or reject any/all article submissions for this site to maintain the integrity and reputation of the site and site owner (me). Guest article submissions requiring extensive editing will be returned to the author for rewriting, and if necessary rejected.

To submit a guest article for publication or if you have further questions about guest posting on my blog(s), email me your questions and check your inbox (or possibly the spam folder as it may filter there) for my prompt reply.

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Super Bowl XLV kickoff starts in just a few hours from now, and we’re preparing our favorite Super Bowl snacks, dips and recipes for a fun Super Bowl party with family and friends. We’ve decided to add two more snacks for our Super Bowl Sunday gathering, the BLT Dip (bacon, lettuce and tomato dip), and the delicious Buffalo Chicken Dip commonly referred to as Buffalo Dip.

Our Super Bowl watching party would not be complete without many of the most popular snacks football fans want to have and enjoy while watching the Big Game. Buffalo Chicken Dip, BLT Dip, hot and spicy chicken wings, Frito chips and bean dip, popcorn, shrimp dip, stuffed mushrooms, guacamole, vegetable tray with dipping sauces, bbq chicken, potato skins, pasta salad, pizza, and my famous Mexican 7-layer dip. We’re skipping the chili this year.

Buffalo Dip recipes can be made with chicken, franks, blue cheese and various other ingredients, and can be prepared quickly or slow-cooked in a crock pot. We’re making the quick and easy Buffalo Chicken Dip and BLT Dip for our Super Bowl party this year, so we can spend more time enjoying guests and less time in the kitchen. Our favorite BLT Dip recipe uses cream cheese, but other times we’ve used light sour cream and light mayonnaise for a more healthy snack.

BLT Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

• 8 oz softened cream cheese

• 1/2 C ranch salad dressing

• 1 medium size seeded and diced tomato, reserve 1 T for garnish

• 6 crisply cooked and chopped bacon slices

• 1/2 C finely chopped celery

• 2 T finely chopped onion

• 1 t sugar

• Medium size serving bowl, chilled

• Lettuce leaves

How to Make BLT Dip

Place softened cream cheese in a medium size mixing bowl. Gradually stir in dressing; mixing until blended well together.

Add to the cream cheese mixture: chopped bacon, celery, onion, tomato, sugar; mix well.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to allow flavors to blend.

When ready to serve, line your chilled serving bowl with lettuce leaves, then fill with the chilled BLT Dip. Lightly garnish the dip with reserved 1 tablespoon of diced tomato. Serve with your favorite dippers such as crackers, chips or toasted bread.

Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

• 1 (10 ounce) can chicken, drained (or freshly-cooked, rotisserie, chopped chicken)

• 1 cup ranch dressing

• 3/4 cup Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce red hot sauce

• Cheddar cheese, (amount to your liking)

• Frito corn chip scoops, crackers, celery/vegetable dippers, toasted bread

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip

With your mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, ranch dressing, and red hot buffalo wing sauce until blended well.

Gently fold in shredded chicken. Spread buffalo chicken dip mixture onto pie plate lightly sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Add cheddar cheese on top and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve the buffalo chicken dip hot with your favorite dippers, Frito scoops, chips, crackers, toasted bread, etc.

When we make the Buffalo Chicken Dip, sometimes we use Texas Pete Buffalo Style Chicken Wing Sauce, but other times whatever hot sauce we have on hand.

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By now, everyone should know when Super Bowl Sunday is this year since the date, time, schedule, and predictions of who will win the Super Bowl have been plastered all over the news and online to the point of overkill, but there are a lot of people who are still confused about the date and time for the big game.

I’ve grown weary of hearing about Super Bowl 45 on television, radio or sports news sites, so all that noise is turned off now so Grandpa and I can plan the menu for our Super Bowl party with friends and family, including healthy snacks and not-so-healthy party snacks for party guests to munch on before, during and after the Super Bowl is over with.

We’re not going to all the trouble of planning a big Super Bowl party with sports themed decorations, nor are we going to spend needless money on buying football themed paper plates and napkins. We’re just going to have a simple, but fun little party for the big game with party guests, who are all pitching in and bringing super bowl snacks and treats for all to enjoy.

From past Super Bowl parties we’ve hosted before, the popular and pretty much standard snacks for football games and this year’s 2011 Super Bowl XLV have to include chicken wings, chips and dips, popcorn, finger foods and nachos of various kinds, meatballs and meatball sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms and other appetizers, guacamole and spicy cheese dips, vegetable tray and ranch dressing for dipping, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, bbq chicken, bbq and ranch style beans, potato skins, hot and cold salads, pizza, my famous Mexican 7-layer dip and maybe even chili.

We’ve still got plenty of time to come up with more Super Bowl recipe ideas, especially for desserts, but I’m not worried at all. Between my own dessert recipes and cookbooks, and the ingenious cooking skills of friends and family, it won’t be hard to come up with a spectacular list of recipes for cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, chocolate fudge, Mexican desserts (homemade flan) and more to send our football party guests home after the game with a good sugar rush.

My 7 Layer Dip recipe is quite popular as a delicious and somewhat healthy snack, depending on how much of each ingredient I decide to throw in, and it’s always requested for Super Bowl Sunday. I think this year I’ll make my seven layer dip as usual, but I’m also going to make Rachael Ray’s 7 Layer Dip that Rachael calls Lucky 7 Layer Dip, for another quick and easy recipe that only needs to bake for 5 minutes.

Rachael Ray Lucky 7 Layer Dip

Rachael Ray’s recipe for her 7 layer dip only serves about 6 people, according to the recipe, so we’ll have to double or maybe even triple her recipe to make sure everyone that comes for our Super Bowl party is able to enjoy this dip.

To make Rachael Ray’s seven layer dip, you’ll these this list of ingredients:

• 1 15 oz. can of refried beans

• 2 (T) tablespoons hot sauce (mild, medium or hot)

• Olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil preferably, to drizzle

• 4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 16-18 oz. jar green chili sauce or tomatillo salsa

• 2 (T) tablespoons chopped cilantro

• 1 15 oz. can black beans (we prefer pinto)

• 2 (t) teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 16-18 oz. jar of chipotle salsa

• 2 cups sour cream (light sour cream if you prefer)

• 1 fresh lime, juiced

• 2 ripe avocados

• 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped

• 1 fresh lemon, juiced

• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely chopped

• Salt to taste

• 2 fresh plum tomatoes, diced

• Jumbo size Spanish olives, pimiento stuffed, chopped

• Tortilla chips, whatever chips are your favorites

How to Make 7 Layer Dip Rachael Ray’s way:

In a small, nonstick frying pan, heat refried beans over medium heat and season to taste with hot sauce until beans are hot. Transfer the refried beans to a small but deep casserole dish (a larger casserole dish if doubling or tripling recipe). Using a rubber spatula, scrape the frying pan clean and return to heat.

Add a little bit of the olive oil to the frying pan and turn the heat up to high. Once the olive oil smokes, add in the scallions and sear them for two to three minutes. Add the green salsa to the hot scallions mix and heat through. Then add the cilantro, remove salsa mixture from the heat, and layer on top of the beans in the casserole dish.

Once again, using the same frying pan on the stove top, lower the heat to medium and add black beans (or pinto), heat thoroughly and season with cumin, then layer refried beans on top of the green salsa.

On top of the black beans, layer with the chipotle salsa. Then, mix sour cream, lime zest and lime juice and spread the mixture all over the top of the chipotle salsa.

Make a chunky-type guacamole from the meat of 2 ripe avocados with garlic, lemon juice, jalapeno and salt, then layer the guacamole mixture on top of the salsa. Garnish your 7 Layer dip with a layer of diced tomatoes and sliced olives. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy.

Rachael Ray‘s recipe for her Lucky 7 Layer Dip doesn’t call for any cheese, but considering our love for cheese on our own 7 layer dip recipe, we like to change up Rachael’s recipe a little and add some grated cheese to our layered dip on each layer. We’re enjoying trying out recipes from several Rachael Ray cookbooks we’ve bought so far, and Rachael’s dip recipe would be a healthier dish than our own, but hey, it’s the Super Bowl!

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We’ve been serving traditional Mexican food for Christmas Eve dinner for many years now, and Christmas this year is no different. Christmas Mexican-style, at least for the Christmas Eve meal, is one of our favorite things to do rather than the traditional foods we’ve all enjoyed over the Thanksgiving holiday.

By the time Christmas comes around, we’ve had all the turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, corn, deviled eggs, peas and carrots, bread rolls, cornbread, hot and cold salads, pumpkin and pecan pies etc that we can stand from a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Since we actually had two separate Thanksgiving’s this year, on the same day, switching over to some authentic Mexican foods for Christmas is a welcome alternative.

Traditional Mexican Christmas Foods

We won’t be including some of the Hispanic Christmas traditions from Mexico, like the nine-day observance of Las Posadas. Posada is the Spanish word for “lodging” or “accommodation”, and posadas (plural) is the Mexican celebration honoring Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for lodgings, in time for the birth of Jesus.

Reading the historical origin of Las Posadas and its meaning to the Mexican culture includes the start and end dates of December 16 to Christmas Eve on December 24th for a traditional Mexican Christmas and how Las Posadas is reenacted throughout the Mexican holiday. The special Christmas celebration of Las Posadas focuses on the celebration of the birth of Jesus, being together as close-knit family and friends, as well as genuine hospitality shown towards neighbors and people who have no family in the area to celebrate Christmas with, and plenty of food and drink to go around.

A Christmas candy and sweets-filled piñata is broken during the celebration, along with joyous celebratory readings and singing, and lots of authentic Mexican foods for all to enjoy. Authentic Mexican Christmas foods for Christmas Las Posadas include bacalao a la vizcaina (dried, salted cod fish, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, olives, red bell peppers and capers), menudo or tripe soup, tamales, buñeulos de navidad (sweet fritters), chocolate caliente (hot chocolate), ponche navideno (punch), ponche con piquete (hot punch with wine or spirits added for adults) served with a cinnamon stick.

Feliz Navidad Christmas Mexican Style Foods and Recipes

Serving Christmas Mexican food for everyone on Christmas Eve at our house includes a variety of authentic Mexican Christmas recipes, mixed with a few dishes that are really Mexican-American Christmas recipes that are simply called Mexican cuisine. While I know how to make authentic tamales, and made homemade beef, pork and chicken tamales for years, I don’t have the time or desire to make homemade tamales anymore.

Making homemade tamales takes a lot of time to prepare and cook, and I have fortunately found a great place to buy authentic Mexican tamales at a very reasonable price locally. I much prefer to spend the Christmas holiday preparing and making Mexican foods that are quick, easy and cheap to make, added to the various Mexican dishes and desserts each of our guests will be bringing for a so-called Mexican Christmas smorgasbord.

Besides the delicious and handmade beef and pork tamales, our Christmas Eve dinner would not be complete without enchiladas, pozole (pork and hominy stew), Chiles Rellenos, Chicken tortilla soup, Mexican rice and beans, spicy hot salsas, avocado/guacamole, Tamales de Dulce, Sopapilla cheesecake, Mexican cookies (Mexican Wedding Cakes) and flan, and so much more.

Mexican Cookies for Christmas

Mexican wedding cake cookies are called by many different names (Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Sandies, Italian Butter Nut, Southern Pecan Butterball, Snowdrop, Viennese Sugar Ball and a Snowball), but these Mexican cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie rolled in powdered sugar after baking and are very popular at weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, christenings and at many other festive celebrations.

The real secret to making great tasting Mexican wedding cakes is to use high quality butter and pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. The Mexican wedding cakes recipe for these cookies is one that kids and grandchildren can make, with help from mom or grandma when it’s time to put the cookies in the oven to bake or when finished baking. I’m asked quite often for my recipe for Mexican wedding cakes, so I usually have a few pre-written recipe cards made whenever these cookies are made and brought to gatherings.

Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe

Ingredients list:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• ¼ cup powdered confectioners sugar

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2/3 cup finely chopped or crushed pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

• (Powdered sugar for rolling cookies after baking)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, cream butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy in a medium to large size bowl (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 1-3 hours (the longer the better). Shape cooled cookie dough into balls or crescents. Place shaped cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake in the oven 15-20 minutes until tops and bottoms are light brown (oven temperatures vary).

Remove from oven, and while still hot from the oven, using soup-size spoons (to prevent your hands from getting burned), begin gently rolling the cookies in powdered sugar. Allow to cool completely on wax paper, parchment or aluminum foil, then re-roll in powdered sugar one more time.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes about 3 dozen Mexican wedding cookies, depending on the size of rolled balls or crescent shapes. I usually double or triple the recipe because these cookies are eaten and gone so fast that I like to make a “secret stash” of these Mexican cookies for Grandpa and I to enjoy ourselves. Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah to you and yours!

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No one can accuse me of being a procrastinator, waiting until the last minute to buy Christmas gifts for everyone on our list. Shopping for Christmas gifts at the last minute, within days, hours or minutes of Christmas gift-giving exchanges would make this Grandma stressed out and unable to enjoy the fun festivities of the holiday season. Christmas Eve gift shopping? Yikes!

Even though our Christmas shopping is often finished well ahead of time, gift-wrapped and ready for Christmas gatherings with family and friends, sometimes there is a need to buy or make a last minute Christmas gift for an unexpected guest. It isn’t much fun watching or participating in opening Christmas gifts when someone is invited at the last minute to a Christmas dinner party when there is not a single present for him or her to open. Awkward is putting it mildly.

I like to keep a list of a few last minute gift ideas for those “just in case” moments at Christmastime, gifts that are inexpensive but still thoughtful, and certainly something the child, teen or adult would actually like and enjoy receiving. If I were as crafty as I’d like to be, I’d have a few pre-made, homemade knitted or crocheted hats, scarves, mittens etc in a nicely decorated Christmas-themed box for those surprise moments when a last minute gift is needed.

Since I don’t know how to sew very well yet, and I certainly have no experience with knitting or crocheting or making other handmade crafts to give as gifts, I have to stick with quick and easy cheap gifts from a retail store or homemade gift ideas of things that can be quickly made and given from my kitchen. Homemade Christmas sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, brownies, fudge, Pecan Sandies tea cookies, soup mixes in a mason jar, my pecan pie muffins with a recipe card attached etc.

Homemade Christmas food gifts like: rum cake, coffee cake, pumpkin bread, popcorn or granola mixes, caramel corn clusters, chocolate bark with or without nuts, homemade biscotti cookie samplers, canned jams and jellies, chocolate-dipped peppermint sticks, homemade hot chocolate mixes presented in a holiday-themed coffee cup or mug, all make easy last minute Christmas gifts to make and enjoyed by the recipient.

Last minute gift ideas for wine drinkers isn’t hard either; just make a small homemade gift basket out of a good quality bottle of wine, add some cheese and cracker selections along with a new bottle opener, wrap it all up in a pretty basket or box with some colorful cellophane and ribbon and you’re all set to go.

A last minute trip to our local grocery store or pharmacy offers some quick and inexpensive gift ideas of fruit and nut gift basket selections, varieties of bubble bath or novelty soaps, great smelling candles, gift cards for restaurants or movie theaters or electronics stores etc, gourmet coffee and tea gift sets, women’s perfumes or men’s cologne’s, just to name a few of some of the best things that can be found last minute.

Shopping last minute for Secret Santa Christmas parties at work with co-workers can sometimes be a challenge, especially when the maximum price for a gift is no more than five, ten or twenty dollars. We found a cheap webcam within the required price range and it was one of the gifts everyone was fighting over. Inexpensive tools for men or women, small electronic gadgets, digital photo frames, barbeque/grill tool sets, books from a top-notch author, movies, CD’s, magazine subscriptions all make excellent, quick and easy to find last minute gifts.

Last minute Christmas gifts for kids or grandchildren might include a couple of the most popular board games for kids, building blocks, jigsaw puzzles, stuffed toys, high-bounce balls, toy cars or trucks, etc. The possibilities are endless if you really put your mind to it. Gift shopping at the last minute before Christmas still means putting some thought into what the gift recipient likes and enjoys, specifically needs or wants for Christmas.

Even though we’re finished with all of our Christmas shopping and ready for just about anything, there is always the possibility that an additional guest or two will be added last minute to our dinner guest list. We’re not worried at all though, as we’ve got lots of ideas for gifts we can make at home, in the kitchen, or quickly run to a local store and buy a small gift for our house guest just in case.

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The No Bake Chocolate, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter Cookies is a family favorite throughout the year, but these delicious cookies are especially requested around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and I’m happy to oblige.

I’ve been known to make these cookies and ship them overnight to family and friends living out of state, or make them and give a batch or two to friends as a “just because” gift. I’ve recently heard that some people refer to these cookies as “Reindeer Turds” and I can understand why, based on how they cookies look when they’re done setting up, but if you like chocolate, oatmeal and peanut butter, you will love these cookies.

My Pecan Pie Muffins are made every year during the holiday season at the request of family, as are my Pecan Sandies cookies baked and rolled in powdered sugar. If you haven’t yet made these easy no bake cookies that have been popular for many years, I would highly recommend spending the few minutes of preparation time and give them a try. These chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cookies require no baking in the oven at all, as all the “baking” is done on the stove top and only take a few minutes to prepare.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Measure out the ingredients for this cookie recipe ahead of time because you’ll need each item listed pretty quickly and you don’t want to burn the mixture as it cooks on the stove.

• 3 1/2 cups dry quick-cooking oatmeal

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy, crunchy or extra crunchy)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), cut into pieces

• 2 cups sugar (white granulated)

• 1/2 cup milk

• 4 tablespoons cocoa

How to Make No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Place the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in a large saucepan, gently mix together. Turn the heat on high and bring cookie mixture to a full, rolling boil. Let the mixture boil for exactly 1 minute uncovered, no more and no less than a minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla, oatmeal and peanut butter. Use a large wooden spoon to quickly stir the ingredients together completely and thoroughly.

Using two spoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the hot cookie mixture by tablespoons on wax paper. Allow the cookies to cool until set, approximately 30 minutes.

We usually double the recipe for a larger batch of these delicious cookies to last longer than a day. I’ve noticed some people suggest making individual cookie batches and repeat the stove cooking process for each additional batch desired because the cookie dough can become rather difficult to mix once the oatmeal, peanut butter and vanilla have been added. That hasn’t been a problem for me, so you’ll have to decide for yourself if separating batches is really necessary or not.

These no bake cookies ship well overnight boxed up in an airtight container. I also like to include a index card with the recipe for the recipient to enjoy making them on their own and share with loved ones.  I haven’t tried it yet myself, but I bet this cookie recipe would do very well as a Christmas “jar” mixture gift, where dry ingredients are layered in a mason jar and the jar lid is decorated with Christmas ribbon and a recipe card attached. Enjoy!

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Making a homemade chicken pot pie is quick and easy, if not downright simple. Chicken and turkey pot pie recipes are so easy that even a beginner cook can easily make any kind of pot pie and quickly realize it’s not impossible at all.

The Bisquick chicken pot pie is quick and easy too, but Pillsbury and Betty Crocker also have their own recipe for chicken pot pie, and both recipes are easy, yummy and super fast. Marie Callender’s chicken pot pie tastes a lot better than the Banquet chicken pot pies in the grocery store, but beef or turkey pot pies are nowhere as good as the chicken.

Banquet recalled all of their frozen turkey pot pies and chicken pot pies a couple of years ago, after a salmonella outbreak caused 100 people to get sick, so Grandma’s Kitchen hasn’t had Banquet brand pot pies for awhile now. After reading the Marie Callender and Banquet chicken pot pie nutritional chart and seeing the astounding amount of sodium, fat and other unhealthy facts in both, the decision to make our own turkey or chicken pot pies was easy.

Some might say that this homemade chicken pot pie recipe isn’t really homemade because it calls for a ready-made pie crust vs. a pie crust make from scratch with dough, but to each his own on that regard. Quick and easy is best for our schedule, so a ready-to-bake crust fits perfectly with our busy schedule, but if you have the time and desire to make your own pie crust, by all means go for it. Just follow these easy instructions and you’ll be enjoying homemade chicken pot pie in no time flat.

Easy Yummy Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, boiled

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of potato soup

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

• Line a 9 inch pie dish with pastry.

• Blanch frozen mixed vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.

• Dice chicken and place in a large bowl. Add vegetables, thyme, celery soup and potato soup. Stir together.

• Pour filling into pastry lined pie dish. Arrange top layer of pie crust, seal and flute the edges. Cut slits in the top of the crust to allow for steam to escape.

• Place pie on cookie sheet. Put aluminum foil around the pie crust edges to help prevent burning.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and then serve. Quick, easy, homemade chicken pot pie that is yummy too!

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Since I’m turning 50, for my 50th Birthday cake I decided to have homemade Strawberry Shortcake, made from the recipe off of the Jiffy Mix biscuit box instead of having a more traditional birthday cake. We’ll still have a traditional, homemade birthday cake for my birthday party too, for putting all the candles on, but I‘m more interested in the strawberry shortcake myself.

In many families, every year for someone’s birthday, whoever’s birthday it is gets to choose the kind of cake they want to celebrate the occasion and I am no exception. This weekend, we are celebrating my birthday with what is often referred to as old-fashioned strawberry shortcake, an American classic dessert loved and adored by young and old. While strawberry shortcake is typically considered a summer dessert, we enjoy this moist and delicious strawberry dessert all year round.

Using the Jiffy Mix shortcake biscuits recipe makes for an easy, inexpensive, delicious, homemade strawberry treat. Some stores don’t carry Jiffy Mix for some unknown reason, and people sometimes choose to substitute Bisquick for the Jiffy Mix biscuit recipe, but the taste and texture is not the same. We actually had to search online to find what stores carry Jiffy Mix all purpose baking mix in the blue box by going to the Jiffy Mix website at www.jiffymix.com for store locations near us, since the three or four most well-known grocery stores nearby don‘t carry the product.

While mixed berry or raspberry shortcake are a popular recipe for some, strawberry shortcake is by far my favorite thing dessert-wise, and brings back wonderful childhood memories of when mom made it and topped it off with homemade whipped topping or Cool Whip. After so many years of enjoying the Jiffy mix version of strawberry shortcake and its sugary sweet biscuits, the store-bought, ready-made sponge cakes or pound cake slices just don’t do justice for my favorite strawberry dessert.

How to Make Jiffy Mix Strawberry Shortcake

Deciding on how many fresh strawberries to use for the shortcake recipe depends on each individual’s likes and preferences. For my 50th birthday party, we bought two 32 oz containers (two pounds) of strawberries, and an additional one pound container for a total of three pounds of fresh strawberries. That’s a lot of strawberry shortcake, for something tells me there won’t be any left over, not after the guests taste the delicious Jiffy Mix shortcakes that go with the strawberries and whipped topping.

Wash the strawberries, remove the stem, and cut the strawberries into slices into a bowl until you have as many strawberry slices as you want for the recipe. Sprinkle sugar on top of the strawberries and gently mix with a large spoon until well coated. Put the strawberry mix in a covered, airtight container, or wrap the bowl of strawberries with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and leave in the refrigerator a few hours or overnight (if possible). This allows the strawberries and sugar to mix thoroughly, creating delicious strawberry juices that soak into the warm biscuits when ready.

Jiffy Mix Shortcake Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

The list of ingredients and directions on the Jiffy Mix box on how to make Jiffy Mix shortcakes makes this recipe incredibly easy. The basic shortcake recipe says it makes 6 shortcakes per these instructions, so we will definitely be tripling or quadrupling the recipe, if not more so. Even doubling the recipe wouldn’t make enough shortcakes for this birthday party group of family and friends.

2 cups JIFFY Baking Mix
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. shortening, melted
½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine ingredients to soft dough. Turn onto surface dusted with Jiffy baking mix and knead 20 times. Pat or roll dough ½ inch thick. Cut with 3 inch floured round cutter to make three-inch, circle-shaped biscuits. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Split warm shortcakes in half (if desired), and place into serving bowls or cereal bowls. Spoon sugary strawberry mix with juice on top of warm, just out of the oven, baked shortcakes. Top with homemade whipped topping or Cool Whip, if desired. I have made homemade whipped topping many times before, but for my birthday party this year, I prefer to just use Cool Whip to make things easier on myself.

Homemade Whipped Topping

If you prefer to make your own whipped topping, here is a good homemade sweetened whipped topping recipe I’ve had for years.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Using an ice cold whisk in an ice cold bowl (for best results), whip cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks. Spread or dollop whipped cream/whipped topping on top of strawberry shortcake, cooled pies, bread pudding, pound cake, gingerbread, peach cobbler, or other favorite desserts. Enjoy!

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If you have never tried any of the variations of Napa Valley Spinach Salad, you are really missing out on a delicious salad option. We eat a lot of salad, with a meal or as the main dinner meal all by itself. Typical “dinner salad” that consists of the basics many people include in their salads can get boring real fast, so we always try to come up with healthy recipes that offer different ideas of fruits and/or vegetables to add to our salads for variety and taste.

I recently enjoyed a version of the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with chicken at one of my favorite lunch spots, and couldn’t wait to make the salad at home for my family and visiting friends. To say that the Spinach Salad was a hit for everyone would be an understatement. There are many different ways of making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad, but the differences only amount to what fruits and/or vegetables you like or don’t like, as most of the ingredients are optional according to your tastes and likes.

I use Feta cheese as a topping on some of my own salads, while others may like goat cheese in one of its variations. The goat cheese or feta cheese topping is of course optional as well, so it doesn’t “ruin” the salad if you choose not to use either of the cheeses. Making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad is fast and easy, and most of the ingredients are those we usually buy at the grocery store anyway and almost always have on hand.

Grandpa sometimes makes a fresh spinach salad with just spinach, strawberry slices and balsamic dressing lightly tossed, and it’s been a family favorite ever since. The Napa Valley Spinach salad has a lot more ingredients added to the fresh spinach, and now our salads are as if we’re enjoying our own salad bar at home.

Napa Valley Spinach Salad with Pinot Noir Shallot Vinaigrette Dressing

Even though the spinach salad I enjoyed so much at my favorite lunch restaurant included finely diced shallots, I opted not to use shallots when I made this recipe at home. Given the fact that most salads make very healthy meals, I wasn’t the least bit concerned about the specific “nutritional value” amounts, and just added each vegetable or fruit ingredient to taste rather than following some rule about “a cup of this, or cup of that”.

To make the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with vinaigrette dressing, purchase the following ingredients (those you like) and toss them all together in a large bowl. For the vinaigrette dressing, I bought the Red Wine and Vinegar dressing by Marie, which I found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. There are recipes online on how to make Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing, with or without shallots, but I was thrilled to find what I believe to be the perfect dressing for this salad to buy rather than making it myself.

• Fresh spinach (I purchased two 9 oz. bags of fresh spinach) and the salad was enough for four people, as the main meal.
• Grilled chicken – thin slices or chunks
• Crisp bacon – “Real Bacon” bits in a jar is fine too
• Fresh mushrooms – thinly sliced
• Fresh strawberries – sliced or chopped
• Sun-dried cranberries (or sun-dried raisins)
• Julienne red onions
• Granny Smith apples – thinly sliced or chopped
• Candied pecans – (I used cinnamon pecans found in small bags in the produce section)
• Fresh tomato – wedges, slices or chopped
• Goat cheese – lightly crumbled as a topping, or Feta cheese
• Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing – or Red Wine Vinegar dressing (Marie’s version is great for this salad!)

The restaurant where I often go for lunch had the thinly sliced granny smith apples and sliced tomato around the edges of the plate, to add color and visual appeal, rather than everything within the salad itself. Keep in mind that these ingredients are optional, so if there are ingredients listed that you don’t particularly like, leave it out of the salad. If there are other “salad bar” type ingredients you or your family like, such as chick peas, go ahead and add them to your Napa Valley Spinach salad.

Eating salads is of course a healthy meal option, whether the salad is the main meal or as a side dish, but having a variety of healthy salad options to change things up at the dinner table sure helps in keeping salad from becoming boring and dull. No one wants to feel as though they “have” to eat salads that are boring and monotonous week after week, so finding a variety of healthy salad recipes that are fun and enjoyable for the whole family has been a priority that tastes great.

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Easter Sunday dinner meal recipes often includes green bean casserole, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, amongst other Easter holiday meal ideas. Our family has always enjoyed the Classic Green Bean Casserole by French’s, but there are many varieties of recipes for green bean casserole in cookbooks, recipe cards passed around family members and your favorite cookbooks.

Today, on Easter Sunday, I’m sharing two green bean casserole recipes that are sure to meet your family’s approval at the dinner table. We usually double the recipe to make sure everyone is able to enjoy this favorite recipe.

Classic Green Bean Casserole and French’s Green Bean Casserole, with ingredients and complete directions are included. Happy Easter!

French’s Classic Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can CAMPBELL’S Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 3/4 cup milk

• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

• 2 (9 oz. each) pkgs. frozen cut green beans, thawed

• 1 1/3 cups FRENCH’S® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions

Directions:

MIX soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 -qt. baking dish. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French Fried Onions.

BAKE at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot.

STIR. Top with remaining 2/3 cup onions. Bake 5 min. until onions are golden.

Classic Green Bean Casserole by Campbell’s

• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• Dash ground black pepper

• 4 cups cooked cut green beans

• 1 1/3 cups French’s® French Fried Onions

Directions:
Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling.  Stir the bean mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining onions.

Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

For Broccoli Green Bean Casserole, substitute 4 cups cooked broccoli flowerets for the green beans.

For cheese lovers, stir in 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese with soup. Omit the soy sauce.

Sprinkle with an additional 1/4 cup Cheddar cheese when adding the remaining onions.

Tips:
To add a festive Easter holiday touch, stir in 1/4 cup chopped red pepper with the soup.
To add crunch, add 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds to the onion topping.
For bacon lovers, add 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, to the bean mixture.

For Golden Green Bean Casserole, substitute Campbell’s Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup for the Cream of Mushroom Soup. Omit the soy sauce. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped red pepper with the green beans.

Enjoy!

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