While He Was Napping

momma gets stuff done

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Tuna Noodle Casserole

This week, it’s the easy train for me.  I have a TON of other things I’m trying to get done right now… Most of it will be going up in the Etsy store.  Hopefully, I can make me some money this holiday season.  At the very top of my Christmas wish list……………… A house.  Not cheap.  So I slave away, neglecting my family, in hopes of a few extra pennies.  Which also means…….. quick and easy is calling my name.

TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

– 1 lb of Spiral Egg Noodles
– 1-2 cans of tuna, drained
– 1 small package of frozen peas (my momma uses a peas and carrots mix sometimes to change up the flavor a bit.)
– 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
– 1 cup cheese or crushed corn flake cereal, if desired.

Directions:

1. Cook your egg noodles according to the directions on the package.  Drain.  Butter if desired.
2. In a medium bowl, mix tuna, frozen veggies and soup well.  Stir in approximately 1/2 to a full soup can of milk to thin if needed. You can also steam the frozen veggies, if you want to skip reheating the casserole at the end.
3. Combine noodles and sauce. Mix well.
4. If desired, bake 15-20 mins at 350°F to warm. Or heat in the microwave on high for 3-5 mins until casserole is hot.
5. You can sprinkle cheese or crushed corn flake cereal over the top if desired.
Serve and enjoy!

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October Spooktacular: Caramel Apples

When I was growing up, the caramel apples we got were the packages of caramel sheets you buy at Wal-Mart.  My mom was never a huge fan of Halloween, or baking in general.  I’ll admit I was totally chicken to try this on the stove… I don’t have a candy thermometer.  Which is ironic, considering how much I love me some candy.  Yumm.  The microwave worked just fine  This turned out pretty well, all things considering.  I made half a dozen, and they were gone before we went to bed, so I guess they were pretty yummy scrumptious!

CARAMEL APPLES

Ingredients:
6 Apples
1 package (14oz) Caramels, unwrapped
3 Tbs milk 
Directions:
Remove the stems from the apples.  Wash and dry apples.  Press popscicle or craft sticks into the top of each apple.  Make sure the sticks are in securely.  Butter or lay out wax paper on a baking sheet.  Place unwrapped caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring a couple times.  Heat the caramel until it is smooth in texture.  Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes.  Roll each apple in caramel sauce until well coated.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.  Sprinkle Halloween sprinkles on top or drizzle chocolate sauce on top, if desired.  Eat up! 

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October Spooktacular: Witchy Hats

I made these the first year we were married and it’s one of my “go-to” Halloween recipes because it’s soo quick and easy! And incredibly cute! And cheap! See, it IS good!

WITCHY HAT COOKIES

Fudge Striped Shortbread Cookies
Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped
Any Halloween color icing

Open the cookies, unwrap the Kisses and put your icing in an icing bag. Note: A sandwich bag with the tip cut off works just as well. Just be careful not to cut the tip too much if you want to be able to decorate with it as well. Squeeze a glob of icing to the bottom of the Kiss and place it in the center of the shortbread cookie. It doesn’t matter if the cookie is stripe side up or not, just depends on the look you’re going for. Add an icing bow or a ring around the Kiss, if you’d like. Repeat until you have a nice little collection of Witchy Hats. Cute, huh? And I told you it was super easy!

We were lucky enough to have Jessica at Craftily Ever After link up her version of Witchy Hat Cookies to Weekend Wander this weekend.  Check them out too.

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October Spooktacular: Spiderweb Nachos

Not sure where I found the idea for this, but I did it the first Halloween we were married and it has since become tradition.  Some time in October we HAVE to eat Spiderweb Nachos!  YUMMY!  I usually just make one big plate and me and My Mr Right share, but this would be super easy to break into smaller portions and make individual sizes.

SPIDERWEB NACHOS

30 or so Tortilla chips
1/4 c of cheese (I use whatever is in the fridge)
1/2 can of re-fried beans
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 avocado, sliced or diced
chopped cilantro, optional
1/4 cup sour cream, in a zippy baggie
Layer the chips, re-fried beans, cheese, tomatoes, avocado and cilantro on a baking pan.  Put in the oven at 250 degrees for 5 minutes.  Just long enough to heat everything up and melt the cheese.  You can also put it on a plate and nuke it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.  I’ve done both and both work.  If you use the oven method, transfer your nacho heap to a plate.  Take the sour cream in your zippy bag.  Cut the corner off.  Not too much, though.  It’ll make a bigger hole than you think.  At least it always does for me.  Draw the spokes of the spiderweb in a star shape.  Start in the middle and begin connecting the spokes with a droopy line to make the web.  Go all the way around and then do the same on the next layer, until you have run out of nachos to draw on.  Enjoy!

 

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October Spooktacular: RIP Cupcakes

Aren’t these fun?  I was looking for cupcake ideas, because I love cupcakes, and saw a couple cute Halloween ideas.  Some were just a little too simple – crushed Oreo’s for dirt – and some were WAAY too hard – a whole haunted house on each cupcake!  I am, by no means, a professional baker; but, I do enjoy decorating cupcakes as long as it’s simple enough that I don’t get overwhelmed.   So, here’s an idea that anyone can do.  Let’s kick off October Spooktacular with a little extra pizzazz!

TOMBSTONE CUPCAKES

Ingredients:
1 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c white flour
3/4 c milk
1/2 butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
6 tbs cocoa (optional)  

*If I hadn’t forgotten I was nearly out of cocoa I would have put it in my recipe.  It would look better with the theme of the cupcake… and chocolate is my favorite.  But, I needed the little I had left for the frosting.  
Directions:
– Line each muffin tin hole with a cupcake wrapper.  Preheat the oven to 350F.
– Cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer.  
– Beat in the eggs.  Add vanilla.  
– Combine flour and baking powder, add to creamed mixture. 
– Mix well. Stir in milk until batter is smooth.
– Pour batter into cupcake wrappers.  Fill wrappers about 3/4 of the way full.
– Bake 18-25 mins, depending on your oven and altitude.  Cake is done when it springs back to the touch and you can cleanly insert and remove a toothpick into the center of the cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING


Ingredients:
1/4 cup Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp Milk
3 Tbsp Cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring, if desired)

Directions:
– Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish on high for about 20 seconds.  Stir and add 10 more seconds if it’s not melted yet. 
– Mix the powdered sugar into the butter.  
– Gently stir in the milk.  Start slowly or you’ll get a big poof of powdered sugar dust.  Mix well.
– If you’re flavoring the frosting add that now.
– Pull out some of the white frosting and put it in a zippy bag.  You’ll use it in a moment.  
– Add the cocoa and mix well.

TOMBSTONE AND WORMS DECOR

Ingredients:
Nutter Butter Cookies (I used generic, Dollar Tree Nutter Butter knock offs.  They didn’t taste quite as good, but they still worked.)
Gummy Worms
White Icing (Remember that little baggie you just filled up)

Directions:
– Cut the Nutter Butters in half with a knife.  I found it was best to score the cookie on both sides first and then carefully work my way through one side of cookie.  Flip and then cut the other cookie.  That gave me the cleanest edges.  But you can just chop them too, it’ll be in the frosting anyway…
– With the white icing, go around the top curved edge of the cookie and then write “RIP” or whatever other message you want on the cookie.  It’s not a lot of space so short messages work best.  
– Stick your gummy worms on and serve!

You could do the crushed chocolate cookies on top of the frosting too, for a more ‘dirt-like’ appearance.

Other fun topping ideas:
– candy pumpkins
– skeletons drawn on with the white icing
– plastic spider rings
– eyeball candies
– cotton candy spider webs



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