Oreo Truffles

1 Package Oreo Cookies
1 8 oz Package Cream Cheese, Softened
1 Package Almond Bark

Crush Oreo cookies in the food processor into a fine power. If you do not have one you can put them in a ziploc and use a rolling pin over them.

Place crushed cookies into a bowl along w/the cream cheese. With an egg beater, mix well.

Form cookie mixture into 1" balls and place on a cookie sheet. Chill for 20 minutes.

Melt Almond Bark and dip each truffle into the almond bark and place on a wax lined cookie sheet. A trick to make the balls come off of the dipping form easily is to gently lift them off with a toothpick. It will create less of a puddle and make them look prettier.

Decorate them while the almond bark is still soft and not fully dry. I typically use some of the white chocolate and drizzle on the truffle back and forth. I also use colored crystals, grated chocolate or white chocolate.

Easy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

These are very simple yet delicious. Easy to whip up for an after dinner snack.

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Mix well with a beater. Roll into balls and then criss cross with a fork. If you wish, you can roll in sugar before baking. Place on baking sheet and bake 325 for 10-15 minutes.

NOTE: The original recipe called for a baking temp of 375 but they kept burning in my oven.

Mason proudly helping mommy with her Tastefully Simple booth at a bazaar. He did excellent sitting and coloring and playing from 9am-430pm. Such a proud mama.

Creamy Crockpot Pot Roast

1/2 Pkg Tastefully Simple Potato Cheddar Soup
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 Frozen Beef Roast (must fit in your crockpot)
About 3 Potatoes
About 1/2 of a small bag of baby carrots
1 Large Onion, Quartered

Mix water and Potato Chedddar Soup into the crockpot. Place roast in the crockpot, then potatos, carrots and onions. Cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours. The meat should pull apart easily when turned w/a fork. If it does not then it is not quite done. Check it each half hour.

The potato cheddar soup makes up it's own gravy. You do not have to add any seasoning to it. This creates a very moist meat.

Note: If the roast is not frozen when started then it should get done between 4-6 hours.

Midas

Midas is our 3 or 4 year old lab. We adopted him last year when they thought he was 2 or 3. He came potty trained, some command trained and is very loving and playful. Although lately he is going through a toddler phase and doing things he's never done before. And, it's driving me crazy. It's a good thing he's cute.

Foods That Freeze Well

Most foods freeze well. There is only one that I cannot figure out how to prolong it's life and that is lettuce. All fruits and vegtables freeze however, you will not be able to eat them raw but it's great to freeze them for soups and stir frys. Other foods that freeze well:

Cheese - grated or ungrated. If you do not grate it, when you take it out it will crumble and you may not need to grate it. However, it's more difficult to slice. If you do not grate it then freeze it in ziploc bags and break it up a little when you pull it out of the freezer.

Fruits - slice into chunks or flash freeze. Flash Freezing works well for bananas and blueberries so that they do not stick together. Simply lay the fruit on a baking sheet and freeze then place in freezer safe containers after. You can also freeze pie homemade pie filling.

Vegtables - Get these on sale and cut them up for soups, stews and stir frys. All vegtables freeze. Some people flash steam them but I do not. It hasn't really compromised the taste or functionality of the vegtable. You also do not have to peel the vegtables unless you prefer them that way.

Meats - Of course, meats freeze well. We buy it on sale, split it up and food save it or pack in ziploc bags.

Bread or Bread Dough

Cookie Dough

Candy

We also make several meals up and freeze them. If I'm making lasagna I prep two meals and put one in the freezer before cooking it. Same with meatloaf, stir fry, chicken dishes, pot pies, homemade lean pockets, stromboli, etc.

Freezer Meal Group

Each month a group of fabulous ladies get together to swap meals. Here's how it works. There are 5 ladies in the group. On our own time we make 5 meals that can be frozen. Just main dishes, you do not have to make sides. They do not have to be cooked, just prepared. Sort of like going to Dream dinners or Entrees Made Easy but not at their establishment. We meet once a month to swap the meals. Each meal has the recipe and cooking instructions attached so it can be duplicated later.

This saves us time and energy later and also gives us lots of great dinner ideas. It takes me about 2 hours (more or less depending on the meal) to assemble 5 meals. 2 hours for 5 meals is less time than 5 dinner nights from scratch because all of the ingredients are already out and being prepped at one time.

It's fun and exciting to see what each person will make each month. We are not picky eaters so we rarely come in contact with a meal we don't like. And if we do that's a great meal to pull out for a potluck or take to another family (new mom, elderly person, neighbor, etc.) Everyone's tastes are different so they may enjoy it.

When starting a freezer meal group, you need to have guidelines of your expectations. Some ideas are: Are their foods that are off limits? Each meal should have a recommend serving size and cost, what type of committment are you looking for from each person? For example our group stays away from seafood, we recommend the meal should feed 4, and each meal should cost $5-7. We do allow people to take a month off, however, it must be communicated to the organizer so that we make the correct amount of meals and know whether or not that person should be expected and their meal accounted for.

I believe this is one way that we can prepare for our family. The Proverbs 31 woman shows us many ways to do that and if she lived in todays era this might be one way she would do it. I love having meals in my freezer to pull out and cook up. We get to taste different things and learn new recipes. Some of our favorite recipes we've got from meal group.

For more information please contact me at simpledinners@pocketinet.com

Boys Will be Boys

My two handsome silly boys are just 17 months apart.