Easy Lemon Bars

I've never been a fan of lemon bars, but I had some extra lemon juice and decided to whip up a batch. Pretty simple. Pretty delicious. Empty pan. Bummer!

Easy Lemon Bars For the crust:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour Mix it up and smoosh it in a 9x13 pan. (Can use 9x9, but bars will need to bake longer!) Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until it's starting to brown. To make the filling:

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cup lemon juice Mix this up and pour it over the partially baked crust. Bake an additional 20 minutes or so. Let cool completely before trying to dig in or it gets messy (but still delicious!)

Oat & Jam Bars

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and thought it was so easy and yummy. I just had to share!

Oat & Jam Bars

1 cake mix, yellow or white

2 1/2 cups oats

3/4 cup margarine

Mix that in a bowl until clumpy and sticky.

Take about 1/2 of the mix and press it into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.

1 1/2 cups of jam - strawberry, raspberry, whatever

1 TBS lemon juice or water

Mix that together until smooth. Spread evenly ontop of the pressed in layer.

Use the rest of the cake mix to sprinkle/crumble the top.

Oven at 375 - 15-20 minutes...............How quick is that??

And it uses food storage oats and can be adapted for anyone's taste!! YAY!

(Chloe even "helped" stir - aka eat the crumbles - while I spread the jam.)

Blueberry Oat Scones

Misty the little tree hugger, found this cool site weelicious.com and it's got some pretty fun recipes for kids. I tried this one and it was pretty good. I'd even make it again.

Blueberry Oat Scones (Makes 10 ice cream scooper sized scones)‬

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Quick Oats (I used regular oats)
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Butter (I used margarine)
3/4 Cup Buttermilk (3/4 cup milk plus 1 tsp vinegar, microwave for 1 min=buttermilk)
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Blueberries (I used freeze dried blueberries and just put them in the buttermilk to hydrate)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients until combined.
3. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, rub the butter into the flour/oat mixture until is resembles coarse meal.
4. Whisk the buttermilk, egg and vanilla in a separate bowl.
5. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour/oat mixture and using a fork, stir until combined.
6. Stir in the blueberries until just combined.
7. Scoop out about 2 tbsp of the batter per scone onto a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet (I like using an ice cream scooper for this.)
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Serve.

Blueberry or Strawberry Torte

This is a favorite at 911 dispatch:
Ingredients:
1 8oz Cream Cheese
2/3 cup butter
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 large can Fruit Pie Filling (Blueberry, Raspberry, Cherry, or Danish Dessert and fresh strawberries)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Lemon Juice
2 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs (approx. 30 crackers)

First:
melt 2/3 cup butter
Stir in
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar.

Pat tightly into 9x13 pan. (Don't press too hard-or it makes the crust hard to cut)
Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes
Cool crust.

Mix together until smooth:
8 oz cream cheese(softened)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Spread over cooled crust.
Spread large can of fruit filling on top.(I wanted Strawberry and they don't make it in a can, so I used Danish Dessert and fresh strawberries. Mix Danish Dessert as to package for pie.

Chill for 4 hours or over night.

Enjoy.

Banana Bread

1/2 Cup margarine
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Cup bananas (more= moister bread)
1/4 Cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 Cup chopped nuts (optional)


Mix all ingredients together. Batter will be lumpy.
Put in greased 8x4x3 loaf pan.

Bake 1 hr @350.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

So freaking good - My Grandma made this one year for my birthday and we ate it all, so she made another one a few days later. YUM!

1 package devils food cake mix
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure almond extract (optional)



Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl until thick and well blended. Pour the batter in greased 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Frost with chocolate frosting when cool.

PS- I usually reserve a little of the cherry pie filling to mix in with the chocolate frosting just for an extra cherry kick!

Orange Glorius (AKA Orange Julius)

Tastes identical to an Orange Julius except that it's 10 times cheaper. I keep an open can of OJ concentrate in the freezer just for when I want one of these.


1 cup milk
1 cup ice water
1 (6 ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
12 cubes ice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup white sugar

In a blender combine milk, water, orange juice concentrate, ice cubes, vanilla and sugar. Blend until smooth. Pour into three 12 oz glasses and enjoy with a straw.