Add diced jalapenos and serve with jalapeno cornbread for an added kick... I served mine with big flaky biscuits and they were really good for soaking up the juice!

Ingredients:

Stew meat (about 1-1 1/2 lbs)
2 cans Ranch Style Beans (15 oz cans)
1 can Pinto Beans (15 oz)
1 can corn (15 oz)
1 small tomato, diced
1-2 T Soy sauce
1/2-3/4 cup salsa (I used Pace, medium)
1 1/2 cup water
1 package brown gravy mix
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Splash of Worcestershire Sauce

Add Stew meat to crock pot, add a few splashes of Soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. (I used coarse Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper). Add tomato, beans, corn, salsa, water, and brown gravy mix (I mixed the gravy mix with a couple tablespoons of water just to liquify). Put lid on slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours or until stew meat is tender.

These are the cake balls I made for my dear friend's baby shower... This was my 2nd attempt at making these... I think only half of the balls made it to the shower!!!

Another fun idea from
Betty Crocker!















Ingredients:
Cake 1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon unsweetened baking cocoa
2 teaspoons royal blue paste food color
1 toothpickful violet paste food color

Frosting:
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans, or spray with baking spray with flour.
2.   In large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed about 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
3.  Divide batter evenly among pans. Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool 15 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.
4.  Spoon marshmallow creme into large microwavable bowl; microwave uncovered on High 15 to 20 seconds to soften. Add butter. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and salt until smooth.
5.  If necessary, trim rounded tops of 2 cake layers to flatten before assembling. Place 1 cake layer, top side down, on serving plate; spread with about 1/3 cup frosting. Top with second layer, top side down; spread with about 1/3 cup frosting. Top with untrimmed cake layer, top side up. Frost side and top of cake with remaining frosting. Store loosely covered.

***Expert Tips To get the royal blue velvet color, remember the toothpickful of violet paste food color; if forgotten, the cake will bake up turquoise in color.

***Use paste food color to achieve the royal blue velvet color. If you use liquid or gel food color, your cake color will vary.

***To make candy garnish, line cookie sheet with foil, and spray with cooking spray. In 2-quart saucepan, stir together 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1/4 cup water. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves; heat to boiling. Without stirring, heat to 300°F to 310°F, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads. Remove from heat and stir in desired amount blue food color. Pour onto cookie sheet in random design. Let cool, and break into pieces. Garnish cake with candy pieces as desired.

I stumbled upon a new favorite website called Sweet Pea's Kitchen and had to share this recipe!!!  Cheesecake, brownies, and Red Velvet! Oh My!!! Check out her site for more yum!













Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 8 inch metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment. In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl in with a knife or spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned. Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.

Thank you Betty Crocker!

















Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting (from 16 oz container)
16 chocolate-covered peppermint patties (1.5 oz), unwrapped
2 tablespoons green tinted flaked coconut*
1 can (6.4-oz) each Betty Crocker® red and yellow decorating icing
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon water
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Directions:

• 1 In medium bowl, combine cookie mix, flour, butter, and egg until soft dough forms. Shape dough into 32 (1-inch) balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 1 inch apart.
• 2 Bake at 375° F for 10 to 12 minutes or until set and edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
• 3 Spread about 1/2 teaspoon vanilla frosting on bottom of each cookie. Top 1 cookie, frosted side up with 1 peppermint pattie and 1/2 teaspoon green coconut. Pipe red and yellow icing on peppermint pattie for mustard and ketchup; top with remaining cookie, frosting side down. Repeat with remaining cookies.
• 4 In small bowl, combine honey and water. Brush on top of each cookie; sprinkle with sesame seeds.

***Expert Tips To tint coconut, shake coconut and a few drops green food color in tightly covered jar or resealable food-storage plastic bag.