Ranch Pasta with Chicken and Bacon

My dad loves to ice fish. I mean LOVES it. During the cold Minnesota winter, he takes a lot of trips up north, or wherever the fish are biting, and brings his fish house up there for a few days. So he left for another trip yesterday but before he left I wanted to make something good. I wasn't really sure what. I was going to make up something but I kinda gave up so I found this. It is really easy and really really good!! Even my dad said it was good- he never says that! So enjoy and subscribe, comment, and share!! Merry (late) Christmas!!

Ranch Pasta with Chicken and Bacon

8-16 oz of Penne pasta (Penne holds the sauce the best but others will work)
1 T of butter
1 T flour
1-2 T Ranch dressing dry mix (the recipe said to but it can get overpowering)

2 cups milk
1 cup cheddar cheese
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
6 slices of cooked bacon, chopped

Cook pasta according to directions and drain. Set aside.

Melt butter over medium heat in medium saucepan big enough to fit pasta (or use the same pot). Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk. Continue to cook until sauce thickens and stir occasionally. Stir in dressing mix and cheese and stir until cheese has melted and mixed with sauce. This will take awhile so be patient. Add in pasta, chicken, and bacon. Stir to mix and serve!!

Recipe from: Plain Chicken

Gluten-Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Has anyone else noticed an increases in gluten-free diets lately? I have. I recently have had a friend and a cousin go gluten-free and many students at my school. I made these cookies for a treat for the dance team because my friend, Katelyn, is on the team and I wanted to make something safe for her and the whole team devoured them! EVERYONE loved them-not just my friend! I am kind of glad that Katelyn went gluten-free- it has challenged me to expand my knowledge of gluten-free food! So, look for more gluten-free recipes on my blog! Also, very, very, very sorry for my month of no posts... School kinda prevented me from being able to do anything but now that I am done with my super hard classes I will be on here more so please subscribe to get my updates!! And happy (late) Thanksgiving!!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled a bit
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups Gluten Free flour mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, chocolate, sugar, and vanilla together. Mix in eggs one at a time. Sift together the flour,baking powder and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture.

Place in the refrigerator for at least a few hours- this helps the dough be less gooey while shaping it.

Shape into 2 in balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place the dough balls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Push the balls down a little bit to help flatten. Bake at 350 F for about 12 minutes.

Recipe from: Living, Loving, Laughing, & Creating Everyday

Caramel Stuffed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Fall is finally here! Time for sweaters, boots, scarves, hot chocolate, and... PUMPKIN RECIPES! These are amazing... I found the recipe on Pinterest and it was fairly easy. It took a while to make but it is soo worth it... Yummy. The are super soft and the caramel is great! Although, the caramel I use got hard after the were taken out of the oven so next time I made it without the caramel and they turned out perfectly. So the caramel is optional and if you would like to omit, just don't add in the caramels when rolling the dough. Make sure to leave your comments and sign up for e-mails!!

Caramel Stuffed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 + 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels (unwrap about 30 of them)

Cream together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until smooth and creamy. Mix in vanilla and pumpkin until blended.

In another bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually mix into pumpkin mixture. Refrigerate for 30 min.

After refrigeration  scoop up about a tablespoon of dough, place the caramel in the middle and roll the dough into balls. Place onto a flat plate or cookie sheet. They can be close but cannot touch. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Whisk together 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon in a shallow, wide bowl.

Roll each ball of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from one another. Refrigerate leftover dough until next batch. Bake cookies for 14 minutes.

Leave on pan to cool for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Store in a airtight container when completely cooled.

7 -Layer Bars

So last weekend, I had a bonfire with some of my friends and I made my cookie dough dip and they all loved it! It was a fun night. Most people just hang out or do whatever normal teenagers do at bonfires, not us though! I had an old Barbie guitar my grandma gave me for Christmas one year and it happened that 2 of my friends know who to play...So we sang songs around the campfire including the year's most annoying song: The Fox Song. The guys were mostly the ones dancing and singing which made it even more funny. Great night I'll tell ya! Well I also made these 7-layer bars, which is actually only 6 but who's really counting? I am working on turning this into a dip similar to my cookie dough dip so if you like this recipe comment and remind me to work on it! Also new this week, 1,000 page views!! It actually doesn't sound like that big of an accomplishment but I'm pretty excited! Now if I get 2,500 page views and 20 e-mail subscribers, I will make a facebook page, so subscribe and tell your friends!! Thanks so much for the outstanding support!

7-layer Bars

1 stick butter

1 cup graham crackers, crushed

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup coconut, shredded

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. While it is preheating, place butter the pan you will be using and place in the oven to melt it.

Once melted, take out. Press graham crackers firmly onto the pan. Make sure the bottom of the pan is completely covered. add the chocolate chips, coconut. Pour sweetened condensed milk over it. Add butterscotch chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes.