Almond Gooey Bars - Tutorial

Almond Gooey Bars - a family favorite!

Years ago my mom came across this recipe in The Cake Mix Doctor cook book.  It's been a family favorite ever since.  My kids have even been known to request these in place of a birthday cake! 

The recipe I have on hand is a handwritten one that my momma copied down for me. 

Almond Gooey Bars

Crust

1 yellow cake mix

1 stick butter melted

1 large egg

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 tsp almond extract

Filling

8 oz cream cheese (room temp)

2 large eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1 stick butter melted

3 3/4 powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the crust ingredients for 2 minutes (with electric mixer) until smooth...

Pat evenly in the bottom of a 9 x 13 and set aside.  I like to use a miniature rolling pin...

Then, beat cream cheese until fluffy...

Then add eggs, extract, and butter.  Beat 1 minute.  Next add the powdered sugar and beat for 1 more minute...

Until it becomes a nice whipped taffy texture...

Poor the filling over the crust...

Smooth it out, and put it in the oven @ 350 degrees for 45-47 minutes...

When it's done the top will be brown and very crispy.  You will be tempted to remove a small square and eat it right away - I highly recommend that :O).  But for the rest of the pan I would suggest letting it cool completely before cutting your squares, as to avoid them all falling apart...

Enjoy!

Click HERE for a full list of parties I've linked to!

Chili Cornbread Casserole

This is a delicious, quick, and cheap meal to whip up!  Our entire family enjoys it, and it's easy enough for the 10 year old to prepare for dinner. 

Ingredients

2 Cans Nalley's Original Chili (I like to use the vegetarian 99% FF)

2 Boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (mixed to box instructions... you'll need eggs & milk)

Shredded Cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Spread the 2 cans of chili across the bottom of a 9 x 13...

Mix the cornbread as per the box instructions, then spread the mixture on top of the chili...

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes @ 400 degrees (or until the cornbread mixture is completely baked through).  Add the desired amount of shredded cheese and return to the oven until melted (aprox. 5 minutes)...

Remove from the oven...

Cut into squares, serve, and enjoy....

My kids like ketchup on theirs.  My mom used to make this when I was a kid.  I'm not sure where she got the recipe.  It's great without the cheese as well if you are going for low-cal.  I think it would be great to make it with leftover homemade chili, though you would need to be careful with portions.  Once I added an extra can of chili and the cornbread stayed doughy....ended up cooking it for over an hour.  It would be fabulous with a scratch cornbread recipe...again, I would just have to figure out how much to put on.  We love the cornbread recipe in the Mormon Cookbook.  I'll have to figure out the portions on those two things.  For a quick and easy dinner the can and box version is wonderful - we LOVE it!


For a full list of parties I link to click HERE!

Fruit Loops to Sand Art!

This is such a fun (and YUMMY) activity for kids! Start by having the kids separate the cereal by colors, and place them into ziplocs... Then give them rolling pins and let them crush away (you may want to put towels under the bags if your table isn't crappy.....I mean distressed like mine)...

Keep going until the loops are powdered...

And before you know it, you will have a rainbow of colored and edible "sand"....

Next you can choose to make pictures (like my kids did), or you can explore the endless possibilities of sand bottle art. Click HERE to see google images of so many fun ideas!

My kids first drew a pencil design. Then they filled in the spaces (one at a time) with glue...

My daughter's was inspired by the new show at Disneyland, "World of Color"...

We also really enjoyed watching YouTube videos of sand art performances. Click HERE to see those!


For a full list of parties I link to click HERE!