When the kids go back to school, I tend to stock my freezer full of ready made products. You know, the ones that take minutes to cook or heat up? I do this because A) The kids are usually starving right after school and supper isn’t ready until 6 and B) back to school usually means I’m the one helping with most of the chores here on the ranch instead of the kiddos, well, because they’re at school! That means my time will get eaten up by chores, the little cowpoke (since the kids won’t be around to help watch), and trips to and from school helping out.
I love to cook from scratch and do it often but there are times when the kids need something fast to hold them through until supper or sometimes we need a meal in less than 30 minutes because we’re headed to town or school function.
Something I buy are Hot Pockets, Fully Cooked Chicken, and Stouffer’s Easy Express Skillet meals. I’m obsessed with the Stouffer’s lasagna but don’t always have time to cook the family version of it so the express meals come in handy!
We have two freezers, one big one for our beef and other stuff and our top freezer on our fridge. This is where the quick foods are easily accessible.
As you can see, it’s not very well organized. I’ve got veggies on bottom, hot pockets, chicken, Popsicles and bacon on top. My other freezer holds the Stouffer goods because well, obviously I can’t fit much else in here!
Here is one of my 20 minute meals using the Stouffer’s Easy Express Meals. First, I use Easy Express Skillets Grilled Chicken & Vegetables. It has the vegetables already in it but I still need one more filler. Since these meals literally only take 20 minutes, I need something that takes the same amount or less. That’s where biscuits come in! Bread is always a great filler and I’ve got a recipe that takes 20 min or less.
BISCUITS!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 c. flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- dash of salt
- 2 Tbl. sugar
- 1/2 c. butter
- 3/4 c. Carnation Evaporated Milk
PREPARATION:
Mix dry ingredients. Add butter, milk and form into soft dough. Do not over knead! Pat into a ungreased 6×6 pan. I use a pie pan myself so you can use whatever. Cut into serving size portions before you cook. Bake at 400′ for 15 to 20 minutes or until done and golden brown.
$500 Walmart Gift Card
I usually make my giveaways pretty simple, and while this one is still simple, it requires a bit more thought than the others I’ve done in the past. Hey, it’s $500, if you wanna the chance to win something big like that, it’s gonna take a bit more work!
TO ENTER
Leave a comment here with a recipe using one of these Nestle products that would be great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack:
- Carnation Evaporated Milk
- Nestle Raisinets
- Haagen Dazs Ice Cream (any flavor)
- Nestle Coffee-Mate Creamer (any flavor)
ONLY ONE RECIPE COMMENT PER PERSON! Put a little effort into the recipe folks. Please don’t be lazy;) I’d like to try some of the recipes myself! In fact, those of you who are saying, ice cream between two cookies, etc–WILL NOT COUNT!!! Geez!
Additional/Optional ways to enter, leaving each one in a separate comment:
- Twitter the giveaway, including a link back here and my handle, @ACowboysWife -1 entry
- Share on facebook or similar social networking site and leave a comment telling me. -1 entry
- Create a Whrrl story using photos of your recipe and I’ll give you an additional (include link to story)-25 entries!
FINE PRINT
This giveaway is sponsored by Nestle. Giveaway closes on August 18th at about 10pm CST.
About A Cowboy's Wife
I twittered this contest….. Thanks
this would be a great win, especially with my daughter getting ready for college
I created a whrrl story too! This is fun thanks http://whrrl.com/e/fZsPc I posted it on Twitter too!
Easy Baked Potato Soup
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 c. chopped onion (you can leave this out if you have picky eaters)
1/4 c. flour
1 can Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
2 large or 3 medium potatoes, baked or microwaved.
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally for 1 to 2 minutes or til tender. Stir in flour. Gradually stir in broth and evaporated milk. Scoop potato pulp from potatoes and add to soup. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes just to a boil. Add whatever spices you like (I add a dash of pepper and garlic powder). Heat through. Spoon into bowls and add a bit of cheese to the top. You can add some bacon, too, if you have some already cooked.
Raisinets Oatmeal Bars
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter OR margarine, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 (14-ounce) package NESTLÉ® RAISINETS® Milk Chocolate-Covered Raisins
1 3/4 cups quick OR old-fashioned oats, divided use
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in Raisinets and 1 1/2 cups oats. Spread into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining oats.
BAKE for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Makes 24 bars.
Fudge (so yummy)
Butter an 8×8 glass pan.
In a bowl:
1 cup chocolate chips (if you want a mint flavor use the ones with the mint swirls in them or have even tried peanut butter)
1 cube (1/2 cup) butter
1 tsp. vanilla
In medium pan put
6 oz. of Evaporated milk
2 cups of sugar
12 large marshmallows
Bring to a boil. Boil for 6 minutes stirring constantly and without touching the sides (it will cause your fudge to have crunchy flakes in it). Then pour the milk, sugar and marshmallow mixture into the bowl. Combine everything and then pour into glass pan to let it set up.
Party Dip
1 eight ounce package cream cheese (room temperature)
1 half cup Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 fourth cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 fourth cup green onion (white part only), finely chopped
1 fourth cup peanuts, crushed
1 and one-half cups mango chutney
1 fourth cup flaked coconut
In a medium bowl mix together cream cheese, Carnation Evaporated Milk and curry powder. Add
bell pepper, onion and peanuts. Mix well. Spoon mixture into shallow serving dish. Top with chutney and spread to edges. Sprinkle coconut over chutney. Serve with crackers and/or vegetable strips. Serves 6-8.
Fantasy Fudge
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. (340 g) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. (198 g) jar Kraft Marshmallow crème
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tablespoon vanilla
Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling bail, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate till melted. Add marshmallow crème, nuts & vanilla beat till blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.
Note: Can be made in a smaller pan for thicker squares (yield will be reduced).
Sometimes I will substitute 2 cups of peanut butter for the chocolate chips and omit the nuts making a peanut butter fudge – creamy or chuncky peanut butter may be used. Or another variation that I will do is to make the fudge like in the recipe, pour half of the mixture into the pan, spread a cup of peanut butter over the fudge and then top with the remainder of the fudge – It comes out like a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
YUMMY!
I used this for a Bake Sale, my mom sent me the recipe via email, so I hope that’s OK! Very nice recipe, I was leery of using the Raisinets, worried about them melting into a yucky mess, but they held up perfectly.
Raisinets Oatmeal Bars
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter OR margarine, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 (14-ounce) package NESTLÉ® RAISINETS® Milk Chocolate-Covered Raisins
1 3/4 cups quick OR old-fashioned oats, divided use
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in Raisinets and 1 1/2 cups oats. Spread into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining oats.
BAKE for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Makes 24 bars.
Tweeted http://twitter.com/cdziuba/status/3317779904
I posted your great giveaway on my Facebook page Carol P Dziuba
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
* 3 cups rolled oats
* 2 cups Nestle Raisinettes
* 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
* 1 cup shredded coconut
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture until well blended. Stir in the oats, raisinettes. walnuts and coconut until evenly distributed. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven for a chewy cookie or 14 minutes for a firmer cookie.
4. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet and then remove to wire rack. Cool completely and then store in tightly sealed container.
Ingredients:
1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream 12 ounces (1 package) semisweet chocolate chips 1 12-ounce marble pound cake, such as Entenmann’s brand, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices 1 pint Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream, softened 20 chocolate wafers, such as Nabisco brand, plus 4 crushed wafers 1 pint chocolate ice cream, softened Directions:In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Put the chocolate chips in a heatproof medium bowl and pour the boiling cream over the chocolate. Let sit until the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Stir the mixture with a fork for about 2 minutes, until the ganache is smooth.
Line a nonstick 9 x 5 x 3¾-inch loaf pan with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap, allowing a 4-inch overhang on all sides.
Pour half of the ganache (1 cup) evenly into the lined pan and spread to cover the base. Cover the ganache with a single layer of tightly packed cake slices; be sure the layer is flat and even. Working quickly, spread the vanilla ice cream evenly over the pound cake. Cover the ice cream with a layer made of half of the chocolate wafers. Spread the remaining ganache evenly over the wafers, then top the ganache with another layer, using all of the remaining wafers, and place the cake in the freezer for about 30 minutes to chill and firm up.
Remove the cake from the freezer and spread the chocolate ice cream over the wafers. Top with another flat, single layer of tightly packed slices of pound cake, trimming 1 or 2 slices to fill in the gaps (there will be a few slices left over). The cake may be slightly higher than the pan. Cover the cake completely with the plastic overhang and freeze until firm, at least 5 hours or overnight.
To loosen the ice cream cake from the pan, open the plastic wrap and invert the pan over a flat serving platter. Remove the plastic wrap. Scatter the crushed chocolate wafers over the ice cream cake, then slice and serve immediately.
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
2 cups peanut butter, divided
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels, divided
Directions:
GREASE 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
BEAT 1 1/4 cups peanut butter and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. With hands or wooden spoon, work in remaining 1 cup powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup morsels. Press evenly into prepared baking pan. Smooth top with spatula.
MELT remaining 3/4 cup peanut butter and remaining 1 1/2 cups morsels in medium, heavy-duty saucepan over lowest possible heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Spread over graham cracker crust in pan. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until chocolate is firm. Cut into bars. Store in covered container in refrigerator.
Chocolate chip caramel bars
1 14oz caramels
2/3 c Evaporated milk
1 18 oz. swiss chocolate cake
3/4 c Butter; melted
1 c Nuts
1 c Chocolate chips
1.
Combine and melt caramels with 1/3 c. evaporated milk. Keep warm. Combine cake mix, melted butter and remaining 1/3 c. evaporated milk. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Spread 1/2 of batter in 9 x 13 pan. Bake 350 for 6 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool 2 minutes. Spread caramel mixture over baked layer. cover with chocolate chips. stir in nuts to leftover batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over all. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.
2.
Let cool, cut into squares and serve. Goes good with ice cream if you can handle that much sweetness!
Original Nestle Raisinet Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 (7-ounce) packages or 2 cups NESTLÉ® RAISINETS® Milk Chocolate-Covered Raisins
1 cup nuts, chopped
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Beat in eggs; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate-covered raisins and nuts.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets
Bake in preheated 375° F. oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cook completely.
Makes 4 dozen.
NO-BAKE COOKIES
INGREDIENTS “A”:
2 cups white sugar
1 stick butter, cut in slices
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 small can carnation canned milk
dash of salt
12 large-size marshmallows
INGREDIENTS “B”:
1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
1 cup peanut butter (smooth)
3/4 to 1 cup shredded coconut
2-3/4 to 3 cups quick oats
*note: if using artifical vanilla flavoring,
use 2 teaspoons.
Combine Ingredients “A” in a large saucepan. Bring it to a rolling boil, very slowly, stirring occasionally. Allow to boil for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Have Ingredients “B” ready to add immediately after above ingredients have boiled. Add in order listed, stirring well after each ingredient is added.
Stir well and drop on wax paper in whatever size cookie you desire. Let cool and become hard.
JeansandTs@hotmail.com
Super Cheesy Biscuits
3 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cup Carnation Evaporated Milk
8 oz finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 450.
Mix flour & baking soda together in bowl
Add evaporated milk & melted flour
Stir thoroughly
Add cheese & stir again
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet & cook approximately 10 minutes until golden brown.
Very yummy with potato soup.
I found this and think it would be great with morning coffee or as a snack.
Ingredients
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chocolate-covered raisins (such as Raisinets)
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Beat the first 3 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer 4 minutes or until well-blended. Add egg, and beat well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until well-blended. Stir in chocolate-covered raisins.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 7 times. Shape dough into a 12-inch-long roll. Place roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; flatten to 3/4-inch thickness.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Remove roll from baking sheet; cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Cut roll diagonally into 20 (1/2-inch) slices. Place, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325°. Bake 10 minutes; turn biscotti over, and bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire rack
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