Easter Basket Cookies

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 bottle (2.25 oz) pink and blue colored sugar 1 container (12 oz) fluffy white frosting 2 cups flaked coconut Food colors Assorted jelly beans Pipe cleaners 1/4-inch pastel ribbon 1 -Heat oven to 350° F. Grease or spray 24 miniature muffin cups. In medium bowl, stir or knead cookie dough and flour until well blended. 2 -Roll dough into 24 (1 1/4-inch) balls; roll in colored sugar. Press 1 ball into bottom and up side of each muffin cup. 3 -Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until set and edges are light golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove to cooling rack. 4 -Add coconut to a 1-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add 3 to 4 drops food color and shake until well blended. It may be necessary to add 1 to 2 teaspoons water to help disperse the color evenly or additional food color until desired color is reached. 5- Frost top of each cookie. Decorate with colored coconut and jelly beans. Tie a small ribbon bow on 5-inch piece of pipe cleaner; insert into each basket for handle.

No Bake Cookies AKA Poo Cookies at our house

1 Stick butter 2 C sugar 1/2 C cocoa 1/2 C milk or coconut milk 3 C quick cooking oats 1/2 C peanut butter 1/2 C flaked coconut 1 tsp. vanilla or coconut rum In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, cocoa and milk or coconut milk. Heat until boiling, then boil for 1 minute ( a total of about 6 minutes or until the mixture reaches about 238 deg. on a candy thermometer.) Remove pan from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper and let stand in a cool, dry place until set.

Crock-pot Sweet and Sour Chicken

4 tablespoons butter, melted 3/4 c. ketchup 1/2 c. white vinegar 3/4 c. brown sugar 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced salt and pepper, to taste dash red pepper flakes or ground cayenne pepper 1 1/2 c. chicken broth 6 boneless chicken breast halves, skin removed 1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained Preparation: Wash chicken; pat dry. Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine melted butter, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, salt and pepper, hot pepper, chicken broth, (I also added a shake or two of ground ginger); pour over chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 7 hours, until chicken is tender but still moist. Add pineapple and cook for 20 minutes longer. Serves 6.

Peanut Butter Bars

These are just like the ones we had for school lunch!

3/4 C Peanut Butter
3/4 C Sugar
3/4 C Brown Sugar
1 1/2 C Quick Oats
1 Egg
1 1/2 C Flour
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla


Cream butter and egg then add remaining ingredients and press into greased pan. Bake 20 min. @ 350.

Frosting:
2 C Powdered Sugar
3 Tbs. Peanut Butter
3 Tbs. Cocoa

Mix ingredients with enough milk to make creamy.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It is that time of year again. Here is an easy recipe for roasting up those seeds:

	One medium-sized pumpkin
	Salt
	Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.