Baked Apple and Spice Cake Trifle

What You'll Need:

1 box spice cake mix

1 1/4 cups cinnamon apple sauce (I like Musselman's)

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 can apple pie filling

1 tbsp butter

7 tsp cinnamon, divided

3 cups cold milk

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

1 envelope whipped topping mix

1 carton Cool Whip, thawed

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/ cup toffee bits, optional

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, applesauce, eggs, and oil; beat everything on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour the batter into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until done. Cool the cake on a wire rack. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cook the pie filling, butter, and 1 tsp cinnamon on medium-low heat until the butter is melted; stir well to combine. Let the apples cool. In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, pudding mix, topping mix, and the remaining cinnamon. Beat on high speed until thickened, about 5 minutes. Let the pudding stand for 5 minutes after that. Spread a third of the Cool Whip in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Cut the cake into cubes, and place half the cake cubes on top of the Cool Whip. Top that with half the apples, half the walnuts, and half the pudding. Repeat the layers, ending with the last third of the Cool Whip. Sprinkle the toffee bits on top. Cover the trifle and let it chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Everybody's Queso

Almost everyone has this queso recipe. Seriously. But apparently a few people don't, and they were at my open house this weekend and liked it. So here's the recipe (I didn't even get to eat any myself- by the time I was ready to eat, the slow cooker had been scraped clean of all cheesiness.)

What You'll Need:

1 2 lb loaf Velveeta

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 lb sausage, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup milk

How to Make It:

Cube the Velveeta and place it in a small slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker and turn the heat on high until the cheese is mostly melted. Add the tomatoes, sausage, and milk, and stir. Continue heating the queso, stirring occasionally, until everything is nicely combined. Then turn the heat to low.

Strawberry Fruit Dip

This stuff is so yummy, and it makes a lot!

What You'll Need:

1 container (8 oz) spreadable strawberry cream cheese

4 tbsp strawberry jam or preserves

1 carton Cool Whip, thawed

1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme

How to Make It:

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and preserves until well combined. Add the Cool Whip and marshmallow creme and beat on low until well combined. Cover the dip and refrigerate it until you're ready to eat it. Serve it with your favorite fresh fruit (I like it best with blueberries!)

"Elvis" Pie

I hear that Elvis liked peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Also bacon. This pie has peanut butter and bananas, and therefore, it was named for Elvis.

What You'll Need:

For the filling:

1 cup peanut butter

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 9-inch graham cracker crust

2 bananas, sliced

For the topping:

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

Chopped roasted peanuts

How to Make It:

In a medium bowl, cream the peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. In another bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form (it will almost be the consistency of Cool Whip.) Mix the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture with your mixture set on low, until everything is smoothly combined. Pour half of the filling into the pie crust, and smooth it out with a spatula. Layer the bananas on top. Pour the rest of the peanut butter filling over the bananas and spread it out with the spatula. Cover the pie and refrigerate at least an hour, or overnight. When you're ready to make the topping, beat the remaining cream and sugar with your mixer until soft peaks form. Spread the topping over the pie, and top with the chopped peanuts.

Sesame Noodles with Cucumber and Carrots

What You'll Need:

1 package thin spaghetti (or another stringy noodle, if you prefer)

1 cup orange juice (I prefer Simply Orange, which you can buy in small bottles if you're like me and don't drink OJ on a regular basis)

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp grated, peeled fresh ginger

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 10 oz bag shredded carrots

3 Kirby (or pickling) cucumbers, unpeeled and sliced into matchstick strips

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tbsp sesame seeds

How To Make It:

In a large pot, cook the spaghetti as the package directs. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, oil, ginger, sugar, and red pepper until blended as best you can (an immersion blender would work really well for this, but a whisk will work just fine.) Set the sauce aside. Place the carrots in a colander, and drain the spaghetti over the carrots. Place the pasta and carrots in a large serving bowl and add the cucumbers, green onions, and sauce. Toss everything to combine well. Sprinkle the pasta with sesame seeds, and serve!

Fail-Proof Chicken

You literally cannot screw up this chicken. Seriously. It's that easy.

What You'll Need:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 packet dry Italian dressing mix

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

How To Make It:

Place the chicken in your slow cooker, and sprinkle it with the dressing mix. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese and soup. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken with a fork (it'll be really tender!) and serve over rice or noodles. Or, do what I did: I served mine over leftover breakfast biscuits. So yummy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

What You'll Need:

1 store-bought graham cracker crust, extra large, or 2 regular-sized graham cracker crusts*

3 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

Homemade whipped cream and extra cinnamon for dusting, if you fancy

How To Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, and beat until everything is combined and there are no lumps of pumpkin in the batter. Pour the filling into the crust(s), and bake for 60-70 minutes until done. A cheesecake is done when the center still shimmers a bit when you wiggle the pan. The edges puff up a bit as well. If it starts to crack, it's a little overdone, but still edible! You're going to slice it up anyway, right? Once the cheesecake cools to room temperature, stick it in the fridge until it's cooled all the way and you're ready to eat it.

*This recipe makes quite a bit of cheesecake batter- I still had a healthy amount left over, even when I used the extra-large pie crust. If you use 2 regular sized crusts, your cheesecakes will be a bit more shallow than normal, but delicious nonetheless. You may want to lessen the cooking time by 10 minutes or so.