Lemon Cream Cookies

Lemon is such a fresh spring-y flavor!  I just love it :)  The cookies are super soft with amazing flavor thanks to the lemon zest.  Stephanie, who I got the recipe from, called them 'melt in your mouth'.  They really are wonderful!  And yeah, since I made them you know they are easy too :) 

Lemon Cream Cookies  Source: Stephanie's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 box lemon cake mix

1 egg

zest & juice from 1 large lemon

18 oz cool whip, softened

powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Zest the lemon, then squeeze the juice.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest.  The batter may be crumbly.

3. Fold in the cool whip.  The batter will become very sticky.  It's okay, put it in the refrigerator for about an hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F.

5. Scoop the batter to the desired size and roll in powdered sugar.

6. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I didn't use parchment paper).

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden.

This post linked to Sweets for a Saturday at Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Cream Cheese Spaghetti Sauce

I'm kinda weird about cream cheese.  Sometimes I really like it and other times I don't care for it much at all.  I like bagels with cream cheese on them,  but am not much of a cheesecake fan.  Sitting here now I can't think of a good explanation as to why I am a picky cream cheese eater.  But what I do know is that this Cream Cheese Spaghetti Sauce is excellent!  I saw this idea in a Kraft magazine years ago and have been making it ever since.  Really all you do is add 4 oz. of cream cheese to your favorite spaghetti sauce. And ta-da, that's it!  The result is a delicious creamy toned down tomato sauce perfect for your favorite pasta.  I've included what I put in my spaghetti sauce, but do what you like :)

Cream Cheese Spaghetti Sauce  Source: Kraft Magazine

Ingredients:

1 jar spaghetti sauce (I use the Aldi brand)

1 lb Italian Sausage (I use Bob Evans, in my opinion this is the absolute best!)

1 can mushrooms

1/3 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped green pepper

4 oz cream cheese, softened

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, brown the Italian Sausage.   Drain and discard excess oil.

2. Over low heat, stir in spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, onion and green pepper.

3. Once the sauce is warm add the cream cheese and stir until melted. 

4. Heat sauce to desire temperature and serve over pasta.