Jon's Cocoa CocoNut Cereal Bars

Our friends Jeff & Whitney invite us up to their place on Lake Pymatuning every summer. Whitney and I try to put together a weekend menu and do most of the prep before we head up to the lake.

When I was thinking it over in my head, I realized that there wasn't a chocolate dessert. I don't really care for chocolate, but pretty much everyone else loves it.

Jon made this recipe up standing in the kitchen as I was headed out the door to pick up everything I needed for my share of the cooking.

He's the brains in this operation (ummm recipe) I'm the muscle (I did the work!)



Jon's Cocoa CocoNut Cereal Bars
1 box Cocoa Pebbles (the small box I think it's 13oz)
1 bag mini-marshmallows
1/4 C butter
9 little bags (1.5oz) Coconut M&Ms (about 2 cups)

Melt the butter in a big pot. Add marshmallows and stir until coated. Cook over medium low heat, stirring until all marshmallows are melted. Pour in Cocoa Pebbles and still until well coated in marshmallow. Fold in Coconut M&Ms. Pour into a parchment paper lined or non-stick 13x9 pan. Press firmly. Cool. Cut. Enjoy!

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I started by opening all those bags of Coconut M&Ms.


Then it's your basic cereal bar recipe!

Melt the butter...


Add the marshmallows...


Stir...


Until melty...


Add cereal...


Stir some more...


Add M&Ms...


Fold them in...


I try to do that as gently as I can. I don't want to mush up the M&Ms since the marshmallow is still warm.

Press it into a 13x9 pan...


Cool... Cut... Enjoy!


If you like Chocolate and Coconut... you'll love these!

Three Bean Casserole aka Bean Shot

My friend Susie brought this to a potluck a long time ago and I had to have the recipe. She just called it "Three Bean Shit". Her title definitely doesn't describe it. So one day at work, she rattled off the recipe while I wrote it down. Tawny was just a toddler at the time, so I wrote the title like this...

Susie's Three Bean Sh*t

Well sometime in my kitchen, I got that paper wet and parts of it blurred, including the title.

I was making it when Tawny was probably in the 5th grade or so and she looked at the recipe. She said, "Bean Shot? That's a weird name." My asterisk had blurred to look kinda like an "o". She still calls it Bean Shot. I renamed it Three Bean Casserole for the blog because I try to get a G rating around here.

Without further adieu...



Susie's Three Bean Casserole aka Three Bean Shit aka Bean Shot
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. bacon chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 can (15oz) pork n beans
1 can (15oz) lima beans
1 can (15oz) kidney beans
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste.
(do not drain the juices from your cans)

Preheat oven to 350F
In a large skillet, cook ground beef, chopped bacon & onion. Drain.
Move meat mixture to a large baking dish along with all other ingredients.
Stir until well mixed.
Bake 45 minutes at 350F.
Enjoy!

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This is wicked easy and can totally be done ahead of time!

Chop your bacon and onions.


Toss it into a skillet with the ground beef, when cooked through, drain fat.


Add beans.

Add them juice and all.

Add remaining ingredients.


Mix well


Now bake at 350F for about 45 minutes. You could also just cook it in a dutch oven over a fire!



We served it up with some haluski, broccoli salad and grilled chicken!



This is wicked good! It's awesome at a BBQ or potluck... make it on gameday for tailgating or for the crowd at your house... It's beefy bacony baked beans... like baked beans on steroids!

Try this! You won't regret it!