Share Your EASIEST Apps/desserts/snacks

gacamole
I keep it kid friendly and add cumin, garlic powder, lemon and salt. For adults I might add chopped jalapenio, onion, and tomato.

Crock pot lil' smokies in bbq sauce

Mini quiches (in froz section of your groc store. Just bake.)

sliced cheese, salami, cracker, mini sliced bread, honey mustard tray
(don't buy it pre-made. put together yourself. Easy & cheaper.)

Brownie Bites (pre-made in your bakery section)

Mini taquitos. (froz section). Serve w/guacamole & salsa.

fruit and cheese kabobs!

Bachelor pie (other names but same concept; a mock key lime pie)

1 readymade graham cracker pie crust
1 tub of Cool Whip, thawed
1 small frozen can of limeade, thawed
1 small can of sweetened condensed milk

Combine Cool Whip, limeade and milk. Pour into pie shell. Freeze until set. Serve.

Homemade Pizza Rolls
Pillsbury pizza crust (NOT thin crust!). Lay it out flat, layer pepperoni and mozzarella out on tip. Use a pizza cutter, cut in strips about 2 inches wide, length of the mozzarella slices. (To make it REALLY easy, buy your pepperoni and mozzarella from the deli - have them slice it on a number 1 - it's easier to roll when it's thin.) Roll it up, bake according to instructions on the package. Done. (Grease the cookie sheet - some cheese will melt out, and if you grease the sheet, it won't stick.) You can do pepperoni or plain cheese, or if you are feeling ambitious, you can fry up some sausage - put the sausage on sparingly; it's hard to roll when it's too thick. My family doesn't like the pizza veggies, but onions and green pepper sounds yummy in there, too. Serve with a jar of plain spaghetti sauce, and there you go.

Easiest appetizers -
chips and salsa (open a bag of chips and a jar of salsa).
carrots and hummus (open a bag of baby carrots and a tub of salsa)

Slightly harder apps-
bruschetta- (slice and toast french bread cut on the bias, top with marinara pulsed in the blender with roasted red peppers olive oil and capers).
pretzels and chips and french onion dip- (the onion dip requires mixing a pack of french onion soup mix in a tub of sour cream and or plain yogurt).
stuffed celery boats- cut celery sticks into roughly 2 bite lengths, schmear a mix of honey cream cheese and pimentoes in the center of the boat.

Slightly harder app (but still for the non cooks in the house)
a cheese ball - mix soft cheese in the blender, add your choice or all of the following, nuts, herbs, olives, sundried tomatoes, capers, garlic, scallions- serve with crudite, or hard crackers.
caprese salad- lay alternating slices of mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil on a platter. drizzle with salt, pepper, balsamic and olive oil, serve with crusty bread.
proscutto and melon- wrap wedges of canteloupe, or honeydew with proscutto, spear with a cocktail toothpick.

Happy "cooking"
F. B.

A dessert -

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/blueberry-cheese-roll...

Seriously for quick and easy, check out the Kraft web site... those folks are kings and queens of quick and easy!

If you're willing to let the grocery store do some of the work for you, buy raw veggies already washed & cut up, and put them on your own platter - green beans, cucumber wedges, grape tomatoes, slices of green & red peppers, zucchini or yellow squash, baby carrots, celery, and anything else that's fresh is a good choice. For something different, cut up a fennel bulb and peel/slice jicama. For dip, use store-made hummus.

An easy hot dip is artichoke dip - one can of artichokes, drained (regular, not marinated!), 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of good mayonnaise. Throw everything in the food processor or blender, then put in a crock and top with pepper or seasoned pepper. Then bake for 30-35 minutes at 325. Serve hot with crackers, slices of French bread or those little party rye/party pumpernickel breads.

Easy make-ahead dessert: 7 layer bars. Decadent and people think you slaved! Crumble one waxed paper packet of graham crackers (usually 2 or 3 of these per box of crackers). Melt 1 stick of butter in the bottom of a 9x12 pan and mix in the graham cracker crumbs, pressing the moist crumbs into a crust with the back of a fork. Top this with the following layers: 9 oz chocolate chips, 9 oz of peanut butter or butterscotch chips, 1 cup of flaked coconut, 1 cup chopped walnuts, and then pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk over the whole thing. Bake 30-40 minutes at 325 until coconut is lightly browned and milk is starting to brown at the edges - don't let it burn. Chill and cut into bars. You can vary the chips (use more chocolate than PB, for example), use pecans instead of walnuts, use low fat condensed milk instead of regular, use margarine instead of butter. Put the cut bars on a pretty platter and they look great. This can be made ahead and refrigerated or even frozen.

Another dessert uses chunks of pound cake or lemon cake, cut in cubs, and put in dessert dishes or even a big serving dish, with fresh fruit mixed in (berries are really pretty, so is cut up kiwi). Use a glass dish, ideally something long and flat, so the guests can see the colors throughout.

My fav no-cook dessert is a cheesecake: oreo crumbs and 1/4 cup butter pressed into spring form pan. Then cream 2 pkgs cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup peanut butter and 1 cup cool whip until smooth. Fold in 3 chopped bars of your fav chocolate (we use reece pb cups) and pour into pan. Let set over night. It's rich and so so good!

For appies, I like hummus and tzaziki with veggies and crackers to dip - easy and healthy.

nutella fruit dip

mix 1/2 c. of nutella with 1 c. of plain yogurt. Stir.
Serve with fruit, graham crackers, pretzels etc for dipping.

It's fruit season. You could bring a beautiful, healthy fruit plate.

Get one of those chips and dip plates with a well in the middle at the dollarstore or just use a big dinner plate with a small bowl in the middle.
Melons - You can use a melon baller or just cut into cubes.
Strawberries
Grapes
You can buy fruit dip or make your own so much cheaper. Use vanilla yogurt and mix in a little honey. Put that in the bowl or well. Put the fruit all around it and leave a shot glass full of toothpicks.

If you wanna blow minds, you could hollow out a half cantelope to fill with dip and turn the other half over. Use skewers to make fruit kebabs and stick them in the turned over cantelope half.

Go to Costco/Sam's Club & buy a bag of frozen meatballs. Throw them in a crock pot with some spaghetti sauce & heat. Bring a slotted spoon & some toothpicks for easy serving.

ETA: Ah, if you want to make it, I LOVE FangedBunny's idea for the Caprese salad. YUMMMMMMMMMMY!

Access to a freezer? Ice cream with chocolate chips and almonds on it. So simple, yet so delicious!

Another option - a crumble. Perfect summer dessert and SO easy. Fresh fruit (all combos) and sprinkle oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon on them and bake. See Cooking Light website for exact proportions and time in oven.

Super easy but looks really impressive- Palmiers! Buy frozen puff pastry. Unroll the sheet. Spread a topping (see below) in two stripes the long way down the pastry. Start at one edge, roll towards the middle. Start at the other edge, roll towards the middle. Brush a little waterr between the two rolled halves, so they stick. Slice the double roll and place the resulting heart shapes on a cookie sheet. Bake according to puff pastry directions, usually somewhere around 375 for 10 minutes. I have done this with pesto, sundried tomato or olive tapenade for savory or raspberry jam or nutella for sweet. They look like little French pastries and take about 20 minutes total to make!