Bayou Brownies

This recipe (or something very similar) is floating around the Internet masquerading under like five different names.  I picked the Bayou Brownie name mostly because I'm a fan of alliteration.

These brownies don't actually contain any chocolate.  But, don't worry, they won't disappoint!  I think they're called "brownies" merely because of the texture.  In fact, you could probably call these Bayou Blondies, but then there would be six names for a single dessert, and six names would be totally over the top.

Anyway, these brownies are ridiculously easy to make.  They do bake at a low temperature for a relatively long period of time, but very little is required to get them in the oven.  And, you probably have all of the ingredients hanging around in your kitchen, so you might as well make them anyway.  These were so good that I made them and took them to work twice in the same week.  Make these.  You'll be happy you did.

Source: kevin {&} Amanda

Ingredients:
1 Box Moist Yellow Cake Mix
3 Eggs
8 Oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Butter, melted
4 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray. 

2.  Combine the cake mix (only the powdered cake mix -- do not prepare), melted butter, and one egg. 

3. Press the cake mix into the bottom of the pan. 

4. Mix the cream cheese, 2 eggs, and powdered sugar until it is smooth. 

5. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the cake mix crust. 

6.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is a very light golden brown. 

7.  Allow to cool completely before cutting. 

Enjoy!!

Healthy Italian Wonderpot

This recipe is a quick, super easy meal that is healthy and affordable.  I was leery of the recipe before making it because it seemed too healthy to actually taste good.  There was no reason to be leery -- this was delicious!  This is the first time I cooked with turkey sausage.  I have always thought healthy = lack of flavor.  While the turkey sausage did not have as much flavor as pork sausage, it was still very tasty and was a nice addition to the dish.  Also, you can see two different types of pasta noodles in the picture -- I had less fettuccine at home than I thought, so I added some angel hair pasta to make up the difference.  Next time I make this dish, I will make it with whole wheat pasta to make it even healthier. 

Adapted from: Budget Bytes


What you need:
1 lb Ground Turkey Sausage
4 cups Chicken Broth
2 tbsp Olive Oil
12 oz Fettuccine Noodles, broken in half 
8 oz Frozen Chopped Spinach
28 oz Diced Tomatoes (undrained)
1 Medium Onion, sliced
4 Cloves Garlic, sliced
1/2 tbsp Dried Basil
1/2 tbsp Dried Oregano
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Peper
Feta Cheese for topping

What you do:

1.  Brown the Turkey Sausage.  Set aside. 

2.  Place the Chicken Broth, Fettuccine, Canned Tomatoes, Olive Oil, Frozen Spinach, Sliced Onion, Sliced Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Red Pepper Flakes, and Crushed Red Pepper in a large pot.  Make sure everything is submerged under the liquid and place a lid on top of the pot.

3.  Bring the contents of the pot to boil on high heat.  Remove lid and reduce heat to medium.  Allow the pot to boil for 8 minutes.  Add turkey sausage.  Continue boiling for 2-7 more minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.  Stir the pot about once every 3 minutes while it is cooking.

4.  Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top.  

Oven Roasted Sausage and Vegetables

We had a cold front come through that made it feel like Fall around here for a few days.  I've had this recipe pinned for a while and the cool weather inspired me to give it a shot.  It's a simple recipe that is easy to make, easy to clean up, and tastes great!  The picture doesn't do it justice, but all of the different colors from all of the vegetables made it very pretty to look at well.  If you use turkey or chicken sausage, it would be incredible healthy.  This is also one of those rare recipes that even tastes really good the next day.  Maybe even better than when I originally made it.  Which was good, because as I made it, it made two 9x13 pans of food.  You might want to cut the recipe down . . . 

I served mine this with corn casserole and it was a nice pairing.  I was a bit timid about the banana peppers as I was afraid they would make the dish too spicy, but it really turned out fairly mild and the banana peppers were not at all overwhelming.

Adapted From:  Lilasapron

What you need:
28 oz precooked Sausage (I used polish sausage)
2 Lbs New Potatoes
1 Small Jar Sliced Banana Peppers, drained
1-2 Bell Peppers (I used one green and one orange)
1 Large Onion (I used white)
8 oz Mushrooms
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper and Other Seasonings to taste

What you do:
1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Slice the sausage, peppers, potatoes, onion, and mushrooms and toss them into a large bowl. 

3. Drizzle the sausage and veggies with olive oil.  Toss until the sausage and veggies are evenly coated in olive oil. 

4.  Add salt, pepper and other seasonings and toss again until the seasonings are evenly distributed.  I added some garlic powder and Lawry's Seasoned Salt.

5.  Place the peppers and vegetables in a 9x13 baking pan (or two, depending on how much you've made).  Cover the pans with foil and bake for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking for 5-10 more minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked. 

Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

   

  Right after the holidays, I picked up a box of this cupcake mix on clearance.  When I eventually made them, I wasn't all that impressed.  They didn't really remind me of hot chocolate at all.  It was basically a chocolate cupcake with a marshmallow glaze.  I know, I know -- I can't expect perfect from a boxed mix.  Of course, I considered this a challenge, though, and decided I had to come up with my own hot chocolate cupcake recipe.  The result was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.  The cupcakes really taste just like a mug of hot chocolate and the marshmallow frosting is light and fluffy and dreamy.

     I usually take all the food that you see on here to work to be eaten, but I don't usually toot my own horn.  I just set it out and let it be eaten.  But let me tell you, when I made these and took them to work, I tooted my horn all over the whole building.  Seriously. I sent out e-mail blasts telling everyone how amazing my cupcakes were.  And they came.  And they ate them.  And they all agreed.  So, try them.  They're delicious.  

What you need for the cupcakes:
1 Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Cup Sour Cream
4 Eggs
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Water
1 Box of Chocolate Pudding Mix 
12 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
6 Individual Hot Chocolate Packets

What to do for the cupcakes:
1.  Preheat the oven according to the directions on the box of the chocolate cake mix. 

2.  Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. 

3.  Put everything in a bowl and mix well. 

4.  Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake according to the directions on the box of the cake mix. 

What you need for the icing:
1 stick Butter, softened
1 jar Marshmallow Fluff (7 oz)
2 cups Confectioners Sugar
A Pinch of Salt 
1 tsp Vanilla 


Here's what you do to make the icing:
1.  Beat butter on high speed until light and fluffy. 

2.  Add marshmallow fluff and continue to beat until incorporated. 

3.  Add sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat on high for 5-6 minutes, scraping down the bowl.

I piped the marshmallow frosting on top of the cupcakes to make them pretty.  I also found that if you toss these in the microwave for about 15 seconds, they're even more delicious when they're just a little warm.

Enjoy! 

Crock-Pot Gumbo

I had homemade gumbo once a few years back and fell in love with it.  I've bought store-made gumbo since then and it just hasn't quite stood up.  So, I decided to give making gumbo a shot myself.  I'm not sure why, but I was very intimidated by the idea, thinking it was surely going to be quite complicated.  Turns out, it wasn't.  And, for bonus points, I made mine in my crock-pot so it's totally a set it and forget it gumbo which makes it doubly easy. 

I will warn you, though, that this recipe is quite spicy.  If you are shy about spicy food, I suggest you cut down the cayenne pepper a bit.  If it's too dull for you in the end, toss in a bit more cayenne pepper to spice it up.  I served my gumbo with homemade honey corn bread, which was a bit sweet and complimented the spicy gumbo very well.  Yum!

Adapted from: Cats and Casseroles

What you need:

1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

14 oz Andouille Sausage

28 oz Can of Diced Tomatoes (undrained)

1 Large Onion

1 Large Green Bell Pepper

1 Cup Chopped Celery

2-3 Cups of Chicken Broth

2 Tsp Dried Oregano

2 Tsp Dried Parsley

2+ Tsp Cajun Seasoning

2+ Tsp Cumin

1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 Chicken Bullion Cubes

A Touch of Kosher Salt

1 Cup Cooked White Rice

What you do:

1.  Chop the onion, bell pepper and celery into large chunks.  Place in crock-pot.

2.  Add the tomatoes, 1 cup of chicken broth, oregano, parsley, 2 tsp Cajun seasoning, 2 tsp cumin, cayenne pepper, and chicken bullion cubes to the crock pot. 

3.  Season both sides of your chicken as you would like.  I used a bit of kosher salt, Cajun seasoning, and cumin.  Wrap the chicken in foil.  Place the foil-wrapped chicken on top of everything that is in the crock-pot. 

4.  Put the lid on your crock-pot and cook for 3-4 hours on low heat or 7-8 hours on high heat.  Cooking time will vary depending on your crock-pot. 

5.  After the cooking time has elapsed, remove the foil-wrapped chicken from the crock-pot.  USE TONGS!  It's hot in there, folks. 

6.  Set the chicken to the side to cool for a couple of minutes.  Meanwhile, add an additional 1-2 cups of chicken broth to the crock-pot if you would like for your gumbo to have more liquid. 

7.  Thinly slice the sausage and add it to the crock-pot. 

8.  Unwrap the chicken and shred it using a fork and knife.  Add it to the crock-pot. 

9.  Let the contents of the crock-pot continue to cook while you make the white rice according to the instructions on the package.  

10.  Serve the gumbo by putting some gumbo in a bowl and then adding a bit of rice to each serving. 

Enjoy!

**Tip**  If you add the white rice to the gumbo, the rice will absorb a lot of the liquid if you store leftovers.  That's why I tell you to make it separately and add a bit as you serve it.  Be sure to store the rice separately as well and your gumbo will remain moist. 

**Tip** Cooking the chicken in foil on top of the rest of the gumbo prevents the meat from deteriorating and become tough or dry.  A lot of people dislike meat cooked in a crock-pot for those reasons.  Trust me on this one -- cook the chicken in foil and you'll have super tender and delicious chicken for your gumbo. 

Healthy Banana Muffins

If you've paid any attention to my blog at all, you've probably figured out that healthy really isn't my thing.  Delicious is my thing.  Unfortunately, the two often don't go hand-in-hand.  However, that doesn't stop my from trying healthy recipes that look or sound good.  The majority of the time, they're a flop and they never make it here.  But, every once in a while, I stumble upon a special recipe that is both healthy and delicious.  This, my friends, is one of those.  

These banana muffins contain no flour and no oil or butter.  I even reduced the amount of sugar from the original recipe and substituted honey instead.  These muffins are really dense, so it doesn't take a lot to fill you up.  They're also really moist.  And, I think you could really change the recipe up a lot by adding in different fruits as they are in season.  

Adapted from: Chase and Em

What you need:
2 1/2 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
1 Cup Plain Low Fat Greek Yogurt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Honey
1 1/5 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Ripe Bananas
2 Tsp Cinnamon 

What you do:
1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

2.  Line your muffin tins with muffin liners. 

3.  Place the quick cooking oats into your blender or food processor.  Blend until the oats are pulverized. 

4.  Place the rest of the ingredients into the blender with the oats and blend until fully mixed. (I may have a super weak blender, but this took quite a while.  I'd have to blend and then stir up and blend and stir up.  It wasn't difficult, but it wasn't accomplished all at once either). 

5.  Fill each cupcake liner until it's about 2/3 full and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

I really like making lasagna from scratch, but it's so time consuming I rarely actually get to do it.  It finally got cold around here and it looks like it's going to stay that way, so I decided some soup was in order.  I've had this recipe pinned on Pinterest for quite a while now, so I decided to give it a go.  I was suspect though -- I thought that there was no way a soup could actually taste like lasagna.   I was wrong.  It really does taste like lasagna.  Don't believe me?  Give it a try.  You'll be surprise.  Bonus --  it is about a million times easier and faster to make than making a lasagna from scratch. 

Slightly adapted from: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

What you need to make the soup:
1 1/2 Pounds Sausage 
1 Medium Yellow Onion, chopped
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 Tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper
6 Oz Tomato Paste
28 Oz Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (undrained)
6 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Tbsp Dried Basil
1/2 Pound Rigatoni Noodles
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese (for garnishing)

What you do to make the soup:
1.  In a large pot, cook the sausage for about 5 minutes on medium heat, breaking it up as you cook. 

2.  Add the onions to the sausage and continue cooking (stirring occasionally)  for about 5 minutes, or until the sausage is completely cooked.  Drain excess grease if necessary. 

3.  Add the garlic powder, oregano, red pepper, and tomato paste.  Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

4.  Add the fire roasted diced tomatoes (with the juices), chicken broth, and basil. 

5.  Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

6.  While the soup is boiling/simmering, cook the rigatoni noodles according to direction and make the ricotta cheese mixture (below).  Drain and fully rinse the noodles.


What you need to make the ricotta cheese mixture:
1. 1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
2. 1/4 Cup shredded Asiago Cheese
3. 1/4 Cup shredded Romano Cheese
4. 1/4 Tsp Salt
5. 1/8 Tsp Black Pepper
6. 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Basil

What you do to make the ricotta cheese mixture:
1. Mix everything together. (Really. That's it.)


To Serve:

Place a couple of spoonfuls of rigatoni noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Top the noodles with a couple of ladlefuls of lasagna soup. Garnish with shredded mozzarella. Add a dollop of the ricotta cheese mixture on the very top. Serve immediately.

This is goes great with a crunchy piece of garlic bread.




Enjoy!

Pepperoni Roll-Ups

My friend Amber bought a house earlier this year.  She had a housewarming party, like, a month later.  I bought a house last year.  I haven't had my housewarming party yet.  When I do have it, it will be more than a year later.  But, whatever.  I'm not bitter.  At all. 

Amber was nice enough to let me bring lots of food to her housewarming party.  That meant that I got to try lots of new recipes. This one was a big hit!  Everybody loves pepperoni and melted cheese.  Toss in a crisp, buttery crescent roll . . . Perfect!  Plus, these get bonus points for being really easy to make. 

Source:  The Girl Who Ate Everything

What you need:
2 packages refrigerated Crescent Roll dough, garlic flavored
8 Cheese Sticks, halved
48-64 pieces of Pepperoni
Marinara Sauce and Ranch Dressing for dipping

What you do:
1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
2.  Place 3 to 4 pepperoni pieces on the bottom of the triangle of each 
     crescent roll. 
3.  Place one cheese stick half on top of the pepperoni on each 
     crescent roll. 
4.  Roll up each crescent roll and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. 
5.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crescent rolls are cooked 
     thoroughly (until they are golden brown).
6.  You can put out small bowls of marinara sauce and ranch dressing 
     for dipping if you would like. 

Enjoy!

Copy Cat Recipe: Mini Warm Delights

I've eyed these Mini Warm Delights in the grocery store for a looooong time, but always refused to buy them because you have to pay about $3.00 for two teeeeeny tiny little single serving cakes.  I also thought that if I wanted a chocolate cake that bad, I'd just whip up an entire cake.  Well, in a moment of weakness, I finally bought them a few weeks ago.  I thought they were good, but still didn't think they were worth $1.50 each.  However, I was quite consumed with the idea of making myself a delicious little cake in just a couple of minutes. So, I decided I'd try to copy the recipe. 


I searched the Internet far and wide and found a lot of different recipes, but none were really all that appealing to me.  So, I experimented with my own recipe.  It turned out fabulous!  Much better than I ever could have expected.  And, I did a little taste test with my man friend and we both determined that my little recipe beats the Mini Warm Delights!  My cakes are more moist and more dense than the Mini Warm Delights.  I also think mine have a stronger chocolate flavor.  Take that Betty Crocker! ;-)  


I will warn you, the recipe below makes massive quantities.  But, you have options.  You can  make the recipe as directed below and store your mix in Tupperware at home.  I've even placed individual servings into small sandwich baggies and taken them to work so that whenever I need chocolate, it's there for me.  Or you can just cut the recipe down and have less on hand -- if you do so, just make sure you maintain the chocolate cake mix to brownie mix ratio (1:2). 


What you need for the cakes:
1 Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Box of Instant Chocolate Pudding
2 Boxes of Chocolate Brownie Mix
Miniature Chocolate Chips
Water


What you do to make the mix:
1.  Pour the chocolate cake mix and instant pudding mix into one bowl.  Stir well to combine the two powders.
  
2.  Add the two boxes of brownie mix.  Stir well. 


THAT'S IT!


When you want to make yourself a little cake, put 1/4 cup of the mixture and a teaspoon or two of miniature chocolate chips into a ramekin dish.  Add 7 Tsps (or 2 Tblsps + 1 Tsp) of water.  Stir well with a fork.  Microwave for 30-45 seconds. Then enjoy!


I put 1/4 cup of the mixture + some miniature chocolate chips into some baggies and took those, a ramekin, and a teaspoon to work.  So, when I need a little pick-me-up, it's there -- more delicious than the Mini Warm Delights, less expensive, and just as convenient!


Also, if you add about 1 Tsp of  Fudge Ice Cream Topping (like this, not like Hersey's Syrup) to the center of the ramekin before you microwave, you end up with a mini lava cake.  See the gooey fudge there:

Experiment away with toppings for these little cakes!  We've added whipped topping and ice cream and loved both! 


Enjoy!

Heath Bar Cake

My mom has this very sweet friend at her work named Karen.  Karen is a great cook and has a heart of gold.  One year for Christmas she made me a homemade recipe book with some of her family recipes.  It is still my only recipe book.  Right before Easter my mom told me about this great cake that Karen had brought in to work and asked me to make it for Easter.  This cake is delicious and ridiculously easy.  I made mine the night before Easter and let it sit overnight, which I think made it even more moist and delicious. 


Here's what you'll need:
1 Chocolate Cake Mix and the additional ingredients called for on the box
1 Can Condensed Milk
1 Tub of Cool Whip
1 Jar of Caramel Sundae Sauce
1 1/2 King Size Heath Bars


Here's what you do:
1.  Make the chocolate cake according to the box instructions. 


2.  Let the cake cool slightly (about 7 minutes).  Take the handle end of a wooden spoon (or something of similar size) and poke holes throughout the cake.  I made mine pretty uniform in a grid pattern. 


3.  Pour the caramel sundae sauce and condensed milk over the entire cake, trying to distribute evenly. 


4.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. 


5.  While the cake is in the refrigerator, crush the heath bars.  (I put mine in a Ziploc baggie and used my wooden spoon to break up the bars). 


6.  After the cake has chilled for at least one hour, "frost" the cake with cool whip. 


7.  Garnish the cake with the Heath Bar pieces.  I suggest waiting until right before serving to garnish. 


Enjoy!

Easter S'Mores Jars

I found this absolutely adorable idea on Pinterest and I COULD. NOT. RESIST. These jars are cute as a button!  And, the person you give them to gets to add a few ingredients and make them into S'mores Bars.  Perfect!  The jars are simple to assemble and the bars are easy for the recipient to make.  This is a perfect Easter Gift for the little people in your lives, but some adult supervision will be required to make the S'mores Bars.  My mom and I made a  whole batch of these jars to give to the kids in our family. 


Adapted from: Creative Holiday Gift Ideas


Here's what you need to make 1 jar:
1 One Quart Mason Jar
23 Hersey Kisses
8 Peeps
1/2 of a sleeve of Graham Crackers, crushed
1/4 cup of Brown Sugar


Here's what you do to assemble the jar:
1.  Clean the jar. 
2.  Put the crushed Graham Crackers in a baggie.  Add the Brown Sugar.  Set aside.
3.  Put the Hersey Kisses in the bottom of the jar. 
4.  Put the Peeps in the jar, with their faces facing out (so you can see their faces from the outside).  We could only fit 7 around the perimeter of the jar, so we stuck the 8th one inside the "circle" of Peeps.  
5.  Put the baggie of Graham Crackers and Brown sugar inside the jar above peeps. 
6.  Put the lid on the mason jar. 
7.  Create a recipe card with the instructions listed below.  Attach the recipe card to the jar with a piece of festive ribbon.  Ta Da!  You're done!


For the recipe card:
1.  Remove the contents of the jar and put on the kitchen counter. 
2.  Unwrap and cut Hersey Kisses into halves or quarters.  Put in a medium sized mixing bowl. 
3.  Cut (or tear) the Peeps into pieces.  Add to the mixing bowl. 
4.  Add the contents of the baggie to the mixing bowl. 
5.  Add 1 tsp of Vanilla to the mixing bowl. 
6.  Add 1/4 cup of melted Butter to the mixing bowl. 
7.  Stir the contents of the mixing bowl well. 
8.  Pour the contents of the mixing bowl into a small, well-greased baking dish. 
9.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 


Enjoy!  Happy Easter!!

Double Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes

See that right there?  That's the most amazing mistake ever.  Seriously.  I decided to try to make this.  Except I didn't really read very closely and I accidentally bought the wrong ingredients.  And, I love cupcakes, so I made them in cupcake form, of course.


I was making these for one of my book club meetings.  Except I ran out of time to make them in advance and had to make them after I got home from teaching the night before our meeting.  So, I got home around 9:30 pm and quickly threw together my version of this cupcake.  But I didn't want to make a whole batch of my version and have them be terrible, because I had no time to make something delicious if they bombed.  So, I made one cupcake and put it in the oven, thinking if it came out terrible, I could try to save the rest of the batter.  Then I heated up my dinner and sat on the kitchen floor in front of my oven and watched my single cupcake bake.  It was kinda like watching grass grow, except way more exciting.  And, the end result was much more rewarding, I think!


See how the center of the cupcakes are darker than the outside?  That's because the center is filled full of delicious moist fudge.  And see how the tops look all sticky and gooey?  They are.  In the most delicious way possible, too.  I thought the marshmallow would have been over the top with all the chocolate, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  Marshmallow + Chocolate = LOVE.  


These cupcakes must be eaten warm. (See the italics PLUS the underline??? I'm not kidding.)   I took leftovers to work and left step by step instructions requiring those eating them to heat them in the microwave before eating.


The marshmallow melts into the cupcake, which gets pretty messy.  I recommend eating with a fork. 


Source:  Confessions of a Cookbook Queen 


Here's what you need:
1 Box Devils Food Cake Mix and the eggs, oil and water called for on the box
1 Jar Hard Shell Chocolate Ice Cream Topping (like this)
1 7oz jar Marshmallow Fluff


Here's what you do:


1.  Prepare and bake cupcakes according to directions on the box. 


2.  As soon as the cupcakes are baked, pull them out of the oven.  Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke one large hole in the center of each cupcake (you want one large hole, not many small ones). 


3.  Fill each hole with the chocolate ice cream topping.

4.  Put a dollop of marshmallow fluff on top of each cupcake. 


5.  Return the cupcakes to the oven and bake for about 2 more minutes. 


6.  SERVE WARM!


Enjoy!

Baked Taquitos

Here's a quick little dinner recipe that tastes great and is a healthy alternative to the fried taquito.  Although these are baked, they didn't come out soggy.  Instead that were nice and crispy, similar to fried taquitos.  I served mine with cilantro lime rice and it was a perfect pair.   


I found the recipe I based these off of on Pinterest.  The original recipe provides that the taquitos can be frozen and baked later.  I didn't get a chance to try freezing them because I ate them all.  But, I'm pretty sure you would have the same success freezing my modification of her recipe.  


Modified from: Pennies on a Platter


Here's what you need:
3 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Salsa
1 Lime
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp Green Onions, sliced
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 Taco Meat Season Packet of your choice
1 cup Mexican flavored cheese, finely shredded
12 small Tortillas
1 tbsp Butter, melted
Kosher Salt


Here's what you do:
1.  Cook the ground beef thoroughly.  Season according to instructions on your season packet. 


2.  Combine cream cheese, salsa, juice of half of the lime, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic, cilantro and green onions. 


3.  Add the ground beef to the cream cheese mixture.  Mix well. 


4.  Add the cheese to the cream cheese mixture.  Mix well. 


5.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 


6.  Microwave 2 or 3 tortillas for about 20 seconds to make them pliable and easy to work with.  Fill each tortilla with a portion of the mixture, beginning on one edge.  Roll the tortilla up, beginning with the edge that was filled.  Place seam side down in a baking dish or cookie sheet.  Repeat until all of the mixture is gone. 


7.  Brush the top of each tortilla with the melted butter. 


8.  Sprinkle the kosher salt on top of the tortillas. 


9.  Sprinkle the lime juice of the remaining one half of the lime on top of the tortillas. 


10.  Bake for about 20 minutes.   Remove when the tortillas begin to crisp.  

Energy Balls

My good friend Amber suggested that I try her AMAZING recipe for energy balls.  A while ago.  Like, last October.  I quickly opened the recipe because I get all excited when my friends and family share recipes with me!  Then I read the ingredients and quickly closed the recipe.  Pfffffft!  This recipe calls for wheat germ or flaxseed.   And no sugar.  At all!?!  NO SUGAR????  Are you kidding me?   Clearly, she didn't know me very well.  

So I thanked her for her recipe and told her I'd put it on my list of recipes to try.  Then I scoffed inside.  Because I knew there was nooooo way I was going to make that silly hippie food. 

Well, I've been feeling a little low on energy lately (helllllooo 15 hour work days).  So, this weekend I got desperate.  And decided to try her hippie energy balls.  I had most of the ingredients on hand, so why not?  And, I just knew that when I ate one and it tasted like cardboard, I'd be vindicated.  And I could return to sugar as my main source of energy. 

So, I made them.  And then I ate one.  And then I ate like one million more.  Because these things are deeeelicious, people.  There's no saving my pride here, folks.  I owe Amber one big fat apology.  So, here it is.  You were right and I was wrong.  (God, I hate how that sounds!)

Have a little faith in me and give these things a shot.  Seriously, I promise, you won't be disappointed.  They require very few ingredients and very little time.  They're scrumptious, healthy, and they give you energy.  What do you have to lose? 

I like these so much that I'm already trying to come up with variations.  But, for now, here is my version of Amber's  Energy Balls:

Here's what you need:

1 cup Quick Oats

2 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Honey

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 c wheat germ or flaxseed

2 tsp Vanilla

Here's what you do:

1.  Mix everything together. 

2.  Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

3.  Roll into one inch balls. 

4.  Enjoy!  Seriously -- that's it. 

FYI -- Amber's recipe also called for coconut and dried fruit.  I'm picky.  I don't like coconut, so I omitted that.  And dried fruit just didn't sound like it would fit all that well with all the other ingredients, so I kicked that out too.  I could have been wrong about that.  I've been wrong about other things.  *aaahheeemm*  Feel free to add those back in.  She suggested a cup of each. 

Cilantro Lime Rice

(Please excuse the terrible photo.  Apparently I was so excited to eat

my cilantro lime rice that I didn't have time to take a decent pic.)

If you like Chipotle's rice, you're gonna LOVE this stuff.  It's one million times better than Chipotle's rice.  Trust me.  It's like the crack of rice. 


Apparently, it's a copycat recipe for rice served at a restaurant called Cafe Rio.  I've never been there.  But, if they serve stuff like this, eating there is going on my bucket list.  I got the recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything. 


I use it as a side dish for Mexican meals.  I also use it to make burrito bowls, Chipotle style.  It's simple to make and uses relatively few ingredients. 


Slightly adapted from:  The Girl Who Ate Everything. 


Here's what you need:
2 Tb. Butter 
1 ¼ White Rice
Juice of 2 Limes 

2 ¼ cups Chicken Broth
2 Tb. chopped fresh Cilantro
¾ tsp. Salt¼ tsp. Cumin 


Here's what you do:
1.  In a sauce pan, melt the butter with the rice. 


2.  Add the juice of the limes, chicken broth, cilantro, salt, and cumin. 


3.  Bring to a boil. 


4.  Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes. 


Enjoy!

Cookie Pie

I ended up with one million left over Christmas Cookies.

One Million.  I counted.

Most of them were chocolate chip or M&M Cookies.  For some reason, when cookies sit on my counter in plastic baggies, they get crushed into tiny little pieces.  I think there is a little cookie smashing elf that comes around at night.  See:

Anyway, I didn't want all these cookies to go to waste, so I decided to try making a pie out of them.  This was super easy and it turned out delicious!  You could do this with any left over cookie you have, not just Christmas Cookies.

Here's what you need:
3 Cups of Cookie Crumbs
3 Tbsp Butter, melted
Dash of Salt *optional*
1 1/2 Cups of Cookie Chunks (or more to taste)
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip

Here's what you do:


1.  Use your blender or food processor to grind your cookies into cookie crumbs.  Grind enough cookies to make 3 cups of crumbs.

2.  Melt butter.

3.  Add butter to cookie crumbs.  Mix until well moistened.  I added a dash of salt because I buy unsalted butter and the crumbs and butter alone were a little too sweet for my taste.

4.  Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom and sides of a pie plate to form the crust.

5.  Beat the cream cheese until it is light and smooth.

6.  Add vanilla to cream cheese and mix well.

7.  Add powdered sugar to cream cheese mixture and mix well.

8.  Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.

9.  Gently fold 1 cup of cookie chunks into the cream cheese mixture.

10.  Put the cream cheese mixture on top of the cookie pie crust.  Garnish with remaining cookie chunks.

11.  Refrigerate until firm.

That looks like a lot of steps, but, really, it's not that bad.  It's mostly that I added one ingredient at a time.  It took me about 10 minutes to make this pie.

I'm not a very good pie cutter, but here is what one of my "slices" looked like:

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies: Day 8 -- Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

When I sent out my call for Christmas cookies, a friend of mine requested a gluten free cookie recipe.  I've never eaten anything gluten free.  I was skeptical.  But, I decided to try my best to find a delicious gluten free recipe.  That was quite the challenge.  I found few recipes that looked appetizing, and the ones I did find looked pretty complicated or impractical.  This recipe is one that looked simple and easy.  And, everybody like sugar cookies, so it should appeal to the masses, right? 


I was very surprised by how tasty these cookies came out.  The recipe uses a cake mix, but these taste just like the real deal sugar cookie.  And, it's super simple.  How awesome is that!?!  I will admit that the texture of these cookies is different than the "normal" sugar cookie, but it didn't inhibit my enjoyment of the cookie, which says a lot because I have serious food texture issues.  The texture is more crumbly than the "normal" sugar cookie (or any cookie that I've encountered, really).  But it really didn't affect my enjoyment of the cookies. 


Source: Betty Crocker


Here's what you need:
1 box Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Egg
Colored Sugar


Here's what you do:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2.  Stir all ingredients together, except colored sugar. 
3.  Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and roll the balls through the colored sugar to coat. 
4.  Bake for about 9 minutes.
5.  Remove from baking sheet to cooling rack upon removal from oven.


Hint:  You can make your own colored sugar if you don't want to buy it.  Just put some white sugar in a bowl and add a few drops of food coloring.  Stir well.  Continuing adding food coloring and stirring until the sugar reaches the desired shade. 


Enjoy!

Oreo Pie

I know it's Fall now and this is kind of a Summer recipe, but I've spent every. waking. moment. fixing up the house I bought so that I can move in already.  This project is a lot more time consuming than I expected.  So, I just haven't been able to cook nearly as much as I'd like (almost not at all **gasp**).  This will all be worth it in the end.  There is a brand new oven/stove just waiting for me to get the house done so I can get in there and use it!  This is a delicious pie that is super simple to make and I haven't shared it yet.  So here it is.

Here's what I used:
1 Oreo Pie Crust
8 Ounces of Cream Cheese, softened
8 Ounces Whipped Topping (Cool Whip), thawed
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Package of Oreo Cookies

Here's what I did:
1.  Crushed 10 Oreo Cookies.  I placed mine in a plastic baggie and beat them with a meat tenderizer.

2.  Combined the Cream Cheese and the Whipped Topping.

3.  Mixed in the vanilla.

4.  Stirred the cookie pieces into the cream cheese/whipped topping mixture.  Be careful to stir only long enough to evenly distribute the cookies.

5.  Poured the mixture into the pie crust.

6.  Refrigerated for a couple of hours to let it set up.

I garnished the pieces with a whole Oreo Cookie when serving.  I've tried this with Double Stuff Oreos and it comes out just as good -- just a little more rich.

Enjoy!

Sirloin Skillet

I'm always looking for a quick, easy dinner recipe.  This is an old recipe that I had printed out at one time (apparently) and came across in all this moving mayhem.  It still looked good, so I decided to give it a shot.  It was simple and quick and tasted delicious.  I served it over white rice.  I think it would be delicious on a tortilla too.

Slightly adapted from: Campbell's Kitchen

Here's what I used:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Lb Boneless Beef Sirloin Steak, diced
1 Large White Onion, diced
2 Medium Red Peppers, sliced
2 Medium Green Peppers, sliced
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Can (10.75 ounces) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 Cup Water
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese

Here's What I did:
1.  Heat one tablespoon of Olive Oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.

2.  Cook the steak in the oil until thoroughly cooked.  Removed meat from skillet.

3.  Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining (1 Tbsp) oil to the pan.

4.  Add onions and peppers to pan.  Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5.  Add garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender.

6.  Stir in condensed soup and water.  Heat to boil.

7.  Return meat to the skillet and reduce heat to low. 

8.  Cover and cook for about 2 minutes.

9.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Enjoy!