Peanut Butter Pie

Yum! Yum!

I made this for the kids tonight, and they loved it. Dave passed on it, until he took a taste, and then headed to the cupboard for a plate. I can't laugh at him, since I did the same thing. :)

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 carton (8 oz.) Cool Whip
• 1 graham cracker crust
• salted, chopped peanuts for garnish, optional
• chocolate syrup for garnish, optional

In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in the Cool Whip; pour into crust. Chill until serving. Garnish as desired.

As a side note, I always buy natural peanut butter, so the texture was a bit different than it would have been with Skippy or Jif. Also, I think the natural PB probably made it a little less sweet tasting.

Chicken Tortilla Chowder

This recipe from Taste of Home uses alot of convenience items that I don't usually cook with, but the results turned out pretty good. The tortilla strips soften and cook up like noodles. The family really liked it, so I think I'll file this one away for the times I need a quick dinner.

• 2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of potato soup


• 2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of chicken soup


• 2 cups milk


• 1 can (14 oz.) reduced sodium chicken broth


• 1 can Mexicorn, drained


• 1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies


• 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken


• 3 flour tortillas, cut into small thin strips


• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan, heat the soups, milk and broth, stirring frequently. Add corn, chicken and chilies; bring to a boil. Stir in the tortillas strips. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese until melted.

I served this with sour cream, salsa, and an extra sprinkling of cheddar cheese. I must say it was pretty tasty. Yum!

Gooey Butterscotch Bars

I'm sorry I have no picture for these, but I am going to share the recipe for them anyway since I loved them. They were pretty easy to whip up, so if you need a last minute treat to share, give these a try.

• 1 pkg. (17 1/2 oz.) sugar cookie mix
• 1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 pkg. (14 oz.) caramels
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 cups peanuts or cashews
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

In a large bowl, combine the sugar cookie mix, pudding mix, butter and egg. Press into an ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes or until set. I thought the time was a little long, so watch them closely.

In a large saucepan, combine caramels and milk. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Remove from the heat. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with butterscotch chips. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Santa Shakes

These are soooo yummy. My co-worker, Lezlee, told me about them. Evidently they are a tradition in her house every Christmas. I think they might be in my house from now on too. :)

There is really no set amounts for it. You just put peppermint ice cream and eggnog in a blender, and 'voila. You can vary the amount of eggnog depending on how thick you like your milkshakes. I use a little more ice cream than eggnog. I put a little bit of whipped cream on top with a candy cane for the pretty and festive effect.

Fondue

Hannah wanted fondue for her birthday dinner, so I did a cheese fondue for dinner and a chocolate fondue for dessert. They were both delicious. I am including the chocolate recipe here. I got it from Allrecipes, and I noticed one of the commenters said since the batch made so much, you could use the leftovers to make truffles. I think I might try that, I have a tremendous amount leftover.

You will notice in the picture, I have no fancy fondue accessories, but we had a good time. For the cheese fondue dippers we had broccoli, cauliflower, steak and french bread. And, then for the chocolate fondue sauce we had pound cake, cheesecake, marshmallows and bananas. MMMMMMMMM. Yeah, it was THAT good. :)

CHOCOLATE BAR FONDUE

32 ounces milk chocolate, grated
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/3 cup hot water

Directions
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate with the heavy cream. Mix in the instant coffee, vanilla extract, sugar, and hot water. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth.

Hot Apple Pie Dip

My neighbor sent me this recipe and it sounded so different, I had to try. I served it with cinnamon graham crackers. It is very different, and I did enjoy it. It does taste a bit like apple pie with a creamy base. The only change I made was to use low fat cream cheese. Oh, and I did add about a 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.

Hot Apple Pie Dip

8 oz cream cheese

2 TBSP brown sugar

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 apple, chopped and divided

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 TBSP finely chopped pecan pieces

Mix cream cheese, sugar and spice in medium bowl til well blended. Stir in half of the apples. Put in small/mini crock pot, top with remaining apples, cheddar cheese and nuts. Serve with Cinnamon wheat thins or the new Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ritz crackers.

Caramel Pops

I have a weakness for these little buttery, caramely pieces of "melt in your mouth" goodness. In fact, I would be willing to admit I have gained a few pounds from these this week. Thanks to my friend, Noreen who had to remind me of this recipe this week. Ugh! I LOVE these and HATE these at the same time! I made two batches this week. The first batch I took to work and the second batch I sent to work with Dave for a snack/potluck they were having.

Here is the recipe for all of you who asked, and for those of you who didn't......you'll want this recipe. :)

1 Bag Corn Puffs, butter flavor

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Corn Syrup

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Soda

Place Corn Puffs in a large roasting pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine butter, corn syrup and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. While mixing, cook for two minutes or until bubbly around the edges, remove from the heat. Add baking soda and stir to cause foaming. Pour caramel mixture over corn puffs and stir until puffs are properly coated. Place in 250* oven for approximately 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and pour onto waxed paper. Break apart before puffs can cool.

Mini Sloppy Joe Cups

These little bite size snacks were really yummy. They came about because I had some leftover sloppy joe mixture and a roll of crescent roll dough. Sunday night is usually snack night at our house with a movie. Sometimes we make homemade pizza, and sometimes we open the fridge and make munchies with what's leftover. That is how these came about.

I put small pieces of the crescent roll dough in a mini muffin pan, put a small spoonful of the sloppy joe meat mixture on top and sprinkled with a bit of cheddar cheese. Bake and eat.

MMMMMMMMMM.

Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies looked so fun to try, and we are camping with friends and family for the weekend. They seemed a perfect treat to share. Dip a mini pretzel in white candy coating and place on a graham cracker. Sprinkle liberally with orange sugar sprinkles. Next, cut green spice drops into fourths. Dip one side of each one lightly and place on top of pumpkin for stem. Cute, yes. A bit time consuming, yes. Patience, no, at least not enough to make more than a couple dozen. The rest of the candy coating and graham crackers turned into these:

Fall Candy Mix

Yummy! Yummy! I love candy corn and peanuts. It is one of my favorite fall food traditions. This time I mixed in some funky colored M&M's and some spice drops. I think it looks so colorful and festive for a candy dish.

Salami Roll-Ups

I wanted to try these for a change of pace from the traditional mexican style pinwheels. Not much to making them, and they were a great change up. Yum! I ate way too many....

• 1 carton (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese
• 1/4 pound hard salami, finely chopped ( I subbed in summer sausage)
• 2 TBS. dill pickle relish
• 4 flour tortillas, room temperature

In a small bowl, combine first 3 ingredients and spread over tortillas. Roll up tightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Unwrap and cut into 1 in. slices.

Black Bean, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

I made this salad for a second time last night and realized I had forgotten to post it last time. So, here it is and it completely rocks. I love this stuff and it is so versatile. You can use alternative ingredients to maximize what you have on hand. For instance, I substituted Mexicorn for the fresh corn, chopped fresh tomatoes from my garden instead of cherry tomatoes, and prepared salsa for the dressing ingredients. It was still delicious. I have served it with tacos or with grilled chicken. It works as a dip for tortilla chips and I also served it on the side with some scrambled eggs. Yum!!

• 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar



• 3 Tbs. olive oil



• 2 15 oz. cans black beans , rinsed and drained



• 3 cups fresh corn or frozen, thawed



• 12 cherry tomatoes



• 1 or 2 avocadoes, peeled, pitted and cubed



• 2 Tbs. lemon juice



• Salt and pepper to taste.
  

In a large bowl, whisk vinegar and olive oil until blended. Add beans, corn and tomatoes. Toss avocado cubes with lemon juice to prevent browning and add to bean mixture.

Just before serving, stir to redistribute dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pan Fried Chicken with Fresh Tomato and Corn Salsa

I can't remember the last time I made something I enjoyed so much. This was magnifico!! This recipe came from Rachel Ray's magazine.

• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I used dried, and then used a smaller amount)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 chicken breast cutlets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped

In a shallow dish combine bread crumbs and about a teaspoon of dried basil. In two separate bowls put flour in one and buttermilk in another. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken, one piece at a time in flour, then into the buttermilk and coat with the bread crumbs.

In a large skillet heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

In a large bowl, stir together the corn, tomatoes, onion, one teaspoon of basil, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Serve over the chicken.

I served this with some rice to round out the meal and it was outstanding.

Summer Breeze Lemon Pie

This recipe came from a neighbor who sends out recipes on occasion for us neighborhood girls to try. I love her recipes and have several I have saved and yet to try. I will post those as I make them. The original recipe for this pie was lime, and I had every intention of making it lime, until I went to the store to buy the lime curd it called for. No lime curd. I could see where it was supposed to be on the shelf, but they were out. I couldn't help but think that some other people had decided to try Lisa's recipe too. :) The store did have lemon curd, however, so I decided to make it lemon instead. I thought that would be the only change I would make, but in the interest of time I made a few other changes to the original recipe as well. I used a store bought graham cracker crust unstead of the homemade pretzel crust, and substituted cool whip for the whipping cream. I love real whipped cream, but remember I was in a hurry....as usual. Also, the original recipe called for fresh raspberries as a garnish on top and I decided to make a mixed berry sauce instead. I had never done that before and thought it sounded like fun. So, now that you know the changes I made, I will post the recipe as I made it. It was delicious....Joey and Hannah were fighting over the last piece. If you want the original recipe, which I am sure is equally as wonderful, let me know, and I'll email it to you.

Summer Breeze Lemon Pie

• 8 oz. light cream cheese, softened
• 10 oz. jar lemon curd
• 1-2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1-2 Tbs. lemon juice or lemonade concentrate
• 8 oz. light Cool Whip
• Graham cracker crust

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, lemon curd, lemon zest and lemon juice until light and fluffy. Fold in cool whip and then place filling into crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm. Garnish with sauce. (Recipe follows)

Mixed Berry Sauce

• 1 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 Tbs. lemonade concentrate or lemon juice
• 2 Tbs. corn syrup
• Enough water to make sauce the consistency you like

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Serve with pie.

Fiesta Spread

I made a few changes to a recipe I found and it turned out great. The apricot preserves make for an unusual addition, but give it a sweetness I really liked.

Fiesta Spread

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 C. salsa

1/4 C. apricot preserves

3/4 C. guacamole

Sliced black olives and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Spread cream cheese over dinner-size plate. Mix salsa and apricot preserves together, and then spread over cream cheese. Place teaspoonfuls of guacamole over salsa layer. Garnish with the olives and cilantro. You can serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Homemade Spaghettio's

Yes, you read the title right. I can't believe I am even posting this, but I am chronicling my cooking highs and lows. And, this may very well be my lowest point. :) I found this recipe in a cookbook my mom bought me that had a chapter with recipes that had five ingredients or less. This was one of them, but it had a different name. When I read it, I couldn't help but think, Hey I bet that tastes like Spaghettio's. So, the next time I went to the store I bought the stuff to try it. My cooking curiosity trumped my cooking pride. I mean, what real cooking aficionado would even consider such a thing. Me?!? Yes, ME, I love to have fun in the kitchen, and this definitely constituted fun.

So here it is, and yes it does really taste like Spaghettio's. The only change here is the addition of sliced hot dogs, and the substitution of a wagon wheel pasta instead of the small rings. Use whatever shaped pasta you like.

• 8 oz. pasta rings or shape of your choice


• 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed Cheddar Cheese soup, undiluted


• 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed Tomato soup, undiluted


• 5 sliced hot dogs
  

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Return to pan and stir in both cans of soup and sliced hot dogs. Heat through and serve.

I doubled the batch when I made it. Good thing, since the kids called it "delicious". They'll devour the leftovers.

Loaded Alfredo Pizza

I have seen variations on this kind of pizza before, so I decided to try my hand at creating one using ingredients I knew we all liked. Everyone declared it a keeper, except for Joey, who I don't think even tried it. He was too busy stuffing his face with the sausage pizza I made that was, admittedly, delicious. I will make this again, but next time I will leave out the chicken. I personally wasn't crazy about the chicken in it.

• 1 large unbaked pizza crust of your choice


• 1/2-1 cup Alfredo sauce (some like more or less sauce, use your preference)


• 1 cup chopped cooked chicken


• 1 cup chopped fresh spinach


• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella


• 3/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon


• 1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomato

Prebake crust slightly to prevent soggy crust. I baked mine at 450* for about 5-7 minutes. Follow directions for the particular crust you use. Layer next 5 ingredients and bake following directions for crust used. I baked mine for about 10 minutes. When, removed from oven sprinkle chopped tomatoes over the top. Slice as desired.

One last note, the ingredient amounts listed are all approximate. Use more or less of each for your taste. I have found nearly any recipe is adjustable to fit your personal taste.

Chicken Zucchini Quiche

This came about while I was trying to think of a way to use up some leftover chicken and pie crust. Quiche! Maybe I should pay more attention to the amounts of the ingredients I use, so it would be easier to post a recipe. Well, that's not my style. Mine is a little more like....hmmm what do I have and what can I do with it. A bit of a sloppy style for a perfectionist. I am a strange perfectionist, that must be it. Ok, back to my quiche.

• 1 cup chopped cooked chicken
• 1 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese blend
• 3/4 cup shredded zucchini
• 3 beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 unbaked ready made pie crust

Place chicken, cheese and zucchini into pie crust. Beat eggs with milk adding salt and pepper to your liking. Pour over rest of ingredients in pie crust. It will be full, so place on cookie sheet to catch any run over. Bake in 375* oven uncovered for about 30 minutes or until done in center.

The family really liked this. I think if I make it again I will experiment with some seasonings though. But somehow I am always in a rush to get something on the table.

Pizza Burgers

I apologize for not having a picture of these, but I made these for an on the go meal at the baseball field. I made them, wrapped them up and we ran out the door, so no picture of the actual finished product. The good news is they were good and I'll make these again. They are different than what comes to mind when you think, pizza burger. Give them a try and tell me what you think. I got the original recipe from Simple & Delicious, but I made a few changes to it for the sake of time. I was in a big hurry! I will post it as I made it.

• 1 egg, lightly beaten


• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 1 tsp. minced onion


• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1 lb. ground beef


• 4 slices Provolone cheese


• 4 toasted hamburger buns


• 1/2 cup pizza sauce

In a large bowl, combine first six ingredients. Shape into 4 patties and grill until done. Meanwhile, toast buns.

Top burgers with Provolone cheese, and spread pizza sauce on toasted buns. Assemble and enjoy.

Note: I doubled this recipe to make 6 burgers and then ended up with about a half a pound of hamburger mixture leftover. I think I'll make spaghetti and meatballs with it. :)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I set out to recreate a really yummy dish my sister ate at Rainforest Cafe when we were in Minneapolis. I know lettuce wraps are a very popular food item these days. I found quite a few recipes for it online. I came up with my own version using ingredients I thought the family would eat and it was a success. All except for the lettuce part. I couldn't find the right kind of lettuce and ended up with Romaine and it just wasn't good for this, well at least I didn't like it with this dish. Everyone at my table really liked the chicken mixture with the rice minus the lettuce part. I think I will definitelly make this again and just serve it with rice. Yummy! Or at least try to find a Bibb or Butter lettuce which I couldn't find today.

I find it hard to give an exact recipe for this, since I really was just playing with ingredients and not keeping track of amounts. I saute'd chopped chicken with carrots, green onion, garlic, ginger, golden raisins, and chopped peanuts. The sauce was more definite:

• 4 Tbs. Teriyaki Sauce
• 2 Tbs. Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tbs. Honey

If you like a more vinegary taste add more of the rice vinegar. I know I cut back on the amount of vinegar just because I thought it was a bit too much, but maybe you'll like it that way.

And, FYI, my kids really did like it. Believe it or not!