Candy Bar Fudge

Before you say it, yes, I have noticed a trend in my posts up 'til now: lots of desserts. I promise I will post some more substantial, and healthy, recipes later (I swear we don't just eat candy at our house), but I just had to share this super easy and YUMMY gem. I found the original recipe on a can of Pillsbury frosting, tweaked it a bit, and discovered that making fudge can be really easy... and very delicious!

Ingredients:

1 (12oz) package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (16 oz) can of milk chocolate frosting (NOT the whipped variety)

approx. 4 roughly chopped Snickers bars (or a "bunch" of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, again roughly chopped)

Directions:

1. Line an 8x8 pan with foil, extending the foil over the sides of the pan.

2. Spray foil very lightly with no-stick cooking spray.

3. In a medium sauce pan, melt the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly. Resist the urge turn the heat up; scorched chocolate doesn't suit this recipe well...

4. When chocolate chips are melted, remove from heat and immediately stir in frosting and chopped candy (if you want, reserve a couple of tablespoons of the candy bits to sprinkle on top of the fudge).

5. Working quickly, spread mixture into the foil-lined pa, spreading it evenly.

6. If you reserved some of the candy pieces, sprinkle those on top of the fudge.

7. Allow fudge to set for at least an hour before using the foil to remove it from the pan.

8. Slice fudge into squares and enjoy!

Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

I found a recipe for these on allrecipes.com, but that recipe used genuine cookie dough for the stuffing of the cupcakes. Since the dough is supposed to remain, well, dough in a cookie dough stuffed cupcake, I decided to make a variation using the Eggless Cookie Dough recipe I posted earlier this week.

These are pretty easy to make, but you have to follow a couple of "rules." First, you need to make little (approx. 1/2") dough balls, using a small scoop or your hands. These MUST be frozen! If they are not frozen when you put them in the cupcake batter, they will bake and come out dry and y.u.c.k.y.!

Secondly, don't over bake these. Don't use a toothpick to test "doneness" of these bitty cakes, since the inside of the cupcake is cookie dough and should remain doughy. Instead, look at the edge of the cupcake to see if it's set. I would recommend baking for 16-18 minutes. If you over bake these, you will get the aforementioned dry, "y.u.c.k.y." center.

Ingredients:
-1 cake mix ( I used chocolate, but I think yellow would also be delicious - I'm sure you could make cake batter from scratch, I was just feeling lazy ^_^)
-Ingredients needed for cake mix prep (usually water, oil, and eggs, in some combination)

-Frozen dough balls from Eggless Cookie Dough recipe (I've found using mini chocolate chips in the dough works best for this recipe), one for each cupcake
-Frosting

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare cake mix per box instructions.
3. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
4. Scoop/pour about 1 tablespoon batter into each cupcake liner.
5. Place one frozen cookie dough ball into each cupcake liner, on top of the cake batter.
6. Cover each cookie dough ball with approximately one more tablespoon of batter. You may need to use a spoon to make sure cookie dough balls are covered.
7. Bake cupcakes for 16-18 minutes. Remember, don't over bake!
8. Let cupcakes cool. Frost and enjoy!

Italian-Style Spinach Dumplings

While cuisine hunting on the internet, I found a recipe for some "arugula dumplings" that sounded absolutely delicious! Unfortunately, I don't keep any of the main ingredients required on standby in my kitchen. I do, however, keep spinach on hand in the freezer, which made me think, "I know the basic components of a dumpling, so let's give this a shot!" And thus, the Italian-Style Spinach Dumpling was born!

I am rather proud of this recipe as I took that arugula inspiration and took it in a whole new direction... all by myself. I find this is one of the most satisfying aspects of cooking and baking: creating a culinary Frankenstein's monster all your own. It's even better when that monster turns out to be quite tasty!

Ingredients:
8 oz frozen spinach, thawed, drained well, and chopped
4 oz (approx. 4-5 slices) bread, chopped finely (I used wheat because it is what we routinely buy and we always have it on hand, but you could use 4 oz white bread or French bread with the crusts cut off for a milder flavor)
2 eggs
1/3 cup light sour cream
3 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup real Parmesan cheese, grated (you won't want to use the bottled "sprinkly cheese" for this recipe)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste (I used about a tsp of salt)
1/2 - 3/4 all-purpose flour (measure will vary; you will add between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup to get the needed consistency)
Homemade or bottled spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese



Directions:
1. Heavily salt a pot of water and start it boiling on the stove.
2. Whisk eggs, sour cream, and milk together until uniform in consistency.
3. Add garlic powder and salt; stir.
4. Add bread, spinach, and Parmesan cheese, mixing well to combine.
5. Stir in flour a little at a time until mixture reaches a dough-like consistency ( a small ball of the "dough" should hold itself together).
6. Roll dumpling "dough" into tablespoon-sized balls. Drop about 10 balls at a time into boiling water. (Note: if this is your first time making these, you may want to cook just one dumpling to start with and taste test it once it done. After tasting it, you can decide to add more salt, flour, cook them longer, etc. before you cook all of them and it is too late to alter the "dough." Many a culinary catastrophe has been avoided by a simple taste test!)
7. Cook dumplings about 5 minutes (after they float to the top of the water, cook an additional minute to ensure egg-y middle is cooked all the way through). The center of the dumplings should be firm, not slimy.
8. Remove dumplings from water with a slotted spoon, being sure to drain all water.
9. Place all dumplings in an oven-safe baking dish. Repeat process until all dumplings are cooked and in the baking dish.
10. Cover dumplings with spaghetti sauce. Layer mozzarella cheese evenly over sauce.
11. Broil dumplings in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.

Eggless Cookie Dough

Let's be honest with ourselves: when we decide to make cookies, a big motivator is getting to eat the cookie dough. Come now, you know it's true.

My dilemma: I try to be sneaky when... er... sneaking some doughy goodness, but sometimes my two-year-old catches me red handed. I don't want to give her any because of the raw eggs, but I feel horrible depriving her of such tasty goodness while I chow down (sneakily, of course).

The compromise: eggless cookie dough. Now mind you, this dough is NOT to be baked. The result of baking this concoction will be the furthest thing from cookies. Let me repeat: this recipe will not yield actual cookies!

What this recipe does produce is cookie dough that is good (and safe) enough to eat! It's great plain, frozen in balls, frozen and mixed into ice cream... and best of all I don't have to feel guilty about sharing with my toddler!


Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp water
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini chips are my favorite, but regular sized chips work, too)

Directions:
1. Cream butter, vanilla, sugar, and water together until uniform in texture.
2. Mix flour and salt together in a small, separate bowl.
3. Using a hand or stand mixer, gradually add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Eat right away or use a small scoop to make little balls of dough to freeze and eat later. Yum!

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

I remember on Sundays coming home from church to a house filled with the smells of my mother's pot roast cooking in the crock pot. It makes my mouth water just to think of it! I am not sure what her sumptuous recipe was, but this one is almost as tasty!

The meat in this will melt in your mouth and the veggies make a nice compliment and side dish. Again, slow-cookers are a great companion on a busy day. Just prep it and walk away. So simple! So delicious!


Ingredients:

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 medium onion, chopped into bite-sized pieces (optional)
4-6 potatoes, cubed (I leave the skin on; I feel it serves as a nice "anchor" and adds some texture)
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/4 cups water
Approx. 4- 5 pounds pot roast (I have used this with a roast as small as 3 pounds and it turned out just fine)


Directions:

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2. Cook on low for 3 hours, then add vegetables. Cover veggies with liquid (as much as possible). Replace lid and cook for another 5-6 hours on low or until the meat is done and the veggies are tender.

Note: You can cook this on high, just add meat and veggies all at once and cook for 4-5 hours or until the meat is done and the veggies are tender.

Sumptuous, Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup

The first time I ever had French onion soup was my senior year in high school. My now husband was my boyfriend at the time and had secretly made a romantic, 5 course meal for me. After a fresh green salad, he brought out piping hot, homemade French onion soup.

I was a bit apprehensive, I mean, it's a soup that tastes like onion, for heavens sake! One bite, however and the food angels sang, confirming that, not only was it a soup made from onions, it was a delicious soup made from onions!

This isn't the recipe that my husband used that night, but it is fabulously tasty and is a snap to make! Even though this is a slow-cooker recipe, it can be ready in as little as four hours (which is pretty fast for a slow-cooker). The onions come out so tender and the broth is so flavorful, you'll have to have a second helping!


Ingredients:

5 small onions, thinly sliced (be sure to use white or yellow onions, not red onions for this recipe)
2 cans (14 oz) beef broth (I mush prefer to use a low sodium variety so I can control the amount of salt that goes into my soup)
2 cans (10 oz) beef consomme
1/2 water
1 packet of dry onion soup mix
8-10 slices French bread, cut about 1 inch thick
1 cup grated Gruyere (if you can't find Gruyere cheese, you can substitute Provolone or Mozzarella)


Directions:
1. In a slow-cooker, stir together broth, consomme, water, and soup mix. Mix until combined.
2. Add onions to broth mixture. Give a quick stir to coat onions.
3. Cook on HIGH setting for 4 hours or LOW setting for 8 hours.
4. Portion soup into oven safe bowls. Place a slice of French bread on top of each bowl and sprinkle bread with shredded cheese.
5. Put soup bowls under the broiler in the oven until cheese is melted, about 30-60 seconds.
6. Serve warm.

NOTE: If you don't have oven safe bowls or don't want to be transporting soup to and from the oven (with my episodes of clumsiness, this is often a recipe for steaming hot disaster), you can place the bread slices on a cookie sheet, top with cheese, broil, and then move a slice to each bowl of soup once cheese is melted.

Scotcheroos

Okay. I have made it no secret: I love desserts. I have a chronic sweet tooth... and even a pound of these babies would leave me wanting more!

This recipe is one I remember my mom* making for church activities, family gatherings, and if we were lucky, just as a special treat. The combination of creamy chocolate, smooth butterscotch, and crispy rice cereal treats with a hint of peanut butter is, to understate it, heaven! This recipe serves about 24 people... if you are feeling generous!

So, get out the fat pants... it's time for scotcheroos!




Ingredients:

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup corn syrup (I use Karo brand corn syrup)
1 cup sugar
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 oz butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. In a large pot, bring sugar and corn syrup to a slow boil.
2. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, stirring until well combined.
3. Stir Rice Krispies into sugar mixture until well coated.
4. Lightly grease a 9"x11" baking dish with cooking spray.
5. Press cereal mixture into baking dish. Let cereal mixture cool.
6. In a large glass bowl, microwave chocolate and butterscotch chips, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted.
7. Pour chocolate mixture over cooled rice cereal treats.
8. When chocolate is cooled, cut into bars and serve.

*Thanks mom! This will always be one of my favorites!

Slow-Cooker Chicken in a Creamy Italian Sauce

Whipped this up for dinner last night and both the husband and kiddo loved it. Plus, it's a slow cooker meal so you know it's easy to boot!


Ingredients:

3- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 package (4 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/3 cup sour cream
Rice or noodles, cooked according to package directions.

Directions:

1. Place the chicken breast halves in a slow cooker.

2. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.

4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cream cheese and soup until blended.

5. Pour cream cheese mixture over chicken.

6. Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours more, until chicken juices run clear.

7. When chicken has 30 minutes of cook time left, stir in sour cream. Allow chicken to finish cooking.
8. Serve Italian Chicken over hot rice or noodles.

Refried Beans

I got this recipe from my mom and it is so much better than canned refried beans. It helps that it's also super easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups pinto beans (about 1 can, drained)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 garlic powder
1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
about 3/4 cup water (to desired consistency)

Directions:
1. Combine beans, cumin, salt, garlic powder, tomato paste, and olive oil in a medium sauce pan.
2. Using an immersion blender, blend ingredients until smooth.
3. Add enough water to thin out beans. Beans should be thinner and smoother in consistency than canned refried beans.
4. Heat beans through and serve warm.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Wow! It's flu season and the flu hit our little family... hard! Coughing, fevers, nausea, chills; you name it, we had it. Thankfully, we are all on the mend now, but I can't tell you how wonderful a bowl full of this simple, tasty soup felt while being so sick.

It's doesn't require all manner of fancy ingredients; I bet you have most, if not all, of this stuff in your kitchen now. Plus, it's low in fat. You just can't go wrong with this simple staple!

So, go enjoy a couple bowls of this savory soup and call me in the morning!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
Tbsp vegetable oil
8 cups chicken broth
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bay leaf
1 cup carrots
1 cup celery
2 cups egg noodles
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Chop onion and then saute in the oil in a large soup pot until translucent.
2. Add broth, chicken breasts, and bay leaf to the onions in the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked all the way through and tender (about 45 minutes).
3. Remove chicken from broth and cut into bite-sized pieces.
4. Add celery and carrots to broth and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add egg noodles and parsley to broth and simmer an additional 5-7 minutes or just until egg noodles are tender. Don't overcook the egg noodles or they will fall apart.
6. Add chicken to soup and stir to combine and warm through.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade Oreos

Our family situation is... unusual. I come from a rather large family of 6 kids. My husband has 10 brothers and sisters, most of whom are married and/or have kids. We both have divorced parents who are remarried bringing the total number of parents to 8. Not to mention our two little darlings and all our sweet nieces and nephews.

Add them all up and you have quite a large family. Don't get me wrong. I love having a large family, but it does make family gatherings a little tricky. I mean, finding room for that many people, let alone feeding and entertaining them, can be a daunting task!

So is it any wonder that when I was asked to make a dessert for Ben's family Christmas party last year, I was a little intimidated? Thank goodness for homemade Oreos! This recipe made more than enough for everyone. Plus, I tinted the frosting red and green with food coloring, making them extra festive!

I highly recommend using a small scoop for measuring out most cookies, but with these ones especially, it is incredibly helpful. If you use a scoop, all of your cookies will end up the same size, making them much easier to match and frost. Plus, it makes them look nice, too!



Cookies:

2 devil's food cake mixes
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil

Frosting:

1 (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 Tbsp butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar (to desired consistency)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix together cake mixes, eggs, and oil.
3. Scoop dough onto cookie sheet. If not using a scoop, roll dough into 1" balls.
4. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes.
5. While cookies are baking, prepare frosting. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with electric beaters until combined and slightly fluffy.
6. Add sugar, a small amount at a time, mixing constantly until desired consistency is reached.
7. Cool cookies completely before frosting. Spread a small dollop frosting on the underside of one cooled cookie and top with another cookie (be sure not to use too much frosting or cookies will slide off of each other). A little goes a LONG way!