mmm smore's dip

This recipe was emailed to me from the Pillsbury website. I am going to make it soon!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1/2 cup marshmallow creme
1 box (13 oz) graham cracker honey sticks

DIRECTIONS
1. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and condensed milk on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chips are melted. Stir to mix well. Pour into 9-inch glass pie pan, spreading evenly.
2. Drop marshmallow creme by tablespoonfuls randomly over chocolate mixture. Microwave on High about 30 seconds or until marshmallow creme is softened. Immediately with knife, make several small swirls through marshmallow and chocolate, creating a marbled appearance.
3. Serve immediately with graham sticks for dipping.

Dumpity Dump Cake

Delicious and Easy Dump Cake!

1 Can Crushed Pineapple

1 Can Pie Filling (blueberry, peach, raspberry, or cherry- I used cherry)

1 Yellow Cake Mix

1 1/2 Sticks of Butter-melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

Grease a 9x13 baking dish

Dump crushed pineapple on the bottom of the baking dish

Dump pie filling on top of the pineapple

Sprinkle the yellow cake mix on top of the pineapple

Pour melted butter over the top of the cake mix

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until the top is brown and firm

Peach Pie Smoothie

From Ellen Krieger on the Food Network

Ingredients:
1/2 cup nonfat/or 1% milk
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup unsweetened frozen peaches
1 tablespoon honey, more to taste if necessary
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger

Directions:
Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Nutrition facts: (per serving)
Calories: 240
Fat: 0
Protein: 12g
Carb: 49g
Fiber: 3g

From my friend Angel

I was over at my friend Amber's house last night, and we were going to sister's house-- who lives on the same road at the ranch-- to make homemade soap. That is a post for a different time, but while we were there, Angel gave me one of these delightful treats, and I knew that I would have to share them with you.

"ChefTom" posted it on recipesecrets.com so all credit goes to him... none to me!

Chocolate Cookie Wafers
1 18 ounce package chocolate fudge cake mix
3 tablespoons shortening, softened
1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
Non-stick cooking spray

Chocolate Coating
3 12-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 tablespoons shortening

Put the first dry ingredients for the cookie wafers in a large bowl Stir in egg. Mix together while adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a floured surface, roll out some of the dough until it is about 1/16 of an inch thick. Use a 1 1/2″ cookie cutter or the lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter to cut the dough. Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and let them cool completely.
For the chocolate coating, combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for about 2 minutes on low power, stir, then heat for an another minute or until smooth.
Use a fork or tongs to dip each wafer in the chocolate, allow the excess chocolate to run off. Place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.

She told me it makes close to 100 cookies, and she stores hers in the freezer in a sealed container.

Enjoy!

Slim's "#1 Fav of all Times ever" Baked Ziti

**Disclaimer-- this is not that healthy, but it sure is delish!**

Ingredients:
Sauce:
Use your favorite jar of sauce. Add to it
Italian seasoning
Onion flakes
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Black Pepper

Brown 1lb of ground beef in a frying pan. Drain excess fat. Add it to the sauce.

Filling:
1 lb of Part Skim Ricotta
6 ounces Part Slim Mozzerella
1/3 cup Parmesean cheese

Mix together

Boil 1 lb of pasta. I used plain old ziti.
Drain the pasta and add it to the filling mixture.
Stir until the pasta is coated.
Spoon in the desired amount of meat sauce, and then spread the pasta in the pan.
Spoon on extra sauce on top.

Cover with 2 ounces of Mozzerella cheese

Bake in oven until cheese is melty and delicious!

Enjoy!

Sausage Balls = A Happy Hors d'oeu⋅vre

3 cups of bisquick
2 8 oz blocks of Vermont Cheddar
1 roll of breakfast sausage

Melt cheese in a double boiler

mix Bisquick and sausage together with your hands then add the melted cheese. Form into bite size balls and bake for 25-30min on 350 or freeze them until you need them....

These were super easy to make and I actually served them with BBQ sauce. They are a little crunchy, and make you want to eat breakfast!

Try them and enjoy.

By the way this is half of the recipe that I followed and it made a ton! By the way, I copied the picture from this blog, I never remember to take pictures myself.

Mexican Lasagna

Cooking spray
3 cups cooked chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Cheddar, divided
1/2 cup mild, medium or hot salsa
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons Southwest Seasoning
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 6 wedges

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat an 11 by 7-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, sour cream, 3/4 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese, 3/4 cup of the Cheddar, salsa, chiles, cilantro, the seasoning. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange half of the tortilla pieces in the bottom of prepared pan, overlapping pieces slightly to cover the surface. Top with half of the chicken mixture and smooth over with the back of a spoon to even the top. Layer remaining tortillas over top, and spoon over remaining chicken mixture. Top with remaining 1/4 cup each of Monterey Jack, and cheddar cheeses.

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 more minutes, until top is golden and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Chocolate chip cookie cheesecake bars

This is such a great recipe and it is extremely easy. My whole family loves them and I usually get requests to make them.

2 pkgs. (18oz. each) refrigerated choc. chip cookie dough

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar (I use a heaping 1/2 cup of sugar)

2 eggs

1) Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 13x9 pan. Let both doughs stand at room temp. about 15 minutes.

2) Reserve 3/4 of one pkg. of dough. Press remaining 1 1/4 pkgs. of dough evenly onto bottom of pan.

3) Combine cream cheese, sugar and eggs in a bowl; beat until well blended and smooth. Spread mixture over dough in pan. Break reserved dough into small pieces; sprinkle over cream cheese mixture.

4) Bake 35 minutes (check after 25ish depending on your oven) or until center is almost set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.
ENJOY

Oldies but goodies...

Cucumber and Tomato Salad


4 vine ripened tomatoes
2 cucumbers
olive oil
crazy salt
vinegar (my favorite is red wine, or balsamic)
italian seasoning

This is such an easy dish. Simply slice the veggies, and season them. Then add the oil and vinegar to your likeing. It is so fresh and goes so nicely with grilled food, or on it's own for a healthy lunch.

Vegetable Frittata


sauteed veggies (I ususally use onion, summer squash, green zucchini, and peppers)
2 tablespoons of parmesean cheese
4 eggs (I use egg substitute- just follow the conversion chart on the carton)
non-stick spray- try olive oil spray

Sautee the vegetables in a flat omlet pan with the non-stick spray. Sprinkle the veggies with one tablespoon of the cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk egg with the other cheese. Pour egg mixture over vegetables, and cook until the egg is no longer loose. Flip onto a plate and serve.

Also found on hungry-girl.com

From our friends at Hungry-Girl:

Oreo Invasion
Oooooh, we're good. Not to brag, but we've come up with an Oreo cream pie SO guilt-free you could practically eat the entire thing for the same amount of calories as (and WAY less fat than) a single slice of those other CRAZY Oreo pies. We're not saying you should eat the whole thing, mind you (so don't bombard us with emails about that) -- one slice is all you need to kick your Oreo pie craving to the curb. Go for it, you little cookie fiend!

Ingredients:
4 packs 100 Calorie Packs Oreo Thin Crisps
3 cups light vanilla soymilk
1/2 a small (4-serving) pkg. JELL-O Sugar Free Fat Free Cook & Serve pudding mix; Vanilla
1 envelope unflavored Knox Gelatin
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Free
2 tbsp. sugar-free chocolate syrup

Directions:
Stir pudding mix into soymilk in a medium-large saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a full boil. In a large mixing bowl, combine soymilk mixture with gelatin and whisk continuously for at least 5 minutes (until gelatin is completely dissolved). Place dish in the fridge for about 45 - 60 minutes, until chilled and partially set. Meanwhile, take 1 and 1/2 packs of the cookies and process in a blender or food processor until reduced to fine crumbs (or place them in a sealable plastic bag and crush through the bag with a rolling pin; less clean up!). Place crumbs in a 9" pie dish, and use your hands to spread crumbs along the bottom to cover. Take remaining 1/2 pack of cookies along with 3rd pack and break into pieces; set aside. Once mixture in fridge is ready, stir in 1 and 1/2 cups of the Cool Whip (a wire whisk works wonders) until thoroughly mixed. Next gently stir cookie pieces into the mix. Carefully pour mixture into pie dish and spread evenly on top of crumbs. Return to fridge until set (3 hours or overnight). Once ready to serve, break 4th pack of cookies into small pieces. Spread 1/2 cup Cool Whip over pie and sprinkle cookie pieces on top. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and prepare to get cookies 'n cream crazy! Serves 8!

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 115
Fat: 1.75g
Sodium: 175mg
Carbs: 20.5g
Fiber: 0.5g
Sugars: 8.5g
Protein: 3.75g

* 2 Points

From Jenn Carl Bullock

For all you Weight Watchers out there... check this out!



Brownie Points!


Ingredients:
One box Pillsbury Moist Supreme Reduced Sugar Cake Mix, Devil's Food
One 15-oz. can pure pumpkin
6 oz. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 tsp. Coffee-mate Fat Free or Sugar Free French Vanilla powdered creamer, dissolved in 2 tbsp. warm water
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix and pumpkin. Stir until completely blended (the mixture will remain very thick). Spread batter into a large baking pan (about 9" X 13") sprayed with nonstick spray, and set aside. Combine softened cream cheese with Splenda, Coffee-mate mixture, and vanilla extract. Using a whisk, mix vigorously until completely blended, smooth and lump-free. Spoon cheesecake mixture over the brownie batter, and use a knife to swirl it in. (Don't worry if your swirl isn't perfect -- your brownies will taste delicious no matter what!) Place pan in the oven, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Allow to cool, and then cut into 16 pieces. MAKES 16 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 brownie
Calories: 133
Fat: 2g
Sodium: 312mg
Carbs: 29g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugars: 8g
Protein: 3g

POINTS® value 3*

Mom's Never Fail Tacos

Once again I didn't have the clarity of thought to actually take a picture of this meal as I prepared it, but you have all seen tacos I'm sure. However, you may never have tasted my mom's taco meat which is delicious and to all you Weight Watchin' folks out there this totally doable in a healthy fashion!

Ingredients:
1.5 lb of ground beef or turkey(healthy folks I always use ground turkey!)
1/2 a large onion
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp of garlic powder or salt
1/4 cup of salsa
salt to taste

Directions:
In a large skillet brown meat with onions and drain off grease. Place drained meat back in the skillet on medium to low heat and add in tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, garlic and salsa. Let me honest here, I don't know if those portions are the correct amount that my mom's uses I just keep adding chili, cumin, garlic, salt, and salsa 'till it taste like hers! I would say to simmer this on low for about 15- 20 min to let the flavors meld together.
Serve it with tortilla chips/taco shells, cheese, lettuce, tomatos, and a dollope of Daisy, or whatever sour cream you have in your house. I also like to have a side of black beans with this meal for extra fiber.
Make this, it's deliscious!

Here are some time saving tips you can do with this meal.
1. The night before I made this I made mushroom and onion omlets. I chopped a whole onion and used what I needed for the omlets, but saved the rest for my tacos so I didn't have to chop, I just through them in.
2. I chose two recipes to serve this week that called for ground meat. So I bought 3 lbs and browned it all at once. I set aside half for my tacos and half for my enchilaldas that I'll make tomorrow or Thursday!
Muy Bien!

Grilled chicken sausage pizza

With the Super-Bowl coming up, you may want to have a fun party food to share, that is low in points, but still delicious. This looks fabulous, and is only 3 pts per serving.

(borrowed from the Weight watchers web-site)

Ingredients:
2 oz cooked chicken sausage, about 2 links, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, cut into thin slivers
1 small yellow pepper, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 cup pizza sauce, or tomato sauce
4 medium whole wheat tortillas
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions
Preheat an outdoor grill to medium (or a grill pan over medium-high heat). Place sausage, onion and pepper on grill in a grill basket; cook, flipping once, until sausage is golden and vegetables start to brown, about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from grill and set aside until ready to use.


To prepare pizzas, spread 2 tablespoons of sauce on each tortilla. Sprinkle each with 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano and then top each with 1/4 of sausage-vegetable mixture; top each with 3 tablespoons of cheese.


Place pizzas on grill (or as many as will fit on grill pan at one time) and cook until edges begin to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes; rotate pizzas. Continue cooking until cheese is bubbly, about 2 to 4 minutes more. (If all 4 pizzas do not fit on grill pan at once, repeat with remaining ingredients.) 1 pizza per serving.

White Chocolate Cranberry Scones

Mix together:
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
6 tablespoons sugar
cut in 6 tablespoons butter

Add:
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup craisins

Stir in:
1 cup milk or OJ

Knead lightly and cut into thirds

Make each third into a round mound flattened by your hand

Cut each mound into quarters to make rounded triangles

Bake at 400 degrees on a greased cookie sheet (I use parchment) for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden on top!

These turn out much more moist than most scones. They are quick and YUMMY!

I Wouldn't Call This A Recipe...

I made this ordinary pasta dish into a scrummy meal that was quick and quite "figure friendly", if I might be so bold as to quote Miss 30 Minute Meals herself. Kev and I had been eating not so healthy stuff and just pasta on its own didn't sound like the nutrition we needed so I added stuff, and it came out like this...

Here is what you need:
1 box omega infused, whole grain pasta (I use Barilla Plus)
1 jar of tomato sauce
1 box of frozen spinach
1-2 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
1 pack Chicken sausages

whatever extra italian spices you like
Parmesean to your liking
I think I also threw in some chicken stock at some point?

Here is what to do:
Boil water for pasta, cook and drain. This might seem like an unnecessary step to you, but if I were following this recipe I would find it helpful! Slice sausages into disks and brown(most of the chicken sausage I buy is pre-cooked but I have found a few that are not so be careful). Remove sausage from pan and add fully drained spinach any spices you like, sour cream, and a bit of chicken stock to create a sort of creamed spinach Then add in tomato sauce, and sausage. Simmer until heated through.
Serve with pasta and top with parm.
See, not really a recipe, but quite a tasty meal and while I'm not endorsing it to the point of telling you to try it tonight, I am endorcing looking in your pantry and being creative!
Toodles,
Art Teacher

By the way sorry there is no picture, but I am sure if you make this, it will look different then mine, as we are different cooks. Just imagine what pasta, sauce, spinach, and sausage look like together and that will give you a sufficient visual aid.

Chess Squares aka Nieman Marcus Bars aka PERFECTION

A delicious treat... which is not on the diet :) This is a great bar cookie to bring friends, a pot-luck, or to just eat all by yourself~ (I didn't make these recently because as you know, Slim and I are watching what we eat)



Ingredients:
1 box Pillsbury yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick melted butter
1 8-oz. cream cheese- softened
1 box powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Mix together the cake mix, egg, and butter. Spread them into a greased 9x13 pan.

Combine remaining ingredients and spread them over the top.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes- or until lightly browned. Cool and serve.

Note: The center will remain soft until thoroughly cooled, also do not let it get too brown around the edges.

**you can also make this with a chocolate cake mix, to change it up a bit!

Tried and True

This is an old favorite of mine(and many others for that matter). Never the less, it is the perfect casserole to take to a friend in need, or just to throw together for a quick week night meal...enjoy!
p.s. the photo is not mine...I stole it from Mr. Google!

Poppy Seed Chicken
8 Boneless skinless chicken breast (I just throw in whatever I have and if I have left over meat I use it for something else!)
2 cans cream soup... I like it best with cream of mushroom
8 oz of sour cream
1 roll of ritz crackers
1 stick of butter melted

Boil chicken and shred
Mix soup, sour cream, and chicken
put mixture into a lightly sprayed casserole dish
Crush crackers into a skillet and add butter...brown crackers lightly, then spread over chicken mixture.
Sprinkle casserole with poppy seeds generously or not so generously depending on how you feel about poppy seeds.
Bake at 350 for about 30 mins or until heated through.

My own personal notes:
I cut this recipe in half since it is normally just me and the mister eating. I also used reduced fat everything and only about 1/2 a stick of butter.

Kind Regards,
Art Teacher

Delicious Low-Fat Cauliflower

(0 points, per serving, on Weight Watchers)

My mom gave me this recipe last year, and it has become a favorite in the Gillian household. Not only is it delicious, but it is SO easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen cauliflower
Non-stick Spray- I use olive oil spray
Season Salt

Directions:
-Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
-Place frozen cauliflower on a sprayed jelly-roll pan. Spray lightly with oil again, and then sprinkle with season salt.
-Bake until crisp on both sides. (Be sure to keep your eye on it, because it can get crisp fast!)
-Enjoy!

An online cookbook

I had an idea to start this blogging cookbook, where friends and family members from all around the country can log in and post great recipes they might develop or come across.


If you would like to be an author on this blog, let me know, and I will add you.

Get creative, take pictures, have fun, and share your delicious recipes!!!