Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar


DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, peanut butter and melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Spread melted chocolate over the crumb crust. Chill for about 5 minutes, then cut into bars before the chocolate is completely set, then chill until ready to serve.

Thanks, Tiana

Divvies Chocolate Cupcakes

The other night I wanted to make cupcakes but had no eggs. Luckily, I remembered this cupcake recipe from the Martha Stewart show...turned out super yummy! However, I don't know about the frosting as I tried something a little more traditional ;)

Ingredients

Makes 1 dozen
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups water
Divvies Vanilla Frosting
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water until well combined. Add flour mixture to the mixer and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Batter should look and feel more watery than normal cake batters.
Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup 1/2 to 3/4 full. Transfer to oven and bake, rotating pan halfway through cooking, until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
Immediately remove cupcakes from muffin tin and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

check it out!!

Sister Savings

You can go to this website and view all of the ads from each store in one place (ad match at Walmart). Thanks to this amazing woman! There are also many recipe ideas! :o)

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Ingredients
3-4 cooked, chopped chicken breast (use a food chopper to chop it really fine)
1 can corn niblets, drained
1 can black beans, drained
shredded colby jack cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
Lettuce
1 tomato, chopped
Salsa
Ranch
Tortilla Chips
avocado (optional)

Layer in dish: lettuce, corn, black beans, cheese, tomato, salsa, chicken, ranch (in long zig zags), put chips point up around the bowl (if you want), then crush more chips to go on top. Add a few slices of avocado if desired.

**It looks really classy in a trifle bowl, but it's taller and thinner than most bowls, so you may want to split it up and layer it twice.

YUM!!

really really good minestrone soup

This is one of those recipes that is very easy, but makes you look brilliant in the kitchen!!

Minestrone Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. sliced celery
1 onion, diced
1 quart bottled tomatoes
1 quart water
2 large carrots, cut into coins
2 (80z.) cans tomato sauce
2 T. vegetable seasoning
1 T. parsley (dried)
1/2 tsp. ground basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 can cooked garbanzo beans
1 can cooked green beans
1 can cooked kidney beans
1 1/2 cup mostacioli macaroni (uncooked)

Brown the hamburger and onion. Add the seasoning. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and vegetables. Bring to a boil. Simmer until veggies are cooked (15 to 20 minutes). Add pasta and cook until soft. (15 to 20 minutes)

Serve and ENJOY

German Chocolate Cheesecake

Okay, I realize I have totally slacked at keeping up this blog!! In an effort to do better... I copied this recipe from my friend Kylie's blog. I thought it looked heavenly.

Cheesecake Factory
German Chocolate Cheesecake
Cheesecake:
24 oz cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With an electric mixer or in a food processor, blend together all the ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

Chocolate Cake:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour

In a large microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until just melted. Cool slightly. With fork, beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add flour and mix until well blended. Spoon into well greased 9 1/2 inch springform pan, spreading evenly. Carefully spread the cheese mixture evenly over the top of the chocolate batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off oven, open the door and let the cake cool completely to room temperature. Refrigerate until well chilled. Remove the sides from the springform pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate to the cheesecake is on the bottom and the chocolate cake in on top. Spread the sides with the Chocolate Glaze and the top with the German Chocolate Frosting. Refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

Chocolate Glaze:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons whipping cream

In a small microwave safe bowl combine the chocolate chips with the whipping cream and microwave on high for 45-60 seconds. Beat until smooth. Spread on sides of cheesecake.

German Chocolate Frosting:
2 egg yolks
2/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

In a small microwave safe bowl, beat egg yolks. Stir in sugar, butter and whipping cream. Microwave on high 4 minutes, stirring every minutes. Remove from microwave ans stir in vanilla extract. Stir in pecans and coconut. Refrigerate until mixture is of spreading consistency. Spread on top of cheesecake.

Chicken Curry

This is a quick, and delicious recipie. (My kids even like it)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsp oil
1 small onion
4 chicken breasts (you can leave them whole or cut them into cubes)
1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/3 c. raisins
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp sugar

Saute the onions in the oil. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is done. If the sauce becomes to thick add a little more water.

I serve it over rice (That I cook in the microwave while the chicken is simmering)

2 meals from one!

So after I made the Hawaiian Haystack recipe (see below), I used the leftover chicken gravy mixture in Chicken enchilada's. I am tellin' ya'...it was really good! I do have to say that I would have liked the sauce to be a little thicker for the Hawaiian Haystacks ( I think next time I will only add one cup of milk to the country gravy mix), but it was still good. Anyway...back to the Chicken Enchiladas. This is what I did:



I added another can of Cream of Chicken soup to the leftover chicken gravy mixture.

I added some cumin and stirred it together, and then layered it between flour tortillas and cheese in a 9x13 pan. (I just lay the tortillas flat, starting with some chicken gravy mixture, then a tortilla, then more sauce, then cheese, then repeat). End with cheese on top of course and bake it at 365 degrees til' it's heated through. Then for the last few minutes, I turn on the broiler and it gets the cheese brown and bubbly and delicious. Serve it with a green salad, corn and refried beans mixed with a little salsa and there you have it! It was so yummy and made my weeknight meal planning and cooking a whole lot easier. I went to the store last night and got more ingredients to make it again! I hope someone else gets to enjoy these yummy recipes!

Awesome Hawaiian Haystacks!

So I tried a new recipe tonight for a chicken gravy that can go over rice, potatoes or noodles by itself, or can be the start of Hawaiian Haystacks. We had it as part of Hawaiian Haystacks tonight! I will try to remember the exact recipe:

1 10 oz. can Cream of Chicken Soup
6-8 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used canned chicken breast...3 cans.)
1 small can diced, green chiles
1 package Country Gravy Mix
2 cups milk

Mix the soup and chiles together and pour over chicken (in crockpot).
Mix the milk and Country Gravy mix together and pour over soup and chiles mixture
Stir together and Cook either on high for 1 hour (which is what I did), or on low for 3 hours.

We serve it over steamed rice with:
Grated Cheese
Coconut
Pineapple Chunks
Orange Segments
Diced Celery
Diced tomato
Chow Mien Noodles
and sometimes Green Bell Pepper

It was so good!

Nestle Toll House Chewy cocoa brownies

1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
2 tbsp water
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Nestle Tollhouse Baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 grease 13x9 in baking pan
combine sugar, butter and water in large bowl. stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.
Bake for 18-25 minutes
sprinkle with powdered sugar

Tammy Workman