Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

I've got a cookie jar full of yum and I've gotta give you the recipe :)

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Cream together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Stir in eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix all together. Put tablespoon-size scoops on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes.

Makes about 45 cookies, about 130 calories per cookie. Super yummy!

Ham & Potato Breakfast Skillet

This is so fast, easy, cost-effective, and delicious... had to share it! Copy cat of Village Inn's breakfast skillets!

Ham and Potato Breakfast Skillet
6 potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 lb ham, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
1 Tbsp minced onions
Seasoning salt, to taste
Salt & Pepper, to taste

In a large pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Dice the potatoes and cook them in the butter until golden brown, stirring frequently. Season with minced onions, seasoning salt, and salt and pepper.

Keep the heat on and stir in eggs. When the eggs are all cooked, throw in the ham. Dump the can of tomatoes with green chilies, mix in the cheese, and stir it all together till the cheese is all melted.

It does not take long and this meal will feed a lot of people for a lot of happy tummies! :)

Side note- try it with other kinds of meats too! I bet bacon or sausage would be delicious!

Homemade Rumbi Rice Bowls

This turned out great. Healthy, filling, delicious, and much cheaper than eating out at one of our favorite restaurants- Rumbi Island Grill! :) I'm excited about this new recipe! It tastes quite a bit like the restaurant version! I got the inspiration from Favorite Family Recipes. Mine's just a little easier :) Hope you like it!

Rumbi Rice
2 cups uncooked white rice
1 can coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 Tbsp sugar
Vegetable oil
1 can red beans

Line the bottom of a large pot with oil. Stir fry the rice until it's coated and sizzling. Add the coconut milk, water, and sugar. Cover and cook until all the liquid is absorbed. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the red beans.

Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger

Stir till sugar dissolves

Chicken and vegetables
1-2 lbs chicken breast
1 pkg frozen chopped veggies (I used broccoli stir fry)
Vegetable oil
Teriyaki Sauce (recipe above)

Cut the chicken into small pieces and cook with oil on a frying pan. When the chicken is cooked tender (easy to cut into), drizzle half of the teriyaki sauce on it and stir fry for a few minutes. Add the vegetables and stir in the rest of the teriyaki sauce. Cover and let simmer till the vegetables are thawed. Stir fry till they're cooked through. Remove from heat.

Combine the chicken and veggies with the Rumbi rice, and enjoy!

Crock Pot Hawaiian Haystacks

It's so easy, and you can make this meal as simple or as elegant as you want! Yum!

Crock Pot Hawaiian Haystacks
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
2 cans condensed cream of chicken
1/2 package frozen broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt to taste

Optional topping ideas:
Chow mein noodles
Diced tomatoes
Coconut
Shredded chicken

Canned pineapple

Cook the rice with 3 cups water, and salt to taste, in the crock pot on High for about 1.5 hours. When the rice is cooked, add cream of chicken, broccoli, and cheese. Stir it together and set crock pot to "warm" until you're ready to eat it. Top it how you want, or eat it as is. Enjoy! :)

Cafe Rio Style Chicken Salad

I have a new favorite meal!!!!!! This one takes the cake, it was sooooo good!!! Let me teach you how to make this knock-off Cafe Rio Chicken Salad, so you can enjoy it too!!

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 cups uncooked white rice
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups water
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp dried cilantro
Salt to taste

In a large pot on the stove top, heat the oil and slightly fry the rice in it. Then pour in the water and other ingredients. Cover and let it boil until the water is all absorbed and the rice is tender (add more water if necessary). Stir well and remove from heat.

This is the bottom layer of your salad.

The next layer is a can of Seasoned Black Beans. Drain it and heat it in a small pot on the stove.

Now for the chicken. I got the recipe from Mandy's Recipe Box, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was perfect!

Cafe Rio Chicken
2 lbs chicken breasts
1 cup zesty Italian dressing
1 packet ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup water)
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp chili powder

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on High 5-6 hours. Shred with fork.

Top the salad with romaine lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing. Voila!! A delicious homemade meal, healthier and less expensive than eating out at Cafe Rio/Costa Vida (which might I add are my very FAVORITE restaurants). Try it. Love it. Yum!!!

Cafe Rio Style Chicken Salad
Cilantro Lime rice
Seasoned Black beans
Cafe Rio style chicken
Romaine lettuce
Shredded cheddar cheese
Ranch dressing

Layer it, in that order. Try adding a tortilla, tortilla chips, salsa, avocado, whatever you want! Enjoy!!! :) :)

Crash Hot Potatoes

Tonight I tried the recipe from The Pioneer Woman for Crash Hot Potatoes. It was a hit! We ate it with some delicious grilled steak, watched some football... it was a great Saturday. God bless America :)

Crash Hot Potatoes
Boil potatoes till fork tender (about 20 minutes)
Drizzle olive oil generously on a baking sheet
Smash potatoes individually on the baking sheet (I used the bottom of a big cup to smash them, it worked great)
Drizzle more olive oil on each potato
Season generously (I used salt, pepper, chives, parsley, and seasoning salt)
Bake at 450 for about 25 minutes

They were crispy and delicious!! We loved them!! I definitely have a new go-to potato dish. While it took a little time, it wasn't hard at all, and it would be easy to make a whole bunch. I can't wait to make it again!!

Spicy Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

Here's tonight's dinner! Delicioso!!

Spicy Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the macaroni according to package instructions, then drain. Dump in the crock pot with all other ingredients. Season generously with salt and pepper, and stir. Cook on low for about an hour, then set to "warm" until you're ready to eat it (if you don't wanna use the crock pot, cook it all in a pan in the oven for about half hour at 350). Super easy, fun twist on the regular American dish! Sure to please the whole fam.

**Optional: If you're in the mood for something meatier, throw in some ground beef! Yum! :)

Chicken Bacon Florentine Pasta

I used the recipe from 5 dollar dinners. Here is my slightly adapted version. It was OH so delicious :)

Chicken Bacon Florentine Pasta
1 box penne pasta
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
5 strips of bacon, cut and cooked
10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/4 C Olive oil
Dried Oregano, to taste
Dried Thyme, to taste
Dried basil, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook and drain the pasta, then toss in all other ingredients. Serve warm. It was so delicious!

Crock Pot Cheeseburger Rice

Crock Pot Cheeseburger Rice
1 1/2 C uncooked rice
3 C water
1 lb ground beef, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 C onion, diced
2 C cheddar cheese

Montreal steak seasoning, to taste
Cook the rice and water in the crock pot, about 1.5 hours on High. Stir in all other ingredients and let it sit on "warm" until you are ready to eat it. Yummm :)

Best Crock Pot Mexican Casserole ever!

This easy recipe will make you feel so good about yourself. Everyone who eats it will call you the best cook of all time!

Okay so it's possible I'm exaggerating a tiny bit, but seriously, this stuff is GOOD. And I'm super proud of it. :) The meat adds a lot, but for a quicker version (or a vegetarian version) you can leave it out and still have a delicious, high-protein meal!

Crock Pot Mexican Casserole
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 cup salsa (your favorite kind)
8 oz sour cream
8 oz shredded cheese (any kind)
1 lb cooked ground beef OR cooked shredded chicken (optional)

Stick rice in the crock pot, set to "high," with 3 cups water. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours.

Set crock pot to "warm." Dump all other ingredients into crock pot. Mix, and let it all warm up together for a couple hours. Serves well with tortilla chips!

Seriously guys, it's so easy. And SO. YUMMY. Enjoy!

St Patrick's Day Dinner!

We officially have a new St Patrick's Day Dinner tradition!  Everything we made was soooo good!  I wanted to do something along the lines of "green eggs and ham," so I searched some egg casseroles and came across this "Egg and Spinach Casserole" from allrecipes.com, and it was perfect!  Because the spinach made it green!  And it was sooooo good.  Here's the recipe I used:

6 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (16 oz) package small curd cottage cheese
1 (16 oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl with the onion and flour until the flour is no longer lumpy, then stir in all the other ingredients.  Cook at 350 for about 45 minutes, in a 9x13 pan (don't forget to spray it with Pam!)

Here's a picture- seriously, it's so good!

Then, I made shamrock pancakes!  I just used a mix that you add water to, but I added green food coloring!!  Then I heated up the frying pan and sprayed it, and just kinda moved the mix around to make shamrocks!  So cute!  And tasty :)

Then we had green Kool Aid, and green cookie bark for dessert!  I had seen this "Oreo Cookie Bark" on Pinterest last week, and it gave me an idea for St Patrick's Day, to just add green food coloring!!  I bet you could also use green mint oreos and give it a minty flavor, but I just used this recipe and it was sooooooo unbelievably delicious!!

11 oz Ghirardelli white chocolate chips
16 regular size Oreos

It said to melt the chocolate in a double boiler, but I don't have one, so I just boiled a small pot of water and put the chocolate chips in a glass bowl over it.  The steam does the trick so you don't burn the chocolate, and it works just as well!  So get the chocolate all the way melted into a creamy deliciousness- then put in the food coloring :)  Mash up the oreos, we used a freezer bag and just smashed them.  Then mix the oreos into the melted chocolate, and pour the mixture into a small (8x8 or 8x10) baking dish that is covered in wax paper.

Let the chocolate harden, we put it in the fridge for like 15 minutes.  Then lift it all off with the wax paper, and break it apart!  It was amazing and super easy and festive!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

3-4 chicken breasts
3 cans Great Northern White beans
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (I just get the "original" flavor)
1 can Chicken Broth
1 Tbl Oil
3 cloves minced garlic
4 oz chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 onion (I just sprinkle a bunch of minced onion)

Cook & dice chicken.  Saute onions in oil (unless you take my easy route- minced!)

Combine all ingredients in pot and boil softly for about 15 minutes.  (You can also use a crock pot- 6 hours on high).  Stir it up good!

Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream!

Yum!!! :)

Spooky Brownies

Someone posted this on Facebook and I had to share it here!  So CUTE!  I love Halloween!!!

From "The Wisdom of Witches"


Spooky Brownies
Brownies 
Just use any fun brownie recipe :)  They used:
1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box


Decorations
-1 1/4 cups creamy white frosting (from 16 oz container) 
-Green, pink and blue neon gel food color 
-16 large marshmallows 
-Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits 
-Black decorating gel (from 0.68-oz tube) 
-1 roll fruit roll ups (any red variety) 
-Gummy worms candies 

1. Make brownies as directed on box/whatever recipe you're using. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows, making 16 brownies.

2. Divide frosting among 3 small microwavable bowls. Heat frosting as needed: microwave 1 bowl uncovered on High about 10 seconds until frosting can be stirred smooth. If frosting becomes too firm while decorating, microwave on High an additional 5 seconds; stir.

3. Decorate as directed below, using 5 or 6 brownies for each bowl of frosting.

-Franken-Brownies: Add 3 drops green food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 6 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon green frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Decorate with green baking bits for eyes and ears. Use black gel for mouths and centers of eyes. Cut fruit snack to use for hair.

-Boo-Brownies: Top each of 5 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon white frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use black gel for eyes and mouths.

-Spider Brownies: Add 2 drops pink food color and 1 drop blue food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 5 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Tuck gummy worms candies under each marshmallow for legs. Spoon 1 tablespoon purple frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use orange baking bits for eyes. Use black gel for mouths, centers of eyes and eyebrows

Homemade Apple Fritters

As long as I have known him, Brock has loved Apple Fritters!  They are one of his very favorite treats of all time!  So for Father's Day, I decided to try making him home made ones!  Aaaand, they were DELICIOUS!

Here's the recipe I used (I got it from seeminglygreek.com, but as always, added my own twist and adapted it to how I like it):

Homemade Apple Fritters Recipe:
1 heaping cup All purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
dash salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 T. butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup milk + plus more if needed
1 apple, chopped into peanut size pieces (I used Gala, but just use your favorite kind)

oil for frying
powdered sugar for dusting (mix powdered sugar with melted butter if you want to make a glaze)

Mix dry ingredients together, then slowly add the wet ingredients, minus the apples.  When the batter is kind of a cake-mix texture, fold in the apples.  Heat up the oil in a frying pan, medium heat or lower, and deep enough to cover a little more than half of a scoop of batter.

Using an ice cream scoop, carefully place about 4 scoops of batter into the oil at a time and let them brown.  You can make them as big or small as you want, but a heaping ice cream scoop worked great for me.  Use tongs to grab the sides and flip them over when they are ready.  We dusted them with powdered sugar and ate them while they were still warm.  SO delicious!!!

This is the picture from the recipe blog I used; mine didn't look quite that good (first time around- I'm sure next time they will look much better!  Ha ha)

Try it!  Not super healthy, but very delicious :)  Enjoy!

Crock Pot Ribs

So, in my post about my Super Bowl Meal a while back, I mentioned that I made baby back ribs.  But I never told you how!  Secret- it is the EASIEST thing in the world and they are so so so good.

Crock Pot Ribs


Get some raw pork ribs from the grocery store.  I prefer baby back.  But rib tips are also really good.  Put a little bit of oil in the crock pot, just enough to cover the bottom completely.  Then put your ribs in.  Then, fill the crock pot with coke.  Yes, just regular old coke!  Until the ribs are submersed.  Then pour a bunch of BBQ sauce in as well!  Depending on how many ribs you have, it usually needs to cook about 4 hours.  They are ready when they are nice and juicy and tender- easy to cut, but not quite falling off the bone.

Put them on a platter and drown them in more BBQ sauce.  My favorite- Chipotle sauce!  My 2nd favorite- Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy.  You can buy both of those sauces at Wal Mart.

They are so easy and so delicious!  Now go try it and enjoy!!!

Caramel Brownies

These are the most deliciously moist, perfectly flavorful brownies you will ever eat!  Made from scratch, and SO easy!!!!

I got the recipe from allrecipes.com, but, instead of frosting, I decided to try caramel.  And it was perfect :)

Caramel Brownies


- 1/2 cup butter/margarine
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Caramel flavored Ice Cream topping

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.  Then beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder.  Spread batter into greased 8 inch square pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Do not overcook.

Immediately after removing brownies from the oven, generously drizzle the caramel topping all over them.  It will seep into the wholes and, when it cools, give you the most delicious dessert ever!

Pretty sure I ate the whole pan by myself in like 2 days.  Awesome :)    

The Bagel Sandwich

Let me teach you how to make a sandwich that has breathtaking deliciousness :)

Toast a SaraLee Plain Bagel.

Fold two pieces of Bar S smoked ham lunch meat and place them on the bottom portion of the bagel.

Spread the top portion with 1/3 fat Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese.

Put it together, and enjoy!

It really is so so so good :)  And quite nutritious!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

So easy.  So cheap.  So delicious.  Not too fatty?  WHAT?!  Let me share :-)

1 box Spice Cake Mix
1 can Pumpkin
However many milk chocolate chips you want.

Mix, cook.  That's IT!  I do 350 degrees for about 18 - 20 minutes.

Also, if you're feeling Harry Potter-y, bake them in a cup cake dish and top them with cream cheese frosting for "Pumpkin Pasties!"  DELICIOUS!  Weight Watchers recommended.  Try it.  I promise you'll love it!

The Perfect Late-Night Snack...

Pop one bag of this...

                                       



And drink some of this...

                                                        



Almost NO calories, absolutely delicious, and give you energy without the caffeine headache!

Chocolate - Banana... Supreme!

So, here's the story.  We had family come up for a big barbecue, and I was in charge of dessert.  So, I decided to make pie!  One Banana Cream Pie, which I already provided the recipe for, and then I thought I'd try a Chocolate Silk Pie!  The Banana Cream turned out great, as always.  Perfectly delicious.  And, well, let me give you the recipe I used for the Chocolate Silk...  Use with caution!

 Chocolate Silk Pie


Chocolate Cookie Crust
12 oz can Evaporated Milk
2 egg yolks
12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
Whipped Cream

Whisk together evaporated milk and egg yolks in medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is very hot and thickens slightly; do not boil. Remove from heat; stir in morsels until completely melted and mixture is smooth.

Pour into crust; refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Top with whipped cream before serving.



So, anyway, it didn't ever thicken as I was stirring it.  But I melted the chocolate chips in it, poured it in the crust, and refrigerated it.  About 2 1/2 hours later I took it out.  To me, it looked like the edges were starting to firm up a bit, but the rest was totally liquid!  But it was time to eat pie.  So I tried just mixing a bunch of whipped cream in it to try and firm it up a bit...  But it was still totally runny.  So, we turned it into chocolate soup!

That white stuff in the bowl is additional whipped cream ;-)  Haha.  I honestly think that if we had just let it sit in the fridge a few hours longer it would have been great.  So, if you wanna try it please do!  And leave comments letting me know how it turned out!  But let me tell you something.  If ever there was a delicious chocolate soup, it was that one!  And then we had the brilliant idea of just using it as a topping for the banana cream pie!

I didn't get the picture til it was already partially eaten.  But, you could totally make it look all elegant and fancy.  And it was SO delicious!  So we all decided that we just created a new recipe!  Chocolate Banana Supreme!  (Instead of cream...  get it?  Sorta?).  Many great things are invented by accident, right?  Anyway, so try to make the chocolate pie, if you dare.  Or, you now have a great recipe for Chocolate Pie Topping!  Enjoy!!! :-)