Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars

Jason came home three days before his engineering Christmas party for work and told me that it was a potluck.  Awesome.  I requested that he try and sign us up to bring a dessert since there were so many on Pinterest that I've wanted to try.  Thankfully, we were able to bring a dessert so I emailed him a few choices like Nutella Pretzel Brownies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pie,  German Chocolate Cake Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Best Ever Buckeye Brownies, Peanut Butter Eclair Cake, and a Triple Chocolate Trifle. (Can you tell that peanut butter and chocolate are my love languages?!?)

Jason chose Picky Palate's Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars and I have to say that I'm glad that he did!  These were pretty easy to make and baked quickly and tasted great.  They were very rich warm but weren't too rich when they were cooled.  And were just as yummy a day or two later as we enjoyed leftovers!  Definitely a good option if you're looking for a pick up dessert to take to Christmas dinner!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Last week I tried a new crockpot soup recipe.  It's from Today's Mama and I found it via 365 Days of Slow Cooking.  I paired the soup with homemade Honey Oatmeal Bread and it was a delicious meal.  I'm looking forward to making it often this winter!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
Honey Oatmeal Bread

Alpha Chi Brunch

A few weeks ago I hosted an Alpha Chi Alum group at my home for a morning meeting.  I loved the treats that I served and wanted to share in case you need an easy brunch menu that can be (mostly) done ahead of time.

Easy Monkey Bread Breakfast Ring

Note: In the future, I will probably tear my biscuits in half before putting them in the pan because putting them in there whole means you get a huge piece when you get one to put on your plate.

When I made it: Morning of because it's EASY to throw together

Poppyseed Bread

Note: I'm not sure if I just read the recipe wrong or what but I used the disposable bread pans and since they were small I split the recipe up into six of them.  That still gave me fantastic bread but gave me very short slices.  I would recommend using those pans but filling each one up before moving on to the next pan.

When I made it: Day before and warmed in 300 degree oven before serving

Fiber One Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Note: These are fantastic and one of my go-to muffins for weekend mornings.  The mix made almost 50 mini muffins though so make sure you need enough before you start making mini ones instead of regular sized ones!

When I made them: Day before and served them room temperature (could also reheat)

I also had two friends bring items and they brought a bowl of sliced fruit with dip and a breakfast casserole.  I served lemonade (for the kids), orange juice, and water.

James' First Birthday Dinner Menu

I often have a hard time coming up with complete menu's.  So I thought I'd share our menu for James' birthday dinner.  We had around 20 family members and ended up with just enough food.  Next time I'll make more because I would much rather have too much than not enough!

James' First Birthday Dinner

Two recipes of Crock Pot Barbecue

(with buns -- both slider size and regular size)
(I accidentally got beef instead of pork but Jason claimed that it tasted fine.  I would make sure that you get close to 5 lb roasts if possible, because mine were closer to 4 and we didn't have quite enough.)

Large bowl of cut fruit

One recipe of Broccoli Salad

One recipe of Mrs. Kelly's Baked Beans

One recipe of Corn Casserole

(So, so, so good! Should have had at least two recipes of this!)

One recipe of Slim Potato Casserole

(this was a little bland but at the same time too peppery -- it could have used a lot more cheese!)

One recipe of Arkansas Green Beans

(Jason said that these were the best green beans that he's ever had.  I would have to agree.  They were out of this world!)

Strawberry Birthday Cake

Cheesy Chicken Crescents

I have seen recipes that involved using crescent rolls to make a ring and so when I was searching for dinner a few weeks ago I thought that I would take that idea and modify it to what I had on hand.  What resulted was a meal that I loved and every single member of our family ate!  Plus, it was somewhat healthy!  I hope it's a hit with your family too!

Cheesy Chicken Crescents
Serves 4-6

2 tubes of Crescent Rolls
1 package of pre-cooked chicken
1/2 can of Organic Soybeans
2 handfuls of Spinach, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 can of Cream of Cheddar Soup
1 cup of Cheddar Cheese

1. Mix chicken, soybeans, spinach, and soup.
2. Lay crescent roll triangles out overlapping to create a sunburst/ring shape.
3. Spoon chicken mixture onto large part of crescent rolls.
4. Wrap crescent roll dough around chicken mixture.
5. Top with cheddar cheese.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F for 20-25 minutes.

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

For two people with such a sweet tooth this recipe has become our kryptonite.  It is astonishingly easy and AMAZING! If you haven't seen this on Pinterest yet then you need to go and repine it and make it the next chance you get.  So good and so easy!

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

1 box Yellow or White Cake Mix
2 Eggs, beaten
5 T melted Butter
2 cups Chocolate Chips (or M and M's or anything!)

Mix together, put in greased pan, bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes!

*Recipe via Lazy Mom.  She has great recipes! Go check her out!

James' Christening Menu

On Sunday we had James' Christening and afterwards our family came over to our home to enjoy lunch.  Mom and I put together and meal and I was very happy with the way it turned out and the ease that it took to prepare everything.  We fed almost 25 people with this so I wanted to share what we had made in case you are in need of an easy menu for a lot of people!

Slow Cooker BBQ (2 recipes, cooked on Low for 13 hours) with Buns

Slow Cooker Baked Beans (recipe below)

Strawberry Spinach Salad (substituted Strawberry's for Apple's)

Cut Fruit

The Pioneer Woman's Fancy Macaroni

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Cake

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Baked Beans

Ketchup

Yellow Mustard

Chopped Onions

Bacon

Brown Sugar

Worcestershire Sauce

1. Mix all together in a slow cooker and cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 8.

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

I haven't been doing Recipe Wednesday lately because the recipes that I've been cooking are mostly from eMeals and I don't feel like it would be right to share those recipes online.  But last weekend my parents had us over for a Memorial Day cookout and in addition to the rest of the wonderful meal they made a grilled salad that was amazing!  I took some pictures before we served it and wanted to share the recipe because it truly was maybe one of the best salads that I've ever had!

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

Yields 6 servings

1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1/2 teaspoon Coarse salt

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for Romaine

Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper

1/3 cup Shaved Red Onion

3 hearts Romain, halved lengthwise, left attached at the stem end

15 mint leaves, sliced

4 ounces Feta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1. In a nonreactive bowl, toss tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let sit 15 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar; whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add vinaigrette to tomatoes, stir in red onion and refrigerate.

2. Heat a charcoal or gas grille to medium-high.  Brush cut sides of lettuce with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place lettuce on grille, cut side down, and allow to char lightly, 3 minutes per side.  Remove lettuce to a platter.

3. Fold mint and feta into tomato mixture.  Spoon tomato mixture over romaine and drizzle some of the marinade over the dish.  Serve immediately.

*Recipe via iVillage

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

This month is turning into the month of breakfast recipes!  This is another one from our Christmas morning brunch.  It was good to feed a crowd.  I felt like it could have used a little more salt and pepper but it was still great the way it was.

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

8-10 servings

6-8 Strips of Bacon

1 Onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove Garlic, peeled and minced

1 Red or Green Pepper, seeded and chopped

1 2 lb bag frozen Hash Browns

1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheese

12 Eggs

1 cup Whole Milk

1 teaspoon Dried Dill

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1. Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cook bacon until crisp, cool, then chop into 1/2 inch pieces.  Set aside.

3. Saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 5 minutes.

4. Place 1/3 of frozen hash browns in the bottom of the crock pot.

5. Add 1/3 bacon, 1/3 of the onion mixture, and 1/3 of the cheese.

6. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.

7. In a large bowl mix eggs, milk, dill, salt, and pepper. 

8. Pour over ingredients.

9. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. 

From A Latte' with Ott, A via Pinterest

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

If you're in need of an easy dessert that you might be able to make just from what's in your fridge and pantry this is a good one.  It's something that Jason and I whip up on night's when we need a little pick me up or want to celebrate a little.  This is a single serving dessert so don't expect to make it for a crowd but it sure is the thing to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

Serves 1

1 sheet of Graham Crackers

1/4 cup Reese's peanut butter chips

Instant chocolate pudding

Cool Whip

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Milk

1. Mix up pudding with milk as instructed on package and let chill.

2. Microwave peanut butter chips in 30 second intervals until it is melted, stirring between each interval.

3. Crush up a few graham crackers to make crumbs.  I keep these in my pantry.

4. Lay out one graham cracker sheet.

5. Spread melted peanut butter chips over the graham cracker.

6. Spoon and spread pudding over the peanut butter.  Let chill for 5 minutes or as long as you can stand.

7. Top with Cool Whip.

8. Garnish with graham cracker crumbs.

Baby Food: Peas, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes

When I had Charlotte people would mention making my own baby food and I would almost convulse at the thought of it.  So Charlotte ate 100% store bought baby food and while I did try to buy organic most of the times, often they didn't have as good a variety of combinations in the organic section so I would get non-organic.

But for some reason I had an itch to make my own baby food for James.  I'm not sure why since I have four times less time as I did when I had Charlotte but, regardless, I decided to try it.  A well meaning family friend gave me The Baby and Toddler Cookbook when James was born and I finally put it to good use once James turned six months old.

On my first baby food outing I made sweet pea's and carrots.  Then, over the weekend I made sweet potatoes.  Not the most fun baby food but they have to start with the basics.  I did make a run to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some needed items -- namely a steamer basket and ice cube trays -- but other than that I already had everything that I needed.

I think the cookbook will come in more handy when I'm trying to think of new things to feed James but since this was pretty basic I just needed to know how long I needed to steam this stuff since I had never steamed anything before.

I was very happy with the end product (even though James still isn't a fan of the pea's) and especially with how easy it was.  It took me less than an hour to make both of these batches and I got 24 cubes of baby food out of it.  I'm sure that it will take less time when I'm more confident with what I'm doing and don't want to do one step, slowly, at a time to make sure I'm doing everything right!

And as far as storage goes, the cookbook that I have says that homemade food can be kept in the fridge for 3 days in an airtight container and in the freezer for 3 months.  If you are defrosting frozen food defrost in the fridge and not on the counter.

I am going to try and share recipes as I come across them but I also started a Pinterest board for it too in case you're interested and want to check it out.  Before you start cooking I'd check out the "Dirty Dozen" list to make sure you buy organic produce that's listed on the dirty dozen.

Baby Food: Sweet Pea's

1 package frozen pea's

1. Fill pan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil.

2. Place steamer into boiling water and pour pea's into steamer.

3. Let pea's steam for about 5 minutes, or until they are bright green and easily smash-able with a fork.

4. Run pea's under cold water to stop them cooking.  Reserve cooking liquid.

5. Pour pea's into a food processor (or blender).  Puree until they are the desired consistency, adding cooking liquid/milk to help thin out the mixture.

6. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

Baby Food: Carrots

1 bushel organic carrots

1. Fill pan with 1 inch of water.  Bring to a boil.

2. Place steamer into boiling water and pour carrot's into steamer.

3. Let steam for 6-8 minutes or until they are tender.

4. Remove carrots and run under cold water.  DO NOT reserve cooking liquid.

5. Pour carrots into a food processor.  Puree until they are the desired consistency, adding fresh water/milk to help thin out the mixture.

6. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

1. Scrub the sweet potatoes clean.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes or until they are soft when you prick with a fork.

3. Scrape the insides into a food processor or blender.

4. Blend until you reach your desired consistency, adding water/milk as needed to help thin out the potatoes.

5. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

(Step 5)

Even though James wasn't the biggest fan the first time he tried them, he ate the peas better than cereal!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

On Christmas morning we invited our parents and siblings over for brunch to see Charlotte's toys and so that we got to see everyone on Christmas day.  I made a few things and one of them were these Blueberry Crumb Bars.  They were very easy and so wonderfully good!  I made them the day before and served them cold and they were great!  The longer they sit the more sour the blueberries get so I wouldn't make them too far ahead of time but the day before was perfect.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

From Jam Hands via Pinterest

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

One of my parents friends makes these cookies and I think they're wonderful.  I felt better about eating more than one of them when she (who is a trainer) said that there wasn't any white sugar in them so they were sort-of healthy.  I later saw the recipe and there's lots of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate in them but they are divine!  If you don't like "stuff" in your cookies these probably aren't for you, but then again, I don't typically like "stuff" and I love these.  Try them and see if you love them as much as we do!

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dried cranberries

6 oz white chocolate broken into pieces

1/2 cup walnut halves finely chopped (optional)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use my favorite new cookie sheets!).

2. Whisk oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in cranberries, chocolate and nuts.

3. Melt butter for 4 minutes until brown. Pour butter into large bowl and whisk in brown sugar until combines. Whisk in cinnamon, then eggs and vanilla, beating well after each. Add dry mixture and stir. 

4. Shape into ping-pong ball size. Bake 16 minutes. Cool on rack.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

After eating the French Dip Croissants that my mom made recently I thought I'd try the same concept with what I had on hand.  I have always loved Chicken Cordon Bleu so I tried a very simple version.  It's, obviously, different than a traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu but I loved the taste.  And you could use this concept with whatever meat or cheese you have in the fridge.  I didn't put any condiments on these before I baked them but I bet they'd be divine with some honey mustard if, unlike me, your husband likes honey mustard.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

16 slices of deli Chicken (sliced thick)

16 slices of deli Ham (sliced thin)

16 slices of Swiss Cheese

2 rolls of Croissants

1. Unroll croissants and stack ham, chicken, and cheese on them. 

2. Roll back up and place on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden.

Bite Sized Cinnamon Rolls

My Mom made numerous breakfast options for us when we celebrated Christmas morning with them and one of the things that she made were these wonderful mini cinnamon rolls.  They are made with crescent roll dough and are wonderful!  I especially love that they can be made ahead of time and just rewarmed or you can serve them right after adding the icing.  Either way, they're great and easy!

Bite Sized Cinnamon Rolls

1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 T Brown Sugar

1 t Cinnamon

1 T Butter

1 T Flour

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

2 t Milk

1. In a small bowl mix together a tablespoon of slightly melted butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour.

2. Open crescent rolls, taking half of dough, and separate at the vertical seams.  Press the diagonal seams of dough together so that the dough is smooth. (keep other half of dough in the fridge)

3. Spoon half of the cinnamon mixture onto dough.  Roll short side up then continue with the remaining dough.

4. Cut 2 inch slices and place all the rolls on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

6. When rolls have cooled, mix powdered sugar and milk.  Add more sugar/milk to get frosting to the consistency of your liking.  Drizzle the sugar over the rolls and then serve or let dry.

From Life's Too Short to Skip Dessert via Pinterest

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

I needed to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving and so the weekend before when we were in Tuscaloosa I gave Jason, Charlie, and Dad a choice of three desserts.  They chose the one that included 'Chocolate Chip Cookie' in the title and now having had the dessert I'm glad that they did!  This was so good but wasn't overly sweet with all of the Cool Whip mixed in that it made it the perfect Thanksgiving (or anytime!) dessert.  If you go to Taste of Home's website their picture shows it much higher than this.  I'm thinking to achieve that look they probably put it in a smaller pan or something to cook.  If you make it in a 9x13 pan it has much thinner layers but it is still so good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

1 tube refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Confectioners' Sugar

12 oz (1 carton) Cool Whip, thawed, divided

3 cups cold 2% Milk

1 package (3.9 oz) Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix

1 package (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften.  Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Fold in 1 3/4 cups Cool Whip.  Spread over crust.

3. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes; let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Spread over cream cheese layer.

4. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm.

From Taste of Home via Pinterest

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

One of the earlier recipes that I saw on Pinterest was a recipe for mozzarella sticks in egg roll wrappers baked instead of fried.  I pinned it and when I was looking for an appetizer to take to Christmas I decided to try it.  Mine didn't turn out exactly like the picture but they were really good.  

In getting all my ducks in a row for this post I found that the person who uploaded the picture on the pin that I repinned basically uploaded a picture of fried mozzarella sticks and said that she would bake instead of fry them.  A little confusing, but I'm glad that she wrote that because this is really easy and even though they don't look as awesome as fried mozzarella sticks they are still great!

I'm modified the recipe to give you the best non-fried approach but if you want the fried version check out the link at the bottom of this post.

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Egg Roll Wrappers

String Cheese

Water

Salsa

1. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with sides with cooking spray.

2. Lay out an egg roll wrapper.  Place a string cheese near a top corner point and begin rolling the wrapper up.  Halfway through fold the outer corners in and continue wrapping.  When you finish rolling moisten the edge with water and seal.

3. Continue with as many wrappers as you have and place on your cookie sheet with a little bit of space between the rolls.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Keep a watch on them to add or take away time.  You want them to get slightly brown but you also don't want all the cheese to seep out.

5.  Serve warm with salsa or marinara sauce.

Modified from Taste of Home via Pinterest

Snickers Cake

I made this cake when Jason's family was over for Christmas and it was a big hit.  I made it early in the day so didn't serve it warm but it might be better that way because it's still pretty gooey when you pull it straight from the oven!

Snickers Cake

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients called for on cake mix (oil, eggs, water)

1 14 oz bag of Caramel squares

1/4 cup Milk

1/3 cup Butter

1-2 cups Chocolate Chips

1 cup Pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Mix together cake mix as directed on the box.  Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

2. While it bakes, unwrap all the caramels. Put the caramels, milk, and butter in a sauce pan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly until caramel is melted and smooth.

3. Pour the caramel on the cake as soon as it is finished baking.

4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans (if desired) on top of the caramel.  Spread the remaining half of the prepared cake mix batter on top.

5. Bake for 20 more minutes at 350 degrees.

From Six Sisters Stuff via Pinterest

Chicken Fried Rice

You would think that something with "fried" in the name of it wouldn't be healthy but this recipe surprisingly is supposed to be.  It is also very tasty and satisfied my ethnic tooth on the cheap.  PLUS I knew exactly what was in it which made me feel better about eating it.  It was also easier to make since I learned that you can scramble eggs in the microwave!  Stir with a fork and then microwave for 45 seconds to a minute for every egg.  Worked great and a tasted perfect! We'll be making this fried rice frequently!

Chicken Fried Rice

2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)

3-4 cups Veggies (I used frozen green peas because I had them on hand)

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken 

2 eggs, scrambled

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

3 tablespoons reduced sodium Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon minced Garlic

1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

1. Add sesame oil to a wok or frying pan over high heat.

2. In a small bowl mix together soy sauce, garlic and vinegar.

3. Drop a single piece of rice in the oil, if it sizzles the wok is ready.

4. Add rice, chicken, and any thick veggies that you're using.  Stir a couple of times and then add the soy sauce mixture.  Stir frequently for about 3 minutes.

5. Add in any remaining veggies and eggs.  Stir for 2 more minutes.

6. Serve immediately.

From The Joy of Clean Eating via Pinterest

Rudolph Cookies

My last blatant Christmas cooking post!  We made these cookies right before Christmas to leave for Santa.  Charlotte loved them and Santa did too!  I messed up a little bit and didn't stick the pretzels in the cookies before cooking so the antlers kept falling off but if you did that they'd be perfect!

Rudolph Cookies

1 tube refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough

Pretzel Twists

Mini Chocolate Chips

Red M&M's

1. Freeze cookie dough for 15 minutes.

2. Roll dough out and use a cookie cutter to cut circles.

3. Pinch circles in about 2/3 of the way down to make the indentation for Rudolph's face.

4. Break the rounded edges off of the pretzels for antlers.

5. Stick the antlers in the top of the cookies.

6. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until golden.

7. When cookies come out put the chocolate chips and m&m's on to make the face.

8. Let cool and serve!

From Southern Living via Pinterest