Desserts

Okay, so i've been getting requests to add desserts and I've been putting it off because I don't really have any that are my own. But right now I have two favorites from Pampered Chef that I have been making alot. So here they are.

WARM NUTTY CARAMEL BROWNIES
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate)
1 pkg brownie mix (with all the ingredients to make cake like brownies)
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1C salted mixed nuts
5 rolls of rolos. I like to buy a small bag. The more caramels the better
Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)
*this recipe calls for a large bar pan. If you don't have one you can order one through me ;) or you can use a regular 13x9 and just bake a bit longer.

preheat oven to 375 and mix brownie mix, eggs, water, oil and 1/4 c. of brown sugar. mix well then stir in 1 1/2 c chopped chocolate chips. Pour in to pan. Chop half the nuts and mix with 1/2 c brown sugar and sprinkle on top of batter. Bake for 20 minutes if you are using a bar pan and 30-35 if you are using a 13x9. While your brownie is in the oven chop 20 caramels into quarters. Put remaining chocolate chips into a large bowl and melt in microwave (stir every 20 seconds to prevent burning). Spoon into ziplock bag and set aside.
Remove pan from oven. Immediately press whole caramels in rows of 6 into brownie. sprinkle chopped caramels and nuts on top then cut tip of ziplock bag and drizzle chocolate evenly over top. Serve warm with ice cream or cold without. If your heart stops call 911 immediately. ha ha


CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE BROWNIE CUPS
1 2/3c semi sweet chocolate chips
2T butter
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
2/3 C all purpose flour
3/4 C heavy cream
*whipped topping and nuts for garnish*

You will need a mini muffin pan for this recipe. Preheat oven to 325. Spray wells with nonstick spray. Place 2/3 C of chocolate chips and butter into a large bowl. Melt in microwave for 60 seconds stirring every 20 seconds to prevent burning. Once smooth add sugar and egg in to bowl. Mix well. add flour til incorporated. Use two teaspoons and fill wells 2/3 full. Bake 10 minutes (do not overbake).
Meanwhile, mix cream and 1C chocolate chips into a large bowl melt in microwave until smooth. Place bowl in freezer for 10-15 minutes stirring every 5. After thickening scoop into ziplock.
Remove pan from oven and press tops of brownies in with tart shaper to make indentations. Cool for 3 minutes and remove from pan to cooking rack. Cut tip of ziplock and squeeze chocolate into brownie cups. top with whipped topping and nuts.

Both these desserts are super rich but VERY yummy.

Meatballs

These meetballs are AWESOME. I use them in spaghetti and sometimes i'll make them and put some kraft sweet and sour on them with a can of pineapples (drained) and have them with rice. YUMM.

1lb of ground beef
1/2c Dry Italian bread crumbs
1/4c milk
1/2 t garlic salt
1/2t Worcestershire sauce
1/4t pepper
1small onion (chopped really fine)
1large egg


Mix all ingredients roll into balls and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Ooh and if you do them in spaghetti the BEST way to do them is to sear them on the outside in some olive oil and then throw them in the sauce. If you sear them first it locks all the flavors in and it also puts a crust around the outside to prevent them from falling apart in the sauce.

The BEST Chocolate Cheesecake Ever

4 8oz packages cream cheese
1c Sugar
1t Vanilla
1 box semi-sweet chocolate squares (melted)
4 eggs
18 Oreos (crushed)
2T Butter

Melt butter and mix with oreo crumbs. Press in to bottom of spring form pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. You can also buy the premade oreo crusts. If you do this it will make two. So you have an extra one to bring over here.

Filling: Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla til well blended. Add chocolate and eggs and blend all together. Pour over crust.

Bake at 350 til center is almost set. To prevent cracking add water to a sheet pan and place your cheesecake in the center.

Refrigerate for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Summer Pasta

I love this Pasta Salad recipe. It's fresh, colorful, deliscious, Yummy.. All the above. The original recipe is from Kraft but I added some extras and changed a few things.

8oz Bowtie Pasta cooked al dente. Usually 8oz is half of a small box.
8 stalks cooked asparagas. Cut in 1" sections. Steam til barely tender.
12 cherry tomatoes, halved.
12 medium or large shrimp. Cooked and halved down the middle lengthwise.
1 can artichoke hearts drained.
1/4C fresh grated parmesean.
small bottle of zesty italian dressing. (kraft recipe calls for vinigerette, but we prefer zesty)

Add first 5 ingredients. Stir in dressing and parmesean cheese. Great for summer picnics or just to have as a meal by itself.

Favorite Spaghetti Sauce

This is our favorite spaghetti sauce. Because this takes so long to cook I like to double or triple the batch and freeze some for later. And don't try to use a crock pot. It doesn't taste as good. It's tons better on the stove. Remember the splatter screen it can get messy.

1lb ground beef
1/2lb italian sausage. I get mine from the butcher but if you buy it in links just squeeze it out of the casing. They do have pretty good links at Walmart. It's in the pork section in the meat dept.
3 Cans tomato sauce
1 cans diced tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
4 Tbs Olive Oil
1C heavy cream
1T basil

Put Oil and pressed garlic in to pan. Before the garlic browns all the way add the beef and pork (garlic will continue to brown while meat is cooking). When meat is cooked add your cans of tomatoes. Do not drain the oil out. There is lots of flavor in it.

Cook on medium heat for about 4 hours stirring every 20 minutes. After 4 hours add basil and cream. Cook for about 10 minutes then take off heat. Sauce will be pretty thick. You do not have to add anything else to the sauce. You can add more cream if you'd like. We like ours light orange almost pinkish in color.

We also use this sauce in our lasagna. So much better than your basic red sauce.
I was making this today and just had another tip. Water down your can a bit to get the extra sauce out and pour it in the pot.

Mozerella Chicken

This one I made up one time trying to impress Derek with my Italian cooking. He went on his mission to Rome so he thinks he's Italian now. What would I know about being Italian? But this recipe is so quick and easy. And it will taste like you spent all day in the kitchen. Everyone we make it for loves it (even kids).

4-6 Chicken Breast. Amount depends on how many people you are feeding.
1 Mozerella ball. whichever brand you like
2 eggs
Italian bread crumbs

Cut Mozerella ball in to 8 peices. You can do bigger peices or smaller peices. Just depends on how much you like in there.
Pound out the chicken breasts flat. If you place siran wrap on top it flattens it out smoother.
Place mozerella on one side of chicken and roll up. Dip in to eggs then bread crumbs. Place in baking dish (you will need to spray the cheese gets oozy).

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Bake time will depend on how many you are making. The cheese will ooze out when it's done.

Top with your favorite red sauce (we prefer marinara). Serve on noodles. Mmmm I want some now.

Cream Sauce

This is a white sauce we really enjoy. We are not alfredo fans but this cream sauce is awesome.

2 chicken breast (cubed)
1tsp garlic salt
4T butter
4T flour
2C heavy Cream
1small zuchinni
1/2 carton of mushrooms

Coat pan with oil olive oil, add chicken breast pieces and garlic salt. After chicken is done on the outside add butter and flour. After butter is melted add heavy cream. stir really well to dissolve flour. Add zuchinni and mushrooms. If sauce is too thick for you you can add more cream. For more flavor you can add more garlic salt if you would like. Serve over your favorite kind of pasta. We prefer angel hair with this sauce.

French Toast Breakfast

This is our new favorite breakfast. Cinamon French Toast and Butter Syrup... mmmmm mmmm... Our boys will some times ask for it for dinner. This is a recipe I got from a Daughter or the Utah Pioneers.

Egg Bath
6-8 Eggs
1C Coffee Creamer. This is cheaper than using milk and the cinamon breaks down easier in it.
1Tbs Cinamon
1Tbs Vanilla



Butter Syrup
1 Stick "real" butter.
1c Sugar
1/2c Buttermilk
1tsp baking soda
1tsp vanilla

Heat first 3 ingredients in a larger pot (mixture will foam up) til sugar is all dissolved. Take off heat and add the baking sod and vanilla. Stir good. Watch you mixture it will foam up pretty high.

Easy Guacamole

5 avacados. Good avacados weigh heavier than thier size and give a little when you push on them.
1 medium tomato
2 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
1/2 lime juice. Remember to pick the ones with shiny smooth skin so you can get more juice out of it.
1 tsp of salt

Smooth avacados, garlic, lime juice and salt in a blender or food processor. Set aside in large bow. Blend onion to teeny tiny pieces. Put in avacado mixture. Cut tomato and squeeze all the seeds out before blending. Add to mixture. Stir up good and serve.

Grilled Chicken Breast

These are our two favorites that we make.

Marinade #1
Buffalo Wild Wings Garlic Paremsean Sauce. It's nasty on wings but great on chicken breast. Marinade over night. We have this one with salad or our favorite Pasta Roni box.

Marinade#2
Juice of 1 lime with 2 tbs jamaican rub (we prefer Pampered Chef's Jamaican Jerk Rub). I like to chop up 1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper with some cilantro(maybe 4 Tbs, more if you like more) and half lime juiced. Place a fat slice of Colby Jack Cheese on top til melted before taking chicken off the grill. Top with bell pepper salsa.

Shrimp on the Grill

This is our favorite grilled shrimp. I'm not sure on exact measurements because I just eyeball it when i'm putting it in. But i'll try to so my best to guess what it is.

12 large shrimp peeled and de-veined
2 Tbs Kraft parmesean cheese. The powdery stuff is the best.
1 tsp Garlic Salt
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Mix it all together in a large mixing bowl and put them on the grill. We use a grill basket but you can use skewer sticks as well. Don't forget to soak those good first so they don't burn. You can also put the mixture on Veggies instead of shrimp. It's wierd but it gives a different flavor.

Lime-Aid

Here is a recipe for homemade Lime-aid. You can use lemons if you'd like. This is a recipe I kind of just made up for my family. We all love it.

2cups Sugar
2cups Water
4 med limes. You get more juice if you pick limes with a shiny smooth skin. Sam's Club has a dozen limes for 2.86
5-6 cups Club soda or Water. Water saves better in the fridge. Club soda will go flat after a while.


Boil Sugar and Water til dissolved. Squeeze in lime juice. Put in to a large pitcher (I like to use my Pampered Chef Pitcher so I can see my measurements) then add cold water or club soda to make 2 litres (I would guess about 4-5 cups). This is a very refreshing tart/sweet drink.