Sweet tooth fix

While driving home yesterday, I had a taste for those incredibly divine and 'Smoregasmic' Smores Bars from the other week, but I wasn't in the mood to make it and didn't want the entire pan sitting there, taunting me to eat 'just one more' since the old man doesn't care for them (WEIRD-O!). So I stopped at a Walgreens and was hoping they'd have a cookie bar mix or something but no such luck - just brownies. Boo! So I found a package of chocolate chips, checked out the back side and saw that I had everything to make its cookie bars.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Nestle's)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened*
  
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I like pecans) (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375* Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan. **
   
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
3. Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in large mixer bowl.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
5. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
7. Spread into prepared pan.
8. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. ***

*Neat trick to soften cold butter ... cut up in pieces and trhow in bowl and mix, mix, mix, mix till softened. Then add sugar and mix again. Much faster than waiting an hour or so to make butter room temperature.
** I used 9x13 and lined with parchment paper - a gift from the gods.
*** If using a smaller pan like I did, just make sure the entire thing is the same color when taking out; no need to add time. I baked for 20 minutes and waited an additional two or three minutes for the entire thing to be brown and they came out PERFECT.

D E L I C I O U S!

Salsa Chicken

It just doesn't get any easier than this.

Salsa Chicken

• 1 pound boneless chicken breast (can be frozen!)
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 package fresh salsa (or make your own since it calls for 'fresh')
• 1 can condensed cream of something soup (I used Chicken)
• 1 small container or 1 cup sour cream
• 1 crockpot
  

1. Place chicken on bottom of crock.
2. Cover chicken with contents of taco seasoning package.
3. Add salsa on top of that.
4. Then the soup.
5. Make sure chicken is covered.
6. Cover crock.
7. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
8. Add sour cream, stir, and heat.
9. Serve over rice.

(It's probably best to quickly shred the chicken before adding the sour cream but my husband has a thing about shredded chicken.) I thought this was rather tasty but the old man wasn't too much of a fan... didn't hate it, but didn't love it. But he's a bit of a food snob and isn't a fan of many crockpot meals. The weirdo.

Sloppy Joe Bake

My husband, who claims to dislike Sloppy Joes, likes this dish. So much so that he has seconds and that's the tell tale sign for me when I can make a dish again.

This dish is a combo of these two recipes here and here.

Sloppy Joe Bake

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion - diced
• 1 green pepper - diced
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup Bisquick
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In hot lightly oil pan, cook onion and pepper for a couple minutes till the onion gets a bit translucent.
3. Move onion and pepper to a bowl.
4. In same pan, cook ground beef till brown and drain.
5. While beef is cooking, mix Bisquick, egg, water and 1 cup of cheese and set aside.
6. Add onion and pepper back to beef mixture.
7. Next add ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, salt, and pepper and mix good and cook till hot.
8. Transfer meat mixture to a greased 9x9 pan.
9. Cover meat mixture with bisquick mixture and spread to coat top.
10. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
11. Pop in oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes till golden brown.

I served next to some tomatoes with salt, pepper, basil, EVOO, and vingar... Delicious!

Laughing Cow Chicken

It's been a rough week as far as cooking. Once again, we never made it out to the grocery store so we ordered delivery Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I was out with a friend so I brought home something.

Tonight, I finally cooked again... and it was pretty decent again. Yay!

Laughing Cow Chicken

(found here)

• 2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally 3/4 of the way through (so you can stuff the inside)
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow light cheese, one per breast (I used garlic & herb instead)
• Italian seasoning to taste
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (I used Italian seasoned)
• Handful grated parmesan cheese
• Cooking spray
• Salt and pepper
  

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butterfly cut each chicken breast and spread one wedge of Laughing Cow inside the middle. Sprinkle Italian seasoning inside to taste. (I actually mixed my cheese and Italian seasoning in a bowl before spreading it on the chicken to give a nice even flavor) Fold chicken back over to original shape.
3. Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish. Spray each chicken breast with cooking spray and then dip in bread crumb mixture to coat. Place on baking sheet.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

I served alongside those infamous Crash Hot Potatoes, which seem to make their way in our home once a week lately, and salad. The only thing I would do differently next time is I would season the breast with salt and pepper on the outside.

The hubs liked the meal just fine but says the Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken is still the best so far.

S'mores Cookie Bars

Um, these things are - as a friend likes to say - S'MOREGASMIC!


I had seen the recipe for these a while back and while they looked incredible and the reviews were incredible I did a, well, incredible job staying away. Willpower at its finest. Until now, that is.

Not sure what it was, but it was like they've been calling out to me so I finally had to succumb and WOW am I glad I did.

S'mores Cookie Bars
(I believe taken from here)

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.
6. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
7. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
8. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick.
9. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.
10. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
11. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned.
12. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 16 cookie bars.