Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Death by Chocolate

I figured since I posted a healthy snack, I might as well even thing out and post a not so healthy, but man is it GOOD snack!!

Death by Chocolate is an easy, customizable dessert.

Layer the following:
Brownies
Crushed Oreos
Pudding (I usually use the canned pudding)
Cool Whip
Heath pieces

I make it with two layers and then decorate the top with Reese's or something fun!

To customize it add your own chocolate favorite such as:
Reese's
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ande's Mints
Milano Cookies
etc.

Fruit Salsa

Ingrediants
10-12 Strawberries
2 kiwis
1 Granny Smith Apple
2 Tablespoons Apple Jelly

~ Cut the tops off the strawberries and chop in chopper. Put strawberries
and juice from strawberries in bowl.
~ Peel the kiwis and chop in chopper and put kiwis and juice from kiwis in bowl.
~ Peel the apple and cut away from core. Put apple in chopper and chop finely.
~ Combine all ingredients including apple jelly in bowl and mix together.
~ Chill in fridge

Makes about 2 cups.

Serve with cinnamon wheat thins. (I usually buy two boxes because one is
not enough.) or any other cinnamon dipper!

Enjoy this healthy snack! :)

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Hot Onion Dip

If you have to take an appetizer, you won't go wrong with the dish. It is a crowd pleaser!!

3--8 oz packs of cream cheese (softened)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups--Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup--Miracle Whip or Mayo

Pre-heat oven to 375*. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside. Mix all ingredients together. Pour the mixture into the buttered dish and smooth out. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with your favorite crackers (I highly recommend Wheat Thins).

Enjoy!!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Pad Thai w/Shrimp or Chicken

Laura - this is especially for you and Dave. :)

From the Betty Crocker Cookbook:

Prep: 35 min Cook: 5 min 4 Servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1 package (6-8 oz) linguine-style stir-fry rice noodles (rice stick noodles)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped, or 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs, beaten
12 oz frozen cooked peeled deveined medium shrimp, thawed - or 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/4 cup finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
4 medium green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves

1. Cook noodles till soft but firm. Drain and rinse with cold water

2. In small bowl, stir lim juice, water, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper and 1 tablespoon of oil until well mixed; set aside.

3. In nonstick wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and shallot in oil about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until starting to brown. Add eggs. Good about 2 minutes, stirring gently and constantly, until scrambled but still moist.

4. Stir in noodles and lime juice mixture. Increase heat to high. Cook about 1 minute, tossing constantly with 2 wooden spoons, until sauce begins to thicken. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, tossing with 2 wooden spoons, until noodles are tender. Place on serving platter. Sprinkle with cilantro. Garnish with additional chopped dry-roasted peanuts and green onions if desired.


Ok, the recipe says it makes 4 servings, but there's no way the two of us could eat half of this in one sitting - I'd say this is more like 6-8 servings. Also, it gives the option of fish or soy sauce. We tried fish sauce once and found it to be the most repulsive thing we've ever tried to cook with!! I really REALLY recommend just using soy sauce. :) (fish sauce smells and tastes like old, rotting fish...honestly) A few more changes we make: If we don't have rice noodles, we'll often just use the whole wheat spaghetti noodles we already have and it's just as good. We also don't chop the peanuts (we're lazy), but it's good with whole ones in there. When I make it, I use a LOT more cilantro than the recipe calls for because cilantro is DELICIOUS and when you buy it, you have to buy a lot more than 1/4 cup and I don't want to waste it all. And when we're making it for just the two of us, we only use one package of bean sprouts (about a cup and a half) and we still have tons of leftovers. It does heat up really well for lunches, though. :)

Oh, and I have NO idea why you're supposed to use 2 wooden spoons... I just use whatever is on hand...

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Chocolate Mint Cake

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 16 oz chocolate syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 3/4 cups confectioners/powdered sugar
  • 3 Tbl milk
  • 1 tsp mint extract
  • 3 drops green food coloring
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 6 Tbl butter
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 baking pan
  2. Cream 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup sugar. Beat in the eggs. Stir in chocolate syrup and vanilla. Mix in flour and salt. Stir only until combined. Pour batter into pan and back for 30 minutes. Let cake cool completely.
  3. Mint layer: combine powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter (softened), mint extract, food coloring and milk. Blend until light and spread over top of cooled cake.
  4. Chocolate Glaze: melt chocolate and 6 Tbl butter over low heat. Let cool slightly and spread on top of mint layer. Chill cake for at least 3 hours before serving.