Easy Cookies and Cream Frozen Pie

This recipe appealed to me because it is has 3 things going for it: 1.It's easy 2.It's 'light' 3.It's a dessert that looks delicious.  And it ended up being all those things and I'm so glad I found it.  I will definitely be making this again and again.

Easy Cookies and Cream Frozen Pie
From: The Dashing Dish

Ingredients:
1 cup skim milk
1 pkg chocolate instant pudding mix (regular or sugar free)
1 tub fat free cool whip (de-thawed)
2 Tbs Hershey's syrup (optional)
2 pkg 100 calorie Oreo crisps, crushed (optional)
1 Oreo pre-made pie crust

Directions:
1. Whisk together milk, pudding mix, cool whip, syrup, and oreo crisps in a large bowl until everything is well combined.

2. Pour mixture into the pie crust, and smooth out the top.

3.  Place in the freezer for 4 hours or overnight - until pie filling is thick and frozen to your liking.  Top with Whip Cream and drizzle Chocolate syrup if desired.

Roast Beef Sandwiches Au Jus

 
I made these on New Years day because I was looking for something easy, filling, tasty, and good football type food that wasn't too unhealthy.  These fit the bill.  These aren't from scratch and aren't super fancy, but they are still very delicious!  I would definitely make these again!

Roast Beef Sandwiches Au Jus
From: Food.com



Ingredients:
1 10oz can French onion soup
1 10oz can beef consomme
1/2 - 1 lb thinly sliced deli roast beef
provolone cheese slices (or swiss)
4 hoagie rolls (you can tell from the picture that I didn't get the right kind)
garlic powder and mayonnaise (optional)

Directions:
1. In a medium pot simmer roast beef slices, consomme, and soup until fully cooked.

2. Meanwhile, slice hoagie rolls in half lengthwise, sprinkle with garlic and toast until golden brown.

3. Once the meat has heated through and cooked down, place on half of the hoagie rolls and top with slices of cheese as needed to cover meat.

4. Broil untl cheese melted and bubbly.

5. Serve with Au jus on the side and mayonnaise if desired.

Fancy Broccoli

On a blog I read (Big Mama) she raved about this broccoli as the best broccoli she ever had. Bill is a fan of broccoli and it is one of our go-to sides, however, I never seem to know what to do with it, so I usually just steam it - BORING! So when I saw this recipe I knew I needed to give it a try. It was really delicious - might even be the best broccoli I have ever had and can you really go wrong with garlic, lemon and Parmesan? I had never really tasted broccoli cooked like this before and I'm glad I tried it.  It is slightly more work than just steaming it, but not that much more and it is worth it.  Also I think you could easily leave the cheese out if you wanted to make it a little healthier, but I love me some Parmesan!  I have definitely been using this occasionally to spice up our broccoli options!

Fancy Broccoli
From: Amateur Gourmet via Big Mama

Ingredients:
Broccoli (2 bunches or more)
Olive oil
salt and pepper
2-4 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)
lemon
Parmesan cheese
Pine nuts, if desired (I left those out)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 and cut broccoli into florets (but relatively big ones). Wash if desired but make sure you thoroughly dry them before cooking. Put broccoli on an foil lined cookie sheet.  Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add garlic slices and toss all together.

2.  Roast in the oven 20 minutes or until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned. Shake halfway through cooking

3. When it's done, take it out of the oven and zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze half lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1 1/2 Tbsp more olive oil if desired, and 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts (I left those out), and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

Better than Crack Brownies

When I saw the recipe for Better than Crack Brownies on Jessica's blog, I knew I wanted to try them.  How could I not with a name like that.  However, I wanted to make them sometime for a group of people because I didn't want to end up eating an entire pan all myself.  I made these last weekend for family and they turned out great! I couldn't tell you if they are better than crack, but they are definitely brownies that are maxed out on chocolate and peanut butter and so rich that you feel like you can't eat more than one, but at the same time you wan to eat the whole pan!

Notes:

- I only did nuts on half of the brownies because my brother doesn't like nuts, and both halves were delicious!

- I also used semisweet chocolate chips instead of milk because that is what I had, plus, I like darker chocolate better anyway.

Better than Crack Brownies

From: Jessica at How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:

1 batch brownies (I just used a box mix, but you could make them homemade)

1/2 cup salted peanuts

1 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups

1 1/2 cup milk (or semisweet) chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Directions:

1. Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. 

2. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

3. While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. 

4. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

5. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Kale Chips

Lately I have heard a lot of people talking about eating Kale and Kale Chips.  So I thought I would give it a shot. It sounds like people mainly just keep it simple with olive oil and salt, so I decided to do the same.  They surprisingly turned out delicious.  Crunchy, light, salty, and good flavor.  I definitely recommend trying them!  But just be warned, they are a little addicting... I have made them 3 times in the past 2 weeks!

Kale Chips
From: All Recipes

Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
Sea Salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.   Rinse and thoroughly dry.  Then cut the main stem off of the stems and cut leaves into small pieces.

2. Place on a foil covered cookie sheet.  Toss with olive oil and sea salt, back at 30 for 10-15 minutes until leaves are crisp and edges start to brown. 

Seared Sirloin with 'Shrooms

In the summer any steak we have is usually cooked on the grill.  In the winter though we like to make this steak on the stove a lot.  It is quick, easy, and delicious.

Seared Sirloin with 'Shrooms
From: Men's Health

Ingredients:
2 Sirloin Steaks
1/4 cup red wine or chicken stock
1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1 clove garlic - minced
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Sear the Steaks in a skillet on medium high (about 2-3 minutes per side), seasoning each side with a pinch of salt and pepper as the other side cooks.  Remove the steaks from the skillet, and reduce the heat to medium

2. Put Olive oil, thyme, and garlic in the skillet, stirring frequently and scraping with a spoon to release the brown bits left behind by the meat. (about 30 seconds)

3. Add the stock and mushrooms, stirring often until the mushrooms soften (about 3 minutes)

Sesame-Soy Salmon

 

 This was the very first recipe I made when I got my Cast Iron Dutch oven from my mom a while ago.  I saw it first on Ashley's blog and thought it looked delicious and realized it was in the cookbook my mom gave me (Glorious One-Pot Meals).  I made this again yesterday and realized that I never posted it when I made it the first time. I love making the entire meal in one pot (and I especially love using my cast iron dutch oven) and this one was really tasty. I was surprised at how light it was as well as how well the avocado worked with the Asian flavors. I might double mixture that gets put over top for flavor though next time to amp it up a little.

Sesame-Soy Salmon
From: Glorious One-Pot Meals and Ashley

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tsp sesame oil or canola oil spray
1 cup jasmine rice
1/2 to 3/4 pound salmon fillet
2 carrots, julienned
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/8 tsp sugar
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 head red cabbage, shredded (about 2 cups)
1 avocado, sliced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Coat the inside and lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven with 2 tsp of the sesame oil or spray with canola oil.

3. Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold water until the water runs clear.  Tip the rice into the pot.  Add 1 cup plus Tbsp water (or broth) and stir to make an even layer.  Place the salmon in the pot and scatter the carrots on top of the fish.

4. In a small bowl, mix the remaining sesame oil, the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour half of the mixture into the pot

5. Layer in the cabbage and top with the avocado.  Pour the rest of the soy sauce mixture over the top.

6. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

I made these for Valentine's Day this year.  I happened to have all the ingredients in the house and I figured if I was going to make a dessert on a weekday, when better than on Valentine's!  I got this recipe from a coworker and I have made it a few times, but never took any pictures.  Of course this time I took pictures, but I ended up over cooking the cakes a little too long so the lava wasn't flowing quite as much as it had in previous times, but still very delicious!!!

Chocolate Lava Cakes
From: Kelly

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp Butter (room temp) - 1 Tbsp to grease the muffin tins
1/3 cup sugar and more for tins
3 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (Melt in the microwave in 20 seconds intervals until fully melted)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter tins, sprinkle w/ sugar and tap off excess

2. In bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. With mixer on low, beat in flour and salt until just combined, scraping down sides as needed.  Fold in melted chocolate

4. Divide batter among 6-8 muffin cups.  bake just until tops are set (9-11 minutes)
- VERY IMPORTANT - As soon as the tops are set, it's done.  It won't look like a cupcake or anything.  It should ooze chocolate when you cut into it.

Guac 'n Roll

My sister-in-law, Olga, gave me this recipe from her Hungry Girl book.  I am a sucker for anything with avocados, and especially love guacamole, so this was right up my alley.  This adds peas to the mix to make a little more, it is also a little creamier with the addition of the greek yogurt.  I liked it,  but I also like my old standby Guac Recipe!

Guac 'n Roll
From: Olga from Hungry Girl


Ingredients:
1 15oz can peas, drained
1/2 cup mashed avocado (about medium-small avocado's worth)
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup fat-free greek yogurt
4 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
Optional: chopped cilantro or jalapenos

Directions:
1. Place drained peas in a medium bowl and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or fork. Add avocado and mash.

2. Add all other ingredients except tomatoes, onions and optional items continue to mash until blended.

3.Stir in the tomatoes, onions and if you like, some chopped cilantro and/or jalapenos.  Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

Red Velvet Cake

Last year I made a Red Velvet Cake for Valentine;s day.  I was going to post it, but to be honest, who wants a red velvet cake recipe the day after Valentine's day? So I was going to post it in time for this Valentine's day, but I realized I don't even remember what recipe I used!  Then I remembered the cake didn't turn out as great as I had hoped.  The cake ended up a little dry, and I added so much red food coloring and it still wasn't a red as I had hoped (although the homemade cream cheese frosting was as good as ever!).  So here is hoping your red velvet cake turns out better than mine! If you have a fool proof recipe for this, please let me know.  Happy Valentines Day!