Chocolate Delight

This is Byron's favorite dessert and one of mine, too.  My mom has made it for years.

We call it Chocolate Delight!

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick butter 

12 oz cool whip (divided)

2 boxes instant chocolate pudding

3 1/2 cups milk

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

Combine first three ingredients.  Press into 9x13 glass pan.  Beat cream cheese with sugar and enough milk to make it smooth.  Fold in half of cool whip.  Spread over graham cracker mixture.  Prepare pudding according to directions using 3 1/2 cups milk.  Pour over cream cheese mixture.  Refrigerate for 1-3 hours or overnight.  Top with remainder of cool whip; serve.

Chocolate Delight

Crockpot Chicken & Cookies

I've made two delicious recipes lately that I wanted to share with you.

My dad is home from the hospital right now until his surgery on Tuesday.  We went over there on Thursday night and I made dinner so that my mom wouldn't have to worry about cooking.  My sister, niece and great-niece also came, so I was feeding a crowd.  I made the Sisterhood's Crockpot Chicken BBQ!
The only thing that I changed was that I used chicken thighs instead of breasts.  I made yellow rice to serve with it, and rolls.
To us, it doesn't really taste BBQ-y, so I am going to come up with another name for it.  I just haven't done that quite yet.  But it was a BIG hit!

And then these cookies....Ohhhh, these cookies.  AMAZING.  I've made them twice now.  Actually I made them once and my talented 12 year old cook made them the second time. Both times we made them exactly by the recipe, but I swear hers taste even better.  They're made with white chocolate chips, crushed oreos, and oreo pudding mix.  These are some delicious cookies!

ENJOY!!!

Creamy Mac and Cheese

Oddly enough, as much as I love to cook, I have never in my life made homemade macaroni and cheese.
My kids have always loved the good old Kraft in the box so much, it just seemed pointless to go to all that trouble.

But I offered to make mac & cheese for my great-niece, Hayleigh's first birthday party, and I decided I was going to finally make the homemade version.

But I didn't even have a recipe.
I wanted one that was delicious, of course, and not elaborate, and it had to be kid-friendly.
I looked in Hunter's mom's cookbooks, but didn't see anything.
I requested help from my friends via Facebook, but didn't get very far.

So I decided to ask Paula.
Paula Deen, that is.
I knew she would never steer me wrong.  And of course, I was right.  It was easy and turned out great.  And even better - it's a crock pot recipe!

So I decided to share this Creamy Macaroni and Cheese recipe with my friends.

1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
1   (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
3   eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cup (about 10-ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8 ounce box isn’t quite 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Add eggs. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

For once, I didn't alter the recipe!
Much.
I did use my ever-present Nature's Seasons, and I also added a little shredded cheese over the top before I served it.

It was a big hit.  In fact, a little 6 year old boy went back for seconds and, discovering that it was almost gone, stated that it was "vewwy mean" of people to have already eaten almost all of it!
AND one more side note: today I decided to make another batch, because I had all of the ingredients that I needed.
Except once I was actually already in the process of making it, I realized I didn't have a second can of cheddar soup.  I decided to try it without it, instead of wasting the ingredients I did have.  I threw some Parmesan cheese in there to cheese it up, just a few tablespoons.
Guess what?  Just as good - if not BETTER.  =D
ETA: Shelbie says it's BETTER!

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

I have a friend named Lori who lives in Philly.  When I posted this recipe on Facebook, she had a hissy fit, or whatever they call hissy fits up there in Philly.  She said it's NOT authentic unless it actually comes from Philadelphia, AND real Philly cheesesteaks contain ZERO vegetables.  No onions, mushrooms or peppers.

Hmph.  Who knew?

So I told her I'd call them FILLY cheesesteak stuffed peppers if it made her happy.  She liked that.

I didn't name the darned things anyway!  Like so many of the new recipes I try these days, I got it from Pinterest.






Whatever you call them, they are GOOD.

And very simple.

The original recipe calls for you to use roast beef, like deli meat. 

Which I think would be good, but Hunter wanted to use something more steak-like.  

So we use stir fry steak strips.

Here are the ingredients to make 6 FILLY stuffed peppers: 

3 bell peppers

1 lb. stir fry steak strips

1/2 large white onion, diced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

12 slices of provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your peppers in half.  Clean out the seeds and stuff.

I boil mine for a few minutes prior to filling because I like a softer stuffed pepper.

Season your meat to taste - I use garlic powder and Nature's Seasons.

Brown it in a little olive oil.  

Sautee the onions and mushrooms.  I am not a mushroom fan so I do half with, half without.

I'm such a people pleaser.

Then you place your peppers on a cookie sheet.

Put one slice of provolone inside of each pepper.  Then fill with the meat, and top with the veggies.

Finally, place another slice of provolone over each pepper.  Pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes, just long enough to melt the provolone.

This is probably Hunter's favorite Pinterest recipe that I've tried.  He LOVES them.  

I also served them to his parents and brother and they were a big hit.

Let me know if you try them!

P.S. Follow me on Pinterest!

P.S.S. Why not follow me on Instagram too? brown_eyed_girl_11

Instafood

I'm an Instagram addict and I'm currently participating in a 

Photo of the Day project.

Today's prompt was #delicious.

This is my contribution.

The Holy Trinity of Southern Cooking

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

I found this on Pinterest and then tweaked it - of course.
It is hands down one of the best things I've ever cooked.  Everyone who has tried it, LOVES it.
I made it for Hunter's parents and they loved me even more than before!
It's one of those dishes that seems hard and kind of impresses people, but it's actually really easy.  It's also very simple to double.

Here's the website with the original recipe: Cooking Creation   Their version uses cajun seasoning and chicken breasts, among a few other differences.  Also, they use toothpicks to seal the chicken shut while cooking.  I prefer wooden skewers cut in half, so that you're not hunting toothpicks before serving.

And here's my version:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (we prefer dark meat)
• 2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded 
• 1 c frozen spinach, thawed and drained (you can also use fresh cooked spinach)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp Italian style breadcrumbs 
• Nature's Seasons, to taste
• wooden skewers, cut in half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the pepper jack cheese, spinach, & seasoning.  Spoon about 1/4 c of the spinach/cheese mixture into each chicken thigh. Roll each chicken thigh tightly and fasten the seams with 3-4 wooden skewers.  

Brush each chicken thigh with the olive oil. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over all. Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top of chicken.  (in my family we don't believe there's any such thing as "too much cheese".)

Place the chicken seam-side up onto a tin foil-lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup).  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

I like to serve it with parmesan orzo and dinner rolls.


PS - I'm (finally) getting a new camera next week and I am SO looking forward to taking good food pictures!!  =D

3 Cheese Chicken Parmesan

I know, I know, I haven't posted here in FOREVER.  Thank you so much for coming back!

A couple of months ago Hunter, my honey-bunny, told me his favorite dish is chicken parmesan.
I had actually never made chicken parm, but I figured, how hard can it be?
I googled and found a couple of recipes, and then created my own, loosely based on what I found.
It was a success, to put it mildly!  Hunter LOVED it, and all of our kids loved it - even his super-picky son, and my youngest, Elayna, who doesn't like spaghetti, lasagna, or many things with tomato sauce.

So, I figured I'd share the recipe with you, my amigos.
Oh - and I don't really measure, so bear with me, I'll estimate when I can.  Sorry!


3 Cheese Chicken Parmesan

6 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 slices of provolone cheese
2 cups of mozzarella cheese
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1 cup bread crumbs
olive oil
tomato sauce (I used jarred sauce, and doctor it up with spices and minced garlic)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Next, pour your breadcrumbs into a large bowl and add about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.  Add your favorite italian spices.  Dip the chicken breasts into the mixture.  Then, brown them in a little olive oil.  No need to fully cook them, you're just giving them a crunchy bread coating.

Heat up your tomato sauce, and add 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.  
Place your browned chicken breasts into a 9x13 baking pan.
Put one slice of provolone over each chicken breast.
Pour tomato sauce mixture over the chicken, and in the pan around it.  
Cover the entire concoction with mozzarella cheese.  
Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your breasts.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.
Serve!

I like to make spinach as a side dish and mix it with the excess tomato sauce while I'm eating it.
Oh.My.God.  Delicious!!!

Everyone who I have made this for now LOVES it.

Hunter really loves and appreciates my cooking, and I love cooking for him, so I'm hoping to get this blog going again.

Next up will be my cheesy spinach stuffed chicken recipe!