Pie Maker, Pie Maker, Make Me A Pie

Today, I ran across a pie recipe that sounded really good to me. So . . . I made it. It is so easy, smooth, creamy & yummy!

My camera is on its deathbed, but I tried to take some (albeit) crummy photos for you.

Peanut Butter Pie with "Lazy Tips" by Kristin

Crust:

1 1/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
Mix together and press into pie pan. Bake 10 min at 375 degrees & then cool.

** Lazy Tip: Buy one of those chocolate pie crusts that are already made. I was even lazier and used a graham cracker crust.

Filling:

1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter (You could use crunch, too, I suppose.)
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cool whip

Mix all filling ingredients except cool whip. Fold the cool whip into the other mixture. Pour into crust. Refrigerate till ready to serve.

**Lazy Tip: Don't soften the cream cheese & butter. Just use your Kitchen Aid mixer!

You can top with crushed graham crackers or Oreos or something else pretty.

**Lazy Tip: Don't put anything on it. Just eat it.

Mexican Wontons

I have enjoyed these at parties in the past, but a friend just recently gave me the recipe. This easy recipe made plenty, and I have eaten plenty!

Mexican Wontons

1 package wonton wrappers
1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sausage
2 cups cheddar cheese
1½ tsp. chopped olives
¼ cup chopped bell pepper
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
sour cream for ranch dip mix

* You will need a mini-muffin pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make ranch dip mix first since it needs to refrigerate for a while. Cook sausage in a pan. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Place wonton wrappers in the min-muffin pan. Cook in oven for 5 to 10 minutes until they are a little brown. Spoon mixture into wonton wrapper, and bake again for about 10 minutes.

Recipes - Consolidated

Here are the links to all of the recipes I told you were coming. I initially planned to post them all as separate recipe links, but hopefully this consolidation will make it easier. Plus, you need recipes before Thanksgiving!

Breads

Cakes Galore!

Candy & Fudge (as previously posted)

Cookies!

Pies

All Sorts of Other Recipes

Pupsicles!

When I told my mom that I was making "pupsicles" for the dogs she said, "Well that would spoil them." Uh, yeah . . . . I don't really think they can get any more rotten than they already are though!

To make the pupsicles (btw I think I need to give some as catsicles now), I used some plain fat-free yogurt, a VERY ripe banana, some peanut butter, and some milk. Put it all in the blender and blend thoroughly. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze. I used our cute (and only) ice cube trays from Ikea. Obviously the dogs LOVED them!



They don't look spoiled, do they? Never mind. Don't answer that!

What's Cooking?

We both had a difficult week of work. It's a VERY stressful time at my school as well as Todd's. Today I thought I'd make us some comfort foods. Although it looks like I was in the kitchen for a while, I wasn't. That was my favorite part!

For breakfast - Sausage Balls
I made a variation of the recipe on the Bisquick website. The recipe called for 1" balls, but I'm obviously a bit measurement challenged. They were so good though! (ps - There were twice as many earlier today!)

For lunch tomorrow: Grandma's Chicken Salad

My Grandma Tolle hooked me with her chicken salad. Of course, she doesn't have a true recipe. "It's just chicken, onion, celery, mayonnaise, and salt & pepper" is what she always said every time I asked how she made it, so I quit asking. Thanks to much practice and my food processor, I have it down and Todd LOVES it. He adds curry to his while I eat mine as is. I've thought of adding nuts or apples or grapes to it, but why mess with perfection? Cindy - if you read this, you can come over and have some. Only one sandwich though!

For dinner - Chicken Pot Pie

This is a variation of a pie a friend made for me once. It's so easy and so good. It's just two pie crusts, boiled & diced chicken, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup & Veg-All. When I asked Todd if Chicken Pot Pie sounded good for dinner, he responded, "Yes. My throat hasn't been feeling good this week and I think chicken would help." :) He wasn't sure as to why I was laughing. My mom's husband, Rick, swears it's the best he's ever had.

Next: Work on my food presentation skillz. I'm obviously not a professional chef or food photographer, but we don't starve around here!

OH YUM!

I've had a recipe for Garlic Cheddar Chicken for a while - and have seen & heard the raves for it online - but never made it for some unknown reason. Well, that changed last weekend. It was easy to make and SO DELICIOUS!!! Is it the healthiest entree on the planet? Uh, no, but man it's good! I served it with steamed asparagus to balance the nutritional values. You know, kind of like the Snickers and a Diet Coke effect. :) I asked Todd if he had any comments he'd like me to add to our blog and he said, "It's a really good recipe." A good man of few words.


GARLIC CHEDDAR CHICKEN
(picture kindly borrowed from Monika's Sushi & Chocolate website)

PREP TIME: 15 min. COOK TIME: 40 min. READY IN: 55 min.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Servings Per Recipe: 8 (1 per chicken breast)
Amount Per ServingCalories: 407
Total Fat: 25.3g
Cholesterol: 130mg
Sodium: 577mg
Total Carbs: 8.5g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3g
Protein: 35.1g


INGREDIENTS
· 1/2 cup butter
· 4 cloves garlic, minced
· 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
· 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
· 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
· 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
· 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
· 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
· 1/8 teaspoon salt
· 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin (I only used 3 large breasts & it was fine!)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.
4. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.
5. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.