Simple brownies

These were really good! We doubled the recipe, used up the last of the huge bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of pecans since I couldn't remember why I bought them. I used a 9X13 baking dish and added 5 minutes to the baking time.

The kids and I made these and then drank lots of milk because they were so rich!

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips, nuts or whatever you'd like

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8 inch square baking dish.

Combine melted butter and cocoa and stir until the cocoa is dissolved.

Add sugar and mix. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix.

Add vanilla, flour and salt. Stir until you don't see flour but don't overmix.

Fold in chocolate chips(or your choice).

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Cool and cut.

Mushroom Bacon Swiss Meatloaf

This is another recipe I've saved forever to make. Laurie(where is Laurie??) originally made it. Mine didn't look anything like hers as her pictures were awesome so I worried I had messed up but it tasted fantastic! Hunter gave it a 9 and everyone else gave it a 10. I'll definitely make this again!

Mushroom Bacon Swiss Meatloaf

1 lb ground turkey

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup crushed crackers

1/2 medium onion, chopped

4 button mushrooms, chopped

1/3 cup cooked and chopped bacon

1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese

A few squirts of ketchup

If you have just cooked the bacon, remove the grease from the pan, reserving 1 tablespoon. If not, then add one tablespoon of oil to the pan. Saute the onions and mushrooms for about 2 minutes. Combine all ingredients except ketchup. Mix thouroughly. Pat into loaf pan. Top with ketchup, and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

Pizza Nachos

Shar made these from the ragu site. If she hadn't I don't think I ever would have tried them because they sound so strange but they are really quite good! 

The kids nibbled on a few and then wandered off but I think that's partly my fault because I have been buying more snacks for them...

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 jar ragu pasta sauce
1 pkg pepperoni (1 cup)
1 bag tortilla chips
2 cups shredded cheese (marble, cheddar or mozzarella)
*YOUR favorite toppings*
(I used fresh mushrooms browned with the ground beef)
(sour cream for dipping)
-------------------
DIRECTIONS:
In skillet, brown the ground beef (and fresh mushroom if desired), once browned, add ragu and heat for about 5 more minutes.
PREHEAT oven at 350*
On pizza platter OR cookie sheet, spread the bag of tortilla chips. pour the sauce evenly over the chips, sprinkle with desired toppings (pepperoni etc).. and sprinkle cheese.
BAKE at 350* for 5 minutes.

Calico Beans

This was Melissa's grandma's recipe and I've saved it for about 18 months to try. Everyone gave it a 10. Delicious!

Calico Beans

6 slices of bacon
1/2 lb ground beef
1 med onion, chopped
1/2 c ketchup
1/2 t salt OR garlic powder
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. dry mustard
2 t. vinegar
1 (16 oz) can pork n beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can lima, or butter beans

Cook bacon and set aside
Cook beef in bacon fat add onion and saute till tender. Mix the ketchup, mustard, salt/garlic powder, vinegar, and brown sugar together. Put the beef mixture in a 3 qt casserole dish and add the liquid mixture. mix together. Partially drain the beans. Add to casserole dish and stir well. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle on top.
Bake for 40 mins at 350*

Chicken Cha-Han

I got this recipe from Kris over a year ago. I love Chinese food and with all the leftover turkey I decided to finally try it! It was really easy to make and so good!

Ratings:

Me 9

Hunter 8

Corrine 10

Chicken Cha Han

1/2 pound bacon, cut up

1 cup minute rice

1 cup water

8 ounces frozen peas

Soy sauce

1/2 head cabbage, cut up

Chicken or turkey(I used a large turkey breast), cooked and cut up

In a large skillet fry bacon. Add rice to the bacon/grease and cook on medium heat about 3 minutes until rice is slightly browned. Add water, peas and soy sauce(to taste). Cook until the rice is no longer crunchy. Add cabbage and chicken, heat through.

Pumpkin Squares

These are really good! They have just the right amount of spice. I used fresh pumpkin but then I didn't check them when I pulled them out so the middle wasn't done. I'll be making these again!

Pumpkin Squares
4 eggs, beaten
15 oz can of pumpkin
1 1/3c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger

for frosting:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c butter, softened
3/4 t vanilla
2 c powdered sugar

Beat first four ingredients together. Add next 6 and beat till smooth.

Pour into an ungreased 10x15 or 9x13 ungreased pan.

Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean. COOL completely.
Mix the four ingredients together for frosting until smooth and spread on squares, then cut.

Chocolate muffins

This is a Weight Watchers recipe that Kris shared. It sounded so different I wanted to try it. These are great for a low fat muffin!!! I made a whole batch of 24 and froze a lot of them for future.

The recipe is super simple. One box of german cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Not pumpkin pie mix. You stir the two together without adding eggs or oil etc like you normally would and bake like normal. Makes 24=)

Halloween Leftovers Cake

Shar chose "different" recipes this week and this sounded fantastic for using up some of that candy that was piling up in the kitchen! I noticed the kids weren't touching the Reeces pb cups so I used those for the full two cups...I think I should have gone for variety.

It isn't a super sweet cake...I'm guessing the candy is supposed to make up for that but pb cups really didn't. Shar added a glaze to hers and that is a great idea! I used vanilla yogurt instead of plain because the organic was on sale and I couldn't find "ww pastry flour" so I used whole wheat regular flour.

Halloween leftovers cake

Ingredients

2 cups coarsely chopped chocolate or candy

1 cup flour

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup plain yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a tube pan (10-12 cup capacity) and dust with flour. Sift together flours and baking soda; set aside. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until soft. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. On low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients with yogurt, scraping bowl as necessary. Add candy and fold in gently. Bake 1 hour or until tests done. Cool 15 minutes. Cover pan with rack and invert.

Dorito Casserole

Alright I couldn't wait to take a bite of the bread...sue me LOL It's cheesy garlic bread...what can I say.
But what I'm posting about it Dorito casserole and it was SO good! I added sour cream after this and it was like having nachos but sooo much easier and the leftovers are great too. Corrine didn't really like it(gave it a ten but didn't eat much) but she's fairly picky. Hunter absolutely loved it. I could definitely make this again.

Dorito Casserole
Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning
1 small onion; chopped (optional)
1 can diced green chiles; drained
1 can Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup
1 bag of Doritos; crushed
1 bag of shredded cheese
1 can cream of celery soup
Sour cream and salsa for topping
Directions
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.*1. Brown ground beef and onion; drain.2. Add Taco Seasoning and use following directions on package.3. In a large casserole dish, layer bottom of pan with 1/2 bag of doritos. Set the other half aside.4. In a large bowl combine, taco seasoned beef and onion, can of drained green chiles, can of nacho cheese soup & cream of celery soup. Mix well. 5. Top layer of doritos with beef mixture.6. Layer beef mixture with remaining half of doritos.7. Top with whole bag of shredded cheese.8. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until cheese is melted or slightly browned.9. Top portions with sour cream and salsa as desired.

Beef and Cabbage Wraps

Ever since trying the bierox casserole and Shar's buns(hee) I love beef and cabbage! I went looking through my new Pink Plaid Better Home and Gardens cookbooks and when I saw this knew it was on the menu for the week. It was very easy and fast even with Justin's "help".

Hunter and Corrine loved it. Hunter ate three! I just wasn't impressed with the barbecue flavor. If the barbecue was replaced with velveeta I think I would absolutely love it and may try that soon!

Beef and Cabbage Wraps

Makes: 4 servings

8 8 inch flour tortillas

12 ounces lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion(1 medium)

2 cups packaged shredded cabbage with carrot(coleslaw mix)

1 cup frozen whole kernel corn

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Bottled barbecue sauce(optional)

1. Wrap tortillas tightly in foil. Heat in a 350 F oven about 10 minutes or until heated through.

2. Meanwhile, for filling, in a large skillet cook meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Stir cabbage mix and corn into meat mixture in skillet. Cover and cook about 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring once. Stir in the barbecue sauce. Cook and stir until heated through.

3. To serve, spoon about 1/3 cup of the filling below center of each tortilla. Roll up from bottom. If desired, serve with additional barbecue sauce.

Per 2 wraps: 380 cal, 13 g total fat, 54 mg cholesterol 408 mg sodium, 44 g carb, 3 g fiber, 21 g protein

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Kris' week was weight watchers recipe themed. I picked the mexican stuffed peppers and they were surprisingly good! I really liked them and would like to have them again. The kids...well they ate half of one each but only because there was trick or treat candy waiting=)

The picture...well it's hard to get good pictures anymore. I usually take food outside but now when I head for the door Justin wants to go and if I don't let him go he screams at the door. Does not make for a fun picture experience. I took a better picture but wiped the card clean and it was deleted...so this is a "leftover" pepper. Oh the humiliation. Okay I'm over it.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers (6 points)
6 large green peppers

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal OR Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal

1/8 teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 (16 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1. Wash peppers. Cut off tops and remove seedy portions. Precook in large amount of boiling water about 5 minutes. Drain well. Place peppers, cut side up, in greased shallow baking pan. Set aside.
2. In large frypan, cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned, stirring frequently. Drain off excess drippings. Add remaining ingredients except cheese. Stir to combine, cutting tomatoes into pieces with spoon. Remove from heat. Spoon into peppers, dividing evenly.
3. Bake at 350ºF. about 25 minutes or until filling is thoroughly heated. Remove from oven. Sprinkle tops with cheese. Return to oven. Bake about 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts.
MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
Wash peppers. Cut off tops and remove seedy portions. Lightly saltinside of each pepper. Place peppers, cut side up, in 12x7 1/2x2-in. glass baking dish. Set aside.
Place gr ound beef and onion in 8x8x2-in. glass baking dish. Stir to crumble.
Microwave on HIGH 6 to 7 minutes or until beef is cooked, stirring occasionally. Drain off excess drippings.
Add remaining ingredients except cheese. Stir to combine, cutting tomatoes into pieces with spoon.
Spoon filling into peppers, dividing evenly. Cover stuffed pepper with plastic wrap. Poke several holes in plastic wrap to allow steam to escape.
Microwave on HIGH about 15 minutes or until filling is thoroughly heated and peppers are tender. Sprinkle tops with cheese. Microwave on HIGH until cheese melts.
Yield: 6 servingsServing Size: 1 pepper

Angel Lemon Creme Dessert

I made this to take with me to a Halloween dinner. It was good! Reminded me of something I've had before with pineapple...if you love lemon this one is better! Hunter tried it too and said it was really good=)

Angel Lemon Creme Dessert
1 Angel food cake
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large container Cool Whip

Break cake into small pieces and place half of them into a buttered 9x13 glass pan.(do not use metal) Blend the sugar and lemon juice gradually into the sweetened condensed milk, fold in Cool Whip. Spread half of lemon mixture over the cake pieces, add rest of the cake pieces and top with the remaining lemon mixture. Sprinkle with coconut or sliced almonds. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight