White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies

I also made these at Mami's this past weekend and they were even better than the PB ones! They are very white chocolatey...so beware!

8 oz. white baking bar (I used White choco chips)
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 eggs
2 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. seedless raspberry jam
3 oz. white baking bar
1/2 t. shortening ( I didn't use this)

1. Preheat the ove to 375 F. Grease a cookie sheet; set aside. Chop 4 oz. of the baking bar;set aside. In a saucepan, melt remaining 4 oz. of the baking bar (I microwaved it and it worked fine...just don't overheat it or it gets chunky).
2. Beat butter about 30 sec. Add sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in eggs and melted baking bar untili combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the 4 oz. of chopped white baking bar.
3. Dro dough from rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool.
4. Just before serving, in a saucepan melt jam over low heeat. Spoon about 1/2 t. jam atop each cookie. In a heavy saucepan melt 3 oz. white baking bar and shortening over low heat; stir constantly. Drizzle cookies with melted mixture.

I just melted the white choc. which was kinda strong. I think next time I'll drizzle a cream cheese type frosting on top so it won't be so rich. I also used a LOT more jam...it was better that way...more fruity. Other than that, these cookies are SO good.

Peanut Butter Munchies

I made this at my mom's house this past weekend and they were a huge hit! Alysia ate 5 in just on sitting...the little porker! ;)

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 T. milk
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. sifted powdered sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 T. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda; set aside.
2. In a large bowl beat together butter, 1/2 c. sugar, brown sugar and the 1/4 c. PB until combined. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Beat in as much of the flour as you can, stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Form the chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1 1/4 in. in diameter. Set aside.
3. For filling, combine powdered sugar and 1/2 c. PB until smooth. Shape mixture into 32 balls about 3/4 in. in diameter.
4. On a work surface, slightly flatten a choc. dough ball; top owith a PB ball and then shape the choc. part over the PB ball. Roll dough into a ball again.
5. Place balls 2 in. apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in the 2 T. of sugar.
6. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until just set and surface slightly cracks. et stand 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks.

These are SUPER yummy!

Volcano Meatballs

It was Anya's turn to cook dinner last night... And so we made these delicious meatballs! I got the recipe from the Kraft magazine and only made a few changes.

1 lb ground beef (we used ground turkey)
6 ritz crackers, finely crushed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup spaghetti sauce, divided
12 cheddar cheese cubes
4 hot dog buns, split

Preheat oven to 400. Mix meat, cracker crumbs, parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce in bowl. (We also added some Italian seasoning.) Shape into 12 meatballs.

Place two inches apart in shallow baking pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Press 1 cheese cube deeply into center of each meatball.

Bake 14 minutes or until cooked through. Warm remaining spaghetti sauce in microwave. Spread among the hot dog buns. Fill each bun with 3 meatballs.

We did not use the buns or the remaining sauce. We just put the meatballs on our plates and served it with salad. Anya was a little disappointed that the meatballs didn't explode exactly like a volcano and that they didn't look like mountains at all. But she did admit they tasted yummy!

Pizza Rolls

I found this recipe on another site and thought it sounded fun so we tried it tonight and I really liked it. Jared didn't love it but said he would if it had more toppings... I was really sparse because I was afraid it would be hard to roll or get soggy... but it didn't, so I would recommend using a generous helping of toppings...

Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

3-4 cups flour (I only needed 3 cups and the batter was perfect)

Mix and knead above ingredients. Roll out on floured surface. I rolled mine out to about 9x13 size or slightly smaller

Pizza Rolls

Pizza dough from above

5 oz cream cheese

1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese

Pizza toppings (we used pepperoni, green peppers and black olives, but she always uses Canadian bacon. I think chicken would be really good)

Italian Seasoning (her recipe didn't call for this but we added this to the softened cream cheese for a bit of extra flavor... I liked it)

Spread cream cheese on rolled out dough. Add your choice of pizza toppings, then cover with cheese. Roll up like a cinnamon roll and cut each about 1 inch (if you do it thicker they are doughy). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake 425 for 15 minutes (I baked mine in a 9x13 pan and had to bake it for 25 minutes. Dip in Pizza Sauce (we used spaghetti sauce), Parmesan cheese, or ranch.

I think you could really have a lot of fun mixing this recipe up, using different seasonings, dips, and toppings and the boys had a lot of fun helping me put it together... they helped put the toppings on and roll it and sprinkle it with cheese.

As a side note, check out this lady's recipe site... I found it linked from here, (another great recipe site), and found a lot of great stuff!

Easy Butterscotch Rolls (AKA Monkey Bread)

24 Frozen Dinner Rolls
1 Package regular butterscotch pudding
1/2 TO 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/4 CUP MELTED BUTTER
1/2 CUP BROWN SUGAR

Grease bottom and sides of a bundt or angel food cake pan. Arrange rolls in double circle. Sprinkle dry pudding mix and nuts on top. Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Pour over top. Place in a cold over overnight or for 9 hours. Take out of oven while pre-heating to 350. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 2-5 minutes. Turn onto platter and serve.

Thanks Mom!

Pumpkin Mousse Pie

I found this recipe in my daily digital scrapbook email. It looks tasty and I can't wait to try it!

Ingredients:
1 reduced fat graham cracker pie crust
1 1/4 cup cold fat-free milk
1 package (4 serving size) sugar-free fat-free instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tub (8 oz) light or fat free cool whip, thawed
1 T. pumpkin pie spice OR 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon, 3/4 t. ground ginger, and 1/4 t. ground cloves
1 beaten egg white (optional)

1. For tastier crust, brush with egg white and bake 5 minutes at 375. Allow to cool before filling pie.
2. In large bowl, beat milk, pudding mix and spice with whisk for 1 1/2 minutes. Whisk in pumpkin. Fold in HALF of whipped topping. Spread in pie crust.
3. Top with remaining whipped topping. (Or pipe on in decorative manner.)
4. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Garnish as desired. Store in fridge.

YIELD: 8 servings
4 WW POINTS each

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

I got this recipe off the Kraftfoods.com web site. It actually called for Turkey, but I had Chicken, so chicken it was! I also made a few little adjustments, but I thought they turned out quite yummy. Joe even ate seconds AND he said he'd take some for leftovers tomorrow!!!! It's a miracle!

8 oz. spaghetti (I didn't have any so I used egg noodles, which were great!)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (I used cream of chicken, which was also yummy)
3/4 c. sour cream
1/4 c. milk (I used about a 1/2 to make it a bit more liquidy since I added extra noodles and broccoli)
1/3 c. paremesan cheese
3 c. broccoli (I did fresh broccoli crowns, but if you do this make sure you pre cook them for just a few minutes or it will be crunchy in your casserole dish)
2 c. chopped chicken (I cooked it in basil, garlic salt and pepper)

Mix soup, sour cream, paremesan cheese and milk together. Pre cook the broccoli (unless you use frozen) and add to the mixture. Cook the chicken and add that to the mixture as well. Spoon into a casserole dish and bake. I also covered mine in cheese before I stuck it in...cheese is ALWAYS a good addition. ;)

Bake in a Casserole dish at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.