Friday, July 26, 2013

Reese's Overload Cake



Cake portion:

2 sticks butter
1 cup of SKIPPY peanut butter
6 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups sugar
2 cups flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder

Melt butter and Skippy peanut butter in microwave. Put in mixer and add sugar and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to blend. Then mix in flour and baking powder. Divide into 2 pans. Bake approx 35 mins. Cool completely. I like to freeze the cooled layers for easier frosting.

Crustless Cheesecake portion:

1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2- 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 oz. package cook and serve vanilla pudding
2 eggs
1 teaspoons baking powder
2 melted Hershey Bars
1/2 cup melted Ghirardelli bittersweet chips, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease ONE 9" pan with shortening, line the pan with parchment and then grease the parchment. Lightly butter the pan and Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Add cream cheese a little at a time until smooth. Scrape bowl down and beat again on medium speed, adding eggs one at a time. Add remaining ingredients. Mix again until smooth. Pour in pan. Smooth batter with offset spatula and bake for 50-55 mins. Cheesecake will puff up during baking, then it will deflate when taken out of the oven. Do not turn out cheesecake when finished baking. Put directly in the freezer, and leave until frozen solid. Remove for assembly.

Peanut Butter Frosting

4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup SKIPPY peanut butter
2 tablespoons soft butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
few tablespoons of milk

Beat peanut butter, butter, vanilla and 2 cups of powdered sugar. SLOWLY add rest of sugar and then the milk until the desired consistency to spread on. Add milk slowly. Beat on high till fluffy!

Chocolate frosting:

1/2 cup + 6 tablespoons cocoa powder 
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar 
1/2 cup heavy cream 
1/2 cup unsalted butter, very soft 
dash salt 
1 cups confectioners' sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Heat cream in microwave and pour in mixer with cocoa powder and 3/4 cup confectioners. Mix well. Add butter, salt, 1 cup confectioners, vanilla and whip on high. Set aside.

Split chocolate frosting between one peanut butter blondie top and the top of the chocolate cheesecake. Layer it: pb blondie/choc frosting, chocolate cheesecake/frosting/pb blondie. Frost entire cake in pb frosting. Push peanut butter chip and dark chocolate chips into the sides and top with 8 chopped peanut butter cups. keep chilled!!!


GARLIC & LEMON CHICKEN W/GREEN BEANS & RED POTATOES





INGREDIENTS:

6 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound trimmed green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin, about 3 1/4 pounds)



DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a large baking dish or cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer in the bottom of the dish or skillet.



In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper; add the green beans and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the green beans and arrange them on top of the lemon slices. Add the potatoes to the same olive-oil mixture and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, arrange the potatoes along the inside edge of the dish or skillet on top of the green beans. Place the chicken in the same bowl with the olive-oil mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the chicken, skin-side up, in the dish or skillet. Pour any of the remaining olive-oil mixture over the chicken.



Roast for 50 minutes. Remove the chicken from the dish or skillet. Place the beans and potatoes back in oven for 10 minutes more or until the potatoes are tender. Place a chicken breast on each of 4 serving plates; divide the green beans and potatoes equally. Serve warm.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Oriental Ramen Broccoli Cole Slaw


Ingredients:
2 - (3 ounce) packages beef-flavor ramen noodles
2 - (8 1/2 ounce) packages broccoli coleslaw mix
1 -  cup toasted slivered almonds
1 -  cup sunflower seed
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup white vinegar

Directions:
1. Before opening noodles, crush into 1 inch pieces. Open packages and set aside flavor packets.
2. Place noodles in bottom of large serving bowl. Top noodles with broccoli slaw, then sprinkle with almonds and sunflower kernels, and green onions.
3. In a separate bowl combine sugar, oil, vinegar, and flavor packets from noodles. Pour over slaw, cover and chill up to 24 hours.
4. Toss before serving.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring


2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits 
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 C. pancake syrup (any brand you like, I used Mrs. Buttersworth)
1/3 C. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 C. chopped pecans, optional
1/4 C. chopped almonds, optional

Instructions:
Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired). Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

** I ended up using 1 1/2 tubes of the Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits (1 tube didn't seem like enough) and baked it for about 30 minutes. It needed a bit longer to bake since I used more.


Thursday, July 18, 2013

Weight Watchers Cheesecake Squares

 
 

Ingredients:

1 - (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
¾  cup M&M's or Smarties candies
½  cup walnuts, chopped
1   egg
⅓  cup margarine
1   cup flour
¼  cup sugar, granulated
⅓  cup sugar, brown packed
1   teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
 2. Beat the margarine and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
 3. Add the walnuts and flour; mix well.
 4. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture; press the remaining crumb
     mixture into bottom of a 8″ square pan.
 5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
 6. Combine the softened cream cheese, granulated sugar and
     vanilla; using an electric mixer, mix at medium speed until well
     blended.
 7. Add the egg; mix well.
 8. Layer 1/2 cup of the Smarties or M&M candies over the crust;
     top with the cream cheese mixture.
 9. Combine the remaining candy and reserved crumb mixture;
      mix well.
10. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cream cheese mixture.
11.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
12.  Let cool completely before serving.

WW POINTS for one square: 5
Nutritional information one square: 217 calories, 13.6g fat, 0.7g fiber

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Crockpot Orange Chicken




Ingredients:

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced about 1/2-inch thick
2 large red or green bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 ounces orange juice
2 cups Mandarin orange segments or fresh orange segments
2 Green onions, chopped

Hot cooked rice

Directions:
 
Put carrots, peppers, garlic, then the chicken, ginger, salt, pepper & frozen orange juice in Crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours. Serve chicken on hot cooked rice on platter. Top with orange segments and green onions. Serve chicken liquid in gravy boat, if desired. Serves 4.