No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ok so I know I started this blog with the intention if using only Pinterest found ideas, but I gave in and bought myself a new cook book recently. It's from Six Sisters. Do you know of them? They have a blog, then turned some of their favorite recipes into a book. :)
Today I made the bars for the second time aim a few weeks. Ha ha I first made them for my anniversary dinner with my wonderful hubby. And he just asked for seconds. They are super simple to make. And oh so delicious! Bonus: You don't need the oven!
The concoction includes:
1 cup melted butter
2 cups crushed graham crackers
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup plus 4 T peanut butter, divided
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Mix together melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended.
Press evenly into an ungreased baking dish. I used a 8x8 the first time, but today I used a 2 qt rectangle dish. (It makes for thinner bars that last a bit longer.) ;)
Next you'll need to melt the chocolate chips and 4 T peanut butter in the microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds til smooth. Spread over the pb layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. Enjoy! My family cannot get enough of these!

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!

Once I found the recipe for these yummy cookies, time wasn't wasted in making them. They were very simple. Plus I had all the ingredients on hand! Another bonus: flour and white sugar are NOT used!
You'll need to start with:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips(the original recipe called for a chocolate bar chopped up. But I had chips on hand.)
In a large bowl, mix together pb, sugar, vanilla and the egg. Beat until the grainy feel of the sugar is blended. About 3 mins. Stopping to scrape the sides occasionally. Next add the baking soda. Mix until well blended. Finally add the chocolate chips.
Once the chips are added, transfer the dough to an airtight container. Store in refrigerator for at least 2 hrs and no more than 5 days. Mine was in overnight.
Preheat oven to 350. Form the dough into medium size balls. You'll need to flatten just a bit to help the cookies from staying in a ball while baking. *This step was medium level annoying. Ha ha Once the dough was removed from the fridge, it was very firm and hard to work with. The chocolate chips kept falling everywhere. Once the cookies are assembled, bake for 8 mins. Leave on the cookie sheet for 5-10 mins then transfer to a cooking rack until completely cooled. Enjoy! :D

Chicken & Muffins...

 Yesterday I worked on two new recipes. They both turned out yummy!! I might make a few changes next time around. First up, I prepped the slow cooker for Teriyaki Chicken.

You'll need these ingredients: 3/4 c sugar, 3/4 tsp. ground ginger, 3/4 tsp. minced garlic, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 3/4 c soy sauce, 3/4 c cider vinegar, 4 1/2 tsp. COLD water, 4 1/2 tsp. + 3 additional tsp. cornstarch and 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Combine sugar, ginger, garlic and pepper.

Mix  together soy sauce and cider vinegar. Pour into dry mixture.

 Whisk together.

Pour combined ingredients over the chicken. Cook on low 4-5 hrs.

 

Once cook time is up, remove chicken and place in bowl with tin foil to keep warm. Skim fat off the juice left in the slow cooker. Pour the remaining liquid into a saucepan. Bring to boil.

While waiting for sauce to boil, mix together Cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Gradually stir into the liquid. I whisked until the sauce became thick. I didn't skim enough of the fat off the top before boiling, so large clumps formed in the bottom of the saucepan. I waited til sauce had thickened then strained it to make a nice, smooth sauce. 

Final product! Yum!! The sauce was perfect. The chicken was a bit dry. I would probably shorten the cooking length next time around or invest in a smaller crock pot. We only have a large at the moment.

Red Velvet Poke Cake=Deliciousness!!

Last night I made a sweet, sweet dessert, Red Velvet Poke Cake. It was so good. I'm about to start a new workout program, so I thought I'd squeeze this in before I can feel guilty. ;)

Items needed. You'll also need eggs, oil and water for the cake preparations. Plus 4 cups milk for pudding mix.

Once cake has been prepared per box directions, allow to cool for a few minutes, then poke holes. Make sure whatever tool you use to make the holes is large enough for the pudding to sink into.

Wisk together 4 cups milk and the pudding pkgs. Wisk until there are no lumps.

Spread pudding mix as evenly as possible onto cake. Making sure to cover holes as much as possible. Mine kept pooling to the edges. I'm thinking it is because I used a pan liner.

After adding the pudding, you'll need to refrigerate for nearly 2 hrs. So the cake can set.

Once cake is set, spread the thawed Cool Whip on top.    

 

Top the cake off with crushed Oreos.I served immediately, but it actually tasted better today. I left it in the fridge all night. The Oreos were softened, but everything had firmed up better. And I was able to take it out of the pan much easier. Enjoy!! :)

Pizza Balls!!

You'll need the following ingredients. The original post called for 3 cans. 2 was plenty for us. 

 Last post of the day. Now I'm all caught up. :) Last night I made Pizza Balls. Though once cooked they were more like puffs or rolls. They were surprisingly tasty!!

Flatten rolls. Place small drop of sauce, pepperoni, cheese & another pepperoni on top. Bring in sides.

Place right side up in greased 9x13 pan. Brush with beaten egg.

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, Parmesan and Garlic Powder

Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes. They were surprisingly soft.

 

Deliciousness!! ;) I will definitely be making these again. Kids loved them. One thing is the amount of seasoning. It was just a tad too salty for the kids & I. But perfect to Jesse. lol It's all about preference. ;)

I'm sewing again!!

I haven't really sewed since high school. It has been way too long. I did borrow my SILs sewing machine last year for a couple of projects. Doing so made me want a machine of my own for Christmas. :) My daughter, Avery, who is 5.5 yrs is probably the most excited about my new skill. She is in LOVE with dresses."I want to sell all my tank tops, shirts, pants and socks; so I'll have more room in the closet for dresses!"  She wears them everyday. She has a list in her head of all the wonderful things I will be making for her. I'll eventually get to making all of them. ;) We started off easy with making a Maxi dress from an old shirt. She wore it the entire day after I made it. Plus all of the next day.

First find an old shirt. This one has become too short. Cut it just below the armpits.

Pin the back of the skirt together and sew. Right sides together. You'll need just over twice the width of the shirt for fabric. The Pinterest link says to triple the length, but I felt it was too much for Ave once finished.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next you'll need to do a basting stitch (Thanks Adrienne) at the top of the skirt. This will help bring the two pieces together. You'll pull the basting stitch until the width of the skirt is the same as the shirt. Pin and sew.

Final product. Regardless of the simplicity, Avery loves it. Hem as long or short as you wish. Ave hasn't had a dress this long before, so we had to play with the hem to get it right. :)

Chicken Fried Chicken!!

You'll need: 4 skinned and boned chicken breasts (less depending on the size of your appetite)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ( I used table pepper)
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
oil

I had never fried chicken at home. Until now. It was so good, but way more than we could eat. :)

Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle with half of the salt and pepper. Set aside.

 Combine cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, remaining salt and pepper. Whisk together milk and eggs. Dredge chicken in cracker crumb mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge in cracker mixture again.

Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a 12-inch skillet. Over medium high heat (more on the high side) fry chicken, in batches, 10 minutes. Turn and fry 4 to 5 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack in a cookie sheet.

Final product. I did make the gravy per the the recipe, but it wasn't really flavorful. Because I didn't cook the chicken in a skillet and I didn't want to drain the oil until it had cooled. I have made this recipe twice now. The first time is as shown with whole chicken breasts. But just two days ago, I cut the breasts into strips. They were much better. Easy finger food for my kids. :) The recipe was not altered if you choose to do strips instead.

 

 Country Gravy
1/3 - cup flour
2 - 3 tablespoons pan drippings
3 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste

Carefully drain the hot drippings, reserving cooked bits and 2 -3 tablespoons of the drippings in skillet. Add 1/3 cup flour to the skillet with the drippings. Cook over medium high heat. Using a whisk mix the flour into the drippings until it starts to brown and become a paste. Whisk constantly until the paste becomes nice and brown.

Slowly add the milk whisking constantly and blending the liquid with the flour mixture until combined. Let the gravy come to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the gravy thickens up. If the mixture thickens too much add more milk as needed until the gravy is the consistency that you want. This could end up being more then the required 3 cups. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve over the chicken fried steak.