Snickers Brownies

Snickers Brownies

Brownie Layer:

1 box of brownie mix, I prefer Betty Crocker's Fudge or Dark Chocolate mixes

Ingredients called for on box

1/4 cup hot fudge topping, unheated, straight from the jar

Nougat Layer :

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

2 (7 oz.) jars marshmallow creme (@1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla

Caramel Layer:

1 (17 oz.) jar of caramel, preferably Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel

Candy Bar Topping:

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter.

Prepare brownie batter according to package directions for a 9x13-inch pan, adding 1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, unheated and straight from the jar to the batter. Make sure to follow the high altitude directions if you live at high altitude. Cool completely.  Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a boil. Add in the marshmallow creme (I didn't measure, because how exactly do you measure that sticky fluff? I used one complete 7 oz. jar and most of the second jar), peanut butter, and vanilla stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts. Pour evenly over cooled brownies. Use a spatula to help spread the mixture. Cool. I stick the brownies in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  Scoop caramel topping into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over low until caramel is soft and easy to stir.  Pour the caramel over the nougat layer. Make sure to pour it evenly across the nougat covering as much as the surface as you can. This makes it easier to spread the caramel with a spatula. Let cool. Again, I usually stick this in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Scoop caramel topping into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over low until caramel is soft and east to stir rather than mess with hot.  Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth.  Pour over nougat layer and cool completely. I usually stick them in the fridge until the chocolate is set. They chocolate gets pretty soft when left out, so I like to store these in the fridge and let them set out for a few minutes before cutting them. You want the chocolate to be cool enough to be set, but warmed up just a bit so that they are soft enough to cut more easily.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel topping, recipe follows

1/2 cup caramel topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or 2 forks) until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9x13 baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.  In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool. Serve cold and enjoy!

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to really combine it by using my clean hands to thoroughly combine the butter into the mixture.

Peanut Butter Pie

Peanut Butter Pie

1 cup peanut butter
1 8 oz cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 pints cool whip
1 graham cracker crust
Mix together peanut butter, cream cheese, condensed milk and 1 pint of Cool Whip. Place filling in crust. Refrigerate 3 hours. Top with remaining 1 pint of Cool Whip.

Green Chili Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas
2 C. cooked cubed or shredded chicken
2 C. Monterrey jack cheese
10 flour tortillas
Add chicken and cheese to tortillas and roll up. I lined my pan with foil. I am so glad I did. I did not have to spend the evening scraping melted cheese.
Sauce
7.75 oz can green salsa
1 1/2 C. sour cream
2 T cream cheese
handful of cilantro
Pour first 3 ingredients into a blender and blend well. Add cilantro and pulse for a course chop. Pour into a zipper bag if making this recipe ahead. Cut corner off zipper bag and pipe sauce over enchiladas. Reserve extra sauce for serving at the table. Bake covered in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Apple Cider Glazed Pumpkin Cake

Apple Cider Glazed Pumpkin Cake
One Cake mix- I used yellow
1 -15 ounce can 100% pumpkin- puree, not pumpkin pie filling
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix cake mix with pumpkin filling using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish. Bake for 28 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. Serves 8.
Apple Cider Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T. apple cider
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
In a small bowl blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour over Pumpkin Cake letting it drizzle down the sides of the cake. Let set before covering.

Asian Legs

Asian Legs
8-10 chicken legs
1/2 C. balsamic vinegar
¼ C. lite soy sauce
4 t brown sugar
1 t dried ginger
3 t minced garlic
1 t red pepper flakes (opt)
Add all 7 ingredients to large zipper bag. Zip bag and squish around to mix, if making ahead. Bake on baking sheet lined with foil at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.

Easy Honey Sesame Chicken

Easy Honey Sesame Chicken
4-6 frozen chicken breasts

¾ C. honey

¼ C. light soy sauce

½ C. frozen chopped onion

¼ C. ketchup

2 t minced garlic

¼ t red pepper flakes (optional)

2 t olive oil

4 t cornstarch

6 T water
Place first 8 ingredients in large zipper bag. Zip and squish around to mix. Mix last 2 ingredients in a small container with lid. Pour chicken and bag contents into slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Pour cornstarch mixture into slow cooker the last 15 minutes of cook time. Stir to combine. Sprinkle chicken with 2 T sesame seeds before serving.

Ham and Dill Pickle Appetizer Bites

Ham and Dill Pickle Appetizer Bites
dill pickles
thin deli ham slices (use lean ham with the lowest fat content you can find for South Beach Diet)
light cream cheese (or use whipped cream cheese if you don't care about it being light)
Let the cream cheese sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before you make these. Cut dill pickles lengthwise into fourths or sixths, depending on how thick the pickles are. You need as many cut pickle spears as you have ham slices. Spread each slice of ham with a very thin layer of cream cheese. (I used about 1 tsp. cream cheese on each ham slice. The ham doesn't need to be completely covered with cream cheese. Put a dill pickle on the edge of each ham slice and trim the ham if it's very much bigger than the dill pickle spear. Roll up the ham around the dill pickle, then place toothpicks where you want each piece to be cut. Cut into pieces so that each piece has a toothpick. Arrange on plate and serve.

Roasted Kale Chips with Sea Salt and Vinegar

Roasted Kale Chips with Sea Salt and Vinegar
one small bunch of kale, about 6 oz.
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T vinegar
sea salt to taste
Preheat oven to 300F/150C. Cut away inner ribs from each kale leaf and discard, then tear the kale leaves into same-size pieces. (I made my pieces about the size of a small potato chip.) Wash torn kale pieces and spin dry in a salad spinner or dry with paper towels until they're very dry.

Put kale pieces into a large Ziploc bag (or use a bowl if you don't mind getting your hands oily.) Add half of the 1 T of olive oil, seal bag, and squeeze the bag so the oil gets distributed evenly on the kale pieces. Add the other half tablespoon of oil and squeeze the bag more, until all kale pieces are evenly coated with oil and slightly "massaged." Open the Ziploc bag and sprinkle the 1 T sherry vinegar over the kale leaves, then seal bag and shake to spread the vinegar out over all the leaves. Arrange kale leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet, then roast until they are mostly crisp, about 35 minutes. I checked every 10 minutes or so and turned some pieces over. I also found I didn't mind if there were a few softer parts on some of the kale leaves, I liked the combination of crisp and softer parts. When chips are done to your liking, sprinkle with a generous amount of sea salt and eat immediately.

Crescent Chicken

Crescent Chicken

1 (8 or 6 jumbo count) package refrigerator crescent rolls

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can of milk (using soup can)

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare soup using milk and set aside. Separate crescent rolls. Spoon chicken and cheese onto each crescent; roll and seal to enclose filling. Place in a 9×13 baking dish. Pour soup over rolls. Bake at 350 uncovered for 30 mins.