Caramel Pretzel Brownie cups

Okay, so I'll be honest. My favorite foods to make are desserts. We recently hosted a little BBQ at our house and I volunteered to make the desserts. I love to do things like this so I can test out new recipes and then I don't have the entire batch sitting around my house just tempting me to eat it. So, I saw this recipe for brownie cups and since I love brownies, I decided to give this recipe a try. I loved the salty taste that the pretzels added to the brownie. It was the perfect amount of sweet and salty. The caramel does get a little messy because it starts getting harder as you spoon it on top of the brownies, but the finished product looks oh so fancy. Don't you agree?


Caramel Pretzel Brownie Cups
Adapted from zupas.com

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter

In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, egg and butter until smooth. Scoop batter 2/3rds full into a muffin tin sprayed with non stick spray. Scoop 1 tablespoon pretzel crumble on top of brownie batter. Pat down. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the edges are set.

Pretzel crumble

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup crushed pretzels

8 oz caramels, melted in microwave over medium heat--stirring frequently
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Immediately after taking the brownie cups out of the oven, pour caramel over the cups, and then sprinkle with chocolate chips. Place cups in the oven for 30 minutes more to allow the chocolate chips to soften slightly. Place in the microwave for 15 seconds before serving.

Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken, Bacon, and Mushrooms in an Asiago Cream Sauce

This recipe is a regular in my household. It happens to be one of my husbands favorite dishes. When I asked my husband what he wanted to have to eat on Father's Day, this was his request. It is more time consuming than a lot of my other regular recipes but worth the time if you want something a little more special for dinner. And, it sure beats the price you would pay to have a similar meal at a restaurant. Plus did you know that at a certain Italian restaurant chain their chicken alfredo pasta has 990 calories and 50 grams of fat for one serving? Yikes. I guarantee this recipe does not have that many calories or fat!



Bow Tie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce
Serves 4-5

1 T. olive oil
2 chicken breasts
5-6 mushrooms
6 slices of bacon
1 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 box of bow tie/farfalle pasta

Asiago Cream Sauce Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T butter
2 t. flour
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 c. shredded asiago cheese
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Boil water for the pasta and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Then cook bacon according to package directions. Break the bacon into smaller pieces after it has been cooked.

Slice chicken breast into thin strips. I have found that the best time to do this is to slice the chicken when it hasn't quite defrosted all the way. It makes it super easy to slice it into nice even strips when it is still a little frozen. Then slice mushrooms into bit size pieces. Heat olive oil in a skillet and add mushrooms and chicken and Italian seasoning. Saute until chicken is cooked thoroughly and starts to brown, stirring frequently. After chicken is cooked through, add the bacon pieces and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Remove from heat.

While chicken is cooking, prepare the Asiago cheese sauce. Heat saucepan to medium heat. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. DO NOT SUBSTITUTE GARLIC POWDER. In my opinion garlic powder should never be substituted for garlic. Garlic powder has a very artificial taste and your sauce will not taste as good. I guarantee that good Italian restaurants don't substitute garlic powder for garlic, so neither should you. It will cost you a matter of cents for the real deal stuff-and it's definitely worth it for the difference you get in the taste quality. After garlic has sauteed for a few minutes, whisk in the flour to make a roux. Whisk constantly and then gradually add the evaporated milk while continuing to stir so you do not have any clumps. Let cook for about 2 minutes over medium heat stirring consistently and then stir in asiago cheese until melted. Combine pasta, chicken mixture and sauce all together. Serve with cheese sprinkled over the top. And there you have it. Enjoy!

Coconut Lime Waffles with a Gooey Coconut Syrup

I love the fresh taste of limes and I had some limes on hand that I wanted to use up. So, when I ran across a recipe for coconut lime waffles from Coconut and Lime blog, I had to try them out. They were so enjoyable and fresh tasting. When I ran across the waffle recipe, I thought that they would be even more enjoyable with a coconut syrup drizzled over the top. I searched online for a recipe but I couldn't find one that I liked. So, I decided to concoct my own instead. The syrup was so gooey and tasty. Doesn't the picture below with the syrup oozing off the waffles just make you want to lick your computer screen? Ha ha.

Here is the finished product...and now on to the recipes so you can try them out for your next fancy breakfast.

Coconut and Lime Waffles
From Coconut and Lime
About 3 servings

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons sweetened coconut
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon lime zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1 egg

Whisk together the flour, sugar, coconut, baking powder, salt and zest in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Use the directions that came with your waffle iron to finish making your waffles.

Gooey Coconut Syrup
Created by Me

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 T. sweetened cream of coconut (not coconut milk)
2 T. butter
pinch salt
1 t. vanilla extrct

Place water and sugar in a pan on medium heat to create a syrup. Stir occasionally.
Once it's reduced by roughly half and is a syrupy consistency, stir in cream of coconut, butter, and salt. Stir until butter is melted and reduce to medium low heat. Heat for 1-2 minutes longer and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour immediately over pancakes, waffles or any other foods you like to pour syrup over. (Syrup may start to harden—if it does, you can just reheat it in the microwave for about 30 minutes.)

Cafe Rio Pulled Pork

So, I was looking for an easy recipe to make for dinner tonight this morning. I found this Cafe Rio Pork recipe on Your Homebased Mom blog. Although I have never had this pork at Cafe Rio, which is a Mexican Grill type restaurant located out west, I was quite excited for the ease of this recipe. It only calls for 3 ingredients to cook in a slow cooker, so I was a little skeptical. But, nonetheless I decided to try it out. The flavors were simmering in my crockpot all day and every time I would walk into the kitchen the smell wafting from the slow cooker was just splendid. My family's consensus was that this recipe should definitely go into my rotation of meals we have on a regular basis. And I like that--especially due to the fact that the hardest part of this recipe was cleaning out my crockpot afterwards!



Cafe Rio Pulled Pork
From Your Home Based Mom
Serves 4

1 c. brown sugar
2 c. salsa (I used a pineapple, peach salsa--that's what I had on hand. This made the recipe even sweeter because it already had a sweetness due to the brown sugar. Next time I think I'll just try a normal, mild salsa and see what flavor it creates. Anyway, have some fun with it...)
1 lb pork tenderloin

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker. Mix salsa and brown sugar together. Pour over the pork tenderloin. Cook on low in a slow cooker for 7 hours. Remove pork and shred using 2 forks. Place pork back in the crockpot and mix together until liquid is absorbed. Serve on warm tortillas. Cover with your favorite toppings--cheese, sour cream, etc. and savor the flavors. Yum.

Samoa Bars

My favorite girl scout cookies are by far the Samoa cookies. I just love the caramel and coconut combination. So, when I ran across this recipe for samoa bars, I was very excited to try them out. Yes, these cookies are time consuming to make but well worth the time--especially if you are getting a craving for girl scout cookies but they are not anywhere to be found. These cookies are comprised of 3 layers--a shortbread cookie layer, a coconut caramel layer, and a chocolate layer (dipped on the bottom of the cookie and then drizzled over the top). Yum. Yum. Yum.

Homemade Samoas Bars

From Bakingbites.com

Shortbread base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
1 1/2 T. shortening

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled. When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate chips and shortening in a small bowl. Heat on medium in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Extra Cheesy Sausage Pasta Bake

So, I had some ricotta cheese in my fridge that was about to expire so I decided I was going to make some ziti. However, I didn't have any ziti noodles on hand either. I also didn't have enough mozzarella cheese that could be shredded either. So, basically this is a recipe is a concoction of all the ingredients that I did I have on hand. It is similar to a ziti recipe, but with some adjustments--my favorite addition was the use of sliced up mozzarella cheese sticks. These gave this recipe some extra tasty cheesiness. This recipe also makes an extra pan that you can toss into the freezer for a lazy day.

Extra Cheesy Sausage Pasta Bake
Makes 1- 2 qt casserole dish and 1-8 x 8 pan (which I froze)

1 box of pasta noodles (I used whole wheat corksckrew pasta)
5 Hot Italian sausage links (casings removed)
15 oz container of ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 t. Italian Seasoning
1 t. dried Oregano
1/2 t. dried basil
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cans of spaghetti sauce (divided)
8 Mozzarella Cheese sticks (sliced into about 10-15 piece for each stick)
1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Brown and cook the sausage throughly. Break into bite size pieces. Meanwhile in a large bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, egg, Italian Seasoning, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, and parmesan cheese. Then stir in half of the spaghetti sauce to the ricotta cheese mixture and all of the sauce.. After pasta has been cooked and drained, pour it into the bowl with the ricotta cheese mixture and stir until combined well. Stir in all but about 30 pieces of the mozzarella cheese slices (these will be reserved for the top of the pasta). Stir well.

Place some of the reserved spaghetti sauce at the bottom of the casserole dish and 8 x 8 pan. Then place one layer of the noodle mixture in each pan. Repeat 1 more time and top the last layer with spaghetti sauce, shredded mozzarella, and the sliced cheese sticks.

Bake at 350 degrees coved with foil for 30 minutes. Turn up to 375 and cook for 15 more minutes, until cheese browns. Enjoy this cheesy goodness!

An Old Standby--Taco Salad

It's 5:00 and you're not feeling overly creative--you have no idea what to make for dinner. Sound familiar? Well, this is a meal that works perfect on those nights for me. I can whip it up in under 30 minutes, it's very tasty, and my family loves it too. This recipe does not use those premade taco packets that you can buy at the store. Instead it makes this sweet yet tangy taco filling that adds some spice and originality to a normally dull meal. And after you taste this taco seasoning, you will think those premade packets are artificial tasting and gross. (Sorry Old El Paso...)

I use those Azteca Salad shells that you can find in the refrigerator section at your local grocery store. At the store where I shop, they are located by the butter. This recipe also works great with flour tortillas or crispy taco shells as well.

**Quick tip: Whenever I make this recipe, I like to make several batches of this taco meat and throw and some of it in the freezer. It's not that much harder to make a huge batch of it than it is to make a small batch. And, then I have an already fast meal even faster in the future.



Tasty Tacos
Adapted from "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook"
Serves 4

1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
2 T. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1/2 c. chicken broth
2 t. apple cider vinegar
2 T. brown sugar

Azetca salad shells--Cooked using instructions on the back of the package.

Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients to the skillet with the beef and onion and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until thickened--for about 10 minutes or so.

Prepare your favorite taco toppings...see mine in the picture below. I like to put all my toppings on a wood cutting board. I think it looks pretty and I don't dirty up as many dishes that way.

Make your taco salad masterpiece by putting your fav toppings in the taco salad shell with some taco meat and enjoy this tasty meal that you got to your table in under 30 minutes!

If you need another idea for a way to use those salad shells...try this recipe