Baked S'mores

Baked S'mores

recipe courtesy:The Apron Gal: Baked S'mores

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla 
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt (optional) 
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 5 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
4 chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (or mini marshmallows if you must!) 
Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of  pan. 

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt and mix at a low speed until combined. 

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Four 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly in an 11x7 pan.

Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the creme. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use a rolling pin to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up and carefully spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely or almost completely for the melty factor before cutting into bars. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Burgers with Pesto Mayo

Chicken Pesto Burgers with Pesto Mayo

My family absolutely loves these.  When entertaining, we'll often make sliders with traditional American burgers, buffalo burgers (made with buffalo sauce and blue cheese in the ground beef), and these delicious light pesto burgers.  

What you'll need

• FOR THE BURGERS:
• 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken (I've used ground turkey and my family can't tell the difference)
• 3/4 cup grated sharp Cheddar or 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (we like a combo of both)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons pesto (store-bought or your favorite recipe)
• Oil for brushing the burgers
• 6 burger rolls
• Lettuce
• Sliced tomatoes
• FOR THE PESTO MAYONNAISE:
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons pesto

How to make it

1. Line a medium-size baking sheet with plastic wrap and set it aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken, cheese, salt, and pepper, mayo, and pesto, gently tossing the mixture with your hands or a large fork, until evenly blended.
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3. Shape the meat into six 1/2-inch-thick patties, placing each one on the lined baking sheet as you go. Cover the burgers with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes to firm them. (Note: The patties will be softer than traditional hamburgers. You may also want to add up to 1/4 c panko crumbs to help them not fall through the grill.)
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5. While the meat is chilling, prepare the grill and make the Pesto Mayonnaise (just combine the ingredients in a small bowl). Then brush one side of each of the burgers with a little oil and place them on the grill, oiled side down. Lightly brush oil on the other side of the burgers and cook them for 5 minutes on each side, turning once, or until the meat is no longer pink inside.
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8. Adapted from Familyfun magazine

Restaurant Style Egg Drop Soup

Restaurant Style Egg Drop Soup

This is so easy and healthy!  My girls crave this soup.  It's super kid-friendly and inexpensive. I served this with egg rolls and stir-fry Oriental vegetables.

4 c chicken broth
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 T chopped chives
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 T cornstarch
3/4 c chicken broth

1.Put first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. In a cup or small boil, combine 3/4c chicken broth and cornstarch. Set aside.
2. Whisk eggs together in a separate bowl using a fork.  Drizzle eggs a little at a time in the boiling broth mixture. Eggs should cook immediately.  Stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until desired consistency.
Serve and Enjoy!

MmmmGood Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Even though it's warming up (finally) here in Idaho, I still crave comfort food.  This was requested by C-man, and he was supposed to get it in the crockpot before school; unfortunately, he takes forever to wake up, so I completed the task after dropping off all the kids.  My house smelled marvelous the whole day!  It was perfect with our whole wheat bread and a salad.

MmmGood Slow Cooker Beef Stew

2 pounds beef stew meat, (browned in pan over stove in oil, salt & pepper, then cut in bite size pieces)

*I never use stew meat--I found top loin steaks on sale and used those.
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
6oz can tomato paste
32oz beef broth
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups baby carrots carrots
4-5 small red potatoes,cut into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cups frozen peas

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions:

1.  Combine beef, celery, carrots, red onion, potatoes, salt,  pepper, garlic, parsley, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, and tomato paste in the crock pot. Cook on LOW for 10 hours or on HIGH for 6-7 hours.  I cooked it on low for 7 hours, panicked when the potatoes weren't soft, and turned it up to high for 2 hours because I'm always nervous like that. 

2.  About 30 minutes before serving, mix the cornstarch and the water together in a small dish and pour into the crockpot. Mix until well combined. This will add a nice thickness to the stew. Next add in your frozen peas. Continue cooking covered for 30 minutes.

Adapted from family fresh meals

Cake Mix Waffles

Some may think because this uses a cake mix, it has to be for dessert.  Aren't muffins just a different version of cake?  Coffee cake?  I love sweet breakfasts!  These are an easy way to get kids out of bed and can even be made by them!  The variations are endless...

Sunday, my princess made these with a dark chocolate cake mix, coconut, chocolate chips, and smashed up walnuts for "Almond Joy Waffles."  Be creative and have fun!

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• Prep Time 30 min
 
• Total Time 30 min
 
• Servings 12

Ingredients

1

box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® cake mix (any flavor)

1 1/3

cups water

1/3

cup vegetable oil

3

eggs

• 1Heat waffle maker. (Waffle makers without nonstick coating may need to be brushed with vegetable oil or sprayed with cooking spray.)
• 2Make cake batter as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs.
• 3For each waffle, pour batter onto center of hot waffle maker. (Check manufacturer's directions for recommended amount of batter.) Close lid of waffle maker. Bake 3 to 5 minutes or until steaming stops. Carefully remove waffle.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

This is a delicious, rich brownie recipe that would please any chocolate lover like myself.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

• 2 sticks (8 oz) butter
• 8 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. Alternatively, you may use parchment. These are pretty sticky at first!
2. Melt butter and chocolate in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the hot chocolate mixture. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.
3. Whisk in remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth. Whisk in salt and cocoa powder, then add flour and stir until it disappears (do not overbeat).
4. Spread in pan and bake until a pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool to room temperature then chill for an hour or more. Lift from pan, place on a cutting board, cut into squares.     

Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Homemade Hawaiian Haystacks

This is one of Carter's favorite meals and he even made it himself last night!

No Cream of Soup Hawaiian Haystacks

• 2 cups of cooked  and cubed chicken (or shredded chicken)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ½ onion (about ½ cup), finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp flour, optional
• 2 Tbsp water, optional

1. In a large sauce pan, saute the onion in the butter until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for one minute.
3. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring the sauce to a simmer over medium. Add the salt and pepper.
4. Add the chicken and simmering, stirring the sauce frequently, until the sauce has thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
5. At this point if you want the sauce to thicken more, in a small bowl whisk together the 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp water until smooth, you don’t want lumps.  It should look like a paste.  Drizzle a little of the flour mixture at a time while whisking into to sauce mixture until desired thickness is reached.  I like it to be like a thick gravy.
6. Serve the sauce over steamed rice with desired toppings from the list below.  Serves 4-6.

Toppings: (items with a star are our favorites)

shredded cheddar cheese*

pineapple tidbits*

sliced olives

diced green onion*

chopped celery*

shredded coconut*

slice almonds*

diced fresh mushroom

Chow mien noodles*

diced tomatoes

peas

mandarin oranges

sunflower seeds*

diced green pepper

water chestnuts

cashews

soy sauce

or anything else that you think would be good