Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Our family borrowed this recipe from katesblog to try for the holidays. When first mixing all of the ingredients together we were sort of leery about how it would turn out. But ummmm were they good!! Even a friend of mine, who is usually not so crazy about peanut butter, absolutely loved them. In fact, the reason I'm putting this recipe on my blog is so she can have access to it, because she asked me for it over the holiday but we were away, so I couldn't get it to her. Enjoy!!

1 18oz jar peanut bar
2lb powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
chocolate almond bark (or melt 12oz bag of chocolate chips with 2 T shortening)

1. Mix peanut butter, butter, and optional 1tsp vanilla with electric mixer until well blended.
2. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, blending with the mixer until all the sugar is mixed in. The dough will be slightly crumbly.
3. Form the dough into 1-1 1/2 inch sized balls by rolling the dough between your hands. Set formed balls on a plate or cookie tray.
4. Mix all ingredients together except for chocolate. Shape into 1-inch balls. Cool in frig. Melt chocolate in microwave, or double broiler and dip balls in, being sure to cover completely. Put on wax paper to harden.
5. Once they are cool you can put them in plastic containers in the refrigerator or freezer. They will keep for several weeks.

Hamburger Soup

Hamburger-Vegetable Soup

Another famous recipe in our household. Quick and easy family favorite!

1-1 1/2 pounds hamburger

3-4 cups of water

3 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 cup or more if you like carrots)

2 medium stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup or more if you like)

1 large potato, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 cup or more if you like)

2 medium onions, chopped (about 1 cup or more if you like)

1-2 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1 can (14.5 ounce) Diced tomatoes with the liquid! ( or 2 cans if you like)(or a 28 oz. can will do)

Cook and stir hamburger in Dutch oven until light brown; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients; Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer just until vegetables are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. (Depending on how small you chopped your vegies!)

Serves about 6, but in my household any leftover soup keeps for lunch the next day!

Orange Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes

One of my friends loves to bake, so she decided that we were going to make Halloween cupcakes this weekend!! So last night we invited everyone over to the kitchen and made it a group project. They turned out so good! Everyone really enjoyed them. ;)


Lauren is wondering what exactly she's supposed to do with that stuff...lol. She couldn't figure out how much 1/4 of a cup was...so Becca just handed her a 1/4 measuring cup to put the batter into the backing cups..haha...guess she doesn't do this very often does she?


Becca, our head chef, creating the mix. :)



1 package yellow or white cake mix
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
3/4 cup water
3 eggs
2 tbs veggie oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice
orange food coloring
icing
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
optional- black gumdrops to put on top

recipe: preheat oven to 350F line 24 standard muffin cups w/ paper baking cups
beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, eggs, oil, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl w/electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended. spoon 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup

bake about 20 min. or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. cool cupcakes in pans 10min. remove to wire racks; cool completely

icing: cream butter and cream cheese till creamy,mix vanilla, gradually stir in powdered sugar. store in fridge

and then if you want to use the chocolate then you place 4 squares of semi sweet chocolate in a plastic resealable sandwich bag and microwave on medium 40 seconds

knead bag; microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute or until chocolate is melted. knead bag till chocolate is smooth. cut off tiny corner of bag. Drizzle chocolate in four or five concentric circles over top of cupcakes. Immediately draw 6 or 8 lines at regular intervals from center to edges of cupcakes w/ toothpick or knife to create web

for spiders, place one gumdrop in center of web design on top of cupcake. Roll out another gumdrop w/ rolling pin on generously sugared surface. Slice thinly and roll into "legs." Arrange legs around gumdrop to complete spiders

Allen's Chicken Enchilada's

One of my friend's father's sent her this recipe to try making here on campus. Sooo..guess what we spent last night doing. Haha, yup, cooking. All four of us helped make it and wow were they good!! I'm so glad Nora asked for the recipe. Definitely much better than having to eat campus food!

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs chicken, pre-cooked or self prepared (thinly cut into strips)
1 can enchilada sauce (mild or medium)
1 package of flour tortillas (dinner plate size)
1 package shredded cheese (either cheddar or Mexican mix)
Vegetable cooking oil
Optional: onions, black olives, peppers
Pam or other cooking spray
Salsa and/or sour cream

1. Cook chicken in a frying pan on medium heat using small amount of vegetable oil (about 1/2 capful).Or simply reheat if using pre-cooked, packaged chicken.

2. Mix in about half a can of enchilada sauce with the chicken in a bowl and set aside.

3. Set stove to medium heat. Add small amount of vegetable oil to the frying pan and cook both sides of the tortillas, one at a time. Cook about 30 seconds per side, or until bubbles form and is slightly brown. Stack the cooked tortillas on a paper plate w/ paper towel between each to soak up any leftover oil.

4. Prepare a casserole dish. Spray the bottom and sides with Pam. Pour in just enough enchilada sauce to just cover the bottom of the casserole dish.

5. Brush enchilada sauce on one side of the tortilla. Add chicken, shredded cheese, and if preferred, also the optional onions, olives and peppers. Tightly roll the tortilla by folding over each side and then tucking in the corners. Place each rolled tortilla in the casserole dish.

6. With remaining enchilada sauce, brush the tops of the tortillas and cover with a layer of shredded cheese. Optionally add onions/olives and peppers.

7. Cook in oven at 425 for about 20 minutes or at least until cheese has melted and bubbles.

8. Serve with sour cream or salsa

Hi all!!

I apologize for not adding any new recipes lately, but living in a college dorm, I don't have much time or resources to do much cooking or baking. I will make an attempt on doing so over break!! I feel so behind!! Ahh!! College life is great though, especially when you are surrounded by such a good group of friends. I am very fortunate to have them!

Chocolate Velvet Pound Cake

Woah! What a Birthday cake!!! Uncle Bob's face was priceless when he saw this! His mouth just dropped open! I'm not sure if it was more out of surprise or OMG that looks soooo good!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16 oz) package light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 cup hot water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Melt semisweet chocolate morsels in a microwave safe bowl at HIGH for 30 second intervals until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes total time). Stir until smooth.

2. Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended.

3. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow, steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla.

4. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 F or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.

5. Sift powdered sugar over top of cake. Serve with chocolate garnish and ice cream. Garnish if desired.

Serves 12

Dill-and-Almond Green Beans

Quick and easy! This one is for Becca. After chatting online with her about the whole green bean recipe I decided to add it. ;)

Ingredients:
1 Red bell pepper
1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1. Cook green beans in boiling water to cover in dutch oven over med-high heat for 10 minutes. Plunge beans into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain.

2. Saute almonds in hot il on large skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds. Stir in green beans, dill, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

3. Serve!!