Delightfully Yummy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Who doesn't love peanut butter, caramel, chocolate and pretzels? Okay, I am sure there are many of you out there that would say yes to one of these ingredients. So this pie is not for you, including my Mike, he doesn't like peanut butter. But if you like these ingredients then this pie will definitely be one that you would love.

This was one of the desserts that I made for my daughter Lisa's birthday last week. She had asked for a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The cake is easy enough to make and she loved it, but this cake is not one of the favorites in my family. So being the person that I am I wanted to make everyone happy, so I made this delightful pie. My son-in-law Doug told Lisa that this pie was the best pie he had ever eaten. I don't think that you get a better compliment that.

I have submitted this pie to the Zuuzs Grand Spring Recipe Challenge. You can go to zuuzs.com to vote for my pie. The voting will begin in a day or two, I have been told that they are working on it. I will update this post once the voting has begun. So if you have a minute and would be so kind to go to zuuzs.com to vote for me I would really appreciate it. I do want to let you know you will have to sign up at zuuzs.com in order to place a vote.

 Delightfully Yummy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie
Prepare crust:
1 1/2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
Combine finely crushed pretzels, sugar, and   melted butter in a 9 inch pie pan, mix well and press firmly into the pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes. Set on cooling rack and cool completely.
Chocolate layer:
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup of milk chocolate chips
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
In a small saucepan bring whipping cream to a simmer. Once the cream comes to a simmer remove from heat, add milk chocolate chips. and light corn syrup. Cover and let set for about 2 minutes. Beat the chocolate, cream, and light syrup until smooth and glossy. Pour this over the cooled crust and refrigerate until the chocolate is cooled and set.
Caramel layer:
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 cup whipping cream
In the mean time prepare caramel layer. In a small sauce pan combine  butter, brown sugar,  light corn syrup, and whipping cream. Stirring constantly bring this to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Cool to almost room temperature and pour over chocolate layer. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of caramel sauce to drizzle over top of pie
Peanut butter layer:
8 ounce of cream cheese
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 cups of whipping cream
In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese (make sure the cream cheese is room temperature) until fluffy. To this add the peanut butter, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar. Beat all ingredients until well blended and fluffy, set aside. In another large mixing bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Pour over the caramel layer.
Topping:
Drizzle over top of pie with the remaining caramel (this may need to be heated a little until it is runny enough to pour), then drizzle 3 tablespoons of melted peanut butter (melted in the microwave until slightly runny), and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of chopped milk chocolate chips. Freeze 3 to 5 hours before serving.

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No-Fuss Smashed Potatoes

We celebrated our daughter's birthday this past weekend. I told her that I would make a dinner for her birthday and asked her what she would like. She promptly told me that she would like to have pulled pork and buttered noodles. I thought that it was simple enough, but not everybody is a fan of buttered noodles in the house (that includes me).

Now I know that everybody likes potatoes in the family, so I wanted to make some potatoes with the meal. Although I didn't want just any old potato and I wanted something simple that wouldn't take a long time to make. While looking through Kraft Family & Food Winter 2006 magazine when I spotted the potatoes that I knew I would be making.

I adapted the potatoes a little to what I thought my family would enjoy. These potatoes were easy to make and very tasty. The recipe called for 5 cloves of garlic to be boiled along with the potatoes, I guess that is what caught my eye with this recipe. I have not seen a recipe where you boil garlic with potatoes so I knew it would make the flavor of  these potatoes a little more tastier, but yet it was simple to do. Sour cream, Parmesan cheese, and chives were also added for a wonderful flavor. So if you are looking for an easy side dish with a yummy taste I hope you try this.

No-Fuss Smashed Potatoes (Adapted from the Kraft Family & Food Winter 2006 magazine)


2 pounds red potatoes (about 5 medium), unpeeled, cut into chunks
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 tablespoon chives (I used dried but fresh would work great)
Salt to taste
Add potatoes and garlic to a large saucepan cook about 30 minutes or until tender. Drain, return to saucepan.
Mash potatoes with garlic with sour cream, Parmesan cheese, and chives until light and fluffy. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

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Best Ever Carrot Scones with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

I have been wanting to make my next batch of scones. I have been seeing some amazing scone recipes on different blogs and have pinned one or two of them to make at another time. But there were some carrots that have been sitting in my refrigerator begging to be eaten. Yes I could have cooked them up or roasted them, but I thought scones were a much better idea. So I had no choice but to make these carrot scones.

Mike loves carrot cake with cream cheese frosting so I had a vision of what I wanted my scones to taste like. I looked on the web to see what was out there. There were a few recipes, but nothing quite what I had envisioned. So I kind of did my own thing on these scones.

Yum, I think these may have been the best scones I have made so far. I have to say that my family all loved them. Even my youngest child Adam who usually is not too much for things like scones enjoyed them. The carrots and the sour cream I believe made these a little more moist than the past scones I have made. The cinnamon cream cheese icing topped the scones off quite nicely and gave them a little sweetness.

Best Ever Carrot Scones with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
Scones:
3 cups A/P flour plus a little more
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup sour cream

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Using a fork cut the butter into the dry ingredients until there are no chunks of butter left.
In a separate bowl slightly beat the egg and mix in the milk, vanilla, sour cream and carrots until well mixed. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, making sure not to over mix.  Form into 2 balls. The mixture will be slightly sticky.
On a slightly floured surface knead dough until dough is smooth. Pat out the dough to make about an 8 inch circle. Cut circle into 6 triangles with a pizza cutter or a knife. Place scone on a lightly greased baking pan, making sure that the scones are not touching.
Bake in a 425 degree F oven for about 14 minutes. Scones should be lightly browned.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dab of butter about 1/2 teaspoon
2 to 3 tablespoon cream

Beat the cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat that in to the cream cheese. Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add cream to make it the right consistency. You can put icing into a baggy and snip one end off and pipe the icing onto the scones or you can frost them.

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Marvelous Mini Meatloaves

Mike and I love meatloaf. Usually just plain old fashion meatloaf; it's such a comfort food. Wouldn't you agree? The other day I was paging through one of the many Kraft Food & Family magazine that we have accumulated and I saw a recipe for these marvelous mini meatloaves.  They looked like they would be a fun way to serve meatloaf.

These mini meatloaves are baked in a muffin tin and they had four different options on what seasonings to use. I had decided to make a couple of the options, that way the family would have a choice for their dinner. But when I went to look to see if I had all of the ingredients for the ones that I wanted to make I found that I was lacking some of the ingredients that were called for.

So I settled on the Italian option. I did adapt the recipe to my liking; one of the ingredients for the meatloaf was a box of Stove Top Stuffing mix. That just didn't sound like that would be to my liking for this meatloaf so I ended up using Italian flavored breadcrumbs instead. Since the breadcrumbs didn't expand as much as the stuffing would have my meatloaves were a little smaller than what was pictured in the magazine.

I am planning on making the other three options in the future so I will be using a little more ground beef the next time to make up for the stuffing. Once I make the other options I will be sure to share them with you. I think it would be fun to make the four different options all at one time, that way there would be something for everyone. I will share the flavors of the other options after I cook them, so you will have to wait and see.

Marvelous Mini Meatloaves (Adapted from the Kraft Food & Family magazine)
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 egg
1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Toppings:
Spaghetti sauce (1 teaspoon per meatloaf)
1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix meat, bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, egg, 1/4 cups spaghetti sauce, salt, and pepper. Spray 9 medium muffin cups with cooking spray. Divide meat mixture into 9 even parts and press into muffin cups. Make an indentation in center of each with a back of a spoon.
2. Top each mini meatloaf with a teaspoon of spaghetti sauce.
3. Bake 30 minutes or until meatloaves are cooked through. Top evenly with the Mozzarella cheese and continue baking until the cheese is melted, about 2 or 3 minutes. Enjoy!

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Chicken Parmesan Bundles

I think it is funny the way people decide that they don't like a certain food even before they ever have tried it. That includes me; I had it in my head that I didn't like cooked spinach even though I had never had a bite of cooked spinach in my life.

Well since my blogging days I have changed my ways, I have found that cooked spinach is wonderful in different things that I have made. I have to say that I am amazed how delicious it tastes in soups and chicken dishes that I have used it in.

My latest recipe that I used spinach in was called Chicken Parmesan Bundles. I found this recipe in the fall of 2007 Kraft Food & Family magazine. I did adapt it a little to what I had in the house and it turned out to be really an amazing dish. The chicken is filled with 3 kinds of cheese along with spinach, then rolled in bread crumbs, and then popped in the oven to bake until the cheese is gooey and the chicken is nice and tender. When served it is topped with spaghetti sauce and even more cheese.

Now really it can't get much better than this. Mike, our daughters, and I  loved this dish. It is easy and quite quick to make. If you have not tried cooked spinach just because you don't think you will like it I would encourage you to try it, you may fall in love with it like I have.

Chicken Parmesan Bundles (Adapted from the 2007 Fall Kraft Food & Family magazine)


4 ounces (1/2 of 8 ounce package of cream cheese)
About 1 1/2 cups of spinach (the recipe called for a 10 ounce package of frozen spinach)
1 1/4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese divided
6 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, divided
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (pound to 1/4 inch thickness)
1 egg
About 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (Italian style)
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese until well blended; put about a tablespoon of the mixture on each chicken breast. Bring both ends of the chicken together and secure with a tooth pick. Set aside.
Beat egg in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Mix remaining 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowl or pie plate. Dip chicken bundles in egg and then roll in the bread crumbs. Remove toothpick and place seam side down, in a 13x9 inch baking dish lined with tin foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (165 degrees F). Serve topped with the spaghetti sauce and the remaining 1/4 cup of Mozzarella cheese.

(Note: If preferred the spinach mixture can be spread on the chicken breast and rolled up. I found it easier to put the mixture in the middle of the breast and fold the end over top of the mixture).

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Lemon Cookies with lime frosting.

If you read my blog on a regular bases you may remember the orange zested cookies that I posted a few weeks ago. Stephanie's Kitchen, the blog where I found the yummy orange zested cookie recipe suggested changing up the recipe by using lemons or limes. That started the wheels turning in my head and I have been thinking about trying some different flavors ever since I made the orange cookies.

 I really didn't think that any other versions of this cookie could get any better; since we loved the orange ones so much.  Well I made these cookies using lemon for the cookie itself and lime for the frosting. I have to say I was wrong when I thought the orange cookies were the best they could be, the lemon were even tastier. Now that is my opinion, because some of the other members in my family disagreed with me, but they still loved the cookies.

The lemony goodness with a little tartness from the lime frosting really made these cookies perfect. I made three batches to freeze some for a later time. Actually you can take these cookies right from the freezer and eat them. They don't get too hard when frozen and taste great. If you tried the orange zested cookies I hope you give these a try too. If you have not tried the orange zested cookies give these a try anyway, you may fall in love with them as I did.

Lemon Cookies with lime frosting (Adapted from Stephanie's Kitchen)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (I used 2 parts butter and 1 part shortening)
1cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 egg

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and lemon zest. Rub together your fingers until zest is throughout the sugar. The sugar will become moist from the oils being released. Using a mixer, cream the butter and lemon zested sugar. Add egg and lemon juice. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Roll into smooth round balls and place on cookie sheet that has been lightly greased. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden on the bottoms. Don't over bake or they will be a bit too dry and lose the perfect texture. Cool and frost with the lime glaze.

Lime Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lime zest
Fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon butter
A dash of salt

Mix the confectioners' sugar, lime zest, butter, salt, and enough lime juice to make a glaze that you can spread with a knife.

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Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

Can you believe it, another month has passed and it is time for another Crazy Cooking Challenge. The Crazy Cooking Challenge is sponsored by Tina from Mom's Crazy Kitchen. This month the challenge is blueberry muffins. This challenge was a little scary for me, because I don't usually make muffins from scratch. Yes, I have made them in the past, but to be honest it has been years and years since I have made a muffin from scratch.

In the past when I have made muffins they have turned out coarse and just plain not good. So I have turned to making muffins from a box, which my family likes. But a challenge is a challenge so I set out to find a recipe that would turn out half way descent for me. I went to Pinterest and started looking at the blueberry muffins, there were many that looked delicious, but when I saw the recipe from A Cook's Quest I knew it would be the recipe I would be baking for the challenge.

The name of the recipe is Best Ever Blueberry Muffins, now how could anything with a name like this turn out  not to be delicious. And I was correct, these muffins were perfectly delicious. I think that part of the secret to why these were so spectacular was that you cook some of the blueberry and made a sauce which was added to the muffins before they were baked. They were not course and dry like the ones that I made in the past, these were light and fluffy. I know that these are on my list to make again and again.

Please check out The Cook's Quest, she has some wonderful recipes on her blog that I am sure you will enjoy. Also thank you Tina from Mom's Crazy Kitchen for hosting this month's challenge once again. I know that it is a lot of work for you.

Best Ever Blueberry Muffins (From ~A Cook's Quest)
Streusel Topping:
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
5 tablespoons butter

Combined ingredients and mix until the mixture is the size of peas and set aside.

Muffins:
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/8 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water, and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with your potato masher of fork several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by about half. This will take about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Slowly mix in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup of blueberries into the flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not over mix).
Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (fill muffin cups about 2/3 full). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle with streusel evenly or muffins.
Bake until muffins are golden and just firm 17 to 19 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, before serving.

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Chicken Tacos (Chili-Garlic-Spice Paste)

I have to admit it, I am not too crazy for the traditional taco made with ground beef. We usually buy the packet of taco seasoning which is okay and add it to the ground beef; at least my family likes them. I prefer to have chicken in my tacos; usually seasoned with a few different spices. They are good, but could be better.

When I made chicken tacos one of the last times I decided to look for a new recipe, something to spice things up a little. I found a recipe called chili-garlic-spice paste in my Joy Of Cooking cookbook that sounded like something that I was looking for. I decided to adapt it to what I had in the house and tone it down just a little bit. It called for jalapeno peppers which I didn't have in the house at the time and so I used a can of green chiles in the peppers place. We loved this so much that I have made it one more time since then and the second time we used the jalapeno peppers. I can't say that the flavor was all that different, but it was still quite spicy and very delicious.

Since I made this paste I can't see myself making my chicken tacos any other way than with this chili-garlic-spice-paste. It is so full of flavor and it really is hard to quit eating it, you just want more, because the flavor is so delicious. Top with your favorite toppings, my tacos included avocado, onion, tomato, black beans, cheddar cheese and salsa. So I won't make you wait any longer. Here is the recipe so that you can start enjoying it too.

Chicken Tacos featuring Chili-Garlic-Spice- Paste (Adapted from the Joy Of Cooking cookbook)
Chili-Garlic Spice Paste
Combine in blender or a food processor until smooth.
7 ounce can green chiles (3/4 cup jalapeno peppers)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 scant tablespoon cracked black pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt (1 tablespoon salt if using jalapeno peppers)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Chicken:
3 boneless sliced in to strips
Add the chicken strips and chili-garlic spice paste into a Ziploc bag and let set over night in the refrigerator.
Heat George Foreman Grill, brush gill with olive oil and once heated place the chicken strips on the grill. Grill for about 2 minutes and flip chicken and grill for another 2 minutes. Time will depend on how large your chicken strips are. (If you don't have a George Foreman Grill this can be made under the broiler, just make sure to cook chicken until done).

Tacos:
Whole wheat tortilla shells
To assemble place chicken on shells and top as desired. Enjoy!

Note: lemon or lime zest can be added to the paste if desired. The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of chili powder, so if you want a paste with more heat more chili powder can be added).

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Loaded Fudge Mint Brownies

I was in the grocery store a week or so ago and I was looking at the chocolate chips. When I noticed the mint chocolate chips and I thought that I really should buy a bag. Now this is not the first time I have noticed them, yes I have seem them sitting on the shelf, actually I think they have been calling my name when I walked past them. I have ignored them until that day, when I really wanted to have my fix of chocolate and mint. See I think that chocolate and mint go hand in hand, like peanut butter and jelly or corn on the cob and butter. A match made in heaven.

The next thing was what to make with these yummy mint chocolate chips? I decided upon some fudge brownies with a mint frosting and a chocolaty mint glaze for drizzling over the frosting. Yes I know it does seem like a lot of mint in this dessert, but believe it really did work. No complaints from the people that ate them and that included myself.

So if you like mint like Mike and I do with a scrumptious brownie I hope that you will try these brownies. I am sure you won't hear any complaining from the people you make them for also.

Loaded Fudge Mint Brownies
Fudge Brownies (Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)


1 cup butter plus 3 tablespoons
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup mint chocolate chips

In a medium saucepan melt butter and cocoa. Remove from hear; stir in sugar. Blend in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Stir in flour and mint chocolate chips; mix well. Spread batter into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degree F for 30 minutes. Be care not to over bake.

Once the brownies are  completely cooled take you favorite vanilla frosting and add 1/4 teaspoon of mint extract. You can add more or less depending on your taste. I used a frosting that I posted a while back ago; it was my mother-in-laws never fail butter cream frosting. I added a few drops of green food coloring for some color and this frosting was ready to go.

For the chocolate mint drizzle I took the remaining  2/3 cup of chocolate mint chips, 2 teaspoons of corn syrup and 1 tablespoon of milk added that all together and melted it over a low heat on the stove, stirring constantly. Once it is completely melted drizzle chocolate over the frosted brownies.

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