South-of-the-Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

This was a nice quick dinner for a weeknight. Instead of melting the cheese in the skillet, I put the pasta into a casserole dish and threw it in the oven for about 10 minutes.


South-of-the-Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

2 cups medium-size pasta, uncooked
2 Tyson® boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb.), thawed, cut into bite-size pieces
16 oz. salsa (about 2 cups)
10 oz. frozen corn, unthawed (about 2 cups)
4 oz. (½ of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
¼ tsp. ground cumin
1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided

COOK pasta as directed on package.

COOK and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 6 min. or until done. Add salsa, corn, cream cheese and cumin; simmer on medium-low 6 min. or until corn is heated through and cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.

DRAIN pasta; add to skillet with half the shredded cheese. Simmer 3 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining shredded cheese; cover. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza

This dessert is sooooooooooooo good!!!!!! It's really easy too. I made mine in a 13x9 pan instead of a pizza pan and used 2 rolls of the refrigerated cookie dough. You seriously need to make this!



Rating: 10 of 10


Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza
















Prep Time: 15 Min
Total Time: 1 Hr 30 Min
Makes: 12 servings


INGREDIENTS:
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated chocolate chip cookies
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
3/4 cup hot fudge topping
1/4 cup chopped peanuts


DIRECTIONS:
1.Heat oven to 350°F. In ungreased 12-inch pizza pan, break up cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust.
2.Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
3.Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
4.Spread 1/2 cup of the fudge topping over cooled crust. Spread peanut butter mixture over top. Drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup fudge topping. Sprinkle with peanuts. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until serving time. Cut into wedges or squares.

Thumbprint Cookies

This is a cookie recipe that I got from my Mom. The cookie itself melts in your mouth and has a great nutty flavor. The sugary icing is a great compliment!

Rating: 10 of 10

Thumbprint Cookies

½ c. Brown Sugar

1 c. Butter

2-3 egg yolks

2c. flour

Egg whites

1 ½ c. chopped nuts

Icing:

½ c. confectioners sugar

1 tbs. butter

2 tsp. milk

¼ tsp vanilla

24 milk chocolate kisses

Cream together sugar, butter and egg yolks. Beat flour into this mixture. Form balls and dip into slightly beaten egg whites. Roll balls in chopped nuts. Put on lightly greased cookie sheet and make a thumbprint on each ball. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and reset thumbprint. Bake 8-10 minutes longer. Fill with icing.

Company Chicken

COMPANY CHICKEN

2 or 3 uncooked chicken breasts, cut up in bite sized pieces
8 oz cream cheese
1 Italian Seasoning packet
10.5 oz can of chicken broth
10.5 oz can of cream of mushroom soup
4 oz butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Put all in crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Creamy Red Potatoes and Chicken

This recipe was really good. It's very filling. If you have a guy who likes meat and potatoes, this recipe is for you!

Rating: 10 of 10

Creamy Red Potatoes and Chicken

1 1/2 Pounds Red Potatoes -- chunked
8 Ounces Cream Cheese
10 3/4 Ounces Cream of Potato Soup
1 Envelope Ranch-style Dressing Mix
12 Ounces Chicken Breast Without Skin -- cut into strips

Place potatoes in slow cooker. Beat together the cream cheese, soup and salad dressing mix. Stir in chicken strips and spread over potatoes (or just stir all together). Cover and cook on Low 8 hours, or until potatoes are tender. Stir once after 5-6 hours. Stir before serving.

White Chocolate Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

White Chocolate Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Cheesecake filling:

1 block cream cheese
1/4 powdered sugar
1/4 melted white chocolate
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
1 small box vanilla pudding mix

Combine above ingredients until smooth. Allow it to firm up to a stiff pudding consistency. If its too thick, add a touch of milk. If its too thin, add some cream cheese or powdered sugar.
Use large plump ripe berries and cut an X at the tip, cutting almost all the way down to the hull, but not in half!
Pipe filling into berries using either a piping bag (or plastic baggie w/tip cut off).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. (You can also do this in the microwave but watch it closely. The butter/sugar mixture will boil over fast. Stir every 30 seconds or so.)

2. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool.

3. Beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute.

4. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.

7. Garnish with additional chips, if you choose.Serve with Nilla wafers or graham crackers.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

These are my favoritest cupcakes EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You need to try this recipe. TRUST ME!

Rating: 10 of 10

PEANUT BUTTER CUP CUPCAKES















INGREDIENTS:

For cupcakes:

1 box (18.25oz) Devils Food cake mix

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 (12oz) bag Reeses mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped

For frosting:

2 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk, as needed

Mini semisweet chocolate chips for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine cake mix, eggs, water and oil until moistened. Using a handheld mixer beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in semisweet chocolate chips. Place a heaping tablespoon of cake batter into each muffin cup. Place one Reeses mini peanut butter cup into each muffin cup, and top with an additional tablespoon of cake batter to cover.

3. Bake in preheated oven 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted along the edge of the cupcake comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

4. To prepare frosting: place butter and peanut butter in a medium bowl and beat with a handheld mixer until fluffy and thoroughly combined. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined. Gradually mix in powdered sugar until well incorporated- if mixture becomes too thick, add milk a tablespoon at a time as needed until desired consistency. Beat for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and if desired, garnish with mini semisweet chocolate chip.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

This is my 2nd favorite cupcake recipe!


Rating: 10 of 10

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

30 Oreo (or Oreo-like) cookies
1 pkg plain white cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat your over to 350 and line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Count out 12 Oreos and separate the top and bottom wafers. Make sure each half has some icing on it. (I found this step to be a bitch.) Place one wafer, icing side up, in the bottom of each paper liner. Crush the remaining Oreos by any means you like. Set crumbs aside.

Place the cake mix, oil, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and beat again on medium about 1.5 minutes more. Measure out 1 1/2 cups crushed Oreos and fold these into the batter. Set the rest of the crumbs aside for garnish.

Fill your liners 3/4 full with batter and place the pans int he oven. A little trick if you get fewer than 2 dozen cupcakes out of this, take the liners out of the empty cups and fill them about half way with water. This helps the cakes bake evenly despite the pan not being filled with batter.

Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes until they are golden and spring back when lightly touched with your finger. Cool in the pan on wire racks for about 5 minutes and then remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

How to Photograph Food

I don't always take pictures of the meals I make. This has to do with 2 reasons. One being that I don't get home in time to photograph the food in nautral light. The other being that I don't have any plain white plates. I only have ones with patterns and that throws the picture off.

Since I have a new fancy schmancy camera, I figured I should start trying to take pictures of my food for my blog. Here are a some great links for instructions of how to photograph food. Stay tuned for some new pics!

crumblycookie.wordpress.com

culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com

Smothered BBQ Ranch Chicken

This recipe was super easy and REALLY good. I highly recommend it!!!!!

Rating: 10 of 10


Smothered BBQ Ranch Chicken

Recipe:
4 chicken breasts
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
3/4 cup fat free ranch dressing


Mix ranch and bbq sauce together- pour over chicken in frying pan.

Let simmer for 30-35 minutes until cooked. Top it with shredded cheese, a sprinkle of chopped bacon, and a handful of chopped scallions.

Variation: I baked it in the oven (covered the chicken with the sauce), covered it with foil and at 30 minutes, I add shredded mozzarella cheese on the rop, continued to bake, uncovered, for another 5 minutes. THANKS CLARE! :)

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Justin orders this meal at a few restaurants when we go out so I decided to make it at home. This recipe was really easy and fast to make. It tasted pretty good too!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

1-2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 tsp cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 box linguine
grated parm cheese

1. Boil a pot of water
2. Add linguine and toss pasta every minute or so
3. Place chicken and cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat.
4. In a skillet over medium heat cook chicken with the butter
5. Reduce heat and add cream and seasonings
6. Heat for a few minutes until hot
7. Add cooked linguine
8. Sprinkle with parm cheese

Weekly Menu Planning

I have decided that I am going to start menu planning. I hate calling home every night and asking Justin what he wants to eat. The answer never changes and I don't know why I even ask anymore! Hopefully this will inspire me to try the thousands of recipes that I have saved on my computer! Here's the menu I'm planning for this week:

Monday: Cajun Chicken Pasta

Tuesday: Smothered BBQ Ranch Chicken

Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Parmesan

Thursday: Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta Skillet

Friday: Chili


We usually eat out on the weekends so I will start with only planning on the weekdays.

Christmas Cookies!!!!

My Mom and I had our traditional Holiday baking day (dayS). We don't really make the cookies for a specific reason. We take them with us to all the get togethers we have over the holidays. It's just a fun time for us!

My dad and Justin had the hard job of testing out the cookies and eating the ones that turn out so perfect. A day of watching football, drinking beer and eating cookies.... really hard right?

My pups liked the baking as well. Cooper found his new love, powdered sugar! He ended up with it all over his nose!

Below are the cookies we made:

- Thumbprints

- Russian Tea Cakes

- Peanutbutter Blossoms

- Reeses Peanutbutter Cookies

- Lady Locks

Russian Tea Cakes

Recipe coming soon!

Peanutbutter Blossoms

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Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Additional granulated sugar (about 2 tablespoons)
About 7 dozen Hershey®’s Kisses® milk chocolates

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in additional granulated sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Immediately press 1 chocolate candy in center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Reeses Peanutbutter Cup Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Taco Stuffed Shells

These were pretty tasty but the prep work was a lot and then you have to bake for a good amount of time. This made for a late dinner! Overall though, they were good.

Rating: 7 of 10

Taco Stuffed Shells

Ingredients





* 1 lb. ground beef


* 1 package taco seasoning


* 4 oz. cream cheese

* 12 jumbo pasta shells (I used more. It was the whole box.


* 1 cup salsa


* 1 cup taco sauce


* 1 cup cheddar cheese


* 1 cup monterey jack cheese

* 1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips (omitted)


* 3 green onions (chopped) (omitted)


* Sour cream





Directions


1. In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.





2. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.





3. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don't stick together.





4. Pour salsa on bottom of 9x13 baking dish.





5. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9x13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.





6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.7. After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes.
(I didn't bake for that long. I really just waited until the cheese was melted.)





8. Add any condiments you'd like (onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa. Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Truffles

Rating: 10 of 10

Cookie Dough Truffles


1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 lbs semi-sweet chocolate candy coating, chopped

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the flour, milk and vanilla; mix well.

Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. (I found the dough too sticky using the recipe as written. Don't use the whole can of condensed milk. Use 12 ounces (all but 1/4 cup), then add in 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar.)

Shape into 1 inch balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.

Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 or until firm.I

n a microwave safe bowl, melt candy coating, stirring often until smooth.

Dip balls in coating; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.

Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies.

Store in the refrigerator.

Oreo Truffles

These things are awesome and so easy to make!

Rating: 10 of 10

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, finely crushed
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

Mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended

Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Yield: 42 Truffles.