Chocolate, Carmel, Shortbread Bars!

YUM, YUM, and more YUM!! I think I ate half the pan of these and that my friends is why I gained two pounds this week!!!!

Ingredients:

Crust

8 Tbsp. butter

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cups sugar

Filling

3/4 cups butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp dark corn syrup

14 oz. condensed milk

7 oz. semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cake pan. Combine butter, sugar and flour and mix until combined. Press into bottom of pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling, place butter, sugar, dark corn syrup, and condensed milk in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 6 minutes, stirring, until the mixture becomes thick. Pour over the shortbread base and chill in the refrigerator until firm.

To make topping, melt chocolate and spread over carmel. Chill until set. YUM!

Grilled Asparagus

My mom introduced me to this one. . .

Ingredients:

Asperagus

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Scallions

Directions:

Spread asperagus on jelly roll pan, top with scallions, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Broil for 20-30 minutes.

SO EASY and a tasty side dish.

Chocolate Mint Cookie Sandwiches

I got this recipe from my newest cookbook called "1001 cupcakes, cookies and other tempting treats" I know it will be great for my diet!!!

Heres the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

2 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1/3 cup candied cherries, finely chopped

15 Andes mints (or more depending on how many cookies you can out of the dough)

semi sweet chocolate pieces (I used about a bag of chunk chocolate chips)

white chocolate chips (I used about a cup)

Directions:

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Then, beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt and add into mixture along with cherries and STIR until combined (don't beat it makes it crumbly instead of binding it together). Halve the dough and chill for 30-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with wax/parchmant paper. Roll out dough between to sheets of wax paper (it is too sticky not to). Cut out cookies in square or rectangular shapes. Bake 10-15 minutes until cookies are firm. Place mints on cookies right from oven, then cover with remaining cookies. Let cool on baking sheets.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate. Place cookies on cooling rack and spoon chocolate over cookies, and let set. Melt white chocolate and pipe or drizzle over cookies.

YUMMMM!!!! SOOO Tasty!!!

Stuffed Potatoes

This is one of my favorite meals. It is a twofer meal to boot and that makes me love it even more. Day 1 you make stroganoff and serve over rice or noodles and then Day 2 is STUFFED POTATOES!

Use your left over stroganoff and serve over baked potatoes. Top with whatever you like, we use peas, cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes. You can also do onions, peppers, etc.

It sounds a little weird maybe (it did to me the first time I had it) but it is super delicious and great for cold weather meals!!! YUM!

The stroganoff Recipe is Dennis' and he is the one that always makes it (another reason for loving this meal, I don't have to cook much!!), here it is:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey

3 10 oz cans cream of mushroom soup

4 cubes crushed beef bullion cubes

1 packet dried onion soup mix

Worcestershire sauce

milk

16 oz. sour cream

Directions:

Brown meat with Worcestershire sauce to taste. Add soup, one can full of milk, 1/2 the sour cream, bouillon cubes, soup mix and more Worcestershire as needed. Stir and simmer.

UP COMING . . .

Stroganoff

Stuffed potatoes

Easy bbq pork chops

White Chili

Stay tuned, I know you're all excited!!

Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Parmesean

Dennis hates Brussel sprouts but I love them! I found this recipe in my Flexitarian Cookbook. I made it for a lunch but it could be a nice side dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup brussel sprouts cut in half
1 potato cut into cubes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup rinsed navy beans
parmesean cheese to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss brussel sprouts, potatoes, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and cook 30-40 minutes until veggies are tender (turn veggies occasionally to cook evenly). Add beans for the last 15 minutes of baking and serve topped with parmesean.

Veggie Tortellini Soup

Taken from "Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast"

This was really easy and really yummy. . .

Ingredients:

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

1 can condensed bean with bacon soup (undiluted)

3 cups water

1 16 oz. bag frozen italian style veggies

basil, oregano, parsley, pepper to taste (aprox. 1/4 teaspoon of each)

1/2 of 9 oz package fresh cheese tortellini

fresh grated parmesean cheese to taste

Directions:

Combine first 6 ingredients; cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta; reduce to medium heat. Cook 7 minutes until pasta and veggies are tender. Serve topped with parmesean.

Yield: 6 servings