Frozen Brownies

My husband is back in school working on his MBA. We are almost to the half way point! He has weekend classes, so as of now, our schedule on the weekends has him leaving early Friday morning for work, going to class all afternoon and all day Saturday. He crashes in Salt Lake where he has school and comes home sometime Saturday evening. We miss him while he is gone and have tried to make the best of it. I have come to use my weekend time as my "alone" time. Once the kids are down, I catch up on a project or two or sometimes I just crawl into bed and watch 4 hours of "Say Yes To The Dress". And then there are some weekends when I need chocolate to survive! Last weekend was one of those weekends, so I decided to make myself a chocolate stash...something I try not to have because, lets be honest-my thunder thighs really don't need a stash! However, these little beauties are the perfect treat for a chocolate stash! Especially in my house because once I made them, my kids had like one a day until they were gone-totally eliminating my stash. Thunder thighs problem solved. But, the one or two I did eat hit the spot! 

We liked having these in the freezer when I was growing up so that when siblings (mainly teenage siblings) brought friends over there was always something to share with everyone. An oldie, but a goodie!

Frozen Brownies

Brownies:
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
4 eggs


Frosting:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp vanilla

In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter and cocoa. Stir in sugar and flour. Add eggs; mix well. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the frosting, beat together all the frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Cool brownies for 15 minutes before frosting. Cool completely. Cover with foil and freeze until firm. Serve frozen or thawed.
*I like to cut them up and freeze the squares in ziplock bags for easy access.

Serves about 3 dozen

Peach Glazed Chicken

This is an old family favorite, courtesy of Aunt Dee. My son gobbles this up!!

Peach Glazed Chicken
1 (16 oz) can sliced peaches in heavy syrup
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp oil
3 cups chicken flavored stuffing mix (such as Stove Top)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
1/8 tsp allspice

Drain peaches, reserving syrup. Add water to syrup to make 1 cup; set aside.  Heat oil in skillet and brown chicken. Add water/syrup mixture, butter, sugar, vinegar, and allspice. Bring to a boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in stuffing mix and peaches. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Serves 4

Sweet Carrots

I love a good side dish and this is my new favorite! I could eat the whole bowl for my main dish. 

Sweet Carrots

1 pound baby carrots
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Place everything together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are tender. Drain and serve.

Serves 4-6


realmomkitchen.com

Spinach Artichoke Mac and Cheese

This is one of our favorites and we (I) always make it around St. Patrick's Day. I originally got the recipe from Rachael Ray, but I have tweaked it over the years because some of the cheese she uses can cost an arm and a leg, and I really don't have any of those to spare. The flavor is just as good and it's always hard to find leftovers of this dish. 

Spinach Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
3 tbsp butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 box frozen spinach (10 oz), defrosted and wrung dry in a towel.
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 1/4 grated parmesan cheese, plus more for top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to boil. Salt the water and cook  the pasta to al dente, according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, place another pot over medium-high heat and add butter. Once melted, add the onion and garlic and cook until vegetables are very soft, about 8 minutes. Turn heat up and add flour to the pan. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk the stock into the pan. Whisk in the milk and bring to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, spinach, artichokes, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer salt until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Add cheeses and stir until melted.

Toss prepared sauce with cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle more of cheese of the top and bake until the top is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Serves: 6

Hawaiian Haystacks

I tried a new recipe for dinner last week and we loved it! Thought I would share....

Homemade Hawaiian Haystacks

8 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp black pepper

32 oz chicken broth

2 dry ranch dressing seasoning packet

1/4 garlic salt

2 cups shredded chicken breasts

Steamed rice

Toppings of choice- here are some of our favorites

~chow mein noodles

~sliced green onions

~peas

~pineapple chunks

~olives

~craisins

~tomatoes

~shredded cheese

~sliced almonds

~chopped celery

Place butter into a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring well to melt. Slowly whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth and thick, for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Increase heat to high, whisking until thick, about 2 minutes. Add sour cream, ranch seasoning, garlic salt, and cooked chicken breasts. Stir and season accordingly. Transfer to a crock pot and keep on low until dinner or serve immediately with rice and desired toppings. 

Serves 4-6

pickypalete.com

Marshmallow Treats

This weeks recipe comes from my Great Grandma. I was very lucky to have wonderful Grandma's! Sadly, they are all gone now and I miss them all so much. My Great Grandma Wanlass lived to be an amazing 90 years old. I was 10 when she passed away, but I have wonderful memories of visiting her. She always had empty berry baskets waiting for us to pick raspberries when we arrived and she always had her cookie can filled with goodies for us. She almost always had it filled with No Bake Cookies or Marshmallow Treats. I have been using her recipe for Marshmallow Treats for years, but have added my own modern twist to it-mainly more marshmallows and sprinkles. When I don't add the sprinkles, my kids act like I have committed some sort of crime. So, in honor of wonderful Grandma's everywhere, enjoy some Marshmallow Treats!

Marshmallow Treats

1/4 cup butter
1 (10 oz) bag of large marshmallows
1/4 tsp salt
6 cups krispie rice cereal
1 (10 oz ) bag of small marshmallows
Sprinkles for decorating

Measure out krispie cereal and place in a large bowl. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add large marshmallows and salt. Stir until marshmallows are melted and everything is combined. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal and stir until well combined. Add bag of small marshmallows and stir until well combined.
Place in a greased 9x13 pan and spread out. (A good tip for doing this is to get your hands wet. If you use wet hands to press the mixture into the pan, it won't stick to you.)
Decorate the top of treats with sprinkles of choice. Cool and cut into desired size squares. I like to wrap my squares into individual pieces of plastic wrap and fill up the cookie jar for little hands to grab as they please:)

Coming Back

I haven't been good at blogging for like a year and a half. I have missed it and I know I have said in the past that I really want to get back into it, but this time I really mean it! I want to give some time and attention to my hobbies again and share the things that we think are extra yummy with all of you.....if anyone even looks at this anymore. So, my goal is once a week. Hopefully I can keep my promise to myself. If anyone does look at this little blog anymore, send me a comment. It's always easier to keep things up when I know people give a hoot. 

To start things off again, here is a fast and easy Tortellini Soup. My 4 year old loves this and requests if for dinner constantly! A perfect meal for a cold and snowy Utah weekend.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans tomato soup
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Additional parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large pot or dutch oven, combine the soup, broth, milk, half and half, tomatoes, and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. Drain tortellini; carefully add to soup. Stir in 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.

Serves 6





Source: pinterest