Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

I made these the other day for my darling husband.
From Rice Krispies

Ingredients:

• 6 cups rice krispies
• 4 cups mini marshmallows (or 1 package large marshmallows)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 tbsp. butter or margarine

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
3. Add peanut butter
4. Add rice krispies
5. Press into a 9×13 pan and voila! You’re done!

This was super simple to make & great because we had all the ingredients on hand! A rarity! Next time, however, I will use a little more of the butter/marshmallow/peanut butter mixture (maybe 1/4 more) because they just weren’t gooey enough for us!

Also, I won’t make so much! They go stale pretty quickly and we ended up wasting a lot of them!

Sausage & Broccoli Linguine

You need:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup riccotta cheese
• White Pasta Sauce
• Linguine Pasta
• Fresh Sausage Links
• 1/2 tomato (small diced)
• 2 broccoli crowns (cut into florets)
• dash of: salt
• pepper
• garlic salt
• garlic pepper
• red pepper flakes

1. Heat oil over medium, medium-high heat. When it sizzles add the sausage and sear. Turn as it browns.  Total cook time = 16 minutes. Deglaze pan with a small amount of water or cooking wine & remove sausage to a plate. 
2. Saute broccoli (medium, medium-high heat), add 2 tbsp water and spices. Cover and steam for 4 minutes. Add tomato. Saute for 1 1/2 minutes.
3. Return sausage to pan. Add sauce and ricotta cheese and incorporate vegetables.

Serve with french bread, and enjoy!

Buttermilk Pancakes

I had extra buttermilk leftover from the Red Velvet cake I made the other day, so I decided to put it to use. I used this recipe. Here is what you need

:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablesppons white sugar (I will probably use more next time…I like my pancakes sweet)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk (not pictured…oops)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• (I will probably use a little vanilla extract next time as well)

Combine dry ingredients, mix together. Combine wet ingredients, mix togther. (SEPARATELY!)


Now, here the recipe says not to combine the wet & dry until RIGHT before you cook the pancakes…and it says to stir with a WOODEN spoon & only until just combined. Okay, I don’t follow directions well…it took a while to make all these pancakes…and I tried the wooden spoon and it just wasn’t combining…so I wisked it. THEY STILL TURNED OUT GREAT! So don’t worry too much.

Oh, and the directions say to cook them on medium-high. I do not recommend. They burn before they are ready to flip! I heated the pan to medium and adjusted as necessary afterwards! You can surely tell the difference between made-from-scratch and store bought mix though! These were light, airy, fluffy, amazing pancakes!

Biscuits & Gravy

Let me start off by telling you that this is one of my all-time favorites, hands down!

 What you need:

• 1 package biscuits
• 1 8oz. package of sausage
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

 This is really, really simple to make & is a delicious breakfast! Here’s what you do:

1) Brown sausage

2) Add flour & cook for about 2 minutes (make sure you break up any clumps)

3) Add milk slowly, once it is thick, reduce heat to a simmer. Add seasonings.

 While you are at it, cook your biscuits according to package directions & maybe even fry up some eggs!

And finally, step 4, ENJOY! Yummy!

Shrimp & Asparagus Alfredo

This is a super easy, fairly inexpensive & easy to make meal! Here is all you need

Any kind of pasta, I LOVE Barilla plus. I have used spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine, rotini…pretty much anything you can name!

• Alfredo sauce, I buy whatever is on sale
• 1 lb. shrimp, thawed & shelled
• 1 bundle asparagus
• 1 tbsp. cooking wine (not shown)
• Your choice of spices (not shown) We used Garlic Salt, Garlic Pepper & Lemon Pepper

It is really super simple!

1. Boil water & cook your pasta. 
2. While you are cooking your pasta: Cut your asparagus into 1 inch pieces, season generously & cook on medium high until they can be stabbed with a fork without too much effort (about 3-5 minutes).
3. Then throw in your shrimp until pink. Add your cooking wine to deglaze the pan & get all the goodness off the edges.
4. When your shrimp are pink add your alfredo sauce & drained pasta (I used about 3/4 of the box).
5. Toss (or stir) to combine.

This is what you end up with!

Serve with garlic toast & parmesan cheese!

SUPER Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Alright y'all. This recipe is TO DIE FOR! I use this recipe, adapted! Here's what you need:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 pound butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 (3.4oz) packets of vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 350*. Blend flour & baking soda together and set aside.
STEP 2: Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl. Mix in the instant pudding mix. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

STEP 3: Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven. You should just barely be able to see brown around the bottom edges.

Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack! And finally, ENJOY!
These are the softest, gooeyist cookies I have ever eaten & the only ones that my husband asks me to make again & again!

Oh yeah...and one batch is probably enough! I did two thinking that I would need that many for my inlaws tomorrow...umm...no! The container is for them! I took one dozen each to three neighbors & still have WAY too many!

Linked to: Mangia Mondays -

Chicken Cauliflower & Cheese Casserole

I don't know if y'all are like me, but my family taught me that for dinner you have a meat, a vegetable, and a starch. My husbands family taught him the same, with the addition of bread (which we DON'T do), so every night that is what we have. Which means that most of our meals are pretty boring (chicken, rice, brocolli. pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, cauliflower. pot roast, potatos, carrots., you get the idea) It is time for me to go grocery shopping so all I had at the house was boneless skinless chicken breasts and cauliflower, along with several starches. So I did a search for chicken and cauliflower and I found this. I have used southernfood.about.com before, I mean, they do have the BEST recipe for sweet potato casserole EVER...I mean, seriously, I can't go to a holiday meal at my in-laws without bringing it. Anywho...so I decided to make this casserole.

You don't need many ingredients, just:

• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts (I used about 1.5 pounds)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 1/2 tsp herbs (I used Mrs. Dash Herb Blend)
• 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• (I added two bags of cooked Uncle Ben's Boil in the Bag Brown Rice...the only Brown Rice my husband will eat)

STEP 1: Wash chicken breasts, pat dry & cut into cubes.
STEP 2: Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, add chicken & cook until chicken is browned and just tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. When the chicken is cooked add the cream and stir to get the goodness off the sides of the pan. *I cooked on about med-high* *I also boiled my rice during this time*

STEP 3: (While chicken is cooking) Grate your cauliflower. *This is not quite as easy as it may seem...it took me about 10 minutes!*

STEP 4: Layer the casserole. I did rice, then cauliflower, then seasonings, then chicken and cream and finally CHEESE! Mmmm! Bake at 325* for about 15 minutes.

All in all, it was pretty yummy, and definately different, which is what I was going for. I added some tabasco sauce to mine, as I LOVE hot food!

If I were to do it again though, this is what I would change:

1) I would coat the cauliflower in a teeny bit of oil in order to help it cook (It was still pretty raw)

2) I would cut my chicken into smaller pieces so that it would incorporate better

3) I would add some cream of chicken condensed soup to make it creamier and more of a casserole

Really though, it was pretty simple overall and if I am ever stuck with just chicken & cauliflower in the house I will probably make it again!

Linked to: Tasty Tuesday! - Tasty Tuesdays - Made From Scratch Tuesday - Tempt My Tummy Tuesday - Totally Tasty Tuesday - Delectable Tuesday - Tuesdays at the Table