Chocolate Cherry Glazed Cookie Bites

Happy Valentine's Day!  I can't think of anything sweeter than to share a savory chocolate recipe from Betty Crocker.  I made these beauties for the hubs to bring to work today. Of course we tested them out before sending them in! 

Trust me, they are as good as they look! Enjoy! 

1

pouch Betty Crocker® double chocolate chunk cookie mix

1/3

cup chopped maraschino cherries, drained

1/3

cup vegetable oil

2

tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

1

teaspoon almond extract

1

egg

3/4

cup Betty Crocker® rich & creamy chocolate frosting

24

maraschino cherries with stems, drained on paper towels (from two 10-oz. jars)

Line 24 miniature muffin cups with paper baking cups, or spray with cooking spray. Make cookie dough by blending cookie mix, cherries, oil, cherry juice, almond extract and egg until soft dough forms. Spoon dough into each muffin cup filling each about 3/4 full. Bake at 350°F 12 to 14 minutes or until dough is set. Cool 20 minutes. Remove from pan. Place cookies on cooling racks. Heat 3/4 cup of frosting on High for 30 seconds; stir. Dip tops of cookies into frosting. Allow to set about 1 minute; top each bite with cherry. Makes 24 cookies

Southwest White Chicken Chili

I found this Campbell's recipe in a recent cooking magazine.  It was a great meal for a chilly night.  We ate ours with some tortilla chips.  Next time, I'm going to make this recipe in the crock pot so it has a longer time to cook.  Overall, it's a new dinner added to the menu! 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
• 4 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup 
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
• 2 cans (about 15 ounces each) white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

• Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion and pepper and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, stirring often.
• Stir the soup, water, corn and beans in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with the cheese. Yield: 6 servings (about 1 1/4 cups each).

Chocolate Filled Crescents

I came across this recipe last night through a link up.  It was perfect timing because I was heading to visit some friends.  I had all the ingredients for this recipe and thankfully it didn't require a lot of time. I decided to cut the dough in half to form mini crescents because I wanted more than 8 pieces.  These came out so good.  They were still warm when I got to my friend's house, which made them even better.   The recipe comes from Pillsbury and it will be one that will make frequent appearances around here from now on.  You're going to want to add this one to the top of your recipe list! Enjoy. 

1

can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1/2

cup mini-chocolate chips

Powdered sugar, if desired

DIRECTIONS

• 1Heat oven to 350°F. Separate dough into 8 triangles.
• 2Place tablespoon of chocolate chips on wide end of each triangle. Roll up, starting at shortest side of triangle, rolling to opposite point. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• 3
  • • Bake at 350°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
  • 

Caramel Corn

Back in December when I went to visit one of my best friends in Indiana, I was introduced to this easy peasy recipe for caramel corn.  The recipe comes from Karo.  I made this snack for our Super Bowl party.  I was very worried about how it would come out because it didn't seem like the popcorn was coating easily.  But, the time in the oven and stirring every 10 minutes really worked.  The popcorn was addicting and good all week long! 

• 4 quarts popped popcorn
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter OR margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Spray a large shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Add popcorn and place in preheated 250°F oven while preparing caramel.
2. Mix brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Boil 5 minutes WITHOUT STIRRING. Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla.
4. Pour syrup mixture over warm popcorn, stirring to coat evenly.
5. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and spread on foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
6. Cool; break apart. Store in tightly covered container.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Whenever I want an easy dinner, I go straight to my casserole recipes.  I found this one in a Taste of Home magazine I had from last year.  It was simple and very tasty.  I even went back for seconds.  Enjoy!

 Taste of Home recipe.  

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 package (6 ounces) chicken stuffing mix
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed broccoli cheese soup, undiluted
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

• In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in stuffing mix. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, layer chicken and broccoli in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Top with soup. Fluff stuffing with a fork; spoon over soup. Sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. 
• Yield: 6 servings.

Super Fast Everything Bars

This recipe comes to you from a cute blog, Between Three Sisiters.  I made them yesterday for our Super Bowl party.  Next time I'd use a little less oatmeal, but overall they were delicious!  I'm glad there were some leftover, I enjoyed one or two after kickboxing tonight! 

Ingredients: 

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup brown sugar, well packed

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups peanut butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups oatmeal  (I use half quick cooking and regular oats)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees. (make sure rack is in the middle)

2. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

3. In a large bowl using an electric mixer at medium speed cream the butter with both sugars

4. and vanilla until no sugar granules remain.

5. Add in the peanut butter and egg and beat until combined.

6. In a sifter (or a separate bowl) combine the flour with baking soda. Sift into to big bowl mixture and then stir.

7. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

8. Spread into prepared baking dish.

9. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until set (golden brown top).

10. Cool then cut into squares. Easy and simple!

Beer Dip

                                              

Taste of Home is where I found this quick and easy appetizer.  It's one of my super bowl recipes, so I don't have the reviews from hub's friends.  But, he gave me a thumbs up and I thought it was pretty good too.  It would even be good with veggies.  I only prepared half of the recipe, we aren't having too many people over today! Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

• 28 Servings
• Prep/Total Time: 5 min.

Ingredients

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup beer or nonalcoholic beer
• 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• Pretzels

Directions

• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, beer and dressing until smooth. Stir in cheddar cheese. Serve with pretzels. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

Basil Pork Chops

You can't go wrong with a recipe from Taste of Home magazine.  I've had this one in my recipe folder for 6 months now.  I'm glad I pulled it out this week for dinner.  It went perfectly with sweet potato fries.  Enjoy!

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 4 boneless pork loin chops (1/2 inch thick and 4 ounces each)

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, basil, salt and chili powder. Gradually stir in 1 tablespoon oil until crumbly. Rub over both sides of pork chops.
• In a large skillet, cook pork in remaining oil over medium heat for 7-8 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Yield: 4 servings.

Wipes Cover

This is another baby item that I made for my friend Danielle.  I found the tutorial over at homemade by jill.   I love the way it came out and will definitely be making these for all of my preggo friends!

Tag Blanket

I had seen a bunch of tag blankets posted on the weekly link up parties I follow.  A good friend of mine just had a baby boy and I knew it would be the perfect thing to make for him.  It didn't seem too hard and the supplies were pretty cheap. There are a bunch of fabulous tutorials I came across when looking into how to make the blanket.  The one I found most helpful was from Sumo's Sweet Stuff.  I would definitely recommend visiting her blog.  I find so many creative ideas on there. The only thing I changed from her tutorial was using a 12 1/2 inch piece of fabric instead of 15 inches. I thought mine was the prefect size when it was done.  The embroidery probably took me longer than making the actual blanket!