Cheesy Sausage Muffins

3/4 cup flour 
3/4 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup whole milk 
1 egg, lightly beaten 
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) 
2 oz mini turkey pepperoni, (about 1/2 cup) (I'm not actually sure how much I used)
1lb spicy chicken sausage
1/2 cup pizza sauce

Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Grease a 2 muffin pans (I managed to make 18 muffins). In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, sausage and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Raspberry Pretzel Jello

Ingredients

• 6 oz package Raspberry Jell-O
• 2 cups boiling water
• 4 cups pretzels
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 stick butter
• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese – softened
• 1 (8oz) package Cool Whip – thawed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bag frozen raspberries – thawed in refrigerator

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

1. Combine 6 Oz packet of Jell-O with 2 cups of boiling water add 1 cup cold water and set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Crush 2 cups of pretzels in a ziploc bag, using a rolling pin.
3. Melt 2 stick of  butter than add 1/2 cup sugar in saucepan. Add pretzels and mix together.
4. Lightly press pretzel mix into a 13×9 -inch pyrex dish and bake for 10 minutes at 350°F, then cool to room temperature.
5. While pretzel mix is cooling down, beat 8 oz of cream cheese and 1 cup sugar on medium/low speed until well-combined.
6. Next, stir in Cool Whip using a spatula and mix until well combined.
7. Spread mixture over cooled pretzels and go all the way to the edges of the dish to create a seal. You don’t want the jello to leak into the pretzels. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
8. Place  raspberries evenly on top of the cream filling.
9. Pour Jell-O over raspberries and refrigerate until jello is set.

Oreo Brownies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 pkg. Double Stuffed Oreos
• 8 oz. cream cheese softened, add more as needed
• 10 oz. Dipping Chocolate I used Ghiradellis Milk Chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and blend well. Add vanilla, salt, cocoa and flour. Don’t overbeat. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
2. While brownies are cooling, make Oreo truffle layer. Crush Oreos finely in a food processor or by putting them in a ziplock bag and smashing them until finely ground with a rolling pin. When Oreos are finely crushed, using hands (or a spoon, I just think hands are faster), mash softened cream cheese and crushed Oreos until well combined. Start with 4 oz and keep adding until desired consistency is reached. When Brownies have cooled completely, place layer of Oreo truffle on top.
3. Melt dipping chocolate (you can use chocolate chips or other chocolate candy coating) and pour and spread evenly over the top of the Oreo truffle layer. Cover and put in fridge until set.
   

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound bacon or pancetta
• 1 whole small onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup white wine (or chicken or vegetable stock)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
• 1/2 pound linguine pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• pine nuts
• Olive Oil

Makes 4 servings

1) Slice bacon into thin slices and cook on stove top until cooked. Drain bacon from grease on paper towels and set aside. Reserve some grease for cooking onions in step 2.

2) Chop onion finely and cook diced onion in a reasonable amount of bacon grease (1 or 2 tablespoons) for 2-3 minutes over medium-high constant stirring to avoid burning.

3) Slice the garlic and add it to the onions, after the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes. Cook garlic and onion together for 2 more minutes and remove them from the pan, using slotted spoon. Discard the grease.

4) Place the same pan (where you cooked onion and garlic in bacon grease) back on high heat, pour in the white wine (or stock) to deglaze the pan. Stir, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock. Return bacon, onion and garlic back to the pan. Let simmer covered over low heat, do not let too much liquid (chicken stock) to evaporate.

5) Chop the parsley. Crack eggs into a large bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley to the eggs. Leave out half of parmesan. Mix well with a fork.

6) Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to pasta instructions, al dente. Drain the pasta and add very hot pasta to the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Then add bacon, onion, and garlic mixture to the pasta, mix again. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to mix. Add olive oil to taste (I added about 3 tablespoons. Add the rest of the cheese and pine nuts and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with chopped parsley.

Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, these are seriously so easy. Just take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and add crushed pretzels. See? Easy. I use the Ghiradelli recipe :)

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
³/₄ cup sugar
³/₄ cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ¹/₄ cups unsifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¹/₂ teaspoon salt
1 bag chocolate chips (You can use less but I like a lot of chocolate)
3 cups (or more) crushed pretzels (crush them using a mallot or a food processor)

Directions

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Sour Cream Enchiladas

1 lb chicken breast, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 flour tortillas, softened (8 inches each)
1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese or 1 1/2 cups Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 (15 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
1 can original Rotel tomatoes



Directions:
In frypan, cook chicken and onion together in oil over medium-high heat until chicken is just done. Stir in Rotel tomatoes.
Divide cooked chicken evenly between 8 tortillas; add 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese to each tortilla.
Roll enchiladas and place seam-side down in 9x13" baking dish that has been lightly sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan; stir in flour to make a roux; stir and cook until bubbly; gradually whisk in chicken broth then bring to boiling, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and green chiles; pour sauce evenly over enchiladas.
Top with remaining 3/4 cup cheese (baking dish may be double-wrapped and frozen at this point) and bake at 400F for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce near edges of baking dish is bubbly.

S'mores Brownies

And for dessert...

1 pack brownie mix (Betty Crocker,  Duncan Hines, etc. – my selection had 18 servings, 140 calories each)

1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 large egg
2 cups miniature marshmallows
4 graham crackers, cut into chunks
2 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, cut into each segments

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 9×9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the box (or use your favorite homemade recipe) using the oil, egg, and water.

After baking, remove the pan from the oven and set the oven to broil at 500-550 F.

Cool brownies for about a minute then sprinkle the marshmallows over the warm brownies. Make sure to cover most of the area. Sprinkle the graham crackers on top of the marshmallows. Broil about 4-5 inches from the heat for 30 seconds to a minute until the marshmallows are golden brown. Watch carefully so that they don’t burn. Sprinkle with Hershey’s milk chocolate bars.

Italian Crack Bread

Served this with the pasta!

1 Italian loaf, about 12 inches long 

1 stick butter, melted

1/8 cup olive oil

3 tsp minced onion

2-3 cloves garlic, grated

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp poppy seeds

3 tsp chopped parsley (add more if you wish)

12 oz grated cheese (I used a mix of white cheddar and monterey jack.)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Mix the melted butter, olive oil, onion, garlic, dijon mustard, poppy seeds and parsley in a bowl. 

Cut the bread into cubes with X slices without cutting all the way through the bottom crust. 

Pour the butter-onion garlic mixture carefully into those X cracks using a small spoon and over the top of the bread. Fill those delicious cracks with the grated cheese. (It seems like a lot of work and trouble but it's all worth it. Yes.)

Wrap the entire loaf with foil, sealing the sides properly and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and unwrap. Bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey.