Gooey Butter Bars

It's Friday, hell yes! Not that it has been a bad week or anything, but who doesn't like Fridays? Nothing too big planned for the weekend, which is fine with me. A nice, relaxing weekend sounds perfect. Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac is out and about and said to be heading our way. Though it has shifted more to the west, we will probably still get a lot of rain and wind. Maybe, just maybe, we will have to close work Monday (cross your fingers), but as of right now we are still on. I don't want it to hit us by any means, but a day off due to hurricane doesn't sound half bad.

Last week we made our deadline at work due to everyone working their asses off. I was such a proud manager and wanted to do something to say thanks. I'm not wealthy enough to give them anything too cool, but I can cook/bake, so I made these amazingly delicious, extremely unhealthy, dessert bars. Everyone really enjoyed them and I have to admit that I stashed some at home for the boyfriend and myself. They were quick and easy to make and something I will definitely be making again soon.

Gooey Butter Bars

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter, melted slightly, but still mostly in bar form
• 3 eggs
• 1 block cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups powder sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the cake mix, butter, and one egg.
3. Press into the bottom on a 9x13 baking dish to make crust.
4. Cream 2 eggs, cream cheese, and vanilla together with electric beater until smooth.
5. Add powder sugar one cup at a time, mixing until smooth between each cup.
6. Pour mixture over crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Top should be cracking.
7. Cool completely before cutting.

Tips and Tricks

• Though I haven't tried this, using lemon cake mix and adding lemon extract, juice, and/or zest to cream cheese mixture might be a wonderful adaption to the recipe.
• Use a sharp knife, dipped in hot water when cutting.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I have been on a casserole kick lately. They are just so easy to make and leftovers are usually even better than it was the first night. This recipe came about because my mom was hosting her Bunko party this month. For those of you that aren't familiar with what Bunko is, it is a dice game, kinda of like Yahtzee, where you try to roll sixes. I really think that is the only object of the game, lol. The more sixes you get, the better off you are. My dad thinks it's just a reason for women to get around, "gab" and drink wine, which he is probably right about, lol. I told my mom that I would be happy to cater since I am trying to get my name out there and more traffic to the blog. She quickly took me up on the offer since she has to work and drive 45 minutes home. By that time, Bunko was in an hour and that would just stress her out. I made everything a day before and took it took it to work so my dad could take it home (we work together). All mom had to do is pop it in the oven and serve it.

Seeing that I had never made this recipe, only saw a version on Pinterest, I felt it was appropriate I try it out before I serve it for my mom and all her friends. Plus, it was an excuse to make it and go a bit against my WW points, lol. However, once I calculated the points, it came out to 8 points a serving!! So not only was it delicious, it was WW appropriate and made tons of left overs. I would definitily make this again.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

• 1 1/2 pound chicken, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 package diced ham; about 1 1/4 cups
• 6 oz or 6 slices swiss cheese
• 1 box chicken or herb stuffing, perpared according to package
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (use fat free if doing for WW)
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 2 tbs white wine
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 to 2 tbs chicken seasoning (this is NOT poultry seasoning, rather a blend of seasonings such as garlic, onion, tarragon, salt, pepper, parsley. If you can't find, just use a pinch of each of those ingredients.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring white wine and broth up to a boil in a large skillet.
3. Season chicken with chicken seasoning.
4. Broil chicken is white wine and broth, covered, for 7 minutes, or until done.
5. Drain and set aside.
6. Prepare stuffing according to package and set aside.
7. Mix cream of chicken and mustard together.
8. Add chicken and ham to soup mixture.
9. Layer on bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
10. Top chicken mixture with cheese.
11. Top cheese with stuffing.
12. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Tips and Tricks

• You can boil the chicken in just water or broth if you could like. I find adding the wine and seasoning add to the flavor.
• If you can't find pre-cut ham cubes, buy dinner ham and cut into small cubes.
• Use rotisserie chicken for faster prep.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

With the Olympics over, the blog should get back on track. Sorry for the lack of regular posting, but I seriously could not pull myself away from watching the games. At work Friday, we were watching goofs and f'ups...they were hilarious. Of course I feel awful for the athletes. They practice for years for minutes of completion, sometimes only seconds, so when you see them bust ass or trip over their feet, you feel for them. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't laugh and laugh, and watch it again and again...in slow motion at times. This clip isn't from this years Olympics, but someone at work found it while we were watching other bloopers. Warning, make sure you aren't eating and/or drinking, unless you are trying to get food or drink everywhere. Again, I do feel for these athletes; I know this has to be the worst feeling in the world, but I'm sure in years to come, they will look back and laugh a bit...maybe.

Well, on to the recipe, which was not a flop at all. Seeing how my craving for anything buffalo has been pretty strong lately, I decided to whip up a healthier version of buffalo chicken. I make a similar recipe as this, but inspired by Asian lettuce wraps similar to those you find at P.F. Changs. I have to say, they came out great and the filling would also make a great appetizer served in the little canal of celery or baked in dough cups. Great for people that are trying to eat lo-carb or just something spicy, but not as filling as traditional wings. I also make my own blue cheese dressing because I find the ones at the store to be lacking something, don't quite know what, but I just don't like them. I served these with tater tots, classy, but that's what I had on hand.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch seasoning
• 1/3 cup Franks hot sauce
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 package Boston bib lettuce
• Carrots, green onion, and blue cheese to serve

1. In a large skillet, cook chicken until half done.
2. Add celery and onion and cook until chicken no longer pink.
3. Add spicy ranch seasoning and hot sauce.
4. Cook until thinkened a bit, about 5 minutes.
5. Place small amount in lettuce left and top as desired.

Blue Cheese Dressing

• 2 tbs blue cheese crumbles
• 3 tbs light sour cream
• 3 tbs low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• Milk, to thin if necessary

1. Place all ingredents in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add a bit of milk to thin out if needed.

Tips and Tricks

• Use ground turkey if you can't find ground chicken, or if that is what you have on hand.
• Use whatever toppings you like. Ranch dressing, carrots, celery, onions, green onions, additional hot sauce, etc.

Cookies and Cream Pudding Cookies

I don't know why I make stuff like this. I can't be trusted to keep them in the house without eating a few a day, and that really does nothing for my weight loss goals, but push them rather away. I made these since we were having people come over before we went to the beer festival. Of course, only 2 of them were eaten, leaving over 2 dozen for me to stare at and have a battle in my head over good and evil. It didn't help either that when we got home, a bit tipsy, that cookies sounded amazing and I practically turned into the Cookie Monster. Needless to say, I brought them to work as fast as I could Monday morning where they were gone in 3 minutes. I even brought in the rest of the Oreos that were left after making these...like I said, I can't be trusted with sweets.

Not only were these easy to put together, the final outcome was amazing! It was the perfect mix between chocolate and cream, and the centers were still a bit chewy. I made these larger then they were suppose to be because I thought they looked better, also like those huge cookies you get at Disney World. There is nothing that I would change about this recipe and would definitely make them again...but only if I was immediately taking them somewhere else. In all, it made just over 2 dozen cookies, but could make more if you cut down on the size of each cookie. I like to bake mine a single sheet at a time to ensure even cooking. I don't even want to guess what the WW PP+ is for these bad boys, so I'm not going to look it up, LOL. Enjoy!

Cookies and Cream Pudding Cookies

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 package Oreo pudding mix
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 15 double stuffed Oreos, crushed, but still with good size pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugars, butter, and pudding.
4. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until combined.
5. Stir in flour mixture, then mix with electric mixer until combined.
6. Fold in chips and cookies.
7. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray, then drop cookies just bigger than a golf ball, evenly spread out.
8. Bake for 10-11 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

• You can use single stuffed Oreos if you don't like an much cream filling.
• To make the dough go further, make each only a tbsp big, and bake for 9 minutes.
• Put Oreo cookies in a large zip lock bag and crush with rolling pin.

Buffalo Chicken Casserole

As promised, last nights recipe! Speaking of last night, did anyone watch the woman's gymnastics team competition? It was absolutely amazing! The dedication that those girls have at such a young age is inspiring. When my alarm went off this morning for my morning workout, I thought "If a 13 year old has the dedication to make it to the Olympics, then I can get out of bed to workout for 30 minutes." Phelps also won his 19th Olympic metal!! I don't even know where to start with that. Some people dream and work their entire lives just to make it to the games, but this mofo has gone to 3 different games AND won 19 metals...and he still has more events left! Truly amazing!! What's not amazing are the selfish pricks on Facebook that think it's funny to post the results before most of us can watch. I had a "friend" do this yesterday with the gym results and literally wanted to kick his ass. You know he was that little bastard child in 2nd grade telling all his classmates that Santa isn't real. You would think he would have grown out of it, or gotten his ass kicked, but some people just don't grow up. In any event, I've blocked his post for the rest of the Olympics and maybe permanently.

This recipe deserves at least a bronze. It was good points wise, filled my urge for chicken wings, and made enough for leftovers. The only thing that I would change is adding more hot sauce to the sauce, it needed a bit more spice in our opinion. The veggies were perfect and would be a great way for parents trying to get their kids to eat them. I got the recipe from a Cooking Light magazine and stayed fairly true to the recipe. The only changes I made were adding a packet of spicy ranch seasoning, cut down on the amount of pasta (saving points!), added more hot sauce, and added a bit of low fat cheddar cheese to the sauce. The boyfriend liked it but though it needed some more spice as well. All in all, it was a great meal that I will definitely make again WW P+ 9 points per serving, 8 servings in total.

 Buffalo Chicken Casserole

• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1/2 box or 5 oz high fiber elbow macaroni
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 packet Hidden Valley spicy ranch
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 cups 1% milk
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup Frank's hot sauce
• 1/2 cup low-fat cheddar, shredded
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 oz blue cheese crumbles
• Green onion for topping

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook macaroni for 2 minutes less then box time. Set aside.
3. Saute carrots, celery, and onions in olive oil over medium for 10 minutes.
4. Add shredded chicken, spicy ranch, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn to low to keep warm while sauce is made.
5. While that is cooking, mix milk and cornstarch together until there are no lumps.
6. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. Don't leave this alone, it will burn.
7. Once the sauce has thickened (coats back of a spoon), remove from heat and add hot sauce, salt, and shredded cheddar.
8. Mix sauce with chicken mixture.
9. In a 9x13 or deep casserole dish, add half the pasta on bottom layer.
10. Add half the chicken mixture to next layer.
11. Add half blue cheese.
12. Repeat steps 8 through 10 ending with layer of blue cheese.
13. Place casserole dish on cookie sheet, and bake for 30 minutes.
14. Top with green onions if desired.

Tips and Tricks

• Shredded chicken is made by boiling chicken breast for 10-12 minutes, then shredding with two forks. Make extra for chicken salad or enchiladas.
• Add extra hot sauce to sauce if you like it more spicy.
• Add additional hot sauce to chicken mixture for even more of a kick. 
• Add full box of pasta if you would like a larger casserole. I cut it by half of the original recipe to save points.

Cornbread Mexican Casserole

I feel like there has been a common theme with my post lately...sorry for not posting as regularly as I would like. The past month or two of weekends have been pretty busy, so the weekdays are really the best time for me to post. Between softball, short vacations, softball again, and other events, it's been hard to get off the couch during the free time and into the kitchen. Baking has taken somewhat of a back seat, though I am going to post about a Banana Pudding Cake, which turned out really good, and was even "healthified!" Softball is coming to an end (can't say I'm not somewhat happy about this), so I will be able to do more baking on Sundays. We don't have any softball this weekend, so I'm planning to do something Sunday since people at work have been asking why I haven't brought something in for the last couple of weeks (they don't seem to remember the Banana Pudding Cake or the meatballs, both brought it mid-week. I guess they like it Monday...perhaps a nice way to start the week.) However, we are going to a HUGE beer fest on Saturday night...so we will see how I feel on Sunday. The Olympics are also causing me a distraction, but damn if I don't love watching them! It is truly one of my favorite things to watch. Go USA!

This week I made a commitment to cook dinner every night this week. I wrote up my shopping list (full of new recipes! )and headed to the store last night. I tried a new store to see how the prices were, but after the first 6 items in my cart were at least 50 cents more (some as much as $2 more!), I decided to stop and go to Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart is a zoo, there are some "interesting" people there, but their prices really can't be beat. I'm glad I decided to go, and not stay at the first place just because I was there. I found this recipe on Pinterest, where else, and put my own spin on it. Instead of plain black beans, I made them how I usually do (gave it much more flavor), added a can of Rotel, cooked the onions with the beef mixture (not with the sour cream mixture), and used sweet cornbread in place of regular. The balance between the spicy beef and the sweet bread was awesome! Though the boyfriend thought there was too much cornbread, I really enjoyed it. You could easily make this with ground turkey or broiled chicken as well, but we were in the beef mood. Left overs were great and it stayed within my points range, only 9 points for a pretty big slice; in whole the recipe made 6 servings.

 Cornbread Mexican Casserole

• 1 packet cornbread mix; 7 oz
• 1/2 to 1/3 milk; depending on package directions
• 1 egg
• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 can Rotel; I used original
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 can black beans
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 packet Sason seasoning
• 1 cube chicken bullion
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 1 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup green onion
• Sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and additional green onions to top; optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare the cornbread mix following the package directions. 
3. Pour cornbread in a greased 8x8 glass baking dish.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. While that is baking, make the black beans. Bring water to a boil in pot with Sason, chicken bullion, and 1/4 cup onions. 
6. When it reaches a boil, add beans and cook for 10 minutes.
7. While the beans are cooking, brown the ground beef until half done.
8. Add the onions and finish browning.
9. Add Rotal, taco seasoning, and beans. Turn to low until cornbread is done.
10. In a mixing bowl, add sour cream, 1/2 cup cheese, and green onions.
11. When cornbread is done, top with beef mixture, then with sour cream mixture.
12. Bake for 20 minutes.
13. Serve with lettuce, salsa, extra cheese, and green onions.  

Tips and Tricks

• To save time (but I can't be certain about flavor since I LOVE my black bean recipe), use seasoned black beans or Bush's Grillin Beans in Black Bean Fiesta.
• If Rotel is too spicy for you, add regular petite diced tomatoes.
• For a thinner cornbread layer, only use half the mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
• If you would like the sour cream cold, and not baked, omit prior to baking and top once out of the oven.

Thai Green Curry

Happy Friday everyone! I couldn't be more ready for the weekend. Not that I have huge plans, unless you count going to Sebring for a softball tourney big, but because this work week has seemed to drag on all week. Monday was a short day since I went to the allergist to get allergy testing. This sucked. I was told, by many, including my loving boyfriend, that it was a prick test, similar to people that test for diabetes. This was a LIE (and rightfully so since I would probably not have gone if I knew the truth!) 47 syringes later and nearly passing out (I think I got in my head about the 47 shots), I am allergic to cats (I have 2), dogs, dust mites (one of the most disgusting things I have learned about to recent memory), and a couple of weeds that I will probably never come in contact with. I also have two dime size welts on my arm that itch like crazy and look rather unappealing (red circles with small bumps, similar to ring worm.) I called the doctor and they told me this was some of the molds that were tested (GROSS!) and this is a common occurrence; a bit of Cortisone cream should heal them right up. The icing on the cake is that my allergies have been next to non existent for the past 3 weeks...I could have saved $50, hours of my day, pain and personal torment, and a couple of nasty welts since I already knew that cats and dust caused me to sneeze. Thanks doc!

Anyways, enough bitching and on to the recipe. This week, the boyfriend requested that I attempt my hand at green curry. Not being much of a coconut milk lover, I can say I made this out of love and not because it seemed that intriguing to me. Since I have never ate curry, let alone cooked it, I had to do some research. Surprise, green curry has about 186,462,173 different recipes online, so which one to pick? Well, for starters, I looked up the restaurant that boyfriend and I went where he had curry to see what theirs had in it. After that, I searched through many recipes until I found one that seemed easy to make, used a paste, not a homemade curry, and had great reviews. 30 minutes later, we were eating homemade green curry and to my surprise I LIKED IT! The coconut milk did not overwhelm the dish and the veggies and chicken were cooked perfectly. The only thing that I would do different next time is add a bit of soy or fish sauce to kick up the salt. All in all, it was a tasty dish that I would be happy to make again.

Thai Green Curry

• 1 pound chicken breast, cubed
• 1 small red pepper, large diced
• 1 small green pepper, large diced
• 1 small onion, large diced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts 
• 5 tbs green curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• Cilantro, green onion, and lime for garnish

1. Heat large skillet to medium high heat and add oil.
2. Add curry paste and stir for one minute. I learned that this is called Blooming.
3. Add 1/4 the can of coconut milk. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the can and cook for additional 3 minutes.
5. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes.
6. Add vegetables and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.
7. Add a bit of the sauce to a small cup. Stir in cornstarch and mix to remove lumps. 
8. Add cornstarch mix back to skillet and add soy sauce.
9. Stir until thickened. 
10. Serve with or over jasmine rice with cilantro, green onion and lime.

Tips and Tricks

• If you like your curry a bit more spicy, add red chilis or jalapenos.
• Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Many recipes I saw used carrots, baby corn, basil, and a leafy green.
• Use tofu to make vegetarian.