Chocolate Rolo Cookies

Jen & Adrianne make these all the time. Moist, full of caramel and easy to make!

1 pkg Devil’s Food Cake Mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 pkg Rolo candy

Mix the cake mix, oil and eggs together (do not use electric beater). Take about a teaspoon of the batter and make into a ball. Flatten ball and then wrap the batter around 1 Rolo and roll into ball. Place on greased cookie tray and bake at 350 F. for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake.

Jen’s note: I think it makes about 30-40, depending on how big you make them. I like to make them small. I think I usually cook them a little longer than 10 minutes. I take them out before they look done, then let them sit on a pan for a few minutes.

Won Ton Chicken Salad

This is a great meal that is not too labor intensive and very good. It is also very easy to scale up or down for your family. I am going to write it up as I made it the other day for our family.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 package of Won Tons
1 bag of salad mix (a head of lettuce is fine also)
1/2 cup Japanese rice vinegar
1/2 cup oil (olive, vegetable, whatever)
1/2 cup sugar

Marinate the chicken breasts in teriaki sauce for a couple of hours then grill. I find that you will get more of a teriaki taste if you grill them in a grilling pan and then right before they are done, add fresh teriaki sauce onto the chicken. The hot pan will form a glaze on the chicken. Once the chicken is done, cube the breasts into fairly small pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, fry the won tons, turning once. I use a frying pan with about 1/2 of oil in the bottom. When the oil gets hot, add the won tons. Keep an eye on them since they cook very quickly and will burn. Drain them well to get rid of any excess oil.

Add the sugar, rice vinegar, and oil into a small container and mix well.

Finally, break the won tons into bite size pieces in a bowl, add some salad, some cubed chicken, and drizzle the dressing over the top. My mouth is watering in anticipation. Enjoy.

Eat Mores

This yummy treat is named after a candy bar in Canada. It is similar to a chocolately rice crispy treat, but sooo much better. We got this from Mike's Grandma Rolfson, who lives in Raymond, Alberta, Canada. I think she actually created the recipe. She was a home ec teacher for years. She turns 90 this week. Way to go Grandma!!

You've got to try them!!

Eat Mores

3/4 c honey

1 c peanut butter

10 (or 2 c. minis) marshmellows

1 c chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

1 c chopped peanuts

3 c crisp rice cereal

In a heavy saucepan, melt honey and peanutbutter over medium heat. Add marshmellows and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add peanuts and cereal and mix until combined. Press mixture into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Cover adn chill until firm before cutting.

We have made these without peanuts, too, and they are still super tasty!

Mixed berry smoothie

We love to eat smoothies in the summer. The beginning of our love for smoothies started in the fall of 2004 when I was pregnant with Will. I always wanted to eat Jamba Juice but didn't have the funds to buy them at the rate I wanted them so a friend of ours brought over their juice maker and the ingredients to a delicious smoothie. The rest is history.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

Mixed berries

Big scoop of vanilla ice cream

Water

Big scoop of apple juice (frozen concentrate)

A little milk

Blend it all together. Add more or less depending on how you like it.

The deal with the smoothies we make is that we just use whatever ingredients we have. The above ingredients just happen to be what we had. Other ingredients we use:

sherbet, bananas, strawberries, rasberries, blueberries, ice, yougart, various flavors of juice (doesn't always have to be frozen), sugar. Anyway, just mix whatever flavors you like. We rarely use ice cream or sherbet because we don't usually have those ingredients. We usually don't use sugar either because I think the yogart and juice give enough sweetness.

Grilled Chicken Quesadillas

Tonight we made grilled chicken quesadillas. They rocked! We tried 2 different versions and each can be easily tweeked to suit whatever you're craving.

Mexican Version

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Season Salt
Colby Jack blend shredded cheese
1 small can diced green chiles
10 small (8") tortillas

Prepare your chicken by spreading Season Salt on it then grill it until done. Do not over cook the chicken! It will go back on the grill later. Cut your chicken breasts in small cubes or strips (whichever you like).

Place cheese & 2 TBS diced green chiles on each tortilla. Top with your grilled chicken and place another tortilla on top. Place each tortilla on the grill carefully. Wait until the cheese is melted to flip. Serve with tomatoes, avacado slices, and sour cream. Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken & Mushroom Quesadillas

Chicken
Mozarella
Fresh mushrooms and onions (saute'd in butter)

For this version we did basically the same thing as the Mexican, only used saute'd mushrooms and mozarella cheese. We omitted the green chiles also. This would also be great with onions in there too!

A Few Food Hints

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. This was on a cooking channel and apparenty it really works.
Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.
Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Aloha Chicken Pizza

I tend to like quick food (unless someone else is making it) so here is a recipe for a fairly quick and tasty meal.

2 Cups diced chicken
2 green onions
1 red pepper
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided.
1 pizza crust - I cheat and get the pre-made crust
As much cheese as you want
1 can of pineapple

Chop the top half of each green onion off and place it in a small bowl of cold water (save for a garnish is you are feeling frisky). Slice the remaining lower half and place into a mixing bowl.
Dice half of the red pepper and place it into the mixing bowl with the onion.
Add the chicken (this can be pre-marinated in BBQ sauce if you want) and mix all three ingredients briefly.
Roll out the crust and spread about 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce on the crust.
Spoon the veggie and chicken mixture evenly around the pizza, add as much cheese as you want (I like sharp chedder and mozzarella) and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Immediately add the pineapple.

For a classy Iowa finish (somewhat of an oxymoron, I know), put the remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce in to a ziplock bag, clip the corner and dizzle the sauce across the top the the pizza. Finally, for the coup d' etat, take the top half of the onions that you so dilligently saved, cut them into long strips and place them around the pizza. Gordon Ramsey couldn't make it look any better. This recipe tastes great, and can be modified to fit your taste buds anyway you like.

Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Cake

1/2 cup fudge ice cream topping, warmed

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed, divided

1 pkg. (4 serving size) chocolate pudding

8 oreos

12 ice cream sandwiches

Pour the fudge topping into a medium bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping with a wire whisk until it's well blended. Add in the dry puddingmix; stir 2 min. or until well blended. The consistency of fudge topping can vary depending on what brand you purchase. If your fudge topping mixture is too thick to spread evenly, stir in 1/4 cup milk. Chop oreos into chunks. Stir in the pudding mixture. Arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwhiches side by side on a 42x12-inch peice of foil; top with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers. Top the pudding mixture with the remaining 4 ice cream sandwhiches. Frost the top and sides with the remaining whipped topping. Bring up sides of foil. Freeze at least four hours before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Creamy Italian Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/4 cup water
1 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
1 can (4oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

Place chicken in Crockpot (or big deep pan with lid). Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. Cover and cook in Crockpot or in the oven on low for three hours. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cook one hour more or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over noodles or rice. Note: if you cook it in the oven, it is usually done before the three hours. Just check on it.