Brownie Caramel Pecan Bars

These have to be some of the best brownies that I have ever had!! They were soooo good and moist. Perfect for a chocolate craving. I love brownies and I am always looking for new yummy recipes! I hope you like this one!

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 egg whites

1/2 cup flour

2 cups chocolate chips, divided

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

caramel topping (recipe follows)

1 cup pecan pieces

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease 9 inch square pan.

2.Stir together applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add egg whites, beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Spread into pan.

3. Bake 20-25 minutes or until brownies began to pull away from sides. Remove brownies from oven immediately and carefully spread with prepared topping. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup chips and pecans over topping. Cool completely in pan, be careful not to disturb chips while soft. Cut and enjoy!

Carmel topping: remove wrappers from 25 caramels. In medium microwave safe bowl place 2 tablespoons tub butter or butter/margarine, caramels and 2 tablespoons milk. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir. Microwave an additional 1-2 minutes stirring every 30 seconds or until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Use immediately.

* you can use your favorite kind of nuts; peanuts or almonds would be good too!!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Every Friday around our house is salad night. We try to think of new ways to make salad and this week we made my mom' s Chinese chicken salad. SO GOOD, and easy!!

MIX TOGETHER:

shredded lettuce

shredded cabbage

2 cups cooked Chinese noodles (in the Asian part of your store)

bean sprouts (canned or fresh)

green onions, chopped

shredded carrots

thinly sliced mushrooms

chopped peanuts (toasted)

TOSS WITH DRESSING:

1/4 cup rice or wine vinegar (all I had was distilled vinegar and it worked great!)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup soy or teriyaki sauce

1-2 teaspoons spicy mustard

1/4 cup garlic dressing (by the rest of the dressings, I know in our store it is garlic parmesan cheese and it works great, too)

TOP WITH:

cooked chicken breast (I marinated mine in teriyaki sauce)

ENJOY!

Lemon Apricot Chicken

Lemon Apricot Chicken This is a great easy dinner and your whole family will love it! Rex loves Chinese and this is really good and a fun version of sweet and sour chicken!

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 chicken breasts or 8 chicken breast tenders
2/3 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1. Heat oven to 425. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Beat egg whites until combined. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, lemon peel, and garlic powder.
2. Dip chicken in egg whites the into crumbs. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
3.While chicken is baking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a small sauce pan on the stove and heat on medium until smooth and warm. Cut chicken and drizzle with sauce.
* I serve this with rice and steamed carrots and snap peas. So good, Annie even loves it!

Ice cream cake roll

This is my first blog on my food blog and I am really excited to share lot of yummy recipes with you!! I will always be trying new delicious food and treats so let me know what you think!! Enjoy and check back often! Happy cooking!

Ice cream cake roll I got this recipe from one of my Family Circle magazines!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

4 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

powdered sugar and chocolate syrup

1. Heat oven to 350. Coat a 15x10x1 jelly roll with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with wax paper and spray with nonstick.

2. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes, until very light yellow. Gradually add granulated sugar beating until smooth. Beat in vanilla.

3. Fold flour mixture into eggs mixture until no lumps remain. Pour into pan ,spreading level. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.

4. Dust a clean kitchen towel with confectioners' sugar. Turn cake out on towel. Roll up towel and cake from short end; cool completely.

5. Unroll; spread with soft ice cream to within 1 inch of edges. Reroll cake with out towel. Wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze at least 4 hours or overnight. If frozen overnight, let stand at room temp for 20 minutes before serving. Cut into slices and dust with powdered sugar and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

* Mine had a spot that didn't have ice cream and I think that it was because I let my ice cream get too soft and it just slid down, so try to time it just right!

* A healthly tip: your can use egg beaters instead of eggs and use whole wheat pastry flour in place of the white flour