Luscious Layer Bars

*!~WARNING!!^*: Gooey, sweet, delicious, rich...... Ok, these were sooo good! I am actually surprised there are any left after last night. I love to try new brownie concoctions. I altered this one a bit to make it my own. These are absolutely divine. I tried my best to make them low-fat... good enough for me! Try them, but they will disappear.

Annie saw me taking pictures of this an asked if she could have it for lunch! Ha....that is something only I can do..... :)

Ingredients:

boxed brownie mix with add in's.....egg whites,

water, applesauce ect. (make sure the mix is for a 9x13 pan)

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup coconut

1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk

1. Mix your brownies together and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 then pull from oven.

2.Sprinkle with both chips, nuts, coconut and then drizzle with the sweetened milk. Try your hardest to drizzle evenly. This will ensure that with will bake evenly.

3.Put pan back into the oven and bake for another 30-35 minutes, or until the top is a golden brown and browines are done! Let cool for at least 2 hours.....I know it is hard but you must wait. Then cut into your heavenly bars and taste the gooey goodness!

*by replacing the oil with applesauce and using egg whites instead of eggs you are cutting out more than half the fat! It's a healthy easy choice!

Southwestern Rice

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and it is a great one to take to a bbq or just as a side dish. We have it for dinner and make it a full meal by dishing it up into bowls and adding grilled chicken and avocado on top!

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked instant rice

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can corn, drained

1 (1oz) packet ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix

3/4 cup diced Monterrey jack cheese ( I used shredded because that is what I had)

1/2 cup seeded, diced tomatoes

1/4 cup sliced green onions

handful chopped cilantro

1. Cook rice according to package. During last 5 minutes of cooking quickly uncover and add beans and corn. Cover immediately.

2. When rice is done, remove from heat and add seasoning mix and stir. Let stand 5 minutes then stir in cheese, tomato, onions and cilantro. Serve immediately.


* This is a very low-fat dish but for a little healthier you can use instant brown rice.... you can't even tell the difference!

Guacamole

Yum! This is a quick and delish recipe and it is great on tacos, burritos, or just to dip! We like it with homemade chips!

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 medium tomato, diced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1. Combine onion, tomato, cilantro, and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl coarsely mash avocados with a fork.

2. Add onion mixture and lime juice to avocado. Stir until well combined. Enjoy!

* For a little kick : add 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno chile with seeds.

* For homemade chips: cut flour tortillas into wedges and arrange on a sprayed baking sheet. Brush with lime juice and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 450 for about 5 minutes (always keep an eye on them, they can burn quickly). After 5 minutes, turn over and bake for just a couple more minutes....until light brown.

Oreo Cake

I made this for Rex for his birthday because he loves Cookie's and cream ice cream so it is kinda a spin off. But it turned out great and everyone loved it! Really easy too and looks like it took all day!

Ingredients:

white cake mix

ingredients asked for on box.....eggs, water and oil (applesauce)

1 cup crushed oreos

15-18 whole oreos

1 tub vanilla frosting

1. Make cake according to box. Before pouring into pan add 1/2 cup crushed oreos into batter and mix in gently.

2. Pour in to pans and bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350 oven. Let cool completely!!

3. Gently cut the rounded top off of one of the cakes. Place that one on the cake stand or plate first. Frost the top of it and place the second cake on top, rounded side up. Frost the rest of the cake starting with the top first and work your way down.

4. Carefully place oreos around the base of the cake. Gently press into cake to keep from falling off. Sprinkle top of cake with as many crumbs as you wish! Enjoy!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This is my go-to muffin recipe. I can add anything to it!! It is quick and easy and a can make a batch up any night to go with dinner.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg (or two egg whites)

3/4 cup of milk

1/4 oil (I use 1/4 applesauce and you can't tell any different!)

*To make lemon poppy seed: add one teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds and increase sugar to 1/2 cup. Then I made a quick glaze with milk , powdered sugar and a bit of almond extract. Top with slivered almonds!

Directions:
1. Grease twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups or line with paper baking cups; set aside.
2. In medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center of mixture; set aside
3. In another bowl combine egg, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moist...VERY IMPORTANT. If you over mix muffins they will get tough and will form peaks and not round tops. Batter will be slightly lumpy.
4. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes, serve warm.


* To make banana muffins: reduce milk to 1/2 cup, stir in 3/4 cup mashed banana, and add 1/2 chopped nuts


* To make apple cinnamon: add 3/4 cup diced apple and 1 teaspoon cinnamon


* For streusel topping: combine 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Top any of the variety of muffins with topping right before baking.

Pizza Rolls

I came up with this idea so that we could have bite size snacks in the fridge or freezer. Pizza is a favorite around here so I put the two together. They were a hit! We all loved them and even Annie asked for more!

Ingredients:

Store bought pizza dough or click here for homemade

pizza sauce

cheese

favorite toppings: veggies, pepperoni, pineapple,

canadian bacon, grilled chicken .... the possibilities are endless!

1. Roll you dough into a circle. Using pizza cutter, cut into wedges. The skinner the wedge the smaller the pizza bit will be.

2. Carefully spread sauce over entire wedge. The top with cheese and toppings.

3. Starting at the widest end carefully start rolling your dough. Place on a cookie sheet. If you want you can brush on melted butter to make them golden brown. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. The bigger the rolls the longer they will need to bake! Use left over sauce for dipping! Enjoy!

Berry Oat Bars

Ok, Rex and I were talking about Great Harvest one day and reminiscing about there delicious food and we remembered that they made really good berry bars. Anyone who has gone there knows what I am talking about :) So, for dessert last weekend I made this recipe up and these babies were a hit!! So good, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 applesauce

1 egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

2-3 cups quick oats

bag of frozen mixed berries, thawed (or your fav berries)

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Mix sugars, applesauce, egg white and vanilla together. Add the dry ingredients to wet. (Add enough oats to make a moderately stiff dough.) Press about 2/3 dough into a greased 8x8 pan with floured fingers. Set aside.
2. Place the berries in a sauce pan over med heat. Add enough sugar to sweeten how you like it. Bring the berries to a boil then add a tablespoon corn starch. Turn heat down to medium and stir constantly until thick. Add more cornstarch if you want a thicker sauce. You want it pretty thick so it doesn't soak into your crust.
3. Pour and spread over the top of crust. Take remaining dough in small amounts and press with hands into flat pieces. Lay them on top of berries until the top is mostly covered. (It is ok to have gaps in between dough, it makes it look pretty and it will cook up nicely). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until set. Cool and cut into bars.

* Adding walnuts to the dough would be delish!
* This recipe is incredibly low fat and it is great because the bars are nice and soft all the way through!

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Well, we tried a new salad last Friday and loved it! For all of you who love Ceasar salad, you will have to try this! Easy and affordable. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cooked and diced chicken breasts

washed and cut romaine lettuce (how ever big you want your salads)

1 tomato, diced

sliced olives

Parmesan cheese

2 cups cooked short noodles (2 cups fed 2 people, so more noodles if you are feeding more people)

Cesar dressing (I found it fat free!)

garlic croutons

1. Mix lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and noodles together in bowl.
2.Top with desired amount of dressing and toss to coat. Plate salads and top with chicken, a sprinkle of cheese and croutons!

Two new recipes!

I didn't want to wait to post two different recipes so I am just putting them both on here! The are both new and divine! The first is a yummy dessert that I made. They are blondies, like brownies but without the cocoa. Next is a creamy soup you will love! Enjoy!

Three Great Taste Blondies

These are so moist and rich. Rex was sad when I gave most of them to our friends, but don't worry I saved him a few! These are great to cut into bars and really good with a big glass of milk!

Ingredients

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (of each) peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease really well or line with sprayed foil a 15 1/2 X 10 1/2 X 1 inch jelly roll pan. (I don't have a jelly roll pan so I put mine in a tart dish but a 9X13 pan would work just fine).

2. Stir together brown sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, salt, beating just until blended; stir in all the chips! Spread into prepared pan.

3 Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in pan. Cut into bars. Drizzle with melted chocolate. (put a handful of chocolate chips into a zip lock bad and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until smooth. Cut tip of bag off and drizzle.)

* Since I was delivering these bars and it was my first time making them I didn't experiment with them by trying to make them low fat but I will now! I will let you know how they turn out!

Creamy Potato Soup

I have tried lot of different soup recipes and I am always looking for the best potato soup and I am pretty sure that I found it! This soup is really easy, fast, very low fat, and delicious!! I found so yummy french bread soup bowls at the store that went prefect with this soup!

Ingredients

5 medium potatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon butter/margarine

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon dill, 1/2 teaspoon dried chives

pepper (as much or little as you like)

1 cup milk or half-and-half (I used fat free half-and-half)

1. In a large pot cook potatoes and onions in plenty of boiling water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and reserve 1 cup of potato/onion mixture.

2. In a food processor or blender combine remaining potatoes/onions and broth. Cover and blend or about 1 minute or until smooth. Set aside.

3. In the same saucepan melt the butter. Stir in flour, salt, dill, chives, pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute.

4. Stir the blended soup, reserved potatoes, and milk mixture all together. Cook and stir until heated through. Add additional milk if you would like it thinner. Pour into bowls or bread bowls and top with bacon bit, cheese and more chives!

* This recipe takes about 25 minutes to make. It only has 205 calories and 4 grams of fat! Eat a lot, it is really good!