Chewy Rocky Road Bars

These bars were chewy,sweet and easy! I had everything I needed in my cupboards already!! These make a great after dinner treat!



Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup finely crushed pretzels
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coconut flakes
3/4 cup chopped nuts

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Combine pretzels and butter in small bowl. Lightly press into bottom of sprayed 9x13 pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Top with marshmallows, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts. Press toppings firmly into sweetened condensed milk.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely and cut into bars!

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

This is such a great fall dinner, perfect for a hungry family. It may sound weird but it was really good and creamy. Everyone loved it and was perfect for a pre-thanksgiving meal! Enjoy

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta noodles, any shape you like, cooked until al dente

2 drizzled olive oil

1/2 lb. sweet italian turkey sausage

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup fat free half and half

2 pinches cinnamon

3 pinches ground nutmeg

salt and pepper

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Cook until al dente. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a deep pot over medium heat drizzle 1 tablespoon oil and brown the sausage in it. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Add another drizzle of oil and saute the onion and garlic 5 minutes, till soft and sweet. Add sage, and 1 cup chicken stock to pot. Reduce liquid 2 minutes. Add the other cup of stock and pumpkin and combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season with cinnamon, nutmeg, slat and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes.
3. To serve, return the drained, cooked pasta to pot you cooked it in. Pour sauce over noodles. Toss pasta and sauce over low heat for so pasta can absorb flavors. Serve with french bread and steamed broccoli to have a yummy meal.

Bake Apples

These are so good and a great fruit idea for when you have breakfast for dinner! All the spices and the warm soft apple are perfect for any fall meal!

Ingredients:

4 big apples

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped apricots

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup maple syrup or honey

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1 cup hot apple juice

1. Cut the middle out of each apple leaving the bottom of apple 1/2 inch thick using an apple corer or a knife and spoon. Set aside.

2. Combine all ingredients except the apple juice in a bowl and mix together. Spoon mixture evenly into apples and place in a pan. Pour apple juice in bottom of dish around apples. Like this:

3. Place in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes,check on them after 15 and cover with foil if the top starts to brown. That's it ! So fast and easy!

* This recipe only has 1 gram of fat and 274 calories per apple!

* Add chopped walnuts to mixture for a little crunch.

* We have these with egg sausage sammies on English muffins and roasted potatoes! SO good and hearty!

Pumpkin Muffins

So good with any meal!! Fast, healthily and great for snacks too!! I love love love pumpkin and this is a great no fail recipe!

(I put some chopped walnuts on a few, because they are so yummy!)

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tablespoon oil

4 egg whites, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup water

walnuts optional

1. Heat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, mix together cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, salt, baking soda, and flour. Add applesauce, oil, pumpkin and eggs. Stir until JUST moist. Over stirring will cause the muffins to have pointy tops :( No one likes a pointy muffins. Add nuts if you want (I added mine on top).

3. Spray or grease muffin tins or use paper liners for easy clean up. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 20 minutes or until center is set.

* These were so moist! My husband couldn't believe they were low fat! That is a good sign:)

* Add raisins,craisens or chocolate chips for fun!

Pot Stickers and Fried Rice

This was soooo good! It was fun to try something new too!! It didn't take me 30 minutes, more like 45, but totally worth it! My hubby loved these pot stickers and it is a perfect fake out take out! Try it!

Ingredients:

Pot Stickers:

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1 cup shredded blanched cabbage ( I used green) To blanch: boil some water and add your shredded cabbage to water for 1 minute. Take out with tongs and lay on paper towels to cool.

1/4 cup grated carrots

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

salt and pepper

won ton wrappers

Fried Rice:

1 cup instant brown rice

2 scrambled egg whites or eggs

1/4 peas

1/4 cup diced steamed carrots

1. Mix your ground turkey, blanched cabbage, carrots, ginger, soy sauce and salt and pepper. Boil about 3 inches of water in a big pot. Assemble your pot stickers by putting about 1 teaspoon of mixture into the center of won ton wrapper. Wet the edges and fold and press.

2 After your pot stickers are ready place a colander into pot with water. Lay a few large cabbage leaves onto colander. This keeps the pot stickers from sticking to the colander. Lay as many as you can with out over lapping or touching. These babies will stick together and you don't want that :) Place lid on pot and steam for about 10 minutes. Repeat until all you pot stickers are cooked.

3. While your pot stickers are cooking prepare fried rice. Boil 1 cup of water and add 1 chicken bouillon cube to it. When boiling add rice and cook for 10 minutes on med/low. In last couple of minutes add peas and carrots. Right before serving gently fold in scrabbled eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Serve this yummy meal with steamed broccoli or steamed snap peas and this quick dipping sauce!

Sauce: Mix 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon spicy mustard and 2 teaspoons rice or white vinegar together and dip!

Country Chicken Pasta

SO GOOD!! I have a no-fail Betty Crocker cook book that is giving me great dinners! Another quick one dish dinner that was prefect on a chilly day. This came together fast and is one of those dinners that just hits the spot. Everyone loved it and I know we will have it again soon!

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked pasta, any shape short pasta

3 cups cooked cubed chicken

2 jars (12oz. each) chicken gravy

1 bag (1lb.) frozen veggie mix: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peas

whatever you have

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup herb seasoned stuffing crumbs ( stove top)

2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1.Heat oven to 375. Cook and drain pasta, using minimum cook time. It will continue to cook in the oven.
2. In an ungreased 2 1/2 quart casserole dish, mix pasta and remaining ingredients together except for stuffing and butter.
3. Cover casserole. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover and stir casserole. In a small bowl, mix stuffing and butter. Sprinkle of top. Bake uncovered about 10 minutes longer or until hot and topping is brown.

* I didn't have any frozen veggies so I just steamed carrots and broccoli for about 10 minutes while my chicken was cooking and then added it when it called for it.

* This dish has veggies in it but I still added some roasted sweet potatoes on the side. And of course has some muffins too. Blueberry were great!

* There are really yummy fat-free muffin mixes at the store that are great to have in the cupboards. You can have them ready in 20 minutes and it really adds something extra to dinner!

White Chocolate Brownies

When I asked Rex what sounded good for a treat, he knows to pick something chocolate :) But he requested these babies and boy were they good! Gone in no time!! Rich and moist, and of course low in fat. Eat it up!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 egg whites

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 white chocolate chips

*topping: mix 1/2 cup white chocolate chips & 1/4 cup chocolate chips together and set aside

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x9 baking pan. Stir together applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl. Add egg whites; beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to wet ingredients. Beat until well blended. Stir in both chips. Spread into pan.
2. Bake 20-25 minutes until center is set. Pull out of oven and sprinkle the hot brownies with the mixed chips. Pop back into oven for 30 seconds to a minute. Until chips are shiny. Carefully with a knife, spread soft chips to frost the top. Let cool and then dig in!