Fudge Filled Squares

For those of you that were at the Relief Society dinner on Thursday, here is the recipe for the dessert that I had brought! They are pretty darn good and one of our families favorite desserts!

Fudge Filled Squares:

Chocolate Filling:

1 (12 oz.) pkg of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbs. margarine

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt together chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, margarine, and salt in a saucepan over low heat until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.

Cookie base and topping:

2 cubes/sticks margarine

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick oats or old fashioned work)

Beat together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add flour, soda, and salt. Mix well. Stir in oatmeal. Press half of the mixture onto the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Spread chocolate filling evenly over the base. Sprinkle the reserved cookie base evenly over the chocolate layer. Press down slightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 mins or until golden brown (depending on how your oven cooks) Cool before cutting.

French Bread

This is the bread that accompanied dinner at last night's RS Progressive Dinner. I'm so glad so many of you liked it and asked for the recipe! It's very easy to make.

2 pkgs active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp)

2 1/2 cups of warm water

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp melted butter

7 cups flour

2 tbsp cornmeal

1 egg white

1 tbsp cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl (I just let it sit in hot water for a few minutes). Add salt, butter, and flour. Attach bowl and spiral dough hook (or the regular dough hook, depending on what kind of mixer you have). Turn to speed 2 and mix about 1 minute, or until well blended. Knead on speed 2 for about 2 more minutes. Dough will be sticky.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning dough to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. (My trick to rising is to put it in the cold oven with a casserole dish underneath and then I pour boiling water into it. The steam keeps the oven nice and warm for faster rising)

Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll each half into a 12x5 inch rectangle. Roll dough tightly, from longest side, tapering ends if desired. Place loaves on greased baking sheets that have been dusted with cornmeal. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

With a sharp knife, make four diagonal cuts on top of each loaf. Bake at 450F for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Beat egg white and water together with fork. Brush each loaf with egg mixture. Return to oven and bake 5-10 minutes longer. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

**NOTE: It only takes me about 15 minutes to have my bread done, with a light golden color. So start with that time and adjust accordingly to your oven. I also never do the diagonal cuts on top, or the egg wash.

This bread is fantastic warm! And my sister-in-law, who gave me this recipe has also used it as a pizza crust with great results. Yum!

Easy Peasy Chicken

First, sorry no picture.
Second, don't hate me because it is so easy!
Ingredients
3-4 Boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 block softened cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup.
Mix softened cream cheese and soup together. Place chicken in crockpot and pour soup mixture over it.
Cook on high 4 hours or low 6 hours. Take chicken out, shred it and mix it back in. Serve over rice.
Add a green vegetable or two to your plate and dinner is served.

Ratatouille

It's not the prettiest looking dish, but my boys requested it after watching the movie. So I made it and we watched the movie too! It was fun to try and it ended up with a 80% approval rating! It's not for everyone, but I really liked it.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a pan. I used my cooking pot. Add 2 large onions (or minced onion) and garlic salt. Saute for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 eggplant, diced, 6 small zucchini (I only used 1 large), 2 bell peppers, seeded and diced (I got creative and used yellow, red, and green), 1 summer squash, sliced, and 2 tsp salt. Add another 1/4 cup oil to keep veggies from sticking. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add 4 large tomatoes cut in wedges or 1 can stewed tomatoes, drained (I used a can of diced tomatoes, drained). Cook for another 15 minutes on moderate heat and season as desired. I sprinkled a little Creole seasoning for pizzazz. Makes 8 generous servings.

I used it as a side dish and shared with the neighbors. If you love the veggies; you'll love the ratatouille!

Turtles...

Here's a tasty treat that's so easy the kids can help:

Ingredients:

-Pretzels
-Pecans or walnut halves
-Rolos

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
   
2. Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place one chocolate covered caramel candy on each pretzel.
3. Bake for 4 minutes. While the candy is warm, press a pecan half onto each candy covered pretzel. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

(Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pretzel-Turtles/Detail.aspx)

SPINACH BASIL PESTO

Wish I would have posted this one in time for St. Pat's Day. I LOVE the color. And I've found a new recipe that my family loves!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Blend the spinach, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor until nearly smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Drizzle the remaining olive oil into the mixture while processing until smooth. (Courtesy of allrecipes.com)

I substituted walnuts for pine nuts - no pine nuts in my kitchen. I threw in three cloves of garlic - four sounded like too much for my taste and I thought it turned out alright! I don't have a food processor and my blender did a fine job. Enjoy!

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 head of cabbage, chopped
2 packages of ramen noodles, crushed (discard the seasoning packet)
2-4 oz. slivered almonds
2 T. butter
cooked chicken (2-4 breasts), cut up
bunch green onion, chopped
3/4 c. vegetable oil
4 1/2 T. seasoned rice vinegar
4 1/2 T sugar
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper

Combing chicken, green onion, and cabbage in a very large bowl.
In skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add ramen noodles. As the ramen starts to brown, add almonds and stir until all is golden brown. Combine with chicken and cabbage and stir until well blended.

Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl or a jar with a lid. Stir or shake until well blended and pour over salad. Use tongs to well coat the cabbage and chicken.

I can't help but eat this right away. It is delicious. But, it is even better if you can be patient enough to refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Better the next day!