Oreo Balls

My sister made these for my daughter's baby blessing and they are a piece of heaven!  I have since made them for baby/bridal showers and they are always a hit.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
-1 package regular size Oreo cookies crushed (I usually buy the double stuff package and crush them myself.  You can use a food processor if you have one.  I just do it by hand with a potato masher.)
-1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
-1 package chocolate almond bark  (I have used chocolate chips)
-1 package white chocolate almond bark (You can use white chocolate chips as well)

Directions:
1. Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreo's and cream cheese together. 
2. Roll into walnut size balls.
3. Chill for an hour (the freezer works the best).
4.  Melt approximately 3/4 of white almond bark.
5. Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white almond bark.
6.  Allow to harden on wax paper.
7.  Takes about 15 minutes.
8. While waiting, melt about 1/4 package of chocolate almond bark. 
9. When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, drizzle with chocolate.  Hint: Use sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in the corner to drizzle over top.

Breakfast Bread (paleo)

Here's another recipe from Elana's Pantry. I just love her site and love finding healthy foods to try for my family. So, you'll notice this bread has no flour. It's pretty dense and delicious, though.

I've been making big changes to my diet lately and that's what led me to Elana's site. I can't say I would've chosen the changes I'm making, but now that I'm on this journey I'm grateful for where it's going. But that's a story for another time. This bread is low glycemic and high in protein - a great way to start your day.

Paleo Breakfast Bread
 ½ cup creamy roasted almond butter
 2 eggs
 2 tablespoons honey
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 ¼ teaspoon stevia (I omitted this one simply b/c I don't have it)
 ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
 1 tablespoon cinnamon
1. In a large bowl, with a hand blender , mix almond butter until creamy
2. Mix in eggs, honey, vanilla and stevia
3. Add salt, baking soda and cinnamon
4. Mix well with hand blender until all ingredients are combined
5. Transfer batter into a well greased 8x8 inch Pyrexbaking dish
6. Bake at 325° for 12 to 15 minutes and serve
Serves 4

It comes together quickly and then you get...

Mmmm. I love it and so do my kids! So if you're eating vegan, gluten free, paleo, or just feeling adventurous try this one out. It's breakfast you can feel good about :)

Baked Mustard Lime Chicken

Instead of the traditional ham dinner for Easter, we switched it up with something different. You can do that when you're not visiting family or having anyone over for the Easter holiday (aka "being loners"). We tried this recipe that I found at Elana's Pantry. She has a fabulous website with ingenius recipes. I just love sites like that :)


• 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast
• ½ cup fresh lime juice
• ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• ¼ cup dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Combine lime juice, cilantro, mustard, olive oil, chili, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until ingredients are well combined. Rinse chicken breasts, pat dry and place in a 7x11 inch baking dish. Pour marinade over chicken, cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 6 hours.
Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes uncovered, or until an instant read thermometer reads 165°. Serve with extra sauce spooned over top.
Serves 4

This turned out really yummy, although I grilled the chicken instead of baking it. Enjoy!

Lemon Cream Cake

FOR THE CAKE
1 (18 1/4 ounce) betty crocker white cake mix
bake as directed

FOR THE LEMON CREAM FILLING
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice (I used more)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
1 cup heavy cream


FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar (for garnish)


TO MAKE THE LEMON CREAM FILLING:.
In a medium-size bowl, combine cream cheese and 2 cups powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice and extract, if using.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Using a spoon, fold cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream; set aside.

TO MAKE THE CRUMB TOPPING:.
In a medium-size bowl, combine flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Cut cold butter into flour mixture until mixture is in pieces no larger than a pea. Refrigerate until ready to frost cake.

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:.
When the cake is completely cool, cut into two layers. Reserve 1/2 cup of the Lemon Cream Filling. Spread the remainder of the filling on the bottom half of the cake. Place the second half on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining 1/2 cup of the Lemon Cream Filling. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the Crumb Topping, pressing it onto the sides to cover.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

As you can tell from the picture my crumb topping wasn't so much crumby as it was chunky. I used tub butter instead of stick butter so it wasn't as solid. Oops! It was still yummy, but I think next time I'll add some lemon peel to the cream cheese mixture b/c I like a stronger lemon flavor. Enjoy!

Pasta e Fagioli (Olive Garden replica)

--1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
--1/2 large red onion, chopped
--1 cup carrots, chopped
--2 celery stalks, sliced
--2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
--1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
--4 cups beef broth
--1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
--2 tsp oregano
--1 T Tobasco sauce
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/2 cup dry pasta


Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot.

Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.

Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit. Top with parmesan cheese.

This will be a really yummy soup for chilly fall nights, but I like it now too!
*I found this recipe at: Crockpot Lady

V8 Soup

Brown together in pan:
1 lb hamburger
1/2 cup onion
1/4 cup green pepper (optional)

Boil in water until cooked:
2 cups carrots peeled & chopped(we start boiling these sooner than the potatoes because they take longer to cook)
3 cups potatoes peeled & chopped

Once both are done cooking -- drain the water from the vegetables then combine the meat and the vegetables in a pot and add:

1 large can of V8 Juice
1/2 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
& a little pepper

Heat until warm and serve!

This was my favorite soup as a child!  Hope you enjoy it too!!

Pasta Salad

16 oz. rotini pasta
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 lb. cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
8 radishes, chopped
8 baby carrots, chopped
1/2 C. celery, chopped
1 (2 oz.) can sliced black olives, drained and chopped
1/4 C. sliced green olives, chopped
10 oz. hard salami, julienned
1 C. creamy Caesar salad dressing
1 C. zesty Italian salad dressing
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Cook the pasta using pkg. directions; drain. Let stand until cool. Combine the bell pepper, tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, carrots, celery and olives in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the salami. Add the dressings and pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle with the cheese. Cover and chill. Stir before serving.

I liked this better than my usual pasta salad recipe. It had a little extra pizzazz. I omitted the green olives, radishes and salami though. And I substituted cucumbers for the zucchinis. Very yummy