Chocolate Wonder

I hope everybody had a wonderful and merry christmas! We had a very relaxing and quiet christmas this year, we missed our family and friends like crazy but we still had a good time just the 3 of us.  We drank lots of hot cocoa, watched lots of christmas movies and had a HUGE feast on christmas.  We have been eating leftovers ever since and will continue to eat ham for awhile longer :)

This dessert goes way back in my family and my husbands family.  It is such an easy dessert to throw together and it is always a crowd pleaser.  I normally top the dessert with chocolate shavings (but The Hubs had a hayday making all sorts of different kinds of Smore's and used up all my chocolate bar. A story for another time :) so I opted for these delicious cadbury mini jingle bells. I must say they still got the job done.

Recipe:

For the Crust:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick softened)

1 cup flour

1/4 cup Walnuts (chopped into small pieces)

For the Cream Filling:

1 (8oz) cream cheese (softened)

1 cup powder sugar

1 cup cool whip

For the Pudding Layer:

2 (4oz) boxes of Instant chocolate pudding

4 cups of cold milk

For the Topping:

1 (8oz) container of Cool Whip 

Chocolate Shavings or any sort of chocolate candy (you can use holiday assorted candies to make it festive)

Or chopped up walnuts

Soften the stick of butter in a medium bowl, then mix in the cup of flour and chopped nuts till well incorporated.  Press firmly into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at *350 for 10-13 minutes.  Let cool completely before topping.
Next, soften the cream cheese (I put mine in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds) then using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese till smooth.  Mix in the cup of powdered sugar. Fold in the cool whip.  Spoon the filling over the crust and smooth with a spatula till even. 
In a large bowl, mix together the pudding packets and milk and whisk together for 2-3 minutes then allow the pudding to set up about 5 minutes in the fridge.  Layer the pudding over the cream cheese mixture and smooth with a spatula.
Lastly, I top the pudding with the cool whip and chocolate shavings right before I serve it.  Allow the dish to set up in the refridgerator a couple of hours before serving. Enjoy!

(SIDENOTE: YOU CAN SUBSTITUE THE CHOCOLATE PUDDING FOR BANANA PUDDING AND ADD A LAYER OF FRESH BANANAS INBETWEEN THE CREAM AND PUDDING LAYERS)

 

Green Onion Cheeseball

Wow! It has been way too long!!!  We have been super busy over the past couple of months!  We took the LO to Disneyland for her first time, we went home to Utah for a couple of weeks over Halloween, then we just got back last week from a Mexican Cruise with The Hubs company!  We have had so much fun but I have definitely missed blogging and all my blogging buddies!  We just got a new computer for an early christmas gift so I can now finally update the blog!

I thought I would share one of my favorite appetizers with you guys.  It is such a cinch to make and it is always a crowd pleaser. Perfect for the upcoming Holidays :) 

Recipe:

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese (room temperature)

3 green onions

1 cup Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Sliced almonds for rolling

Allow your cream cheese to come to room temperature in a bowl (about 20-30 minutes).  Wash and dry the green onions.  Dice the whole green onion into small pieces and add to the cream cheese.  Add in the cheddar cheese and mix till well incorporated.  Form into one large (or 2 small) balls.  Place sliced almonds onto a plate and roll the ball around in the almonds till you can no longer see the cheese.  Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight is preferred.  Serve with your choice of crackers.  Lasts up to 3 days in the fridge.  

Memorial Day

I hope that you've all been enjoying your Memorial Day weekend and that you're all hopefully experiencing some sort of good weather so that you can be enjoying a BBQ or a get together with friends today!  Here are a few recipes that I rounded up that I think would be perfect for your celebrations.

Sticky Coconut Chicken

Lew's Smash Burgers

BBQ Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Lemon Cream Bars

Texas Sheet Cake

Hopefully some of these recipes can be of help to you if you are trying to figure out what to make for your get togethers.  I chose these recipes because they serve quite a few people and because my family has really liked them!  Have a wonderful Memorial Day! 

Happy Easter!

(Image via Martha Stewart)

I am sorry about the lack of post today! We have had a couple late nights and one tired little one year old which = not much time to blog.  But I wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter and hope that you all have one amazing weekend spending time with your loved ones, Eating lots of food, Dying easter eggs, Eating more food, Hunting for eggs, Eating the eggs, and then top it all off with a delicious Easter Dinner, thats at least what we plan on doing over in these neck of the woods!  See you next week!


Click Here for a Video of what Easter is all About

Cute Easter Egg Idea

(Image via family fun)

When I came across this photo I knew that I had to share! This is such a fun easter craft to do with your kids and a great way to showcase all of those dyed eggs. Click here for tutorial. 

Ideas for St Patrick's Day

(Click here for the recipe to Milkshake Cupcakes)

(Perfect starter to your St Patty's dinner made with Green Peppers.  Image from Martha Stewart)

(Great way to add a touch of Green. Click here for tutorial) 

So, St. Patricks Day is honestly not that big of a Holiday around our house, but we are actually moving to Texas in just a week and a half and I really haven't had much time to cook with packing and all, so I thought I would post some ideas in hopes that maybe it could help some of you for the fun "Green" holiday thats just around the corner.  Seriously, maybe I am just lame but that is one of the only things I think about when I think of St Patty's Day is to make sure I wear something green, or else I'm gonna get pinched! Ouch! Anywho, hope you all have a great weekend, and I'm hoping to get some cooking in over the weekend so I can share more recipes with you next week! Wish me luck, packing is the worst!

Heart Shaped Pizza

These are really fun for Valentines Day and seriously, who doesn't like pizza. You really can't go wrong. You can even spell out cute sayings with the pepperoni and vegetables to send a cute message to someone.  If you are in a hurry you could just use store bought pizza crust but I think the dough recipe below is very easy and very tasty!

Recipe:
For the Dough:
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Honey
1/4 tsp. Salt
3-4 cups all purpose flour (or you can use half all purpose and half all purpose whole wheat flour)

Preheat oven to *425.  Mix the yeast and water together in a small bowl, cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Mix together the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. (I mix mine in my Kitchen Aid, if you don't have a kitchen aid or Bosch you can mix by hand with a wooden spoon.) Then, 1 cup at a time, add flour into yeast mixture, mixing well between each addition, up to 3 cups of flour. (Note, when I made this dough I only needed 2 1/2 cups flour when the dough was ready to be kneaded.) If the dough is still sticky add more flour 1/4 cup at a time till the dough becomes, soft. Next, lay the dough onto a floured surface and knead dough till it becomes moderately stiff, and somewhat firm to the touch. (about 5-7 minutes). Lightly grease the pan you will be cooking the pizza on and then roll the pizza dough into desired shape and size. (You should have enough dough to make one 16-inch pizza, 2 12-inch pizzas, or 4 8-inch pizzas.) (Dough recipe adapted from the Food Nanny)


For the Sauce:
2 15oz cans diced tomatos (drained)
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Oregano (dried)
1/2 tsp. Basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Drain Diced tomato's and place them in a sifter and sift out all of the liquids with a spoon. Then place them in a food processor or blender and blend till smooth. Then mix in remaining ingredients. Spoon sauce onto pizza dough and smooth out to the edges. Place 1 1/2-2 cups grated mozzarella cheese over pizza and top with desired veggies. Bake for 20-30 minutes.