Peanut Butter Bars: DELICIOUS!

This is anther Pinterest recipe courtesy of Six Sisters’ Stuff blog.

Five reasons I love this recipe:

1) These are no-bake.
2) No eggs means licking the batter spoon with no guilt.
3) Simple ingredients means no time at the store searching.
4) Not too rich, not too bland.  Just the right amount for dessert.
5) Chocolate + peanut butter… what’s NOT to love?

I made these on Wednesday night after I got home from my 8-mile run.  No, I’m not superwoman, these are just that easy to make.  They were demolished over the weekend with my in-laws in town and I promptly made another batch on Sunday night.  (Because when you have the 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, there really is no excuse not to make more of these.)

No more selling, just make these.  They are fantastic.

Ingredients Needed:

1 cup peanut butter (I used Peter Pan Creamy)
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used boxed)
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 foil baking pan (I used 9 x 13)

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup melted butter, 2 cups graham cracker crumbs and 2 cups powdered sugar.  I mixed with my KitchenAid mixer.  Mix until well blended.

2) Press mixture in bottom on ungreased foil baking pan.

3) In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.

4) Pour melted mixture on top of mixture already in pan.

5) Place in the fridge.  (I do this overnight.)

6) The next morning I pop the entire mixture in one sheet onto a cutting board.  The foil pan helps to pop the sheet out in one piece.  I cut into squares and put back in the baking pan.

**Note, keep these in the fridge to make sure they don’t melt again.  I made the mistake of keeping a few in my purse until dropping them off at my husband’s work at lunch and they were melted by that time.  He assured me the tasted fantastic after an hour in the fridge, but still… I’d keep them in the fridge next time.

Enjoy!

Another Pinterest recipe we tried this weekend: Slow Cooker 7UP Chicken & Rice

This recipe comes from one of my favorite new blogs to follow- Six Sisters’ Stuff.  Spoiler alert, I’ve got the ingredients and plan on making Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Bars Recipe this week from the same blog.

This is the first time I’ve ever used a slow cooker and I think it turned out pretty well.

Overall, the recipe was pretty good.  I would add a little more spice next time, there wasn’t enough of it this first time.  Even a little pepper and salt would help.

However, here’s the original recipe, from the blog:

What to make for dinner in the middle of basketball craziness?

The dishes hadn’t been done in a few days, we spent about 6 hours in a bar watching games during the day and sometime around 8 p.m., needed to figure out some dinner.

Going out wasn’t an option and the frozen pizza didn’t sound good.  I did have some basics, however, including some rice in the fridge left over from earlier in the week.

Voila, rice pancakes would work!

This recipe is something my mom used to make on occasion.  They are fantastic re-heated.  Rather than top with syrup, I top with butter and a little salt.

Ingredients required:
– Cold rice
– eggs
– milk (I used silk vanilla almond milk)
– bisquick or jiffy baking mix

The recipe can be adjusted to work with just about any ingredient.  Need a gluten-free version? Just replace the jiffy mix with a gluten-free flour or corn muffin mix.  Potato flour might work, too.

Step 1:
– Heat skillet on medium-high

Step 2:
– Place cold rice in a bowl (I used about 2 cups)
– Add eggs (I used 2 eggs)
– Add milk (I used about 1/2 cup)
– Add jiffy mix (I used about 1/2 cup)

Step 3:
– Stir items together

Step 4:
– Make pancakes

I don’t have specific measurements for the ingredients, it’s pretty hard to mess up.  You just want a thick enough to make a cohesive pancake.  If you like it more pancake-like, add more jiffy mix.  If you like it more rice-like, add less.  More milk if  it’s too thick, less if it’s not thick enough.

The recipe, with ingredients listed above we made 4 large pancakes.

The calorie low-down:
2 cups white rice: 426 calories
2 eggs: 200 calories
1/2 Cup milk: 30 calories
Jiffy mix: 130 calories

Total: 196.5 calories per rice pancake

Top with a bit of butter and salt and you have a yummy dinner under 500 calories!

Two recipe posts in one week?

If that’s not a sign the world is ending, I don’t know what is.

Tonight for dinner the hubby really wanted tortellini and biscuits and I had all the supplies to make this avocado chicken salad recipe I found on Pinterest.

Another YouTube shout-out… you can ripen an avocado faster by putting it in a paper bag with a banana overnight.  This actually worked!

So, rather than have the three-cheese tortellini, I decided to make this chicken salad recipe for dinner.  We shared the biscuits and it took the same amount of time to cook both, simultaneously.

The recipe calls for:
– 1 cup chicken breast (I used cut-up rotisserie chicken we got on sale this weekend)
– 1 avocado
– 2 or 3 green onions
– a few pinches of dried cilantro
– lime juice, use as much as you like the taste of
– salt and pepper, to taste
– 1 tablespoon of mayo (I used reduced fat)

It’s as simple as combining all the ingredients in a bowl.  I used a pizza cutter to combine all the ingredients together.  Taste it, add more of whatever you like until you’re happy.  I served it over a biscuit for dinner.

This recipe made at least 2 servings.  I’ve got hopes to eat the other half tomorrow, if the avocado keeps overnight then this meal will gain even more points.  If not, it’s a great meal that’s quick and easy to make in even our tiny, tiny kitchen.

I will definitely make this again!

The calories low-down:
1 cup chicken breast: 250
1 avocado: 275
2 green onions: 5
1 tablespoon reduced fat mayo: 35
lime juice, salt, pepper, cilantro – not enough to count

Total: about 565 for the whole batch, or 282.5 per serving.

Served with on a biscuit, add 170, totals 452 calories for dinner tonight.

Recipe found on Pinterest and linked to: http://becomingbetty.blogspot.com/2011/09/avocado-chicken-salad.html

I only cook on Sundays.

That’s usually the only day I have time to do anything in the kitchen other than throw something in the oven to heat it up.  I try to cook at least one thing that will last through the week.  I bake muffins, bread, brownies… anything that we can eat through the week.  We have a tiny, tiny kitchen and there’s not a whole lot of room to cook anything.  I try

This week, we had a rare Saturday at home and I tried my hand at another Pinterest recipe that a friend recommended.

I learned a fair amount making this recipe.

First: A garlic that I buy at the store is not, in fact, a clove of garlic.  Good information to know!

Second: YouTube can solve almost any question you have while cooking.  Like how to use that garlic press you got for your wedding.  And what a clove of garlic is.

Overall – solid meal that has been voted into the rotation. We paired it with rice and easily could have eaten more.

Recommended!

Easy Garlic Chicken

Recipe recommended by a friend on Pinterest and found at: http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/easy-garlic-chicken-5478

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves , minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil