For Your Sweet Tooth

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a deep love for desserts. In fact, I have been known to eat an entire chocoalte pie or pint of ice cream if left unattended.

Every once in awhile I'll make my own desserts, it somehow makes it taste better because I made them with love.

The first one I am going to tell ya about is Shae's dad's absolute favorite, he always ask me to make it when he comes to town. They are very rich and I recommend either only eating one or having a large glass of milk with this one.

Layered Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients

Cookie Base

• 1 pouch Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix
• 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Water
• 1 egg

Filling

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk

Frosting

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup butter

Preparation

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 13x9 pan with cooking spray
• In a large bowl stir all the cookie base ingredients until a soft dough forms.
• Press dough in bottom of pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In my Kitchenaid I beat all of the filling ingredients on a medium speed until its smooth. If you don't have a Kitchenaid you can of course use a hand electric mixer. Spread the filling mixture over the cookie base.
• In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the frosting ingredients on high 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Allow to cool for ten minutes; spread over the filling.
• Refridgerate 30 minutes or until its set. Then cut them into little squares of whatever size you'd like.

I wish I had a pic of these delicious peanut butter bars but you better be sure that next time I make them I'll get a pic.

My next favorite make at home recipe comes from the amazing and one of a kind Ms. Paula Deen. I found the recipe a few years ago on her website but haven't been able to find it since (glad I saved it).


Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
Ingredients

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• powdered sugar for dusting
• 1 (18oz) box of moist chocolate cake mix
• 1 (8oz) brick of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter at room temperature

Preparation

• In my Kitchenaid I cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth then beat in the egg. Beat in the vanilla extract and then beat in the cake mix.
• Cover and refridgerate the bowl for 2 hours to firm up so you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in powdered sugar. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet (I use my large bar pan so they all cook evenly), 2 inches apart.
• Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool completely and sprinkle with more powdered sugar.

The guys at my husband's work have always LOVED this recipe. They are super addictive and disappear quickly.


Last, but definitely not least is my FAVORITE of the desserts.... Peanut Butter Fudge. I am very picky about my fudge and tried quite a few recipes before I found one I really, really loved. The winner is a Peanut Butter Fudge recipe from the peanut butter experts, Jif.

Jif Peanut Butter Fudge
Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 2/3 cups Jif smooth peanut butter
• 1 (7oz) jar marshmallow creme
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

• Line a 13x9 dish with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray
• Combine the sugar, butter, and milk in a large saucepan stirring constantly on medium heat, until the mixture comes to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
• Add the peanut butter. Stir until well blended. Add marshmallow creme and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Spread in the prepared pan and allow to cool. Then cut it into squares whatever size you'd like.

Well, that's it for now. Check back in another day for more.

The Deep Covered Baker

Alright people, we gotta take a few minutes to talk about my true love.... the Deep Covered Baker. There is seriously no better kitchen product out there, anywhere! Let me tell ya why.

The Deep Covered Baker is a stoneware piece with lid and comes in a beautiful maroon color. It is safe for the microwave and oven. This one dish changed the way I cook forever. I now can create delicious homemade meals for my family in the microwave in literally minutes.

I will post a few recipes that I have recently made in my Deep Covered Baker. If you do not have a Deep Covered Baker they may be hard to duplicate any other way which is why I will share them here.

Chicken Bruschetta Pasta 
I did not invent this recipe nor am I claiming it as my own. But I do feel that it is delicious and healthy enough that I would be selfish not to share it.

Ingredients
1 box of spaghetti
3 - 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
fresh basil
garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
3 plum tomatoes
Parmesan cheese

Preparation

• Break spaghetti in half and place in Deep Covered Baker (DCB)
• Cover with chicken stock
• Place lid on DCB and microwave 8 minutes
• After the 8 minutes give it a good stir and microwave another 8 minutes
• Cut up tomatoes and place them in the Manual Food Processor (MFP) and pump
• Using the Garlic Press, mince 2 cloves into the MFP and pump again
• Cut up basil and place in the MFP and again pump  then add the 1/3 cup olive oil and pump away. Ta-Da! You just made your own pasta sauce. It is so easy that our 4-year old daughter made ours.

• Pour your sauce on top of the spaghettit and mix it in. Throw in a meat of your choice like grilled chicken, shrimp, or smoked sausage (we had grilled chicken in ours).

Wasn't that an easy one? Took 16 minutes to make a delicious, healthy, home-cooked meal for our family of 5. How many times have you been able to say that?

29 Minute Chicken
Again this one is not my recipe but I use it all the time. I never knew cooking a full size chicken could be so easy.

Ingredients
Whole Chicken (3-4lb)
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
Rub or seasoning of your choice

Preparation

• Clean all of the guts out of the chicken and feel free to make grossed out noises like I did when I had to do it. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Place chicken in DCB, you can tie its legs together if you want but I am honestly too lazy for that kinda thing.
• Spread the oil on the chicken with a Silicone Basting Brush then cover with your favorite rub or seasoning.

• Place the DCB in the microwave UNCOVERED and cook for 28 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. And that's it! Ta-Da!

Impossibly Easy Breakfast Cassole
We have tried numerous breakfast casserole recipes over the years and it seemed like most of them were just tasteless. I really enjoy this one and so do Shae and the kids so it's a keeper. This one is originally a Betty Crocker recipe, I just switched it up Pampered Chef style. :)

Ingredients
2 packages breakfast sausage (we are a Jimmy Dean house)
1 medium bell pepper (we prefer red)
1 medium onion
3 cups frozen hashbrowns
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup Bisquick
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 eggs

Preparation

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease the inside of your DCB. Chop up your onion and bell pepper with the Food Chopper
• Cook the sausage onion and bell pepper in skillet until done; drain
• Stir together the sausage mixture, the hashbrowns and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese into the DCB
• Stir Bisquick, milk, pepper, and eggs, until blended. Pour into the DCB.
• Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes and sprinkle with remaining cheese
• Cool 5 minutes.

Just looking at this pic is making me super hungry. I may have to make Shae stop by the Commissary and pick up some sausage tonight. When you scoop some out it looks like this:

So hopefully these DCB recipes will get you all pumped into trying them at your house or maybe getting a Deep Covered Baker of your very own. I am absolutely in love with mine. If people enjoy reading this post I may take a day and post some dessert recipes for the Deep Covered Baker that I also know.

To see the Deep Covered Baker in my shop you can go to www.pamperedchef.biz/tarasteward

Super Banana Bread

Hi all! Sorry I have been away for so long, I couldn't ever remember my gmail password so I couldn't login. Lol. I did finally find it though and I am excited to share a new recipe with you.

Ingredients
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cup mashed overripe bananas

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan, I use my Pampered Chef Stone Loaf Pan and it is amazing!
2. You'll need 2 bowls for this next step, I use my Classic Batter bowl for my dry ingredients and my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for the wet. In one bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the other bowl cream your brown sugar and butter. Then add eggs and bananas.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix just to moisten. Then pour into loaf pan.
4. Bake for 60-65 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Special Notes - If you don't have enough bananas to make 2 1/3 cup then you can substitute the rest with applesauce. Also when testing with your toothpick test in a couple of places, since there is so much banana in the recipe it may not come out clean in one area but will in another.

To mash my bananas I use my Manual Food Processor (which is amazing by the way) because it is easier to clean than my electric one and the sound doesn't bother Brendan as much.