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.

Tara's Potato Soup

Alright Momma, this one is for you. Let me just warn everyone that this soup is to die for but when looking at the ingredients you must remember that I came up with it during our super poor days when WIC ingredients made up the majority of our pantry and fridge. With that said here ya go.

Ingredients

• 5lb. Potatoes
• 1 Onion
• 2/3 cup chopped celery
• 1 pkg diced ham
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4 Tbspn Chicken Bouillon Granules
• 30 pieces American cheese

Base Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup flour
• 4 cups milk

Preparation

• Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes
• Peel onion and chop in the Food Chopper
• Cut celery and chop in the Food Chopper
• Add potatoes, onion, and celery to 12qu. stockpot. Add just enough water to cover all the vegetables
• Add diced ham to Stockpot
• Boil for twenty minutes or until potatoes are tender
• After boiling turn heat to medium-low and add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, chicken bouillon, and cheese and stir until blended
• Continue cooking on low

Base Preparation

• In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium-low heat
• Whisk in flour and cook stirring continuously until thick, about 1 minute
• Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form, until all the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick (about 4 to 5 minutes)
• Stir the base into the stockpot and mix well
• Continue cooking on medium-low until heated through

Tara's Sidenote: the 4 cups of milk is meant for a "soupy" type of soup. We prefer a thicker soup so we only add 3 cups.

If this amazing recipe has left you going crazy for the Food Chopper (lol, I know, I'm silly) then please visit my website www.pamperedchef.biz/tarasteward

Chicken Tetrazini

You're frantically searching through the pantry, fridge, and freezer. You have ingredients but nothing that looks like it could actually create anything your family will actually eat.... then through the mist emerges..... Chicken Tetrazini. Yay! It saved the day! Dinner without the last minute scramble to the grocery store. Victory!

This recipe comes from my mother in-law who always has good "whatever you got will do" kind of recipes and honestly, those are my favorite because I hate running to the grocery after all the other running I do all day.

Ingredients

• 5 Chicken Breasts (or Tyson Grilled N'Ready Chicken or left over chicken from a previous meal)
• 1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth
• 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder (I promise, even my friends who hate Curry love this recipe)
• 1 Package of Spaghetti (or thin spaghetti or angel hair or whatever long pasta you have just sitting around)
• 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Boil Chicken and cut-up (or if it's Tyson Grilled N'Ready just throw it in the skillet for a few minutes)
• Combine soups and curry powder in medium saucepan and heat on medium-low
• Prepare pasta according to package directions
• Put cooked pasta in baking dish, cover with chicken, and pour soups over the entire thing
• Top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes uncovered

www.pamperedchef.biz/tarasteward

Chicken Tater Bake

If planned correctly this meal can be made for super-duper cheap. I will usually make this the day after we have fried chicken so I can use the left-overs or I will buy a rotisserie chicken from Wal-Mart because they are also pretty cheap. If all of those avenues are unavailable then I use the Tyson Grill'N Ready Chicken (or whatever its called, it's just cooked, frozen chicken). I actually have this in the oven as I am typing this. :)

Ingredients

• 1 Can Cream of Chicken
• 1/8 Cup Butter
• 3/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/4 Cup Milk
• 1 1/2 Cups Cubed Cooked Chicken
• 1 Package of Frozen Tater Tots

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
• Combine soup, milk, and butter in saucepan. Cook over medium heat until heated through
• Stir in chicken and 1/2 cup cheese
• Transfer to a greased 8" square baking dish, top with tater tots and sprinkle with remaining cheese
• Cover and bake for 35 minutes
• Uncover; bake 5 to 10 minutes longer

Tara's Sidenote: Stretch this sucker as far as possible. If you serve it over rice then you can seriously get 2 days of meals out of it. I know what you're thinking, "Rice with tater tots? Come on Tara that's just crazy talk." Just trust me, Shae loves it with the rice and so do the kids. I of course love it because the whole meal together has usually cost me maybe $5.

www.pamperedchef.biz/tarasteward

Meat Filled Jumbo Shells

I feel so fancy when I make this dish for guests, lol.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. Jumbo Shells
• 2 lbs. Ground Beef
• 4 Eggs Slightly Beaten
• 3/4 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 3/4 Cup Chopped Onion ("Food Chopper" is all I'll say, tehe)
• 3/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano Leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 3 Cups Spaghetti Sauce

Preparation

• Cook pasta according to package directions (You never realize how much you need The Pampered Chef "5" Strainer" until you are trying to fish these suckers out of the pot without breaking them) 
• Cool shells in a single layer on foil
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Meanwhile, in large skillet brown meat and drain
• In large bowl stir together meat, eggs, bread crumbs, mozzarella cheese, onion, oregano, salt, and pepper
• Fill each shell with about 2 Tablespoons of meat filling
• Spread thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish (if you are lucky enough to keep all the shells from breaking then you will need more than one baking dish)
• Place shells in dish and cover with remaining sauce
• Cover with foil
• Bake for 45 minutes

Tara's Sidenote: If you are able to fill multiple baking dishes and you aren't having company over I recommend placing one of the covered dishes in the oven and the other in the freezer for a future dinner. If you freeze one then just cook it at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour when the day comes to finally cook it.

www.pamperedchef.biz/tarasteward