Candy Bar Pie

This pie is soooo yummy! My great friend Karalee taught it to me.

Ingredients:

Cool Whip
Large candy bar of your choice
Pie shell (graham or chocolate)



Break up chocolate and melt in microwave. I do 30 seconds then increments of 15 seconds until it is melted.


Gently fold in cool whip and pour in pie shell.


Yum-o! Refrigerate until ready to serve!

Cheese ball

My mom makes this cheese ball all the time. I got the recipe from her. Jared LOVES it and requests it all the time. It was all he wanted for his birthday...



CHEESE BALL

2 blocks cream cheese (8 oz)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
4 oz shredded cheddar
4 oz shredded monterrey jack
4 oz shredded mozzarella
chopped nuts

Let all cheese come to room temperature. Place cream cheese in a large bowl. Add ranch dressing seasoning and mix well. Add shredded cheese and combine until everything is evenly distributed. Divide in half. Roll halves in chopped nuts and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in Refrigerator. Take it out of the refridgerator about 15 minutes before serving. Serve with lots of different crackers.

This can be easily divided in half. Save the extra half of the ranch seasoning for something else or to make another cheese ball.

This doesn't last long at our house...

Grilled Chicken, Pasta Salad, and Squash

This dinner was so refreshing and light. We loved it!

Grilled Chicken


chicken cutlets
EVOO
kickin chicken seasoning

Drizzle chicken with EVOO and sprinkle on seasoning. Grill until done. SO EASY!


Squash


3 yellow squash
cumin
grill seasoning
EVOO
1/4 onion
1 tomato
2% milk shredded cheese, small handful

Slice the squash about 1/4 inch thick. Slice the onion thinly. Dice up the tomato. Heat a skillet and drizzle with EVOO. Add the squash and onion and brown. Add seasoning to taste. I just sprinkled until it looked good. When the squash is almost done, add the tomatoes. I added cheese to entice my kids.


Pasta Salad


1 box ditalini pasta, cooked
4-5 garden fresh tomatoes, diced
1/4 red onion, diced small
1/4 green bell pepper, diced small
grill seasoning
Italian Dressing

Mix the first 4 above ingredients in large bowl. Sprinkle with grill seasoning or salt and pepper. Drizzle with salad dressing, enough to coat the salad, but not too much. Chill until ready to serve. Would be great with parmesan cheese, but I didn't have any.

Voila! It was awesome. No leftovers.


Ethan wasn't crazy about the squash, but I made him eat some of it.

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

1 box jumbo shell pasta
1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce
1 small container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
Italian seasoning
salt

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, mix the ricotta, 1 tsp salt, dash of italian seasong, and large handfull of mozzarella cheese and egg together. When the pasta is done, drain it and rinse with cold water until you can handle it. Then fill the pasta with the cheese mixture and place in a 9X13 dish that you put a layer of sauce across the bottom (so it won't stick).




Cover with remaining pasta.


Top with cheese and sprinkle a little Italian seasoning on top.


Cover and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes.


My mom puts a frozen Italian meatball in each shell instead of the cheese combo and she says it is awesome. I like cheese better than meat.

Glazed Coconut Grilled Chicken

I must be craving coconut and chicken...



Sticky Coconut Chicken
from My Kitchen Cafe with my slight adaptations




Chicken and marinade:

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Mix together coconut milk, ginger, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a bowl.
Place chicken breasts in a shallow dish and pour marinade over chicken, leaving about half a cup in the bowl. Let chicken marinate for at least one hour. Grill on barbecue.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice. I didn't get the glaze done in time, so when the chicken came off the grill, I put the chicken on top of the rice in a serving dish and then drizzled the glaze over the chicken. I put some chopped scallions on top for color and flavor.

Rice:

reserved marinade
2.5 cups water
1.5 cups rice

In a pot add water and marinade. Bring to a boil. Add rice, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes or until the rice is done.


While I was reducing the liquid for the glaze, my kids kept asking what smelled so disgusting. I was worried about how this dish was going to turn out, but it is AWESOME!!! It really has jumped to the top of my list of favorite foods. We had it with fresh corn on the grill. Everyone ate it up, well, except Christian. He only eats hot dogs.

My German chocolate cheesecake cake is cooling and waiting for homemade frosting... pics and recipe coming later...

Coconut Curry Chicken with Cajun Sweet Potatoes and Rice

At bunco last month we had this for dinner along with fresh fruit. It was so GOOD! I have made it at least 3-4 times now.

Coconut Curry Chicken

4 Chicken breasts cut into large chunks
flaked coconut
curry powder
EVOO
salt and pepper

Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl put about 1 1/2 cups coconut and about 1 Tbs curry powder and mix together. Put chicken in bowl and generously coat chicken with coconut. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for about 20-30 minutes, until chicken is done.



Cajun Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes
tony cajun seasoning
EVOO

Peel and dice sweet potatoes into half inch cubes. Put in a large bowl. Drizzle EVOO on potatoes and sprinkle with cajun seasoning. How much depends on your preference. Spread potatoes onto a baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes at 375. Half way though turn the potatoes for even browning. These can be baked along with the chicken.

Serve with rice.

Organization

I love looking at blogs and I really love looking at food blogs. I created this blog of my own so I had a place to organize all the great food blogs as well as add recipes of my own, family recipes, and recipes I try and love. I hope this will solve the never ending problem of what's for dinner!