Oreo Truffles

I'm not sure how many of you out there have seen recipes for these yummy treats, but you can find this recipe pretty much anywhere; Mel's Kitchen Cafe, Bakerella, My Girl's Kitchen blog, Kraft Foods; you name it.  I came across this recipe on this blog while I was just browsing there one day.  I'd always heard of these things & I remember eating them at my sister in-law Tessa's baby shower last year.  They are SOOOOOOOO yummy, but oddly enough, I didn't even think to make them myself until I whipped up a batch for FHE last night for us & the kids.  I wish I could say that my truffles looked as pretty as these do, but my camera battery died right when I went to take a picture of the ones I made & so I had to swipe this image off of a Google search.  Ah, well.  :)  This recipe is so versatile; you can do pretty much anything you want with it & the possibilities for yummy combos & add-ins are endless.  Here's the simple, basic recipe that is really super easy:

1 pkg. (18 oz.) Oreo cookies, crushed into small pieces
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
Chocolate chips for melting (I only use Ghirardelli chips; they are definitely the best)

Mix crushed Oreo's with softened cream cheese until well-combined.  The best way to do this is with your fingers - it will be messy!  Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a baking sheet or tray.  Refrigerate until firm; about 3-4 hours, or stick them into the freezer for about an hour instead.  I refrigerated mine because I made them after we got home from church yesterday at noon.  When truffles are firm, melt chocolate chips (I did mine on the stove but I'm sure it would work if you melted them in the microwave also) & coat each ball evenly.  Place back onto the baking sheet & refrigerate until chocolate has hardened.  Serve chilled.  The next time I make these, I'm thinking about using mint Oreo's instead.  I've also debated about whether or not I want to follow this same recipe, only melt mint baking chips & coat the truffles into that instead of regular milk chocolate chips.  Like I said, the possibilities are pretty much endless with these tasty treats.  They really do taste better cold!  :)  Watch out though; these things are ADDICTING!!!  You have been warned.  :)

Todd's Famous Blueberry Pancakes

I've been wanting to find a good blueberry pancake recipe for quite a while.  I know this isn't a picture that I took myself, but we had Grandma & Grandpa Andersen over for a couple of days & I didn't think to take a picture when I made these for breakfast this morning.  One last thing & then on to the recipe.  I thought if I wanted blueberry pancakes, all I had to do was simply add blueberries into the other recipe I have for just regular pancakes.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Wrong!  I tried this only one time earlier this year & the blueberries didn't even spread evenly throughout the batter, so when I went to pour the batter onto the griddle some of the pancakes had blueberries in them, some didn't, & they didn't even taste good!  So yeah, I decided to Google a blueberry pancake recipe instead, & I found this really tasty one from AllRecipes:

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tblsp. baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar (I added a little more)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 Tblsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup frozen blueberries, plus a little more for garnish, if desired

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.  In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk.  Stir milk and egg into flour mixture.  Mix in the butter and fold in the blueberries.  Set aside for 1 hour.  This is the only bad thing about this recipe; you really have to plan ahead & get up a little earlier, but trust me, it's worth it!  ;)  Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.  Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.  I just grabbed a 1/4 measuring cup out of my cupboard & used it to scoop the batter onto the griddle & it worked great.  Brown on both sides & serve hot.  When we had ours this morning we put both regular maple syrup and boysenberry syrup & they were both good.  We would've used good 'ol blueberry syrup but we were fresh out.  :)  ENJOY!

Sweet n' Sour Chicken

3 pounds chicken breasts (approx. 16 chicken tenders)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 beaten egg
6 Tblsp. flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 1/2 Tblsp. ketchup
1 Tblsp. soy sauce

Cut up chicken, sprinkle with garlic salt & pepper.  Let stand for one hour or more.  It's almost always too late for me to do this by the time I'm trying to cook dinner, but it still tastes good if you don't let it sit for this amount of time.  The flavor is more strong if you do.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Dip chicken pieces in beaten egg, then get it good & covered with flour.  Brown in hot oil.  Place in greased baking dish.  Mix sugar, vinegar, chicken stock, ketchup and soy sauce in a saucepan.  Heat & pour over chicken.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Another recipe from The Recipe Society.  This dinner was sooooooooooo YUMMY!!!!!  If you're ever craving Chinese, but don't want to pay the price for it, this is a recipe I've found that tastes just as good (if not better!) than the sweet n' sour chicken that you can order from any Chinese restaurant.  Tyler raved about this dinner.  He's never been so excited to take leftovers with him to work the next day for lunch!  :)  You have GOT to try this, especially if you love Chinese food!!!

Stuffed Hot Dogs

This is one of the easiest, quickest, satisfying dinners to make on my list. All you need are hot dogs (however many you & your family members want to eat per person), prepared mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese. Slice hot dogs down the middle, stuff with mashed potatoes and top with shredded cheese. Place on a cookie sheet covered with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until hot dogs are cooked and cheese is melted.

This recipe has been in my family for generations. When my Grandma was a little girl (on my Mom's side of the family), she remembers going to visit her grandmother Emily all the time. One night, Grandma Emily wasn't expecting company, and she apologized to my Grandma about not having anything special to give her for dinner. When it was time to eat, this was what she served. My Grandma couldn't believe how great it tasted. Grandma Emily had come up with this idea all on her own, and we've had it many, many times both while I was little, and now my kids get to eat something that was invented by their great-great-great grandmother. Both my kids LOVE these. We had them for dinner again last night & Aubrey had two whole hot dogs because one wasn't enough to satisfy her! :) I highly recommend these to everyone because they're so fast, easy, and kids just love 'em. :)

Poppy Seed Chicken

4 chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 sleeve Ritz or Town House crackers, crushed
1/4 cup butter
3 Tblsp. poppy seeds

Cook chicken & cut into bite-sized pieces. Place in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Mix together soup and sour cream and pour over chicken. Melt butter, add crushed crackers and poppy seeds. Stir to combine, then sprinkle over soup and sour cream mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until bubbly. Serve over rice.

Here's another recipe that I found on The Recipe Society food blog. This was soooooooo yummy!!! Tyler cleaned his plate in nothing flat when I served this earlier this weekend. The kids were a little skeptical because of the poppy seeds, but they still ate it without complaining. I only buy chicken tenders because they're more kid-friendly, so for this recipe I cooked 8 of them. I also prefer Town House crackers over Ritz. I've tried a few other poppy seed chicken recipes over the years that Tyler & I have been married, & this one is definitely my favorite.

Baked Parmesan Chicken

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers or bread crumbs
3 Tblsp. grated Parmesan
Dash of garlic salt
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine cracker crumbs and cheese. Dip each chicken breast in yogurt to coat, then dip into crumb mixture. Arrange in greased 9x13 pan. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Serve with sour cream/cream of chicken sauce (all you need to do to make this is to place both ingredients into a saucepan & heat) and rice.

I got this from The Recipe Society. The first time I made it I served it with mashed potatoes. Tyler really liked the potatoes with it but I prefer the rice with the sour cream sauce. Last night I served this with steamed broccoli & it made the entire dinner even more yummy & satisfying. Both of my kids never complained; their plates were both clean by the time dinner was over. :)

Strawberry Walnut Breakfast Cake

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
18-oz. strawberry preserves
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Combine cream cheese, margarine & sugar in a large bowl; beat until light and fluffy. Add milk, eggs and vanilla; mix well and set aside. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth and batter is stiff. Spread half the batter evenly in a greased and floured 9x13 pan; spread preserves over batter. Add remaining batter in dollops over preserves. Sprinkle with walnuts and brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cut into squares; remove from pan while hot. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 servings.

This is another recipe I found in my Gooseberry Patch casseroles cookbook. I usually make some type of hot breakfast on Saturday mornings since Tyler doesn't really like having cold cereal every morning, so I decided to give this recipe a try. Surprisingly, it was really good. I didn't add any walnuts because I don't like adding nuts into anything that I bake, but it was still really good & our kids asked for more when they were finished! :)