No-Bake Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

No-Bake Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about two sleeves)
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 10 ounce bags of chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)

Melt butter in a mixing bowl.  Add graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and peanut butter, and stir until mixed thoroughly.  Press the peanut butter mixture into a 9" x 13" pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  

Melt chocolate chips and pour over the peanut butter layer, and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. 

Done!

Allow to set for a couple of hours at room themperature (or in refrigerator for no longer than 30 to 40 minutes) before cutting into squares.  Store covered at room temperature.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash...

Ingredients:

3 lbs Brussels sprouts

1 1/2 lbs butternut squash

4 to 6 Tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

3 Tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup pecans

1 cup dried cranberries

Wash Brussels sprouts, remove loose or yellow outer leaves.  Trim off end, and then cut each sprout in half.  Place sprouts in a bowl and drizzle with 2 to 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, and add a sprinkle of salt.  Toss to coat sprouts with oil.  Line a baking sheet with foil, and place sprouts on it in a single layer...place as many cut-side-down as you can.

(It's very difficult to peel and cut through a raw butternut squash for me, so I pre-cooked it a little to make it easier.  If you are accustomed to cutting it raw and want to do that, then skip to next paragraph.)  Wash the butternut squash.  Poke all over with a fork.  Place the squash whole on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave on high for about 3 minutes.  Check it after 3 minutes and see if it is warm to the touch and if its appearance is slightly darkened in patches.  If not, place it back in microwave for one minute at a time until it is.  

Cut off the stem end and a little off the base end so it sits flat.  Then cut it in half and remove the seeds and fibrous center.  Peel (I cut each half into about four pieces to make it easier to peel).  Cut into about 1 inch cubes.  Place in bowl, drizzle with 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, add 3 Tablespoons maple syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.  Toss to coat squash.  Line another baking sheet with foil, and place squash on it in a single layer.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Roast sprouts and squash for about 20 to 25 minutes or until just tender and nicely caramelized, turning with spatula about halfway through cooking time.

Place roasted sprouts and squash into a large bowl.  Add dried cranberries and pecans, and toss gently.  

My notes:  Next time I might let each person add pecans to their individual serving.  I don't much like the pecans heated up with the leftovers.  I also think that some crumbled crisp bacon would be a yummy addition.

Salisbury Steak...

Ingredients:
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
1 envelope dry Lipton Onion Soup mix
3 Tablespoons A1 Steak Sauce
2 Tablespoons onion flakes
1 cup beef broth

1 sleeve of Ritz or Club crackers, crushed
2 eggs
2 pounds very lean ground beef
pepper to taste 
(I did not add additional salt as the crackers and gravy ingredients have quite a bit of salt included.  It can be added later if you think it needs more.

1 to 1 1/2 cup additional beef broth

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl stir together first five ingredients...this is the gravy mixture.  Set aside.

In a large bowl crush the crackers.  Add the eggs, ground beef, pepper, and a cup of the gravy mixture from the small bowl.  Mix well, and form into patties.  Brown patties in a non-stick skillet; this may have to be done in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.

Place the browned meat patties in a casserole dish.  Pour the gravy mixture into the non-stick skillet and stir in the additional beef broth.  When the gravy is smooth and heated through, pour it over the meat patties in the casserole dish.  

Bake for 45 minutes.  Serve with mashed potatoes and a vegetable.

Pumpkin Bliss...

Ingredients:
2 boxes Jell-o No Bake Cheesecake
   (plus milk, butter, and sugar as called for on box)
2 boxes Jell-o Pumpkin Spice instant pudding
   (plus milk as called for on box's 'for pie' recipe)
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 cup chopped pecans
cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Directions:
Mix crust of both No Bake Cheesecake mixes with the butter and sugar called for on the packages, and pat into the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

Mix the filling of the two No Bake Cheesecake mixes with milk as called for on the package.  To this add 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice and mix well.  Pour over the crust and spread evenly.

Mix the two boxes of Pumpkin Spice instant pudding with milk as directed on package for pie (less milk than is called for than making pudding) and pour over the cheesecake layer.

Spread the container of thawed Cool Whip over the top of the pudding.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Garnish with chopped pecans and a light sprinkle of cinnamon.  Cut into squares, and use a metal spatula to lift each serving onto plates.

Jalapeno Sweet Potato Soup...

Ingredients:

4 lbs sweet potatoes

1 medium onion

3 slices bacon

3 cloves garlic

8 cups chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

1/4 cup pickled, sliced jalapeños (chopped a little)

1 ½ cups half-and-half

sea salt to taste

course ground black pepper to taste

Directions: 

Scrub sweet potatoes, and bake until tender.  Let cool until you can handle them.  Peel and dice (large dice)

Peel and finely chop onion, bacon, and garlic.

In a large soup pot, place bacon, onion and garlic and sauté over medium high heat until onions are translucent.

Add chicken broth.  Cover, bring to a boil.

Stir the sweet potatoes into boiling broth. Lower heat and add the jalapeños, cumin, cilantro, and half-and-half.  Use an immersion blender to smooth out the soup.  (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher, it will just be a little chunkier.)

Add salt and pepper to taste.  

My notes:  I got the original recipe from Homestead Heritage in Elm Mott, Texas.  They have an amazing cafe.  I have made a few changes to suit our taste, and to make it easier for me. For instance, I much prefer baking the sweet potatoes rather than boiling them as the original recipe called for.  If you let the baked sweet potatoes cool until able to handle, they are so easy to peel, and you have saved washing a pot.   (If you let them cool completely, they are NOT easy to peel.)

Makes Me Go Weak in the Knees Brownies...

Ingredients:

2 boxes Duncan Hines Chocolate Lover's Brownies Mix (I like walnut version)

2 (or 3) 5 oz. Symphony Milk Chocolate bars (I use the Almonds & Toffee Chips kind)

(also oil, eggs, and water as called for on brownie mix package)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9"x13" cake pan with cooking spray.

Mix first  brownie mix according to the 'fudgy' directions on the back of  the package. Pour batter into the cake pan, and bake for about 10 minutes, just till barely starting to set up (usually just long enough for you to mix the second mix and break up the Symphony bars).

While that's in the oven, mix second brownie mix according to the 'cake-like' directions on the back of the package, and set aside.

Then open Symphony bars and break into pieces. They don't have to be chopped or anything, I just break them along the rectangular grid lines on the bar. 

Remove the pan from the oven, and arrange the chocolate pieces evenly over the top of the hot partially-cooked brownie batter. Then pour the second brownie mix over the top and spread to the edges of pan. The Symphony bar starts to melt over the first mix, so when you spread the second mix it will move around somewhat...this is fine.

Return pan to oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or till they're done to your taste...we like them really moist and chewy around our house. :) 

My notes:  I'm not really sure what these are called.  My sister-in-law gave me the recipe without a name.  I call it this, because when I was little I thought brownies were called 'brown knees.'  :)

Cooking spaghetti squash...

I really love spaghetti squash, and they keep very well at room temperature for quite a long time.

To prepare, I start by cutting the stem end off...just enough to get rid of the stem AND give you a flat surface to turn it onto.

Once it sits flat securely, use a large chef's knife to cut it as nearly into halves as you can.

This is what it looks like inside.

I just use a soup spoon to scrape out the seeds and inedible center fibers.  As you scrape, you will feel the firmer flesh underneath...try not to scrape into the flesh, but right down to it.

It should look like this.

Cover a baking sheet (one with raised edges) with foil for easy clean up.  Set the squash on the foil and drizzle one or two teaspoons of olive oil into each half.  Use your hand and rub the oil to cover all surfaces of the inside flesh.

Sprinkle the insides with salt and pepper, and then turn each half flat-side down on the baking sheet.

Place in a 350 degree F oven for about an hour, or until it is tender when pierced by a fork.

Remove it from the oven, and let cool for a few minutes.  I then hold it with a hot pad in one hand, and with a fork in the other hand I scrape the flesh away from the tough skin.  The flesh shreds into spaghetti-like strands.

Empty the squash into a bowl, and continue with remaining squash halves.

To the bowl I usually add about two tablespoons of butter and salt and pepper to taste.  Tonight I also added about 1/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, and stirred well till evenly mixed in.

It was delicious served alongside tonight's Chicken Piccata (with a little of the sauce spooned over the squash) and broccoli.  Yum.