Blizzard Bars

These were super easy to make and super delicious!  They are from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  

INGREDIENTS:

12 ounces chocolate chips, semisweet, bittersweet or milk chocolate

1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
3 cups crisp rice cereal (like Rice Krispies)
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup chocolate chips or M&M’s

Garnish: mini marshmallows and additional M&M’s

DIRECTIONS:
Lightly grease an 8X8- or 9X9-inch baking pan and set aside.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips for one minute. Stir. Then continue to microwave in 30 second increments until the chips are completely melted. Stir in the peanut butter until combined. Let the mixture cool slightly, about five minutes. Add the rice cereal, marshmallows and chocolate chips and/or M&M’s. Fold together with a rubber spatula until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Press additional marshmallows and M&M’s into the top of the bars, if desired. Let the bars cool and set for 5-6 hours until they are firm and no longer gooey and melty. These bars take a lot longer to set up than the Avalanche Bars, in fact, when I made them, I kept pressing on the top wondering if they would ever set up. Sure enough, after a long enough rest, I finally cut into them (even though they still felt soft on top) and they were gloriously decadent and messy. Once the bars are firm and set, cut into squares and serve.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Hi Friends,
There is no chicken dinner post here, but my son often says this phrase when someone wins something, so I couldn't resist.

So, the winner of the Calendar Giveway is:


Maggie!
Thanks to everyone for entering the contest!

Blessings to you,
Chellie

Bean soup

If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, there is still time!  The details are here

This recipe comes from a room mate I had years ago.  At the time I had no interest in cooking like I do now.  She was an excellent cook and I had her write this recipe down for me.  I've kept it all this time.  It's probably been at least 13 yrs. or so.  It's a classic tasting dish.  I hope you enjoy it.

1 lb dried Great Northern Beans (or navy or other white bean)
1 medium onion finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 tsp sugar
2 carrots
1 ham shank
salt and pepper to taste

If you're preparing ahead of time, rinse your beans, cover them with about 3 inches of water and soak them overnight.  If you don't plan that far ahead, still rinse the beans, place them in a large pot and cover with about 3 inches of water.  Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.

Add the rest of the ingredients and let the soup simmer, covered, about 3 hours or until the beans are tender.  You may need to add more water, but I never have.  Once it's finished, remove the shank and pull off all the ham and add back to the soup.  The ham should fall right off of it.  You can add additional ham if you like.  For me, it just depends on how much actually was left on the ham bone.  In this case, I bought a spiral cut ham and used the shank from that.

Give Away!!!

Hi friends!  This week, I am giving away my custom-created calendar.  Have you got your 2012 calendar yet?  Or would you like this one??  It has a recipe for each month.

To enter this giveaway, all you need to do is add a comment in the comment section of this blog of your favorite Christmas tradition.  Extra entries for:

• becoming a follower
• subscribing to email updates
• posting about this giveaway on your blog
• posting on fb about this giveaway
• tweet about this post

Contest starts today, December 20 and ends Friday December 23 at 6pm.  Good Luck!!

SRC: Pesto Pecan Chicken

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the blog Apron Strings.  The authors of this blog are Donna and Anne, a mother daughter duo who have an awesome story.  I have to admit, I was a little scared when I first saw their blog.  Anne was on the Food Network, and Donna has written several cookbooks!  Yikes!  I thought, these ladies are way beyond me.  But, after browsing a bit, I realized what an honor to cook something off of this blog!  They have lots of awesome recipes and I chose one that is extremely simple but most flavorful. Yes, they are way beyond me in their skills, but I'm so happy they are willing to blog and share their talents with the world.  D and A... You women are an inspiration in many ways.

So, I chose pesto pecan Chicken.  My husband re-named it Pesto Pecan Pollo, just get 3 P's in there.  But this recipe is 3 ingredients!  Yes, just 3 and it was incredibly delicious!

4 oz jar pesto
3/4 cup pecans finely chopped
4 chicken breasts

The only adjustment I made was to use home made pesto, because I had made some this fall and froze it.  I love when I have stuff already on hand.  Also a couple of my chicken breasts were quite thick, so I fillet'd (I do not know how to spell fillet in past tense) them, and actually got 6 pieces of chicken.  Or, as Apron Strings recommends, you could pound them between 2 pieces of wax paper to thin them out.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Season your chicken with salt and pepper.  Salt and pepper don't actually count as ingredients.  Spread a thick layer of pesto sauce on each chicken breast.

Then top them with the pecans, and press them down a bit.

Bake in the oven loosely covered for 15 min.  Then remove the foil and bake the remaining 15 minutes.  Starting out with the chicken covered will help the pecans to not get too dark or over done.  Depending on the size of your chicken, you may not need the full 30 minutes, just make sure you check it.

This dish was sooooo good!  We loved it!  Thanks Apron Strings!  Be sure to check out their blog for lots more great recipes.  Also, if you'd like more info on the Secret Recipe Club, go here for more info.  Plus you will find tons and tons of great blogs and fabulous food on there!  Enjoy!

Holidays

Almost Merry Christmas to you!  Thanks to my faithful bloggy friends for stopping by.
You would think this time of year I would be cooking up a storm!  I love holiday cooking/baking, and, I just haven't done that much yet!  My kids are now on vacation and we are planning to do some fun things in the kitchen this week.  Also, our annual Christmas Eve open House is quickly approaching.  So, I'll be plenty busy getting ready for that.
Here's what I'm hoping to bring to the table this year:

• Caprese salad on a stick
• Sweet potato cakes with black bean salsa
• Pumpkin and goat cheese pies
• Apricot bacon wraps (this is always the hit of the party, I have to make it)
• Sparkling cranberry brie crackers
• Chocolate covered pretzel rods
• Christmas tree cheese plate
• Olive wreath
• Pretzel bites
• Sundried tomato, basil and cheese dip

I need a few desserts, I just haven't decided yet.  

Of course, all recipe's will be posted with pictures.  Make sure you stop by tomorrow for Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  See whose blog I got to cook from!  I was impressed... so maybe you will be too.  :-)

Slow Cooker Sunday: French Dip Sandwiches

This recipe is adapted from baking bites.  I saw it on Pinterest, where lately I have been seeing lots of great recipes.

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
approx 3 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast
16-oz. beef broth (1 1/2 cans)
1 10.5-oz. can condensed French onion soup
6-oz red wine
3 cloves crushed garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
4-6 French rolls
sliced provolone cheese, optional

Trim excess fat off of beef roast and season meat all over with salt and pepper.
Pour beef broth, condensed French onion soup, red wine and garlic into slow cooker and place beef roast into liquid.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Slow cookers have different time intervals that you can select, so work with your cooker. Depending on how the settings on your slow cooker work, the time will vary. Since this is cooking in liquid, you don’t have to worry about the meat drying out.
Take beef out and rest it, covered with aluminum foil, for about 15 minutes. Slice beef and return to slow cooker on low or very low for 30 minutes.
Lightly toast the bread and evenly distribute cheese between rolls, if using. Divide beef onto rolls and spoon the beef juice* into ramekins or other small bowls and eat everything while it is hot. Serve each sandwich with its own dip.

Seves 4-6.

I really like french dip sandwiches, but I've never attempted to make it.  We LOVED this recipe!  It was so good, my son even asked for seconds.  

*Note: If there is excess fat in your au jus, simply pour it from the slow cooker into a large measuring cup and let it stand for about 5 minutes so the fat separates. Skim it off, then pour the juice into serving cups.