Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Brownies

I am usually a cookie kind of girl but lately I have been on a brownie and bar rampage. Rampage I tell you. I just barely came upon these things called brownies. I had forgotten about this easy, yummy dessert until someone said the word "Brownie" at work and all the glorious, delicious memories came flooding back. How did I ever forget about these things?

I usually don't have someone to share my treats with since husband isn't the biggest fan of treats (why!? why!? WHY!?), but since we are Patrick-sitting, treat making is fun again! He loves my late night treat making. Hooray!

I came upon this recipe because my sister-in-law accidentally left her batch of these bars with us for a night. And boy did we enjoy them for the small amount of time they were with us. The next morning when she took them away, I had to make my own. They were too good.

Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars

*Makes 9X13-inch pan of bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup melted butter

14 ounce bag of caramels
1/2 cup whipping cream or milk
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Mix the first six ingredients together and sprinkle half on the bottom of a 9X13-inch baking pan. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, melt the caramels and whipping cream or milk in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave at 50% power, stirring often, until the mixture is smooth. When the bars have been removed from the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crust and pour the melted caramel over the top. Sprinkle the rest of the crust over the top and bake in the oven for an additional 10-12 minutes, until the caramel is bubbling and edges are lightly browned. Cool the bars completely before serving so they can set up properly.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is a easy and healthy recipe that Malorie got from her mother in-law. You will need a blender to make this! The hardest part of this recipe is cutting up the butternut squash! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 TBS olive oil

1 medium onion

1 medium butternut squash (cubed)

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

dash of pepper

1-2 cups milk

Directions:

Saute olive oil and onion

Add cubed butternut squash and cook for 1 minute

Add all ingredients but milk and cook for 15 minutes

Blend and pour back in pot and add milk until warm

* This is great reheated, you can also freeze and reheat

Slow Cooker Taco Soup Recipe

I got this from http://blog.superhealthykids.com/ , I LOVE this website! Trying to eat healthy easy meals that my little one will eat! I have been making this for years but, here is the websites version! You can also cook this just on the stove top! I always add cheese and sour cream too :)

Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked and chopped meat of choice (chicken breasts, lean ground beef, or ground turkey)

28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (or three cups of finely chopped fresh tomatoes)

2 cups frozen corn (or 1 can, 15 ounce corn)

2 cups black beans (or 1 can 15 ounce black beans)

2 cups red kidney beans (or 1, 15 ounce can)

1 envelope Ranch seasoning mix (Or use recipe below)

2 TBS Taco seasoning

1 small onion, chopped



Place all ingredients in a slow cooker, and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

To avoid the packaged Ranch seasoning mix, make your own . . .

1 teaspoon dried chives

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

parmesan cheese knots

Easy and delicious! And I love rhodes dough because it rises so well. Me and rising have a love, no, hate relationship.

Parmesan Cheese Knots

12 Rhodes Texas™ Rolls, thawed but still cold
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup butter, melted

Roll each roll into a 9-inch rope. Tie in a knot. In a bowl, combine cheese, parsley and garlic salt. Dip each knot in melted butter and then in cheese mixture. Place in a sprayed 12 cup muffin tin. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until double in size. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

open-face sandwiches

My mom recently gave me some fresh tomatoes out of Farmer Mel's garden and some fresh basil out of hers. She then told me to make some open-face sandwiches. She even offered to give us cheese. My mom always spoils us.

These delights were my dad's signature dish when we were little. If my mom was gone one night and he was on dinner duty, he would make these.
Another dish of his: buttered noodles with parmesan sprinkled on top and canned stewed tomatoes.
These always went together. These were common dinners in the Moser household growing up.
And now they have resurfaced. We just might be having buttered noodles for dinner tonight Kevin.
Yumdeliyumptious.



Open-faced Sandwiches

bread
cheese
sliced tomatoes
salt & pepper
basil (optional)

Put the oven to Broil. Place the cheese on the bread and place on a slotted cookie sheet.
Watch carefully, it only takes a minute or so. Then place the sliced tomatoes on top, sprinkle with salt & pepper and enjoy!

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Recipe from Baby Center
Submitted by Chelsey
Since baby #2 could be here any day, I have been wanting to find some EASY recipes that I can freeze or make fast! Which this recipe can be made before and frozen so all you have to do is put in in the oven, but it;s also super fast to make! I was emailed this from Baby Center, tried it and Will and I Loved it! Super easy too! I topped the enchiladas with fresh homemade salsa! Yummy! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped cooked chicken (I used canned chicken,you could buy a cooked chicken)
1 1/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
One 10-ounce can mild enchilada sauce
6 corn tortillas

Preparations:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the chicken with 1/2 cup of the cheese in a bowl. Add about 2 tablespoons of the enchilada sauce, and mix to blend. Spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of a small baking dish (about 6 by 9 inches). Place a corn tortilla on a clean working surface. Spoon a few tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto one side of the tortilla, and roll the tortilla up over the filling. Place the enchilada into the sauce on one side of the pan, with the seam side down so that the enchilada doesn't roll open. Repeat with the remaining corn tortillas and filling, until there are 6 enchiladas in the pan. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the tortillas, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve hot. (Makes 2 to 4 servings)

Variations:
For spicier enchiladas, combine a 4-ounce can of chopped green chilies with the chicken and cheese mixture.

Creamy Pesto Shrimp

I am not a huge italian food fan. Pasta is too much for me most of the time.
I can handle cheese-filled ravioli and alfredo sauce but other than that, no thank you.
Spaghetti, forget about it (but I will eat the meatballs).

Well tonight I wanted to make something with pesto and something with shrimp. The only recipe I could find was a creamy pesto shrimp on linguine. And for some weird reason, it sounded good. Pasta sounded good. I must be pregnant. Hah totally kidding. Sorry Mom.
So I went for it. But I changed the recipe up a bit to take out the large amounts of unneeded fats.

Creamy Pesto Shrimp
Shrimp
noodles ( I just used normal spaghetti noodles)
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 Tb olive oil
salt + pepper to taste
pesto* (add as much as you want, I just kept adding until I was happy)

Cook your noodles for 8-10 minutes. Drain.

In a skillet, cook the half and half, olive oil and salt + pepper for 6-8 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the parmesan cheese and pesto. Add the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes or until pink. Cook until your sauce is at your desired consistency.

Pour sauce over noodles and enjoy! Delicious!

*I just used the pesto from Costco. I tried making my own but failed miserably. I think it was cheaper just buying the Costco version.