4 Recipes For You!

Sorry I have been MIA the past two days. That cold I had was not a nice one AT ALL! I was not a happy camper and all I wanted to do was sleep. But I am now back on my feet and ready to go with all of this energy!

Despite my sickness, I still was able to cook quite a bit this week. And boy do I have some YUMMY recipes for all of you!

Monday I mentioned making Oreo Balls last weekend and was asked to post that recipe. People these are super easy and super yummy!

Ingredients:
1 package of Oreo's
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 bag of chocolate chips (for richer go with semi-sweet)
wax or parchment paper

You take the all of the Oreo's and crush them up in a bag. You want them pretty crushed up. Then mix the crushed Oreo's with the cream cheese in a bowl. Depending on how cold you cream cheese was, you might need to refrigerate this mixture for a short period of time. You need to be able to make balls out of them with you hands and don't want them to stick to you or fall apart.
 Line a baking sheet with you wax/parchment paper.
When cold enough roll you Oreo mixture into balls. You can make them as big or as small as you would like. Place them on the line baking sheet. Freeze the Oreo balls until they are hard enough to not fall apart.
When the Oreo balls are hard enough, melt your chocolate chips and dip the Oreo balls in the chocolate. Place them back on the lined sheet. Freeze the balls again to harden the chocolate. And now enjoy!

Another recipe I really enjoyed this week was some Ranch Chicken courtesy of Lauren. I really like things to be super easy when I cook, and this one definitely was!

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts
1 package ranch dressing/seasoning mix

Put the chicken breast in a gallon size bag. Pour in all of the ranch mix. Mix it all around and coat the breasts.  Let sit in the fridge for a couple hours.  Place them on the grill (you can also use the oven). And then enjoy!

I served this with some of Mamerz broiled asparagus and it was amazing:)

 I made some Crockpot Stuffed Bell Peppers. I don't know about y'all but I love bell peppers and I love using my crockpot. I used this recipe as a guideline and only changed a few things.

Ingredients:
4 Bell Peppers
2-3 Carrots
Half a head of cauliflower
1 Large Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic
6 oz can of tomato paste
1 pound ground turkey (can use pork or beef as well)
1 Tablespoon Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the tops off of your bell peppers and set them aside.
 In a food processor, chop up your carrots, cauliflower, onion, and garlic cloves.  Mix them together in a bowl with the tomato paste, ground turkey, oregano, and salt and pepper.
Place in your crockpot.  Add 1/2 cup of water.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Recipe number 4 is another dessert! I made Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies.  YUMMO!  I used this recipe and it was seriously the best!

Ingredients:

Red Velvet:
1 stick unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp) melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour

Cream Cheese:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 x 8 inch pan. {I used glass}

Brownie layer: Add melted butter to a large bowl and add sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar, mixing after each addition. Whisk the eggs into the cocoa mix. Mix in the flour until lightly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/3 to 1/4 cup of the batter for the cream cheese layer.

Cream cheese layer: Blend together cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Spread the cream cheese on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Put the remaining cocoa batter over the cream cheese layer. Using the tip of a knife, swirl through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting.