Easy Oreo Truffles

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided
• 2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Directions:

• MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

• SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

• REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

You know when you get those little cookbooks from a sponser and the recipes look lame so you throw them away? Well, I got one of those books from Philadelphia/Nilla/Jello and all the recipes look pretty good. And since I want to throw the book away, I'm going to put my favorites here to try later. Because that is what this blog is for.

• 37 NILLA Wafers, divided
• 4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
• 2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
• 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. cold milk, divided
• 1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:

• STAND 16 wafers around inside edge of 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap. Melt 3 chocolate squares as directed on package.

• BEAT pudding mixes and 2 cups milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP; pour into prepared pan.

• BEAT cream cheese, sugar and remaining milk with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of the remaining COOL WHIP; spread over pudding. Top with remaining wafers. Refrigerate 3 hours.

• MEANWHILE, shave remaining chocolate square into curls. Invert torte onto plate; remove plastic wrap. Top torte with remaining COOL WHIP, berries and chocolate curls.

Taco Pizza

It isn't often that I can make a dinner and have my kids eat the thing happily. Every single one of my kids liked this. I'm shocked, just shocked I tell you. So any meal that all my kids will eat is one worth saving to me.

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 envelope taco seasoning mix
• 2 (8 oz.) cans Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 1 (16 oz.) can refried beans (I used the jalapeño kind)
• 2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 4 green onions, chopped

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning to the ground beef according to the package directions.
3. Unroll crescent rolls into rectangles. Place in ungreased 11 1/2 inch x 16 1/2 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Press dough over the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust. Bake at 375 oven for 11 to 13 minutes or just until golden brown.
4. Microwave beans in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Carefully spread beans over warm crust creating a thin layer.
5. Top with cooked beef mixture, sprinkle with cheese followed by tomatoes, black olives and green onion. Return to oven for 3-6 more minutes until cheese is melted. Serve immediately. Makes 12 main dish servings or 48 appetizers.

Note: I made the crust with ordinary pizza crust and they liked it all the same.

Sloppy Joes

I know, I know. It could be a Manwich night. But honestly, my husaband doesn't like Manwhich and I like Sloppy Joes. So when I found this recipe in Essential Mormon Celebrations I had to try it. It is it a hit over here. So here it goes...

3 lb. ground beef (I admit I only did two pounds of ground turkey. It tasted fine.)
1 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped onion (I omit.)
1 cup ketchup
1 (10-oz.) can tomato soup
2 tsp. vinegar (white)
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
12 hamburger buns

Brown meat in a large skillet; drain fat. Sprinkle with salt. Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Stir in ketchup, tomato soup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with hamburger buns.

Alfredo Sauce with Chicken

My cousin Jenna gave me this recipe. And it is a very good recipe. I only had one complaint. And seeing as she had the same complaint I decided to see if I could do something about it. It was too thin. The sauce was very liquidy. It didn't stick to your pasta noodles. It tasted so good, but it drove me crazy how thin it was.

So I changed it. Actually, I only added one thing. And it made all the difference. Flour. I added flour and made a roux first. I found however that just cream was now too thick, so then I added plain milk and a cup cream instead.

So here is the same recipe with my changes. Which admittedly aren't that many. :)

Alfredo Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour

Melt butter on medium to medium high heat and mix in flour. Mix together until a light yellow color.

1 cup milk (I have used anything from 2% to skim with pretty much the same results.)
1 cup cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder (I prefer granulated garlic. Some powders clump.)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Stir in remaining ingredients into roux. Continue to simmer on medium heat until thickened.

Italian Chicken

Elijah feels very ripped off if I try to make the Alfredo Sauce without this chicken. It is his favorite meal with the chicken.

1-lb. chicken tenderloins
garlic salt
Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken on baking sheet covered in tin foil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and garlic salt. Sprinkle with olive oil for extra crispiness. Bake for 15 minutes then flip over and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Kari's Berry-misu

Adapted from Americas Test Kitchen's Tiramisu recipe.

This worked very well. My plan was perfect. You're going to have to make due without pictures. I just don't ever think of it. But this dessert was everything I dreamed it would be. Expensive. It is a costly dessert. But hey it was worth it. Because of that, I probably will make it by special request only.

Berry-misu

Step one:
1 Large (Costco size) bag of mixed frozen berries

--Defrost frozen berries. Mash and squeeze juice and separate juice from berries in two different bowls. It is extremely important you save the juice. Do not throw it out.

Step two: Make cream.

Cream ingredients:
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1-1/2 pounds mascarpone
3/4 cup cold heavy cream
14 ounces (2 packages) dried ladyfingers (savoiardi)

In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat yolks at low speed until just combined. Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow, 1-1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once or twice. Add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl once or twice. Transfer mixture to large bowl and set aside.

In now-empty mixer bowl (no need to clean bowl), beat cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1-1/2 minutes. Increase speed to high and continue to beat until cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1-1/2 minutes longer. Using rubber spatula, fold one-third of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Set mascarpone mixture aside.

Step Three: Assembly

Working one at a time, drop half of ladyfingers into berry juice mixture, roll, remove and transfer to 13 by 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. (Do not submerge ladyfingers in berry juice mixture; entire process should take no longer than 2 to 3 seconds for each cookie.) Arrange soaked cookies in single layer in baking dish, breaking or trimming ladyfingers as needed to fit neatly into dish.

Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers; use rubber spatula to spread mixture to sides and into corners of dish and smooth surface. Spread a layer of the frozen berries over the cream.

Repeat dipping and arrangement of ladyfingers; spread remaining mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers. Layer with more frozen berries (it's okay not to use them all.) Wipe edges of dish with dry paper towel. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 to 24 hours. Cut into pieces and serve chilled with a dab of whipped cream and a blueberry as garnish.

*Chilling is very important because it moistens the ladyfingers so they feel more like cake when you eat them.

PW Cherry Cake Pudding

I could NOT stop eating this. It was so good. It's another Pioneer Woman recipe. I'm trying to decide to dessert to make for the Progressive Dinner my friends do for Valentine's Day. I've decided between this dessert and another one. But either way, I would SooooOOOOooo make this one again.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 1 can (15 Ounces) Cherries In Syrup (NOT Cherry Pie Filling) Drained, Juice Reserved
• ½ cups Pecans, Finely Chopped

Sauce:

• 1 cup Juice From Cherries (add Water To Make 1 Cup If Necessary)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• Unsweetened Freshly Whipped Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a square 9 x 9-inch baking dish.
Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt then add to mixing bowl alternatively with milk. Add cherries and chopped nuts and mix gently. Pour batter into buttered pan and smooth out the surface. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown on the surface and no longer jiggly.
While cake is baking, make the sauce by combining cherry juice, sugar, and flour in a small saucepan. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thick. Turn off heat and stir in 1 tablespoon butter and vanilla extract.
Drizzle 1/3 of the sauce on the cake as soon as you remove it from the oven. Spread to distribute over the surface and wait ten minutes before serving so the sauce will seep into the top of the cake a bit.
Spoon out pieces of warm, sticky cake and top with unsweetened whipped cream.
*Note: I doubled this recipe to see if it would work in a 9 x 13 inch pan. It did, but I ended up baking it about 20 minutes longer, perhaps a little more.

**Note 2: I was a little dubious about the unsweetened whipped cream. It was actually perfect. This is a VERY sweet dessert.