Tammy Treats?!?

These are an easy dessert and super yummy! Basically it is a chocolate peanut butter Rice Krispie treat. Our friend Tammy S. used to make something similar (I need to get her exact recipe too :}) whenever we had care group we were always excited when Tammy brought these! I think somewhere along the way we nicknamed them Tammy Treats.

Definitely not helping the biggest loser challenge out here! ;) Oh well, enjoy!

1 cup Karo Syrup

1 cup Peanut butter (do not use reduced fat)

1 cup sugar

Rice Krispie cereal

1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Heat the first 3 ingredients together in a sauce pan and pour over 6 cups of rice krispies. Put mixture in 9x12 pan. Pour a bag of chocolate chips over top and let melt. That's it!

Apricot glazed, mustard pork chops

Got this from e-mealz.com and we really liked it!

4-6 boneless pork chops

1/2 C apricot preserves

3T Dijon mustard

Chopped green onions

Mix preserves and mustard together in small saucepan until melted. In the meantime I seasoned my porkchops with a little sea salt, pepper, & garlic salt.

Pour the preserve mixture over porkchops and sprinkle the chopped green onions over the top.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so. Check to see if they are done--remove foil and bake a little longer if needed.

I served this with wild rice pilaf & steamed vegetables.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Summer Stir-Fry

Really good and easy (from the Pioneer Woman website), especially this time of year when the fresh veggies are so yummy (and cheap!)

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
12 whole Jumbo Shrimp, Peeled, Deveined, Tails Left On
2 whole Zucchini, Sliced On A Slight Diagonal
2 ears Corn, Kernels Sliced Off
½ cups Grape Tomatoes, Sliced In Half Lengthwise
Salt And Freshly Ground Pepper, To Taste
Chopped Fresh Herbs, If Desired

Preparation Instructions:

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic. When oil/butter is hot, add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Remove to a plate. Do not clean skillet.

Add the rest of the butter and oil and heat over medium heat. Add zucchini slices in a single layer and cook for one minute, tossing once. Scoot the zucchini to the edges of the pan, then add corn kernels to the middle of the pan. Cook for one minute. Add grape tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and toss around, then add shrimp. Cook for an additional 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Serve on a big platter.

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

A Pioneer Woman recipe...very yummy and different tasting, without being too different tasting (if that makes sense?)

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter Softened
¾ cups Golden Brown Sugar
¾ cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1-¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
1-¼ teaspoon Salt
½ cups (rounded) Malted Milk Powder
1 bag (12 Ounce) Milk Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter, then add both sugars and cream until fluffy. Add eggs and beat slightly, then add vanilla and beat until combined. Add malted milk powder and beat until combined.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating gently until just combined.

Add chocolate chips and stir in gently.

Drop by teaspoonfuls (or use a cookie scoop) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Bake less if you want chewy cookies; more if you want crispy cookies.

Optional: Allow to cool completely, then use two cookies to make an ice cream sandwich. Add sprinkles to the sides of the ice cream, then wrap individually in plastic wrap.

Florentine Stuffed Shells

Easy and Seth even had seconds (you can't taste the spinach at all)! I got the recipe from E-Mealz.com.

24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
(1 egg, beaten)
2 cups (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1 ½ c shredded mozzarella cheese
⅓ c finely chopped onion
(2 t minced garlic)
(¼ t salt)
(⅛ t nutmeg)
2 c meatless spaghetti sauce
(½ c grated Parmesan cheese)

Preheat oven to 350º. Cook pasta shells according to pkg
directions. Squeeze spinach to remove as much moisture as
possible. Combine spinach, egg, ricotta & mozzarella cheeses,
onion, garlic, salt & nutmeg; stir to blend well. Drain shells & stuff
w/ ricotta mixture, using about 2 T for each shell. Arrange in lightly
greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over shells.
Sprinkle w/ grated Parmesan cheese. Bake, covered, 30 to 40
minutes.

Meal Planning Website

You have to subscribe to this site, but it looks good, is fairly inexpensive, and pulls the menu based on what is on sale that week at Walmart, Kroger, etc. (you pick a store when you subscribe). Several of my friends from college use it and love it, so thought I would pass along. Not sure if I am going to use it or not, but if I do, I will let everyone know! Happy planning!

http://e-mealz.com/

(FYI, this site is endorsed and advertised by Dave Ramsey)

Sharing menus?

Hey girls--if any of you make up weekly or monthly menus and would be willing to post them on this site, that would be awesome!
You wouldn't have to include the recipes for the meals (unless you wanted to), you could just list out what you're planning to eat that week & people could reply if they needed a recipe...
DeAnne and I were brainstorming menu making today and I thought it'd be a good time to post about generating menu ideas. Remember this site doesn't have to be for recipes only, it can also just be a place to share your tips & tricks for feeding your fam!

Here are some things I would like more ideas for:
*healthy snacks...what kinds of things do you guys give your kids for snacks that you feel are healthy?
*easy sources of protein? Chantelle told me about this awesome black bean dip that Julia makes--gotta get that posted on here! I know almonds are good, and there's always chicken, but what else do you guys do to get protein? I need more protein in my day!
*what are your easiest, healthiest meal ideas? I always want to try and cook healthy, but healthy and easy are not always hand-in-hand...so if you have some good standby meals that fit these categories, please feel free to share!