Reese's cookie brownies

Another idea from Pinterest :)

I make a package of chocolate chip cookies and then pressed some dough into greased cupcake tins.

Then put a Reese's cup into each cupcake tin.

After that I made a package of brownies and put a bit on the top of each Reese's.

I baked them at 350 degrees for 18 minutes and let them cool down a lot before removing from the pan and eating. They're yummy! Or as my fiancé said "they're bomb" LOL.

Chili, waffle fries, and hamburgers

A while back we had hamburgers and waffle fries... My pregnant self thought that combining the two and adding chili (with beans) would be scrumptious so I tried it, and I was right!

Literally just baked some frozen waffle cut French fries and cooked some hamburgers, tossed the burger on a bun, added chili, added some of the waffle fries, topped it with more chili, and added the top bun. Mmm!

Bacon, avocado, and Colby jack paninis

This is another one inspired by Pinterest. I saw a pin of bacon, avocado, grilled cheese sandwiches which sounded heavenly. So I got some avocados, bacon, and Colby jack cheese. I sliced up the avocado and fried the back, and made thick slices of the cheese then threw them together on some sourdough bread (no condiments) and grilled them in our panini press. Super yummy!

Next time I might try more of an avocado spread so there's definitely avocado in each bite but otherwise they were delicious.

Mexican style hotdogs

I got this idea from a local restaurant that we used to have here in town. It was a hotdog place that had a really good "southwest" hotdog. For dinner one night last week, we made our own version...

I wrapped each hotdog in a slice of bacon (got that idea online) and then fried them in a pan. After tossing that into a bun, I added homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream, shredded Mexican blend cheese, and topped it with crumbled tortilla chips. My fiancé also added green onions to his. Then on the side we just did super basic nachos and corn. Mmm.

Alfredo chicken (crockpot)

I saw a pin on Pinterest for two ingredient crockpot meals and got the idea for this. It was delicious! Could maybe use a little bit more in the spices category, but it was also great as is.

4 frozen chicken breasts,
6 red potatoes quartered,
Ground black pepper,
Minced onion,
Garlic flavored seasoning salt,
Bertolli Alfredo sauce,
Crockpot on high for 6 hours.

I'd probably do low if the breasts were thawed, but I hadn't preplanned. And the spices were just eyeballed. I added them once (as pictured) and then again once more after 3 or 4 hours (I stirred up the sauce a little bit and then added more). Also, to get all the sauce from the jar, I added some milk and shook it up, then added that in initially - a trick I learned from my mom (with red sauces I just use water).

Oreo cupcakes

I saw this idea on Pinterest a little while ago, and decided to try it out. It's super simple! After laying out your cupcake papers, put one Oreo cookie (I used the double stuffed kind) in each paper and then add your cupcake mix (I used a boxed mix). Bake as normal and then if course wait until cooled to frost them.

I would love to do a chocolate cake mix and get a peanut butter frosting - that just sounds amazing to me.

WFD: August 8, 2011 - Chicken, pasta, asparagus

I wanted to make a nice dinner for my dad (and the rest of the family) to thank him for fixing the latch on the trunk of my car, and this is what I came up with...

First I marinated the chicken (I think it was 6 boneless, skinless breasts) in this:

1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper (ground)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup white wine

We don't keep fresh herbs in the house, but we have a TON of dried herbs and spices, so that's what I use.  After marinating the chicken for about 3 hours, I cooked them a bit on both sides (in a grill pan) until they became opaque on those sides, then I popped them into the oven to finish cooking. I had preheated the oven to 370 degrees (Fahrenheit) and baked them for 25 minutes (covered in foil for 20, and uncovered for the last 5), checking them periodically. They stayed really moist which was my goal, and they weren't over or underdone, so hurray!

For side dishes, I just did a rotini pasta with a garlic butter sauce (just butter and garlic powder, honestly) and some veggies in it, and then some steamed asparagus with grated Parmesan cheese on it. The vegetables are all frozen ones.

Normally I'm more of a crock pot person/casserole, so while this isn't a fancy meal, it's not my usual thing. I still baked the chicken versus grilling or boiling or anything, but it went over well.