I miss my blogging friends

I have not dropped off the face of the Earth but it feels real close to it.

We made a whirlwind decision to move again just a couple of weeks ago. So just about everything in our lives got put on hold so that we could focus on getting things done. We moved this weekend so now we are faced with the daunting task of unpacking.

Thanks to the At&t rep giving me some false info about U-Verse being availabe in our area, we are without TV or Internet service until this coming Wed. Such is life....right? Nothing is ever perfect.

I really hope to be back clacking on my full-sized keyboard by the middle of the week. My son has been enjoying watching his "old" mom hen pecking her way through on the phone.

I miss talking with everyone! I can't wait to get back to see what everyone has been up to.

Hope to talk to you soon!
Hugs,
Tami

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie

If you are a peanut butter lover, you've gotta try this easy pie. Its rich, thick and creamy filling matches perfectly with the graham cracker crust.


This recipe is a variant of a Grave Yard Peanut Butter Pie that I created for Moms Menu for Halloween.

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie

4 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temp.
1/2 of a small jar of peanut butter (does not
have to be exact amt. I just "eyeballed" it)
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/3 C. milk
8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed - divided per directions
1 graham cracker crust

In a large bowl, Beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk until very creamy. Fold in 6 oz. Cool Whip until all ingredients are completely mixed together. Pour the mixture into the crust - I used a store bought graham cracker crust. Reserve leftover Cool Whip for decorating the top of the pie.

Cover pie and stick it into the freezer for at least 2 hrs. Thaw for approximately 1 hour before serving.

I've made this pie up to 3 days ahead of time and it is perfect as long as you thaw it for 1 hour before serving it.

Repeat with freezing and thawing any leftovers. I wouldn't recommend doing this more than this one time.

Now, grab a spoon or fork and dig into it! Yum!

Greek Potatoes

I think that we are all finally back to normal after dealing with a strong case of the stomach flu. Everyone seems to have their appetites back, too.

My son is getting to be quite the helper in the kitchen. I don't mind the help at all. He's even learning to clean up the messes that he makes when he's cooking. ;)

Tonight's dinner, Greek Souvlaki, has become a family favorite. I wanted some form of potatoes to go with the pork so I came up with an easy roasted potato dish with Greek seasonings. This dish turned out lightly seasoned by using the amounts in the recipe below. If you are looking for a stronger taste, double the seasonings but not the lemon juice. IMO, you need the sugar to cut the tartness of the lemon juice. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside -very tasty. My "potato-hating" children complained quite a bit before trying the potatoes but in the end they actually said that it wasn't so bad after all.


Greek Potatoes

10 red potatoes, cubed into medium-sized pieces
1/3 C. olive oil
1/4 C. lemon juice
2 tsp. sugar
1 TBSP no salt Greek seasoning
1TBSP no salt lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp salt (can add more to taste)
1 tsp oregano

Lightly spray the bottom of a large baking dish with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with parchment paper.

Wash & cube potatoes and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the remaining ingredients. Dump the potatoes into the olive oil mixture and toss to coat.

Pour the potatoes into the baking dish and cover with foil.

Bake at 350* for 30 - 4o minutes. Remove foil and stir potatoes. Bake at 400* for another 30 - 4o minutes or until desired crispiness.

I served corn on the cob to round out the meal. :)

Taco Chicken & Pasta Casserole

One great thing about casseroles is that it is usually super easy to change the flavors of the dish around to suit your mood without changing most of the ingredients. You can switch from Italian to Mexican to Chinese flavors by changing a sauce and a few herbs and spices but the meats, pastas or rice, and vegetables remain the same.

That was the case when I came up with this casserole for last night's dinner. I was planning on an Italian casserole --meat, pasta, red sauce - but neither of my kids were in the mood for it. That's when I decided to change it up a bit and make it a taco casserole. Just a few additions to the red sauce was all that was needed. My husband dubbed it one of his favorite lunches for work - he wasn't really awake to take it all in for dinner. Such is the life of a 3rd shifter. My daughter is back on her "I HATE tomatoes" kick so it was only after she picked out all of the tomatoes from the salsa, did she eat some of the chicken and pasta. My son gave it two thumbs up.


Taco Chicken & Pasta Casserole

1 lb of pasta (your favorite shape), cooked Al dente and drained
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 of large can of water
12 oz salsa - I used med. temp
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tsp Mexican chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
2 C. cooked, chopped chicken
shredded cheddar cheese

Cook pasta to al dente. Drain well and set aside.

In a medium-sized pot, stir together tomatoes, water, salsa, taco seasoning, chili powder, cumin and onion powder. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in cooked chicken and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add pasta to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour sauce over pasta and stir to coat. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350* for 15 -20 minutes or until cheese has completely melted.


For dessert, we had Crockpot Blueberry Grunt. If you like dumplings and fruit, you really should try this dessert. It is so good and you don't have to slave over it all day to make it.

Mini Diet Cola Cake Loaves

I love trying weird-sounding recipes. When I'm craving chocolate, lookout...I might try just about anything. I'd even take a chance on the new rage of chocolate covered bacon but I can't find it anywhere around us yet. (By now, you're either saying "HHHMMM" or "EEEWWW", right? Keep reading....this recipe isn't nearly as bad. I promise!)

When I saw a recipe for diet soda cake at Melody's Cheat Day Cafe blog, I knew that I had to try it.

I baked my cakes in mini loaf pans. I just took the first batch out of the oven and they look so good. I used a devil's food cake mix and diet cola. As an extra treat, I added 1/2 a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter. You can never have enough chocolate, right?


Here is my version of this recipe. I've posted the link to the original recipe below it.

Mini Diet Cola Cake Loaves
makes 6 mini loaves

1 box of chocolate cake mix
10 oz. diet cola soda
2 egg whites, lightly whipped

Combine cake mix diet cola, and egg whites. Mix together according to the box directions.

Spray a mini loaf spay with cooking spray and lightly flour.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one comes out clean. Keep a close eye on them so that they don't overbake.

Remove from oven. Go around the edges of each loaf with a knife to loosen the cakes. Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing. Cool completely. Enjoy plain, with frosting or dusted with powdered sugar.

Here is the original recipe on Melody's blog.


**notes** I'm happy that I decided to add the chocolate chips to the cake mix. It kept the cake very moist. I didn't bother to add frosting or powdered sugar on any of the cakes. They were plenty sweet just plain. The cola taste is nonexistent. Although the cakes appear to be heavy and dense, they are not. They are light and airy.

These cakes would work great in lunch boxes. I'm thinking of making some ahead of time and freezing them.

There won't be any leftover from this batch to freeze. ;) Anything made out of chocolate doesn't have a long survival rate at my house.

If you try this recipe, please let me know what flavors you really liked or didn't like.