Peanut Butter Ice Box Cake

Ingredients

* 4 sleeves of graham crackers

* 1 bottle of hot fudge sauce (we used Smuckers, but any brand should work), heated in the microwave according the the bottle directions

* 1 cup whipping cream

* 10 oz of cream cheese (regular or Neufchatel) 

* 1/4 cup peanut butter

* 1/4 cup powdered sugar

* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* Reese's cups (full size or miniature), chopped, about 1/2 - 1 cup (optional)

* 1 cup graham cracker crumbs

* 2 tbsp melted butter

* 2 tbsp sugar

* 1 container of Cool Whip

Directions

1. Lay graham crackers to cover the bottom a 9x13 pan (we used a Pyrex).  Cut the graham crackers so you can cover the bottom as much as possible.

2. Pour half the bottle of fudge on the graham crackers, doing your best to smooth it all over the crackers.  (I used a small offset spatula to help with this). Set aside.

3. Using a mixer (stand or hand), whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese for 2 -3 minutes on medium high speed until light and fluffy.  Add in the peanut butter and beat until combined.  Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined.  Add in the chopped candies and beat one last time.

5. Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter cream cheese mix. 

6. Spread half the peanut butter whipped cream mixture on top of the fudge layer.  

7. Reheat the fudge.  Lay graham crackers all over the cream layer to cover as much as possible. Pour the remaining fudge on the graham crackers and spread again.  Set it aside to cool for 3-4 minutes.

8. Spread the remaining whipped cream mixture on the fudge, then a final layer of graham crackers.

9. Combine the butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a small bowl until it is a sand like consistency.

10.  Spread the container of Cool Whip on the top layer of graham crackers.  Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs on the top.  Refrigerate for 6-8 hours.

11. Serve and enjoy!  Keep leftovers in the fridge.

Notes

Owen LOVES peanuts and peanut butter.  For his birthday this year he sent me a link to a peanut butter ice box cake.  We altered it a little and the final dessert was a huge hit!  It made a 9 x 13 pan and we would have definitely shared it with some friends and family, but given the circumstances we had to eat it ourselves over 4 nights.  Must say that the kids did not complain about that! The picture above doesn't do it justice; it was much better looking in person. We can assure you, if you like peanut butter you will like this dessert!  Liam thinks he wants to have it in January for his birthday!

Flat Bread

Use this recipe for pizza dough to make the flat bread.

Additional ingredients needed
* flour for dusting
* olive oil
* garlic salt
* Italian seasoning
* parmesan cheese
* corn meal

Directions
1. When you are ready to make the flat bread, heat up your oven to 500 F.  If you have a pizza stone, place that in the oven to heat up at the same time.  Try to heat the stone for about 45 minutes.
2. Tear off about 1/3 of the dough and place it on a lightly floured cutting board or pizza paddle.  Roll it out using a rolling pin to make it into a rough circle.
3. Lightly brush on a little olive oil.  Sprinkle on some Italian seasoning, garlic salt and parmesan cheese.
4. Open the oven door and pull out the rack with the pizza stone.  Sprinkle on a little corn meal.  Carefully move the flat bread onto the pizza stone.
5. Close the door and let the bread cook for about 5-8 minutes.  Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. It is ready when it has some color and you think it looks good!
6. Cut it with a pizza cutter or large knife.

Saturday March 14, 2020

Hello!  We've had Hannah home on her Spring Break which is why we missed posting last week!  We thought she was heading back tomorrow, but now, as with nearly all universities, she will begin on-line classes and will be staying here.  She is excited about the dining hall here at home!  Ha!  I should be happy that she likes my cooking, but having eaten at her actual dining hall I can't even tell you how nice it is!  Compared to what I had when I was in college it is outstanding.  But I digress...

While she was home she requested so many of her favorite dishes that we only made one new dinner.  But it was fabulous and easily earned keeper status.  As you know I am not a red meat lover.  However, flank steak, if sliced paper thin, is delicious.  Ryan found a great marinade and when we tasted the steak at dinner we were absolutely blown away. (We loved it so much and ate it so quickly we forgot to take a picture! Whoops!)  It will be requested often, I am sure.  We tried a few new side dishes that were okay, but didn't earn keeper status.   I personally loved a spicy cucumber vegetable salad, but Ryan and the kids only thought it was fine and did not think they would suggest we have it again.  I got to enjoy the leftovers with my lunch for a few days!

We will be working and learning from home for the next couple of weeks.  I will be curious to see how teaching science to my students will go as we move to the e-learning environment. Wish me luck that I can keep it lively and engaging for my students! I am so curious to see how the experience is at all levels of education.  Under our roof we have a preschool student, 4th grader, high school sophomore and a college freshmen.  We have a teacher and 4 students. Such a unique situation we have and I am excited and interested to see how it goes and what we all think about it!

We have a stocked pantry and garage freezer, so for the next few weeks while we are home we are expecting to use what we've got on hand!  I might post a bit more often to remind you about some of the keepers from the archives.  I am not anticipating that we will try too many new recipes since I don't plan on heading out to the market. We might get creative as the pantry ingredients dwindle!

Happy cooking, and best of luck to all these next few weeks!

New Recipes
Garlic Chile Flank Steak

Tried & True
Bacon Pepper Mac & Cheese with Chicken
Swiss Chicken
Crispix Chicken

Just for fun since it is almost St. Patrick's Day
Leprechaun Trap Cake

Garlic Chile Flank Steak

Ingredients
* 1 flank steak (2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 6 tbsp vegetable oil
* 2 scallions, minced

* 6 cloves of garlic, minced
* 1 tbsp minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
* 1 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced

Directions
1. Process the vegetable oil, scallions, chipotle, garlic and jalapeno in a blender or food processor until smooth.  This should be about 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the blenders as needed.
2. Pat the flank steak dry with paper towels and prick each side about 20 times with a fork.  Rub both sides of the steak with the kosher salt and then rub it with the paste.
3.  Seal the steak in with the marinade (I use plastic wrap) and put it in the fridge for a minimum of one hour and up to 24 hours to marinate.
4. After marinading, wipe the past off the steak and season with pepper.
5. Cook the steak on a grill until it matches the desired level of doneness.  We typically cook it about 6 minutes per side, but will go higher for a thicker steak.
6. Transfer the steak to a carving board and cover it loosely with tented aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.
7.  Thinly slice the steak against the grain prior to serving.

Notes
This is UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS!!!!!!  I am not a red meat fan, and I absolutely loved this.  It got rave reviews and unanimous keeper votes from all of us.  Do make sure you slice the meat very thin - but that is my advice for all flank steak recipes.  The thinner the better, in my book.

The canned chipotle in adobo sauce typically comes with whole chipotle chiles in the can.  A good estimate is using one chile.  Mince the chile and add a little sauce to it when you put it into the blender.

February 29, 2020

Leap Day....hard to believe March arrives tomorrow.  My academic year is 2/3 of the way over - that is really tough to wrap my head around.  And Hannah comes home from college for spring break on Friday!  The year is rushing by!

It was a busy week here, full of therapy appointments, meetings, and lots of fun things nearly every evening.   I am glad it is the weekend and the pace is a bit lighter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Yes- Monday is included in this weekend! It's the icing on the cake - Monday off of school.  Although I don't have work, we still have a full day off planned - therapy, hair cuts, dentist, board meeting.  And Owen and I hoping to cook another batch (maybe 2) of the best enchiladas ever!

This week I tried a few new recipes and found 2 keepers!  One flop, chili mac, was fine and Owen really enjoyed it, but the rest of us couldn't vote it a keeper.  So, not everything I make earns keeper status and a home here on the blog.  We do try to be choosy! 

The first keeper is a pancake mix.  If you love pancakes but want the ease of a mix, this pancake recipe is for you!  We tried is last Sunday and are using it again this Sunday.  And even better - we will still have two batches left!  Nothing better then cooking once and making a mess in the kitchen when it produces multiple batches.

The second keeper is a new side dish.  My family loves potatoes of all varieties and in various preparations.  I tried a new twice baked potato recipe and it was fantastic!   They are a bit of work, of course, but all twice baked potatoes are!  It's in the name, after all; you cook the potatoes two times!  In my opinion they were well worth the effort and easily earned keeper status from all of us.

We are planning on grilling out tomorrow since the weather is forecasted to be beautiful!  Maybe we will find another keeper - fingers crossed!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Pancake Mix
Twice Baked Potatoes

Pancake Mix

Ingredients
* 10 oz AP flour (2 cups)
* 8 oz cake flour (2 cups)
* 2.5 ox nonfat dry milk powder (1 cup)
* 3.3 oz malted milk powder (3/4 cup)
* 12 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
* 2.3 oz sugar (1/3 cup)
* 2 tbsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tbsp salt

Directions to make the mix
Process all the ingredients in a food processor until no lumps remain and mixture is the texture of wet sand, about 2 minutes.

Directions to store the mix
Store in the fridge or freezer.  (I stored mine in 2 cup batches, since you need 2 cups per recipe)

Directions to use the mix
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 2 cups of pancake mix
* 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix the ingredients until smooth.  Cook your pancakes on a griddle or in a skillet!  Serve and enjoy!


Notes
We have a few pancake recipes we really love on the blog: Diner style pancakes, overnight pancake batter, apple pancakes, yogurt pancakes, banana pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, but I decided to try another recipe because it was a make ahead pancake mix.  And I am so glad I did!  They were delicious pancakes, and I have 3 more batches of it in the fridge!  I can just pull one container out and whip up a new batch so easily when pancakes are requested! 

And a quick tip - when baking, if your recipe has ingredients listed in cups or ounces, use the ounces if you have a scale!  Weighing your ingredients for baking is a really good idea.  Baking is a science and the more precise you can be, the better your results!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients
* 4 russet potatoes (7-9 oz each), washed and unpeeled.
* vegetable oil
* 4 slices bacon
* 1 onion, chopped fine
* 6 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 4 tbsp butter, softened
* salt & pepper, to taste
* 2 scallions, sliced thin (if desired)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Rub the potatoes lightly with vegetable oil and prick each with a fork in three places.
3. Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake until a fork or skewer easily pierces the flesh (approximately 1 hour total).  Flip the potatoes over after 30 minutes and then continue cooking for the additional 30 minutes. Let potatoes cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
4. While potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until crispy, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the skillet.  Once bacon has cooled, crumble.
5. Add the onion to the skillet that still has the bacon fat and cook over medium heat stirring often.  Cook until the onion is softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Set onion aside.
6. Cut each cooled potato in half lengthwise.  Scoop the flesh, leaving a thin layer left in the skin, into a bowl.  Place each potato skin shell into a baking dish.
7. Mash the potato flesh until smooth.  Add to the bowl 4 oz of cheddar, sour cream, butter, and onions. Stir to combine.  Taste and season with salt & pepper.  Scoop potato mix into the potato shells.  Sprinkle each potato with remaining cheddar and bacon.  Cook right away, or store in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze the potatoes for up to 1 month.
8. Heat the oven to 500 F. Place a wire rack on a foil lined baking sheet.  Place potato halves on the rack and bake until the shells are crisp and the filling is heated through, 15 minutes if from the fridge or 25 minutes if straight from the freezer.  Sprinkle with scallions before serving, if desired.

Notes
Yum!  I made them in the morning and cooked them at dinner time from the fridge.  We used 4 potatoes for dinner and the other 4 we had as leftover lunch for the next few days.  Next time I make them I will freeze 4 to be able to use as an easy side dish for a future dinner.  Each of us only needed 1 of the potato shells and we were all very satisfied.  Super delicious and we will make these again!