Red Velvet Brownies

No, I’m not back to cooking just yet although the little one is 3 weeks old now so I should consider it . . . Had this in my drafts.  Enjoy!

My husband’s favorite cake is Red Velvet.  I get tired of just having the cake sometimes so I knew when I saw this recipe in Southern Living Magazine that we had to give it a try.  They were a huge success.  They are VERY rich which means that they lasted us a long time . . . who am I kidding?  I was 9 months pregnant and NAILED those suckers.  :)  Yummy!

Ingredients:

-1 (4oz) bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped

-3/4 cup butter

-2 cups sugar

-4 large eggs

-1 1/2 cups flour

-1 (1 oz) bottle red liquid food coloring

-1 1/2 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1/8 tsp salt

-Your favorite Cream Cheese Frosting

-White chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom and sides of a 9” square pan with foil or spray with non-stick spray.

2.  Microwave chocolate and butter on High for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals.  Whisk in sugar.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition.  Gently stir in flour and next 4 ingredients.  Pour mixture into prepared pan.

3.  Bake at 350 for 44 to 48 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs.  Cool completely on a wire rack (about 2 hours).

3.  Life brownies from pan using foil sides as handles (I kept mine in the baking pan to store).  Top with your Cream Cheese Frosting.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

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Chicken Stroganoff Pot Pie

I’m surprised I haven’t posted this one before because it’s a staple slow cooker recipe in our house.  Chicken Pot Pie is my FAVORITE meal and I love this tangy twist on the original.  The biscuits on top are fluffy from being steamed in the slow cooker and add a great touch to this meal.  Sure to be a crowd pleaser!  Recipe from “Betty Crocker’s Slow Cooker Cookbook.”

Ingredients:

-1 envelope (.87-1.2 oz) chicken gravy mix

-1 can (10.5 oz) condensed chicken broth (my can was 14.5 oz and I threw it all in)

-1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1” pieces

-1 bag (16 oz) frozen stew vegetables, thawed and drained (I throw in frozen mixed veggies, not thawed :)

-1 jar (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)

-1/2 cup sour cream

-1 Tbsp flour

-1 1/2 cups Bisquick Original

-4 medium green onion, chopped (optional)

-1/2 cup milk

-1 cup frozen green peas, thawed (I threw mine in frozen, surprise)

Directions:

1.  Mix gravy mix and broth in slow cooker until smooth.  Stir in chicken, stew vegetables and mushrooms.

2.  Cover and cook on low heat setting about 4 hours or until chicken is tender.

3.  Mix sour cream and flour.  Stir sour cream mixture into chicken mixture.  Cover and cook on high heat setting 20 minutes.

4.  Mix baking mix and onions; stir in milk just until moistened.  Stir in peas.  Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto chicken-vegetable mixture.

5.  Cover and cook on high heat setting 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of topping comes out clean.  Serve immediately.

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Pork Chops with Apple-Cherry Stuffing

This is such a yummy slow cooker recipe.  I hate dry pork chops with no flavor and this makes them so tender that they just fall apart.  Make sure that you get boneless pork chops and trim the fat.  All I could find were the bone-in ones and they get so tender that we were fishing for bones in the stuffing – gross.  Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

-1 package (6 oz) herb stuffing mix (Stove Top makes an Apple one now and I used that)

-2 medium celery stalks, chopped

-1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped

-1 medium onion, chopped

-1 cup dried cherries

-1/4 cup butter, melted

-1 cup chicken broth

-6 pork boneless loin chops, about 1/2” thick

Directions:

1.  Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray.

2.  Mix all ingredients except pork.  Place half of the stuffing mixture in slow cooker; top with pork.  Spoon remaining stuffing mixture over pork.

3.  Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours or until pork is tender.

Fruit and Mozzarella Salad with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing

This recipe looked SO good that I had to try it immediately, even if fruit isn’t at it’s finest just yet.  I actually just bought some pears, strawberries, kiwis, blueberries, oranges, and apples and cut them up and tossed them with the mozzarella cheese and some of the dressing.  SO good.  Next time I would not toss the dressing ahead of time because it gets soggy in the fridge – dress each serving individually.  This would make a great dish for Easter.  The Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing is fabulous and would be great on salads too!  Recipe from Southern Living Magazine.

Ingredients:

-3 cups peeled, coarsely chopped fresh peaches

-1 (8 oz) tub fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, cut in half (I used a big ball of mozzarella and cut into 1” pieces)

-3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

-3/4 cup Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing (at bottom)

-4 cups seeded and cubed watermelon

-4 cups cubed honeydew melon

-3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

-2 cups seedless green grapes, cut in half

Directions:

1.  Toss first 3 ingredients with 1/4 cup Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing.

2.  Layer watermelon, peach mixture, honeydew, berries, and grapes in a large glass trifle dish or tall glass bowl.  Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 8 hours.  Toss remaining 1/2 cup dressing just before serving.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing:

Process 2/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds, 2 tsp finely chopped onion, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, and 1/2 tsp salt in a blender until smooth.  Store in refrigerator up to 1 week; serve at room temperature.

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