Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

crust:
about 1/2 package of Oreos (I go for the Double Stuff, who wants to eat the leftover 1/2 package of regular Oreos?)
2/3 c. softened butter

chocolate filling:
1 1/3 c. milk choco chips
3/4 c. mini marshmallows
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 t. vanilla
1 c. heavy cream

peanut butter filling:
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. sugar

Blend Oreos and butter & press into a pie tin. Refrigerate. Melt chips, marshmallows, & condensed milk over low heat until smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl and add vanilla; let cool. Beat in heavy cream with a mixer until blended and refrigerate one hour. Melt condensed milk and peanut butter on low heat mixing very well; allow to cool. Whip cream and sugar with a mixer. Add half to peanut butter mixture and spread into crust. Refrigerate. Beat chocolate mixture with mixer until stiff, spread over peanut butter layer and refrigerate. Serve with leftover whipped cream.

+ To speed up the process I put it in the freezer on all the refrigerate steps. You can also serve it frozen, either way is really good.

This was sort of a lazy week. Easy recipes that don't take a lot of time. Three new ones.

1. funeral potatoes (yes, this was all we ate all day on conference Sunday)
2. Butternut Squash & Parsnip baked pasta - this was one of the new ones and I thought it was really tasty. It's spicy. Oh, and my grocery store didn't have parsnips so I substituted carrots
3. Omlets and breakfast potatoes
4. Chili with buttermilk cornbread muffins - next time I will add at least another tablespoon of sugar to the cornbread recipe or maybe a couple tablespoons of honey
5. Thai Chicken Wraps - I thought this one was tasty but Russell didn't like it, I don't think we'll make it again
6. Chili Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas

Breakfast Potatoes

potatoes
onion
garlic
butter
olive oil

I saute an onion in about three tablespoons of butter about 5 minutes. Then I add about five cloves of chopped garlic and the potatoes. I try to chop them pretty small and don't use too high heat or the potatoes will burn on the outside before they cook through. Add olive oil to the pan as needed to keep everything from sticking.

Funeral Potatoes

I don't have any measurements for this but I think it's practically impossible to mess up (unless you go adding crap like onions)

frozen hashbrowns
sour cream
butter
cream of mushroom soup
cheese

Combine all ingredients in a disposable turkey pan and bake at 350 for at least two hours

1. Sesame Ginger Noodles I add a few cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of crushed red pepper, and some veggies - broccoli, carrots, and snow peas.
2. Pizza We saw a commercial for a double decker pizza so we decided to try it. I doubled the dough recipe and we made a tomato sauce (29oz. can crushed tomatoes, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, tomato paste, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper), added pepperoni and then layered it all. We also had some leftover bacon - added that, too.
3. Southwest Corn Chowder
4. Westwood Chicken Salad
5. Creamy Chicken & Dumplings
6. Green Minestrone

Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

3 T. flour
3 chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
2 T. butter
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
1 onion
2 c. chicken broth
1 can cream chicken soup with herbs
pepper
1 package (6) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 cup frozen peas

Coat chicken with flour. In large saucepan cook chicken, celery, carrot, and onion in butter about 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth, soup and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer covered about 20 minutes or until veggies are tender. Meanwhile, separate biscuits and cut into quarters. Stir peas into chicken mixture, return to boiling. Place biscuit pieces on top of chicken mixture. Simmer covered over med-high heat about 10-15 minutes.

Pizza Dough

2 t. yeast
1 t. sugar
1 c. warm water
2 t. salt
olive oil
3 c. flour

Whisk first 3 ingredients and let sit 10 minutes (mixture should get frothy and poof up). Add salt and flour. Mix. Add water about 1 teaspoon at a time until a ball forms. Kneed more flour in by hand if dough is sticky. Let rise about 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

I have a new idea for this blog. Since about June I've been keeping track of the planned meals for the week on a monthly calendar at my desk. For me, it's a good way to avoid eating the same standbys all the time and it also helps me remember the new recipes that we try and like. What I think I'll do here is post my dinner recipes for the week before. If they turned out well, I will link or post the recipe. Sweet? Sweet.

Last week:

1. Spicy Country Ribs with garlic mashed potatoes
2. Turkey hand pies
3. French toast
4. Looks bad, tastes good
5. Pasta salad with roasted veggies
6. Macaroni & beef

French Toast

2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1 c. whole milk
1/2 t. nutmeg
8 thick slices french bread
butter
maple syrup

Preheat pan over medium heat. Beat eggs very well, add sugar, & beat again. Add cornstarch, milk and nutmeg. Coat bread in egg-milk mixture. Lightly butter hot pan with butter. Add bread to pan and cook slowly.

Skillet Macaroni & Beef

This recipe came from my weekly e-mail from America's Test Kitchen.

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 garlic cloves
2 cups elbow macaroni
1 29oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
salt & pepper
1 cup cheese

Cook beef in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Drain beef, leaving 2 tablespoons of fat in the skillet & reserve. Add onion, red pepper, & garlic to fat in skillet & cook, covered until softened, about 3 minutes. Add macaroni, tomato sauce, broth, oregano, & reserved beef to skillet & bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve.