Chicken Salsa

Chicken Salsa

(Shared by: Courtney)

Ingredients:

Frozen chicken breasts

2 jars chunky salsa (I used Tostitos) 

1 packet taco seasoning. 

Directions:

Throw everything in crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours. After 5 hours take chicken out and shred with a fork then return to crockpot. Let sit on warm till ready to serve. Eat as tacos or make a taco salad. Enjoy! 

**Additional items you can serve with chicken:

corn or flour tortillas to make tacos/fajitas

hot sauce or salsa

sour cream (healthy substitution of non-fat plain yogurt)

cheese

onions 

sliced avocado

OR any other additional topping you can think of!

Candy Bars

Candy Bars (shared by Lara)- From the Cake Mix Doctor

Makes: 24 bars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 40 to 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped candy bar pieces of choice (Lara used 1/2 bag of shredded cocount, 1/2 bag of butterscotch chips and 1/2 bag of chocolate chips)

Directions:
1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Set aside an ungreased 13- by 9-inch baking pan.

2.  Place the cake mix, brown sugar, melted butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.  Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Blend again on low speed for 1 minute.  Fold in the candy bar pieces until well distributed.  Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula so that it reaches all sides.  Place the pan in the oven.

3.  Bake the cake until it is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool completely, 1 hour.

4.  Cut the cake into 24 bars. Remove the bars from the pan with a metal spatula, and serve.

Peanut Butter Brownies

For those of you who missed this past bookclub you missed out on some of the best Peanut Butter Brownies I have ever tasted.  Thanks Lauren for sharing this great dessert.  Here is the recipe for all of us to enjoy another time and hopefully at another bookclub!

Picture courtesy of http://sallysbakingaddiction.com

Check out Sally's Baking addiction for this amazing recipe:
 http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/06/10/skinny-peanut-butter-swirl-brownies/

Cottage Cheese, Avocado, and Black Bean Salsa

Lauren hosted a great bookclub and provided some delicious dishes.  Below is the Cottage Cheese, Avocado, and Black Bean Salsa Dip that you can find on allrecipes.com:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cottage-cheese-avocado-and-black-bean-salsa/   

Bleu Cheese Appetizer

Bleu Cheese Appetizer (shared by Courtney)

**And the "Dip Queen" does it again!  Another delicious appetizer dip made by Courtney.

Ingredients
12 oz good bleu cheese
4 cloves of garlic - I used 5
1/2 cup olive oil
4 T red wine vinegar - ok to substitute balsamic vinegar if your red wine vinegar has gone bad and you don't want to run to the store to get more. Just beware that it doesn't look so pretty.
4 T lemon juice
1 cup chopped red onion
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
Crumble bleu cheese evenly over bottom of a tart dish.
Mince or finely chop garlic and whisk in bowl with olive oil. Pour over cheese.
Combine remaining ingredients and spread over cheese mixture.
Chill in fridge covered for 2 hours.
Serve with apples or crackers of choice.
Whatever's left when the party's over you can save and use as a salad dressing.
Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Nutella Swirl Cookies

Peanut Butter & Nutella Swirl Cookies (shared by Talia)

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Approx. 1/4 cup Nutella

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix until well blended.

Add flour, baking soda and salt. Drizzle Nutella on top of the dough then swirl it through the dough with a butter knife.

Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll into balls by hand. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Using a fork, press down the balls to flatten slightly. Bake until edges are very lightly browned (about 7 to 10 minutes).

Allow to rest 2 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.

Pumpkin Squares

Pumpkin Squares (shared by Courtney)

1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 sticks of butter
4 eggs
1 large can of pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Walnuts if desired - I don't use them

For topping - mix 3/4 cup of yellow cake mix with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter. Set aside until later.

For crust - blend rest of cake mix with 1 egg and 1 stick of butter. Spread this over the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Don't worry if this is really sticky.

For filling - mix the rest of everything together. Should be 1 can of pumpkin, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and milk. Pour this over the top of the crust. Sprinkle the topping over the filling. Don't worry if it clumps together. Sprinkles walnuts over topping if desired.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.
Enjoy!