Bodacious Big Butt Brownies

I just came up with this new title...wha'da ya think? I think I like it. ;) These brownies are heavenly...sinful...and...will well, make your butt big if you eat too many of them. There is nothing healthy about these, but have no fear, moderation is the key! However...moderation is my problem when it comes to these brownies. It's hard to control it, very hard. This is why after making them I quickly gave them to our friends who I made dinner for, and I gave them to my hubs to take up to DC while stopping by my to see my brother and sister in law.

I started making these brownies when my husband and I were dating a few years ago. I think it's probably because after all of my healthy cooking, the hubs was craving a ooey-gooey treat like this. I thought he would be appreciative of this brownie combo, so decided we he needed a special treat and I came up with these...

Laura's Big Butt Brownies

Ingredients:
1 package of fudge brownie mix
1 package (10 1/2 oz.) mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 T. butter
1 1/2 cup rice krispy cereal

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Grease bottom of 13x9x2 inch pan.
-Prepare and bake brownies following package directions for original recipe.
-Remove from oven.
-Sprinkle all marshmallows over hot brownies.
-Return to oven.
-Bake 3 minutes longer or until marshmallows are slightly melted.

-Combine chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter into a saucepan.
-Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted.
-Take off of heat, add rice cereal; mix well.
-Spread mixture over marshmallow layer.
-Refrigerate until chilled (if desired).
-If you refrigerate them, take out about an hour before eating so they are not cold...this past time I did not refrigerate them and they are fabulous! So moist...just hard to cut, but it is doable.

And my mouth is watering...looking forward to having one or two for dessert tonight!

What is your favorite sinful dessert? Please share!

Creamy Greek Lemon Chicken

Don't let the lemon scare you in this dish. It is to die for. I made a large pan of this for friends who recently had a baby, and went ahead and made the hubs and I a pan of it too. Love, love, love this dish! Just imagine...warm creamy pasta with a hint of lemon, topped with moist melt in your mouth chicken covered in a light lemon sauce. This is officially going to be my "go-to" casserole to take to others who are in need. And, of course, I will make this again for the husband and I. I would recommend making this recipe when you have a couple hours to cook. The first time making it is a little time consuming, but I promise---it is SO worth it!

(This pic was taken after the hubs and I had two huge helpings...yum!)

Greek Lemon Chicken
Serves: 6-8

Marinade (up to 12 hours!):

1 cup fruity white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 t. freshly grated lemon
1 t. salt
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed

6 whole large chicken breasts
3 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. mustard
1 cup fat-free milk
2 egg yolks
freshly grated peel of 1 lemon
1 t. fresh lemon juice
2 t. dried Italian herb mix (any kind you have on hand)
1 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup crumbled fat-free feta cheese
1 lb. whole wheat angel hair pasta, cooked and kept warm
1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese

Directions:

In a bowl, combine all marinade ingredients. Pound chicken breasts slightly and place in plastic zip-lock bag. Cover with marinade. Refrigerate for up to 12 hours!

Discard marinade. Heat oil in skillet and saute chicken until tender. Slice and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt 2 T. butter; blend in flour and salt to create a roux. Add mustard and slowly add milk, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. In small bowl, mix egg yolk, lemon peel and lemon juice together. Whisk a small amount of roux into egg mixture. Then whisk egg mixture into roux and bring to a gentle boil. Remove from heat and add Italian herb mix. Once this is stirred in, stir in greek yogurt.

Add 1/4 cup butter, 3/4 cup of the egg sauce an feta cheese to cooked pasta; stir well. Place in greased 9x13-inch casserole, and top with sliced chicken breasts, remaining sauce and Muenster cheese. Broil until cheese is golden.

Blueberry BBQ Salmon

Yes, another blueberry recipe it is. I love fruit, especially when creative things are done with it. I cooked the hubs and I this blueberry bbq salmon on Friday night and it was amazing. The salmon was crunchy on the outside, yet moist on the inside...the blueberry sauce on top just made it over the top YUM. Go here to check out the recipe. I love this blog where the recipe is from...she never disappoints. The pictures are to die for too...one day I'll have pictures like that...ahh...one day.

*I served the salmon with broccolini, and rice with toasted walnuts.

Moist and delicious Blueberry Coffee Cake

Wondering what to do with all of those fresh blueberries? Blueberry Coffee cake it is. This "cake" is great for breakfast, a snack or for dessert. Recipe found here, and I actually followed it to a tee...that rarely happens! Well...actually...that was a lie...I added more blueberries, probably about 2 cups instead of 1. :) Enjoy!

Crustless Bacon & Broccoli Quiche

After working in the yard allllll weekend, dinner time quickly approached on Sunday evening and I had nothing planned. Getting dinner out would require showering and all of that nonsense...so...quiche it was! Luckily I had just been to Costco and bought 2 packages of eggs, I had leftover bacon from this potato salad, and had the other ingredients in the fridge. Perfect throw together meal.

Ingredients

1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella soy cheese (you can use regular or low-fat if you'd like)
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups skim milk (or whatever you prefer)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables into pie plate and sprinkle with cheese. Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until center has set.

*I served this with biscuits (our fav) and a spinach salad with fresh blueberry's and peaches...have I mentioned how much I LOVE summer fruit??!!

Waffles!

It's been nice for the hubs and I to have a second weekend at HOME. If you know us, you know we are constantly on the move and seem to be gone most weekends to wedding showers, weddings, baby showers, vistiting family and friends, etc.

This morning we took our pugs to a pug meet-up that happens the first Saturday of every month. Our dogs, Zeus and Zoey, love this yet we seem to be always out of town for it. The meet up was at 9:00 am this morning, so we had a yummy breakfast then headed out the door. We typically eat cereal or oatmeal for breakfast but this morning was a special treat! We both LOVE waffles and have an amazing waffle iron for this purpose (except ours is the circular shape). We don't make them as often as we'd like, only because they are more time consuming than the typical cereal meal. If you are in the market for a waffle maker get the one we have...it is seriously the best waffle maker EVER. It is pricey, but I promise, it cooks the waffles PERFECTLY.

My Mom has a heart shaped waffle iron that still works to this day. Growing up, she would always make us heart shaped waffles on "big" days of our lives such as our birthdays and other big events. She made them not only at special times, but I seem to remember it was going to be a happy day when Mom broke out the waffle iron! Every Saturday when we were young, my Dad made chocolate chip pancakes...of course, we LOVED this, too. That's another story though for another blog post... :)

Waffle Mix
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 T. cinnamon
1 T. chia seeds

Directions

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, applesauce, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, chia seeds and vanilla, just until smooth.
Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

*We didn't grow up putting butter on our pancakes like most people, so I have learned to think that this is disgusting (haha). Instead, we put peanut butter on our waffles for added protein. I have done this since growing up...we also always put peanut butter on our pancakes. YUM. Sometimes if I have it around, I'll put apple butter on top of the peanut butter (which I did this morning). I also cut up a few fresh strawberry's...then of course, syrup. This is def. a special treat kind of breakfast!

Make these tomorrow morning for your loved ones. :)

Do you have a breakfast recipe you loved when growing up? How do you like your waffles served?

Grilled Lamb Burgers with a Mint Yogurt Sauce

Since there are only two of us in our house, we had many leftover hamburger buns from burgers on Monday. We have been doing a good job of making sandwiches with them, but I wanted to use them for dinner. What to make? One of the ladies I train mentioned making lamb burgers...hmmmm...this is it! I did not have an exact recipe, but here is the one I made up below:

Ingredients for burgers:

1 package Ground Lamb
5 medium leaves of Fresh Mint, chopped (add more or less to your liking)
1/2 cup Fat Free Feta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients in bowl, with fingers combine everything. Form into three burger patties. Grill.

Ingredients for Mint Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
about 2 T. mint, chopped finely

Directions:

Add all ingredients together in bowl, mix, then taste to see if you want to add more of any ingredients. Done!

Grill burgers then coat top and bottom of bun with the Mint Yogurt Sauce. Delish!