caramel crunch ice cream dessert

2 Sticks butter
2 cups flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts (optional)


Preparation
Mix together and spread on a cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and crumble. Put half of crumbs on bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Put half jar of chocolate or caramel ice cream topping over crumbs. Top with 1/2 gallon of soft ice cream. Top with crumbs and topping remaining. Freeze. Let sit out for 10 minutes, then serve.

Summer Blackberry Cobbler with Coconut-Pecan Topping

• Toss Together:
• 8 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen (thawed slightly if frozen)
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup instant tapioca
• juice of ½ a lime
• pinch of salt
• Combine; knead in:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• ½ cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed (1 stick)
• Blend in:
• 1 egg
• VANILLA-RUM CREME ANGLAISE
• Warm:
• 2 cups half and half
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped; pod chopped into 1" pieces
• Whisk together;temper milk into and cook:
• 5 egg yolks
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons light or dark rum
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• Blend and strain;add:
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 400°
• Toss berries with sugar, tapioca, lime juice, and salt in a bowl. Spoon into a 2 quart baking dish.
• Combine flour, coconut, sugar, pecans, baking powder, and salt in a second bowl. Using your fingertips pinch the butter and mix with the dry ingredients. Don’t over blend so the butter turns greasy. Mixture should look like course sand when you’re done.
• Mix in the egg with your fingers; topping will be sticky. Arrange topping over the berries in clumps, covering them evenly. Bake the cobbler for 45-50 minutes, or until topping is golden and crisp, and filling is thick and bubbly.
• Cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before serving. Juice will thicken as it cools.
• Vanilla-Rum Crème Anglaise
• Warm half and half, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and vanilla bean seeds and pod in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk yolks, 2 Tablespoons sugar, rum, and salt together in a bowl. When milk mixture is steaming, temper it into the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour the custard back into the pan and return to the burner. Cook over medium-low heat. stirring constantly, until custard coats the back of a spoon, 5-8 minutes.
• Blend custard and vanilla bean pod in a blender for 1 minutes. Strain into a bowl, add the extract, cover, and chill.
• You can serve with ice cream or whipping cream and it's just as good.
  

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

4 ½ cups flour

½ tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp nutmeg

Cream sugar and butter; add eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in everything else except flour and sour cream. Alternate flour then sour cream, flour then sour cream. Refrigerate overnite or put in the freezer for an hour. Roll out on a floured surface…thicker than you usually do (about ¼ to ½ inch) Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 10-12 minutes (depending on your cookie sheet…dark or shiny) Do not overbake…the edges should not get brown. Cool and Frost with Butter Cream Frosting.

Butter Cream Frosting

1 cube butter

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

3-4 TBSP Milk or cream

2 tsp. Vanilla

Beat until fluffy! (Several minutes)

Strawberry and Feta Salad with cinnamon candied almonds

spinach
sliced strawberries
feta
thinly sliced red onion

Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup mayo
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1/4 cup milk
Combined all ingredients and mix well.

Cinnamon roasted almonds
1 egg white
1 tsp cold water
4 cups whole almonds or slivered ( I used slivered as well as just 3 cups of almonds)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10x15 jellyroll pan
2. Lightly beat the egg white: add water, and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat and spread evenly on the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden. Allow to cool, then store nuts in airtight containers.

4 easy dinners to try!

Chicken Enchiladas
**not the healthiest dish in the world, but oh-so-delicious!**

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1-2 cans green chiles
green salsa (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion chopped
1 tbs. butter
1 lb. shredded monterey jack cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 pint whipping cream
6-8 tortillas

Put chicken breasts with 1 can green chiles and about a cup of green salsa in crock pot on low, cook 5-6 hours. (green salsa is just to flavor it up a little, optional, and you don't have to cook chicken in crock-pot either, i just like it that way!). Shred chicken. In saucepan, saute chopped onion in butter. Add 1 more can green chiles and cream cheese and stir until melted. Add shredded chicken to mixture. Put mixture into tortillas and roll up. Top with shredded monterey jack cheese (it seems like a lot but is soooo good!). And then pour whipping cream on top of that. Bake at 350 until bubbling and cheese is golden brown, about 20 minutes.


Russian Chicken Tenders with Rice - don't have a good name for this one! :)
1 small bottle of wishbone Russian salad dressing
1 jar of pineapple apricot jam (you can find some at walmart)
1 package of dry lipton onion soup
As many chicken tenders as you'd like!

Blend the three ingredients together and then poor over chicken. Bake for 30-40 min (or until its done) and then broil 5 min or until chicken is brown on top. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches
1 loaf garlic bread
marinara sauce
frozen breaded chicken tenders
mozzarella cheese

Bake garlic bread and chicken tenders per instructions. Top garlic bread with marinara sauce, then chicken tender. Put some mozzarella on the chicken and put back in oven to melt cheese. And voila!, an open faced (is that the right word?) delicious sandwich!

Sun-dried Tomato and Chicken Ravioli
1 bag costco Ravioli - frozen
3 jars Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo (classico makes one)
16 chicken tenders
Parmesan Cheese (grated)
(This is the party size - only 1 jar and 8 tenders are needed for an 8x8 for 1 family)

Cook tenders in 1 tbs butter, cube when cooked 1/2 way through. Continue cooking until done.

Add jars of Alfredo sauce to chicken. Add about a 1/8 cup water to each jar when empty, put top on, and shake to get extra sauce, add to chicken. This helps thin the sauce as well.

Take large pan and start layering:
Add a small amount of sauce 1st so the ravioli doesn't stick
1. Ravioli - lay pieces side by side filling whole bottom
2. Add chicken sauce to cover ravioli
REPEAT
Sprinkle top with grated parmesan cheese

Place in oven 350 for about an hour, for large pan, - remove when bubbling - let sit for a minute to thicken... enjoy!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice
2 1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder

8 Uncooked Tortillas
1 lb. chicken (approx. 2 breasts) cooked and shredded (the chicken tastes the best if you cook them on the grill, but you can boil them or cook them in the crock pot too)
2 or more cups shredded monterey jack cheese

14 oz. can green enchilada sauce
3/4 cup half & half

Mix the first four ingredients and add to the chicken.
Let the chicken soak while you prepare the tortillas.

Cook: (in frying pan) the fresh tortillas

Fill tortillas with some chicken and some cheese and roll up. Place in baking dish.
Mix the enchilada sauce and half & half together (and any remaining honey lime sauce*). Pour over the enchiladas and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, uncovered. Serve with quacamole, spanish rice, refried beans and chips.

*I used 4 chicken breasts and 12 tortillas and the same amount of the honey lime sauce...there was no sauce left over to mix with the half & half/enchilada sauce; so I used 1 1/2 cups half & half...I also used lots of cheese...it was yummy!)


Spanish Rice

In large skillet:
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 chopped onion
1/2 chopped bell pepper
Saute until rice is brown and onions transparent.

Stir in:
2 cups chicken broth
1 10 oz can rotel tomatoes
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. salt
Barely simmer on low heat until the liquid is absorbed (about 30 min.)

Mint Brownies

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
6 TBSP cocoa
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. mint extract

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time until mixture is fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Bake in a greased and floured 9 X 13 pan at 350 degrees. (16 to 20 minutes or until done...toothpick comes out clean...for best results, don't overcook)

FROSTING
1 cube butter (I have used 1/2 cube butter and it turns out)
3 cups powdered sugar
3 TBSP milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. mint extract
8-10 drops green food coloring
Mix until smooth and fluffy. top with chopped Andes mints (optional:drizzle with melted milk chocolate)