Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Oh my! These are AMAZING!  I've been making them for a while now and it surprises me that I haven't blogged them before. I made them for a baby shower, to take to the hubbies office and for my family for V-day. You will want to eat the entire thing yourself. They are creamy, rich, fudgy bites of deliciousness! Run...don't walk to the kitchen! You will thank me later. Or perhaps, want to run screaming to the gym. Either way, these are my go to brownie. Recipe can be found on Betty Crocker.com, but I found this through The Girl Who ate Everything who, I might add is an absolute food genius!

Ingredients

Brownie Base:

• 1 box brownie mix
• Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box

Filling:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk

Topping:

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup butter

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray or shortening. (For easier cutting, line pan with foil, then grease foil on bottom only of pan. I do this all the time when I make brownies and bars)
2. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, water, oil and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan. Bake 28 to 30 minutes (I like to bake them one minute or two less than the recipe calls for for ultra moist and gooey brownies) or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. In medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base.
4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. For brownies, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator. (I take it out or the fridge about 15 minutes before serving. This allows the chocolate on top to soften a little)

Read more at http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2009/12/peanut-butter-truffle-brownies-and.html#wUhpwbjQSver3FBO.99

Chicken Broccoli & Mushroom Stir-fry

B had a dinner thing and I got to have my favorite two veggies! Broccoli and Mushrooms!!!! I had a friend make this for me when I had my baby this last summer and it was DELICOUS! She served it over savory steel cut oats which makes this different but SO incredibly awesome! You could also serve over rice if you'd like. I love the super moist texture. I found this one via Pinterest. It's from http://natashaskitchen.com.

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into ¾" pieces ( I do less more like 1 breast)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated (*could also do 1/4 tsp dried ginger but fresh makes this good)
• 2 medium garlic cloves, grated
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil (I used extra light olive oil), divided
• 1¼ lb broccoli (about 6 cups broccoli florets)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• ¾ lb (12 oz) white button mushrooms, sliced (I just got what was cheap)

Instructions

1. Trim chicken breast of any excess fat and pat dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, toss chicken breast with ¼ cup flour until evenly coated. Remove chicken to a plate (leave remaining flour in the bowl - you'll use it for the sauce)
2. To make the sauce: in the bowl with remaining flour, add 1 cup chicken stock, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup soy sauce, ½ Tbsp grated ginger, 2 cloves grated garlic and 2 tsp sesame oil (if using) and stir until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat a wok or large heavy-bottomed skillet on medium high heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Once oil is hot, add chicken pieces and spread out evenly. Let chicken sit for a minute before stirring, then stir fry 5 minutes or until browned. Remove chicken from heat and set aside.
4. Add another 1 Tbsp of oil to the pan. Once oil is hot, add small broccoli florets, onions and sliced mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry 4 minutes, or until mushrooms are softened and broccoli is crisp-tender.
5. Stir the sauce again then pour it your hot vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened then toss in chicken and cook another 30 seconds or until heated through. Season to taste with salt if needed and serve over hot rice.

Strawberry Cheesecake Streusel Muffins

Went out on a limb and tried these delicious muffins. They are SO sinful and very tasty fresh. I liked them reheated but they're best eaten fresh. I found this one via Pinterest. From The Recipe Critic.

Strawberry Cheesecake Streusel Muffins

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups strawberries cut into small pieces (I used partially thawed ones)

Cream Cheese Filling

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp beaten egg 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Streusel

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.  If you don’t use cupcake liners, make sure to grease the pan so they will come out easily.

2.  In a mixing bowl for the muffin batter, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In another bowl, beat the milk, oil, egg and sugar.  Stir the dry ingredients in the milk mixture gently but do not overmix.  The batter should be slightly lumpy.

3.  For the cheesecake mixture beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.

4.  For the topping, mix together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon.  With a fork blend in the butter until it looks like coarse sand.

4.  Scoop a tablespoon of the muffin batter into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Sprinkle a few pieces of strawberries and then add about 1/2 tablespoon of the cheesecake mixture.  Sprinkle some of the streusel topping on the cheesecake filling, followed by another layer of the muffin batter.  Add a few pieces of strawberries on the top and lastly sprinkle with the cinnamon streusel.  

6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool into the pan for 5 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack.

Recipe Adapted from Joans Food Wanderings

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Beef Stew over Mashed Potatoes

2 TBSP olive oil

1/2 lb-1lb stew meat

4 large carrots peeled and chopped

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt sand pepper to taste 

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp rosemary 

1-2 bay leaves

2 cups beef broth

2 TBSP butter, softened 

2 TBSP flour

Heaping 1/3 cup frozen peas

Mashed potatoes

In large pot brown meat in olive oil. Throw in onion, garlic and spices. Cook 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with beef broth. Cover and simmer 2-4 hours (or cook in crock pot). When ready to serve take out bay leaf. In a small bowl cream butter and flour together. Stir butter mixture into stew and add peas during last 5 minutes. Serve over hot mashed potatoes. 

Serves 4

Fried Rice

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked rice

1 cup chopped, cooked meat (either ham, or chicken, or shrimp)

2/3 cup frozen peas

2 chopped carrots diced fine
3 stalks celery diced fine

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

2 eggs 

3 TBSP sesame oil

1/3 cup soy sauce (add more to taste)
1/4 cup oyster sauce (add more to taste)

1. Prepare rice. For me it's the rice cooker. And prepare meat.

2. Heat canola oil in a large skillet (just 1-2 tbsp). Sauté onion until transparent with carrots and celery. 

3. Add garlic, and peas and cook until tender.

4. Crack eggs into pan and scramble.

5. Add meat, rice and sauce ingredients. Stir until heated through. 

We love this with pot stickers!