Jell-O Cake / Cupcakes

From Sis. Judd.

1 cake mix (plus required ingredients)
1 small box Jell-O mix
1 small box pudding mix
1 envelope Dream Whip
¾ cup hot water
½ cup cold water
1 ½ cups cold milk

Make cake according to directions on box. Let cool for 20 minutes.

About 10 minutes before cake is done cooling, mix lime Jell-o with ¾ cup hot water. Once mix has dissolved, add ½ cup cold water. Let cool until cake has finished cooling.

Using a large fork, chopsticks, or something of the like. Pour Jell-O over cake.

Whip together Dream Whip, pudding mix, and cold milk for 5-8 minutes, or until fluffy. Frost cake.

Refrigerate for a couple hours.

Notes:
- You can also make these as cupcakes, but it's a little harder.

Some possible combinations:
- Chocolate cake, raspberry Jell-O, cheesecake pudding
- White cake, strawberry Jell-O, chocolate pudding
- Orange cake, cherry Jell-O, vanilla or white chocolate pudding
- Lemon cake, lime Jell-O, lemon vanilla
- White cake, cherry Jell-O, vanilla pudding (pictured)
- Anything else that sounds good.

Peanut Butter Cream-Topped Brownies

From Carole Larsen.

Brownies:
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons water
1½ cups chocolate chips
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Combine sugar, butter, and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until it boils. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate chips. Stir until melted. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat with a spoon until smooth.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture until well blended.

Spread batter into a well-greased 9x9-inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan (about 25-30 minutes). Do not over bake! Cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cream:
¼ cup (½ stick) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1½ cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons light cream or milk

Beat softened butter and peanut butter together until blended. Add sugar and cream alternately, beating till smooth and creamy. Spread over cooled brownies.

Drizzle Chocolate Glaze over Peanut Butter Cream. Refrigerate until Chocolate Glaze is set. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Glaze:
2 tablespoons chocolate chips
2 to 3 teaspoons butter or margarine

Place chips and butter in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds.
Stir until chips are melted.

Chocolate Walnut Crumb Bars

From Carole Larsen.

1 cup butter (softened)
2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
½ cup chocolate chips

Beat butter in bowl until creamy.

Add flour, sugar, and salt to butter. Beat until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 2 cups crumb mixture into bottom of greased 9x13 pan (reserve remaining mixture). Bake at 350˚F for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Warm chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in small, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth.

Stir vanilla into chocolate mixture. Spread over hot crust.

Combine nuts and chips and stir into reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle over chocolate filling. Bake at 350˚F for 24-30 minutes or until set. Cool in pan or wire rack

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

From Taste of Home (Aug./Sept. 1998), page 47.

Prep.: 15 min/Bake: 40 min. 
Yield: 12-15 servings.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cups finely chopped zucchini (may use grated zucchini)
12 ounces chocolate chips (reserve 1/4 cup)

Cream together margarine, oil, and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and milk.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Add to other mixture and mix well.

Add zucchini and chocolate chips, except for reserved 1/4 cup of chips. Mix.

Spread in greased and floured 9x13 pan. Sprinkle reserved chocolate chips over top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Nutrition Facts:
1 piece = 333 calories, 16 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 46 mg cholesterol, 173 mg sodium, 45 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein

Notes:
- You can sour milk by adding enough milk to about 1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice to make 1/2 cup.
- This is my mom's version, which is way better (the original only calls for 1/2 cup chocolate chips--hello!).

Chocolate Caramel Cookies ("Rolo" Cookies)

From Quick Cooking (Nov./Dec. 1998), page 29.

Yield: 50-60 cookies

1 cup butter (no substitutions), softened
1 cup plus 1 Tbs. sugar, divided
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans, divided
1 package (13 ounces) Rolo candies

Cream the butter, 1 cup sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda and add to the creamed mixture, beating just until blended. Stir in ½ cup of the chopped pecans.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup chopped pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar.

Shape dough by tablespoonfuls around the Rolo candies. Dip ½ of each cookie in the pecan/sugar mixture. Place cookies on cookie sheets with nut/sugar side up.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes, or until tops of cookies are slightly cracked. Cool on cookie sheets for 3 minutes, and then transfer cookies to wire cooling racks.

Nutrition Facts:
2 cookies = 244 calories, 12 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 32 mg cholesterol, 134 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Walnut Chicken Skillet

From Quick Cooking (Jan./Feb. 2000), page 19.

Prep: 5-10 min + marinating / Cook: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings.

2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¼ inch strips
1 tablespoon water
1½ teaspoons vinegar
1½ teaspoons sugar
Dash hot pepper sauce
½ cup walnut halves (I’ve used pecans)
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Hot cooked rice

In a bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon soy sauce until smooth; add chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine water, vinegar, sugar, hot pepper sauce, and remaining cornstarch and soy sauce; set aside.

In a skillet, sauté walnuts in oil until toasted; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the same skillet, stir-fry chicken until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm.

Add green pepper and ginger to skillet; cook and stir for 3 minutes or until pepper is crisp-tender. Stir cornstarch mixture; add to skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Return chicken and walnuts to pan.

Serve over rice.

Nutrition Facts:
1 cup = 321 calories, 21 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 63 mg cholesterol, 746 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 27 g protein

Chicken Enchiladas

From Mom Larsen.

Prep: 25 min. / Cook: 25 min.
Yield: 15-24 enchiladas

24 small or 15 large flour tortillas
2-3 cooked full boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4-6 half breasts), shredded or chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb. cheddar cheese, grated (reserve 1 cup)
2 small cans diced green chilies (mild)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint half and half
1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cup water + 2 bouillon cubes)

Mix together chicken, onion, cheese (minus reserved cup), and chilies.  Fill flour tortillas and place in baking pans or dishes.

Mix cream of chicken soup, half and half, and broth.  Pour over enchiladas.

Sprinkle reserved cheese over enchiladas and bake, uncovered, at 350F for 25 minutes.

Notes:
- I prefer to chop the raw chicken and saute it with the onion. It helps to tone down the onion flavor.
- Sometimes I add more cheese than it calls for.
- I usually spray the baking pans with cooking spray before putting the enchiladas in them.
- These freeze well. Just take them out of the freezer about 30 minutes ahead of time and increase baking time by about 5 minutes.
- We have made these with a pepper jack/cheddar cheese mix, but we decided that using just the cheddar is best.