Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Brownie Cake

This is my new twist on the fabulous gooey butter cake. I posted the traditional recipe months ago and I was so glad I did! Come to find out, this was the only place I had the recipe, my blog really is paying off for me (hopefully someone else too). Well, I altered that recipe to fit all the chocoholics out there and it came out seriously close to a local grocery store bakery version. I did have a mishap on Easter when I went to share the cake with family. Lesson learned, gooey anything should not be overcooked, and yes, it did burn. I was so bummed. Oh well, guess it will go back on our meal plan to try again!

Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Brownie Cake

Ingredients:

Cake Crust:

1 package chocolate cake mix

1 egg

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 box (16 oz.) powdered sugar

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips or 3/4 chopped semi-sweet chocolate bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the cake mix, egg, and melted butter. Mix well.

3. Press into bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan. 

4. Prepare the filling. beat cream cheese until smooth.

Add the eggs, vanilla, melted butter and mix well.

Next add the powdered sugar, and beat until smooth, scraping sides as needed. 

5.Spoon onto crust and spread evenly.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Center should be gooey, so make sure not to overcook.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature, and top with powdered sugar, if desired.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza: perfect for potlucks and as an appetizer. It can be a little pricey when you're buying all those vegetables and only use a fraction of them, but I made three separate pizzas over the course of a week to use with different get togethers. That, or you could just eat the veggies and do a body good. ;)

Ingredients:

2 packages crescent rolls

1 package cream cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 envelope ranch dressing mix

assorted vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, red pepper, broccoli, etc.)

Spread crescent rolls onto jelly roll pan and seal seams.

Bake as directed on package (10-13 minutes) at 350 degrees.

Let cool completely.

Mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dressing mix.

Spread onto cooled crescent roll crust.

Finely dice vegetables and spread over pizza.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

When cool, press veggies into cream cheese mixture to help stick.

Cut into square pieces.

Sausage-Cheese Balls

To continue with the breakfast posts, here's another Christmas morning fav! My grandparents also serve up some sausage cheese balls with their cheese souffle. A bisquick classic, and why reinvent a wheel that's not broken?? I'm the biggest fan of back of the box cooking for that reason, of all the recipes their product can make, the ONE the marketing gurus choose to display on their packaging is surely the best. ;)

I cut this recipe in half for the two of us, and I will list both the full recipe's ingredients below as well as the halved amounts. I know that on a Thursday night (TGIF tomorrow!), I can't be the only one who appreciates not having to think that hard!

Sausage-Cheese Balls

Ingredients:

Full Recipe

3 cups Original Bisquick mix

1 pound ground sausage

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

Half Recipe

1 1/2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1/2 pound ground sausage

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking sheet.

Stir together all ingredients.

And YES, the sausage can be uncooked, who'da thought???

Shape mixture into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan.

Eat with Cheese Souffle!!!

Cheese Souffle

Family traditions are so important to our family. I love looking forward to them each time we get together. One of my favorite traditions is this breakfast souffle. We eat it every Christmas morning at my Grandpa and Grandma Carter's house.

I have been wanting to make it for forever, it seems like I love it so much once a year, and then don't see it until 365 days later. This year at Christmas I made a decision to make it a few extra times. So easy to put together...but, my goodness, does it have a lot of cheese! Don't think this is an egg bake or bread pudding. Nope! This is fluffy cheese! Yummy, all the same, but not something to add to a daily diet!

Cheese Souffle Ingredients:

6-10 slices of bread

3/4 lb graded mild cheddar cheese

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

2 Tbsp. butter, melted (Ignore the tub of margarine.:))

Prehead oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9x13 making dish.

Remove crusts from bread and cut into cubes.

Layer half the bread cubes, half the cheese.

Then repeat with remaining bread cubes and cheese.

In a bowl, beat eggs slightly.

Add the remaining ingredients (milk, salt, dry mustard, melted butter) and stir together.

Pour mixture over bread and cheese.

Regrigerate overnight or for a few hours. (I'm good with about 20 minutes!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.

Yummy and enough cheese to last you the whole week! Serve with yummy sausage balls and petite carmel rolls...I'll post those to round out my breakfast week blogs!

Pasta Fagioli

This delicious soup was such a welcome change from my norm. Super filling with both beans and pasta, just pair with a slice of crusty bread and you're good to go!

Pasta Fagioli Ingredients:

1 pound Italian sausage

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

4 cups chicken broth (1 carton)

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 can canellini beans

1 can kidney beans

1 1/2 cup ditalini pasta

1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese

Brown sausage in a large stock pot.

Add onions to the pan and cook until translucent.

Add chicken broth and tomatoes.

Smash 1/2 can canelleni beans and add to the pot.

Add remaining canelleni beans and can of kidney beans.

(Drain and rinse both beans before adding to soup.)

Add pasta and Italian seasoning.

Cook until pasta is tender.

Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Green Chile Beef Enchiladas

I consider this a "healthy" Mexican dish. Although my dad will be the first to point out that, if you're going to rank cuisine, that Mexican is about as bad as you can go. Kansas City does spoil residents with free AMAZING white cheese dip. (I need to blog my copycat recipe!) These enchiladas are made with fat free cream cheese, something I don't usually turn to, but definitely did not miss the extra"ness" of full fat cream cheese.

Green Chile Beef Enchiladas Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 package (8 oz.) fat free cream cheese

1 can (4.5 oz.) chopped green chilies

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

6-8 flour tortillas

1 can green chile enchilada sauce

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef.

Add canned chilies and cream cheese.

Let melt and stir together.

I have recently fallen in love with black beans and am creating recipes just so I can eat more of them! :)

Create enchiladas by spooning beef mixture and a small handful of beans into flour tortillas.

Spread 1/4 cup enchilada sauce onto bottom of greased 9x13 baking dish.

Roll up enchilada, place in dish.

Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas.

Top with shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until warm and bubbly.

Buffalo Chicken Wrap: Round 2 Recipe

There's a restaurant about one mile from our new home we teachers from my school love to frequent. Blue Sky has by far the most amazing Buffalo Chicken Wrap known to man. And while I might still prefer their version, this at home one lets us stay home and still splurge on a meal that has quickly made its way to the top of my chart.

The Bisquick chicken fingers are used in this recipe and, by using the leftovers, I pulled this meal together in about 5 minutes. Pop some frozen curly fries into the oven, and you've got yourself some serious bar and grill food!

Buffalo Chicken Wrap Ingredients:

Leftover Bisquick chicken fingers

Franks Buffalo Hot Wing Sauce

Chopped Iceberg lettuce

Shredded cheddar cheese

LARGE flour tortillas

Ranch Dressing

Chop and microwave leftover chicken fingers until warmed through.

Toss with buffalo wing sauce.

Make wrap by layering lettuce, chicken, cheese, and ranch on tortilla.

Fold into wrap.

Good luck with that. Any tips out there? Mine would not stay wrapped for anything!