Rich Creamy Chocolate Pie Recipe

This is a recipe I threw together because I couldn't find one exactly like I wanted. It is made with cream cheese, no layers to make. All the ingredients are blended together for a smooth, rich, creamy, chocolate pie that's quick & easy to make.

Forgive the photo. My pie crust was sort of a flop, but aside from the look of it, the pie was a winner.

Ingredients:

2 small pkgs. of instant chocolate pudding mix

1 - 8oz. pkg. of lite cream cheese

2 Cups + 1 Tbsp 2% milk

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Cup of thawed Whip Topping (Cool Whip, etc.)

1 pie crust of your choosing ( I used a refrigerated pie crust, which I baked before adding the pudding mixture.)

Directions:

1. Put cream cheese into a small bowl and microwave at 10 second intervals until it can be stirred. Approximately 20-30 secs. total. 
2. Blend cream cheese with 1 Tbsp of milk + 1 Tbsp sugar and set aside.
3. Blend pudding mix with 2 cups of milk in a large mixing bowl until it starts to thicken.
4. Add cream cheese mixture to pudding mixture and blend thoroughly. It will be thick.
5. Fold in 1 cup of whipped topping until thoroughly combined.
6. Fill pie crust with pudding mixture and refrigerate until chilled. 

Enjoy!

Have A Snicker Biscuit

Snicker Biscuit? It sounds like a pet name for your sweet heart, right? Oh, my little snicker biscuit......Well it's really a snack or a dessert, however you choose look at it. It's a creation of Lucas' which I perfected a little. I tried his version and then made a slight improvement.

You start with a Peanut Butter Snickers candy bar and a leftover Grands canned biscuit. You could actually make two with one candy and 2 biscuits.

The PB Snickers bars come in squares, which I love. I almost never eat a whole candy bar. In Lucas's version, you take one square and place it in the middle of a biscuit which has been cut in half, then put it in the microwave for a few seconds to heat until the candy is melted. I found this method can make the biscuit a little chewy.

I prefer the toaster oven method. Here you cut the snickers square in half and place one on each half of the biscuit. Then you place the biscuit in the toaster oven to toast, bake, or broil it until the biscuit is slightly browned and the candy is melted.

Now squish the two halves together for a warm tasty little treat. It's so much more satisfying than one little square of chocolate.

Do you have any unusual snack creations? I hope you enjoy this one. Do you think I should add it to the recipe page?

I totally forgot shots of dinner last night, which is why I went with the Snicker Biscuit post. I was a bit overwhelmed last night. DH wanted chicken livers (yuck) for dinner. They are only my least favorite thing to cook. I should have married a vegetarian. I also don't like frying food. I baked them. Maybe that will discourage him from asking for more, lol. Have a great day!!!

Veggie Cuisine Indian Style Masala Review

I didn't get a lot accomplished today, but I do feel more rested this evening. I still felt sort of tired when I got up, but not that bad. I really just felt sort of lazy, like my get up and go, got up and went, not like I needed to go back to bed. I went straight for the cereal bowl instead of the coffee maker. I had a bowl of cinnamon roll mini wheats, which I nearly forgot I had. 

I did not skip coffee, but I did take my time making it. I did make half caf. intending to get a few things done, but I just vegged out today, doing as little as possible. Hopefully I'll get some things done tomorrow.

I had a oven roasted tofurky sandwich for lunch with spinach, white American cheese, spicy ranch dip, and a jalapeno pickle on the side. I also thought about having green pepper and onion on my sandwich, but I just skipped that part. It would have probably been better that way, but lazy won out.

I did toast my bread lightly, but I couldn't let it brown. Store bought bread has gotten so thin, that if you let it brown, it turns into a cracker. Is it just me or have you noticed this too?

I made dessert for later and just had an orange for snack. DH picked up a bag at the grocery store for me, said they were navel oranges, but they weren't. These have seeds and no navel, but they were sweet & juicy.

I had a LC Veggie Cuisine frozen dinner. I tried their Indian Style Masala with Gardein Chick'n Strips in a creamy tomato curry sauce.

I've never had curry sauce or anything that I knew had curry in it, but I didn't taste anything I hadn't tasted before. It does have cauliflower in it, which, I don't care for, but only 4 small pieces. There was also peas & carrots with brown rice. The sauce really just tasted like tomato sauce to me. It was pretty good. I chopped the cauliflower up and mixed it in, hoping it wouldn't be noticeable since it doesn't have a lot of flavor on it's own, but the texture was noticeable. It was a little al dente, which is how I like most vegetables, but not the ones I'm trying to hide. This is how it looked straight out of the microwave. I'm barely giving this 4 stars, because of the whole cauliflower thing, other wise it would get an easy 4 stars.

For dessert I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cups. I love these. They are quick and easy to make, not to mention delicious. It is hard to eat just one, but I did it.

I'm going to work on getting better sleep and try snacking less, eating healthier than I have been lately. I've been doing a lot of late night off camera raisin munching. I know raisins are not bad, it's the late night eating that is. It's more like continuous grazing. It may mean fewer posts, until I can find a routine that works. Now I'm off to bed. Have a great night/day!!!

Pancake Breakfast

It's been a pretty quiet Sunday. I woke up to the sound of rain and Dolly squealing (it's her way of letting me know she needs to go out). She use to bark, now she just squeals. I like barking better. I needed coffee this morning, but still made mostly decaf. I also made pancakes. It's not often I get up in the mood to cook, especially when I haven't had a lot of sleep. Coffee & pancakes, it was a miracle.

I had peanut butter and lite syrup on my pancakes, great with coffee.

Just a little peanut butter and not much syrup, but I did have another small pancake after these two, then I regretted it soon after eating it. I also had another cup of coffee. DH & Lucas helped eat some of the pancakes. I made quite a few.

I had leftover mac & cheese with tomatoes for lunch. I added extra cheese plus a little milk to the macaroni to kick it up a little. It was a good lunch, but I should have drained the tomatoes some.

I found a way of eating the Philadelphia Dark Chocolate Indulgence that was really good. I had it with the strawberries from the garden on vanilla wafers. I also had a couple more wafers with just the chocolate. It's better with strawberries. 

I had a delicious mess for dinner, a nacho grande salad of shredded iceberg, chopped green pepper & onion, rice seasoned with cumin, chili powder, & paprika, spicy Doritos, vegetarian refried beans, cheese sauce, sour cream and salsa. I used Doritos because when Lucas & Dale went out for the stuff to make nachos, they forgot to get tortilla chips. Luckily we had a few chips left, plus some flour tortillas, and a small bag of Doritos. I chose the Doritos. I also need to mix up some more taco seasoning.

The boys picked up more raisins for me. I didn't realize until I got this big container that raisins are suppose to be kept in the fridge. 25 years, I've kept them in a jar or container in the cabinet. Mine don't last long enough to spoil, I guess, but I'll keep them in the fridge from now on. Who knew?

I've stayed up long enough, even if I did have a nap this evening before dinner. I'm thinking I have an early day tomorrow. Have a great night/day!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cups Recipe

This is an easy recipe for snack sized cups of pudding in cups I've saved from single serving applesauce, pudding, or fruit, using instant pudding, peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs. 

Ingredients

6 single serving sized plastic cups from applesauce, pudding, jello, fruit, etc. 

1 small pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups of 2% milk

3 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter

4 whole graham crackers 

3 pinches of salt

1-2 Tbsp. margarine (light margarine also works) 

Directions for the Graham Crust

1. Put the graham crackers into a plastic freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin or into a food processor, however you choose to make cracker crumbs.
2. Add the cold margarine and salt to the crumbs, seal the bag and knead until well combine. The crumbs should hold together when you squeeze them, but crumble easily.
3. Divide the crumbs evenly between the 6 plastic cups. There should be a little less than 2 Tbsp. per cup. 
4. Press crumbs into the bottom of the cups. I used a small lid to pack them evenly. Set aside.

Directions for the Pudding

1. Pour 2 cups of milk in a 4 cup liquid measuring cup or mixing bowl. 
2. Add the instant pudding mix to the milk and blend until the mixture starts to thicken.
3. Add the 3 Tbsp. of peanut butter to the pudding and blend until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour pudding evenly into plastic cups containing graham cracker crumbs.
5. Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled. 

Note: I used the whipping attachment for my hand blender to blend up the pudding, but I suppose a hand mixer would also work. The pudding cups will be level full. I placed mine in a plastic container with a lid verses covering them individually.  Enjoy!!!

Sweetheart Sunday

This is my Sunday. I'm still trying to get caught up and not really having a lot of luck with it. Everything seems to be working against me. I didn't realize that my internet wasn't working until last night. We finally managed to get the problem straightened out earlier this evening. 

My Sunday started off with a bowl of FL brand frosted mini wheats with a little 2%.

Here's what was on the menu for Sunday dinner at Mom & Lynda's. 

There was fried chicken.

 

Barbecued Chicken

Broccoli Casserole

Potato Casserole

Macaroni Salad

Coleslaw

and Angel Biscuits.

I had a Morningstar Farms Riblet, potato casserole, slaw, and broccoli casserole.

For dessert we had chocolate pie, which Mom & Lexi decorated with whipped topping, chopped pecans, and candy sprinkles.

There was also a heart shaped chocolate cake that they also decorated with candy hearts.

Lexi had a little cake and ice cream with her sprinkles.

Mary and I shared a piece of the chocolate cake.

She definitely met her chocolate quota for the day. I think I did too.

Afterwards I had a cup of coffee. I accidentally got a little too much creamer in my cup. I've gotten used to fixing a large cup.

I did pretty good about not stuffing myself at Mom's, so later I had a little of the macaroni salad.

It was a pretty good day, but I was tired. I manage to get one post done, but since I was behind already, it wasn't the one for Sunday. I don't see getting Monday's photos up tomorrow morning either, since I will have girls. I will try and get caught up as soon as possible. With no internet, I have gotten some reading done. I'd planned to start reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett, but I didn't have it downloaded yet, so I started on Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich which I had in hard cover, thanks to Mom, who's read all of the series and has let me borrow the set to read. Hopefully it won't take as long as The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. Now I'm off to get ready for tomorrow. Have a great night/day!!! Hope you enjoyed your Valentines Day!

A Great Use For Chocolate Covered Caramels

It was a busy morning, things got off on a rocky start. I didn't get breakfast before the girls arrived. I did get coffee started, a blessing. It was just as well, that I didn't get breakfast. I wasn't feeling much into breakfast this morning anyway.  I just had a couple of cups of half caf. with non dairy creamer and raw sugar.

I did have half a gala apple later as more of a brunch meal. 

I made soup for my actual lunch. It wasn't a quick fix, but I still wasn't feeling too food enthused. I used a can of diced tomatoes to make tomato soup. I used one can of tomatoes, one can of water, one or two teaspoons of cornstarch, and a little salt, onion powder, and basil. I let it all simmer for a while, until it was reduced by about half, then I blended it up with my hand blender and strained it through a wire sieve to remove seeds, etc.

One can for one bowl. I still wasn't feeling so great, so I just ate the soup by itself and passed on any crackers, etc. The soup turned out very well. It wasn't necessarily a quick meal, but it was pretty easy and just what I was in the mood for.

Later in the afternoon, I was getting a bit more of an appetite, but still not feeling great. I decided to have my slice of cheesecake. I didn't have any fruity topping, so I made a dark chocolate raspberry caramel sauce.

It was one of the simplest sauces ever. I used 1 dark chocolate caramel & 1 dark chocolate raspberry caramel from my Russel Stover Christmas candies. I added a dab of milk and microwaved it, stirring every 10-15 seconds until everything was melted and blended together. I let it cool a bit to thicken and drizzled it over my cheesecake. It was really yummy! I will have to remember this little trick. This was even better than putting them in my 3 minute oatmeal cookies.

For dinner, I went with something quick and simple, just some whole wheat spaghetti noodles with a jar of spaghetti sauce.

I wasn't crazy about the sauce. It was a sort of sweet sauce. I added a little salt, Parmesan and red pepper flakes. It was better, but I'm buying a different sauce next time. I normally get Aldi's Traditional Sauce, but I think they switched the brand, recipe, or something, anyway it's not the same anymore. It used to be very similar to Ragu's Traditional Sauce, but not anymore apparently.

I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow. I decided to post tonight and sleep in tomorrow. I think I'll do some reading and then I'm off to bed. I sure could use some subscribers. You can also follow me on twitter. It you do follow me on twitter and you don't see a post in the mornings please check out the blog for an early post. Thanks. Have a great night/day!!!

Cookies And Candy For Breakfast

This morning I had a good breakfast, none of that poptart crap. I fixed two 3 minute oatmeal cookies. I used a chopped dark chocolate fruit & nut caramel from my Christmas candy (instead of chocolate chunks or chips), walnuts, & dried cranberries in these. I had one and Lucas ate the other one. I hate caramels that stick in my teeth, so this was a good use for them.

I also had a cup of applesauce with added cinnamon along with my cookie.

My coffee was still brewing when my breakfast was ready, so I had a few bites before pouring myself a ginormous cup, half caf. as usual.

I was late getting started on this mornings post, but still managed to get it published on time, actually a little early, maybe it was the coffee. I started undressing the Christmas trees today, but I still have a few decorations to put away. I was hoping to get the trees down. I also cleaned my bathroom. I would love to remodel it, not to mention the kitchen.

After cleaning & dreaming of decorating, I finally got around to fixing lunch. It was a quick fix, with leftovers from New Years Day. I had corn on the cob, a couple of cabbage rolls, and a piece of cornbread.

I still haven't found the dime Mom hid in my cabbage rolls. I'm hoping I would have realized it before swallowing had I eaten it.

I had to wait a while before having a snack. I was a bit too full after lunch. I had my piece of snowball cake (angel food cake, cool whip, pineapple, jello, coconut & cherries) and then Lucas and I made a dog food run.

It was extremely cool out. The wind was cutting right through me. The temperature has dropped about 10 degrees, just since we got back and the wind hasn't let up. I am so glad to be inside where it's warm. 

For dinner I'd thought about having something hot, but I decided to go with pea salad and fresh veggies with Garlic Caesar dressing.

I used butter lettuce, cucumber, red & yellow bell pepper, cauliflower, & carrot. I sprinkled on a little fresh cracked black pepper.

My after dinner snack was a couple of pieces of peanut brittle and a handful of dry roasted peanuts. I think I like posting at night better, if I could just get it done early and get to bed. Morning are so much more relaxed with no blogging to do. For now I'll just do what I can when I can. Maybe I can get a routine established in 2012. Fingers crossed. I guess that's it for now. I found my place in my book, so I think I'll read a bit before bed. Have a great night/day!!!