Pretzel Rolos

Ingredients:

Rolo chocolate candies
Mini pretzels
Nuts - pecans/almonds/hazelnuts/walnuts

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350

Upwrap your Rolos. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Top with a Rolo.

Bake in oven for 3-5 minutes, until the chocolate just begins to melt. The Rolo should be soft but not completely melted.

Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and immediately squish the chocolate with a nut. Watch the caramel oooze out. YUM!

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
These were so easy that one of my friends helped Mom make these.  She took some home and her mom loved them, too.  They should make these again.

Rocky Road-Peanut Butter Candy

Ingredients

• 11-oz. package peanut butter and milk chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 
• 1 cup crispy rice cereal  (I ended up using about three cups because the mixture was really wet.)
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
• 3/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped  (I used pecans.)

Preparation

1. Microwave peanut butter and milk chocolate chips in a large glass bowl on high for one to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter until well blended.
2. Stir in rice cereal, miniature marshmallows and chopped peanuts. Spoon mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls evenly into miniature paper candy cups. Chill one hour or until firm.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
We made these for a church group and they all loved them.  Serve with napkins because they are messy.  Or just wipe your hands on your jeans.  That works, too.

Valerie Bertinelli’s Seriously Good Sausage Bites

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 10 oz. hot Italian sausage in bulk
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
• 1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Directions: 
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and move your two racks to the top and bottom of the oven. Spray two baking sheets with the cooking spray. Break up the sausage with a spoon in a skillet and cook on medium high until it’s cooked through and no longer pink. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Place the flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until it’s a coarse meal. Add in the buttermilk and Tabasco sauce and pulse until the dough combines. Move the dough to a bowl and fold in the sausage and cheese. Form the dough into walnut-sized balls.
Bake the balls on the baking sheets for about 12 to 15 minutes, and switch the pans halfway through. Cool the balls on the baking sheets for five minutes and then serve. Continue baking the rest of the dough balls the same way.


BOBBI'S RECIPE
I just used the Bisquick drop biscuit recipe (on the box) and added the browned sausage and cheese.  I also used Frank's Red Hot instead of Tabasco. This recipe also needs salt.



This recipe made a LOT of biscuits.  They were great warmed up in the microwave.  (Just wrap a few in a paper towel and cook for about 15 seconds.)


The Real Scoop 
by Andrew
These will be great to warm up on school mornings.  I can eat these in the car on the way.

Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta

What You Need

3 cups  whole wheat farfalle (bow-tie pasta), uncooked

1 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

3 slices  OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled

1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

4 oz.  (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

1/2 cup  water

1/4 tsp.  pepper

3 Tbsp.  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
MEANWHILE, cook chicken in large skillet on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until done, stirring occasionally. Add next 5 ingredients; mix well. Cook 3 min. or until Neufchatel is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.
DRAIN pasta; place in large bowl. Add sauce; mix lightly. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

The Real Scoop 
by Andrew

The morning Mom made this for supper, I stayed home sick from school and had it for lunch.  It was SO YUMMY!

Even the tomatoes. 

The Lady's Cheesy Mac

This is a Paula Deen recipe that I found this week while looking through library cookbooks.  It was yummy, but needed some salt.  Give it a try.  I had enough to share with the neighbors since Andrew is visiting his Aunt Robin for a couple of weeks.  Darn.  I'll have to make them again.  :-)

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese if desired.

Onion Rings & Dressing

Sour Cream Onion Rings
These are both Rachael Ray recipes that sounded good.  Sure enough, they were great!

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 yellow onion, cut into 1-inch-thick slices and separated into rings

Combine:
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix together:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup chives or scallion greens, finely chopped
Salt and coarse black pepper

Dip onion slices in wet ingredients, then dry ingredients.  Fry till golden.

Red Ranch Dressing
Mix together and serve on onion rings and/or cheeseburgers (which can also be topped with the onion ring - yum!).

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 large clove garlic, grated or pasted
• 3-4 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs (such as chives and parsley), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Salt and coarse black pepper
• Hot sauce, to taste

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon Butter, Melted
• 1 pinch Freshly Ground Pepper
• 1 pinch Coarse Salt
• ½ cups Hot Pepper Sauce, Divided (I used Frank's)
• 1 pound Chicken Tenders
• ¼ cups Ranch Dressing
• 4 whole Large Jalapeno Cheddar Tortillas
• 4 slices Bacon, Cooked And Coarsely Chopped
• 2 whole Eggs, Hardboiled And Roughly Chopped
• 2 cups Shredded Romaine Lettuce
• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 whole Roma Tomato, Diced 

Preparation Instructions

Combine the butter, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and 1/4 cup of the hot pepper sauce in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

Cook marinated chicken over medium-high, about 8 minutes total. Remove chicken from heat and roughly chop it.

In a small bowl, whisk the ranch dressing with 1/4 cup of the blue cheese crumbles. Or buy blue cheese dressing.

Heat up the tortillas in the oven or microwave and start crafting your wraps. Layer some chicken in the center of a tortilla, followed by bacon, eggs, romaine, tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, cheddar, the dressing and a few more good dollops of hot pepper sauce.

Roll up the burrito and tuck in the corners. You can throw it on the grill if you want, or if you’re a ravenous freak, go ahead and slice it in half and demolish.

OMG.

I will be using the little bit of leftovers for in a lunch salad tomorrow.

The Real Scoop 
by Andrew

This was too spicy for me.  

I focused more on the side dishes - watermelon and Mom's awesome deviled eggs.