Will Power

I had made this recipe before, but it had been a long time. So, when it came time to take a dinner to the Carroll Family, I decided it would surely be a hit! It smelled so yummy...and took LOTS of will power to not take a big 'ol bite right out of their dessert! :)

Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (21 ounce) can Cherry Pie Filling

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, break the cookie dough into chunks. Knead in the oats. Press two-thirds of the mixture into the pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is set. In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in egg and vanilla. Carefully spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the crust. Top with Cherry Pie Filling. Dot with the remaining cookie dough. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Cool completely, cover, and chill for 2 hours before serving.

My "Crunchy?" Pasta

Last week, when my parents came in town for Easter, I knew we'd be eating out a bunch. So, I made this for dinner (compliments of Meredith, of course) one night and it was a hit...all around! ... Except Matt didn't love the sun-dried tomatoes! He thought they were too crunchy!?!? Whatever! They weren't crunchy! I loved them! :)

Sun-Dried Tomato Bow Tie Chicken Pasta

4 chicken breasts
3/4 package bow tie pasta

garlic salt
1/2 onion
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 can sliced black olives
1 jar of alfredo sauce (I used the Classico Sun-Dried Tomato kind!....mmmm!)

Parmesan cheese

Boil pasta as directed. Chop up onion, sun-dried tomatoes and olives and saute them in a tablespoon of olive oil until tender. Add alfredo sauce and simmer until heated through. Add sliced grilled chicken (I grilled 4 chicken breasts on the Forman) and Parmesan cheese!

Easy Lasagna

Lasagna Toss

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 green peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1-2/3 cups water
1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Brown meat in large saucepan; drain.
Add peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water and dressing; bring to boil. Stir in noodles; cover.
Cook on medium-low heat 10 to 15 min. or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

***And, if you didn't read the recipe close enough and bought regular lasagna noodles instead of the oven-ready ones, {like I did...oops!} just do this...

Substitute 12 regular lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces, for the oven-ready noodles. Increase water to 2 cups and cook 30 min., stirring occasionally.

Thank you, grocery stores, for Rotisserie Chickens!

Raw chicken is so yucky to me! I, obviously work with it all of the time, but it is YUCKYYYY!! So, when a recipe allows me to use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, I'm all for it! And this one is so easy and got a thumbs up from the fam! ...I served it with black beans, guacamole and tortilla chips!

Cheesy Chicken Roll-ups
Large Flour Tortillas (I used the green Spinach tortillas)
1/2 cup Salsa
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie)
1 cup Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 large tomato, chopped

Heat oven to 350°F. Top tortillas with salsa, cheese and chicken. Fold in opposite sides of tortillas, then roll up burrito-style. Place seam-sides down in baking dish. Top with cheese.
Bake 15 min. or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with lettuce and tomatoes.