Banana Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've seen lots of cookie recipes lately that use instant pudding to jazz up an ordinary cookie. On Two Peas and Their Pod I read a vanilla pudding chocolate chip cookie recipe and it sounded good. I thought I had some vanilla pudding but it turned out to be banana cream. I decided to give it a try and I liked the way they turned out. They have just a hint of banana and I'll be making them again, or I may try another flavor pudding next time.

Banana Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3.4 oz. package banana instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slight golden and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Enchilada Pockets

I found this recipe on the Dashing Dish website. My kids love them. Who doesn't like to eat dinner with your hands? The hardest part is getting the little pockets sealed so the yummy filling doesn't ooze out while baking. We've made these several times now. They make a quick and easy dinner.

Ingredients:
1 package reduced fat crescent rolls
1/2 (8oz) package fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup reduced fat mexican blend grated cheese (or mozzarella/2% cheddar)
1 cup chicken, cooked and diced (or pulled) *I use ground turkey or beef*
1/2 cup enchilada sauce (or taco sauce/salsa) *I use enchilada sauce*
1 tbs enchilada seasoning, (or taco/any mexican seasoning) *I use taco seasoning*

Preheat your oven to 375.

Place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and soften the cream cheese for about 20-30 seconds in the microwave. Next stir in the enchilada sauce and seasoning. Then add the meat and grated cheese to the mixture.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray foil with Pam. Next separate the crescent rolls on the sheet. Put a heaping tablespoon of filling on the largest part of the roll. Fold the edges over the filling and be sure to seal the seams shut. (I've always had leftover filling so next time I'm going to buy more crescent rolls and make a few more.) I sprinkled a little additional cheese on top too. Bake for 15 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.

Crock Pot Chicken

Put all ingredients in crock pot, cook on low 6 hours and enjoy! I ate it on tortilla chips with a little pepper jack cheese and State ate it on corn tortillas. Either way we liked it.

1 -1.5lbs chicken breasts

1 can of rotel

1 can corn (drained)

1 can black beans (drained)

8 oz cream cheese

Oreo Cake Balls

I don't like Oreo's but I loved these cake balls!

Oreo Cake Balls-

1 package oreos

8 oz cream cheese

1 brick of white chocolate or vanilla almond bark

Use a blender or mixer to blend together Oreos and softened cream cheese. After blending form walnut sized balls and chill for an hour. Melt almond bark, use a toothpick to dip the balls into the melted almond bark. Let them set, we put them back in the freezer and serve!

Peanut butter frosting

I made a Reese's peanut butter cake for Derek's birthday. The chocolate cake was average but the frosting was AMAZING! Forget frosting the cake, just eat this frosting! I found this recipe on the food network. It was a recipe by Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa). She called it Kathleen's Peanut butter frosting. Thank you Kathleen! Whoever you are.
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
Beat the first five ingredients on medium-low speed until creamy. Be sure and scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically. Add the cream and beat on high until it's light and smooth.

Burrito Bowls

I saw this recipe on the Food Newtork and decided to try it. It was so yummy and pretty easy. I put the pork in the crock pot and forgot about it and came home to a house that smelled delicious and dinner was almost ready. Matt said this moved it's way into the top 10 recipes he loves. It was a winner!

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked white rice (I added cilantro and lime to my rice when I cooked it to make it even more flavorful)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 cups cooked black beans
1 1/2 to 2 cups Simple Fresh Pico de Gallo, recipe follows
2 cups Pork Carnitas, recipe follows
1 cup shredded Cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, chopped
Directions
In a medium bowl, toss the rice with the cilantro and the orange zest. Divide the rice evenly among 4 individual serving bowls. Top with the black beans and half of the pico de gallo. Add warm carnitas and top with the rest of the pico de gallo. Sprinkle on the cheese, and spoon a dollop of the sour cream on top. Finish with the chopped green onions.

Easy Pico de Gallo:
Salt
Pinch of sugar
2 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, and chopped
1/2 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon salt with the pinch of sugar. In a medium bowl, toss the tomatoes gently with the salt mixture. Add onion and jalapeno and combine. Place the avocado on top of the tomato mixture and squeeze with lime juice to coat the avocado. Sprinkle on the cilantro, and stir to combine. Serve.

Pork Carnitas:
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (or 2 1/2 pounds bone-in)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and ribs removed, chopped
1 orange, cut in half
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Rinse and dry the pork shoulder. Salt and pepper liberally. Mix the oregano and the cumin with olive oil and rub all over pork. Place the pork in a slow cooker and top with the onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Squeeze over the juice of the orange and add the two halves. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high 4 hours. Once the meat is tender, remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly before pulling apart with a fork. In a large saute pan, heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Press the carnitas into the oil and fry until crusty on one side. Serve.

By Melissa d'Arabian from Food Network