Cannoli Cheeseball

I prepared this dessert for Easter 2015.  I forgot who I got it from but it was amazing.  It says in the instructionst hat you can use either vanilla wafers or Graham Crackers.  I like it alot better with the Graham Crakers.

Cannoli Cheeseball Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 oz brick cream cheese, at room temperature
• ½ cup ricotta cheese
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1¾ cups mini chocolate chips, divided
• Vanilla Wafers or graham crackers, for serving

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the ricotta, powdered sugar and cinnamon and beat until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
2. Dump the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Gather the plastic wrap around the top, squishing the mixture into a ball shape. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Place the remaining ¾ cup of chocolate chips on a plate or in a shallow dish. Open the plastic wrap and turn the cheeseball filling onto the chocolate chips. Use your hands to roll the ball to coat in the chocolate chips.
4. Serve with vanilla wafers and graham crackers.
5. **Make sure you are using full fat ingredients, not skim or low-fat. Low-fat ingredients will alter the final product.**

Crockpot Taco Chicken Bowls

OMG this is amazing.  I serve it with white rice.

Taco chicken bowls

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

8 hours

Total time

8 hours 10 mins

Total Cost: $10.66

Cost Per Serving: $1.33

Serves: 9

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. chicken breasts
• 1 (16 oz.) jar salsa 
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
• ½ lb. (8 oz.) frozen corn
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• ½ Tbsp cumin
• ½ Tbsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 
• ¼ tsp salt
• to taste cracked pepper
• 8 oz. shredded cheddar

Instructions

1. Add everything except the cheese to the slow cooker along with ¼ cup of water (for good measure). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.
2. Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.
3. After 8 hours of cooking, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.

Easy Crock Pot Sausage & Cheese Tortellini

Amazing recipe.  Another pinterest find.  I have to say with this one i would wait until the last hour to include the tortellini just becaue it gets a little too mushy if its kept in there the entire time in the crock pot.

This is where the recipe can be found: Recipi

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. Italian Sausage (I use sweet sausage just because I can not tolerate too spicy)
• 20 oz. Frozen Three-Cheese Tortellini 
• 32 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes – seasoned with basil, garlic & oregano
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese 

1. Take your cream cheese out of the fridge, and let it sit while you quickly brown your meat.

2. Add the sausage and tortellini to your Crock Pot. Pour the tomatoes, liquid and all, and broth over the top. Add your cream cheese to the Pot in chunks.

3. Give your Crock Pot a good stir to get everything evenly distributed, making sure the liquids are adequately covering the tortellini.

4. Cook on LOW for a total of 4 1/2 hours. Stir at 2 hours, and again at 4 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking. This will give the sauce some time to thicken up.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

This is one of my favorite Christmas desserts that I  make to give as gifts to people.  If you love brownies and peanut butter then this is definitely the desert for you.  I do not remember when I came across this recipe but since that day it has been a staple every Christmas.

I saved this address on my pinterest so that I can go back and see the recipe.  But honestly I have made this recipe so much that i have it memorized.  Here is the link Recipe for Brownies from Baked Perfection:

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Recipe adapted from Nestle’s Very Best Baking

1 box of your favorite brownie mix (I use the Ghiradella Brownie Mix)

1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease 40 mini-muffin cups.

Prepare boxed brownie mix as directed. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups (about 1 heaping teaspoon). Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into center comes out slightly wet. After brownies are out of the oven, wait for centers to fall. This will happen upon cooling. If not then tap the centers with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole for the peanut butter.

Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds then stir. While brownies are still warm spoon about half a teaspoon of peanut butter into the center of each brownie. Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Cool completely in pan.

Nutella Gooey Butter Cake

This by far is my FAVORITE DESSERT.  I am nutella fan and the fact that this is a good mix of nutella and brownie (chocolate cake).  ITS HEAVEN is all I can say.  I found this recipe on Pinterest, which then took me to Tidy Mom.

This is the recipe from her BLOG

Nutella Gooey Butter Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Nutella adds a delicious twist to a St. Louis tradition, where the cake becomes the crust and holds a gooey cream cheese and Nutella filling. It's a great addition to parties or potlucks and can be prepared up to three days in advance, getting better with time.

Ingredients

For the Cake
• 1 (18-1/4 ounce) Box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 large Egg
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
For Filling
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1 cup Nutella
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 325° F and lightly grease 13x9-inch pan
2. Using an electric mixer, combine cake mix, 1 egg and melted butter until well incorporated. Press into bottom of greased pan with fingers.
For Filling:
3. Using an electric mixer, blend, cream cheese, 2 beaten eggs, nutella and vanilla. Then slowly and powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
4. Spread filling over cake batter, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until edges are brown. (Do not overbake, the center should be a little gooey)
5. Dust with powdered sugar on top after cake has cooled.