Peanut Butter Balls

2 lbs Peanut Butter (3 1/2 cups)
1 lb butter (2 cups)
6 cups powdered sugar

Combine butters in mixing bowl and mix until creamy. Add powdered sugar until blended well. Chill for 1 hour, roll into balls and dip into chocolate.

3 Bean Chili

1 lb ground beef
1/2 med onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 15.5oz can kidney beans, drained
1 15.5oz can great northern beans, drained
1 15.5oz can black beans, drained
2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
3 Tbs. BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Rays)
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
grated parmesan cheese
sour cream

Brown your beef in a skillet, drain fat, add the onion and garlic. In a separate pot add the beans, tomatoes, BBQ sauce, oregano. Add your beef and bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover and simmer for 2 hours. Serve with parmesan cheese and a dollop of sour cream. You can also cook this in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours or 4 hours on high. 

Oatmeal Pumkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups chocolate chips


Preheat oven 350

Cream butter in mixer, add sugars and blend until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and then add vanilla and pumpkin. In a separate bowl combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin pie spice and whisk together. Add flour mixture a cup at a time to pumpkin mixture. Add oatmeal and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop heaping Tbs. of cookie dough on sprayed cookie sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. Cool on wire racks and enjoy!!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Special Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs hot mustard
2 tsp water

Dissolve sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil, mustard and water. Mix well and refrigerate sauce until ready to serve.

Ingredients
3 Tbs Olive Oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup celery, chopped
3 Tbs onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
5-8 leaves of lettuce, (Iceberg, Romaine, but I prefer Butter Lettuce)
You can also use any variety of vegetables you want. I like to add chopped carrots.
**vegetables should be chopped about the size of peas)

Bring oil to high heat in wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken for about 4-5 minutes. Add vegetables and turn down heat. Start to prepare the stir fry sauce.

Stir Fry Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp rice wine vinegar

Mix soy sauce, brown sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Add stir fry sauce to the pan and heat for a couple minutes. Serve it in the lettuce cups. Top with special sauce.

Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

1 9oz pkg brownie mix
3 egg
1 T cold water
1 14 oz pkg caramels, unwrapped
1 5oz can evaporated milk
2 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate fudge topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of a 9 inch spring-form pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together brownie mix, 1 egg and water. Spread into the greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
3. Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir often, and heat until mixture has a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/3 cup of this caramel mixture, and pour the remainder over the warm, baked brownie crust.
4. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour cream cheese mixture over caramel mixture.
5. Bake cheesecake for 40 minutes. Chill in pan. When cake is thoroughly chilled, loosen by running a knife around the edge, and then remove the rim of the pan. Heat reserved caramel mixture, and spoon over cheesecake. Drizzle with the chocolate topping.

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

Crust:
2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
3 8·ounce packages cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 pint of fresh raspberries, or frozen raspberries, mashed

Combine cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press into bottom and 1/2″ up sides of an 9-10 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Cool in refrigerator while making the filling.

In a large mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth, add eggs one at a time beating until smooth and scraping down sides. Continue to beat and add the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir in lemon rind. Pour into cooled crust. Take the mashed raspberries and swirl them into the cheesecake with a knife. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Leave in oven to cool for 30 minutes and then cool on rack. Chill overnight. Can also be frozen.

PINA COLADA CHEESECAKE

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup shredded coconut, toasted
1 stick butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the crust ingredients and press into bottom and up sides of aa 8 or 9" springform pan. Set in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Pineapple filling:
1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup water
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 cup rum
½ cup toasted coconut
½ cup toasted macadamia nuts or pecans, chopped

Place pineapple in a small saucepan. Stir the cornstarch and sugar together and add to the pineapple. Heat to boiling. Cook and stir until clear and thick, about 2 minutes. Take off heat and cool. Add the rum and stir until combined. Set aside.

Filling:
3 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup coconut milk(I used the thickest part from a can of coconut milk)
½ teaspoon lemon zest
 3 tablespoons dark rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer). Cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Be sure to scrape down the bowl between each egg. Add coconut milk, lemon zest, and rum. Blend until smooth and creamy..

Pour half the filling into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Take the pineapple filling and place spoonfuls into the filling and swirl it around. Pour more of the filling and then the pineapple filling and swirl it around again.

 Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done. This can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and refrigerator until overnight.

Sprinkle the toasted coconut and chopped nuts on top. Garnish with a pineapple slice in the center.