Better than peanut butter cups any day of the week

Peanut butter and chocolate is a brilliant combination and what better take on this classic than to bake it into a cookie? The batter for these chocolate chip peanut butter cookies was a bit stiff and hard to work with but baked into the most delicious creation: sweet and just begging to be dunked into a glass o' cold milk.

I cannot wait to create these again; everyone I shared them with loved them.

Cookie dough......

Three dozen cooling.....

I made a hot, sweaty mess out of myself creating this

I used my new meat pounding mallet for the first time tonight and I have to say, I was surprised at how labor intensive it was to pound those chicken breasts flat. I made a hot, sweaty mess out of myself while creating this. Once I put the chicken in the oven, I figured it was all smooth sailing. The recipe said to bake for 50 minutes. Imagine my dismay when 50 minutes passed and it was STILL pink inside.

The pasta side and the salad were all done, but my chicken was refusing to cook. I thanked my lucky stars I was not doing this recipe for guests because I would have been mortified.

To solve this problem, I increased the temperature of the oven and baked it for 15 more minutes, which worked like a charm. By the time I took it out of the oven, plated it and sat down to eat, I was pretty annoyed and ready to write this recipe off as a one-hit wonder.

However, one bite of this delicious, give the restaurants a run for the money creation changed my mind. This labor intensive creation is a keeper as it was worth every minute.

Fresh out of the oven.

Chicken breasts stuffed with a ricotta, mozzerella and spinach filling served with a side of whole wheat pasta in a tomato-spinach sauce.

A picture perfect Father's Day creation

My father's favorite dessert is Italian cheesecake and I made this as the finishing touch for his Father's Day dinner.

For those of you who don't know, an Italian cheesecake is different from it's American counterpart, often called New York style cheesecake. Italian cheesecake is made with ricotta cheese, not cream cheese. The recipe I have for this creation is simple, delicious and comes together in minutes with part skim ricotta, eggs, vanilla and orange extracts, confectioner sugar, freshly squeezed lemon juice and hand grated lemon zest.**** 

Cheesecakes taste best when you make them the day before you want to serve them and allow them to chill overnight. This truly allows the flavors to meld and gives a truly delectable result.

****DO NOT cheat here with that ready-made lemon juice you can buy. You will regret it. I know--I've tried.

Italian cheesecake, fresh out of the oven cooling on the kitchen table

A new way to enjoy Mexican food

I love tacos and wondered how it would taste to serve the filling in lettuce wraps instead of taco shells. The result was cool, savory and delicious but incredibly messy. This is not something to eat on a date, rather it is something to be enjoyed alone or in the company of close friends so you can all make a mess and laugh about it together.

Beef and black bean taco filling served in romaine lettuce leafs with all the taco trimmings!

Who knew Prevention magazine had such great recipes?

For those of us like me with a sweet tooth, this recipe for lowfat butterscotch pudding from Prevention magazine hits the spot. It's cool, delicious, creamy and comes together from things you probably already have on hand. Just be sure to plan accordingly as this is best chilled for at least 12 hours before serving.

Butterscotch pudding in a pot on the stove.....

Single serving in a cup.....

The best, most labor intensive cookie recipe EVER!

......and well worth EVERY minute! I had to chop eight Hershey bars to produce these and blend the batter just so but these were the BEST cookies I have ever made. I cannot wait to make them again!

Blending the batter....

All blended...

Heading into the oven...

Cooling.....ready to dip in cold milk!

Another delicious, healthy bang for the buck recipe

My friend came over for dinner Friday night and I served this delicious dish. I put the following in my Crock Pot:  four chicken breasts (cut into eight pieces) mushrooms,  minced onion, zuchini, a can of tomato sauce, a can of Italian diced tomatoes, minced garlic, some Italian seasoning paste and cooked on low for eight hours.

During the last 30 minutes,  I added a package of frozen spinach (thawed out in the microwave). I served this creation over rigatoni with a fresh green salad and parmasan rolls. This was delicious and my friend loved it. The best part? I got TEN portions out of this creation.

Now, how's THAT for a delicious bang for the buck meal?

Chicken, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and zuchini served over rigatoni pasta***

****F00dP0rn thanks Agnes Dodge for this photo. I was so caught up in entertaining and catching up with Agnes, whom I had not seen in awhile that I forgot to take out my camera!