Oatmeal Fudge Bars

These are absolutely delish!!!


Cookie Dough
1 cup butter
2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c quick cooking oats

Chocolatey Goodness
one 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
one 12 ounce pkg milk chocolate chips
1/4 c butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Cream butter and sugar together, then add eggs and vanilla.  Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt, and add to the oatmeal.  In a heavy saucepan, mix the sweetened cond. milk, choc. chips, and butter.  Heat until just melted.  Then stir in the vanilla and nuts.  Spread 2/3 of the cookie dough into a 9 x 13 greased pan.  Spread the chocolate mixture on top, and drop the remaining 1/3 cookie dough on the top of that all over in blobs.

Bake 350 for 25 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

This is healthy and delicious!  It's not my recipe so here's the link to the person who deserves the credit:

http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 stalk celery, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.  Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Mammas Baklava!

This is my favorite kind of Baklava ever!  It's way better than any I've had even at Mediterranean restaurants.  It's very simple to make too.  This Baklava also has a very special place in my heart because my Grandmother used to make it for us, and it was the last thing she made for me before she passed away.  If you like Baklava, this recipe is definitely worth making!  (Thank you to my Aunt Jennie for preserving this recipe and sending it to me!)

Baklava

1 Pkg. Filo Skins

1 Pound Butter melted

1 Pound finely chopped walnuts (A blender works well if you put small amounts in at a time)

2/3 cup sugar

Mix the walnuts with the sugar and set aside.

Syrup

2 Cups Sugar

1 Cup Water

¼ teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

To begin with start the syrup by putting the sugar and water in a sauce pan and slowly simmering for about 45 minutes.  Add the lemon juice when done.  (I usually get this ready and don’t turn it on until I place the baklava in the oven.  Then I turn this on and start the timer for both at the same time.

For the baklava use a large cookie sheet that has the sides.  Place 2 filo sheets on tray and coat with butter using pastry brush.  Continue this process until you have used half of the sheets.  When half of the sheets have been layered and coated with butter spread the walnut and sugar mixture evenly over the top of the sheets.  Cover with another layer of filo sheets until you have no more left making sure all have been coated with butter including the top layer.  Cut dough into pieces before baking.  I usually start on one corner and cut on the diagonal working to the opposite end of the pan the turn the pan and do the same the opposite direction so that dough looks like it’s in diamond shapes. 

Bake in hot oven for about 45 minutes or until lightly browned.  When done remove from oven and pour hot syrup over hot baklava then return to the oven for another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool before eating.

Turkey Avocado Hummus Wraps!

YUM!  These are so good, and they are an awesome go to lunch when you need something quick!

What you need:

Whole Wheat tortillas

Slicked turkey

Avocados

Hummus

Ranch dressing (or any other favorite dressing)

Sliced cheese

Spring Mix lettuce/ Spinach
(and anything else you want to add!)

Spread the hummus on half of the tortilla and the dressing on the other half, put the rest of the ingredients on it and wrap it up!  Eat and be happy!