Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

This recipe is from a dear sister from my hometown...Evelyn Findlay. These are similar to Special K Bars but much, much chewier. We took them to the pinewood derby/chili cook-off, and they were a hit! Good thing I ate a couple before we took them or I wouldn't have gotten any...I didn't even come home with the platter I took them on. :) I doubled the original recipe to fit on my cookie sheet...so here's the recipe doubled...
2 cups sugar
2 cups light corn syrup
2 cups peanut butter (I used creamy)
12 cups Rice Krispies
approx. 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (melted) with about 1 TBL of peanut butter.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat; add cereal and stir until coated. Spread onto a greased cookie sheet; press lightly. Spread melted chocolate/peanut butter over bars. YUM!!!!

Chili

This is the recipe I used for tonight's church chili cook-off. I didn't win an award but still got plenty of compliments.
1 lb. ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 14 oz. cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans red kidney beans, rinsed & drained
2 cans pinto beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 onion, chopped
1 sm. can tomato paste

Brown hamburger, garlic, and onion. Add chili powder and cumin. Put in crock pot. Add tomatoes, beans, and tomato paste in crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours...then turn to low until ready to serve. Serve with grated cheese.

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the name of the recipe in the cookbook. I would have to agree. I really like when cookies are soft even after the first day. These stayed soft and tasty!

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening (I used marg...so I just added 1 cup total)
1/2 cup margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
6 oz. choc. chips
2 cups quick oats

Cream together sugars and margarine. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour, soda, salt, choc. chips, and oats. Bake 9 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to racks.

Tinfoil Dinner Casserole

My mom gave me an AWESOME cookbook for Christmas. It's a book that was compiled by the women in her church. These are always my favorite kind of cookbooks...recipes from people I know! I have to be honest...my first look through the cookbook I looked at who the recipe was from rather than what the recipes were. My sister has raved over this recipe so I thought I would give it a try. Three of the five of us enjoyed this dinner. My son is my pickiest eater and of course refused to eat it since he doesn't eat potatoes (I know...how can he be MY son since I'm from Idaho!) and the littlest is experiencing another ruptured ear drum so her eating habits are all crazy! It's a tasty twist on a tinfoil dinner :)

1 lb. ground beef
4-5 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 sm. onion, chopped fine
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can water
1 TBL Worchestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown beef with onion and Worcestershire sauce. Place meat in 9x13" pan. Layer with potatoes and carrots. Cover meat and veggies with soup, water, salt, and pepper. Mix together slightly. Top with grated cheese. Cover pan with foil. Bake at 375 for one hour. (I have to admit I had to cook it at 400 for 40 minutes...rushed day...and it still turned out tasty). Leftovers were even better the next day in my opinion.

Couponing

One of my goals for the year is to be a smarter shopper. Albertson's has had some GREAT deals to help me get stocked up some essentials. I loved the coupons on the back page of their ad last week so when I got the ad for this week yesterday and saw another page of coupons...I was even more excited. They have a good ad this week as well....can't wait for the 8-hour sale on Thursday! :) I'm going to get some GREAT deals. One of those will be the "Tailgate Party Pack Deal" even though we won't be watching the game :) In Albertson's this past week, I got a coupon/recipe book called "Game Day Greats" which included a coupon for $1 off 2 DiGiorno pizzas (which you have to buy 2 for the pack deal anyway)...then I just got the ads today for Family Foods and Food Land...guess what...there's a manufacturer's coupon in there for $2 off any 3 coke 12-pk....so I'll be saving another $3 off the Party Pack Deal! :) You can bet that I have coupons also for the General Mills Cereal that is only $1.50 a box anyway when you buy 4...I'll be saving another $2.55! :) What are your great deals for the week?

Ribs

When I bought this package of ribs, I didn't even pay attention that it was pork ribs. In December I went to a party we had for a friend. We had a potluck...one of things there was YUMMY ribs. I asked for the recipe and couldn't wait to try it out. Good thing to know it works just as great on pork ribs :) Thanks, Debbie!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Salt and pepper both sides of ribs. Place on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil). Cover ribs with foil. Bake for 3 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, take out of oven and spread one side of ribs with BBQ sauce. Put back in oven for 15 minutes. Take out, flip to cover other side of ribs with BBQ sauce, and put back in oven for last 15 minutes.