Minty Fresh Fudge

So dessert should be everyone’s favorite dish, and if it’s not then, this dessert should be. I decided to mix it up a bit with my desserts and made Andes style fudge thanks to Sally’s Baking Addiction. I owe a lot of the success of this dish to my friend, Sara, who helped me melt the chocolate and put the dish together (aka. showed me the ropes).

Recipe:

• 2.5 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 – 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
• 1.5 cups of white chocolate chips
• 1 tsp of peppermint extract
• 2 second poor of food coloring
• 1 tsp shortening
• Andes to decorate the top!

To be honest, this kind of cooking is not my forte so I really relied on my mentor in the kitchen with making desserts. My friend Sara is the one who introduced me to Sally’s Baking Addiction; my new favorite website to make desserts.

First came melting the bottom layer of chocolate by putting 1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a saucepan on low with 3/4 cups of sweetened condensed milk. We stirred this mixture until there were no more chips apparent aka until the chocolate was smooth. Once silky, I poured the chocolate into an 8″ by 8″ pan so it would cover the bottom. Then we placed the pan in the fridge for 5 minutes while we melted the white chocolate in another saucepan.

After the white chocolate became smooth, we added in the peppermint extract and the food coloring. The original recipe called for 2 drops of green extract, but we got a little bit excited and added more. In the end, our green turned out to be a bit more leprechaun green than minty green, but it still looked good!

Once the green layer was poured onto the bottom layer of chocolate and chilled, we added the last layer of chocolate. This layer we made by melting 1 cup of chocolate chips with 1 tsp of shortening in the microwave in 30 seconds increments. We poured this chocolate to top off the fudge and lastly, we put broken-up bits of Andes on top. Then we chilled the fudge for 3 hours in the fridge.

Review:

A fan favorite, and it was really easy to make. I was glad we had two people in the kitchen to help keep the melting moving and grooving. Also, I was glad to have a more experienced baker in the kitchen! I would for sure make this again, but with more peppermint extract to give it a bit more flavor and maybe dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate.

The Nitty Gritty:

• Total Cost: $20.00
• Total Time: 15 minutes prep with two hands, 3 hours chilling – 3.25 hrs
• Serving Size: A party size – enough for all to have many squares!

Pesto Avocado Chicken Salad (Best Match with a Pita)

After taking a break from crockpotting due to season for work, I am back at it with this delicious twist on chicken salad. I was looking for a dish that everyone at girls night could eat, which means healthy, gluten-free option and filling after all of our long days and working out. This dish proved to be the solution I was looking for, while of course I made it my own.

Recipe:

Ingredient:

• 1.5 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 sweet onion chopped
• 8 large dashes of garlic powder
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 large dash of pepper
• 1 large dash of italian spices
• 3 tbsp gluten-free chicken broth
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 – 7 oz. container of basil pesto
• 2 avocados peeled and chopped
• Whole wheat Pitas (as much as you would like)
• Butter Lettuce

This dish proved easy to throw together, but the biggest issue came from me not having my crockpot. I had lent my crockpot to friend and she had not returned it yet, so instead I had to use my roommates. Thank goodness we have two in the house!

First I put in the chicken thighs, after removing all of the fat,then chopped onions and red bell peppers, spices, and chicken broth. The original recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic minced, but again I misplaced my garlic at my new place from cooking the evening before. So I went with the next best thing I could find – garlic powder. The garlic powder replaced the salt and garlic, but not anything else in the spice section.

After seven hours on low, the chicken fell apart in between two forks. Then I removed the chicken, pieces of red bell pepper, and chopped onions from the crockpot using two forks into a bowl. I kept as much of the juice in the crockpot as possible to keep the consistency of the chicken salad more solid than not.

Next, I added mayo, pesto, and cut up avocados. After the chicken salad was all mixed together came the assembly. For those who can eat gluten, open the pita, put in the butter lettuce and some Havarti cheese (the original recipe called for 1 cup of cubed Havarti cheese, but I just forgot to cube it at all). For those who can’t eat gluten – just make it a lettuce wrap.

Review:

So GOOD! Everyone wanted multiple servings! In fact, many wanted the recipe right away! I will for sure make it again/eating all of the left overs possible. I am debating for next time I should add pine nuts to get it a bit more crunch.

The Nitty Gritty:

• Total Cost: $30.00
• Total Time: 15 minutes prep, 7 hours cooking, 15 minutes post prep – 7.5 hrs
• Serving Size: 6 – 8 people