Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

adapted from recipes by Cookies & Cups and Taste of Home

INGREDIENTS

2 packages Oreos

milk

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup CREAMY peanut butter

1.5 cups powdered sugar

12 oz tub Cool Whip

1 package instant chocolate fudge pudding mix

1 package Reeses Minis

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pudding according to package directions. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until smooth. Carefully fold in the tub of cool whip. Set aside.

Pour some milk into a small bowl. Then give each Oreo a quick dip. We don't want to soak them, but we want to at least fully immerse them.

Then lay the Oreos flat, in a 13x9 pan until bottom is covered.

Once you have a layer of Oreos, spread half of the peanut butter mixture on top of the Oreos.

Repeat Oreo process. Top this Oreo layer with prepared chocolate fudge pudding, and some of the reeses minis, at your discretion.

Repeat Oreo process, and spread remaining peanut butter mixture on top. 

Garnish with crumbled Oreo cookies, and Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

Cover, and chill for at least 6 hours before serving. So the Oreos have plenty of time to soften up.

Fried Chicken Bites

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
Oil

DIRECTIONS
Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces, and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine egg, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well; and add chicken.
In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch, and flour.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet, over medium heat (to about 375* F).
Carefully dredge the egg covered chicken in the cornstarch/flour mixture, and shake off excess.
Add chicken in small batches, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Then enjoy!

In high school, my favorite thing to get for lunch was 2 chicken tenders, and a 2 "potato logs" with lots of ranch from the LCL gas station. I'm 99% sure that they must have laced their ranch with heroin because I would just CRAVE those chicken tenders, and this is coming from a girl that hates breading on meat. I hate breading so much that I literally threw up the chicken parmesan a boyfriend spent hours making for a romantic dinner because I couldn't handle it.
Anyway, I was making Orange Chicken to celebrate the fact that we got custody of my niece, and as I was frying up the chicken for the Orange Chicken, I decided to taste test what I had so far, and I found the answer to my LCL chicken prayers, and these super simple Fried Chicken Bites were born.
Now all I need is some of that ranch in the tiny little cups, and my life will be complete!

Orange Chicken

adapted from Easy Restaurant Recipes

INGREDIENTS
(for the chicken)
2 pounds boneless chicken pieces, skinned
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
White pepper
Oil
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided use
1/4 cup flour
(for the sauce)
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
Zest from 1 orange
1 tablespoon minced ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 dash crushed hot red chilies
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon rice wine
Juice of 1 orange
1 teaspoon sesame oil

DIRECTIONS
Cut chicken pieces into 2-inch squares and place in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well; set aside.
Stir 1/2 cup cornstarch and the flour together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.
Heat about 1/2 inch of oil over medium heat, (to about 375* F)

Add chicken pieces, small batch at time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the sugar, white vinegar, soy sauce, water, and zest of orange.
Then set aside.
In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.

Add and stir-fry crushed chilies and green onions.
Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds.

Add pre-prepared mixture of sugar, orange zest, vinegar, water and soy sauce, and bring to boil.

Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

Whisk remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch into orange juice until smooth.
Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thickened.

Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
Serve over rice, and enjoy!

Oreo Icebox Cake

adapted from Cookies & Cups

INGREDIENTS
1- 4.2oz package Cookies & Cream Pudding Mix
2- 12 oz tubs, Cool Whip, thawed
2 packages Oreos*
Milk
Chocolate Syrup (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Prepare Cookies & Cream Pudding according to package directions. Set aside.
While the pudding is setting, pour some milk into a bowl.
Give each Oreo a quick dip. We don't want to soak them, but we want to at least fully immerse them.
Then lay the oreos flat, in a 13x9 pan until bottom is covered.
Spread one tub of Cool Whip over the Oreo layer, make sure it is even and pretty.
Repeat Oreo process, but this time, top Oreos with your prepared Cookies & Cream Pudding.
Repeat, but with second tub of Cool Whip.
Crumble extra Oreo Cookies on top.
Cover, and chill for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
When serving, you can make it extra chocolatey and decadent by drizzling chocolate syrup on top.

*You can use any kind of Oreo you want, we had the regular kind at my house, but Double Stuff would probably make this even more awesome.

The original recipe just used the Cool Whip, but I decided to replace one layer with the Cookies & Cream pudding, because I'm a classy lady, and I wanted to make it a little more Oreo-y. Also, I dipped my cookies in Lactaid, because I'm lactose intolerant, and later found out that Cool Whip now has dairy in it… but to make it a completely "lactose-free" dessert you can use TruWhip, along with replacing the milk with Lactaid. The pudding mix, and the Oreos are lactose-free ingredients. :]

Tequila Lime Chicken

adapted from The Pioneer Woman on FoodNetwork

INGREDIENTS
4 limes
Zest of two limes
1 cup tequila
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
5 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño, sliced
1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
12 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups grated Monterey Jack

DIRECTIONS
Slice open the limes and squeeze the juice into a food processor or blender. Add the tequila, olive oil, salt, garlic, jalapenos, lime zest, and cilantro. Blend the mixture until totally combined. Add the chicken to a large plastic bag and pour in the lime-tequila mixture. Seal the bag and marinate in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

Remove the chicken from the bag and grill it over medium-high heat. Rotate the chicken 45-degrees on both sides to create nice grill marks, and continue grilling until the chicken is cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Melt the Monterey Jack over the top of the chicken breasts.

I watched this episode of The Pioneer Woman, and knew that I had to make this chicken. How can you go wrong with tequila, limes, jalapeños, and cheese? Well friendos, you can't because this chicken is amazeballs. I'm like 99% sure that the tequila made all the difference. Because I have a crazy love affair with limes, I decided to add lime zest to the recipe, to give it just a little bit more intense lime flavor. I served it with black beans, spanish rice, and corn tortillas. My entire family loved it, which is a rare, so you should definitely add this to your recipe list!

Grilled Salsa

INGREDIENTS
7 tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 large white onion, cut into quarters
2 jalapeños, sliced in half, remove tops and bottom
4 cloves garlic
1 lime, juice
small handful of cilantro
salt, pepper, cumin to taste
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
Toss tomatoes, onion, and jalapeños in a large bowl with vegetable oil.
Sprinkle with salt, peper, and cumin.
Heat grill to medium heat, and grill the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeños until you get a nice char on them.
Squeeze excess water out of the tomatoes, because no one likes runny salsa.
Purée each ingredient separately, until you get the consistency you like. I puréed my cilantro with some of the tomatoes, because I hate chopping herbs. Then I grated in the garlic raw, because I like that bite.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, then salt and pepper to taste.

I've been thinking of making my own salsa for awhile now, store bought salsa just doesn't cut it.
I'm not a fan of raw salsas, or chunks, I'm also not a fan of that kind of weird can taste you get from canned tomatoes. So, I decided to use all fresh ingredients, and grill them, because you can't go wrong when you grill something. I used two good sized jalapeños, and left the seeds and ribs in, because I am pretty hard core, and love me some heat! But you lightweights out there can definitely cut down on the amount of jalapeño, and even remove the seeds and ribs to make it even more mild.

S'mores Pie

adapted from Pastry Affair

INGREDIENTS

Graham Cracker Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
10 ounces, semi-sweet chocolate chopped or chips
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, whisked
1 bag of marshmallows

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until evenly coated. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant.

Keep oven running.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream and milk. Warm over medium-low heat. Add in chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted and is smooth. Slowly add whisked eggs and mix until smooth.

Pour chocolate filling into baked pie crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until chocolate filling is set and does not move when pie is lightly shaken. Remove from oven.

Place marshmallows in concentric circles* over the baked pie. If using large marshmallows, cut the mallows in half using kitchen shears. *unless you're a Rachel.

Set oven to broil. Place pie under the broiler and lightly toast the marshmallows. This can take anywhere from 2-5 minutes, so watch those marshmallows closely!

Chill pie in the refrigerator to set for 2-3 hours.

To serve, spray a knife with non-stick cooking spray and cut the cold pie into slices. The pie is kind of a pain in the butt to cut while warm, and ends up a big, gooey, chocolate mess.

While the pie can be eaten cold, it is a total #foodgasm when slightly warmed. Heat the pie slices in a microwave for 7-10 seconds before serving for the best results.