Peanut Butter Granola

Ingredients
3 cups uncooked regular oats
1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
3 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat 3 minutes or until smooth.
Toss together oats, peanuts, coconut, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.
Stir peanut butter mixture into oat mixture until blended.
Spread mixture in a single layer on a lightly greased, aluminum foil lined 17" x 12" jelly roll pan.
Bake 20 minutes or until lightly golden, stirring after 10 minutes.
Transfer to wax paper and cool completely (about 20 minutes).
Serve with vanilla yogurt and sliced bananas.

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I found this recipe in the Southern Living January 2009 magazine while at the doctor's office this morning and made it tonight as AJ & I are trying to eat more healthy. I substituted almonds for peanuts (that's what I had) and used un-sweetened coconut instead of sweetened but it came out great! Very tasty! We are not big fans of yogurt so we do not have any in our fridge but this may make me try some. :)

Obama Family Chili

In honor of our new President, I present to you the Obama Family Chili recipe:

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

several cloves of garlic, chopped

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground turkey or beef

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground basil

1 Tablespoon chili powder

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

several tomatoes, depending on size, chopped

1 can red kidney beans, undrained

Directions
Saute onions, green pepper, and garlic in oil until soft. Add ground meat and brown. Combine spices together into a mixture, then add to ground meat. Add red wine vinegar. Add tomatoes and let simmer, until tomatoes cook down. Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.
Serve over white or brown rice. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions, and sour cream.

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It is said that it may be a little bland but I'm not a fan of spicy foods so I cannot WAIT to try it!!

Welcome 2009!

AJ & I bought a Wii back in November on a whim and have loved playing tennis, bowling, etc. We had been looking around for a Wii Fit for a while but with the holidays, they were hard to find. I finally found one on Ebay and we LOVE it!

AJ & I have both gained significant weight since the college days and are hoping that this will help us with taking some (most) of it back off. I guess you could say it is our New Years Resolution to get in shape. I am hesitant in saying "New Years Resolution" because I've only ever kept up with a resolution and that was in 2007 when I wanted to read 50 books in 1 year (I exceeded that!). Hopefully we will stick with this...

If you are reading this, please help us stay accountable!! We don't like being fat!!

The Reason I Will Gain 20 Pounds This Christmas:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

Ingredients
1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2/3 cup milk, divided
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme
1/2 cup salted peanuts
6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions
HEAT oven to 350°F. Mix dry cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup milk until blended; press 2/3 onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 14 min. or until center is almost set; cool 3 min. Meanwhile, mix peanut butter and remaining milk.
SPREAD peanut butter mixture onto crust; top with small spoonfuls of the marshmallow creme and remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate; press gently into cake mixture.
BAKE 18 min. or just until center is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!

Stuffed Shells

Back from a wonderful trip to Disney and on to Christmas!! I always said that once AJ & I bought a house, the first Christmas would be at OUR HOUSE so my mom & dad are in town for the week. I'm nervous about helping with Christmas dinner but excited because I have a wonderful teacher. For Christmas Eve, we are going to have Stuffed Shells:

Ingredients
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 container (16 oz.) Fat Free Cottage Cheese
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 red pepper, chopped
1 egg white
1 env. GOOD SEASONS Italian Dressing Mix
20 jumbo macaroni shells (for stuffing), cooked, drained and cooled
1 jar (13-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce

Directions
HEAT oven to 400°F. Mix spinach, cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella, peppers, egg white and dressing mix until well blended; spoon into shells, adding about 1 heaping Tbsp. to each shell.
SPREAD half of sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Arrange shells, filled-sides up, in baking dish; top with remaining sauce and mozzarella. Cover with foil.
BAKE 40 min. or until heated through, removing foil after 30 min.

I will report back with how it tastes!

EDITED: These were spectacular!! They are lowfat, hence the cottage cheese, so next time we make them we will use ricotta cheese.

Happiest Place on Earth...

Tomorrow we are going to DISNEY WORLD with AJ's parents, brother, sister in law, and 3 kids. We are very excited because neither of us have been in YEARS! I will definitely ride "It's A Small World" in homage to my family because I used to torture them by wanting to ride it 500 times in a day. :P

Our Current Favorite Dinner

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Ingredients

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg Stove Top stuffing for Chicken

1/2 cup water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Heat over to 400 degrees. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moist.

Layer chicken, basil, cheese, and stuffing mix in 13x9 inch or 3 quart baking dish.

Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

This is one of AJ's FAVORITE to eat and my FAVORITE to make because it's sooooo easy and sooooo good! You gotta love Kraft Food & Family magazine!!