Yum Yum Raspberry White Chocolate Bars

Raspberry White Chocolate Bars

Aka: YUM YUM bars. OH. MY. Lanta. these are insane! I think I ate half a pan of them insane. Did I mention easy? With just a few things you probably already have on hand you can make a ridiculous dessert in no time.

These bars are kind of a mash up of a few recipes I had found online and just made my own.

I know I had mentioned before that we were on a diet. Emphasis on the "were"... Ugh.. Heavy sigh... I'll be fat forever... sad face... ANYWAY! These are delicious. I don't recommend eating an entire pan in one sitting because they are really sweet and will surely send you into a diabetic coma.. That's just not my idea of a fun time but if that's your thing then rock on. LOL. Here's the recipe.. Go NOW. RUUUUUUUUN to your kitchen!

Raspberry White Chocolate Bars

1 cup white flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick-o-butter (SOFTENED)
1 cup raspberry jam (seedless is best, really...)
1 small clam shell fresh raspberries
1/2 package white chocolate chips

Preheat Oven to 350F. Yeilds 8 large bars. Bake for 40 minutes.

1. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients and the butter. Blend well with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like small peas. I have found that if it looks just a bit too dry I put a cap full of vanilla extract in to moisten it just a bit.
2. Line a small glass pyrex with NONSTICK tin foil. Like all the way lol. Line the hell out of it.  Seriously it eliminates greasing the pan and potentially scorching the corners.
3. Press 2 CUPS of the dry mixture into the bottom of the pan to make the crust.
4. Pour jam over top ( I find that heating it slightly in the micro works well for spreading. Like 30 seconds)
5. Sprinkle the whole container of raspberries over the jam and sprinkle half the white chocolate chips over the raspberries.
6. Top with remaining dry mixture. Spread it evenly.. 
7. Lastly you have the option of just throwing the white chocolate chips on top and baking that way or melting them and drizzling them on top. I'll definitely do that next time!

Set the timer for 40 minutes and ENJOY!!!!!

Smokey Lemon Chicken Noodle

Smokey Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey there folks. I feel like it has been forever since I have posted a new blog. It's been a bit cray cray round here. My in-laws were in town, my oldest lost her first tooth and J got the ole snipperoo! That's right folks. We are officially done!! So that means we have had lots and lots of down time. To tell you the truth I am kind of going stir crazy. I'm used to being go - go -go so it's really weird to be home. However, I have had PLENTY of time to do some cooking. Which is what I am about to share with you today!

I am no stranger to soup. We're homies. My favorite being chicken noodle or, as it is affectionately known in my house, Cherkern Nerdle. I know... I'm weird. I've accepted it. So today I switched it up a bit. It all started at the rotisserie chicken stand in the deli. I was looking for the garlic flavored one when I came across "smoked chickens". After I was done giggling at my mental image of someone rolling a chicken up and trying to literally smoke it I thought why not.. we'll give it a go. Then I thought it may be a bit too smokey so maybe some lemon would help balance the smoke flavor. OH YEAH.. This was gooooooooood... My kids ate it. No really they did. It wasn't even deep fried or made from a potato!!! Shocking I know!

 So here's the recipe and I'll post the directions with pictures below.

1 Rotisserie (Or Smoked) Chicken  (If you cant find it smoked a tsp of liquid smoke works)
1 bag no yolks egg noodles
5 stalks Celery
3 large Carrots
1 Red Onion
7 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup Chopped Parsley 
1 packet Onion Soup Mix
2 TBS chives
1 TBS oil
1 stick Butter
4 TBS chicken base
8 cups Water
1/2 Lemon (juiced)

Garnish:

1/2 Lemon (ZEST ONLY)
1/2 cup Parsley
Pinch - o - Parmesan 

1. Chop everything into uniform sizes. Shred chicken and reserve the juices.
2. Pour oil into large soup pot / dutch oven along with butter and melt.
3. Throw in chopped veggies (not garlic) and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add onion soup mix, chives, chicken base and water. Stir.
5. Add in chicken. parsley, lemon and garlic and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce to a simmer and add in the whole bag of egg noodles.
7. Cook on simmer until the noodles are soft and tasty.

** I salt and pepper as I go so it is up to you to do that. I like things salty.. Do what you want..

I garnished with a bit of parmesan, lemon zest and parsley. 

I like to get everything laid out and chopped ahead of time so that I can assure everything goes smoothly. AKA I don't burn shit.

I put all the dry stuff together so I can just throw it on in.

All the veggies together. I have also decided that I need a pair of those onion goggles. Those would be sweet so I don't have to cry eyeliner into my soup.

mmmmm... Butter. Handy TIP ** Pouring a bit of oil into the pot while you're melting your butter will keep it from burning.

You only want to cook the veggies until they are tender. Not too long or you'll end up with a weird pureed looking soup.

I used 7 cloves of garlic because I really like the flavor to come out (and you know... vampires... the struggle is real)

Aint she purty! I LOVE SOUP. Almost as much as I love lamp. 

That's all for tonight! See you on the flip side folks. 

 here's one more for the road.