Life as an Aced

The other day Browsing Facebook I found a post for 3 ingredient Desserts Eddie LOVES Mint Chocolate so when I saw these little bites I knew I had to try them I mixed up the recipe a little bit using Mint Oreos instead of Regular and even with my fear of mint overload they were delicious and EVERYONE that has tried them so far has LOVED them :) Mint Oreo Cheesecake Bites Ingredients 2 Bags of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips 18-20 Oreos 4oz (1/2 block) of Cream Cheese Sprinkles (optional) Directions 1) Place Oreos in a bag and smash them up 2) In a bowl mix together Oreos and Cream Cheese until blended and thick 3) Place mixture into Fridge for about 30 minutes 4) Melt 1 bag of Chocolate in Microwave (30 second increments) 5) Place Cupcake liners into a mini cupcake tray 6) Cover the bottom of each liner with melted chocolate 7) Place in Fridge to Harden Chocolate (about 5 minutes) 8) Top Chocolate with a spoonful of the Oreo mixture 9) Top Oreo Mixture wit...

Last night I had left over pizza dough in the fridge that I needed to use up Usually I'll make a mini pizza or pizza roll ups but I didn't have pepperoni and knew just cheese wouldn't impress the boys (husband and brother-in-law) so i decided to jazzy up the cheese with some garlic and see what happens These ended up being Eddies favorite thing ever AKA "Fire" (in his words) and a recipe that will be sticking around for a while Cheesy Garlic Bread Rolls Ingredients Pizza Dough Butter Minced Garlic Parmesan Cheese Mozzarella Cheese Directions 1) Roll Out Dough 2) Top with Butter - Garlic - and Cheeses 3) Roll Up and place in Fridge for 15 minutes 4) Slice Up 5) Bake on Pizza 2 for 20 minutes (about 400-425 degrees)

Today is Labor Day!! Since me and Eddie have been gone all week for his Friend Joe's Wedding we are going over to Eddies Mom's instead of hosting ourselves so I decided to make a Broccoli Salad to bring along. Broccoli Salads are one of my favorites so when I found this recipe on Cooking Light and how easy it was to make from scratch I couldn't resist - as always I adapted a little based on our tastes and what I had on hand Ingredients 1/3 cup mayonnaise 3 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 2 tablespoons honey 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 cups coarsely chopped broccoli florets 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted 1/2 cup reduced-sugar dried cranberries 1 cup Grapes Directions 1. In a Large Bowl Combine mayonnaise and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) 2. Stir in broccoli, and remaining ingredients. 3. Transfer to a serving bowl then Cover and chill 1 hour before serving.

Facebook Food Videos are how i have been finding a majority of my new recipes lately. When a recipe popped up for Copycat Chili's Honey Chipotle Crispers I knew I had to try it as these are one of Eddie's Favorites from the restaurant. The Original Recipe comes from  Delish  but I have adapted it based on what I had on hand and our love of extra spice :) INGREDIENTS Sauce 3/4 c. Agave 1/4 c. Water 2 tbsp. Sriracha ketchup 2 tsp. Adobo (from a can of Chiptole Pepper in Adobo) 1 tbsp. Apple cider vinegar Chicken 3/4 c. Flour 1/4 tsp. Salt 1/4 tsp. Pepper 1 tsp. Garlic powder 2 Eggs 1 1/2 c. Panko 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips Oil for Frying Dried Ghost Pepper DIRECTIONS 1) Make the Honey-Chipotle Sauce by combining all ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk and bring to a boil for about 2-3 minutes, letting it reduce. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 2) In a Ziplock Bag, combine flo...

As much as I love it I have never made Banana Bread before but I had a few bananas I left go too long and I found a really easy recipe on  Favorite Family Recipes  so I figured I'd give it a shot and soooo happy I did Banana Bread Ingredients: 1 cup Sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup butter 3 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup Nuts 1 1/2 cups flour 3 bananas Directions: 1) Pre Heat Oven to 325 degrees 2) Mix together everything but the flour and bananas 3) Slowly Add in Flour 1/2 cup at a time 4) Add in Bananas (mix only a little if you want chunks - a lot if no chunks) 5) Pour into a bread pan 6) Bake for about 1 hour or until knife in middle comes out clean

While Eddie was gone on a work trip I decided to be lazy and not go grocery shopping but instead eat all the food we had in the house - surprisingly we had a TON and i was able to make some yummy meals including this takeout copy cat fried rice Takeout Copy Cat - Fried Rice Ingredients:  3 Tbsp Oil 2 eggs 1/4 cup shredded Carrot 1 clove garlic (chopped) 1 tsp Onion Powder Red Chile Pepper Flakes 1 tsp Ground Ginger 3 cups cooked rice 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce 1 tsp sesame oil salt and pepper Directions: 1) Add 1 tbsp of oil to a pan and scramble eggs seasoning with salt and pepper 2) Remove Egg and wipe out pan 3) Add 2 more tbsp of oil into the pan with the carrots, garlic, onion powder, red chile flakes and ginger and cook for about 2 minutes on medium high heat 4) Add Rice, soy sauce and sesame oil and cook for about 3 more minutes on medium stirring to combine all ingredients 5) Taste and season with extra salt and peeper if needed

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a Rice Crispy Treat they call Avalanche Bark. If you haven't tried it they are AMAZING!!! Their Website describes them as a mixture of creamy peanut butter, white confection, crisp rice cereal, chewy mini-marshmallows and topped with semi-sweet chocolate chips. It's crunchy, chewy, chocolatey and sweet! While searching for recipes to make for the Academy Awards i came across Avalanche Popcorn on  Chef in Training  so I decided to give it at try . . .I thought I had mini marshmallows but ended up being out however the Recipe really doesn't need them and tasted great without them Avalanche Popcorn Ingredients 8 Cups of Popped Popcorn 1 Cup White Chocolate Chips 3 Spoonfuls of Peanut Butter 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips Directions 1) Melt White Chocolate and Peanut Butter in the microwave until smooth (30 second increments) 2) Pour Mixture over Popcorn and Mix until popcorn is fully coated 3) Spread popcorn out onto a baking she...

After a long workout at the gym it was time to make lunch - I've had a package of ground sausage sitting in the fridge that I could decide what to do with - so I asked the boys and meatballs it was!! Ended up making meat ball sub paninis to be exact but served the extra meatballs on the side and they were just as good on their own as in the sandwich :) Sausage Meatballs Ingredients 1 package of ground sausage ⅓ cup bread crumbs 1 tsp Onion Powder ¼ cup Parmesan cheese 1 egg ground black pepper Directions 1) Preheat oven to 375°F. 2)Mix ingredients just until blended. 3)Shape into meatballs 4) Bake in mini muffin tin or on a baking sheet for 18-20 minutes

Pinterest is full of a ton of Crock Pot Mashed Potato Recipes and what better day to try them then over Thanksgiving Ingredients:  9 Potatoes 1 Package of Cream Cheese 1 Cup Sour Cream 1 stick of Butter 1/4 Cup Milk 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp garlic powder 16oz Cheddar Cheese 1 pound of bacon - cooked and crumbled Directions: 1) Peel Potatoes and Cook in CrockPot on low for about 8 hours 2) Transfer Potatoes to a Kitchen Aid and blend until smooth 3) Blend in Cream Cheese, Sour Cream, Milk, Onion Power, Garlic Powder, and half the cheese 4) Put mixture Back into Crock Pot and keep on warm until ready to serve 5) Top with a little bacon and cheese leaving extra cheese - bacon - and sour cream for each portion

For Thanksgiving I had the idea of making mini cheese-balls but with Eddie Rushing me out the door we scratched that idea and just through it all in a dish instead . . . same flavor but OMG so much easier and faster Ingredients: 2 Packages Cream Cheese 8 oz Shredded Cheddar 1 tsp Onion Powder 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp cayenne pepper Chopped Pecans Directions 1) Beat together all ingredients but Pecans until well blended 2) Spread into a serving dish and top with Pecans Serve with Pretzels - Crackers - Bread - really anything :)