Cake Truffles

1 baked cake - I started with my favorite cake
1 container cream cheese frosting (although any frosting will do)
1 package chocolate chips

Put the cooled cake into a mixing bowl and blend it together with the container of frosting. I did this in the kitchen aid.

Roll into 1 inch balls and put on cookie tray.
Freeze for 3-4 hours.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler. Let it cool a bit before dipping. Dip frozen truffles into chocolate with a fork, push off fork using a toothpick. Return to fridge or freezer. Decorate tops with melted white chocolate.

Don't let Claire anywhere near the operation.

Lettuce Wraps

Warning: this recipe contains an odd ingredient. If you don't love lettuce wraps enough to overcome that, then just skip it.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
8 mushrooms, cut into small pieces
1 cup (2 cans?) of water chestnuts, cut into small pieces
3 small cloves of garlic, diced
1-2 bunches of green onions, finely chopped
1 small handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1/3 cup of hoisin sauce (found in asian market or aisle)
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
(2 Tbsp?) canola or veg oil

1 head of iceberg lettuce, cut in half

Cook the chicken in oil until almost done, then drop in the garlic for about a minute. Add the mushrooms and water chestnuts. Cook for another minute or so, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the hoisin sauce and soy sauce, mix to coat; add green onions and cilantro. Cook for another minute or so.
Serve with lettuce.

Chicken or Shrimp Fettuccine

Carrie taught me this recipe a long time ago:

Cook 1 chicken breast (cubed) or 1 cup shrimp in 2 Tbsp butter

In a different pan, saute in 2 Tbsp olive oil:
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, mashed

Add
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano

Then add
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt/pepper

Pour over 1 lb pasta. (picture features all my leftover pastas together)

Chocolate Cheescake

Crust
1 package chocolate graham crackers (1/3 of a box)
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup butter (melted)

Crush the graham crackers and mix in the butter. Press into 9'' pie tin.

Filling
2 packages of cream cheese **room temperature** or else they will not mix with the chocolate
5 oz of melted chocolate (this is just under 1 cup)
1/2 cup+3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 eggs

Stir chopped chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pourable. Blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder in processor until smooth. Blend in eggs. Mix in lukewarm chocolate. Pour filling over crust; smooth top. Bake until center is just set and just appears dry, about 1 hour. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around sides of cake to loosen. Chill overnight.

Green rice

I should say that this recipe is kind of a bugger. I can't really recommend it unless you have a food processor or a better blender than mine. Here's why

Combine:
1 seeded jalapeno
3 Tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup cilantro
2 green onions (i use 1/3 reg onion)
1 clove garlic
salt/pepper

So you're supposed to blend the above together, but the olive oil is just not enough liquid to get it going in a blender. So I end up doing a lot of work with a spatula or adding more liquid (like lime).

Cook the rice 1 cup rice, 1 cup broth, 1 cup water.

Mix the green blended mush into the rice.

Monkey bread for 1

Ok, well more than one, but its a smaller (1/3) version of this recipe
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/monkey-bread/

I love this recipe because: it contains cinnamon, it takes 20 minutes, and costs about $2 to make.

1 biscuit roll (the non flaky kind)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup whitey sugar

Cut up your biscuits into 4 pieces and roll them around in the sugar/cinnamon mix. (Like snickerdoodles.) Put them in the bread pan.

Mix together:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 stick of butter (melted)

Pour over the top.

Cook at 350 for 20mins or until the biscuits look nice and crispy on top.
Beth mentioned that people have done this on camping trips in a dutch oven. mmmm.