Chicken and veggies

This made a decent chicken (which for me is saying something because since I started eating a lot more vegetarian, I don't really care for chicken much at all.)  I did have a couple of problems time wise with this recipe.  It said I could make it in a crock pot for 7-8 hours on low or 1.5 in the oven.  I translated that to 3-4 on high in the crock pot, but didn't have enough time for that so I did 2 in the crock pot on high and ended up with 1.5 in the oven and it still wasn't cooked all over.  We just ate the legs, thighs, and parts of the breast that got cooked through.  Just a warning to plan ahead with you time.
This is from the cheap fast good book, so it is super simple.  I just made it a bit more healthy since it used seasoning salt.  I'm not a big fan of the list of ingredients on that stuff so I used an organic no salt spice blend and sea salt.  Worked out well and had a great flavor.

Ingredients

• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 ribs celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 very large onion (seems all of ours are very large if going by the standard that 1 large = 1 cup diced.) cut into 8 pieces (or 2 smaller onions quartered)
• 5 baking potatoes (medium to small size) peeled and quartered
• 2 teaspoons organic no salt seasoning (I use one I got at costco)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 chicken, I used an organic chicken

Directions

1. preheat oven to 350.  In a small container, mix no salt seasoning with sea salt.
2. Prep veggies and toss in the bottom of a  large oven safe  pot with a lid (or crock pot).  Sprinkle about 1/2 of the seasoning mix on the veggies.
3. Prepare the chicken by removing neck and any giblets that may be in the cavity of the bird.  Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water removing any excess fat.  I also removed the skin from everything but the legs.  Place the chicken, breast side up, in the pot on top of the veggies rearranging if necessary so the lid closes tightly.  Sprinkle with remaining seasoning mix.  
4. Pour 1/2 cup water into the pot on the side of the chicken.
5. Bake until meat thermometer reads 180 about 1.5 hours.  (I'd be happy with 160/165 and hope for some carryover.  
6. cut chicken and serve with veggies.

alternative cooking - make in a crockpot and cook for 7-8 hours on low.

Orange chia seed breakfast pudding

I couldn't resist trying this recipe out even though I knew the texture would probably get to me after a while.  It did, but I'm proud to day I ate all but the last 2 bites of it.  Of course there were 2 servings and the other is still sitting in the fridge.  Hopefully someone else will be able to enjoy it before I have to toss it.  If you have not texture issues, this is quite a tasty and healthy breakfast and raw to boot.  Can't beat that.  You do have to start it the night before because you have to make the almond milk, but that is plenty simple.  Just plan ahead.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup water
• 3 pitted dates
• 3 oranges
• 1/3 cup chia seeds

Directions

1. Place almonds and water in high powered blender and blend until well blended.  Strain with a nut bag or very fine strainer.  
2. Place almond milk back in blender with dates and blend until smooth.  Zest 1 orange and add the zest to the blender.  Peel and section the zested orange and set aside for later.  Juice the remaining 2 oranges and add the juice to the blender.  pulse to combine.  
3. Add chia seeds and stir.  Let set for 20 minutes.  Stir in orange sections.  Makes 2 servings

Avocado salad dressing/ southwestern salad

I made a salad to go with the chili we had.  I wanted to stick with a southwestern theme so I decided to try the avocado dressing in the GSG book.  However, I ended up having no lemon juice and only 1 lime.  I subbed some orange juice.  The dressing was OK.  A bit too salty with the large amount of Liquid Aminos, but I thought it was good on the salad.  I just wouldn't use it as dip for veggies.  Too salty for my tastes.  I do have to say that I liked it enough to have some more salad for lunch today.  To make the salad I just tossed some lettuce (I had green leaf and romaine), 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted and some diced red, yellow, and orange bell peppers.  I tossed some black beans in the salad when I had it again today for lunch, and would probably add some tomatoes if I had any.  Shedded cheddar or monterey jack cheese would also be tasty.  I actually made some croutons for the salad by brushing some bread with olive oil and sprinkling with oregano and basil, dicing and  then broiling for 2-3 minutes.   Yum.

To explain why this has a 3 star and a 4 star - the dressing alone + 3 star - maybe less.  The salad together 4 star.

Ingredients

• 2 avocados
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (or if your me, juice of 1 lime plus juice of an orange - to equal 1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tablespoons Nama Shoyu or Bragg Liquid Aminos (I'll probably reduce this to 1 next time I make this)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2-4 Tablespoons water (I used all 4 and it was still pretty thick.)

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Toss with salad immediately before serving.

pumpkin doughnuts

This recipe isn't from double delicious, but it is from Jessica Seinfeld's first book deceptively delicious.  I wasn't nearly as impressed with this recipe as the previous recipes.  The donuts had a weird texture to me - almost too soft??  Hard to explain.  They win a post because Mr. Picky 3 year old also gobbled these up.  I did have to make some modifications though.  The original dough was just way too thin.  I also thought the first batch was just way too heavy on the pumpkin/sweet potato flavor so I added more cinnamon to the rest of the batch.
This is how I made them - with extra flour and cinnamon, and instructions written for a doughnut maker.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sweet potato puree (certainly you could just use another 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, but I had sweet potatoes to use up so I had made sweet potato puree)
• 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1 large egg white 
• 1 Tablespoon tub butter, melted - I would probably omit this next time and just add the whole egg.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup unbleached flour  (you could use wheat, but I didn't have any ground and didn't want to wake anyone up just yet with the noise of the grinder)
• 1/4 cup barley flour (again, just me being experimental, feel free to use regular flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (possibly more next time)
• powdered sugar for dusting if desired

Instructions

1. Plug in doughnut maker to pre-heat.  In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, pumpkin, sweet potato, buttermilk, egg white, tub butter, and vanilla.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Mix until incorporated.
2. Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough into doughnut maker.  Close lid and let cook for 5-6 minutes.  Remove.  Let cool and dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Roast beef and vegetable bake

OK, I'm debating posting this one.  It was tasty, but basically just a pot roast with the beef cut in cubes to cook faster.  It did have a couple of new things in it that I liked - like it added cabbage.  I had some that I had bought for something else and was perfectly happy to have another reason to use it.  I would never thought of adding that to a pot roast type dish.  It also had both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes.  While I love this idea, I've never been able to make it work effectively.  My sweet potatoes always end up getting overdone.  That being said, I've decided maybe I should go ahead and post it because it did have a different flavor -dash of cinnamon and dash of cloves.  That was actually nice.  It was a bit spicier than I would have liked and I even backed off the pepper just a tad because an anti-pepper child walked by as I was putting it in.  I think I'd cut it in half.  While I liked some spice, I think this was just a bit too much and too over the little pinch of cinnamon and cloves more than I would have liked.  Here's my adaptation of the recipe with notes to make it better next time.  Original was from Family Feasts.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 1/2 -2 lbs beef cut into 1 inch cubes 
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 cups finely chopped green cabbage
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper (I used a little less and would probably take it down to 1/2 teaspoon next time)
• pinch cinnamon
• pinch cloves
• 2 cups beef stock
• 4 -5 potatoes sliced (I used some red I had -next time I think I'd cube these.  They too were a bit overdone.)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced (I'd definitely cube this next time, and in bigger cubes than the potato since it seems to cook faster.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Coat a 9X13 with cooking spray.  (I'd use a large pan next time too - probably an old crock pot - or just cook it in the crock pot all together.)  
2. Heat oil in a large skilled until hot.  Add beef and cook until evenly brown on all sides.  Transfer to a plate leaving juice in the pan. 
3. Add bell pepper, onion, carrot, celery, and cabbage.  Cook, stirring occasionally until veggies soften.  Return beef to skillte.  Add paprika, salt, pepper, cinnamon and cloves.  Stir in broth.  Simmer for a few minutes.  
4. Meanwhile, layer bottom of prepared dish with potato and sweet potato slices.  Pour beef and vegetable mixture over the potatoes.  Bake, covered with foil until potatoes and beef cubes are tender, about 45 minutes (I should have probably started checking at 30 minutes.)

crock bean soup with kale

I knew I was behind but this is ridiculous!  I just counted, and even with my only intermittent cooking lately and the use of tried and true meals and take out pizza a little too often :)  I'm still 10 recipes behind in my posting.  One more today and I must get doing other things for the day.  

I chose this one just because it was very different for me.  It is the first thing I have actually made with kale.  I have bought kale a few times before and thrown it in my green smoothies, but I have never made a meal containing kale.  This made me excited to try this and of course a little apprehensive wondering if A it would taste good to me and B my kids would eat something with green stuff in it.  It went over pretty well though.  I liked it.  I did feel it needed just a bit more flavor.  I added extra salt and pepper to mine and it was fine.  I think maybe next time I'll add additional salt at the beginning of the cooking time - maybe let some sink into the beans.  I've read a lot on adding salt before, during or after to cooking beans, but I just felt like the center of the beans were a bit bland.  The overall soup was better (again with the extra salt and pepper.)  Some of the family loved it, some hated it, and others thought it was OK.

I found this recipe in my Saving dinner book.  I added more veggies and changed the beans - originals were cannellini, but in my grocery store those were $9 something a pound.  Kidneys were $.99.  Plus I'm not as big of fan of white beans anyway so kidney it was for us.  I did do another dumb thing and try to soak these in a quart jar ---Don't do it!!!  They grew way too large and then just got stuck in the jar and I had to dig them out.  No fun.  Seriously.  Choose a larger container.   Quart jars work great for 1 cup of beans.  I have no idea what made me think 1 lb would be fine.  Probably the fact that they fit in there just fine dry - only take up a little more than 1/2 of the jar.  Silly, silly me.  

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 extra large onion, chopped 
• 4-5 carrots, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 bunch kale, trimmed and sliced
• 1 pound kidney beans, soaked overnight
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (could have doubled this too I think)
• 40-50 oz chicken stock (this is approximate - I used a 32 oz box and whatever was left in my other container maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of that box -original just had 3 cans of chicken broth - it depends on how soupy you want the finished product - more like soup, or more like chili)
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce (I actually used a Tablespoon of tomato powder because for some reason I was out of tomato sauce -same thing just not reconstituted and I had used a bit extra stock so I didn't want/need any more liquid)
• salt and pepper (needed lots)

Directions

1. In a large skillet, saute onions, in butter until soft, add carrots and garlic and continue to saute until carrots soften a bit or onions get nice and golden.  Add kale and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.
2. In a slow cooker, place soaked beans, red pepper flakes and the contents of the skillet.  Cover with stock.  Cook on high 8 hours or until beans are tender.  Once beans are tender, add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

   

Lentil spinach salad

Here is the other one that worried me this week.  It was actually quite good.  I saw this pictured in my taste of home magazine and thought it looked interesting because it had lentils and spinach in a salad.  I though hmm, that's different, I wonder if it's good?  However because I wondered if it was good, I worried about trying it.  Luckily it was better than I expected.  Not sure my kids would agree though... But that has a lot to do with the fact that #1 it was a salad - Men (boys) don't eat salads and #2 if you're going to force me to eat a salad, then it must be covered in Ranch (I wouldn't allow ranch.)  Poor guys.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1/4 cup diced sweet onion
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh mint
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 5 oz. container feta
• 5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (I used pre-cooked and chopped it up.)

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring lentils and water to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 or until tender.  Drain and rinse in cold water. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk vinegar, mint, oil, honey, basil and oregano.  Add lentils, cucumber, zucchini, onion and tomatoes.  Stir to combine.  Add spinach, cheese and bacon.  Toss to combine.  

Confetti Pepperoni soup

So, I made a beet soup out of the 10 things you should eat book that I had checked out of the library, and no one liked it -including me and I actually like beets.  So I still had 1 beet that I hadn't used.  I found this recipe in the Family Feasts for $75 a week.  It was great - used a lot of things I already had.  For some reason I kept thinking it wasn't very tasty and haven't used the left overs, but it was good.  A bit spicy from the pepper, and I didn't get the beet and carrots cooked well enough.  I even cooked the veggies a bit longer than the recipe said, and they were still a bit too crunchy.  I'd definitely cook them even longer.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 6 cups stock -it called for beef broth - I used 1 container of beef stock - and 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 beet, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
• 1 cup uncooked small pasta (like elbow or shell)
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• salt to taste

Directions

1. combine rice, broth, and tomatoes in a soup pot and bring to a boil. (I'd add the carrots and beet here too.)
2. While the broth comes to a boil, heat oil in a small skillet and saute onion until softened.  Add garlic and cook for another minute or 2.  Add onion, garlic and remaining ingredients to the soup.  Cook until vegetables are tender and pasta is cooked al dente, 10-15 minutes.  (I'd probably wait to add the pasta next time until the veggies had cooked for 5-10 minutes.)

Lemon blueberry muffins

This recipe is from $5 dinner mom's book, but I have changed it, so I'm writing what I did while it is in the oven.  I'm pretty sure I'll want more lemon flavor and will want to add some lemon zest in the future.
These came out a bit dense, and had an odd flavor - I'm thinking from using pure Truvia - maybe next time try 1/4 cup suger, 1 T truvia ??  Also, I may add a bit more milk to counter the wheat flour substitution.


Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup flour - I would have subbed 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white, but I only had 1/2 cup wheat ground, so I used 1/2 cup wheat, 1 3/4 cup unbleached white.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons truvia
• 3/4 cup milk (I used fat free)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Juice of 2 lemons - about 3 1/2 - 4 Tablespoons
• 1 cup blueberries
• pinch sugar (I used less than a teaspoon)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Coat a muffin tin will cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  
3. Add eggs, truvia, milk, vanilla and lemon juice and mix until well blended. Stir in blueberries.  
4. Divide among muffin cups.  Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar.  Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Tomato basil quiche

I think this is the first or second quiche I've tried. I'm sad to say I was disappointed. The recipe is from the $5 dinner mom's breakfast book. p60.  I liked the flavor of the tomato and the basil, but I cooked it 15 minutes longer than it said to and it was still a bit too soft for me. Brandon liked it just fine, so it gets 3 stars - 4 from him and only 2 from me.

  I also had trouble with the crust - it didn't roll smooth, transfer easily or anything nice.  Just troublesome.  I totally should have used the home made pie crust I had in the freezer.  Anyway, I'd also probably add a bit more flavor to the egg mix - like some garlic mix, and maybe cut out 1/2 cup milk to make it less soft.  I do want to try more quiches.  I am intrigued by them.  I actually bought mini muffin tins today so I could try some of the mini ones I've seen around.

Apple dijon pork roast

This is a pork roast from the $5 dinner mom cookbook. (page 166)  Super simple - set it in the crock pot and mix apple juice, apple sauce and dijon mustard and pour it on top. She called for a little water in the bottom of the crock pot but I used apple juice. I was sadly disappointed that this was a bit dry because I had a thermometer in it. When it hit temp I turned it off, but I didn't take it out of the crock and it kept cooking. Lesson learned - take it out next time. Boo. I was very excited that I had actually paid attention.

 

Here it is served.  I added this one because i liked the potatoes served with it.  I just Sauteed them in a Tablespoon or 2 of olive oil with 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning and a bit of garlic mix, salt and pepper.  I had to add a bit more salt at the end, but I really liked how they turned out.

egg tortilla casserole

Here is another item I made from the $5 dinner mom breakfast cookbook. This one is on page 56. My only change was to use 3 burrito sized tortillas rather than 6 soft taco size. This was a fine casserole, but took twice as long to cook as the book said. I never like that, but especially at breakfast when I'm really hungry. :) While I liked this meal just fine, I think I would have preferred to just make some breakfast burritos. It would have been much faster and easier. I just remembered I used 1/2 salsa and 1/2 taco sauce - mostly because I'm not a huge fan of the salsa I have right now. I'm still not posting the recipe because it did take a very long time to cook, and like I said, I would have preferred egg burritos. Maybe someday I'll expand on the idea - add some diced red pepper or something, but for now, this is all I'm posting.

Salmon with Maple-Grapefruit Sauce

This is a recipe from my Sandi Richard's cookbook. I made it back in march, so I can't say if I changed anything. I'm pretty sure I used less Mrs. Dash than called for, but I actually found the Sambal Oelek than she calls for in a lot of her recipes and used that. It was way too spicy for the family. However, I liked the rest of the grapefruit sauce. I would love to try this again and use maybe 1/4 of the chili sauce, or just add some heat with a tiny bit of chili powder or something, definitely not a full teaspoon of the chili sauce. Until then I will refrain from posting the recipe because like I said it, I don't think I actually changed anything. It is on page 106 of the book if you happen to have it - Great book. I highly recommend it. 

 For me this was a 2-3 star -just too spicy.  Brandon really liked it though.

Mandarin chicken salad sandwiches

I tried these for lunch today.  Brandon and I both thought they were ok.  The boys didn't like them.  I only added 1/2 of the ginger it called for, and I would probably half it again if making this again.  Other than that they were fine.  I liked that they had fruit and veggies mixed in.  I served this with a pineapple cole slaw.

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 can mandarin oranges, juice reserved (I used a 15 oz. can, but didn't add all of the oranges)
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I'd go less next time)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• a couple of grinds of pepper
• 8 slices wheat bread (This made more than 4 sandwiches for us -We made only 4, but had left over.)

Directions

1. Mix mayo, 2 tablespoons reserved mandarin oranges juice, ginger, sesame seeds, garlic powder and pepper in a medium bowl.   Add the celery, chicken and oranges and stir until combined.
2. Serve as sandwiches on bread.

Chicken Parmesan Rollatini

This recipe comes from my food Network magazine.  It was a cute new spin on a Parmesan chicken because you used cutlets (I just pounded out some chicken breasts and cut the larger ones in half)  I'm pretty sure I made more bread crumb/parmesan mixture, but I honestly can't remember exactly what I did at this point in time.  I do know that it was good, but not great.  The sauce was ok, but not spectacular.  I wanted a bit more flavor in my sauce and I think I did add some extra thyme or Italian seasoning after tasting the sauce, but not a lot.  However, I do have to say that this was the first time I had used fire-roasted tomatoes.  Those were good, and I liked the flavor they added, I just want my Chicken Parmesan to have more thyme or rosemary, or oregano, not just basil.
  I also served this with polenta which we had never had.  No-one at our house was super impressed with polenta either.  :(
If making this again, I would serve it with a different red sauce - maybe still use the fire roasted tomatoes, but also add some other Italian seasonings.
The recipe can be found here.  I'm not going to re-type it because I can't remember what I did different anyway.

Oh, also, just reading through the recipe - I didn't use a cast-iron skillet.  I just put these in a 9 X 13 pan, and I didn't add fresh parsley, I sprinkled the chicken with dried oregano.

German chocolate bars

So, I love pretty much anything chocolate, and if you throw in coconut, pecans and caramel all the better, so this really caught my eye when I saw it in my Simple and Delicious magazine.  When I read that it also had crushed pretzels I was even more curious to try it.  I finally got the chance today because I was bringing treats to our choir potluck.  I made lemon bars (used that recipe just all lemon) which I know are good, and tried a new one. While they were good, they were over the top sweet for me.  I find that a lot when I use butterscotch chips though.  Somehow I manage to always forget that about butterscotch chips and try it again.  I like them in cookies, but I've made fudge with them, and not cared for it.  This recipe was super sweet, but the thing that threw it over the edge for me was the butterscotch chips.  It may be a lot better without it.  However, I think I'd rather just make Hello Dolly's (speaking of  which I'm pretty sure I don't have a recipe for those posted on the blog.
For the recipe go here.  I didn't change anything except for adding a couple of Tablespoons of coconut just because that was all that was left in the bag.  Nothing else different.
Oops, I apparently didn't take any pictures of this either.

Quick beef and Barley soup

Here is another one from Eating well.  This one from a few days ago.  This actually wasn't my favorite, so I'm only including a link.  I did double the recipe, but that is about it -didn't have fresh thyme and used dried, but nothing massive - oh, I did use only beef stock, not broth and water.  Still, it was not what I wanted my vegetable beef soup to taste like, and I love vegetable beef soup, so I was a bit disappointed.  It didn't taste bad or anything, it was just only OK, and really not exactly what I was hoping.  :(

Breakfast Bake Two

This is a brandon made recipe.  The greek orange sausage was awesome (not sure if he typed the recipe in or not.  Th breakfast bake was only OK.

• 1 lb. Greek Orange Sausage
• 1/3 cup chopped green or red bell pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped onions
• 2 1/2 cups frozen loose-pack hash browns
• 1 package (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 6 eggs

Heat oven to 400F

Pan fry sausage until not longer pink.  Mix cooked sausage, frozen hash browns, peppers, onions and cheese.  Place in 9x13x2 inch pan.  Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over sausage mixture.  Bake for 35 to 40 mins.

pre-melted chocolate/ brownies

So I wanted some brownies last night and I was going to use a box and use black beans instead of the oil, but instead I saw a box of "pre-melted" unsweetened chocolate that I had bought over Christmas break thinking I might use it.  I changed my mind because the things I was baking were truffles and I was afraid the change in texture of the chocolate would cause the truffles not to harden appropriately.  Anyway, I ended up with this box of chocolate in my cupboard and saw it when I was looking around thinking of brownies so I pulled it out and it had a brownie recipe on the back so I tried it.
Unfortunately it wasn't my favorite and I wouldn't recommend it unless you want a cakey brownie.  I'm also not a big fan of the pre-melted chocolate.  Sorry Nestles.  It comes in a pouch which you have to knead with your hand and then roll out.  I'd just as soon melt the cube in my microwave.  Probably just as simple and possibly faster as I just have to toss the cube in my microwave and stir after a minute.  This I had to knead until soft and then try to roll out of the pouch.  It was rather messy.
As for the brownie recipe on the back of the box - I followed it other than subbing out 1 cup splenda for sugar.  I really don't think that should have had any effect on the cakey factor.  I still used the full stick of butter, and the eggs, and 2/3 cup of actual sugar.  So, not sure why they were so cakey.  They also seemed done when I tested them at the minimum time, but when I cut into them they were doughy.  I do have to say that the brownies tasted good. It just didn't have the brownie texture I was looking for.  I would have preferred the box.  Still gets a 3 star because it is chocolate and taste good.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 4 packets unsweetened chocolate flavor
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tablespoons water 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• toffee bits (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 X 13 pan.
2. combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.  Stir sugar, butter, choco bake, eggs, water and vanilla vigorously in a large bowl.  Stir in flour mixture.  Spread into prepared baking pan.
3. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly sticky.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.  Cut into bars.

Pumpkin pie with oat crust

I've been debating even posting this recipe because it just wasn't my favorite, but it has grown on me over the 3 days it has been here, and I finished off the entire last piece for breakfast, so it earned postability with that.  The recipe comes from my King Arthur flour book, and since it is a whole grain book, you can bet it uses some whole grain in the crust.  It has barely any wheat, mostly oats, so I really thought it would be very tasty, but I didn't care for it day 1.  Not sure why.  I wasn't a fan of the oaty or wheaty taste in the crust.  I also wasn't a fan of the pumpkiny flavor of the pie.  I know, I know, it is pumpkin pie for Pete's sake what am I saying it was too pumpkiny.  I think that it tasted more like I was eating a squash and less like I was eating a pie, but I can't say it was because it wasn't sweet enough, because it was actually a bit too sweet that first day.  All I can say is that it improved with age, so I would say if making this again, definitely make it the day before, or 2 days before Thanksgiving.  It was definitely much better day 2, and even better today - lost the oaty or wheaty flavor, and somehow the pumpkin blended better with the other ingredients and didn't stick out as badly day 2 or 3, plus the spices and sweetness were better.   Day 1 I would have rated it about 2 or 2.5, Day 2 3-3.5, and today 4 stars.
Other Warnings - the crust was to be refrigerated overnight - didn't plan for that.  After refrigeration, it needs to come warm up for 15 minutes - didn't plan on that either.  (I ought to learn to read ahead better.)  Also, the recipe called for too much milk in the crust, but I have amended that in my version.  I also think I may try it with less ginger and nutmeg and a bit more cinnamon next time (although that was a dislike of the first day and not so much the second or third day, so if made early, the current spice blend may be just fine.)  Final warning is that this took longer to cook than it said.  DH took it out thinking it was done, but it was a bit too soft for me.  I put it back in for another 10 minutes and covered it with foil.  That did the trick.  It still wasn't super set, that happened as it cooled.

The crust
Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (2 1/4 oz.) rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor (I actually did this, this time, last time I just made and used that amount of oat flour by weight.  I would probably use oat flour for a crust in the future.  It is smoother and I think better for a crust.)
• 1/3 cup (1 1/4 oz.) whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup (1 3/8 oz.) unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons (1 oz.) packed brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 to 3 Tablespoons cold milk or half and half.  (we started with 3 - minimum recommendation in the book - it was way too much.  I was wiping milk off and adding flour.)

Directions

1. Whisk oats, flours, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.  Cut the butter into cubes and work into dry ingredients using fingers or a pastry blender until evenly crumbly.  Gradually add the milk until the dough is cohesive.  (holds together and doesn't seem dry and crumbly.)
2. Shape dough into a disk 1 inch thick.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days.
3. About 30 minutes before ready to assemble the pie, take the dough out of the refrigerator.  Allow it to warm until flexible (15-30 minutes.)
4. Preheat oven to 425
5. On a floured surface, roll dough into a 12 inch circle.  Transfer to a 9" pie plate that is at least 1 1/4 inch deep (but not deep dish.)  Place crust in fridge while preparing filling.

The filling

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 oz.) canned pumpkin 
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and half
• 3/4 cup honey (I actually used 1/2 cup honey and 1/4 cup agave but just because I was using some very dark honey.)
• 1 Tablespoon butter, melted 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamin
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions.

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until smooth.
2. Pour into prepared crust.  Cover with a crust shield (1st time I got to use mine - loved it.) or foil  Place pie on the bottom rack of oven and bake for 15 minutes (I was lazy and didn't do this - I didn't want to have to move it later - maybe that is why it wasn't ready at the time it was supposed to be.)  
3. After the 15 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 and move the pie to the middle rack.  Bake until the temperature at the center is at least 170 (mine was when I thought it was too runny.)  and a knif inserted 1 inch from the edge comes our moist but clean (it didn't pass this test at 170.)  35 minutes.  (I had to leave mine longer, but because it came out and back in, I can't give an accurate time for me.  Just expect it to take a bit longer.)
4. Remove pie and cool to room temperature before serving.