Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

If you are a reader of Our Best Bites, you might already be familiar with this recipe. I LOVE me some yummy Alfredo sauce, so this does the trick without the same amount of calories and fat--if you're counting. :)

(Recipe found here)

You will need:

2 C low-fat milk (I use skim)
1/3 low fat cream cheese
2-3 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

**Put milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. 

** In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic, sautee for about 30 seconds.

**Add milk mixture to the pan--stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be thickening up. **When it’s thickened remove the pan from the heat. 

**Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. 

**Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using.

**It will continue to thicken upon standing. 

**Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.  

YUM!

Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Cookies

If you are a fan of pumpkin this fall season, and/or a fan of our Pumpkin Cake Roll, you will probably love this yummy little treat! This was another one of those Facebook recipes that my friends were sharing so it would be pinned to their walls. I must say, these did not disappoint!

     
Cookies:

•  3 cups flour 
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

 **Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

**Beat together brown sugar, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla. 

**In a separate bowl, shift together the dry ingredients. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.

**Drop by teaspoon onto a Pammed baking sheet

** Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a rack. 

  

Cream Cheese Filling 

• 1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1 - 16 oz. package of powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Pinch of cinnamon--to taste

**Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Frost flat side of half the pies and top with another piece!

YUM!!!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake

A big thanks to my friend Amy and Pinterest for this little bit of heaven! I had to make a cake for refreshments at school on the day we were meeting our new principal. Lucky, Ame had just told me about this little beauty so I was just looking for a reason to make it. Of course, it didn't disappoint. I'm pretty darn sure you'll love it too!

 (picture from here)

You will need for the cake:

1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 box of instant chocolate pudding (4 oz.)

3/4 C. hot water

3/4 C. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

For the Filling you will need:

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (softened

1/2 C. sugar
1 egg

 1 C. chocolate chips

For the frosting:

Your favorite chocolate frosting

(I happen to LOVE Betty Crocker's chocolate frosting so I used that. :D)

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray with flour.
2. In large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
3. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly over top of batter. Using table knife, swirl filling through batter. Sprinkle with nuts.
4. Bake 47 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Spread frosting over cake. Store covered in refrigerator.

Makes 15 servings

dorito chicken casserole

alright. so here's the deal. sometimes, the title of a meal just sounds gross. like this one. right? well don't you turn your nose up just yet. listen. try it. and then judge from there.

i found this recipe on this blog, and i immediately wanted to try it. do i love doritos? yes. chicken? yes. all things cheesy? yes. all things mexicanish? yes. so it was a win-win for me. and we loved it! not kidding. i expected the doritos to go soggy, but they didn't at all. instead, they baked onto the pan and stayed crispy. awesome, right?

source

what you need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded (i cooked them in the crock pot all day so they'd shred easily)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 can rotel

1/2 pkg. taco seasoning

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 bag nacho cheese doritos

mix everything except the doritos together. line a 8X11 (i think that's the size. i could have made that up) baking dish with crushed doritos. layer half of the chicken mixture on top. put another layer of crushed doritos, the rest of the chicken mixture, and shredded cheese. cover with foil and bake on 375* for about 30 minutes.

yum. like i said. try it and THEN you can judge :)

Mexican Lasagna (Chicken)

Hello out there! I just HAD to send this new recipe your way after trying it out last night. I got it from the Scrumptious Sister blog a while ago but haven't gotten around to making it. However, last night I made it for my family and it's totally worth passing on! One of us sisters has already posted a different Mexican Lasagna recipe but that one contains ground beef, but for chicken lovers like me this one's a winner!

(I even borrowed their picture from here)

Here's what you need:

Cooking Oil Spray

6 Corn Tortillas, cut into quarters {I used 4 flour and cut them into strips}
1 Large Egg
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Mild Chunky Salsa
1 lb Chicken Breast, cooked and shredded
4 oz Cream Cheese, half inch cubed
2 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro, chopped
3 Scallions chopped {I didn't use any}
1 Tsp Salt
2 Cups Mexican Cheese Blend (or a blend of Monterey Jack and Mild Cheddar), divided

**Preheat oven to 350 F°.
**Place the quartered tortillas on an oil sprayed baking sheet, then spray the tops with additional oil.
  **Bake for 5 minutes, remove and set aside.
  *In a large bowl, whisk one egg. Add the milk, sour cream, salsa, shredded chicken, cubed cream cheese, cilantro, scallions and salt. Stir to combine.

**Arrange half of the par-baked tortillas on the bottom of an oil sprayed 7×11 baking dish. Layer half the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas, then layer 1 cup of the cheese blend on top.

**Continue to layer the rest of the tortillas on top, followed by the remaining chicken mixture and cheese.
  **Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.

 SOOOOO yummy!