Too much yum for one day!

Today Mr. O'Connell surprised me with 5 new recipes to try this week. After a grocery shopping trip, we were hungry and wanted dinner now, which typically means fast food, but tonight we managed to make a recipe that took 10 minutes start to finish, AND it was so good!

Chicken Apple Cheddar Paninis-

Ingredients:
Deli chicken breast (1/2 lb for 2 servings)
Sliced cheddar cheese- 4 slices
1 Granny Smith Apple
Dijon Mustard
Whole Wheat French Bread (sliced by the bakery)
Olive Oil

1. First I heated up my grilling pan, with Olive oil to make it non sticky. 


2. I sliced my apple with my mandolin. You really only need 4 slices, about a 1/4 in thick 


3. Using a pastry brush, brush olive oil on one side of each piece of bread (8 for 4 sandwiches). 


4. Spread dijon mustard on one side of half of 4 of the pieces of bread. 


5. Stack the chicken, cheese and apple and top with another piece of bread with the oiled side out.     


6. Place on the grill pan and set the weight on top. Only grill for about 2 minutes then flip. 


7. The cheese should melt, and the bread should toast, and then it's done!  

These were so fast, and super yummy, and for my WW friends, roughly 3 points per sandwich!!

Now onto dessert! I had seen on Pinterest this recipe for Cheesecake stuffed chocolate dipped strawberries. These sounded amazing, so I thought I would try!

Ingredients:

1 pkg Strawberries

1 tub of Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling (but you won't use all of it)

1/2 cup Chocolate chips 

1. Put the 1/2 cup of CC into a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds until melted. (about 1 min) Stir between. 


2. Cut out the stem of the strawberries and hollow out some space.  


3. Fill a piping bag (or ziploc) with a few large spoon fulls of Cheesecake Filling.  


4. Pipe the cheesecake into the strawberries, with a little overflow.  


5. Dip in chocolate and set on a plate to wait to be eaten.  


6. Enjoy!

These also took about 5 minutes to prepare and they were a quick, sweet snack! 

So there you have it, my two quick recipes that are so fast, and so delicious!

:)

Tasty Balls :)

Where have I been, you ask? Well, I have been at home, baking. I got the itch back and I wanted to share some awesome noms that have been messing up my kitchen! lol

Cake Balls-

A personal favorite of mine, these are pretty easy and way delish!

1. First, bake a cake. Boxed or scratch doesn't really matter. 


2. Once it's done, and still warm, dump the cake into a bowl. Add a cup of frosting (a whole container from the store) and mix. This will form a dough, which you will need to stick in the freezer for 30 min-1 hour to firm it up, and cool it down. 


3. Once cool and firm, scoop the dough out into balls. I like the size of a large gum ball, but choose what size you want. Roll into a tight ball and (for cake pops) insert the stick. 


4. Stick these back in the freezer to cool and harden. This will help the chocolate cool to the desired harness. 


5. Dump a bag of chocolate chips (milk for me) into a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until the chips are melted (stop right before all the chips are melted and stir to melt completely)


6. Dip the balls in the chocolate by the stick. 


7. I found some green foam I had left over, and poked holes in to hold my pops upright while they hardened. Styrofoam would work too. 


8. Then, so they were pretty, I sprinkled some sprinkles on top :) 


9. Now dip the other 44, and you will have delish cake pops :)

These are really quite simple, and great to do while watching a movie because they do take a little time to cool and dip. But they are TOTALLY worth it. I am not sure how anyone else makes cake balls, but this way makes them so moist and delish that people will ask you "How did you make these!??!" They are a huge hit every time I make them! 

So please try them out, and let me know what you think! 

:)