Quick Chocolate Balls

--thanks to Kim P.
3/4 cup white sugar
½ cup butter room temp
2 T milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 c quick cooking oatmeal
¼ cup unsweetened coca powder
¼ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut

Beat together the sugar and butter until creamy. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add the oatmeal and sift cocoa over the mixture. Blend well.

Form the dough into 1 inch balls.

Pour pecans and coconut onto separate plates. Roll half the balls in the coconut and the other half in the pecans.

Refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 2 months.

Makes about 2 ½ dozen balls.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

These are the cookies that have been served at many Stake sister gatherings. Recipe from South Ogden Stake Relief Society.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

8 ½ Tbsp. butter
3 ¼ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 ½ cups cocoa
3 ¼ cups flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
2 ½ Tbsp. oil
3 Tbsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
Form into walnut-sized balls and roll in powdered sugar. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Do not over bake. Makes 63 cookies.

-- click HERE for a printable version

Oreo Balls

8oz cream cheese, softened
1 package of Oreos, crushed
23 oz bag of milk chocolate chips melted with 4 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or chocolate candy coating

Crush the Oreos (including the white filling) into fine crumbs with a food processor. Once they are all crushed then mix them with the cream cheese (do this in a mixer, not by hand). When it is well combined then you can start rolling the mixture into balls. Lay them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (and don't let the balls touch each other). Once you have all the balls made, put them in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.While they are hardening, melt the milk chocolate in a bowl.Set out another big piece of wax paper to set the balls on once they are coated.If dipping in melted chocolate chips then place dipped balls in the fridge to set up. If using candy coating they should harden at room temp in a few minutes.

Blog Update

If you have fun recipes you want to share us- please email me and I will add them to the blog. Thanks. memorialparkreliefsociety@gmail.com

Need Ideas for Dinner

Here are 3 recipes that I have made recently that my family likes (just thought I'd share)

Tex-Mex Meatloaf

Serves 6. If you follow Weight Watchers, then this is a Completely Filling Foods Recipe or 4 points per serving.

1 1/2 lbs hamb. (5 % fat or less)
1/2 c. FF salsa (divided)
1 egg white
1 tsp. chili pwd.
1 tsp. dried oregano
3/4 tsp. ground cumin (which I normally don't like-but I can't taste it in this recipe, so it's okay)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 C. shredded FF Cheddar Cheese (I only use the FF on my portion, because it is more expensive, everyone else gets regular cheese)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine hamb. 1/4 C. salsa, egg white and seasonings. Mix. Transfer half of the mixture to baking pan or muffin tins. Top with cheese (if using loaf pan-leave 1/2 inch border around edges without cheese). Spoon remaining hamb mixture over top. Spread top with remaining salsa. Bake muffin tins 30-35 min or loaf 65-70 min. Meat thermometer should read 160. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Cut loaf into 6 slices. My book says that you can also use pico de gallo instead of salsa, just make sure it is FF. I added this to my regular recipes (not just my Weight Watchers Recipes). Taken from Weight Watchers Pure Comfort Book. This is an unusual meatloaf recipe because you don't add oatmeal or any other fillers (but maybe you could-I don't know).

Balsalmic Vinegar Pork Chops
4 pork chops
S and P
2 T. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2/3 C. Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp sugar

Season chops wtih S and P. Heat oil in pan over Med-high heat for 1 min. Cook chops for 5 minutes, turning half-way through. Remove chops, place on a clean plate. Turn down heat to Med. Cook Vinegar and sugar in same pan. Cook until slightly thickened (about 2 minutes). Return chops and any juices from chops into vinegar mixture. Cook 4 minutes, turning to coat with sauce. It smells really strong, but tastes very mild.

Jason’s Pork Chops (Jason found this one on the internet and made it for dinner the other night)
½ C. soy sauce
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. Honey
2 tsp. Garlic powder
4 pork chops

Make marinade. Marinade for 2-4 hours in the fridge. Preheat grill to high. Pam the grate on the grill. Grill for 5-8 minutes per side. (Jason only marinaded them for about 20 minutes). They were very moist and delicious. The website said you can do chicken also. Some readers thought it was too salty, but we didn’t think so. Some readers added fresh garlic.

Biscuits

I found this recipe in an old ward cookbook of my Mom's. I thought they were great.

3 C. flour
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 C. margarine, room temp.
1 egg, beaten
1 C. milk

Combine dry ingr. Cut margarine in. Separately beat together egg and milk. Add egg and milk. Mix well. You may need to add more flour until dough is not sticky. Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into biscuits. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Bake on highest rack. Makes 24. For my family of 4/5 I would probably half this recipe.

Breakfast Casserole

This is the recipe from the Ward Christmas Brunch.

1 lb of Italian Pork Sausage (Cooked, drained, crumbled) OR 1 lb. ham or bacon
4 1/2 C. cubed day old bread
2 C. shredded sharp cheese
10 eggs, slightly beaten
4 C. milk
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
Pepper, to taste
1/2 C. mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1/2 C. tomatoes, peeled and chopped (optional)

Butter a 9 X 13 pan. Put bread in pan. Sprinkle with cheese. In separate bowl combine eggs, milk and spices. Pour egg/milk mixture over bread/cheese. Sprinkle sausage and optional ingredients on top. At this stage you can cover and chill overnight, if you want to prepare ahead. If not, let sit for 10 min before putting in the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.