Healthy 3-Ingredient Spinach Artichoke Side Dish

Creamy, rich flavor in a side dish you can feel good about feeding your family! I love it when healthy tastes good! 

What makes this recipe over-the-top on the must-make-again scale is that it has just THREE ingredients. You can whip it up in about 10 minutes! Seriously!

Here's the starring line-up: Neufchatel cheese, marinated artichoke hearts, and frozen chopped spinach! That is it!

Healthy, 3-Ingredient Spinach Artichoke Side Dish

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

16 ounce package frozen chopped spinach

1 cup of marinated artichoke hearts, drained slightly

4 ounces Neufchatel cheese (cream cheese works), cut into 1/2-ounce chunks

Directions:

1. Place artichoke hearts in a blender or food processor, and pulse until chopped small--almost a puree.

2. Cook spinach in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until defrosted. Add chopped artichoke hearts to spinach and increase heat to medium-high, stirring often. 

3. Once boiling, add Neufchatel cheese, reduce heat to low, and cover.

4. Cook 2-4 more minutes, stirring cheese in as it melts.  Serve warm.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

These are what I like to refer to as a "sometimes" food with my kids. SOMETIMES I need something sweet. SOMETIMES I need chocolate. SOMETIMES I feel entitled to cheesecake, peanut butter, brownies, and a big glass of milk. Last weekend was a "sometimes." We went on a family backpacking trip for spring break. It was 3 days of seeing God's beautiful grandeur up close. But backpacking food is neither beautiful nor grand. It is edible and sustaining. 

So after we cleaned up and showered and rested for a day (and ate at Five Guys), I made these babies. They are perfect chewy brownies with a fluffy, peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake-ish truffle center, topped off with a drizzle of rich chocolate glaze. 

I ate mine slowly and deliberately, savoring each bite. Then the next day I ate another the same way. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies
Makes 16

Brownie Layer:
1 1/4  cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Truffle Filling:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350. Grease a square baking pan (9x9" or 8x8")
2. Make brownie layer by melting chocolate chips and butter (don't boil). Set aside. Beat brown sugar and eggs. Add chocolate mixture a little at a time, beating well until completely mixed. Stir in flour and baking powder. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool completely.
3. Make truffle filling by melting chocolate chips over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Beat cream cheese in a separate bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in chocolate-peanut butter mixture. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Spread over cooled brownies. Place in refrigerator while preparing glaze.
4. Prepare glaze by melting chocolate chips and coconut oil, stirring until smooth. Spoon mixture into a plastic storage bag. Use scissors to snip a small hole in one bottom corner of the bag. Drizzle chocolate over the filling. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting into bars to serve. Makes 16.

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Lemon Chess Squares

Chess Squares. Have you ever heard of them? They are a sinfully delicious bar based on the Southern-originating Chess Pie. My mom always makes them at Christmastime, and I have carried on the tradition with my family.

This year, however, I changed them up a bit. Not because they needed changing. They are completely wonderful without any change. But when all my family were putting in their requests for Christmas treats, my husband requested lemon bars. I don't care for lemon bars. I don't hate them, but they are typically too sweet and gelatinous (using that word will turn anyone off of them, huh?) for my taste. So I asked if a lemon cookie would suffice. He said "Sure, just something sweet and lemony."

Well, it was Christmas Eve and I had two goodies on our grand list of Christmas treats that I still needed to make: Chess Squares and Lemon Cookies. I was sick of being in the kitchen, so I decided to give the Chess Squares a lemon makeover. 

The result became a new family favorite instantly! These have plenty of lemon flavor, without the overwhelming sweetness of a traditional lemon bar. I have one son who despises cheesecake and can usually taste the smallest bit of cream cheese in anything I make, but even he loved these. I really think anyone who likes lemon will LOVE these bars. And they are extremely quick and easy to make!

Lemon Chess Squares

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)

1 stick butter, melted

4 eggs (divided)

3 1/2 teaspoons pure lemon extract (divided)

1 brick (8oz) cream cheese

2 1/3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°.

2. Mix cake mix, melted butter, one egg and 2 teaspoons lemon extract until it holds together well. Press in a greased 9x13 baking dish. This is crust.

3. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add remaining 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg.  Beat in 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract. Pour mixture over crust.
4. Bake in top-half of oven 40 minutes, or until set and light brown on edges. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

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Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Father's Day is this Sunday, which naturally makes me think of bacon. So I decided to take action.

Dates are starting to show up in the produce department. I found mine at Costco last week. And I bought their big brick of Raskas Cream Cheese (to use in another recipe, but it is a BIG brick). It is THE BEST cream cheese I've had.   I also had some cashews leftover from my trailmix recipe.  Adding some thick-cut bacon and honey to the mix, and I was ready to rock.

Pit the dates. Make a thin slice lengthwise to open, then the pit is pretty loose in there. Pull out each pit and discard it.   

Next, put a 1-2 teaspoon slab (depending on the size of the date) of cream cheese in each opened date. Then push a cashew into the cream cheese on each one.

Now pre-cook the bacon a bit by placing it between a couple of paper towels on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high for 1 minute. 

Here is the bacon after the pre-cook step. It is not crispy at all. It should be just starting to curl up at the ends.

Cut the strips of bacon into halves or thirds. I did mostly halves, but thirds for some of my skinnier dates.  It isn't an exact science. Wrap the dates in the bacon and secure through the middle with a toothpick. 

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can skip the parchment, but I recommend it if you have it.  Makes clean-up much easier.

Put a squirt of honey on each bacon-date roll.  This glaze is SO yummy when it bakes.

Bake for 7 minutes at 450°. Turn over each one and return to the oven to bake 5-7 minutes more, until crispy on the edges.

Tastes divine. And has a fair amount of redeeming value--that's whole fruit in there...whole milk in the cheese... a whole nut... and a whole bunch of yummy. 

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Merry Monday 16

The Weekend re-Treat

Show Stopper Saturday @ Will Cook for Smiles

Recipe Round-Up

Merry Monday Link Party