Never too late to post some recipes!

Sorry about the lateness of this. I've been trying to get swole. </end corny internet meme>

Sunday's menu was pretty easy, but time consuming.

• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
• White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
• Cake Truffles
• HOT-HOT-HOT Buffalo wings

 Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
(SOOOO EASY!)
4 thin, frozen chicken breasts

1 (15 ounce) an diced tomatoes w/chiles

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

1. Place chicken breasts on the bottom.
2. Dump all other ingredients into slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.
4. About an hour before finish, take out the chicken and shred with 2 forks.
5. Place the chicken back into the pot and let it finish cooking.
6. EAT IT! 2 tablespoons of light sour cream with a tablespoon of guacamole is delicious! Or, crumble in some tortilla chips and low-fat shredded cheese.

 HOT-HOT-HOT Buffalo Wings
1 bag of frozen wings, thawed
2 jars of your favorite wing sauce
1 t hot sauce (optional.... if you like it super, duper, steam-pouring-out-of-your-ears hot!)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Line a baking sheet with foil (for easier cleanup!)
3. Lay out all of the wings on the baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10-20 minutes, or until tops begain to brown a little.
5. Flip, and bake the other side for an additional 10-20 minutes.
   
   
6. Once both sides of crisped, place wings and wing sauce into a slow-cooker.
7. Cook on high for 1-2 hours. Then, put on warm.
   
   

Recommendation: thin the wing sauce out with a little bit of water. I didn't even add any additional hot sauce to our recipe and it was still super hot. Both DH & I broke out in a sweat and had swollen lips for a little bit.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
(These are huge hit with everyone!)
1 stick of butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
1 bag of white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. 
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Combine oats, flour, salt, and baking soda; stir into butter mixture one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. (or use a cookier scooper to make tiny little cookies that you can't stop eating!)
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. 

Cake Truffles
(People think these are so fancy.... little do they know that it takes 4-6 ingredients!!)
1 box of cake mix (your choice)
1 can of frosting (your choice)
Either: 1 can of diet pop, 1 cup of applesauce, or ingredients listed on cake mix to make cake
2 trays of melting chocolate (Almond Bark)
Parchment paper

1. Bake cake according to directions or by using the low-fat methods listed above (replace all wet ingredients with either a can of diet pop or a cup of unsweetened applesauce).
2. Let cake cool COMPLETELY
3. Crumble up cake into a large bowl. Add 3/4 or the entire can of frosting to the crumbled cake. Stir well.
4. Spoon out clumps of cake mixture onto a baking sheet (again, i used my nifty little scooper... seriously... invest in one. They're ~$5 at Wal-Mart).
   
   
5. Freeze cake for 30 minute to an hour OR leave in fridge overnight. The basis for this is to harden it up to make it easier to dip into the chocolate.
6. Once the cake balls have firmed up, start melting the chocolate. NOTE: If you get almond bark, it takes about 2 minutes to melt the entire tray in the microwave. Follow the instructions.
7. Lay a large sheet of parchment paper out.
8. Once the chocolate has melted, start dipping the balls into the chocolate. I prefer placing the balls on a fork and dipping them into the chocolate. That way, you can tap excess chocolate off.
   
   
9. Place dipped cake balls onto parchment paper and let chocolate harden.
   
   
10. EAT THEM!!!!!!

And, for your random viewing pleasure.... We had deer in our backyard. We live in a heavily populated suburban city. There is creek behind our house, followed by a PARKING LOT. It was just so odd to see these guys in our backyard.

Until next week....

As always, would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions you may have for me.