My Husband's Favorite: Peanut Butter Balls

When my husband was growing up, many Sundays his family would make Peanut Butter Balls.  Last Saturday night while we were grocery shopping, he mentioned that he would like to have Peanut Butter Balls for dessert on Sunday.  He told me that, as a kid, he used to make these by himself.  It is the only recipe that he knows by heart!  So my daughters made him some Peanut Butter Balls on Sunday.  Our oldest son Dustin loves them too.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Balls

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

1-1/3 cups peanut butter

7 cups Rice Krispies, Special K, or Corn Flakes cereal

Place all ingredients, except cereal in a medium sauce pan.  Place cereal in large mixing bowl and set aside.  Stir together the ingredients in the sauce pan and heat on medium heat.  Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently,  until mixture boils.  When it boils, take sauce pan off heat and pour the mixture onto the cereal.  Mold into balls.

Red Couch Recipes Notes:

1.  Do not use natural peanut butter in this recipe, especially the "stir" kind. 

2.  We used Corn Flakes, but my mother-in-law things Special K is best.

3.  Make sure you stir while cooking so that the mixture doesn't brown on the bottom of the pan.

3.  Butter your hands before you mold the balls.

4.  These are best eaten within a few hours (that is never a problem at my home ;).  They tend to harden up a bit if they are not eaten within a few hours.

Thanks for dropping by Red Couch Recipes. 

Bacon and Parmesan Pasta

So glad you chose to drop by Red Couch Recipes.  This has quickly become a family favorite at the Red Couch home.  One night, awhile ago, I had some onions and tomatoes in my fridge that I needed to use.  I used these two ingredients as the base for my recipe inspiration and voila, a recipe was created.  This recipe whips up quickly in about 35 minutes and is very tasty!  I love the smoky flavor the turkey bacon provides.  It's a good clean-out the fridge recipe, as you could easily add some other vegetables that you need to use up.

Bacon Parmesan Pasta Sauce

1 pound turkey bacon

3 cups diced Roma tomatoes

3 cups diced onions (mild)

2 cloves garlic, minched finely

2 cups fat-free half and half (reserve 1/2 cup to combine with flour)

2 tablespoons flour

1-1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese (reserve the 1/4 cup to garnish the pasta)

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Salt to taste

1 pound Penne pasta

The onions -- yum!

The Roma Tomatoes keep their shape.  There are so many vegetables packed into this recipe, but my children don't seem to mind them at all!

Directions

1.  Cut up bacon into small pieces, and add bacon to dutch oven. Cook bacon on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until done. 

2.  Add the onions and garlic to the bacon and cook for another 5 minutes until the onions are clear. 3.  Next add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. 

3.  Add the 1-1/2 cups half and half to the dutch oven and stir to combine. In a small bowl, combine the reserved 1/2 cup half and half and the flour and stir to mix, and then add this to the pasta mixture, stirring well to combine. 

4.  Next, add the 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook on the stovetop, stirring frequently, for another 10 minutes to reduce and thicken mixture. 

5.  While the pasta sauce is reducing, bring the penne pasta to boil in a large pot and cook to al dente. Drain the pasta. 

6.  Combine the pasta sauce and the drained hot pasta in a large serving bowl and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

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  Red Couch Recipe Notes:
  I always use Turkey Bacon; I love it that it so much lower in fat than regular bacon, and I love its smoky flavor. I use shredded Parmesan cheese, not finely ground Parmesan cheese. Fat-free half and half is available in most grocery stores, including Wal-Mart.  Yield:  6 servings. 

Thanks for dropping by Red Couch Recipes!

Vegetable Jars

Like most people, I need to get more vegetables into my diet.  It just seems that other things like chips and crackers are easier to grab.  The other day I was reading our local paper and I came upon an article by Diann Thomas.  She has been writing about her successful weight loss; she included the tip about packing vegetables in canning jars.  To me, this idea was genious!

  Who doesn't have canning jars they could pack with vegetables?  Or if you don't have any canning jars, compared to other glass containers, they really are quite inexpensive to purchase.

"Mom, can I have some celery?" Yes, that was just my daughter asking for some celery.  SERIOUSLY, I wish you could have heard her!  Putting prepared vegetables in jars works because they look appealing in the jars, and you can see the vegetables. They aren't just stuffed away in the vegetable bins of the fridge.

I know I post a lot of desserts on Red Couch Recipes, but we do like our vegetables too.  Thanks for dropping by today.