Cheesy Sausage Skillet

1 lb ground mild Italian sausage
1 each: sm onion, green pepper, and red pepper, sliced
1 c milk
2 c water
14 oz box Kraft Deluxe 4 Cheese Mac N Cheese dinner

Cook sausage and vegetables in nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 10 minutes or until sausage is done, stirring occasionally. Add milk, water, and macaroni; stir. Bring to a boil; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 8-10 min or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese sauce; cook and stir until heated through.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter, softened
½ c white sugar
1/3 c packed brown sugar
½ c peanut butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 c quick oats
12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate small bowl; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Pesto-Chicken Italiano

1 TBS oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lg red pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 c pesto
1 lemon, cut in half, divided
1 c Italian five-cheese blend
2 c hot cooked angel hair pasta

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 4 to 5 min. or until chicken is evenly browned. Stir in peppers; cook 3 to 4 min. or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.

Stir in pesto and juice from 1 lemon half; top with cheese. Cover; cook on low heat 2 to 3 min. or until cheese is melted. Spoon over pasta.

Serve with remaining lemon half, cut into wedges.

Mint Capped Brownie Bites

48 Hershey Kisses Brand Mint Truffles wrapped in dark chocolate
2/3 c butter or margarine, softened
1 ¼ c granulated sugar
1 TBS water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ½ c all-purpose flour
½ c Hershey Special Dark cocoa
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line 48 small muffin cups with paper baking cups. Remove wrappers from chocolates and set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, water, and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Put about ½ TBS of dough into each muffin cup. Bake 11-13 minutes or until brownie surface is set; they will appear soft and moist; do not overbake. Press the kisses into the brownies and cool on wire rack. Sprinkle each brownie with powdered sugar.

Egg Fried Rice

2 or 3 eggs
¾ c water
2 TBS soy sauce
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp onion salt
1 c instant rice
1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Scramble eggs in deep frying pan breaking into small pieces. In same pan (w/eggs) add water, soy sauce, garlic and onion salts, stir and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add rice and flavoring from soup mix. It's usually in a clump. If it's actually dry just throw the whole package in. If it's a clump throw that in and wait a bit before you add the noodles. Cook till rice is done. If it is dry add a little water or soy sauce and stir in.

Fire Side Coffee

For an individual serving:
1 ½ tsp powdered creamer
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 tsp instant hot chocolate mix
1 tsp instant coffee granules
dash ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg

For storage:
2 ½ c powdered creamer
2 ½ c sugar
1 ½ c instant hot chocolate mix
1 ½ c instant coffee granules
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

For individual serving, stir all ingredients together in 1 c hot water; enjoy.

For storage, sift together all ingredients; pour into a jar and seal. To prepare: stir 3 tsp mixture into 1 c hot water; enjoy.

Seasoned Chicken Tortellini

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 c cheese tortellini
2 TBS olive oil
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
½ TBS Italian seasoning
2 TBS basil
2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions; drain and set aside. Meanwhile, heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and sauté 4 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in tomatoes and seasoning. Cover; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until juices run clear. Remove chicken breasts from skillet and place one chicken breast on each of 4 plates. Add tortellini and basil to tomatoes in skillet and toss until blended; divide evenly among the 4 plates, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.