Oreo Truffles..again

I made oreo truffles again this year. I'm sure I'll be asked to make them for many years. These weren't for family, friends or even Secret Santas. My Husband's coworkers love these truffles. I've told them how easy they are. I've told them that they're just oreos and condensed milk. They don't care. One of his coworkers specifically, talks about these truffles year round. She'll tell other coworkers "Have you had Matt's Wife's truffles?" I'm happy to oblige. I'm happy that I can make something so easy and they're so well received. So.. a week ago I set aside time on Sunday to make these truffles. I had two packages of oreos ready and waiting. I even used double stuffed. I didn't realize how many truffles two packages would make.

When making them, I used a cookie scoop, scooped it into my hand and then cut that in half. I didn't want ginormous truffles, bite sized was more realistic I thought. Well...that gave me enough truffles to send 6 dozen into work with Matt. We probably had a dozen left at home too.

I predicted that I'd get an email from his coworker that has my email address. The subject line "sooooo goooood". That's it. No message. I assume she was busy eating a truffle and didn't have time for any more words than that.

Truffle Delight!

Pretzel Candies

I'm sure you've seen these everywhere, but they're too yummy not to share. Besides taking these to work and being asked "did you use diet rollos".. (uhm, huh?) everyone loved them and were excited to have some.

Pretzel Candies

also called Turtle Treats

I don't have an original recipe

1/2 bag of pretzel twists

3 bags, yes 3, of rollo candies

1/2 bag (large bag) of pecans

white almond bark, optional

Turn oven to 250*. Place pretzels in 'single file lines' (as I told my Husband, my pretzel placement chief) on a baking sheet. Top each pretzel with a rollo candy. Put the baking sheet in the oven for a couple of minutes. Just long enough where you can tell that the candy is starting to melt. You do NOT want to melt the candy completely in the oven.

Take the baking sheet out and immediately take a pecan and squish down the rollo with the pecan. Let the candies cool completely. I left them out overnight, on the baking sheet, covered with plastic wrap. The next morning I drizzled them with melted white almond bark. The almond bark doesn't take too long to cool. Once they almond bark was hardened, I transferred the treats to an air-tight container and they were ready for sharing!

The most time consuming part of this recipe is unwrapping your rollos.

Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad

 

 I have been wanting to try a salad like this for awhile now. I made meatloaf the other night and wanted a healthier, lighter side dish to enjoy with it. I found this recipe that seemed quick and easy so I went for it!

Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad

recipe from: Paula Deen via Food Network.com

(I'll note the substitutions I made below)

2 cups cooked corn, fresh or frozen

1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Combine the corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion in a large glass bowl. Mix together the dressing ingredients in another bowl, pour over the salad, and gently toss to mix.

My substitutions

• I didn't have cherry tomatoes on hand, but I chopped up about two roma tomatoes that worked well.
• I didn't feel like chopping an onion so I added some Tastefully Simple Onion Onion to the dressing as I mixed it up.
• I didn't have fresh cilantro on hand, but I found these cilantro cubes at the grocery store a while ago and they worked great! I used two or three and the salad had great cilantro flavor. They were really handy and I am definitely going to use them in place of regular cilantro wherever I can.
• I used fresh grated limes, then squeezed the juice of one lemon and used that as my lime juice.
• My avocado wasn't ready yet so I let the corn, tomatoes and dressing sit in the refrigerator overnight until the avocado was ready. I would probably suggest doing this even if you add the avocado. It really let the flavors mingle.

This salad was delicious. I wasn't expecting it to have a lot of flavor and I certainly didn't think that my Husband would like it, but I was very surprised. He loved it and I did too! Ianticipate making this repeatedly this coming Summer (yes, I know it's only December) with fresh corn on the cob, or even roasting some corn on the cob and using roasted corn. Yum. This would be perfect for a BBQ picnic. Definitely a crowd pleaser!

With that being said... I'm going to go heat up my leftovers for lunch. Luckily I have some of this salad to go with it as well. Can't wait!