For this month’s dessert selection, Sweet as Pie offered a Hot Fudge Pie.  This was a nice chocolate dessert that we enjoyed with frozen yogurt all week.  It was easy enough to pull together, and was more like actual baking than some other simple chocolate desserts we’ve tried (Phillip doesn’t really care about this aspect, but sometimes I prefer the challenge of accurate measurements over can-dumping).  Here’s how it came together:

First I melted the chocolate and some butter together in the microwave.

While that cooled a bit, I mixed sugar into beaten eggs.

Then I stirred in the chocolate butter, vanilla, and milk.

Finally, I added the flour and poured the batter into a pie plate. I baked it for about 25 minutes and then served it warm with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Mine must have baked a little too long because it was not nearly as fudge-y as I thought it would be.  It was still pretty yummy and by no means a miss.  For my money though, I think I’ll stick to my usual Chocolate Cobbler recipe – I like the half cake, half chocolately, syrupy goodness that results more than the brownie-like texture this recipe gave me.

We got a late start on the March Sweet as Pie menu, but better late than never, right?  First up was an easy weeknight meal, Crockpot Cheese Tortellini.  Now, this wasn’t a “start it in the morning and it’s finished by supper” kind of crockpot meal since it only needed about 4 hours of cooking time, but it was still convenient.  Here’s how it came together:

First, let me just say this:  Crockpot liners are the best. thing. ever.  Trust me.  They make you not hate cooking in your crockpot.  So, start with a crockpot liner and brown some sausage.  I used ground Italian sausage because I thought it would match the flavors in the recipe better than breakfast sausage.  I’m sure other types of sausage would work too though. While the sausage browns, pour in a bag of frozen cheese tortellini.

Then add two cans of drained, diced Italian-style tomatoes and four cups of chicken broth.

Next, cube a package of cream cheese.

Finally, add in some spinach and mix it all up.  Then, just cook the mixture on low for four hours. 

I did add some salt at the end, but otherwise didn’t make any other changes.  This was more like a tortellini soup and less like a pasta dish, but still very filling.  We both enjoyed it for supper that night and the leftovers have also been good.  I wouldn’t be opposed to making this one again sometime – I might even try a different tortellini flavor like mushroom.  Overall, a solid weeknight meal!

The final recipe on this month’s menu was Easy Pasta Carbonara, a Pampered Chef recipe chosen by my cousin Katie.  This was another easy fix that would be good for any weeknight meal.  Here’s how it came together:

First, I cooked some diced bacon.  I was supposed to use turkey bacon, but I already had regular bacon so I used that instead.  Then, instead of leaving the bacon in the skillet to cook with the rest of the dish, I removed it to a plate to add in later.  I really wanted a little crisp element.

I sauteed an onion, four cloves of garlic, and some crushed red pepper before adding in bowtie pasta, chicken stock, and a can of evaporated milk.  Gotta love the one pot meals.

This simmered, covered, until the pasta was done and then I stirred in some cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and peas (gasp!).  Finally, I sprinkled the bacon on top.  Done! 

This was a solid recipe – we weren’t blown away but it was still pretty good.  And I think it was actually better as leftovers.  I wouldn’t be opposed to making this again, but with so many recipes in line to be tried, I doubt we’ll make it back to this one.

My friend Amber and I hosted this month’s Cardiology Girls Night Out.  I love this group.  It’s all of the spouses/significant others of the male cardiology fellows and all of the female cardiology fellows.  We get together once a month for dinner or another activity and always have a lot of fun.

Amber and I settled on a wine, cheese, and chocolate casual get-together for our turn.  We had it at our house and I was really excited to finally break out some of the serving pieces we received as wedding gifts.  We fired up the chocolate fountain and enjoyed a selection of cheeses, fruits, and fun chocolate dippers (like marshmallows and graham crackers and Nutter Butters).

I also used this opportunity to try out the next recipe on this month’s Sweet as Pie list, Delicious Healthy Pizza, a Pinterest find chosen by Kristin.  As with all vegetarian recipes, I was a little skeptical, but I liked all of the ingredients so I was willing to give it a try.  I’m happy to say it was a hit!  And definitely easy enough to whip up on party day.  Here’s how it came together:

First I diced an onion, some garlic, and some tomatoes, and then sliced some green onion (I skipped the leek and used green onions instead). 

Then I sauteed the whole mixture, adding some salt, pepper, a little bit of oregano, basil, and some lemon juice.

I prepared the portobello caps on a greased pan and then spooned the mixture into each cap.  These little pizzas were topped with some shaved parmesan and went into the oven for about 12 minutes.

Since I was serving these at the party, I cut them into quarters.  In retrospect, I should have seeded the tomatoes since there was quite a bit of liquid.  Regardless though, these were easy to make and pretty yummy.  I’d be up for trying them again sometime.  A successful recipe for a successful party!

The Sweet as Pie bonus recipe for the month was a simple Chocolate Raspberry Cobbler from Betty Crocker.  We decided to save this festive dessert for Valentine’s Day.  It was so easy to put together and pretty yummy too.  Here’s how it came together:

The recipe only called for three ingredients – a can of raspberry pie filling, a package of chocolate chunk cookie mix, and some melted butter.  First, I spread the pie filling in an 11×7 pan. Then I sprinkled the dry cookie mix evenly over the filling.

Next, I poured melted butter over the whole thing and put it in the oven to bake for about 25 minutes.

That was it!  I let it cool for just a few minutes before spooning into bowls alongside some vanilla frozen yogurt.  Delicious Valentine’s Day dessert (and good reheated over the next several days, too)!