Oreo / Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

This was a surprise to my husband on Father's Day because he dearly loves ice cream sandwiches, matter of fact he just plan loves ice cream.  When I saw the original recipe I knew I had to make it but I am becoming more and more like Debra - I can't leave a good recipe alone so I had to add my own twist to it and it was a HUGE hit!!  My oldest granddaughter has declared this her new favorite but in fact I think it has become a new family favorite.   

Ingredients:

1 cup of ground Oreo cookies

3 Tbsp. butter melted.

½ cup  hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed

1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

1 pkg.  (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

1.75 Quart of Vanilla Ice Cream Softened plus 1 pint, softened,

16 OREO Cookies, chopped (about 2 cups), divided  (these are chopped not ground)

12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Instructions:

WHISK fudge topping and 1 cup COOL WHIP in medium bowl until blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min.  Fold in ½ of the softened ice cream.  Stir in 1 cup cookies.   Sit bowl in the refrigerator while mixing and applying the crust..

 In a small mixing bowl combine 1 cup of ground oreo cookies with melted butter and pat out to make a crust on a 24 inch long piece of foil.  Arrange 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on top of the crumb crust; cover with softened pint of vanilla ice cream then half the COOL WHIP mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cool whip mixture. Frost with remaining COOL WHIP; press remaining cookies into top and sides of dessert. Wrap loosely with foil.

FREEZE 4 hours or overnight.

TIPS:  During the process of putting the layers together, if the ice cream in the sandwiches or the container of ice cream get too soft or runny, stop and put everything in the freezer for a few minutes then continue to arrange the cake.   I would put mine in the freezer after every layer just to keep it firm, you don’t want the ice cream to get runny. 

Chicken Breast with Cannellini Beans

This is one of my "go to" recipes. This is one of those dishes that comes together really quickly for a great week night meal and it re-heats really well for lunch another day. And...the best part...it's a one-pot meal!!!

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise
1 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 small, yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 cans cannellini beans, with liquid
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 can chicken broth
1/2 c. white wine
1 Tbsp. oregano 
4 c. baby spinach, cleaned

Directions

1. Slice your chicken breasts in half, length wise, and brine in salt water for 30 minutes.
2. Combine flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder in a shallow dish. 
3. Heat olive oil in a large pan (with a lid) over medium-high heat.
4. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and add to your heated pan. Reserve the remainder of the mixture to thicken your sauce if needed.
5. Brown the chicken and set aside.
6. In the same pan, add diced onion and minced garlic and sweat until translucent. 
7. Deglaze the pan with white wine.
8. Add cannellini, tomato paste, chicken broth, and oregano. If needed, add some of the flour mixture to thicken or more chicken broth to thin. Honestly, I usually add both, because we like lots of sauce.
9. Nestle the chicken into the bean mixture and simmer until cooked through.
10. Just before serving, add the spinach and cover the pan. The spinach will wilt with the lid on. Stir everything and serve with garlic toast or crostini.