Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

I needed some easy cookies for Christmas, so I tried these. They're not fancy, but they're moist and yummy. I used low-fat cream cheese instead of regular.



1 (8-oz) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 (18-oz) box moist chocolate cake mix
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so you can roll into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon-sized balls then roll them in confectioners' sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Recipe Source: Paula Deen (www.foodtv.com)

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

This was pretty quick and tasty. I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef and it was good. I think it would be yummy with Italian sausage, so I'll try that next time.

1 pound (16 oz) ground beef
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 (24 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
2 TB fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried parsley
6 uncooked lasagna noodles

In a large skillet, brown the beef with the onion. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce and water and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 TB Parmesan, egg, and parsley.

Pour 1 cup of meat sauce into a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Place half of the noodles and half of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles, cheese mixture, and meat sauce. (If the noodles don't fit exactly, break them to fit.)

Cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are soft. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and remaining Parmesan. Cover with the lid to melt the cheese and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: www.tablespoon.com