Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies

I don't know of anyone who doesn't like Thin Mint cookies! Here's a great CopyCat recipe for them!

Chocolate Cookie Wafers
1 18 ounce package chocolate fudge cake mix
3 tablespoons shortening, softened
1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
Non-stick cooking spray

Chocolate Coating
3 12-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 tablespoons shortening

Put the first 3 ingredients for the cookie wafers in a large bowl. Mix together while adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a floured surface, roll out some of the dough until it is about 1/16 of an inch thick. Use a 1 1/2″ cookie cutter or the lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter to cut the dough. Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and let them cool completely.
For the chocolate coating, combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for about 2 minutes on low power, stir, then heat for an another minute or until smooth.
Use a fork or tongs to dip each wafer in the chocolate, allow the excess chocolate to run off. Place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.

For more great recipes like this, please visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes

Cracker Barrel Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups cheddar (8 oz.), divided
2 cups elbow macaroni (8oz.)
1/4 cup buttered bread crumbs
paprika

In saucepan, melt butter. Blend in flour, salt, and mustard. Add
milk, stir constantly until sauce thickens a little. Add 1 1/2 cups
cheese, heat until melted, stirring. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook macaroni as directed; drain. Combine with sauce in
a buttered 2 quart casserole; top with remaining cheese, then
buttered bread crumbs and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 375" about 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned.

Visit >>>Secret Restaurant Recipes and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes
for more wonderful recipes like this!

T.G.I. Friday's French Onion Soup

Ingredients

3-4 medium to large onions
3 cans of beef broth
water
worchestershire sauce
butter
sargento cheese (Italian blend) 8 oz. bag (recommended)
French baguette
2 bay leaves
dash of garlic powder
dash of both salt and pepper

Slice the onions into rings and saute in butter in a skillet until
tender. 

Turn crock pot on to low and put in the cans of beef broth, bay
leaves, dash of garlic powder and salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of
worchestershire sauce, and 3/4 cup of water. When the onions and
butter mixture is tender then also add them to the crock pot. 

Cover and cook for at least 3-5 hours on low. At this point you may
want to taste the soup and see if you would like it a little
weaker--if so add a little water or chicken broth. Also, at this
time remove the bay leaves and discard them. 

When about ready to serve, slice bread into thin slices and toast
in oven on 350 or in toaster oven until just crusty. Put toasted
slices (1-3) in bowl and cover with the cheese (adjust cheese to
your liking). Then cover bread and cheese with hot soup. The cheese
will melt and the bread will rise to the top.

Visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes 
and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes 
for more mouthwatering dishes!!!

Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad

Dressing:
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
pinch of garlic powder

Additional Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
5 cups romaine lettuce
2 cups mixed greens
1/2 (5-ounce) bag shredded carrots
1 tablespoons toasted, salted sesame seeds
1 cups canned mandarin oranges, packed in juice and drained
1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup crispy (chow mein) noodles (optional)
1/2 cup roasted sliced almonds (optional)

Add the dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend with a
mixer until combined. Chill before serving.

As the dressing chills, add chicken breasts to a pot of boiling
water. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until
cooked.

Once the chicken is tender and no longer pink, remove from the pot
and cut into bite sized pieces.

Combine chicken and other remaining salad ingredients in a bowl.

Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.

Serves 2.

For more wonderful recipes like this, please visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes Cookbook

Macaroni Grill Recipe

Since our country is looking at a $700 billion dollar bail out plan, this is more reason to stay at home and save money by cooking our own favorite secret restaurant recipes!

Here's a recipe from the Secret Recipe cookbook:

Macaroni Grill Focaccia

9 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsifted semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons quick-rising dry yeast
1 1/2 cups hot milk (between 120 to 130 degrees F)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

1. Pour a 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil into a 9-inch square cake
pan; spread to cover bottom and sides.
2. Place all-purpose flour, semolina flour, 2 tablespoons of the
olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and all of the yeast in the
bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook or you can mix by hand.
3. Mix ingredients on medium speed. Reduce speed to low and slowly
add hot milk. Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for
5 minutes, then knead about 10 minutes by hand.
4. Dust the bottom of cake pan with a little flour. Remove dough
from bowl and spread out evenly in pan. Cover with a towel and let
it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Remove towel and brush dough with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the
olive oil. Dust the top with additional salt and rosemary. Bake
for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and drizzle with remaining oil.

Serves 6-8

Joe's Crab Shack Crab Dip Restaurant Recipe

Here is another great recipe from Restaurant Recipes cookbook

Joe's Crab Shack Crab Dip


2 oz Cream Cheese, softened
4 tsp. Diced Yellow Onion
1 Tbsp. Butter, softened)
4 tsp. Finely Diced Green Pepper
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1/8 tsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 (6 oz.) can Crab Meat (drained) **Use fresh crab meat if you can!
Fresh Diced Green Onion, for garnish
Fresh Chopped Parsley, for garnish
*optional* dash of hot sauce for a little kick

Mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and butter until smooth.
Blend in seasoned salt and paprika. Stir in yellow onions, crab
meat, green pepper, and mozzarella cheese. Place in a lightly
greased small shallow baking dish and place in a preheated oven at
350 degrees until mixture bubbles, about 10 - 14 minutes. Serve dip
with unsalted or very lightly salted corn chips.

Serves 2-3 as an appetizer.

Do You Hate To Peel Eggs?

I hate to peel eggs. I have tried every trick under the sun to get my hard boiled eggs to peel well. None of them have worked so far!

I just came across this video on Youtube, and I think I am going to try it, I actually laughed when I saw it, I'm sure you will too!



Now, back to the recipes!

Here is another sample from Secret Recipes!

T.G.I. Friday's French Onion Soup

Ingredients

3-4 medium to large onions
3 cans of beef broth
water
worchestershire sauce
butter
sargento cheese (Italian blend) 8 oz. bag (recommended)
French baguette
2 bay leaves
dash of garlic powder
dash of both salt and pepper

Directions

Slice the onions into rings and saute in butter in a skillet until
tender.

Turn crock pot on to low and put in the cans of beef broth, bay
leaves, dash of garlic powder and salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of
worchestershire sauce, and 3/4 cup of water. When the onions and
butter mixture is tender then also add them to the crock pot.

Cover and cook for at least 3-5 hours on low. At this point you may
want to taste the soup and see if you would like it a little
weaker--if so add a little water or chicken broth. Also, at this
time remove the bay leaves and discard them.

When about ready to serve, slice bread into thin slices and toast
in oven on 350 or in toaster oven until just crusty. Put toasted
slices (1-3) in bowl and cover with the cheese (adjust cheese to
your liking). Then cover bread and cheese with hot soup. The cheese
will melt and the bread will rise to the top.

For more great secret restaurant recipes go to >>> Secret Recipes

Save Money With CopyCat Olive Garden Recipes

Most people have saving money on their minds these days, simply because of the rising fuel prices. Many of us have had to cut back on our "luxuries" like eating out. That is one way to save money, but how about the problem of not being able to have our favorite dishes? We could save a ton of money by making these secret recipes of our favorite restaurants!

Not only can we save money by not driving to and from the restaurants, but we can also save money by not paying the marked up prices for the dishes themselves, not to mention the tip for the server!

I have a little teaser secret recipe here for you:

Copycat Applebee's Garlic Mashed Potatoes

32 ounces red potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
salt and black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup garlic cloves

1. Place a single layer of garlic cloves on a sheet of aluminum foil and wrap tightly.
2. Roast in 400 degrees F preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until soft.
3. Unwrap and let cool.
4. Peel cloves and set aside until the potatoes are ready.
5. Wash and rinse potatoes under cold water.
6. In large pot, bring red potatoes to a slow boil for about 20 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and drain in colander.
8. In pan or bowl, combine potatoes, peeled and roasted garlic cloves, and all other ingredients and mash with a potato masher.
9. Keep warm until you serve.
8 servings

This secret recipe is one of my favorites! Anything with garlic usually is though! I'm sure there are other scrumptious, mouth watering secret recipes you would love to get your hands on!
You can find them at >>>> Secret Recipes!

Restaurant Cheesecake Recipes

I don't know if you love cheesecake as much as I do. I just love to taste all the different ones in the restaurants we go to. Unfortunately with the rise in gas prices, and everything else, we can't afford to go out much any more. I have had to find ways to save money left and right these days, and one of them is by coming up with more recipes to cook at home!

I came across this wonderful book that has a ton of restaurant cheesecake recipes in it, along with a bunch of other restaurant recipes as well!

Here is a sample from it: (Try not to pass out from the sheer deliciousness of it!)



The Cheesecake Factory Banana Cream Cheesecake

20 vanilla sandwich cookies
¼ cup margarine, melted
24 oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 eggs
¾ cup mashed bananas (about 2)
½ cup whipping cream
2 tspn vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place cookies in a blender; process with on/off pulse until finely crushed.

Add margarine; process with pulses until blended. Press crumb mixture onto bottom of 10" springform pan; refrigerate.

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch; beat until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, whipping cream, and vanilla. Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared crust. Place pan on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 200°F (DO NOT forget to reduce temperature - very important) and continue baking 75 minutes or until center is almost set. Loosen edge of cheesecake; cool completely on wire rack before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate cheesecake, uncovered, 6 hours or overnight.

Allow cheesecake to stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

For more to die for restaurant cheesecake recipes...
Please visit > Secret Recipes

What Is The Big Deal With Secret Recipes?

The big deal is, you can save money with secret recipes! How? It is pretty simple actually. You will no longer need to drive to or from your favorite restaurants for your favorite meals!

You will also save money on the price of the meal as well. You won't have to pay the inflated prices from your favorite restaurant or the tip!

Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of saving money? Some people just don't care, it is not a priority for them. Myself, I need to save money every chance I get!

The price of gas these days has severely limited my driving. I am lucky if I get out of the house once a week now to do the grocery shopping!

When I got my hands on these secret recipes, I was absolutely thrilled! My husband was a little skeptical at first, since he loves to eat out. He travels for a living, so eating out is what he loves to do!

Needless to say, we can no longer afford to go out when he is home, so I found these wonderful secret recipes, and you know what? They passed the husband test! He loved them!

Here is a sample secret recipe for you:

Olive Garden's Chicken Crostina

Serves 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups & 1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp roasted garlic, minced
1 cup white wine
1 ½ cups heavy cream
5 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb linguine
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup roma tomatoes, cored & diced
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

Potato Crust
1 ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
¼ cup melted butter
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup parsley, chopped
1 small potato, peeled & grated
Salt & pepper to taste

Procedures
* MIX all ingredients for Potato Crust in a bowl and set aside.

* MIX 1 ½ cups flour, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in the mixture, shaking off any excess. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken breasts 2 at a time over medium-high heat until golden brown and crisp, or until internal temperature reaches 165° F. Add more oil for each batch as necessary.

* PLACE cooked chicken breasts on a baking sheet or dish and top with potato crust mixture. Transfer baking sheet to a pre-heated broiler until golden brown (1-2 minutes).

* COOK pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

* HEAT 2 Tbsp oil in a sauce pan. Add roasted garlic, cook for 1 minute. Stir in 1 Tbsp of flour and wine and bring to a boil. Add cream, parmesan cheese, 1 Tbsp parsley, and tomatoes. Sauce is done when it is bubbling throughout and begins to thicken.

* COAT pasta with sauce, then top with chicken and remaining sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.

If you would like more mouth watering secret recipes...
You can find them here > Secret Recipes