Recipe Du Jour: P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

My husband and I are huge fans of P.F. Changs (and Pei Wei's) Mongolian Beef. This dish, with its tender beef, mushrooms and green onions is so delicious. I finally found a recipe that is pretty darn close to the original. I've made it several times and have been really pleased with the results.

When you can make food like this at home, who needs take out. To get the recipe, click here.

Fun Find: Spider Web Dip

A great Halloween-inspired idea for dressing up a traditional layered dip is to use sour cream and a plastic spider and voila you've got a spiderweb dip. This recipe comes from the Octoberlicious website - a site dedicated to providing Halloween tips and recipes.

.Ingredients.
3 large plum tomatoes, sliced
1 1/2 cups thick and chunky salsa
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Mexican cheese blend

.Bean Layer.
16 oz each) lowfat refried black or pinto beans
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp hot Mexican chili powder
1 tsp minced garlic

.Guacamole Layer.
4 ripe Hass avocados
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp minced red onion
2 large jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced
1 tsp salt

.Decoration.
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
a clean plastic toy spider

.Serve With.
blue, red and yellow corn tortilla chips


.Instructions.
1. Bean Layer: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended. Scrape the mixture onto a 12- to 14-in. round serving plate and smooth into a 10-in. circle with a spatula. Arrange tomato slices around edge of bean layer to make a border.

2. Drain salsa in a strainer to get rid of excess juice. Spread over bean mixture, leaving some of the bean layer showing around the edge. Sprinkle cheese over salsa, leaving some of the salsa layer showing.

3. Guacamole: Halve avocados; remove seeds and spoon flesh into a medium bowl. Add lime juice, onion, jalapeños and salt, and mash until fairly smooth. Spoon over cheese layer and spread into an even layer.

4. Place sour cream in a ziptop bag; seal bag and snip a small tip off one corner. Pipe a spiderweb design over guacamole and onto the plate. Decorate with toy spider. Serve with tortilla chips.


.Tips.
* Plan Ahead: You can make 4 hours ahead, cover and refrigerate.

Fun Find: Halloween Cheese Ball

Dress up your Halloween party buffet table with this creative - and yummy sounding - pumpkin-shaped Caramalized Garlic Cheese Spread from the Land O' Lakes website.

The recipe for this appetizer can be found here.

Fun Find: Creative Halloween Favors

I made these party favors last year for my friends and their children. They turned out really cute and were equally great giving as gifts as they were on my table as decorative centerpieces.

The directions for making these broomstick favors can be found here.

Recipe Du Jour: The Perfect Brisket

My boss passed along this recipe with really rave reviews. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, but based on her feedback, it sounds like a real winner.

The Perfect Brisket

serves 10

Ingredients:

5lb boneless beef brisket, pre-trimmed

1-2 cups strong coffee

Sauce:

2 cups ketchup

10 oz Coca-Cola

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

2 tablespoons mustard

2 teaspoons knorr swiss aromat seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200

2. Place brisket in baking dish, fat side up

3. Pour coffee over brisket, seal or cover and bake for 24 hours

4. Remove from oven, scrape off fat and throw away. Throw away all liquids and fat from pan. Mix sauce and pour over top of brisket and bake for one more hour.

5. Let cool and enjoy!

Fun Find: 10 Happy Halloween Cocktails

Spice up your next Halloween party with one of these creative cocktails from Fine Living's website. There are 10 cocktails featured, each with a list of ingredients along with the haunted history behind where each cocktail was conceived. The hardest part about these drinks is deciding which one to serve at your next party.

For all the recipes, including the bloody brain shooter above, click here.

Fun Find

I love products that do double duty. I have such limited space in my purse that when I find compact and multi-functional beauty products like this, I just can't resist. This is Michael Kors new lip scent duo, available at Sephora. On one end is a rollerball with tuberose perfume; the other end is a neutral lip gloss.

The product is highly rated by reviewers on Sephora's site. To view more details or order, click here.

Fun Find: Halloween Music Playlist

It seems like the months are just passing me by; I can't believe Halloween is little more than a month away. Since it is my favorite holiday, I thought I'd start posting Halloween-inspired fun finds. This one comes courtesy of the All You website. They've compiled a list of fun tunes to play at your next Halloween bash. To see the full list of songs including Thriller, The Monster Mash and more, click here

Fun Find

Fall is around the corner and with that the cooler weather will start rolling in soon. You can still enjoy a beautiful flower and herb garden - indoors, with these cute soda can and rain boot gardens. The rain boot comes with soil and seeds and is available in four colors and varieties: mint, strawberry, basil or camomile.

http://fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=3766&cat=314&page=1#

Just pop the top on the flower cans, add water and in a short while you’ll have a pretty bouquet of either Dahlias, Geraniums, Impatiens or Pansies.

http://fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=3768&cat=314&page=1

Fun Find

I came across this adorable hoodie to store your ipod. The iPod hoodie comes ith a fuzzy fleece lining to keep your ipod snug and cozy. The hoodie comes in 2 size options. http://fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=5083&cat=103

More Great Blogs

Here are a coupe more websites that I love to visit. These sites provide great info on coupons, freebies and great deals:

http://www.kcpennypinchinmama.com/
http://missbargainista.blogspot.com/
http://attentiontargetshoppers.blogspot.com/

Fun Find

At Bangerang Bake Shop you'll find the cutest cupcakes perfectly packaged for giving or receiving. Each little heavenly cake is baked inside a glass jar in fun flavors like "the nut job", "cookoo for coconut" and "banana butterscotch bad boys."

These would make really tasty and thoughtful bridesmaid or hostess gifts - actually any occasion is a good time to celebrate with cake!

You can order these little beauties by visiting their site: http://www.bangerangbakeshop.com/product/89885/CAPTAIN-CARROT-CAKE-CUPCAKE_407462.html

Recipe Du Jour: Man Crack Dip

This recipe is called Man Crack Dip because guys can't get enough of it. The next time you're having the gang over to watch Sunday night football, whip up a batch of this irresistable dip. It's guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

Man Crack Dip:

2 packages of cream cheese

2 cans of no-bean chili

3 bags of Mexican shredded cheese

1 jar of jalapenos

2 bags of Fritos Scoops

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread both packages of cream cheese along the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer chili, then cheese then jalapenos on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Enjoy!

Recipe du Jour: The Best Brownies

This recipe comes courtesy of Southern Living magazine which adapted the recipe from Baker's Chocolate. I made the recipe this weekend and my husband loved them.

So Good Brownies

4 (1-oz.) unsweeteened chocolate baking squares

3/4 cup butter

1-1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of an 8 inch pan with foil allowing 2 inches to extend over sides. Lightly grease foil.

2. Microwave chocolate square and butter for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes stirring at 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Whisk in white and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking until just combined. Whisk in remaining ingredients.

3. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake at 350 for 40-44 minutes. Enjoy!