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I am so excited to have Mandy over here today!  We have become friends through the blogging world and I always love all of the fabulous food that she posts on her site!  She just had an adorable new baby boy.  Mandy is just the cutest thing ever, even when she is 9 months preggo!  I am so glad she is sharing this yummy copycat recipe and I am excited to make it as a side to our next meal! Hello! I am Mandy from Mandy's Recipe Box . I am super excited to be guest blogging today for Alyssa while she and her hubby are on a fabulous cruise. I hope you're having a blast, Alyssa! I first "met" Alyssa when I saw her mouthwatering recipes that she was linking up on my link party, "Totally Tasty Tuesdays". I have been a huge fan of hers ever since. Like her Pannukkau  or Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu ? Yum. A little about me... I love all things food. Food Network, cooking magazines, cookbooks (I love them just like I love novels), and of course eating! I also love...

Today is awesome!  Do you want to know why??  It is my birthday!  And I think that it is going to be a good one because I should be on a flight right about now to Miami.  I am going on a cruise with my hubby!  Isn't that a great way to celebrate a birthday?  I am so excited to have my first guest poster while I am gone.  I was able to meet Kristy at a recent blog conference that I attended.  She is so cute and fun and I am so excited to have her at The Recipe Critic!  I love that she is sharing Funfetti Cheesecake Bars.  Two of my favorite things in one!  How did she know??  So many memories came back to me when I saw these.  I would ask for a funfetti cake every year for my birthday when I was growing up.  I can't wait to try these when I get home!   Hey Recipe Critic readers! I'm Kristy and I blog over at Sweet Treats & More , where I share a lot of indulgent treats balanced with healthy meals, because I be...

I LOVE the fire roasted tomato soup at Paradise Bakery.  I get it every time!  Last time I was there I thought, I am sure I could find a recipe that tastes just like this.  I want to be able to make it at home.  This recipe was so close to the real thing!  I couldn't tell a difference.  The best part about this soup is that I made a big huge pot for about 7 dollars! We all loved it!  It was so nice to be able to warm up to this delicious creamy tomato soup and have a side of grilled cheese! Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars Review:  I really couldn't get enough of the soup!  I left it in the slow cooker until the hubby got home and kept sneaking tastes of it.  It is so delicious and creamy.  I love that it made a lot because I will have some for left overs tomorrow!  This recipe is definitely a keeper!  Ingredients: 1 medium onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 T olive oil 8 oz can tomato sauce 6 oz can...

I recently got to attend my first blog conference organized by one of my favorite bloggers Six Sisters .  It was such a blast and I loved being able to meet the Six Sisters in person.  They are such an amazing and talented group of girls.  I learned so much at the conference and was able to make friendships with other fellow bloggers at the conference.   The Six Sisters just released their first cookbook.  I was so excited to buy a copy at the conference and there are so many great recipes and fun crafts inside!  Book is available here . I have seen these thin mint truffles on pinterest.  Thin mint cookies are my favorite girl scout cookies with Samoas coming in at a close second.  I knew that I had to make these delicious truffles and I loved how easy they were!  I took them to a party with me on Saturday and they were a huge hit.  The mint flavor and chocolate in these combined make them amazing! Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Rec...

I would order this Tuscan Garlic Chicken every time I went to Olive Garden.  It was my favorite!  And then one sad day I went to order it and they didn't have it anymore.  I felt so lost.  What would I order now?  You can imagine my excitement when I found this delicious copycat recipe.  I absolutely loved it!  I loved that the sauce was thick and savory.  It was so delicious over my chicken and noodles.  It really tasted like the real deal and I am so happy I can make it at home! Rating: 4 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 4 stars Review: Since I like a little more sauce I doubled t he sauce recipe.  The original recipe below probably would have been enough but I wanted to have extra.  If you double the sauce recipe I would suggest doubling everything but the spinach.  There was so delicious and close to the real thing, we will definitely make it again.   Ingredients: 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1/2 Tablespoon salt 1 teasp...

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I wanted to find a healthier snack with lower calories.  My obsession with muddy buddies is no secret, ( here , here , here , here, or here) s o I was so excited to find this recipe with half of the calories.  I still need my muddy buddy fix while I am watching what I eat and I was able to have an entire serving for 100 calories!!   Regular muddy buddies have 365 calories in a cup!  Yikes!  These are a great snack to curb your chocolate craving and the ingredients are so much better for you!   I almost think these are better than the regular ones.  These are my new favorite snack! Rating:   5 stars    Difficulty of Recipe:   2 stars Review: I loved that these were made with healthier ingredients and still tasted awesome.  I did have to order the sugar free almond bark off of amazon because I couldn't find it in the store.  If you can't find it you can always buy regular chocolate almond bark.  You will still be redu...

I love pesto.  So I was really excited to try this recipe out. I can't even describe how this basil pesto added such amazing flavor to this chicken.  I feel like this is something I would have ordered at a nice restaurant but was able to make it at home.   This was absolutely fantastic!  It will definitely not disappoint. Rating: 5 stars   Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars Review: This was my first time making pesto and it turned out fantastic!  The chicken was perfect and moist and had tons of flavor.  I will definitely make this again! Ingredients: 2 (16 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts salt and pepper to taste 4 tsp skinny basil pesto *see recipe below Roma tomatoes, thinly slices 6 Tbsp shredded reduced fat mozerella cheese 2 tsp grated parmesan Basil Pesto: 1 cup fresh basil 1 clove garlic 1/4 cup grated parmesan salt and pepper to taste 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil 1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare the basil pesto by pulsing in a ...

Join the Recipe Critic for the latest and greatest!  Like us on  Facebook  or follow on  Pinterest ! Wow. This was uh-mazing!  This was my first experience baking a cheesecake and it turned out perfectly.  I am not sure what made this cheesecake taste so good.  Maybe it was the greek yogurt in it, or maybe even the raspberry jam swirled throughout.  Whatever it was I couldn't even believe that it tasted so awesome and turned out so good.  My hubby kept sneaking more and more from the fridge.  He loved it.  The kids loved it.  And I got to eat a whole slice for 132 calories for dessert and I didn't even have to feel guilty about it.  This made preparing for my cruise a little bit easier. Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars Review:  This was actually pretty easy to make.  I used reduced fat graham crackers which also helped reduce the calories.  For easier cutting and removal, I did bake my ch...

I am majorly {obsessed} with Cafe Rio.  My Cafe Rio Recipe that I make tastes just like the real deal.  Well this recipe that I found I think gives my other recipe a run for the money.  It tasted just like Cafe Rio, but with reduced calories.  Do you know what they say is the secret ingredient?  Coca Cola.  This recipe is made with Coke Zero.  It makes the meat literally just melt in your mouth because it is so moist and tender.  It is so easy to shred this and just falls apart.  The flavor is out of this world with a little bit of sweet to it.  I had my pork over a delicious salad tonight and the whole family loved it... well except for the picky one.  He wouldn't try it.  He had a quesadilla.  Totally missed out! This was amazing! Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars Review:  I think my other recipe just got replaced.  The flavor was still just as great and so close to Cafe Rio's but with reduced...