Chocolate Brandyberry Trifle

This sinful trifle, with sultry chocolate cake saturated with sweet berry juice and blackberry brandy, covered with luscious mixed berries and creamy whipped topping adds decadence to any holiday, birthday, or special occasion!

Ingredients:
 

• 1 box chocolate cake mix, prepared as directed
• 3 twelve ounce bags of frozen mixed berries (or fresh berries, of course)
• 1 shot (or two) blackberry brandy
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 package whipped topping mix

• 1/2 cup skim milk

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place frozen berries in a large bowl and let thaw. You may certainly use fresh berries; we used frozen, since they give lots of juice to work with once they are thawed. Prepare chocolate cake and bake as directed. Let cool. Add sugar to berries and stir. Strain the berry juice into a small bowl. To the juice, add brandy and more sugar, if desired. Prepare whipped topping mix, beating at high speed with the milk and vanilla until stiff peaks are formed.  In a glass trifle dish, coat the bottom with blackberry brandy. Cut the cake into squares about 2" thick and place 1/2 the cake on the bottom of the dish. Saturate the cake with 1/2 the juice mixture. Take half of the berries and layer them over the cake. Spread a layer of whipped topping over the cake and berries, and repeat the process. Garnish with berries, finely chopped chocolate, and a sprig of mint (optional).

Black Bean Pinwheels

You'll wow them with these appetizers, which are perfect for any party or get-together. Soft tortillas, rich black beans, buttery avacodo, black olives, cilantro flavored cream cheese, and tangy cheddar cheese serve as the guaranteed hit at any occasion, but you'll want these all to yourself!

Ingredients:

• 3 large 10" flour tortillas

• 1 package cream cheese (we use reduced fat or fat free)
• 2 Tbsp. light sour cream

• 2 cans refried black beans
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can black olives, diced
• 1 large avocado, diced
• 3  green onion stalks, sliced

• Fresh cilantro

• Garlic salt and pepper, to taste

Cream cheese mixture:

In a food processor, blend together cream cheese, sour cream, about a 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, and garlic salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

If you can't find refried black beans in the can:

In a food processor, blend together 2 cans of drained low sodium black beans with some cilantro, one half of a chipotle pepper (from jar or can), and garlic salt to taste.  Cook in a non-stick skillet until bean mixture thickens.

Spread a thin layer of bean mixture on each tortilla, then a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture.

Top with a layer of shredded cheese, and do the same with the chopped black olives, diced avocado (use avocado sparingly, or you may use 2 avocados instead of 1), and green onion. Top with a light layer of fresh cilantro pieces and roll the tortillas tightly.

Cover each roll in saran wrap and refrigerate for two hours, or over night. When ready to serve, cut off the unusable ends (and eat them, because they're yummy), and slice the rolls about an inch thick.