Spanish Rice, Round 2

Awhile back, Amy posted a recipe for Spanish Rice , and it is great! A few years back my sister Katie came up with an original recipe that I make all the time and want to share this recipe with you as well. It is a little different than Amy's and I figure you can never have to many recipes for rice. This is a great Spanish Rice, and really quite quick to throw together to go with any sort of Mexican inspired dish you might make. I have added a couple of extras to her original recipe, that I think make great additions!

Spanish Rice
Print Recipe

2 Tbls Butter
1 clove of garlic
1/4 onion, grated
1 cup of white rice
3 tsp Tomato Bullion
2 cups of water
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 Tbls cilantro, chopped
1/2 tomato, chopped

Melt butter in medium saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion and garlic and let cook for a few seconds, then add your rice and stir all together for 1-2 minutes. Add bullion and stir well. Next, add the 2 cups of water and turn heat up to high. Bring that mixture to a boil, and then cover with a lid, reduce heat to low, and let cook, with out lifting the lid or stirring, for 20 minutes until rice is soft and all water is absorbed.

Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Once cheese is incorporated, add cilantro and tomato and serve warm.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

If you like the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, than these cookies were made for you! I found this recipe years ago off of allrecipes.com, and it is such a yummy cookie! The dough is made up of both chocolate and peanut butter and then filled with peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and peanut butter cups...a winning combination for sure!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened


• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter


• 3/4 cup white sugar


• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/3 cup cocoa powder


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips


• 1 cup peanut butter chips


• 10 chocolate covered peanut butter cups, cut into eighths

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F


2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter cups. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.


3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for 1 or 2 minutes on sheet before removing, or they will fall apart.

Recipe from: allrecipes

Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

A few weeks ago I was asked to make 100 cupcakes for my daughter Rachel's dive banquet. My kids and I love watching "Cupcake Wars", and after seeing that several times I felt inspired to try and make them somewhat gourmet-ish. So I made 3 kinds, Red Velvet, Chocolate Malt, and White Chocolate. They turned out awesome!! Everyone --even the moms and dads-- were going back for seconds. These Red Velvet were my favorites. After searching for a good recipe and not finding a great one--( I mean one Tablespoon of cocoa only? I don't think so.)- I adapted this one from McCormick. Topped with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, these cupcakes are moist, creamy and velvet-y. They're seriously amazing. I can't wait to make them for 4th of July w/ white frosting and blue sprinkles next year! I might make them for Christmas too-or turn them into a cake, we'll see~

Red Velvet Cupcakes w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Print Recipe

Cupcakes:
1 cup Butter, softened
2 1/4 cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 oz. Red Food Coloring
2 1/4 cups Bread Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Heat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar til fluffy, 3 minutes. Add eggs, buttermilk, and sour cream. Beat again til smooth. Add vanilla and red food color, blend/stir in on low speed or you will turn red!!
On top of this mixture, add flour but DON'T stir in. Carefully add cocoa powder, backing soda and salt right onto the flour blob on top of your wet ingredients. Get a fork and gently stir the dry ingredients together, then blend them into your wet ingredients. If you want to stir them separately, be my guest and use a separate bowl. I personally try whenever possible to condense my baking into one bowl!! Fill cupcake tins/liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-22 minutes or til toothpick comes out clean. **Tip: I have recently discovered that using my Pampered Chef Cookie Scoop works AWESOME for filling cupcake tins! No mess, it is a miracle. I only have the small one and the medium, so I use the medium. I usually have to add 1 1/2 scoops or so to each cupcake, but it's sooooo easy!! Thinking I need the large one..........................       


Frosting:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened (if you want a stiffer frosting for piping you can mix it up w/ cold cream cheese. That's what I did. I used my Bosch but any mixer will probably do.)
1/2 cup Butter, softened (or see above note)
2 oz. White Chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

In a mixing bowl, blend cream cheese and butter til smooth. Add vanilla. Add white chocolate and mix. Add in powdered sugar. Taste. If your kids aren't around, lick the beaters. If they are around, be the mother of the year and let them have them.

Mu Shu Chicken or Pork Wraps

When I was younger, my mom loved to take a break from cooking on the weekends and take us out to dinner. And one of her favorite places to take us was a Chinese restaurant where they served Mu Shu Pork. We loved it! So several years ago I was reading a Family Fun magazine and saw this recipe for Mu Shu Wraps made in the crock pot. I made it that very week and it was a hit, it's super simple and my family loves it. I can't think of many things that bring me more joy at 5:00 p.m. in the evening than having dinner already done in the slow cooker!

This recipe actually calls for chicken, but I have also made it with a pork (details will follow :) and it tastes delicious either way.

Mu Shu Pork or Chicken Wraps, makes about 8-10 Wraps

Print Recipe

1 large Onion, sliced

2 pounds boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs OR a 2 pound Pork Roast
1  jar (7 oz) or 1 cup Hoisin Sauce (in the Asian section of the grocery store, see pic below)
2 Tablespoons Honey
1/4 teaspoon ground Ginger
2 cups Broccoli Coleslaw -I have found this at both Walmart and the 99 cent store
1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon Sugar
Flour Tortillas
*Hoisin Sauce


Spray a 4 quart slow cooker (you could also use a 3 or 5 quart if that's what you have) with cooking spray. Place sliced onion in the bottom. Lightly season chicken thighs or pork roast with a bit of salt and pepper and place on top of onions. Cook on low 4 or 5 hours (a pork roast may cook a bit longer)or until meat pulls apart easily with a fork.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken and onions to a bowl and shred the meat. Pour remaining juices out of the slow cooker. Place hoisin sauce, honey, and ginger in the crock pot and stir. Place meat and onions in the crock pot and stir into sauce. Let sit for a few minutes while you gather and prepare other ingredients.
In a small bowl, combine rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. Pour over broccoli coleslaw and stir.







Place a tortilla on a plate, spoon on meat and onion mixture.

 

Cover with broccoli slaw and wrap up and eat!! I like serving these with rice and fresh fruit on the side.

Recipe Source: adapted from Family Fun Magazine

Chocolate Scotchekoos

It's summertime, you're tired, it's way too hot to bake, but you're craving sweets? Trust me, I can relate. That's why I'm sharing this amazing, delicious, NO BAKE, 10 minute recipe with you today. These are sooooo good, everyone who tries them asks for the recipe. Once we had about 20 kids swimming in our backyard, and I wanted to serve them a treat. So I quickly made two batches of this and I kid you not, they were all gone in less than 5 minutes.

So I have to tell you about the book this recipe came from. It's called the "Candy Cookbook", and it was handed down to me from my grandma. Unfortunately there isn't a publishing date on it, but it was likely published in the 1950's. Anyway, it opens with this choice tidbit:
 "Candy is energy food for young and old alike. The things that candy is made of-----sugar, corn syrup, molasses, honey, butter, eggs, milk, cream, chocolate, nuts---contain the basic proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals that children and adults need in their daily diets."
I'm TOTALLY serious....it says that!! Ahhh, the good ole' days when candy was health food. Even though it wasn't, I would have loved to eat it back in the 1950's, believing it was a necessary part of a my day!!

Chocolate Scotchekoos
Print Recipe
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Corn Syrup (you can substitute pancake syrup, or use 1/2 cup corn syrup, 1/2 cup pancake syrup. I actually love the flavor of maple mixed in with the peanut butter, it's super yummy!!)
1 cup creamy Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture boils. Remove from heat, stir in peanut butter. Add vanilla. Stir in Rice Krispies. Press into a 13x9 inch pan. Immediately top with chocolate chips and cover with a cookie sheet or foil. Chocolate chips should melt after several minutes, then remove cover and spread melted chocolate over Rice Krispy mixture. (if your chocolate chips don't melt, just put pan in the oven for a few minutes, but I've never had to do that.)

Creamy Orange-Ginger Dip

This fruit dip is the BEST ever!! My friend Adrienne brought this over to share at a swim party we had and I couldn't stop eating it, it is SO good. I have eaten the marshmallow creme/cream cheese dip for years, but when Adrienne added ginger and orange, wow!!

Creamy Orange-Ginger Dip

Print Recipe                                                                                                                
1 - 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme
1 - 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 TBSP. grated orange rind
Dash of (powdered) ginger-maybe 1/8 teaspoon to start and then taste

Add marshmallow creme to cream cheese gradually, mixing until well blended. Add orange rind and ginger, whip until fluffy. Makes 2 cups. Serve with fresh fruit.
Adrienne tells me that sometimes she also adds a touch of orange juice to this. SO Yummy!

Grilled Ground Beef Gyros

I love greek gyros and have to admit that when I first saw this recipe I was skeptical that it would really taste like gyros---I mean, gyros made out of ground beef???  But I had all the ingredients on hand to make it, including tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden, so I decided to try it. And all I can say is WOW!!! Our family abosolutely LOVES this meal!! Even my picky twins gobbled up the meat and then asked for some of mine! And my husband and I couldn't believe how much they tasted like real gyros. I can't wait for you to try these so let's get to the recipe, shall we?

Grilled Ground Beef Gyros (this recipe serves 4, I always double it)

Print Recipe

1 1/2 teaspoons dried Oregano

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

3/4 teaspoon Pepper

1 pound Ground Beef

4 Pita Breads, halved and warmed

Sliced Lettuce, Tomato, and Cucumber

1 Onion, Carmelized (Slice onion. Heat 1 Tablespoon oil or butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook til they look like this. Sprinkle with a dash of kosher salt and pepper )

 

In a large bowl, combine seasonings. Crumble ground beef over mixture, mix well. Shape into 4 patties. Grill on medium-hot heat for about 5-6 minutes on each side until a meat thermometer reads 160. Slice patties lengthwise into several slices and stuff into pita halves. Top with greek yogurt sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carmelized onions, and lettuce.  

Greek Yogurt Sauce:

1 8 oz. carton Plain Yogurt

1/3 cup chopped Cucumber

1/8 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1 teaspoon Sugar

Mix all ingredients together and chill.

Recipe Source: Adapted from " Taste of Home, Prize Winning Recipes, 200 Contest Favorites"

Summer Steak Marinade

Back in the day, before newspapers died, we got the Arizona Republic. And can you guess what my favorite section was? Food, of course!! And ok, along with the celebrity gossip page that I would read almost daily. It just made me feel super good about my life, reading about all those shallow, fickle, moral-less people. I know, bad way to get your self esteem. But it worked for me. Anyway, one day they had this steak marinade in there, and it was so simple I decided to try it. Wow, sometimes the simplest things are really the best!! This has become a family favorite.

Summer Steak Marinade:

Print Recipe

1/3 cup Honey, plus more for rubbing on meat
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
4 steaks (about 6 ounces each, rib-eye, New York strip or tenderloin work best, but any grillable steak will do), lightly peppered

Combine soy sauce, 1/3 cup honey and Worcestershire in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, until honey stirs easily. Stir sauce mixture. Pour over steaks in a shallow bowl. Puncture the steaks with a fork to help the sauce penetrate. Marinate steaks up to 30 minutes, turning them every 5 to 7 minutes.
Drain the steaks. Rub more honey on the meat.
Place on a hot grill to sear, then reduce heat and grill to desired doneness.

Fried Ice Cream

My awesome friend Tori brought this yummy dish over for a super bowl get together several months back, and I've been waiting for summer to post it, knowing it would be perfect!! Everyone just gobbled this up, it was delicious!! Thanks so much Tori!! :)


Fried Ice cream
Print Recipe

2 1/2 cups of crushed Corn Chex
3 Tbls. melted butter
4 Tbls brown sugar
1/2 c. finely chopped peanuts
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

Crumble brown sugar into melted butter.  Mix butter mixture together with Corn Chex and peanuts.  Let ice cream soften a bit, and spread into 9x13 pan. Spread corn chex mixture on top. Freeze til firm. When ready to serve, top with your favorite ice cream toppings like caramel and chocolate, yummy!!

Smoked Provolone & Veggie Pasta Salad

Yum, this is such an awesome summer pasta salad!! Full of veggies and cheese, you can serve this as a main dish on a hot summer day, I sure did!! My husband and kids absolutely loved it and I can't wait to make it again. I actually happened to have some of those real bacon bits from Costco when I made this, so I tossed a few in with the salad. It was super yummy, and just a small handful went a long way. Totally optional though!!

Smoked Provolone and Veggie Pasta Salad

Print Recipe

Dressing:

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup fresh Parsley

1/2 cup White Whine Vinegar

3 cloves Garlic

pinch Cayenne Pepper

1/8 teaspoon Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients (except salt and pepper) in your blender til smooth, then taste for seasoning. Add a touch of salt and pepper if desired. Set aside.

Salad:

12 oz. Pasta of your choice

3 cups Baby Spinach

4-6 oz. Smoked Provolone Cheese, diced. (the original recipe called for smoked mozzarella, but I can never find that. For this, I actually found some sliced smoked provolone cheese on sale, like sliced for sandwiches. I just used that and cut it up into bite sized pieces. It tasted awesome!!)

Diced Veggies of your choice. I used fresh broccoli and tomatoes from my garden, yum! Pretty much any veggies taste awesome with the dressing.

Optional: if you have real bacon bits or ham on hand, you can toss some in

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. Run some cool water over pasta and drain again. Place in a large bowl, cool for a couple of minutes. Toss with veggies and cheese. Pour dressing over all.

Recipe Source: Adapted from melskitchencafe.com



Cake Tutorial

So I stumbled upon this really fun blog called "i am baker". They have the prettiest cake, and I can't help but share this with you all, it is such a simple, beautiful cake that anyone can do! You have to check this tutorial here.


(isn't her picture amazing)

Marinated BBQ Turkey Breast

This recipe is one I have had for years! Year after year it is still a hit! I use to ask for this for my  birthday dinner as a child, it is a great way to start summer season. If you have a party coming up, you should defiantly consider serving this dish!!

Marinated BBQ Turkey Breast
Marinated BBQ Turkey


Cut a Turkey breast (I buy either a boneless turkey breast or a bone it and just remove it from the bone) into 2 to 3 inch squares. Then Marinate in:
3 whole lemons juiced, and add that plus rinds to the mixture
3 cans of Sprite
12 oz of Vegetable Oil
10 oz of soy sauce
6 ounces of Terriyaki sauce
1 Tbls garlic salt
whole cloves
cinnamon

Mix all together in a large bowl and marinate for 3-4 hours (we have also done it over night), then put on your grill and BBQ.

Caramel Corn

I have never been a big fan of caramel popcorn, until a few years back my neighbor Erin made me a batch of her recipe and I ate so much of it I was pretty much sick. We have been making this ever since and it is so gooey and rich and tasty! One bite of this and you can't stop eating it! So if you are not a big fan, try this recipe out, and it may change your mind like it did mine.

Caramel Corn
Print Recipe

2 cups of  Brown Sugar
1 cup Karo Syrup
2 sticks of butter

Over medium high heat, bring to boil, and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add one can of Sweetened Condensed Milk, stir until combined. Let cool for 1-2 minutes and pour over a big bowl of freshly popped popcorn. (pop approx. one cup of popcorn to yield the right amount of popped corn.) To kick this up a little more, I usualy salt my popcorn first and then pour the caramel over the top.

Recipe Source: Erin Winzler

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

I love this recipe!! So healthy, so yummy, and so amazing. I was so geeked out the first time I made this; I mean, you throw whole wheat kernels into your blender with some other stuff and out come pancakes!! I had tried a few recipes, but couldn't get the consistency just right so I created this one that is full-proof. The flavor is awesome, slightly nutty with honey mixed in. They are so good that even my picky twins eat them and just keep asking for more. (they have NO clue they're healthy, hee hee)
If you have never cooked with whole wheat kernels before or don't know where to get them and live in Arizona, there is this awesome place called Shar's Bosch Kitchen Center in Gilbert. I got my Bosch there years ago and Shar taught me how to make bread with it! They know their stuff there and only carry top-quality products. They are basically a kitchen super store, and they even have classes to teach you how to bake bread and cook delicious meals, desserts, you name it.  Here is their website, www.sharskitchen.com   You can also check their list of classes at this link: www.sharskitchen.com/classes/

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes:
Recipe by ourcookingcafe.com
Print Recipe

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Whole Wheat Kernels
1 cup Milk
Place in blender and blend for 3 minutes. Then add:
1/2 cup additional Milk
Blend for 2 more minutes, and add:
2 eggs
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder (yup, a Tablespoon)
2 (heaping) Tablespoons Honey
Blend together in blender til smooth.

Pour batter from your blender onto hot griddle. Serve with your favorite toppings. We love them with strawberries, fresh whipped cream, and syrup~yum.

But just good 'ole syrup and butter is awesome too!!

Chicken Caeser Snap Wraps

So have you checked out our weekly meal planner yet? I'm telling you, planning your meals for the week makes your life SO much easier and saves you a TON of money. I should know. I've tried just "winging" my weeks, making up excuses that I don't have time to plan and shop for meals in advance. And this is usually what happens. It's dinnertime, my kids are starving and eating a million otter pops and pretzels, and I'm opening cupboards. the fridge, the freezer wondering what in the world I can make for dinner that takes 10 minutes or less. (So I can at least offer my children some protein and a vegetable instead of popsicles and chips.) And then I decide there's nothing to eat, so I run to the nearest drive thru, call & order pizza, or open up a box of cereal. Sound familiar?
I absolutely LOVE having my dinners for the week on the fridge. I can wake up in the morning, see what dinner I've planned, and take meat out to defrost or start whatever it is. Then later when dinner is approaching, instead of wasting an hour deciding what to make, I spend that 30 min-hour making dinner and it's done! The other awesome thing is that shopping for your meals a week (or two-I'm not there yet but it's my goal!) in advance saves you time not running to the store every other day, and a lot of money. With gas and food costs, and your hectic life,meal planning is the way to go for sure!!
So here we have chicken Caesar snap wraps for dinner, which I named appropriately since they come together in the snap of a finger!! And here is an example of planning ahead I wanted to share with you. These were on our menu for the night, and I had planned to marinate and grill the chicken for them. But as my day unraveled with a preschool end of the year shindig and an after school track banquet, etc etc......the chicken wasn't getting done. So instead of heading for the drive thru, I called my husband and asked him to pick up a rotisserie chicken on his way home from work. Wa-La, it cost $5.00 (instead of the usual $15.00-$20.00 to feed our family of 8 @  the drive thru), and we had a healthy, delicious meal. Have any meal planning tricks you like to use? Let us know!

Chicken Caesar Snap Wraps
Print Recipe

Serves 8
8 Tortillas (we like the uncooked ones you buy at Costco in the refrigerator section)
1 recipe Grilled Italian Chicken (if you don't have the fresh basil called for just sprinkle on 1/2 teaspoon dried or leave it out, and don't worry @ the basil butter for this)
or 1 Rotisserie Chicken
Lettuce (I used a Dole Romaine Lettuce Blend I got at the 99 cent store-love that place!!)
Tomato
Cucumber (optional but yummy!)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese (I bought the already shredded Kraft kind in a bag)

Creamy Caesar Dressing:
2/3 cup Mayonnaise
1/3 cup Milk
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (for the dressing I just use the good ole stuff from the canister)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard or Spicy Brown Mustard
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.

To assemble the wraps, take a tortilla and spread it with some Caesar dressing.
Then place some lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber on the dressing.
 Finish off with some chicken, Parmesan cheese, and another dollop of Caesar dressing. Fold tortilla up from the bottom and then fold each side over to close.

Recipe Source: Creamy Caesar Dressing adapted from http://www.cooks.com/, Wraps by www.ourcookingcafe.com



Secret Ingredient Tater Tot Casserole

Ok, ok I know this is pretty hilarious, posting a tater tot casserole in a food blog. And saying that it has a secret ingredient. I also realize that if any of our 10 readers are foodies, we're really in trouble because that will bring our numbers down to 9. But I will accept the consequences of posting about Napoleon Dynamite's favorite food. And I promise, I'm not even from Idaho. Or close. Although Idaho is beautiful. In the summer. But (some of) the hairstyles are scary.
Back to my point post.  I have been making this casserole since I was first married. And one night I thought "hmmm...since this tastes so good with ketchup, why not substitute half the milk called for with ketchup?" So I did!! And I could tell, just tasting the soup mixture with the ketchup, that this was a winner. Seriously! My secret ingredient is ketchup. This is the only casserole my kids will eat, even my picky 4 year old twins. It's really good, really easy, and totally kid proof. Even husband proof. My husband and I used to eat this even before we had kids. So there you have it. Tater tot casserole in a food blog, who knew?

Secret Ingredient Tater Tot Casserole
Print Recipe
 Makes about 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound Ground Beef
1 Tablespoon Dried Minced Onion
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8-1/4  teaspoon Pepper
1 10 oz. can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/3 cup Milk
1/3 cup Ketchup
1 15 oz. can Yellow Corn, drained
1 32 oz. Bag Tater Tots (you will use roughly 2/3 of the bag)

Preheat oven to 400. Place ground beef in a skillet over the stove. Sprinkle with minced onion, salt, and pepper. Cook over heat until no longer pink. While meat is browning, spray a glass 8 x 11 (2 quart) dish generously with cooking spray. Place cream of chicken soup, milk, and ketchup right into the dish and stir til mixed together well. Add drained corn and stir. Add browned beef mixture and stir again. Place tater tots over casserole until completely covered. Like I said, you will probably use a little over half of the bag. Bake, uncovered, until tater tots have browned and casserole is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve with extra ketchup if desired! (we always desire this.)

Recipe Source: http://www.ourcookingcafe.com/

Hot Fudge Sauce

The weekend is finally here! It's time to relax and enjoy a yummy treat. But the weather is warming up and the week was crazy and you don't feel like baking, right? Gotcha. Why not buy some ice cream at the grocery store and whip up some homemade hot fudge sauce? That's what I did for mother's day. My husband grilled steak, and for dessert, we had Blue Bell Cookies & Cream ice cream with this sauce. It was pure, creamy, chocolate bliss. This hot fudge can also be used as a fondue; the next day my kids dipped strawberries and pretzels in it as an after school snack--yum. 

Hot Fudge Sauce

Print Recipe

1/4 cup Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

2/3 cup Evaporated Milk

3/4 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 teaspoon Vanilla

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar and evaporated milk and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes at a low rolling boil. Reduce heat to low, stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir for about a minute or two longer, remove from heat. Sauce will thicken as it stands. Serve warm over ice cream, brownies, cake, or as a dipping sauce with fruit and pretzels.

Recipe Source: http://www.ourcookingcafe.com/

Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This is my kind of meal!! Delicious, simple ingredients, family-friendly, and economical. I have always wanted a great baked mac-n-cheese recipe, and when I saw this in a magazine it looked so good I knew I had to try it. I was surprised at just how yummy it was! My husband and kids gobbled it up and asked me to make it again soon, a request I will very happily fulfill.
The recipe didn't call for ham, but I had some that I froze from Easter. It was awesome with the yummy baked cheese and other flavors, but it's optional. If you have bacon on hand, it would be a great addition as well, but not necessary.

Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Print Recipe

12 oz. Elbow Macaroni
2 Tablespoons Dijon or Spicy Brown Mustard
1 1/4 cup Sour Cream, divided
1 small Onion, chopped ,
8 oz.  (2 cups) Cheddar and/or Smoked Provolone Cheese, divided (1 used 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup smoked provolone)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 1/2 cups Chopped Ham or 1/2 cup Bacon Bits (optional)

Cook macaroni pasta for half the time recommended on package. I think I cooked mine for 5 minutes. Drain. While cooking, preheat oven to 400. Spray a 9x13 pan generously with cooking spray. Place 1 cup sour cream in pan, mix with dijon mustard. Stir in the onion, salt and pepper. Add the drained macaroni and stir to coat. Stir in 1 cup of cheese and the ham or bacon if using.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until starting to brown. Remove from oven and stir in remaining 1/4 cup sour cream and 1 more cup of cheese. Return to oven and bake about 20 mintues more, until nicely browned. Yum! Hope you love it as much as we did!!

Recipe Source: Adapted from Woman's Day Magazine

Grasshopper Fudge Cake

Wow, have I got a treat for you!! I'm seriously drooling just thinking about it. A couple weeks ago I was thinking about what kind of cake to make for Easter. I was really craving chocolate, but that didn't sound so pastel-y or Easter-y. So I remembered my favorite mint frosting and thought, "What if I put that on a chocolate cake? That's pastel, it works, right?" Next thing I knew I was at Walmart buying the ingredients and this cake was born. And let me tell you, it has won a permanent place in my heart and our family's treat menu. It is SOOOO good! I couldn't even believe how yummy it turned out, seriously. I started out with a cake mix to make it easy, and made it into 3 layers. Then I topped each round cake with fudge and a generous layer of creamy mint frosting. What I love about this mint frosting is that the mint flavoring in it isn't too overpowering, it's just right. To top it all off I crushed some chocolate mint cookies, much like the ones the cute girl scouts sell. But since girl scout season is over, I found a Walmart brand that worked awesome. The result, wow. Let's just say this, I ate it for breakfast every morning til our family finished it off. No joke, I was thinking about this cake as soon as I woke up. Pretty sure since it had milk in it and lots of chocolate, the calcium and antioxidant levels were super high, making this the healthiest breakfast ever. Please, if you make this and live close by, remember how nice it is to share!!

Grasshopper Fudge Cake
Print Recipe

Cake :
1 package Devil's Food or Triple Chocolate Cake mix
Make cake according to package directions, substituting Milk for the water called for in the recipe. Bake in three 8 inch cake pans til done, ( a toothpick comes out clean), at 350. Start checking cakes for doneness at around 17-18 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes then invert cakes and cool completely on cooling racks. Tip: it is much easier to frost cakes if you wrap them in seran wrap and freeze them for a while.

Chocolate Fudge:
1 cup semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 teaspoon Peppermint Extract

Place chocolate chips in a bowl. Bring whipping cream to a boil in a sauce pan, then pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 2 minutes and then stir. Stir in peppermint extract.

Creamy Mint Frosting:
1 cup Butter
4 Tablespoons Shortening
4 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons Peppermint Extract
2 pounds (a 32 oz. bag) Powdered Sugar
a few drops of Green Food Coloring
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Milk and/or Whipping Cream to dampen

Beat together butter, shortening, and corn syrup. Add in vanilla and peppermint flavoring. Beat in powdered sugar. Stir in salt. Add green food coloring. Add enough milk and/or whipping cream to make frosting a spreadable consistency, probably at least 3 tablespoons.

For Garnish: Chocolate Mint cookies, either mint oreos or a girl scout thin-mint knock off

To Assemble Cake:
Spread a cake layer with 1/3 of the chocolate fudge. Place in freezer or fridge for a few minutes to set. Once it's set, spread with a thick layer of mint frosting. Repeat with next chocolate cake layer. Then take the third chocolate cake layer and spread with remaining chocolate fudge, and set in fridge or freezer. Your cake will look like this:

Are you hungry yet? I am. Next you will spread entire cake with the remaining mint frosting. Then crush up some chocolate mint cookies and put on top.


Next, serve yourself a slice of creamy, fudgey, minty heaven. And once everyone leaves for school, be sure and snag some for a delicious yet (hopefully) nutritious breakfast.


 Recipe Source: http://www.ourcookingcafe.com/

Chicken Alfredo

This delicious dish is definitely a family favorite!! My 4 year old twins sometimes shun tomato-based spaghetti sauce, but when I serve this, they each eat like 2-3 helpings, no joke!! So when it seems they are on the brink of a complete malnutrition meltdown due to picky-eating-itis, I make this for dinner. It's super easy and quick to put together, even on a busy weeknight. I usually double the sauce and freeze half of it for another dinner. I got the alfredo sauce recipe from my friend Penny Hager, she is a cooking wonder woman. Coincidentally, the breadstick you see in the photo above is from her too, and is SO yummy when dipped in this creamy sauce!!

Chicken Alfredo

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Sauce:

1/2 cup Butter

2-3 cloves Garlic, minced

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 cups Whole Milk or Evaporated Milk or Half and Half (I usually buy a little 16 oz. container of half and half at the 99 cent store)

a few Parsley Flakes or a few Tablespoons of fresh chopped Parsley, optional

Melt butter, saute garlic. Add chicken soup, whole milk or half and half, and parsley. Stir over medium/low heat until it starts to thicken, and then add the parmesan cheese. Cook and stir a few minutes longer.

Chicken:

To make this easy, I usually use chicken tenderloins. My rule of thumb for this is I use 1 tenderloin per person eating dinner that night.  You could marinate your chicken in Italian dressing and grill or broil it.

But here I just sprinkled my plain chicken with some garlic salt and pepper, heated some olive oil in a pan, and sauteed it,

Flipping it when browned.  

Cook pasta of your choice according to package directions, then top each serving with alfredo sauce and a chicken tenderloin. Voila!! Dinner is served.

White Chocolate Toffee Cookies

 A few weeks ago when we rented "Cool Runnings" from Netflix (totally LOVE their live streaming/mail you movies service!!), I made these cookies for a treat and OH BOY were they delicious!! My family went nutso over them. White chocolate and toffee are a match made in heaven. The secret to these cookies is slowly baking them at a lower temperature to give them that irresistible fresh-from-the bakery taste.

White Chocolate Toffee Cookies

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Makes about 20-24 cookies, goes without saying I always double this for my family of 8!

1/2 cup Butter, softened

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla (most of you already know I LOVE the Watkins brand!)

1 1/2 cups Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 cup White Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Toffee Bits

1/2 cup toasted Coconut, optional

Cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the egg, milk, and vanilla and blend again. Add the flour on top of this mixture and DON'T stir it in. Then add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt right on top of the flour. Grab a fork and gently blend the dry mixture while it sits on the wet, then blend all together. Stir in the white chocolate chips, toffee bits, and coconut if using. Refrigerate dough for 30-60 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 300. Scoop out 2 Tablespoon-Balls of dough and place on cookie sheets. I use a pampered chef cookie scoop that is the perfect size for this--I think it's the medium one--love it!! Bake for 12-14 minutes, cookies should appear slightly browned but undercooked. These cookies can get a bit puffy, so I flatten them slightly with the bottom of a cup when they come out of the oven if needed. Yum!!

Recipe Source: Adapted from "Even More Top Secret Recipes" by Todd Wilbur

Orange Chicken

As I've said before, our family loves eating out and one of our favorite fast food meals is Panda Express or the Rice Garden restaurant inside of Basha's. Even though it's great to eat out, it can get expensive!! So I decided to tackle learning how to make a family favorite; Orange Chicken. I'm sooooo glad I did! This is easy to prepare, don't get intimidated by all the steps. Once you've made and tasted this, you may never go back to Panda Express again! The sauce on this is to die for good, made with fresh fruits and ginger. I taught an Asian cooking class at church last week and made this and everyone loved it, I know you will too!! We love serving this with cooked vegetables like snow peas, broccoli, or green beans and putting some of the yummy sauce over those too.

Orange Chicken

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Sauce:

2  cups Water

2 teaspoon Chicken Bullion Powder

4 Tablespoons Orange Juice

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

2/3 cup Rice Vinegar

1/3 cup Soy Sauce

4 Tablespoons Orange Zest (peel)

2 cups Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons fresh Ginger Root

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

4 Tablespoons Green Onion

1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

To thicken later:

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

3 Tablespoons Water

Chicken

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

1/2 cup Cornstarch

1/4 cup Flour

Olive oil for frying (3-6 Tablespoons)

In a sauce pan, stir all the ingredients together EXCEPT the cornstarch and water under "thicken later." Stir and cook over medium heat til combined for about 2-3 minutes and then bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Place the chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag. Remove exactly 1 cup of the sauce and coat chicken. Place chicken in fridge for at least 2 hours.

In another Ziploc bag, stir together the 1/2 cup cornstarch, flour, salt and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. You can do this in 2 batches. Add the chicken

and brown on both sides.

You can see here that I turned the chicken when it was getting nice and toasty brown. It should take about 3 minutes on each side.

Remove to a plate, you can line with paper towels to drain if you want to. Cover with foil.

Wipe out your skillet and place the orange sauce in there. Stir together the 4 Tablespoons cornstarch and water and stir into your sauce to thicken. Heat over medium high heat to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Add the chicken pieces and, if using, you can also add cooked veggies and stir for about 5 minutes to coat. Serve over rice!!

Recipe Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com and Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur