Grasshopper Fudge Cake

Here is another great recipe from the Betty Crocker Magazine.

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons mint extract
3 egg whites
12 drops green food color
2 jars (16 oz each) hot fudge topping
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
5 drops yellow food color
Thin rectangular crème de menthe chocolate candies, unwrapped and cut into pieces, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F for shiny metal or glass pan (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray with flour.

Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the mint extract and the egg whites. Reserve 1 cup batter. Stir 3 drops of the green food color into reserved batter; set aside. Pour remaining batter into pan.

Drop green batter by generous tablespoonfuls randomly in 12 to 14 mounds onto batter in pan. Cut through batters with metal spatula or knife in S-shaped curves in one continuous motion. Turn pan 1/4 turn; repeat cutting for swirled design.

Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Carefully spread fudge topping evenly over cake. In medium bowl, stir whipped topping, remaining 1/2 teaspoon extract, remaining 9 drops green food color and the yellow food color until blended. Spread whipped topping mixture evenly over fudge. Garnish with candy pieces. Store covered in refrigerator.

This tastes fantastic and is very light.

Sally Lunn Bread

I put my bread machine to use this morning. I got this recipe out of my Betty Crocker Best Bread Machine Cookbook.

I made two pounds of dough then split it in half and baked them in the oven since my bread machine isn't baking like it used to. I am not complaining, it is 12 years old.

The recipe below is for two pounds.

2 eggs plus enough water to equal 1 1/3 cups
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter softened
4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast
extra melted butter to brush on the loaves

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients in the bread machine pan in he order recommended by the manufacturer.

Select Basic/White cycle. Use medium or light crush color. Do not use delay cycles. Remove bread from pan and cool on wire rack.

* * * I used the dough cycle and when complete, I split the dough in half and placed each piece into a lightly greased loaf pan. Let rise for 40 - 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes, then brush with melted butter. Bake another 15 minutes or until golden brown and it sounds hollow when you "knock" on it.


Ready to rise...

All done baking and now cooling...

Rosemary Dijon Pork Loin

I just put this in the crock pot.

1 (4-pound) boneless pork loin
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 a small onion, cut into wedges
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves of garlic sliced
2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary
1 1/2 cup chicken stock

Evenly rub the entire pork loin with the Dijon mustard followed by the onion, salt,and pepper. Make sure to really rub in the spices.

Place pork roast into your crock pot, add the stock, being careful not to rinse off the mustard and herb mixture. Add the onion, garlic and rosemary sprigs.

Cover and cook on low for approximately 8 hours.

Key Lime Poke Cake

This is what I just made from the Betty Crocker Cake magazine.

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 eggs

Key Lime Filling
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Key lime juice or regular lime juice
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
4 drops yellow food color
1 drop green food color

Frosting
1 container (12 oz) Betty Crocker® Whipped vanilla frosting
2 teaspoons grated lime peel

Garnish, If Desired
Fresh strawberries
Key lime slices
Lemon leaves

Heat oven to 350°F for shiny metal or glass pan (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray with flour.

In large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.

Bake 26 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. With handle of wooden spoon (1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter), poke holes almost to bottom of cake every 1/2 inch, wiping spoon handle occasionally to reduce sticking.

In medium bowl, stir together filling ingredients (mixture will thicken). Pour over cake; spread evenly over surface, working back and forth to fill holes. (Some filling should remain on top of cake.) Refrigerate 1 hour.

Spread frosting over cake; sprinkle with lime peel. Garnish with strawberries, lime slices and lemon leaves. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

This was very good, but next time I will use whipped cream instead of the vanilla frosting. It was pretty sweet.

Betty Crocker Super Moist Cakes for all Occasions!

I picked this magazine up a while ago because it looks like it would have some great new desserts for our July 4th party.

Today I decided to start trying some of them, you know just to make sure that everything tastes good before I serve it to our friends...LOL

Pepperoni Bread

I am making a double batch, the recipe below is for a single loaf.

1 (1 pound) pizza dough (today I used a ready made dough from Publix)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon dried basil leaves (today I used fresh from my plant)
1/2 tablespoon dried minced onion flakes
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano (today I used fresh from my plant)
1 (8 ounce) package sliced pepperoni sausage
1 (6 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese
Italian herbs and olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an approximately 12x18 inch rectangle. Brush dough lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with basil, onion flakes and oregano. Layer with pepperoni to within a half inch of the edges. Top with mozzarella cheese

Beginning with the longest edge, roll dough and pinch to seal seam. Place seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with dried Italian herbs.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Fresh herbs from my container garden.

Loads of pepperoni!

Lots of cheese.

Ready for the oven.

All done and can't wait for dinner.

Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwiches

Victoria picked this out of my Taste Of Home Chicken Magazine this morning.

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
2 tbs honey
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp water
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 boneless chicken breast halves
4 sandwich buns, split
1 cup shredded lettuce
8 thin tomato slices

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Broil chicken 4 inch from the heat for 4 to 7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170, brushing occasionally with mustard mixture. Serve on buns with lettuce and tomato.

I am going to just cook them on the grill, less clean up!

Mouth Watering Cinnamon Muffins

We made these muffins on Easter Morning. The recipe comes from Victoria's new Betty Crocker cookbook.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter

Heat the oven to 350. Spray just the bottoms of each muffin cup.

Put the first 1/2 cup sugar, milk, vegetable oil in a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. Add the egg and beat with a fork until mixed.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg to sugar mixture. Stir just until flour is wet. Spoon batter into muffin cups until cups are about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, mix the second 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Put the butter in a microwaveable bowl. Cover the bowl and microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Cool for 5 minutes.

Use pot holders to take muffin pan out of the oven. Carefully tip pan on its side to take muffins out of the cups. Put muffins on a wire cooling rack. Cool for 5 minutes.

First roll muffins in the melted butter. Then roll them in the sugar Cinnamon mixture so they are coated. Serve warm.

Betty Crocker's Kids Cook!

Victoria got this new cookbook from Gramma and she has found some recipes that she can't wait to try. It is the Betty Crocker Kids Cook cookbook.

M & M Cupcakes

To go along with the yellow and blue polka dot theme...

I made two batches of cupcakes, one Funfetti and the other Chocolate. I found bags of just yellow M&M's and blue M&M's in the Easter Candy aisle. Decorating these took a lot longer than I expected, but came out cute.

Monkey Cake

Here is the finished Monkey Cake. This time I used a box pound cake and it only took about an hour to bake. I also made a couple cupcakes from the extra batter.

After baking I let it cool for a few hours.

Trim flat side of cake to be level. Trim away top of cupcake to be level. Cut cupcake in half vertically for the two monkey ears. Cut bowl cake in half horizontally to make 2 layers. Spread 3/4 cup chocolate buttercream on top of flat layer (I used lemon frosting from a can). Top with domed layer. Transfer to a cake plate. Spread a thick layer of chocolate buttercream over entire monkey head. Spread buttercream over cupcake ears. Attach ears to sides of head, top of cupcake facing forward, securing with toothpicks.

Place remaining chocolate frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small plain round tip (I used the same star tip as the hair.). Pipe dots around bottom edge of cake in a continuous line.

Fill another piping bag fitted with a large plain round tip (such as Ateco #11) with yellow buttercream. (I used white frosting and put a tiny bit of brown Wilton gel and mixed it up)
Pipe an oval near the front base of cake. Fill in with frosting, and smooth. I then put on brown M&M's and used Black Wilton Icing in a tube and dotted on the pupils, nostrils and mouth. Decorated cake can be refrigerated up to 3 hours.

Bobby Flay Grill It

Look what Victoria and Marcel picked out for my birthday present. It is Bobby Flay's Grill It. Yum it has loads of yummy looking recipes.

Chocolate Pound Cake

I made this recipe yesterday to try and make a monkey cake with it.

1/2 lb butter
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and shortening together in large bowl.
Gradually add sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa together.
Gradually add to butter and shortening mixture.
Add milk and vanilla.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 25 minutes in greased and floured pans.
Makes 2 loaves or 1 tube pan.

I used the mini sports ball pan and it took almost 1 hour 45 minutes and the rest of the batter I used and made a loaf and that took close to 2 hours. I think time I will use the batter and put it in mini loaf pans.

Chicken Saltimbocca

This is from my Taste of Home Chicken magazine. The picture is from their site.

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
6 thin slices deli ham
6 slices Swiss cheese
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
Hot cooked rice

Flatten chicken to 1/4-in. thickness. Top each piece with a slice of ham and cheese. Roll up tightly; secure with toothpicks. In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Roll chicken in flour mixture; refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a large skillet, brown roll-ups in oil on all sides; transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine the soup and wine or broth; pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until meat is longer pink.

Remove roll-ups and stir sauce. Discard toothpicks.

Serve with rice. Yield: 6 servings

Chicken Provolone

This is again from Taste of Home Chicken Magazine.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp pepper
Butter Flavored Cooking spray
8 fresh basil leaves
4 thin slices of prosciutto or deli ham
4 slices of provolone cheese

Sprinkle chicken with pepper. In a large nonstick skillet coated with butter flavored cooking spray, cook the chicken over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170. (For the sake of an easy clean up, I just put them in a glass baking dish and will bake them in the oven, why dirty a skillet??)

Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet; top with basil, prosciutto and cheese. Broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat for 1 - 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve with a green salad.

Here it is before the cheese was melted. I did put cheese on the far left one after I took a picture of it.

All done and it was very very good!

Lemon Chicken and Rice

This also came from the Taste of Home Chicken Magazine. It wasn't lemony enough so I added another tablespoon or so.

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
2 tbs butter (I used light olive oil)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tbs cornstarch
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth (I used chicken stock from a box)
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 cup frozen peas

In a large skillet, cook chicken, onion and carrot in butter for 5 to 7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, broth, lemon juice and salt until smooth. Gradually add to skillet; bring to a boil. cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in rice and peas. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Chicken Satay Wraps

I picked up a new Taste of Home Chicken magazine and put sticky notes on a lot of good looking recipes.

Today at lunch I made the chicken satay wraps. They were super good!!!

2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs creamy peanut butter
2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups sliced cooked chicken
1 cup coleslaw mix
4 flour tortillas (8 inches), room temp

In a large bowl, whisk oil peanut butter, onions, soy sauce and pepper until combined. Add the chicken and toss to coat.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup coleslaw mix over each tortilla; top with chicken mixture. Roll up tightly.

Serve with chips.

English Muffin Bread (with pics)

I decided to make some English Muffin bread this morning since Victoria is home sick again. What can be better on a sick belly than toast. I have been using my bread machine just on the dough cycle lately because it just isn't baking right.

When they cycle was done, I placed the dough into a loaf pan that was greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover; let rise in warm, draft- free place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack. Slice; toast to serve.

All risen and ready for the oven.

All baked and cooling!

Chicken, Squash and Pasta soup

I just finished making this for dinner.

1 tbs olive oil
2 medium celery stalks, chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 tsp dried sage leaves (or poultry seasoning)
6 cups chicken stock
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups uncooked tricolor rotini pasta
1 1/2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1/8 tsp pepper
pinch salt

In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat. Add celery, onion and sage. Cook 5 to 6 minutes stirring frequently, until onion is softened.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium. Cover; cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta and squash are tender.

Pumpkin Muffins

I just made these for my sick little girl.

1 cup pumpkin (canned "or" fresh)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup melted shortening
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup of raisins

Blend pumpkin, eggs, water, and shortening in large bowl.

Sift together remaining ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture.

Fill greased muffin tins about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Makes 12 large muffins.

Golden Chicken and Noodles

This is what I just put in the crock pot. I found it in a Cambells cookbook.

2 cans Campbells Condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
8 large carrots peeled and thickly sliced
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 cups hot cooked egg noodles.

Stir the soup, water, lemon juice, mustard and garlic powder and carrots in a slow cooker. Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with the noodles and sprinkle with fresh parsley (optional).

Creole Chicken

This is what is going in the crock pot this morning.

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth (using chicken stock)
8 z Polish sausage, coarsely chopped
1 cup diced cooked ham
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce
2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 cup chopped green sweet pepper

In a crock pot, combine tomatoes, broth, sausage, ham, tomato paste, water, Cajun seasoning, and hot pepper sauce.

Cover and cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours.

Turn off crock pot. Stir in rice and sweet pepper and let stand 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is tender.

Makes about 6 servings.

Wilton Color Chart

Have you ever tried to mix gel food colors to get a color that you needed? I am getting things together in my head for Victoria's birthday party. This year it is "Mod Monkey" and the colors are lemon yellow and aqua. I am going to frost 1/2 the cup cakes lemon yellow and put on aqua M&M's and the other 1/2 of the cupcakes will be frosted aqua with yellow M&Ms.

So this morning at Walmart I picked up the yellow M&M's and light blue M&M's. Then I started wondering what color Wilton gels would make the aqua color. I found a link on their site!

ANTIQUE GOLD Add just an extremely small touch of Leaf Green to Golden Yellow

AQUA Sky Blue and Leaf Green

AVOCADO Use Moss Green color

BLACK Our paste color or Royal Blue, Christmas Red, Orange and Lemon

CHARTREUSE 9 parts Lemon Yellow, 1 part Leaf Green

CORAL Creamy peach and a touch of pink or orange and a touch of pink.

FLESH Add just an extremely small touch of Copper to white icing. Ivory can also be used. Light pink with a small amount of brown.

GRAY Add just a touch of Black to white icing.

HUNTER GREEN Kelly Green and a touch of Black

JADE Leaf green, Royal Blue and a touch of Black

LAVENDER Pink and Violet

MARIGOLD Lemon Yellow and Orange

MAROON Burgundy and Red Red

MAUVE Touch of Burgundy with very little Black.

MISTY GREEN Leaf Green, Royal Blue and a touch of Black

MOSS GREEN Our paste color or Violet and Lemon Yellow

MULBERRY Mix Rose with a touch of Royal Blue.

NAVY BLUE Royal Blue and Black

PERIWINKLE Royal Blue and Violet

PLUM Use violet with a touch of Christmas red.

RASPBERRY Pink and Red Red

RUST Orange, Red Red and Brown

SILVER We do not advise attempting to simulate silver color in icing. Instead, add silver leaves or other silver accessories to the cake.

TEAL Use teal paste color or Lemon Yellow and Sky Blue

TURQUOISE Sky Blue and Lemon Yellow

WARM GOLD Use Golden Yellow with just a touch of brown.

Minestrone with Italian Sausage

I am just putting this together for dinner, so far is smells great! I found the recipe in a Betty Crocker Magazine.

Prep time 25 minutes
Start to finish 45
Servings 7 (1 1/2 cups)

1 tbs olive oil
1 lb bulk sweet Italian Sausage (or links skinned and broken into bits)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tsp dried basil leaves
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
5 1/4 cups beef stock
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup uncooked small elbow macaroni (I am using mini bow ties)
1 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise in half then cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 cup frozen green beans.

In 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion, carrots, basil and garlic; cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until sausage is no longer pink; drain.

Stir broth, tomatoes and great northern beans into sausage mixture. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; cook 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in macaroni, zucchini and frozen green beans; heat to boiling. Cook over medium-high heat 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are hot and macaroni is tender.

Shamrock Cookies

I had the cutest conversation last night with Victoria. She said that all the valentine cookies were gone and we should make some new ones and would like St. Patricks day cookies. Off we went to the laundry room to see what cookie cutters I had, hmm no luck. Since I had to run to walmart this morning I found a St. Patty set and some more SPRINKLES!

So when I was telling Marcel about our little conversation he laughed and said it sounds like when I go to him and say "I have been thinking" or "I have an idea" LOL

Butter Cookie Dough

1 cup salted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons whipping cream (I just used light cream)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (I didn't use that, today I used Lemon extract)
3 cups unbleached flour (I had to use a bit more)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixer combine butter and sugar. Add egg, cream, vanilla, and almond extract all at once and thoroughly blend.

In a separate bowl stir together flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and blend.

Roll out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake on a greased cookie sheet 8 to 12 minutes and cool on a rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. (Dough does not need to be chilled before using.)

As you can tell from the pictures, I tinted half the dough with some Wilton Kelly Green and Leaf Green.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

2/3 cup warm water
4 tsp unsalted butter (softened)
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups bread flour
3 tbs dry milk powder
1 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp Bread Machine yeast

Add ingredients to bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacture.

When the dough is ready, roll it out to a rectangle. Sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar. I didn't measure, I just eyeballed it.

Roll dough up and place in a greased loaf pan.

Preheat oven to 350.

Let loaf rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until crust color is to your liking and when "knocked on" sounds hollow.
This made a really small loaf since I used a 1 pound recipe. I think next time I will try a 1.5 or 2 pound recipe.

French Countryside Bread

1 3/8 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups white bread flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in order given by manufacturer of your bread machine.
Select French or Basic setting and desired Crust Color setting; press start.

Makes one (2 pound) loaf.

Since my machine isn't baking very well I will set it on dough cycle. When the cycle is done I am putting it into a loaf pan and letting it rise. Then bake it at 350 for 30 -35 minutes.

Dijon Steak and Potato Stew

Victoria picked this recipe out from a Betty Crocker magazine. I stopped at Sweetbay after I dropped her off at school and picked up the needed ingredients.

Prep time 20 minutes
Start to finish time 45 minutes
Servings 4 (1 1/4 cups each)

1 lb boneless beef sirloin, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp peppered seasoned salt
2 jars (12 oz each) home style beef gravy
1 cup water
2 tbs Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
4 unpeeled small red potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen green beans
2 medium carrots, sliced (1 cup)

Sprinkle beef with peppered seasoned salt. In a 4 quart Dutch oven or 12 inch non stick skillet, cook beef over medium high heat about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until brown.

Stir in gravy, water, mustard, and thyme until well blended. Stir in potatoes, green beans and carrots. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium low.

Cover; cook 20 to 22 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes and beans are tender.

Now I need to see what kind of bread I should make....

Blast off Burritos

Totally forgot to blog the recipe that Victoria picked out for dinner. They are called Blast off Burritos from her Disney, The Magic Kitchen Cookbook.

6 (8 inch) mulitgrain flour tortillas
1 (6 oz) packaged of refrigerated cooked chicken breast strips (I just used a pack of chicken breasts, sliced and then cooked them on the griddle)
1 medium tomato
1 cup frozen corn
2/3 cup purchased salsa
1 1/2 cups torn mixed salad greens
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Turn the oven to 350. Wrap tortillas in foil. Put the foil wrapped tortillas in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn off oven. Use hot pads to remove tortillas from the oven. Put tortillas on a wire rack.

While the tortillas are baking, put the chicken on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut chicken into small pieces. Save until the next step. Chop the tomato, you should have 3/4 cup. Save until the last step.

Put the chicken, corn and salsa into a large skillet. Put the skillet on the burner. Turn the burner to medium heat. Cook until mixture is bubbly, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Turn off burner. Remove skillet from the burner.

Put tortillas on a work surface. Top each tortilla with some of the chicken mixture and some of the fresh greens and tomato. Sprinkle with some of the cheese. Fold in the sides of the tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Cut each tortilla in half to serve. If you like serve with additional salsa. Makes 6 servings.

I served this with homemade guacamole and scoops.

Pink Heart Shaped Rice Krispy Treats

I am the room mom for Victoria's class and when it comes to parties I like to ask some of the kids what they want for snacks. One little boy wants me to make chocolate cupcakes all the time. This time when I asked Victoria said rice krispy treats and so did one other little guy. So her Valentines party is today and I made two trays of rice krispy treats at like 6:30 am!

I colored one pan with Wilton Rose and one with Wilton Pink. I also decided to cut them into hearts which wasn't easy with plastic cookie cutters. I did some small ones and some a little bit bigger. I also added some sprinkles to them. I think they came out cute and I really need to stop eating the scraps!

I took a picture of the first layer, I ended up by having two layers. I put parchment between them or I would have a sticky mess.

1/2 stick of butter
1 bag of mini marshmallows
5 cups Rice Krispie Cereal

Spray a 13x9 glass dish with cooking spray.

Put the butter in a large pan and melt on low. Add the marshmallows and melt. Make sure to keep stirring the mix until it is all melted. Do not let it get browned!

Remove from heat, then add in the cereal and stir until well mixed.

Spread the mixture into the prepared dish. Press it down with your hands. To keep your hands from sticking wet them a little with cold water.

Cut into squares when it is cooled.







Yummy!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup (quick version)

I got this recipe from my new Betty Crocker Magazine.

1 carton (32 oz) Chicken broth 4, cups (I use stock in box)
1 cup Old El Paso Thick n' Chunky Salsa
2 cups shredded deli rotisserie chicken (I just roasted up a couple chicken breasts earlier today)
3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips
1 medium avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (6 oz)
2 tbs fresh chopped cilantro
Lime wedges, if desired

In a 3 quart sauce pan, hat broth, salsa, and chicken to boiling over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, divide crushed chips among 6 serving bowls. Spoon hot soup over chips, then top with avocado, cheese and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Got an addiction, um I mean sprinkles?

A fun look into my "sprinkle cabinet", yes that is what I call it.

I think I seriously have an addiction to cute Wilton sprinkles, jimmies, colored sugar, and luster dust.

The bottom shelf is for baking ingredients like baking powder, baking soda, salt, meringue powder, color flow. I also have a square gladware container filled with different extracts.

Above that is my "sprinkle" shelf. Self explanatory...LOL

Next shelf up is tubes of decorators icing container and a container of Wilton Gel Food coloring, piping gel and toothpicks.

Next shelf up is loaf and muffin pans that I don't use all the time.

Can you figure out what is missing? I kind of (blush) ran out of space in this cabinet for all of my cookie cutters and muffin liners. They are in shoebox size containers on the laundry room shelf. The cookie cutters are even organized into groups like; Halloween, Valentines Day, Autumn, Christmas and a miscellaneous bin.

So there is a fun look into my "sprinkle" cabinet.

Basic Scones

I think I am going to make some chocolate chip scones and cut them into hearts. Here is a good basic scone recipe that you can tweak with add ins.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk (approx.)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in the egg. (If you are using one of the variations below, this is a good point to add nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, cheese, etc.)

Gradually add the milk until a thick dough is formed. (It may take more or less than 3/4 cup.)

Turn out the mixture onto a floured board and knead lightly. Roll out the dough to 3/4" thickness and cut into rounds with a 2" cookie cutter. Gather the trimmings and lightly knead, roll, and cut them as well.

Place the rounds about 1" apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little beaten egg or milk. Bake in a preheated 450° oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

Makes 12 to 16 scones, depending on the recipe version used.

Here are some add ins that you could do:

•Spiced Scones: Add enough cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice to the dry ingredients to total 1/2 teaspoon.


•Raisin Wheat Scones: Our favorite. Substitute white flour with whole wheat pastry flour or half and half white and wheat. Use brown sugar instead of white and plain yogurt instead of whole milk.


•Buttermilk Scones: Substitute buttermilk for whole milk and add 1 tablespoon sugar to the basic recipe.

Walnut Scones: Add 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts.

Cheddar Scones: Add 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese and 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard.

Dried Fruit Scones: Add 1/2 cup raisins, currants, cranberries, or chopped dried apricots.

Chocolate Chip Scones: Add 1/2 cup white or dark chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon vanilla to the basic recipe.

Lemon Scones: Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon sugar to the basic scone recipe.

I even sprinkled on red and white coarse sugar. Cute!!!

Enchilada Chili

I picked up another Betty Crocker magazine the other day and it is called Most Requested Recipes, Soups Stews and Chilies

I thought this one looked good, but as I made it, it was very bland. So I added some cumin, chili powder and salt.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 can (15 to 16 oz) spicy chili beans in sauce undrained (I only had mild and I think that is why it tasted bland)
1 cup chili cheese flavored corn chips if desired (skipping that)

In a 4 qt saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is brown; drain.

Stir in tomatoes, enchilada sauce and corn into beef. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in beans. Cook 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle individual servings with corn chips. (I am going to sprinkle shredded cheddar instead)

Valentine Heart Shaped Cookies

I decided to make some Valentine Cookies this morning. I normally use the Wilton rolled cookie recipe but some times it can be difficult because of the weather. Today I decided to try a new recipe that some Lucky Charms Mom's use. You can find the link here, or just follow the same directions with my notes below. I did color the dough with a bit of Wilton Rose Gel coloring.

Butter Cookie Dough

1 cup salted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons whipping cream (I just used light cream)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (I didn't use that, I subbed 1/2 tsp peppermint extract)
3 cups unbleached flour (I had to use a bit more because it is a bit humid today)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixer combine butter and sugar. Add egg, cream, vanilla, and almond extract all at once and thoroughly blend.

In a separate bowl stir together flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and blend.

Roll out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake on a greased cookie sheet 8 to 12 minutes and cool on a rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. (Dough does not need to be chilled before using.)


I made them into large hearts so it only made 2 dozen cookies and the peppermint flavor is not over powering at all.

I love Wilton sprinkles!

I think I may have an addiction to pretty sprinkles.

Some time I will have to share a picture of my "sprinkle" cabinet.

Heart Shaped English Muffins

This morning I decided to make some of my Whole Wheat English Muffins. But instead of circles I make hearts since it is Valentines Week!

I just put everything in my bread machine and process on the dough cycle.

All cut out and had time to rise.

Cooking on the griddle.

Look how nice and puffy they are!

All done on the grill and now cooling off.

Mini burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

This morning I was chatting with Victoria about what we should have for dinner. She ran over to the cookbook shelf and got out her Williams Sonoma Cooking Together Book and flipped through it until she found something she liked. First option was spaghetti and meatballs, but I really didn't want to make meatballs this morning. She then decided on Mini Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries. She read it to me and it sounds good. I made a copy of the page and told her that we could go to Sweetbay after school.

2 large Sweet Potatoes cut into sticks
2 tbs olive oil plus extra for greasing
salt and pepper to taste

3/4 pound of ground beef
2 slices of cheddar cheese, halved
4 small dinner rolls, split
Dill pickle slices, ketchup and mustard

Preheat oven to 400.

Spread out the potato sticks on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Suing clean hands or spatula, toss to coat evenly.

Bake until golden and crisp 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm.

Meanwhile, divide the meat into 4 equal patties about 1/2 inch thick.

About 10 minutes before the fries are ready, using a basting brush, brush a stove top grill pan or a cast iron pan with oil and place over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the patties and cook, turning once until browned on both sides, about 6 minutes for medium Top each burger with a piece of cheese during the final minute of cooking.

Put each roll, cut side up on a serving plate. Place a burger on the bottom half of each roll. Accompany the burgers with pickle slices, ketchup and mustard. Serve with the sweet potato fries alongside.

I think I will cut up some lettuce and tomato too. We also will be having a salad on the side.

Well we had a little change of plans, Victoria did not have a good day at school so I made dinner this for dinner but just made full size burger.

Cape Cod Parmesan & Roasted Garlic Chips

WHOA! I spotted these Cape Cod Parmesan and Roasted Garlic Potato chips at Sweetbay this morning and picked them up and a bag of the Russet chips.

I cannot believe how good they are! Well yes I can because I love Cape Cod Chips.

Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato Sandwich with Basil Mayo

Dinner tonight will be from my new Emeril's 20-40-60 cook book that I got for Christmas.

16 slices of thick cut bacon
8 slices ( about 1/2 inch thick) brioche, challah, or other soft white bread. (I picked up some potato bread)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I love Duke's)
2 packed tbs finely chopped fresh basil
8 to 12 thin slices of ripe tomato
8 red leaf lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry (Sweetbay didn't have any so I picked up Romaine)
1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded and sliced

Place the bacon in a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat, cook until crisp. Drain on paper towels while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Toast the bread slices in a toaster to the desired color.

Combine the mayonnaise and basil in a small bowl, and stir well.

Spread the mayo evenly over one side of each bread slice. Cut or break the bacon slices in half and arrange o one half of each sandwich. Place 2 or 3 slices of tomato, 2 lettuce leaves and about 1/4 of the avocado slices on top of the bacon on each sandwich. Top with the other half of the bread, cut the sandwiches in half and serve immediately.

Cranberry Dijon Pork Loin

Here is what I am putting in the crock pot in a few hours.

1 boneless whole pork loin roast (2 pounds)
1 can (14 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Place roast in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine the cranberry sauce, mustard, brown sugar and lemon juice; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 4-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Remove roast and keep warm. Strain cooking juices into a 2-cup measuring cup; add enough water to measure 2 cups. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in cooking juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork.

Yield: 8 servings.