V-day Edition

"Reeses" Hearts i made from the recipe HERE . They are better the store bought in my opinion.

The Strawberries are cream cheese stuffed then drizzles with chocolate. I used the recipe from HERE only I added some cool whip to the cream cheese mixture.

Pizza Bites & Strawberry Cake

First recipe- Strawberry Cake. It was good, but not amazing. My husband liked it but I personally thought the strawberries in the frosting was too much. Next time I will make the cake like the recipe but make the frosting just cream cheese frosting, not add the pureed strawberries. Here is where I got the original recipe from.

1 box white cake mix

3 TB. plain flour

1 (3 oz) box strawberry jello

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and chopped up

4 eggs

Combine cake mix, flour, Jello and water. Add oil and eggs, one at a time, beating well between. Add strawberries. Beat 2 minutes. Pour batter into well greased and floured 9×13 pan. Bake at 350* for about 45 minutes.

Icing: Strawberry Cream Cheese frosting

(adapted from Paula Deen online recipe)

1 stick butter, softened

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed & pureed

7 cups powdered sugar

(Like I said, next time I will make the cream cheese frosting but omit the strawberries. It was just too much. The strawberries made the frosting really runny and I had to add like a whole bag of powdered sugar to make it thick enough and then it was way too sweet. Also, the frosting makes a TON so if you decide to make it with the strawberries I would half the recipe.)

Next recipe- Pizza Bites
I got this recipe HERE originally . I made it just like the recipe. They were awesome! Defiantly a keeper.

• 2 cans refrigerated pizza dough
• 8 oz block mozzarella cheese
• 4 oz thin sliced pepperoni
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• pizza or marinara sauce

Cut block of mozzarella into 48 cubes. roll one dough out into a large rectangle and cut into 24 pieces. Repeat with 2nd pizza dough. In each dough piece place a couple pieces of pepperoni and a cube of cheese. Seal dough around meat and cheese and place in pie pan.Repeat, placing approximately 16 dough balls in each pie plate.Once assembled, combine oil and spices and brush over the dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.When ready to bake: bake at 400°F for 16-20 min. Serve with warm pizza or marinara sauce.

Pumpkin Pie "Cake bars"

These are super yummy and easy!! Its like pumpkin pie without all the crust work. .

Crust:

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 C butter, melted

1 egg

Filling:

1 29 ounce can pumpkin

1 1/2 C sugar

1 t salt

2 t cinnamon

1 t ginger

1/2 t cloves

4 eggs

2 12 ounce cans evaporated milk

Mix the cake mix, butter and egg. Place in a greased sheet pan (10x15) and press out into the pan.

Combine the filling ingredients together and mix. Pour gently over the crust. You may want to set the pan in the oven and pour it there because the pan will be FULL. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Serve with Cool whip.

Cup Cakes

We had a end of the year party at church with our class we teach the other night and they wanted cupcakes. So I thought they would enjoy this fun variation on regular white cake mix. Its super simple!

Mix together all the ingredients called for in the cake mix. After its all mixed together divide it into 4 bowls. In each bowl add food coloring. Mix until its the correct shade you want. I wanted mine bright and bold so I added alot of coloring. Drop cake mix in greased muffin pans by spoonful so you have a dollop of each color in each cupcake. Bake as normal.
The kids thought it was so cool to have colors in their cupcake!

O'Henry Bars - Healthy edition

Even though Im on a bit of a health kick lately I still have my sweet cravings.I have always had a sweet tooth. It gets me in trouble sometimes!
Anyways, my mother in law gave me this recipe for O'henry bars and I gave them a little healthier twist.

1 Cup Light Corn syrup
1 Cup Sugar
Combine those two in a saucepan and stir, bring to a boil on the stove. Then add
1-1/4 cup Peanut Butter
Stir until combined and peanut butter is melted.
Add 1 Cup Fiber One honey clusters cereal, crushed
and 4 cups Oatmeal
(Now here is where I changed. My mother in laws recipe was for Corn flakes. I usually just add 5 cups oatmeal but tonight I decided to try something else. I think it would be even better to add 2 cups fiber one cereal and 3 cups oatmeal. Add some daily fiber! I only had 1 cups worth or else I would have added more)
Stir until all the cereal/oatmeal is covered. Pour into a greased 10X15 pan. Smooth out and press down into the pan. Let cool a few minutes.
Melt 1 Package of Chocolate chips in the microwave and spread on top of the bars. Let cool.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

I got this recipe from 365 days of Slow cooking. Its SOOO good!!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (divided. this is important, don't just start dumping, read on!)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water

Use a 4-quart slow cooker coated well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder.In the microwave, melt peanut butter for about 30 seconds, and then add to the mix along with milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir really well to combine.Spread this mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker.

In a separate bowl, mix together cocoa powder, the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 cup boiling water (be careful!) Pour this evenly over the peanut butter batter in your cooker.
Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours, or until the top has set and an inserted toothpick (into the cake--underneath the cake is molten chocolate) comes out clean. Let the cake sit uncovered in an unplugged crockpot for about 20 minutes, then serve warm in dessert bowls.

I have a 6 qt crockpot so I set a glass over safe 4 qt dish inside my crockpot. It worked well.

Red velvet cake balls

I didnt get a chance to take photos the day I made these because I was hurrying to try to get them done before Kianna woke up from her nap. But if you go here she has great photos of how she made them.
Red velvet cake balls
(although they can be made with any flavor of cake mix)
1 box red velvet cake mix
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 pkg. almond bark chocolate to melt

Mix and bake red velvet cake mix according to box. Let cake cool completely then tear apart into a mixing bowl. Mix in a can of cream cheese frosting. I had to use my hands to get it all mixed together good. Shape into balls either by hand or you can use a cookie scoop. Place each ball on wax paper in a cookie sheet. I froze them for a 1/2 hour or so to make them more solid. Then remove from freezer. Melt chocolate and drop balls into it a few at a time. Make sure they are coated. Remove from chocolate with a fork or slotted spoon so access chocolate drains off. Place on wax paper and let sit 5 minutes or until hardened. Store in fridge for 1 week.

TIPS ON MELTING CHOCOLATE:
I used white almond bark chocolate. I melted 3 of the blocks at a time and did it in the microwave for 1 minute at a time on 20% power. I think it took me 5 times @ 1 minute to get them melted. I found that melting a small amount like 3 blocks instead of the whole package at a time was easier and I didnt waste any chocolate by it getting hard before dipping all the balls.

Blondie Brownie

This is just like Applebees Blondie dessert. Its soooo yummy. Make sure you serve it with Vanilla Ice cream. Makes it even better!
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Maple Butter Sauce

3/4 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º.Sift flour, add baking powder, baking soda, and salt; sift again.Add chopped nuts; mix well and set aside.Melt unsalted butter; add brown sugar and mix well.Add egg and vanilla; blend well.Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.Stir in white chocolate chips.Spread in a 9x9x2-inch pan.Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with slightly fudgy-looking crumbs.Serve with vanilla ice cream and maple butter sauce. ---To Make the Maple Unsalted butter Sauce--- Combine syrup and butter, cook over low heat until butter is melted.Stir in brown sugar until dissolved.Add walnuts, if desired.

Low Carb

Well DH and I started a Low carb diet and for the first 2 weeks we cant have any carbs or sugar or fruit. SO there isnt much interesting cooking going on right now. Ill probably be absent for another week. I just finished my first week and DH just started his first week. So far I have lost 3 pounds and DH has lost 2. So until were back to cooking here is a recipe that I am going to try sometime as soon as we are allowed a few carbs again.


Pumpkin Pie Dip

--1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
--4 oz cream cheese
--1/4 cup sour cream
--chopped walnuts, optional

I use my Little Dipper crock pot---these measurements are perfect for a little dipper. If you don't have one, you can put an oven-safe dish inside of your large crockpot.
Add the cream cheese to the Little Dipper. Top with sour cream, then pour in the pumpkin pie filling.Cover and cook for about an hour, then stir well. If the cream cheese isn't fully melted, cook a bit longer. The Little Dipper doesn't have temperature settings, you just plug it in. If you are going to use a big crockpot with an oven-safe dish inside, cook on high for about an hour, or 2 on low.
Garnish with chopped walnuts, if desired

Raspberry Truffles

Ok, so melting chocolate and I do NOT get along. I struggled so bad last year melting chocolate to dip pretzels in that we had to go buy more chocolate to melt cause I ruined like 4 bowls full. Well this year was the same. I ruined 2 bowls full of chocolate before I melted it right. Sigh. . . . So now you all know one of my cooking flaws. Lol
I was going to melt some white chocolate to drizzle over the truffles to make em look fancy but considering my luck this morning I decided not to waste the chocolate. .

Raspberry Truffle
1-1/3 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 T Butter
2 T Heavy Whipping cream
Melt these 3 together in a pot on the stove on medium heat. Keep stirring constantly towards the end. Stir it until it looks pretty smooth. Remove from the heat and add
2 T Raspberry Jelly make sure you get the jelly that says SEEDLESS cause otherwise your chocolate are gonna have raspberry seeds in them and that isnt pleasant.
Stir jelly into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Cover pot with saran wrap and set in freezer for 20 minutes or until it sets up a little.
I actually had it in the freezer for 40 minutes. It wont set up completely but after 40 minutes its pretty good.
Remove from freezer and scoop out in spoonfuls onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Set cookie sheets in freezer for another 10-15 minutes or until the mounds of chocolate "dough" are pretty hard. Then take each mound and roll between your hands into a ball shape. Put on another clean sheet of wax paper and freeze another 5 minutes or so. Dip Balls in melted milk chocolate and lay on wax paper to dry. You can let air dry or freeze them for a few minutes.
I dipped the dough balls once in chocolate then let is dry then dipped them again. It makes them stay together better.

Now Im not gonna share how to melt the chocolate for dipping them in . . Lol. But I would suggest using chocolate melting wafers from walmart. I didnt use them this time and I think it would have been easier. They are back in the crafts part with the cake decorating stuff. They are in bags. They are actually for making mints and stuff in those molds so I think they would melt easier and dip better.

Coming next week - - - Chocolate Mint cookies & Peanut Butter blossoms

Taco Soup & Apple Turnovers

Taco Soup
1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Can Corn
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Can Rotel Diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 package Taco Seasoning
1 Package Ranch Dressing mix
1 # Hamburger, cooked
1 Cup Water

Mix together all ingredients in a Crock Pot. I cooked mine on High for 1 hour then put it down to low for another 30 minutes or until we ate it. If you wanted to let it cook longer you could put it on low or warm for a couple hours.
Serve with Crushed Corn Chips and Taco blend Cheese.

Apple Turnovers
1 Tube of Refridgerated Biscuits (approx.10)
1 Apple, peeled and diced
Lay out biscuits and roll them a bit more so they are flatter and larger around. Place a spoonful of apples on the biscuits. Fold one side of the biscuit over and seal edges to make a half circle.Place in a baking dish.

1 Cup Sugar
1 stick butter
1 T Cinnamon
12 Oz. Mountain Dew
In a saucepan on the stove heat these 4 together til it comes to a boil. Pour over Biscuits in pan.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Ok, I was so ticked at myself. I made these Cute little Mini Pumpkin Pies in Muffin Pans for our Church Fall Party and forgot to take pictures. They turned out so cute. Oh well, So no picture tonight. Maybe Ill try to make them again and take pics. So No recipe tonight.

Easy Chocolate Cake

My Pampered chef lady made this the night of my party. . . . .


All you have to do is mix together a regular Chocolate cake mix like the box says.
(You can use milk chocolate, Chocolate, dark chocolate, German Chocolate, Devils food. . . )
Pour the prepared cake batter in a microwave safe dish, the lady used a round bundt pan but you could use any kinda of bowl that is mic safe.
Then take a can of Store bought Frosting. She used Milk chocolate but you can use whatever kind of chocolate you want. Drop it by spoonfuls on the cake mix. DO NOT STIR IT IN. Just let it sit on the top. Then Microwave for 15 minutes, you might want to watch it since Microwave are all different. I would set the timer for 10 minutes and check it. Then when its done place it on a plate or serving plate. What happens is the frosting sinks to the bottom of the bowl while its cooking and then when you dump the cake out the frosting is all on the top of the cake. Its so yummy!

Caramel Apple Pizza

Ok that is not a picture I took since I still didnt have my camera back when I made it, but it is from the website I got the recipe from (Taste of Home or Pampered chef, cant remember which one) But trust me when I say this is so yummy. I took a huge pan of it and didnt bring any of it home!!

Caramel Apple Pizza
1 Roll Sugar Cookie dough
1 Box Cream Cheese
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter (creamy)
2 T Brown Sugar
1 T Vanilla
2 Apples, peeled and sliced thinly
Caramel Ice Cream topping or Caramel Apple dip

In a 9x13 baking pan lay out sugar cookie dough. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until browned.
Let cool completely. Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Spread over cooled cookie dough crust. Dip sliced apples in Sprite or lemon juice and layer on pizza. Melt Caramel in microwave until really runny (I used Caramel apple dip like you find in the store beside the apples and I microwaved it about 15 seconds)
You can then use a spoon to drizzle the caramel over the apples but I poured the caramel sauce into a ziploc bag and cut one of the corners off at the bottom and just drizzled it over the pizza that way.
The picture above shows peanuts on top but I never add peanuts since I dont really like them.

Oatmeal Bars

This is a very yummy dish. I love it! If you like Peanut Butter you will love this! Its not really that difficult to make either.

2 cups melted butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda
4 cups oatmeal
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2 cups mini choc. chips or mini m&m's

Mix together melted butter, sugar, soda, oatmeal, flour & salt until it's crumbly.
Set aside 3 cups. Press the rest into a greased 9X13 pan.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Mix peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk. Spread over the baked crust

Mix mini choc chips or m&m's with the reserved crumbs. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top of the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk mixture. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb pie just like my grandma always made. Now, this is my mom's recipe, and her and her 5 sisters argue over who actually has grandma's real recipe since they all have a little different recipe. So we dont know who really has grandma's recipe but my mom's is what I grew up with and its the best in my opinion :-)

Cut up Rhubarb into small dices. Fill your pie pan up about 1/2 full.

Then in another bowl mix together 1 egg, 2 T flour, 3/4 Cup Sugar (I never do quite that much, more like a full 1/2) , dash of salt & 1/2 can of Milnot. Mix together good and pour over rhubarb in pie shell. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. (In my oven it wasnt done in 30 minutes but my crust was so I took some aluminum foil and covered the crust around the edge and baked it a while longer.

Yum! In my opinion its better when its cold so I always refridgerate it for a while before eating, but you can eat it warm.

Banana Cake & Spaghetti Bake

Hello and welcome to my food blog. I like the bake and cook so I decided I would start a blog about it to share recipes. . . .
Tonight for supper I made Spaghetti bake, Applesauce, Garlic Bread and Banana Cake. I was planning on making rhubarb pie but had a bunch of banana's that needed to be used up so I make that instead.
Spaghetti Bake
16 oz. Spaghetti noodles
3 eggs, beaten
1 T Vegetable oil
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
2 Cups Mozzarella cheese, divided
dash Garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
12 oz. Jar Spaghetti sauce
Cook spaghetti noodles for 10 minutes in boiling water. Drain.

Meanwhile in another bowl mix together parmesan cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, oil, eggs, garlic powder, salt & Pepper.
Add drained, cooked noodles to this mixture. Pour into a 9X13 greased baking pan. Pour Spaghetti sauce over all. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes take off the foil and sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella cheese over dish. Place back in oven til cheese is melted.

Side note: I cut the recipe in half and made a 9X9 dish for us.


Banana Cake with Fudge Frosting

2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large)

Fudge Frosting
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom and sides of rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches, with shortening. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

2. In large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup butter with electric mixer on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until fluffy. Beat in eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk until smooth. Stir in bananas. Pour into pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix 1 cup granulated sugar and the cocoa. Stir in milk, 1/4 cup butter and the corn syrup. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and 1 teaspoom vanilla with spoon until smooth and spreadable. Spread Fudge Frosting on cooled cake.