Chocolate Crockpot Cake

This was in a crockpot recipe book I have and I've wanted to try for quite some time.

Decadent Chocolate Delight

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup water

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 pkg instant chocolate pudding mix

Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients in crockpot. (mix well)

Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Serve warm or cold with ice cream. ☺

*Side note: Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your crockpot. I used the 6 qt and mine was done under 2 hours, so keep that in mind.



Lemon Iced Cake

Mmmm.... Lemon cake.

Don't mind my not very pretty cake. I was in a hurry and had to get the cake out of the pan without letting it cool down a little.

You can do this in a bundt pan or a normal 9x13. It will just take longer to cook in the bundt pan. (50-60 min instead of 30ish)

Lemon Iced Cake

2 c. Flour

1-1/2 c Sugar

1 T Baking Powder

1-1/2 t Vanilla

3/4 c Oil

4 Eggs

2/3 c. Milk

1 pkg Lemon Jello mix

1 t Lemon extract or Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients for 2 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes for 9x13 pan

Pull out warm cake and poke holes in cake, then pour lemon icing over the top

Lemon Icing

2 c. Powdered Sugar

1/3 c. Lemon Juice

I like to pour about half of it while the cake is warm, and then wait until it's cooled down, thicken the icing a little and pour the rest over the top.

I didn't have time to do that in these photos though.

Icing



Red Velvet Swirl Brownies

These are adapted from Sonny Anderson's recipe over at Food Network

Red Velvet Swirl Brownies

Red Velvet Brownie Layer:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts  (optional)

Cream Cheese Layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350

Grease an 8 by 8-inch baking pan

Brownie layer: In a saucepan on medium heat melt the butter. Remove the butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar, in that order, mixing between additions. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and stir it into the cocoa mix. Fold in the flour until lightly combined. Stir in the walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/4 cup of the batter for the top.


Cream cheese layer: Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a skewer or the tip of a knife, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern.
Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting.



Macaroni Grill Bread

This is a knock off recipe of the bread at Macaroni Grill from Jamie Cooks it Up. Best served with a side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. ☺

I made mine with whole wheat flour, so don't be thrown off by the photos. (about the photos.....I forgot about taking pictures for most of the process)

 Macaroni Grill Bread

1 1/2 t active dry yeast
1 C warm water
3 T olive oil
1/4 t sugar
2 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t  Italian Seasoning
1/4 t cracked black pepper
3/4 T rosemary (best with fresh, but dried works too)
1/4 t Garlic Powder

Mix dough up (mix for around 7 minutes)  and let rise for 40 minutes.
Form into 2 small loaves, whisk up an egg and spread the egg wash over the
loaves.
Turn your oven on to 170 and place the loaves in oven for 15 minutes, and then raise the temperature to 370 and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Brush melted butter or olive oil over the top, and sprinkle salt.



Moo's Raspberry Bars

  

These are easy and delicious, but I'm kind of sucker for things with cake mixes in them.

You can also change the type of berry preserve you want to use and my SIL, Chandra, suggested using a lemon cake mix with Raspberry preserves. Yum!

Moo's Raspberry Bars

1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix

2 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats (I used regular oats)
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 (12oz) jar raspberry preserves (or use your fav preserves, I used blueberry/ strawberry mix)

Combine cake mix and oats, stir in butter until mixture is crumbly.
Press about 3 cups mixture evenly into a greased 13x9 inch pan.
Spread preserves over crumb mixture and then sprinkle remaining crumb mixture, pat gently to level

Bake at 375 for 24 to 26 minutes or until lightly browned

Breaded Ranch Chicken

Good recipe for those days you can't think of what else to make! ☺



Breaded Ranch Chicken

3/4 c. Cornflake or bread crumbs (I've done both and the cornflake is better)

3/4 c. Parmesan Cheese

1 pkg Ranch Dressing mix

8 Chicken Breasts

1/2 c. melted Butter or Margarine (if you want a lower fat version, do 1/2 c. buttermilk and 1 egg, whisked)

Mix the crumbs, dressing mix and parmesan cheese together. (I like to add some garlic powder and pepper) Dip the chicken into the melted butter and then into crumb mixture, then place on a pan.

Bake at 350 for 25-40 minutes depending on how big your pieces of chicken are. (the juices should be clear)

I've made this a day ahead, put them on a cooking sheet, covered in plastic wrap in the fridge and then uncovered the next day when it was time to cook. It turned out really well that way too, very flavorful and not dry!

Favorite Coffee Cake

Definitely a sentimental favorite. I grew up eating this coffee cake and more often than not we made it for supper. ☺

Favorite Coffee Cake
1-1/2 c. Flour
1/4 c. Sugar
2-1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
1/4 c. Milk
1 Egg

Mix above ingredients and pour into an 8x8 greased pan.

Topping:
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
1/4 c. Flour
3 T. Butter

Mix until crumbly and sprinkle over batter.
Bake @ 375 for 25-30 minutes
Serve warm with butter. Yum! ☺

We used to press the topping into the batter with our fingers, so that you had crunchy goodness all throughout the cake, but that's not required.

Update!

Sorry I've been MIA from this blog!

Between morning sickness and being pregnant in general, I haven't either wanted to eat or cook. ☺ I'm hoping to be back at it soon though...

In case you haven't noticed, my sister Sharon has been working on this blog for me (appearance, new pages, etc..) I've wanted to make the recipes easier to access for awhile now and she's making that happen.

Thanks Sharon!

Grandma Aileen's Whole Wheat Bread

Probably like most grandma recipes, it was hard to get Grandma pinned down to write a recipe since it was all about throwing things in here and there. Seems like everyone has a different recipe for all our favorite foods that she would make. Rosaleen came up with this bread recipe using the measuring cups and spoons that grandma used and I've had sucess with the couple of times that I've made it. Some of us remember her putting a few cups of white flour in her bread too, but it's up to you. This bread is better toasted and all of us grandkids LOVED the Old English cheese spread on top. Peanut butter and jelly/ honey was also a favorite.

Grandma Aileen's Whole Wheat Bread

8-10 c Whole Wheat Flour (I used about 9 cups, and you can sub in a couple of cups of white flour if preferred)

3-3/4 - 4 c Water (more water if you use all WW flour)

2 T Salt

2 T Yeast

Put butter on hands to knead. Let rise in bowl for 1 hr. Knead and roll dough into pans and let rise for 1-2 more hours.

Bake for an hour at 375.

Makes 2 loaves

water, yeast, and salt

add flour and knead with butter on your hands

letting the dough rise

grease your pans

let raise

Bake at 375 for an hour

This is how us kids usually ate grandma's bread.

Toasted and spread with Old English cheese! ☺

Egg Rolls

I LOVE egg rolls, but have been very resistant to actually making them. ☺ My sister makes them quite a bit and then Sarah over at Frontier Kitchen posted a recipe for chicken egg rolls and so I finally decided to give it a shot.

So this recipe is kind of mix between Sarah's and what my sister Sharon does.

Egg Rolls

3-4 cups cabbage, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1-2 cups zuchinni, shredded (I subbed chopped broccoli this time)

1/2 cup scallions, chopped

2-3 T minced garlic (I like a lot, so ovbiously you could use less)

soy sauce (I use the low sodium soy sauce and I dump in to taste, 2-4 T)

1-2 eggs

1 package egg roll wrappers

Mix your chopped veggies, garlic, egg(s), and soy sauce in a bowl. Place a spoonful of filling on a wrap, roll up and fry or bake.

Bake at 375-400 for about 20 minutes, or until brown.

Cary likes his filling chunkier than this, but I was feeling lazy and used the food proccessor to chop things up.

with water on your finger, dap the top before rolling or folding over so that it "glues" the wrap together.

Obviously frying in oil tastes the best!

If you are wanting to cut down on calories however, these are good baked too.

Brush some oil over the top and bake at 375-400 for about 20 minutes or until brown.

I have NOTHING good to say about my oven, so I'll just say that I'm sure your oven will cook your egg rolls to look better than mine look.

My sister bakes hers, and they always look and taste really good! ☺

I like to dip my egg rolls into soy sauce, but I think most people like to dip in a sweet and sour sauce.

Marshmallow Fondant

I'm starting to notice a pattern in the short time I've had this blog.

I really don't try new recipes (or cook much) through the months of April-June.

Last year I thought it was because I was about to have a baby, but I sure don't have that excuse this year!

I'll try to be better, but I can't promise anything. ☺

Moving on...

I had never worked with fondant until recently. I've always wanted to use it, but the list of ingredients usually scared me away with things like "glycerin", until I saw this one and thought it was one that could hold my attention long enough to try it.

Let's just say that using this fondant saved my cake (above) in the looks department. I hadn't greased my pan very well so the cake was a disaster.

I didn't take pictures while I was making it, so you'll just have to read the directions carefully. ☺
 

Marshmallow Fondant

1 bag marshmallows

2 T water

1 t vanilla

1 t almond extract

2 lbs powdered sugar

Melt the marshmallows and water. (in the microwave or over the stove)

Mix the melted marshmallows with the vanilla and almond extract in a mixer. (you can use a hand mixer)

Add in the powdered sugar. If you aren't using a powerful mixer, then you will probably have to knead the frosting by hand towards the end after you've added all of the powdered sugar.

Roll out using powdered sugar.

It's best to make this a day before using.

Just pop the fondant in the microwave for a couple seconds when you are ready to use and if it's been sitting out and needs to be more pliable.

Tip: I found that when rolling out for really large cakes (like below) 20+ inches, it was best to smear a layer of Crisco over the top of the counter and then spread the powdered sugar over the top of that before rolling out the frosting.

Use crisco/ shortening for fixing tears and what not. I found having my hands covered in crisco for rolling out the balls or any other hand molding, was very helpful.

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli

This is an Ina Garten recipe, and I didn't follow it totally since I didn't have all the ingredients and I made a lot less, but it was really good anyway. I also used frozen broccoli, just note that it won't be as crispy as it would be if you use raw broccoli.

Parmesan - Roasted Broccoli

4 to 5 pounds broccoli

4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves (about 12 leaves)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart. You should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.
Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.

Garbonzo Bean Meatballs

While watching Biggest Loser the other day, they were talking about making meatballs with ground turkey and mashed garbanzo beans (or chickpeas, same thing) and I was intrigued so I made some. The one thing I wasn't expecting was for the kids to like them, but my very picky eater gobbled down two of them, and Ella liked it too. That's always a nice surprise. ☺

Garbanzo Bean Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey (or beef)

1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, drained and mashed

Garlic cloves (I used about 3, but I like garlic!)

Onion powder

Salt

Pepper

pinch of red pepper, ground or flakes

Soy sauce, splash

2 eggs

1/2 cup bread crumbs, or instant oats (you may need more if it's looking too runny)

Mix and bake @ 400 for 30 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. (It will depend on the size of your meatballs too) ☺

So, not only is it more healthful, it could be a good way to make your meat go farther as well!