Triple Chocolate Death Cake

This is one cake you'll want to sink your teeth into. It's so rich and chocolaty.

1 box chocolate cake mix ( I use Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge (Red box))
1 large box chocolate instant pudding mix
1 bag chocolate chips
oil
eggs
water

Put cake mix and pudding into bowl. Make cake as directed on the box adding eggs, oil and water. If your cake does not call for oil, add 1/2 Cup. When cake is mixed add anywhere from half a bag to the whole bad of chocolate chips, whatever looks good to you. (come on, you really can't screw this up, it's chocolate!) Pour into a pan of any kind and bake at 350 until done. 325 for dark pans.

Serve with or without ice cream. Either way, it's a cake to die for.

Turtle Cheescake

This cheesecake is so good it is to die for....thus the name "killer" cheesecake. I won't even begin to mention what it might do for your arteries! I used a couple of different recipes, combined and tweaked them to make it my own creation, hope you enjoy it.

CRUST
Combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 2 Tablespoons sugar and 1/4 cup melted butter. Press onto bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake at 350* for 5 min. Cool.

CAKE
3 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 C. Sugar
1/2 C. sour cream
2 t. vanilla
3 T. flour
3 eggs
1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa
1/4 C. sugar
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 t. vanilla

3/4 C. caramel (ie. marzetti apple dip)
1/2 chopped pecans
Prepare graham crust; set aside. Combine cream cheese, 3/4 sugar, sour cream & 2 t vanilla in large mixer bowl; beat on medium speed until smooth. Add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, blending well. Add eggs; beat well. Combine cocoa and 1/4 C sugar in small bowl. Add oil, 1/2 t vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of the cream cheese mixture; mix until well blended.
Spoon chocolate cream cheese mixture onto graham crust and spread evenly. Mix caramel and pecans; spread on top of chocolate mixture.
Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of caramel, spread carefully and evenly. Bake at 450* for 10 minutes; without opening oven door, decrease temperature to 250* and continue to bake 30 minutes. Turn oven off; let cheesecake remain in oven 30 min without opening oven door. Remove from oven; loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely.

GANACHE
1/2 C milk chocolate chips
1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. heavy cream
Place ingredients in small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. whisk until smooth. Spread ganache on sides with a frosting knife, and on top fo cake. Let some ganache run down sides of cake. Sprinkle with extra pecans, and drizzle with extra caramel.

Blueberry Pancake Syrup

It's blueberry season, and my family and I picked 25 lbs of them. Now what the heck do we do? Make pancake syrup for one thing!

4 C. blueberries, stemmed, rinsed and drained
3 C. water
3 C. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon (optional)
1/4 t. nutmeg (optional)
lemon juice

1- Pour the blueberries into a saucepan and crush them with a potato masher or wooden spoon until most of the skins are broken.
2- Add 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.
3-Turn heat down to low and cook the berries for 5 minutes at a simmer
4- Pour the berries into a strainer lined with two layers of cheescloth and let the blueberry juice drip through.
5- Twist the cloth to extract all the juice, there should be at least 2 cups. You might want to wear gloves if you don't want purple hand for the next few days.
6- Throw away the berry pulp.
7- Combine the remaining 2 C water with the sugar in a medium saucepan.
8-bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is clear.
9-boil the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 260 degrees on a candy thermometer. This will take a long time.
10-Add the blueberry syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg to the sugar syrup and bring the mixture back to a boil
11-boil for 1 minute. Let the syrup cool, then add lemon juice to taste..
12- Pour the syrup into pint jars and refrigerate if you plan to use it in a month or two. Otherwise can it by processing in hot water bath for 30 minutes.

I don't remember where I originally got this recipe, but I have tweaked it to suit my tastes. You can always do the same. Enjoy.

Crab Rangoons

A Chinese restaurant favorite can now be made at home. Very easy and very good.

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
2-3 green onions chopped very fine
1/4 c. crab meat, chopped very fine (imitation meat can be used)
dash salt

wonton wrappers
oil for cooking

Mix first 4 ingredients, taste to make sure it suits you, adjust if needed. Put a small dab in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Put a small amount of water around the edges and draw up corners to the middle, press to seal shut. Do several and set aside until ready to cook. Heat oil until hot and put 2-3 into the oil and fry until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

* Many recipes call for garlic and soy sauce. I prefer it without, but you can always put those in to your taste.

Grilled chicken with sun dried tomatoes

This is a really yummy recipe I came up with, hope you like it.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 large onion
1 large tomato
1 bottle sun dried tomato dressing/marinade
salt, pepper and garlic to taste
2T butter

A day ahead marinade chicken in 3/4 of the bottle of dressing overnight or at least 2 hrs the day of. Slice onion, and tomato, place chicken on grill to start cooking. While chicken is cooking, place onions in a pan with butter and saute. When chicken is almost done, baste with leftover marinade that you did not use. Place onions and cut up tomatoes on grill to smoke. When chicken is done, take off grill, and spread onions and tomato on to serve.

Recipe-- Beef Stew

I had never made beef stew before last night, and was amazed at how easy it is, and how well it turned out.

2 1/2 lbs stew meat
4-5 potatoes, cut in chunks
4 carrots, or 1 bag baby carrots
1 med onion, chopped in chunks
4 celery stalks, sliced
3/4 C. tomato sauce
1 can beef broth, divided in half
salt and pepper to taste
dash garlic powder (opt)

Add 1/2 the can of beef broth, and the rest of the ingredients to a slow cooker. Mix, cover and let cook on high for 4-5 hours until meat and veggies are tender. (stir several times throughout cooking) Near the end, mix 4-5 T. of flour into the other half of the beef broth and stir in to thicken the stew.

Recipe--Bisquick Mix

8 C flour
1 1/4 C non-fat dry milk powder
1/4 C baking powder
1 t. salt
2 C shortening

Combine first four ingredients. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Store in a tightly covered container in a cool place.

Recipe-- Apple Crisp

A gal at church brought this to a social we had last weekend, and I swear this is the best apple crisp I have EVER eaten in my entire life! Everyone asked her for the recipe. I am printing it exactly as she wrote it.

10 large or 12 medium apples
2 C. flour
1 C. butter
1 C. sugar
1C. brown sugar (packed)
cinnamon

Topping:
Blend flour and sugars. Cut in butter until crumbly.

Filling:
Peel apples and slice thinly into a buttered 9 x 13 pan. Mix 1 C. sugar with 1 C. cornstarch. Sprinkle over apples. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Cover with topping. Bake at 350* for 45 min, or until done.
I usually make half a recipe more of the topping and add it to the crisp about halfway through baking when the original topping is starting to get soggy.

Now, I am on a diet, so obviously I am not going to make this for me or my family for quite a while. So sorry no photo, but trust me this is fantastic. At the end of the night, there was not a drop left in her pan.

Recipe-Low Fat "Fried" Talapia

Talapia is very low in fat, therefore good for dieters. I like my fish fried, but since I don't eat fried food that creates a problem, so I fry without any real oil, keeping it low in fat.

1 bag talapia (mine had about 8 fillets in it)
1/4 C. Flour
1/2 C. Italian bread crumbs
seasonings
cooking spray

Spray skillet lightly with cooking spray. Mix flour and bread crumbs together. Bread fillets and place in hot skillet, season to taste. Fry about 3-4 minutes on each side or until flaky.
I use a seasoning that has salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder and who knows what else, then add extra garlic. Yum Yum.

Lowfat Brownies

1/2 C. unsweetened apple sauce
1 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 C flour
1/3 C cocoa
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 C nuts (optional)

Blend apple sauce, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs, and mix well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Blend into egg mixture and stir in nuts. Spread in a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 359* for 20-25 min. Double recipe for a 13 x 9 pan.

Variation--You can also use 1/2 butter and 1/2 apple sauce for a somewhat lower fat brownie, that still has the great taste of butter.
Variation 2--Try cinnamon apple sauce for a different taste.

Spinach Dip

New Year's is here, and I am making spinach dip. LOVE IT. I know almost everyone has a recipe for this, but in case you don't... YOU DO NOW!

1 pkg Frozen chopped spinach
1 C mayonnaise
1 C sour cream
1 pkg Knorr's vegetable recipe mix
1 t. dill weed
1/2 C. chopped parsley
1/2 C chopped green onions

Thaw spinach and squeeze water out. Mix all ingredients together. Serve in a bread bowl or some such thing. I like a sour dough bowl, I like the extra zing. My MIL uses a Hawaiian bread bowl, but personally, I think it is too sweet.

Recipe--Taco Spread- appetizer

Ready for another appetizer for your Christmas party, or anytime really? This one is good, I had it at a party during the summer and just had to have the recipe for it. It is so easy to prepare.

1 small container sour cream
1 pkg cream cheese
1 pkg taco seasoning mix

Mix with electric mixer until creamy. Spread on shallow sheet pan. top with assorted taco toppings that you like ie.....

Lettuce
Tomatoes
Black olives
Onions
Cheese
Whatever floats you boat

Then sprinkle with a small amount of chili powder. Serve with tortilla chips.
***Of course you can make it low in fat by using fat free or low fat sour cream and cream cheese.***

Recipe--Crab stuffed Mushrooms

Just in time for Christmas or New Year's, here's a great appetizer recipe that is sure to please.

1 lb Mushrooms, washed and stemmed. Small ones work better
1/4 C. imitation crab meat, or the real thing is great, chopped very fine
1 t. garlic, or to taste
1/4 t garlic salt or plain salt
1/4 C mozzarella cheese, very finely chopped
3 T Parmesan cheese
1/4 C Italian bread crumbs
1/4 C mozzarella cheese (for garnish)
1/4 C melted butter

Mix all ingredients except mushrooms, garnish cheese and butter in bowl. Stuff washed mushrooms, (gently pack down). Place in pan and add butter. Bake @ 375* for 35 min or so until shrooms are tender, and tops are light brown. Garnish with mozzarella cheese and bake another 5 min.
Now this is the problem. I am a dumper kind of cook. I just dump ingredients and adjust as I go, so this may not be exact. I suggest you nuke a teaspoon of stuffing in the microwave first and taste to make sure it meets your standards. Adjust spice, salt... etc as needed. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Let me know how they turn out for ya. By the way, I have made them with lobster meat also, and they are yummy that way too.

And the Winnner Is.............

My first giveaway is over, and I had a wonderful time with it. The cookie votes have been tabulated and the results are....
#1--Chocolate Chip

#2-Oatmeal, write in's of oatmeal with choc chips ranked high

#3-Mexican Wedding
Sugar
Other--I think this would be the above mentioned oatmeal w/choc chips

#4--Peanut Butter
Chocolate

If you are thinking of giving your neighbor's, friends, family cookies, you might want to keep this in mind.

And for the what you are all waiting for......The winner of the measuring cups and 1/2 of Amish cinnamon. Sunnymommie! She said" I love cinnamon cookie. They are yummy."

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!
Send me your email, or address and I'll get your prize off to you.

Recipe--"Red Lobster" cheese-garlic biscuits

Someone at work years ago gave me this recipe, and I have been in heaven ever since. These are my favorite, I am such a garlic freak. I should have been Italian. Sorry I don't have a picture, my family delved into them to fast to take the picture. that's how good they are!

2 C. Bisquick mix
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese-heaping
2/3 C. milk
1/4 t. garlic powder *not garlic salt*

Topping

2-4 butter
1/2 t. garlic
3/4 t/ parsley

Mix all ingredients except butter & garlic. Drop by spoonfuls onto an greased cookie sheet. Bake @ 450* for 8-10 min. Mix garlic into melted butter & brush on top. (personally, I take something and just put the biscuit into the butter, swirl it around and take back out.)

Recipe--Buffalo Style Chicken Wings

12 chicken wings (about 2 lbs)
1 env. Lipton onion soup mix
1/4 C butter
1 T white vinegar
1 clove garlic (I just dumped some powder in to taste)
1 1/2 t. ground red pepper
1/2 t. ground cumin
2 T. water

Cut tips off chicken wings. Halve the remaining wings at joint. Heat broiler. In food processor or blender, add soup mix, butter, vinegar, garlic, red pepper, cumin and water until blended. Set aside. Broil chicken 5-10 minutes. Turn wings over, broil 5-10 more minutes. Brush with half the soup mixture, then broil 2 minutes or until crisp. Turn wings again and brush with remaining soup mixture. Broil 2 more minutes or until crisp. Serve with blue cheese dressing if desired. I didnt have any cumin, and they were still mighty tastey.

Recipe-- Homemade Noodles, as in chicken and Noodles

I'm sorry I did not get this up before Thanksgiving, my computer was having Issues At least you can still make them for Christmas or any other time you get a hankerin' for some good old fashioned chicken and noodles, or beef and noodles.

3 C. flour
4 egg YOLKS
1/2 to 3/4 C water
2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
Extra flour to use when rolling out.


Put flour in large bowl and make a "puddle" in the center. (photo above)



then add egg yolks and water.


Stir until it is all incorporated, mixed whatever.

Turn out onto a well floured board
Knead until as my Momma used to say "It is as smooth as a babies bottom." About 15-20 min.






Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough "rest" until "softened". About another 15-20 min

Roll out dough either by hand, or with a noodle machine. Use PLENTY of flour so the dough will not stick to anything.








Lay rolled noodles on cookie sheets to dry. Dry overnight.

This is two cookie sheets worth. 1/2 batch, and it will make a HUGE batch of chicken and noodles. Just add to your broth and cook until tender.

Recipe--Low-Fat Apple Cinnamon Muffins

These muffins may be low in fat, but they are high in taste. You can tell that they are healthy,they are heavy and dense but very good. They stick with you, and you will not feel hungry again in an hour. Give them a try, your whole family will love them.

1 1/4 C flour
3/4 C. wheat germ
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 C chopped apple
1/2 C. walnuts or pecans

3/4 C. applesauce
1/2 C. skim milk
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
3 T. vegetable oil


Heat oven to 400*. Line muffin pan with paper liners. In medium bowl combine first 8 ingredients: set aside. In large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients; mix just until dry ingred are moistened. Do not overmix. Fill muffin cups almost full. Bake 20-25 min or utnil golden brown. Serve warm or store tightly wrapped in the freezer.

Recipe--Swiss Steak

 

This is a dinner that my Mom would make many a Sunday. It is to die for, a real meat and potatoes kind of dinner,and it makes it's own gravy to put on those potatoes. How easy is that. Now this is one of those recipes that I have made for years and so I just dump and go. Don't worry, you cant really mess it up.

A piece of Swiss Steak.
flour
oil
salt pepper and whatever seasonings you might like
2-3 cans beef broth
mushrooms (optional)

Cut the fat off of the Swiss steak, then flour both sides, and season. Place in hot oil in a skillet, and brown on both sides. In a 13 x 9 pan or something like it, put 2 cans of the beef broth. Place meat into beef broth pan with mushrooms if wanted and put foil TIGHTLY over to seal. Bake for 2-3 hours @ 350-400*. Check to make sure it is not getting dry. Then, put some flour into the last can of beef broth, let's say about 1/3 C. Wing it, it may take more or less depending on how much broth the meat itself has made. Put into pan and bake another 30-60 minutes. It should be VERY tender when it is done, and should have plenty of gravy.
Growing up in the Midwest, we always served this with mashed spuds, homemade rolls with butter, green beans. Now I have broccoli and a salad with it, but still kept the rolls and spuds.
ENJOY AND DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE ME A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKE IT.

Recipe--Baked Parmesan Chicken

My friend Melanie gave me this recipe and it is totally yummy, and best of all because you bake it, it is a bit lower in fat. Not that you can tell I care from most of my recipes. Of course when I made this tonight, I was out of mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce, so I used what I had. You know what, it was still good. So here we go....

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (3 breast)
2 T. melted butter
1 egg beaten
1/4 C dry Italian bread crumbs
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400*. Spray cookie sheet with PAM. Mix egg & butter, dip breast. Mix crumbs & Parmesan and dip breast into it to coat. Bake 20-25 min. DO NOT OVER BAKE. The last couple of min. put some mozzarella cheese on the chicken and let it melt. Serve with marinara sauce if desired.

There ya go, easy peasy lemon sqeezy.
Let me know how you like it

My First Give Away

 

I am so excited to have this new blog site, so to start it off, I am going to be having a give away. What you may ask am I giving away? Well let me tell you my friend. I will give to the winner a set of my favorite measuring cups, the metal kind that seem to last forever and not get destroyed like every other set I have owned! And!.... a 1/2 Cup of cinnamon that I bought in an Amish store. What is so special about Amish cinnamon? Well.. it says 4 1/2% I'm not really sure what that means, but it is the best tasting cinnamon I have ever had, and you can use about half of the amount you need because it seems to be stronger than the junk you normally buy in stores.
Here is how you enter to win...and trust me this is painless. Vote in the poll on the right there, then leave a comment and let me know what your choice is. That is one vote.
Mention this in your blog and make a link to this blog and you will get another two entries.
Become a follower and that will be another entry. Easy huh???
Since this is a blog is brand new, and doesn't have any followers yet, I will give it until December 10th for the deadline. That should still give you plenty of time to try out your new cinnamon in your Christmas cookies. YUM YUM

Recipe--Blueberry Pie

My kids love to watch this show called Word World. In it everything is made up of letters, literally. If you want a boot you get the letters and squish them together and walla, you have a boot, house, animals whatever. The other day, someone on the show made a pie, my husband loved it, it actually said p i e, he thought it was so cool that I should do it. So ..OK! I did, tonight I made the tool man the best blueberry pie around and made it to say P I E. The kids of course thought it is so cool, even Kate my 17 yr old. My tool man loved it. Enjoy the pictures, and if you want to make it yourself here is the recipe.



CRUST--
2 1/2 C. Flour
1 heaping C. Crisco
1/2 C. ice cold water w/
1/2 t. vinegar in it

Cut shortening into flour, then gently mix in water. Roll out yadda yadda yadda.

Blueberry Pie Filling

4 C. fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 to 1 C. sugar
3 T. flour
1/2 t. grated lemon peel
dash salt
1/2 t each cinnamon and nutmeg
2-3 t lemon juice
1 T. butter

the recipe says to combine then put into pie shell. but personally I can never get this to work, the blueberries seem to still be runny at the end. So......what I do is combine all but the butter in a pan, cook it until thick, add the butter, let it cool then put it into the shell and bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes. It comes out perfect every time. Add a scoop of ice cream, and you got yourself love on a plate. Enjoy

Recipe--Penne w/Chicken & Broccoli

Don't you just love a yummy home cooked dinner that tastes like you went out to a restaurant? Boy I do, and this one is it! Add a salad and some garlic bread and you will think you were at your favorite Italian joint. Now I like to change things up a little, so instead of putting exact amounts sometimes I just wing it. Go with it, it will be fine.

Oil & butter
3 boneless chicken breast
flour
salt & pepper to taste
garlic powder/ or 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
3/4 lb penne
4 C. broccoli FLORETS
1C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C BUTTER ( not margarine, that will taste yucky)

In large pot bring 5 Quarts of water to a rolling boil, and add pasta. Cook till al denta. when done Reserve 1 cup of water (Very important)
Cut chicken into strips. Heat some oil and butter in a skillet. In a large Ziploc bag, add flour and pepper, then add chicken to coat, shake off excess. Immediately place in hot skillet. Lightly brown on both sides, Stir in garlic but do not let garlic brown. Cover and keep warm.
Steam or Microwave broccoli until tender yet still a little crisp. When all has been cooked, mix gently in a large bowl.
Make sauce by melting 1/2 C butter, add Parmesan cheese and the cup of water from the pasta. Stir together, then pour over the rest and stir gently to not break up the broccoli. Serve with additional cheese.
This is a family favorite, even the kids LOVE it. The picture above was taken after we had devoured most of it. And as the old commercial said....."Try it you'll like it!"

Please leave a comment and let me know how you liked it.