Cheeky Kitchen & Slow Cooker Gooey Chocolate Cake - StumbleUpon I’m meeting a new friend for lunch today. And an old friend for line-dancing tonight. And I’m feeling rather spoiled about it all. I mean, moms shouldn’t have TWO social events on the calendar for the same day, should we? Which brings me to the point of what moms should be doing anyway. For a long time, I measured myself by what I remember of my own mom. The odd thing is, I’ve now reached the age in my life where I am exactly as old as she was. Such is the fate of all moms. And I realized then that everyday is really a bit like living in an imaginary world. Because, ancient people don’t do lunch with new friends. And they definitely don’t join in a on rousing night session of line-dancing with old friends. They don’t make oatmeal in the morning in bare feet and spandex shorts. And ancient people DEFINITELY do not fill their day’s with a slew of other snappy, bodacious activities. See? I’m crazy hip. Whatever are my kids thinking? Ingredients: 4 eggs 1 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup cocoa powder
Red Velvet Love For YOU! Well my friends I am finally back home! We arrived late last night, exhausted but safe and sound. Thank you to all of you who left comments and emailed me privately to encourage me to keep my head up and stay positive and to not be bothered by petty anonymous commenters. I appreciate it more than you know. And I definitely felt an abundance of love. So to thank you and to send a little love your way I have these special little cupcakes for you! Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes- ah! This cake is made with sour cream, which is unlike any red velvet cake I've ever made, but it worked. Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes from Cookie Madness via My Baking Adventures Filling: 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 ½ tablespoons lightly beaten egg (break egg, mix with fork, measure) 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare filling first. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Bake for 20-23 minutes.
Bacon Potato Hash: - StumbleUpon Shall we start the day off with some potato hash? Yeah I kinda thought so. Let’s face it. Any recipe can achieve greatness by adding bacon. Am I right or what? Add bacon to plain old mac & cheese… and it’s not so plain anymore! That’s exactly what I did with my recipe for potato hash. Oh how I love it so! Here are the goods. My {almost 10-year-old} taught me that cute word-that’s-not-really-a-word. She got the same reaction from me when she told me to “chillax”. Okay-dokie, so I started by frying up some bacon, please do it in a 10 inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet for ultimate browning! After the bacon has cooked, pour off all but 2 tablespoons or so of the bacon fat, then remove off the heat. Peel the potato and then carefully slice the potatoes in half. Place the potato halves into a large pot filled with room temperature water. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about 10 minutes. So I started with the shallot; peel, halve, slice and dice up two large shallots. Cheers!
Orange Blossom Frescas - A beverage for the Morning After I know this is a strange day to post about a refreshing, cold beverage, being we’re in a midst of a Snow Advisory but I’ve been drinking Orange Blossoms with Cranberry and Mint all day long and it’s just too good not to share. I started making Infused Waters out of necessity. Being a poor college student and wanting some variety in my daily menu, I just took fresh fruit and picked some mint that was growing wild on campus and let it ferment for a few hours in ice cold water. But I had no idea that my inexpensive yet delicious beverage actually had roots in Spanish Cuisine a.k.a Aguas Frescas or Fresh (cold) Water! Aguas Frescas is super easy to make. Just slice up some fruit, I like citrus the best, add a few sprigs of mint and place all of it in a pitcher, add water and chill. But you can make it more complicated by adding several different fruits or herbs. Sometimes I like to add a tsp or so of Rose Water to give the beverage a delicious fragrance. AllRightsReserved@BigBlackDog
Peach Cobbler Dump Cake This is a recipe that my mom made all the time when I was growing up. We always called it peach cobbler. It was not until I was married and had other versions of this dessert, that I realized it is really a version of the dump cake that many people make. This dessert is easy and frugal, yet really good. It is one of those simple desserts that everyone enjoys. I also like this recipe because I usually have all the ingredients in my pantry. If you serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream it makes it even better. Saturday I will post how I adapted this to be gluten free. Peach Cobbler Dump Cake 1 29 ounce can sliced peaches with the juice1 yellow cake mix½ cup butter, melted1 cup nuts, chopped (optional, I usually leave them out since my kids do not like nuts) Place peaches and juice in a 9×13 pan. This post linked to Frugal Fridays, Grocery Cart Challenge, and Foodie Fridays.
Cinnamon Roll Cake & My Shiny Life - StumbleUpon You all know that I love breakfast foods. Maybe it’s because I don’t really cook breakfast that often. My husband sometimes cooks breakfast stuff on the weekends. We usually just eat cereal in the morning. The other night we had French toast with Portuguese sausage for dinner. Instead of drizzling maple syrup on my French toast, I slathered it with Nutella. Here’s something you could make for breakfast or dessert. Cinnamon roll cake. Super easy. Make some. You’re welcome. Ingredients (recipe from Cookin' Up North) Cake3 cups flour ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 ½ cups milk 2 eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted Topping1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon cinnamon Glaze 2 cups powdered sugar 5 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Jersey Girl Cooks: Mini Lasagna Cups or 12 Minute Lasagna! Lasagna has to be one of my family’s favorite meals. Maybe not my son’s but we’re not going to talk about his favorite boxed mac and cheese today. I have always reserved this special dish for holidays and weekends because making it can be time consuming. Well not any more! This week I made these cute mini lasagnas which were baked in 12 minutes flat. Last week I happened to be cruising the food blogosphere when I ran into Petite Lasagnas on Can You Stay for Dinner?. If you would like to lighten up these lasagnas, you can use low fat ricotta, low fat mozzarella cheese and veggie or turkey meat sauce. All week I have been dreaming about the different mini lasagnas I can make. When making these, make sure to spray your muffin tin well. Mini Lasagna Cups (inspired by Petite Lasagnas from Can You Stay For Dinner?) Cooking spray 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 1 small egg, beaten 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 tsp Italian seasoning, divided 24 wonton wrappers ( I used Nasoya) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Fahrenheit 350°: Rain or Shine In Oregon, the only month in which you can depend on good weather, is the month of August. Weddings, camping trips, hikes and outdoor adventures always fill up the month of August in Oregon. And, while the rest of the country is busy starting school, Oregon prolongs the start of school until September - allowing it's students to fully enjoy a true summer vacation. I'm a little behind on this month's Recipe Swap... between celebrating our anniversary at Bryce Canyon over the 1st, and participating in Mindy Mae's Market the following weekend. It would have been perfect to have published this post on National S'more Day, August 10! The weather is the sole inspiration for this month's recipe swap, since many activities and most schedules in Oregon are dependent on the weather, though really, we just learn to do and love doing, everything in the rain. Plus, since we don't get all that much sun anyway, we have to improvise to get our fill; so this month's recipe swap is all about s'mores!
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs If I ask my kids what they want for dinner, there's a ninety percent chance they will say pizza. They love it, as most kids do. I guess I have an affection for it too, but we don't indulge too often. If I had to choose a favorite pizza, it would be the Hawaiian, but no one else in my household appreciates its flavors like I do, too bad for them. So when my kids came home from school and I had this afternoon snack waiting for them, they were pretty excited to be having pizza at 3 PM. These are the simplest, yummiest little bites. If you have a mini muffin pan you are good to go. Preheat oven to 375o. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through, then stir in 1 Tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 Tablespoon basil. Print Recipe Ingredients Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.