Cafe Latte Turtle Cake

I love chocolate cake... love it! This past week, someone handed me a recipe while I was at the Veterans Hospital with my fiancee and it looked amazing. So, I decided to make it for our Easter celebration. His family had the celebration a week early this year, so it was yesterday.

The cake was a huge success, they ate the whole thing. I love it!! So good. The frosting is like eating fudge and the layers were very moist and chocolaty  without being too chocolate or too rich. This might be the chocolate cake I always make going forward! 

Cafe Latte Turtle Cake: 

Cake Ingredients: 

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 TBS baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1. Grease 3 9 inch cake pans with Crisco. Then dust them with cocoa powder as if you were flouring the pan. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and vegetable oil.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. 

4. Gradually beat the egg mixture into the flour. Your batter will have a brownie like consistency at this point. Scrape down the sides of your bowl. 

5. Gradually beat in the hot coffee. This will make your batter much thinner. Be sure to scrape the bottom of your bowl and the beater(s) and mix again to get all the thicker batter incorporated. 

6. Pour into your prepared pans and bake at 350 for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted the center comes out clean. The batter will appear somewhat shallow in the pans. 

7.Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove the layers from the pans to cooling racks to cool completely. 

8. Build your cake, by layering cake, frosting, and caramel sauce as desired. Nuts would be a great addition to this cake. 

Caramel Sauce recipe here. 

Frosting recipe here. 

Fudgy Chocolate Frosting

Easy chocolate frosting that tastes phenomenally good! The frosting has a very creamy, nearly fudge like consistency and taste.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
6 TBS butter
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring the sugar, milk, and butter to a boil, stirring constantly.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate chips until melted completely.
3. Whisk in the powdered sugar.
4. Let the frosting sit for 2 to 5 minutes or until thickened to desired consistency.


Enjoy!

Quick Caramel Sauce

Super easy, very quick homemade caramel sauce. Don't buy the jarred stuff that's all full of chemicals and preservatives when you can make your own in 5 minutes!

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk

1. Put all ingredients in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly
2. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Let cool and use as desired.

Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Stuffed Mexican Style Cube Steak Rolls

Cube steak is one of those things that I only knew how to cook one way... country fried with gravy. We bought a bunch recently because it was on sale and I really wanted to do something different with it. I tried to make a rice casserole with it, but it didn't turn out very well. There wasn't much flavor and the rice didn't get done. Hey... I never said all of my recipes were successful :)

So, I came up with the below by combining ideas from a couple of different sources. Its cornbread and cheese stuffed Mexican style cube steak rolls.

Ingredients:

Cube Steak (each piece will make one roll)
Cornbread batter (I made mine extra thick)
1/2 cup shredded Colby jack cheese (or your preference of cheese)
1 can Ro-tel
1/2 can water
2 TBS vegetable oil

1. Make your cornbread according to the package instructions. I use cornmeal mix that comes in a 5 lb bag. Add 1/2 again as much cornmeal as the package calls for.

2. Pound your cube steak out thinner. I placed mine in saran wrap and pounded it gently with a rubber mallet.

3. Place about two spoonfuls of cornbread mix in the middle and top with cheese. 

4. Fold over the ends of the meat and then take one long each and pull it towards the middle, grabbing the other long edge to make a roll. (Treat it like a burrito basically!)

5. Skewer each roll with a long bamboo skewer. This will help the roll stay closed as you are handling it. 

6. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. 

7. Add the rolls to the skillet and cook on each side for 2 minutes. 

8. Add the can of ro-tel  to the skillet, as well as the 1/2 can of water. 

9. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover the skillet and simmer for 30 minutes. This allows the cornbread to cook completely. 

This was pretty tasty, though we all agreed it needed a bit more cheese on top to make it even better. Spoon the extra sauce over each roll to serve. 

Artichoke Mushroom Chicken

We eat a lot of boneless skinless chicken breast around here. By a lot, I mean at least twice a week. Last night, I made something new with it. Unfortunately, the pictures turned out awful but I am posting them anyways, so you get an idea of what it eventually looked like.

It took me about 40 minutes from start to finish, including trimming and cutting up my chicken. Serves 4 with good sized portions. You might could feed 5 or 6 if you added some bread to the meal.

Final dish

Ingredients:

1 to 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into strips
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 small can mushroom pieces
1 can chicken stock
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper as desired
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

1. Cut your chicken into the desired size. Season your flour with salt and pepper as desired, and dredge the chicken through the flour.

Frying chicken pieces

2. In a sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, cooking on each side for 3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness.
3. Once the chicken is done, remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.

deglazed pan

4. Pour the entire can of chicken stock into the pan, scraping up the crunchy pieces from the bottom of the pan. It may look a little burnt at this point in time. Don't worry!

Simmering

5. Add your drained mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Now to thicken your sauce. Mix together the cornstarch and milk in a small bowl or glass. Pour this mixture slowly into the pan and stir constantly. This will cause the sauce to take on a creamy tinge and thicken.

After thickening 

7. Add your chicken back to the saucepan and toss everything together gently. Top with Parmesan if desired.











We ate this over baby red mashed potatoes with green peas on the side. It was good and filling, with a mild flavor. You may want to consider adding a little garlic or experiment with some other spices to amp it up if desired.

Chocolate Cake

So, yesterday was St Patrick's Day and I wanted to make a festive desert for the occasion. I looked around for awhile and all the recipes I found were either mint, lime, pistachio or contained alcohol. My fiancee hates mint and lime, so those two were out. We don't keep liquor in the house, so that was out as well.

So, I decided to make a chocolate cake with green frosting. Simple and still festive. Warning... I do not make beautiful cakes, but I make very tasty ones!

 Chocolate Cake:

3/4 cup butter softened (I use unsalted)
3 eggs (at room temp)
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup milk

1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature. This step applies to all baking. Cold eggs can shock your batter and change to texture of your cake.
2. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. I use Crisco and flour for this step.

3. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. This step ensures the cocoa is evenly distributed through the batter and makes for a fluffier cake.

4. Cream the butter in a bowl using an electric mixer (I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but you CAN do this with a handheld mixer.)
5. Gradually add the sugar to the butter, beating on a medium speed until the butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and beat again.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until everything is just mixed before adding the next egg.
7. Add the vanilla and beat until mixed.
8. Add the flour and cocoa mix to the batter (about 3/4 cup at a time), alternating with milk (about 1/2 cup at a time), beating on slow until just mixed after each addition. You should start and end with flour.
9. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.
10. Pour into your prepared cake pans and bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I use Wilton Cake strips when baking my cakes. These are strips of fabric that you soak into water and wrap around the cake pans. The make your cake level because they slow down the baking of the outside of the cake. You can find these on Amazon.

11. Once the cake is done, cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove from pans and cool on a wire rack until completely cooled.

Frost as desired. I made Light Chocolate Buttercream and dyed it green for the holiday.

Ham Alfredo

We are huge pasta fans in my house and this one always gets rave reviews. Tonight, everyone ate two plates full of it and licked their plates clean.

Yum!!!

Ingredients:

1 pound ham (pre-cooked)
1 pound pasta of your choice (I use penne)
4 TBS butter
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
3/4 cup parmesan
3/4 cup mozzarella

1. Chop the ham into small chunks. Preheat your oven to 325.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and fry the ham and garlic over medium high heat.
3. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and melt it. Reduce the heat to medium.
4. Add the flour to the ham and butter in the skillet and stir until the butter is all absorbed by the flour.
5. Add the milk to the skillet and stir slowly, keeping the heat on medium.
6. Add the cheeses and whisk until the cheeses are melted.

 

7. While the sauce is thickening, boil water for pasta. Cook the pasta according to box instructions, reducing the cooking time by one minute.

8. After the pasta has finished, drain it thoroughly and add to the sauce you just made. Stir together until the pasta is covered.

9. Sprinkle with a little extra parmesan and mozzarella, then bake at 325 for 10 minutes to melt the cheese. 

Serve and enjoy! You could add peas or asparagus to this for some vegetables. 

Taco Muffins

 Yummy Taco Muffins. Cheesy taco-y goodness in a muffin form. A favorite around here and a huge hit with kids of all ages!

Yummy!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 can black beans
24 won ton wrappers
Approx. 1/2 cup finely shredded cheese of your choice (I use Colby jack)
Taco Seasoning (I use Ortega or make my own)

Directions:

Prepared pan

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375.
2. Brown your ground beef until no longer pink. 
3. Drain and rinse your black beans in a colander. 
4. Add the beans to the beef and add the taco seasoning. Do NOT add water to this mix. 
5. Let the beef, beans, and taco seasoning cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. 
6. While your beef and bean mixture is cooking, spray your muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
7. Line each muffin spot with one won ton wrapper. 
8. Using a soup spoon or a cookie dough scoop, place one scoop of the beef and bean mixture in the pan. Top each one with a sprinkle of cheese. 

1st complete layer

  9. Repeat the layers, making sure the 2nd layer of won ton wrapper is different than the first. The corners   of the 2nd wrapper should cover the exposed part of the muffin tin. 

2nd complete layer

     10. Bake at 375 for 7 to 10 minutes or until the corners of the won ton wrappers start to turn golden. 

Top with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole. Serve with Mexican style rice and a salad for a well rounded, filling meal. 

Welcome!

This is my first post and I'm super excited to get a chance to share recipes with you. I grew up cooking. My mom started teaching me how to cook when I was around 9 or 10. By 14, I could whip up lasagna from scratch by myself. I definitely enjoy cooking, but find that coming up with something for dinner every night of the week is very tiring.

I've been living with my fiancee for two years and I've started feeling like I'm in a cooking rut. My goal is to make something new at least once a week. Sometimes it's a recipe I found somewhere and other times, its something I've come up with all on my own. If a recipe isn't mine originally, I will tell you where I got it. So this blog is just to help you come up with something new to make for dinner if you're in a pinch.

For the most part, the recipes will be 30 minutes or less. Perfect ideas for the family on the go! Hope you enjoy everything you find here!