Strawberry Cake

this strawberry cake is Fabulous! I made this cake, for the first time, to serve at church and it got wonderful reviews.  I did, however, tweak the recipe a bit.  I used a bunt pan instead of the 'three round pans' and I also did not use the icing in the recipe.  Instead I used a store bought cream cheese icing, scooped some out into a bowl, softened it for about 8 seconds in the microwave and mixed in some smashed strawberries to make a drizzle. 

*I used fresh strawberries instead of frozen.

**please note if you use a bunt pan as I did, you will need to increase the cook time of the cake to about ONE HOUR or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.   

Ingredients:
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (10 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed *(I used fresh strawberries)
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). **Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans.
2.In a large bowl, dissolve the gelatin in cold water; stir in the cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, flour and 1/2 of the strawberries. Beat for 5 minutes on the medium speed of an electric mixer. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
3.**Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the layers spring back when lightly pressed in the center. Cool cakes in the pans on wire racks.

I did not use this frosting...but this is the suggested frosting to use when making the layered cake.  I will try this frosting the next time.
4.To Make Frosting: Cream the butter, sugar and the remaining half of the strawberries in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, adding additional confectioners' sugar if needed for a spreadable consistency. Spread the frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake.

I hope you enjoy this strawberry cake as much as we did. 

Strawberry Cake

Fried Okra

this is a pretty basic recipe, but wanted to post it because i figured, like myself, there might be someone out there who wanted fried okra, but had no idea how to do it! my two oldest boys love fried okra and this recipe got their stamp of approval!

Ingredients:
10 pods okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, soak okra in egg for 5-10 minutes.  In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, salt and pepper.
2.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Dredge okra in the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.  Carefully place okra in hot oil; stir continuously.  Reduce heat to medium when okra first starts to brown, and cook until golden.  Drain on paper towels.

that's it. simple, quick, and ridiculously delicious!

enjoy! 

Fried Okra

Meal Planning Rut

so, this year so far I have fallen into a little bit of a rut as far as my meal planning goes.  Don't get me wrong, I am still doing it, because for one it makes my grocery trips much easier and sticking to my detailed list saves me money and secondly, it also makes dinner time a little less stressful and more organized. So, what is the problem?  My husband traveling and working in Alaska for four months has caused me to slip into an eating more quick, kid-friendly foods, get them fed, bathed, and to bed as fast as I can kind of rut!  Hence, the reason why I haven't been posting my meal plans on here.  I mean, who wants to see menus of frozen pizza, spaghetti, chili dogs and mac and cheese? So, brace yourself come mid-March/first of April, because I will be blowing up this blog with tons of new recipes and more yumminess than you can stand! 

I'll leave you with this picture of some amazing stuffed poblano peppers my husband grilled when he was home this past weekend.  Now, if I can get him to share his recipe with me, I'll blog it!

Meal Planning Rut

Banana Nut Bread

i'm always on the look out for new banana nut bread recipes. tried this one and loved it! secret ingredient: cornflakes cereal! i blogged this recipe at Bright Copper Kettles this morning.  Check out the site and grab this banana nut bread recipe, you're sure to love it!

Banana Nut Bread

Slow Cooker Tuscan Beef Stew



this stew is so delicious and makes a large amount.  i always plan on having left overs for the next evening, but there is never enough left after my family goes back for seconds....and thirds!

 makes: 8 (1-cup) servings
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH

ingredients:
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spice (i usually buy McCormick)
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1 to 1/2 inch cubes (if there is a value pack available, which may be a little over 2 pounds, i go ahead and buy this)
1 medium onion, cut into medium wedges
4 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 medium size potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon flour
8 slices day-old Italian bread, toasted

preparing it:
1.  Place the pickling spice in the center of a piece of cheesecloth or coffee filter.  Tie tightly with a long piece of string.
2.  Place beef cubes, onion, carrots, potatoes, crushed rosemary, garlic powder, and bouillon cubes to slow cooker.  Stir in tomatoes and wine.  Add pickling spice bundle. Cover.
3.  Cook 8 hours on LOW or 4  hours on HIGH.  Remove Pickling spice bundle.
4.  Thicken stew by mixing flour with 1 tablespoon water in medium bowl until smooth.  Stir in several tablespoons hot liquid from stew, then stir flour mixture into stew.  Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until stew thickens slightly.  To serve, place 1 slice of bread in each bowl.  Spoon stew over bread.

tips: for best results, do not remove cover during cooking.

nutritional information:
Calories: 299
Fat: 7 grams
Fiber 3 grams
Protein: 32 grams
Carbs: 27 grams

again, this is a yummy stew that is easy to prepare, but just don't plan on having many left-overs!

enjoy!

Slow Cooker Tuscan Beef Stew

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

this is some simply sensational asparagus!

you need:

1 lb. fresh asparagus

2 tBsp olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

grated Parmesan cheese

cooking it:

1.  heat oven to 450 degrees.  Trim asparagus, snapping off touch ends.  drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the center of a rimmed baking sheet; spread asparagus evenly in the pan, in a single layer.  drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive  oil; sprinkle with sat and freshly ground black pepper.

2. roast 5 minutes for crisp-tender asparagus, 8 minutes for softer asparagus.

3.  transfer asparagus to serving dish.  sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; serve immediately.

yields 4 servings.

...even my kids like this!

enjoy!



Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

Chocolate Chip Muffins

i was a guest blogger today on Bright Copper Kettles and shared my recipe for these ridiculously delicious chocolate chip muffins.  Head on over there and check it out.  Try them...you'll love 'em! :)

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Caramel Apple Cake

this is must try.  it is beyond ridiculously delicious!



ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package (4 serving size) Vanilla or French Vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
ground cinnamon to taste (optional)
1 cup water
4 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 medium Granny Smith Apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
20 Kraft Caramels, unwrapped
3 tablespoons milk

how to make it:
pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan.  Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, cinnamon (optional), water, eggs, and oil in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until blended.  Beat on high speed 2 minutes.  Gently stir in apples.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack. 

microwave caramels and milk in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 - 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until blended.  Cool 10 minutes until slightly thickened.  Drizzle over cake.


**this recipe can also be found here... KRAFT.

Caramel Apple Cake

Mini Tortilla Pizzas

i first off want to apologize for the sloppiness of these pizzas.  I was in a hurry when making these and just threw them together one night for the kids before heading out to a birthday dinner for a friend.  the kids didn't seem to mind that they were so messily put together, because they said they tasted great! Gotta love non-picky kids!

These pizzas are just a little invention of mine that I tried one night with some left over ingredients I had in my fridge.  They are perfect for a quick meal for the kids or an after school snack.

What you need:
Tortillas
Spaghetti or pizza sauce
Favorite pizza topping
Shredded cheese

Place your tortillas on a baking pan, add some sauce, pepperoni, ham or any other desired topping, finish it off with some shredded cheese and pop into a 350 degree pre-heated oven and bake until cheese is melted.

I almost always have these ingredients in my fridge and love that I can whip these up in just a few minutes.

Mini Tortilla Pizzas

Menu for the week of Jan. 10, 2011

i almost didn't blog about our menu this week as it really didn't change from last week, due to a few reasons such as, we ate left overs, i was sick a couple of days so the boys fixed mac & cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches for themselves, and with dad out of town we had left over ingredients and will be able to repeat the meals this week! went grocery shopping last night and only spent $58.00 for the week, and that included toilet paper, diapers, wipes, some cleaning supplies and extra food! the budget is loving this week!!

this week meals include:

BLT sandwiches (left over ingredients so we can repeat this one!)

Mac and Cheese

Chips

Homemade mini pizzas with Spanish Rice (SUPER EASY KID FRIENDLY MEAL) **will blog this one!

Fish sticks with mashed sweet potatoes and whole kernel corn

Spaghetti with meat sauce, green  beans and french bread

Chicken swiss bundles **will blog this  one!

Chicken Alfredo, salad, and french bread

***Meal out (picking husband up from the airport and will dine in Dallas)

Menu for the week of Jan. 10, 2011