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Posts Tagged ‘Cooking’

Cookies & Cream Bars

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , on January 26, 2013| 7 Comments »

This is the first sweet treat I got to make after my dad got out of the hospital.  The need to bake hit me and this recipe looked like a winner! A little goes a long way so you will get plenty of bars out of one pan.

I found this on Pinterest posted by Picky Palate and Ms. Picky Palate always has tasty treat to try!

Cookies&CreamBars

1 chocolate cake mix

1 stick butter, softened

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

14 Oreo cookies, broken into bite sized pieces

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13×9” baking dish with foil and spray the foil with nonstick spray. Combine the cake mix, butter and egg together.  I used my hands to do this and it is MESSY!  If you wear rings while cooking, take them off. Put the dough into the baking dish and pat out evenly.

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Top this with the broken cookie pieces then pour the milk over the whole thing.

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Bake for 23-25 minutes or until cooked through.  Cool for about 5 minutes then removed from pan and peel off the foil.  Cool completely; cut and enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 19, 2013| 22 Comments »

I am a sucker for semi-homemade Bundt cakes using a cake mix as a base.  I have posted about three such cakes in the past: chocolate chip Bundt cake, moist caramel apple cake, and chocolate Bundt cake. I found this new version on Pinterest from the blog The Big Green Bowl and knew I had to try it.

This is really tasty and, like most Bundt cakes, is better the day after it is baked.  The Big Green Bowl used a peanut butter glaze on hers, but also included a recipe for a chocolate glaze so I went all out and used BOTH glazes. 

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For the cake:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1 cup milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

For the peanut butter glaze:

1/4 cup cream peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk, more or less

For the chocolate glaze:

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a Bundt pan by spraying with Baker’s Joy (best stuff ever) or grease and flour.

Beat all cake ingredients except the chocolate chips for two minutes at medium speed.  Stir in chips.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove and let cool completely.

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For the chocolate glaze:

Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat.  Add the cocoa and cream.  Cook and stir for about two minutes or until the mixture thickens.  Do not boil.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Pour over the cake and let cool.

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For the peanut butter glaze:

Whisk all the ingredients together.  You may add a little more sugar or milk to get the desired consistency.  Pour over the cake and allow to set up.  Slice and enjoy!
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Pioneer Woman’s Fried Round Steak

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on January 12, 2013| 8 Comments »

I have a confession to make…I am a Southern cook who has never been able to fry meat.  The shame! My husband says that he can tell when I fry something, because the smoke detectors go off.  Sad, but true. It seems I never get the temperature quite right.  Either the oil is too hot and the outside of the meat is black and the center is raw or the oil is too cool so the meat is done in the center, but greasy on the outside.  Enter Pioneer Woman and her recipe for Fried Round Steak!  She has saved me from my frying dilemma.

These are great with potatoes and gravy, but also make great sandwiches with just plain white bread.  Mmm, mmm!  I get hungry just thinking about it.

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3 lb.s cube steak

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. seasoned salt

3 tsp. ground black pepper

salt to taste

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tbsp. butter

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Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Mix together the flour, pepper and salt to form a dredge for the meat. Season both sides of the steaks with more salt and pepper before coating the steak in the flour mixture.

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Add the butter to the warm oil right before frying the steaks.

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Place the steaks in the hot oil/butter and fry on the first side until they are a deep golden brown.  Flip and cook on the other side for about 3 minutes for well-done.

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Remove them to a paper towel lined plate and serve hot. Tasty!!

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Salsa Sloppy Joes

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , on January 5, 2013| 16 Comments »

Looking for a quick, easy, and tasty weeknight meal idea?  Look no further than this Salsa Sloppy Joe from Eat Cake For Dinner.  Ms. Eat Cake for Dinner always has yummy recipes on her site and I have followed her for quite a while.  There has never been a disappointing dish!

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1 lb. ground beef

1 cup salsa of your choice

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

salt & pepper to taste

hamburger buns

sliced cheese of your choice (I used provolone and American.)

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Brown meat in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the salsa, soup, sugar.  Add salt and pepper to your taste.  Stir to combine ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve on buns with cheese.

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White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , on December 29, 2012| 25 Comments »

I am going a little off-subject here, but most people love doughnuts, especially Krispy Kremes.  I LIKE doughnuts, but they are not the first thing I want when I crave a sweet except maybe the raspberry filled ones.  Those are my favorite! Then a local restaurant served a white chocolate raspberry cake (not from scratch, but still pretty good) and I wanted to try my hand at making one.

This recipe is not completely from scratch either since it takes advantage of a white cake mix for the cake, but the taste was awesome!  It also turned out to be really pretty with the white cake, white frosting and the bright red raspberry jam filling.  Yum!

The cake recipe is from Kraft.com and the frosting is from Diana’s Desserts.

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For the cake:

1 pkg.  (6 squares) BAKER’S White Chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup  butter or margarine

1 pkg.  (2-layer size) white cake mix

1 cup  milk

3 eggs

1 tsp.  vanilla

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

For the frosting:

4 1/2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick/3 oz./85g) unsalted butter, softened
Pinch of salt

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Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare 2 (9-inch) round pans; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in medium microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted; cool slightly.

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Combine cake mix, milk, eggs, vanilla and chocolate mixture in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into prepared pans.

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Bake 25 to 28 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 10 min.; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool cakes completely.

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For the frosting:

Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add the butter and salt and beat until smooth. Stir in the cooled white chocolate. Refrigerate until firm enough to frost the cake, about 30 minutes.

I then split the cake layers in half so I would have more filling to enjoy.  Place 1/2 of a layer on to the cake plate and spread half of the raspberry jam and a dollop of frosting.  Do this in between each split layer.

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Spread the remaining frosting over the entire cake.  Chill for about an hour and enjoy!

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Scalloped Pineapple

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on December 22, 2012| 10 Comments »

Have you ever read a recipe and think that there is no way it could be good?  This is definitely one of those.  I first tried this dish years ago when a co-worker brought it to a Christmas dinner and was hooked.  There are several different variations of this on the internet, but not this exact recipe so I don’t know where it originated before my co-worker had it.  If you like pineapple, give this a shot and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.  I could eat the whole pan!

ScallopedPineapple

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp. all purpose flour

20 oz. pineapple chunks, drained & reserve 3 tbsp. juice

10 oz. crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (Shred it yourself.  None of the pre-shredded non-melting cheese.)

1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs

1/2 stick butter

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.  Combine the sugar, flour, and reserved juice in a medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat until the sugar melts.

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Add the drained pineapple and cheese; stir to combine.  Pour this into the prepared baking dish.  Melt the butter and stir in the cracker crumbs.  Sprinkle the butter/crumb mixture on top of the pineapple.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

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Taco Burgers for Two

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on December 8, 2012| 1 Comment »

C is a big burger fan, but sometimes I get tired of plain old burgers and try to come up with some new ideas.  I have had a few failures, but some successes, too.  When I posted about my steakburger recipe here, I came up with the idea of a taco burger.  Now I know this probably isn’t a new concept, but this is my original recipe and it turned out pretty good.

Taco Burgers

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. taco seasoning

2 buns

2 slices provolone cheese

taco sauce to taste

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Combine the beef, oil and seasoning and make 2 patties from this mixture.

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Grill over medium high heat for 8-10 minutes for medium well to well done.  Toast the bun.  Add the cheese and continue toasting until cheese just starts to melt.  Add the burger patty and top with taco sauce.

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Orange Fluff Salad

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on December 1, 2012| 9 Comments »

While browsing Pinterest one day, I found this Jello salad recipe and thought it looked pretty tasty.  I checked out the originating site, Six Sisters’ Stuff, and realized these ladies know what they are doing. 

I made Orange Fluff Salad to go with a chocolate chip Bundt cake and the combination was so very good.  It was almost too good, because every time I went through the kitchen, I had to stop and take a bite.  Needless to say, I ended up sharing this with family and friends so I wouldn’t eat it all!

Orange Fluff Salad

1 large package Cook and Serve vanilla pudding

1 large pack orange gelatin (I couldn’t find a large box so I used 2 small.)

2 cups water

1 16oz. container frozen whipped topping

1/2 bag mini-marshmallows

1 can pineapple tidbits, drained (any size)

1 can mandarin oranges, drained (any size)

 

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In a medium sauce over medium heat, combine the pudding, gelatin and water.  Cook and stir until it boils.  Remove from the heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.

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Refrigerate until the mixture has thickened (about an hour).  Beat until creamy and add the remaining ingredients.  Chill for about an hour before serving.

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Slow Cooker Meatball Sandwiches

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on November 17, 2012| 2 Comments »

Guess where I found this recipe?  I know what you’re thinking…Pinterest, right?  Wrong!  This one was in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and it is also published on their website here.  I did “pin” it to save it and that was a good thing because these sandwiches are so good.  This recipe makes enough for several servings and the flavor is awesome! 

sandwich

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

2/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 small)

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 hoagie buns, split and toasted

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)

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In a large bowl, stir together egg, bread crumbs, 1/3 cup onion, the salt, Italian seasoning, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add ground beef; mix well. Shape meat mixture into 32 balls. Arrange meatballs in a single layer in an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Drain off fat.

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Stir together tomato sauce, the remaining 1/3 cup onion, the sweet pepper, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, garlic salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Pour the sauce into your slow cooker.  Add cooked meatballs, stirring gently to coat with sauce.

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Cover and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or on high for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

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Place four meatballs on the bottom of each bun. Top with some of the sauce and some of the cheese. Add bun tops. Makes 8 servings.  I wrapped my sandwiches in foil and put them in a warm oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

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Honey BBQ Meatloaf

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on November 10, 2012| 5 Comments »

I have a basic meatloaf recipe that a co-worker gave me and it has been my favorite for quite a while.  In fact, it is the only meatloaf recipe I used until I spotted this little number at Mommy’s Kitchen.   Honey barbecue is my favorite kind of barbecue flavor and since my father-in-law and his cousin actually have bee hives and I have honey that produced by bees buzzing around in my backyard and the fields next door, I just have to try it. 

Wow, it turned out so good.  You get a little sweetness from the honey, but still have the kick of the barbecue sauce and mustard.  Yummy!  If you live in the South Central Kentucky area and would like some local honey, just e-mail me and I will hook you up.

honey meatloaf

 

For the meatloaf:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 tsp. yellow mustard

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. seasoning salt

pepper to taste

For the glaze:

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 tsp. Worcestshire sauce

1 tbsp. honey

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the ground beef, cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, mustard, 1 tbsp. honey, seasoning salt and pepper.  Mix well and shape into a loaf.  Bake for 45 minutes then prepare the glaze.

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Mix together all of the glaze ingredients.  When the 45 minutes have passed, spread the glaze onto the meatloaf and bake for another 10 minutes.

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