Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

So this was actually last week's dessert that I didn't make because I was sick. So I'm trying to play catch-up. This is from Simple & Delicious, which I have been loving. I just got my 2nd issue last week and there is like something on every page that I want to try. This recipe is from Jan/Feb 2008.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 pkg (18.25 oz) chocolate cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Sprinkle marshmallows into a greased 13x9 baking dish. In a large mixing bowl (such as my kitchen aid mixer bowl), combine the cake mix, water, peanut butter, oil, and eggs; beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth. Pour over marshmallows in pan; sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake @ 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

So I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Steve loved this. The marshmallows all melted and made the cake very moist, so even though there is no frosting, there doesn't need to be because it's so moist. It was quite tasty. Jessica came over for lunch today and she had some too and she also liked it. So this one is a keeper. See you all soon!

One-Pot Salsa Beef Skillet

Remember that Shania Twain song "That Don't Impress Me Much"? Well, that was the theme of last night's supper. We had this, from Kraft Food & Family winter 2008. It was just blah. Steve said it was like hamburger helper. Which is not an insult, because we rather enjoy hamburger helper. But I can make hamburger helper a lot easier than this. And cheaper. But here it is anyway.

One-Pot Salsa Beef Skillet
1 lb extra lean ground beef
2 cups water
1 cup salsa
1 pkg (14 oz) Kraft Deluxe macaroni & cheese dinner made w/ 2% milk cheese
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup shredded mexican style cheese
1 green onion, chopped

Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Add water, salsa, and macaroni; stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low; cover. Simmer 10 minutes or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally. Add corn and cheese sauce from pkg dinner; stir. Cook 2 minutes or until heated through. Top w/ shredded cheese and onion. Makes 4 servings.

So Sam & Steve ate all theirs, Emma and I did not. Nathan did not partake. I would not run to the store for this one. Talk to you soon!!

Tangy Pork Chop Stuffing Bake

Hello. I have been faced with yet more difficulties posting recipes, this time due to illness. Sickest I've ever been as a grown-up. Seriously. So this one I made probably like a week and a half ago. I didn't really like it, but then, I was sick. So if you think it sounds good, you should make it, because I'm not the impartial taste/recipe taster that I usually am. It's from Kraft Food & Family winter 2008.

Tangy Pork Chop Stuffing Bake
6 bone-in pork chops (3 1/2 lbs)
1 pkg Stove Top stuffing mix for pork (not at the wal-mart. Had to get it @ Hannaford)
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
3/4 cup barbeque sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Cook chops in skillet on medium heat 5 minutes on each side or until browned on both sides. Meanwhile, prepare stuffing in large saucepan as directed on package. Place chops in 13x9 baking dish; set aside. Mix cranberry sauce, barbeque sauce, and brown sugar. Add to stuffing and mix lightly. Spoon evenly over chops. Bake 30 minutes or until chops are cooked through. 6 servings.

The lady featured in this recipe says it is a year round staple at their house. Well, it won't be here. But I guess it wasn't bad for a change. Steve-o and the kids love cranberry sauce so I thought they would like the stuffing, but Emma wouldn't even touch it. Sam lapped it up, though. So, there it is. Try it if you want. =)

Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza

Hi girls. This is what we had last night. It was so yummy and flavorful. The kids didn't like it because it was spicy, and it was just a little bit too much for me, too, but the next time I make it I am going to decrease the amt of crushed red pepper. This is from the Better Homes & Gardens book. I am finding that I have liked almost every recipe I have made from this one...even though they tend to take a little bit longer than some others, I guess it's worth it. So here it is.........

Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza
12 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (I just used 2 frozen halves, defrosted. I think it was more than it called for but it still almost didn't seem like enough)
1/2 cup sliced green onions (I didn't have these so I used onion flakes. Still good)
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used garlic from a jar. But I have a garlic press coming from Pampered Chef, so it will be interesting to see if fresh garlic makes a big taste difference)
2 tbsp rice vinegar or white vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (here's what I will reduce to like 1/4 next time)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
16-oz Boboli italian bread shell
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozarella cheese
2 tbsp pine nuts or sliced almonds

Rinse chicken; pat dry w/ paper towels. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. In mixing bowl, combine half the green onions, the minced garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, 1 tbsp oil, red pepper, and black pepper. Add the chicken pieces, stir to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. In skillet heat other 1 tbsp oil; add chicken pieces. Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir cornstarch into reserved liquid. Add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Spoon evenly over crust on baking sheet (I of course used my large round stone). Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake, uncovered (duh), @ 400 for 12 minutes. Top w/ remaining green onions and the nuts. Return to oven for 2 more minutes. 6 servings.

So like I said, this was good. And, you can get whole-grain Boboli. That's what I did. In my new "low-crap" diet, I am trying to avoid white bread and stuff. So this was actually a pretty healthy meal, too, even though it has lots of cheese, but cheese has calcium. And we need that. Also I didn't measure the cheese, I just sprinkled until it looked right. So I probably used more than it called for but it was good so I don't care. Also the recipe says low-sodium soy sauce, but I don't believe in that. Then you just have to add salt later for it to taste right. These soy sauce people already get the proportions right for us, so I say we should just go with it. Plus sodium is a necessary nutrient. Sometimes we get patients admitted with "hyponatremia" which is low sodium, and they can have cardiac issues, dizziness, etc. So clearly we don't want this to happen to our families. So just use regular soy sauce girls. Talk to you soon!

Ravioli Skillet

Hello! This is what we had for supper last night. It is from Simple and Delicious. And it was pretty simple...here it is.

Ravioli Skillet
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 ounce prosciutto or deli ham, chopped (I left this out. I didn't have any and figured one ounce wouldn't make much difference. It didn't)
3 cups spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup water
1 pkg (25 oz) frozen cheese ravioli
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozarella

In large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and prosciutto (if using) over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and water; bring to a boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat and cover & simmer for 7-9 minutes or until ravioli is tender, stirring once. Sprinke w/ cheese. Simmer, uncovered, 1-2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. 4 servings.

Okay so this was good, but it took more like 15-20 minutes for my ravioli to get cooked. It didn't say to defrost it first or anything. I actually prefer beef ravioli (which you can also buy frozen, I don't mean Chef Boyardee. Although I do like that) over cheese, but my m-i-l bought cheese ravioli for us at the commissary so that's what we had to work with. Everyone liked it though. I think if you did make it with beef ravioli it would be too much beef, since there is hamburger in the sauce, too. So I don't think this one makes the cut but it was good to try for a change. Talk to you guys soon!!

Peanut Butter with Kisses

Sounds like Steve's dream night. But no, its a cookie recipe. This seems like a basic one, but believe it or not I did not have a peanut butter cookie recipe in my permanent file. For this one I made a double batch, and put kisses on like 3/4 of them and then criss-crossed the other ones like plain PB cookies, and they both came out fine. This is another recipe that came from Steve's sister at Christmas.

Peanut Butter with Kisses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Crisco
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 bag Hershey kisses

So, I thought these ingredients looked like they would not make many cookies. So I doubled the recipe. Then I thought, this isn't much and I will just whip them together by hand and not use my handy dandy Kitchen Aid. That was dumb of me. My arm was so tired from stirring, because the dough ends up so thick. I ended up putting on my plastic chicken gloves (fresh ones) and mixing it by hand. Isn't that crazy? So use a mixer, if you have one.

Mix sugars, shortening, butter, peanut butter, and egg. In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir into other mixture (here's where I started getting in trouble). After like 5 minutes you should be done. Ha ha just kidding. So then shape dough into 3/4 inch balls (Lorri says don't be tempted to make them bigger because they rise a lot. But I do not bake with rulers, and some of mine were big and some bigger. They all came out fine). Partially sink 1 kiss into each ball (Emma liked helping with this part). Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake @ 375 for 10 minutes (until set, but not hard).

So anyone who knows Steve knows these were a hit. The kids liked them too. And I brought some to Women's Bible Study on Tuesday and they got all eaten. And I brought some to Terri's house yesterday (hence some cookies without kisses since Terri doesn't like chocolate (so crazy)) and everyone liked them there. So I'm definitely keeping the recipe and making them again.

Deep-Dish Chicken Pie

So this one we had this past Monday, not in the ancient past like the previous two recipes. This one is from the Better Homes & Gardens 75 Years cookbook. This one was okay, but I prefer pot pies with both a top and bottom crust, and I like them better when they are from leftovers rather than making the "sauce" from scratch, I guess. Also, it seemed to have too many vegetables and not enough chicken. For some of you that wouldn't be a con, but for me it is.

Deep-Dish Chicken Pie
1 recipe pastry topper (I'm not even typing that out. Just use a pillsbury (or Great Value) pie crust, or your own recipe for pie crust. I used a store bought one)
2 tbsp margarine or butter
3 medium leeks or 1 large onion, chopped (I used the onion, but only half of one. It was like so much onion it would have been onion pie with chicken if I used the whole thing)
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (nope)
3/4 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half (wow I have been using that a lot lately)
2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup frozen peas
1 beaten egg (which I think you could omit if you are using a store-bought pie crust. They have enough fat already. But of course I didn't omit it, but I would next time if I was making it again)

Lay out your pie crust. Cut some small shapes out of crust using a sharp knife or small cookie cutter. Set aside. In large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook 4-5 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add the broth and half-and-half all at once (by which I assume they mean, combine them first in a big measuring cup. I don't have a big measuring cup, so I was just super quick, adding the broth then really fast dumping in the half-and-half). Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken and peas. Pour into baking dish (I used a deep dish pie plate. Home & Garden party. They say their stoneware is from the same East Texas clay as Pampered Chef, but then on the box it says made in Thailand. Hmmmm.). Place pastry over the hot chicken mixture in dish; turn edges of pastry under and flute to top edges of dish. Brush with the egg. Place reserved pastry shapes on top of pastry. Brush again with egg. Bake @ 400 for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool about 20 minutes before serving (that didn't happen either. It seems like all these recipes want you to eat your food lukewarm instead of hot.). 6 servings.

So this wasn't bad, but it won't be a make again. I have a much yummier and unhealthier recipe called "Cheater Chicken Pot Pie" that was really good. Check the archives, it's there.