Mexican Casserole

This is a gem I found in the Highland 23rd Ward Cookbook. Oh how I LOVE ward cookbooks!! This is such an awesome find. It can go as a full-on casserole or a base for other delicious dishes. Originally it says to top with Frito chips and cheese. You can leave it at that and just serve the casserole on it's own or you can make the basic casserole and eat it as burritos, use it for the filling in enchiladas, navajo tacos, or just a side dish. The possibilities are endless. I even used leftovers...plopped them in a smaller pan, topped it with cheese, threw it in the oven for about 15 minutes and had an instant dish for a potluck dinner. Love it and SO delicious!

1 (4oz) can diced green chilies
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (14oz) can stewed Mexican tomatoes, diced with juice
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 medium onion, diced
1 (4oz) can chopped black olives
2 cups UNCOOKED white rice
1 packet taco seasoning
4 cups cubed, UNCOOKED chicken
1 (14.5oz) can chicken broth
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter cut into small pieces

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together green chilies, cheese, tomatoes, onion, olives and uncooked rice. Add taco seasoning, chicken and chicken broth. Stir until well combined. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle top evenly with cold butter pieces. Cover tightly with heavy duty tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Optional for Casserole:
Remove from oven, remove foil, sprinkle with Frito chips and 2 cups Mexican cheese. Don't cover. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

I was getting the 3rd degree around here for not making a chocolate dessert lately...so I knew this would do the trick! This cake is the definition of chocolate. If you are a chocoholic, you should look no further. This original cake recipe calls for a ganache topping, but I was feeling like I wanted a sweeter topping since the cake was so dense and dark. So I opted to top it with a hot fudge sauce. You can definitely just either make the ganache or buy a jar of hot fudge sauce from the store if you're in a time crunch...but I DEFINITELY recommend making this homemade hot fudge! This hot fudge has to be THE BEST I've ever had...no more jars for me - perfect on this cake and then we used the leftover for ice cream sundaes on 4th of July. Perfection.

For the cake:
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
20 T (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
5 eggs
4 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the Bundt Cake Pan and dust with cocoa powder; tap out the excess.

To make the cake, in a bowl, combine the 1 cup cocoa powder and the 1 cup chocolate chips. Add the boiling water and whisk until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and blended. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 30 to 45 seconds. Reduce the speed to low, add the brown sugar and beat until blended. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated before adding more and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour, beating just until blended and no lumps of flour remain. Slowly pour in the chocolate-cocoa mixture and beat until no white streaks are visible, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so the sides are about 1 inch higher than the center. (This made way more batter than could fit inside my bundt pan, so I made another small bread pan full of batter.)Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached to it, 60 to 65 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Let the cake cool completely, at least 1 hour.

Hot Fudge Sauce:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups sugar

1 (12oz) can evaporated milk

1 t vanilla

Combine butter, cocoa powder, sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, or until very thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Carefully pour hot mixture into a blender and blend for 2-4 minutes (to make thicker.)

Pour over cooled bundt cake letting it drizzle over the sides

Top with crushed candy bar of your choice (I always choose Symphony with Almonds and Toffee)

Enjoy!!!

*Cake recipe adapted from Lick the Bowl Good

*Hot Fudge recipe from allrecipes.com

Spicy Turkey Meatballs

Now, now. Don't start freaking out because I mentioned the word "turkey" right next to meatballs. You have no idea what you're missing. My mom introduced me to these. She said "let's make these turkey meatballs" and I seriously thought...no thanks, but we made them anyway. As we were mixing the meat and spices I was thinking they were going to be bland, dry and gross. Boy was I wrong. These were OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I LOVED them! They were tender, flavorful and juicy....and healthy. Go figure. We made a double batch and froze half of them for future quick dinners. Genius. Give them a try...especially with the spaghetti and white sauce with smoked Gouda cheese - absolutely delicious!

Meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 eggs (you can just use egg whites here as a healthier option - just add 1 T skim milk with them)
2 t chili powder
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (you can use ground up garbanzo beans here for a healthier option)
1 T dried parsley
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt

1 lb spaghetti (use whole wheat pasta here for a healthier option)
1 8oz package low fat cream cheese
2 cups milk
4 oz smoked Gouda cheese, grated

For the meatballs, mix all ingredients together and form into 1-1 1/2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. In a large skillet or large saucepan, melt cream cheese over low heat. After melted, add milk and whisk until smooth, bubbly and thick. Add half of the cheese to the mixture and stir until melted. Add spaghetti to the sauce. Plate spaghetti topped with meatballs and extra Gouda cheese.

*We also made a marinara sauce (for my dad...the baby) and it was ABSOLUTELY delicious mixing the red sauce with the white!! Try it...you won't be disappointed.

Butterfinger Cookies

Butterfinger has to be one of my favorite candy bars of all time. So, naturally, when I found this recipe I knew we were meant for each other! It has the beautiful taste of a peanut butter cookie with the crispity crunch of the Butterfinger chunks. And...some chunks caramelized and became ooey, gooey goodness. If you like peanut butter cookies, THESE are the cookies for you! When you first bake them they might seem like they are underdone and extremely soft, but don't fetter...after they cool they firm up.

1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1 stick butter
4 eggs
3 running over teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
20 ounces Butterfingers, chopped up into large chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla in mixer. Add peanut butter and mix. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and mix until blended. Fold in Butterfingers.

Bake on greased cookie sheet for about 9-12 minutes (I cooked them the full 12 minutes in my oven.)

* From Confessions of a Cookbook Queen...by the way my new favorite dessert site...you are going to probably be seeing A LOT of desserts from this one!

4th of July Cake

Such a simple, light and delicious cake! Happy 4th!

1 French Vanilla box cake mix
1 recipe cream cheese frosting (found here)
1 tub whipped cream
raspberries
blueberries
1 strawberry
Red and Blue food coloring gels

Mix cake according to package directions. Divide batter in half. Color one bowl full of batter red and the other blue. Pour into 2 prepared 8 inch round cake pans. Bake according to package directions.

Make cream cheese frosting according to recipe above. Fold in whipped cream to make a light and fluffy frosting. Layer cooled cakes with frosting and then frost entire cake. Garnish with berries. Enjoy your holiday!!!

Chicken Bakes

And we're back!!!

With all this business of having a baby, moving, and being low on the funds, I've lost myself in the mix. My identity was cooking...now I'm just surviving. Till yesterday. I FINALLY got the urge and desire to start cooking again. Let me just say...it feels GREAT!!! And lucky for you I'm starting it off with a bang...which means you're going to have to hit the gym...

If you've ever been to Costco, you know what these are. They serve them in the food court there and also in the freezer section. They are VERY delicious! I saw on Justin cousin, Jen's, blog that they made them. I immediately went on the hunt for the "secret" recipe. I'm not exactly sure if these are the same - ingredient for ingredient - but they sure tasted like it! My dad was even raving about them and he doesn't stray much from his basic meat and potato meals. And don't tell anyone, but I sneaked in a little whole wheat flour cause I was a little low on white flour. Nobody noticed and I didn't tell! HAHA!! Jokes on them...

I'm also sure that the dough they use at Costco is the absolute best, but I don't have the funds and live about 40 minutes from one now...not so convenient. So I have a go-to recipe for all of my pizza doughs that is just awesome (don't forget that I added that whole wheat flour and it was delish...definitely a trick I will be using often in the future.)

Double recipe of my homemade pizza dough found here

Cooked, diced chicken (I used rotisserie chicken ironically from Costco)
Ceasar salad dressing (make sure it's a quality kind...I've had a lot of crap in my day)
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 bunch green onions, diced
Crumbled bacon (I just used a small bag of real crumbled bacon for ease)
Parmesan cheese

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Marinate the chicken in some Cesar dressing, just enough to cover each piece...not drenched.

Roll out 1 dough ball into a 11x5 rectangle. Spread about 1 teaspoon of Cesar dressing on the dough. Sprinkle marinated chicken evenly over top. Top with both cheeses, green onions and bacon to your liking. Roll the 5 inch side over the ingredients into a tight roll.

Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Top with another teaspoon of Cesar dressing and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 8 chicken bakes. (If you think you don't need this many...don't be silly - make them all. They are a cinch to freeze and make the perfect quick and easy go-to lunch or dinner for the manly folk...and the child folk)

*From recipezaar.com

Honey Wheat Bread

I've been making this bread for years now and don't know why it's taken me so long to put in on here!! It's the best, most delicious bread I've ever had. I LOVE it. Bryce loves it. My other half loves it. Doesn't it look just delicious cooling on the railing of the porch? Let me just say yesterday when I made these I was feeling like such a home-maker. You know...yeast, rising dough, fresh warm bread...that'll do it to ya.

I got this recipe from my cousin, Jenna, years ago. She made it and I ate it. Then I bugged her daily till I got it. She found it on allrecipes.com (which also is a favorite of mine.) The thing that's so wonderful about it is you use half whole wheat flour and half white. This tactic must be used to trick the people eating it. It's got the whole wheat goodness, but the look and texture of a white bread. GENIUS!! I also like how it doesn't use any white sugar, just honey. The flavor is phenomenal! Just try it...it's so easy. If I can do it - you can too...seriously.

3 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly. (A little trick I use in situations where I don't have a nice warm porch is I turn the microwave on for 1 minute with nothing in there. Then I open it and put the dough in there for a warm place to rise. I also will turn my oven on and when it gets to about 150 degrees, I turn it off. Then I put the dough in there to rise. Both ways work like a charm!)

Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely