Light Saber Cake & Yoda Soda

My son, Carson, wanted a Star Wars Birthday Party.  This is the easiest cake we could come up with.

The Cake: (try to ignore the seams in the fondant)

Make a regular 9 x 13 cake.  Cut into 3 strips and lay end to end.  Frost the "light" part of the light saber and cover with Marshmallow Fondant.  Then frost the handle with gray frosting (vanilla frosting with a little black food coloring) and pipe black frosting for details. 

This was a team effort with my husband.  He is awesome!

Yoda Soda is this... green Kool Aid.  And if you can't find green Kool Aid like I couldn't last night at Walmart, buy the invisible Kool Aid and add green food coloring.  It was really cool (and simple) and the kids loved it.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I was going to do this for our Halloween breakfast, but we were dragging in the morning and let's be honest, it was just easier to have cereal.  But for lunch, I made Pumpkin Pancakes.  The idea had actually just come to me early early that morning and I didn't have a recipe.  But I figured, how hard could it be?  It was super easy and they were actually really good.  I was scared they would be awful but everybody loved them!

 If I had been better prepared, I would have tried to actually make them look like pumpkins.  My kids thought that was more of the idea vs. taste.  So after this first batch, I added red and yellow food coloring to make theirs orange.  Sorry, no pics of that.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Bisquick

1 Cup Milk

2 Eggs

1/4 Cup canned Pumpkin

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Cloves

1/4 tsp. Ginger

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

And a couple drops of Vanilla

Mix it all together and cook on your greased griddle.  Serve with Maple Syrup. 

Chocolate and Caramel Rice Krispey Treats

 I got this awesome recipe from my sister, Suzie. 

  Rice Krispey Treats:

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. Margarine or Butter

1 10 oz package of Marshmallows

6 Cups of Rice Krispies

Directions:  

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until almost completely melted.  If you let them cook for too long, your Rice Krispey Treats will be hard.  Remove from heat.  Fold in cereal until completely coated.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam and press mixture into the pan.

Caramel:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter - 2 Cubes

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup Corn Syurp

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

Add all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Bring to a rolling boil for about 4 minutes stirring almost constantly.  Remove from heat.  

You have to watch it very carefully so it doesn't burn.  I have an electric stove (that I despise) and I turned my back for 2 seconds and mine was well on its way to burning.  So be very careful!

This makes a lot of caramel so you can use about half for this and use the rest for Caramel Popcorn, Caramel Apples, whatever. Or just cut the recipe in half!

Additional Ingredients:

1 bag of White Chocolate Chips

1/2 Bag of Milk Chocolate Chips

Melt white chocolate chips in microwave for 30 second intervals stirring after each time.  Spread over Rice Krispey Treats.  Drizzle caramel over the white chocolate.  Melt half a bag of milk chocolate chips also in 30 second intervals and drizzle over the caramel.  Let set, cut, and serve!

Chicken & Stuffing Casserole

I know this is a very basic and common recipe which you may already have, but I'm posting it anyway, even if it is just for my own use.

1-2 Boxes of Stove Top - depends on how much you like

2 Chicken Breasts

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/3 Cup Mayo

Cook and cube chicken.  

Make Stove Top Stuffing.

Mix together the Cream of Chicken Soup and Mayo.  Add the cubed chicken.  

Layer in baking dish half of the stuffing, then the chicken mixture, then top with the rest of the stuffing.

 Cook at 350 for a half hour or until warmed through.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

or another way to serve it...

 I made this for a Halloween party and I forgot to bring my dishes (and more importantly, leftovers) home.  Guess I'll just have to make it again!

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Pumpkin Cake

I got this recipe from my friend Angie, who got it from My Kitchen Cafe.  They call them Pumpkin Bars but I made it in a cake pan so then it was a cake!  Either way, it's really really yummy.  I also added some spices that they didn't have in theirs.

I made this for my friend Laura's birthday so there are sprinkles on it in case you're wondering what that is.

Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cube of butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda. Mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the icing:  Soften the cream cheese and the butter.  Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on the cake.

If I'm Not Baking...

... I'm crafting!
I started a new blog for my crafty side.  I hope you'll check it out!
http://blossomsofblue.blogspot.com/

Fluffy White Frosting

Sorry this is more of a Christmasy recipe. I guess I'm just in the spirit early this year! And yes, I actually did some Christmas shopping today. What is with me?! :)

Growing up, our family has always done Fluffy White Frosting on cakes if your birthday is in winter. Mine is, so it's extra special to me. I love it. It reminds me of my birthday but especially Christmas. Now that I'm in Arizona and we don't have snow, this is kind of like my snow. Except super delicious.


Fluffy White Frosting on Red Velvet Cake Pops

Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar
Pinch of Salt
1/3 Cup Water
1 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup
1 Egg White (Room Temperature)
1/4 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:
Separate egg white from yolk. Let sit until it reaches room temperature
Bring sugar, cream of tartar, salt, water, and corn syrup to a boil. Boil until sugar is dissolved. 1-2 mintutes tops. Pour that into your mixer and mix while slowly adding the unbeaten egg white. Beat until frosting is thick and forms peaks. Add vanilla and mix.

Our favorite way to top this is with crushed candy canes. It just makes it feel like Christmas.

Cake Pops Take 2

I figured out that my problem was that my chocolate was too thick. So I stirred in a little vegetable oil to thin it out and it worked! But these still aren't up to Bakerella's standards. But I think they're fine for my 2nd try.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

For those who have been to Firehouse (either in Logan, Smithfield, or Bountiful, UT) you know this dish. Mine is a little different, I'll explain. I used Angel Hair pasta but I definitely would have used Penne if I had had any. I thought for sure I had some and when I found that I didn't, it was too late.

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Bacon
Penne Pasta
Green Onions
Alfredo Sauce (see below)

Directions:
Place chicken in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Slice. You could also grill the chicken to get a nice crisp outside but this way it comes out so tender I prefer this. Or you could grill it just enough to crisp it and then throw it in the oven, I'll have to try that next time.
Pan fry bacon. Pat dry and dice.
Make alfredo sauce.
Boil water for pasta and cook according to box directions.
Mix it all together and serve.

Alfredo Sauce:
1/2 Cup Sweet Butter (1 cube)
1 Garlic clove - minced
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/2 Cup Fresh Parmesan - no canned stuff
3/4 cup. Mozzarella

Directions:
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Add garlic, cream, and pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer. Stir often. Add the parmesan and simmer for 8 - 10 minutes or until it has thickened and is smooth. Add mozzarella and stir until smooth.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Cake

The Before


The After

First, a little back story.
My son's kindergarten class was studying apples last week and we were supposed to take in something with apples for the class to taste. Of course it had to be store bought so I couldn't bake anything but I was inspired to make this.

Ingredients:
1 Spice Cake Mix
1 Can Apple Pie Filling
3 heaping spoon fulls of Pumpkin Pie Puree - probably 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs

Mix in a large bowl, the cake mix, oil, and eggs. Then mix in the pie filling and pumpkin. Bake at 350 for 35 - 37 minutes.
After 10 minutes, flip over onto cooling rack WITHOUT dropping your favorite piece of stoneware and destroying your cake.

The cake is heavy. The pan is also heavy and very slick especially with hot pads. I totally lost my grip mid-air and dropped it. The cake actually fell out in one piece.  It fell apart when I tried to pick it up. However, I made a "trifle" out of it and it was delicious.

I used this frosting recipe to top it
Frosting:
1 pkg. Cream Cheese
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 cube of Margarine or Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

This actually tasted a lot like Pumpkin Pie and it was so yummy. Looked AWFUL but tasted great.

Lime Ricky

I know I should have a lime wedge on the glass for a garnish but I made this just for me and the kids so I wasn't too worried about impressing them.
I got this recipe from my brother and his wife who decided it would be so simple to make these instead of running to Arctic Circle.  They were right.  


Ingredients:
1 2 liter of Grape Soda - my brother and his wife use Diet.  I prefer the hard stuff.
1 can of Frozen Limeade

Mix well and serve.
And yes, lime wedges or slices are a nice garnish.

Chili Cheese Dip

My husband is away right now so I'm trying to make all of the things that I crave that he can't have. This is one of them.

1 Can of Chili
1 pkg of Cream Cheese

Heat together in a pan and serve with yummy bread.

My favorite bread for this is a baguette that I buy at Albertsons (if you have one) that you finish baking at home.

Cake Pops

I am a huge fan of Bakerella and her Cake Pops. She makes it seem so easy. This was the first time I've ever made them and possibly the last. However, they are DELICIOUS! So yeah, I will make them again. Maybe it's just me but I found it more difficult than I think it should be. Whenever I would try to dip the cake balls into the chocolate, they would start to fall off of the stick. And this is after freezing them for hours on the sticks.  I ended up just frosting them with a knife.


Instead of doing cake pops, you can just do cake balls.

Oh Yummy.

Bakerella just had a book published featuring her Cake Pops which I'm begging my husband to get me for my birthday. Maybe after I get that I'll attempt it again.

BLC Spinach Wraps

I guess they could be BLT Chicken Spinach Wraps. But I don't like tomatoes so I left them out. You could also add avocados if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not. These are similar to the other wrap that I posted but this is a much better recipe.

Ingredients:
Spinach Wraps
2 Chicken Breasts
1 pkg. Bacon
Romaine Lettuce
Ranch Dressing

Ingredients for chicken marinade:
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

Directions:
Mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl.

Cover chicken in marinade and roast at 350 until fully cooked. Then cube or shred.
Prepare bacon and pat dry with paper towel to remove any excess grease.
Cover spinach wrap in thin layer of ranch dressing, leaving outer edges plain. Place lettuce, bacon, and chicken on the wrap. Roll up and serve.

Pork Chops & Rice

This is a super easy dish. And the pork comes out so tender, it's great!

About 4 pork chops
Olive Oil
2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Pepper
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 Cups Minute Rice
1 Cup Water

Brown pork chops in olive oil. Place pork chops and all drippings into a crock pot. Add the cream of chicken soup, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for about 4-6 hours. When it's cooked and tender, add rice and water.

Mini Doughnuts

I made Navajo Tacos for dinner tonight and we had "leftover" roll dough. Coincidentally, I happened to watch the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network a couple nights ago where Giada de Laurentiis' favorite fried food were these bite size fried doughnuts from the restaurant Lola. However, I did a couple things differently. Instead of coating them in cinnamon and sugar, I used cinnamon and brown sugar. Huge difference, I know :)  I also made a frosting instead of dipping them in a seasonal jam and vanilla mascarpone like they do. So with our "leftover" roll dough, I made these.

Doughnuts:
One batch of my Mom's Homemade Rolls
Vegetable Oil
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon

Frosting:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
4 Tbsp. melted Butter or Margarine
2 Tbsp. Milk or Water
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Make the dough. Roll it out and cut it up.
Mix the frosting ingredients together.
Get the oil very hot in a frying pan.
Place dough in oil and turn when it browns.
Remove from oil and place directly into mix of cinnamon and brown sugar. The oil helps the sugar stick.  Toss and remove.
Drizzle (or coat) with frosting and eat hot. Honestly I would eat these cold but they are better hot.

Spinach Smoothies

I know this is the least appetizing sounding smoothie you could possible create while still edible. But I keep hearing about people LOVING these smoothies. Each recipe I find is different so I did what I thought sounded the best.


Prettier before the mixing

Doesn't look edible but I promise it is. And it's good.
I didn't add blueberries but I'm sure they would be pretty good

2 Bananas
4 Strawberries
1/2 Cup Raspberries
1/4 Cup Orange Juice
1 -2 cups of Spinach
1/2 T. Honey

These are a great way to get your fruits and veggies in or if you're not a breakfast person, this would be great for breakfast, too.

Sweet Pork Burritos

I apologize for not posting for so long! I have been super busy lately with family visiting and we are moving in just a week and a half. I won't be posting much for a while but I'll do my best.


I can't believe it has taken me this long to post this recipe. It is one of my absolute favorites! For those who love Cafe Rio and Costa Vida, this is very similar to their Sweet Pork. Since I live no where close to one of those restaurants now, I have to make this a lot.

16 oz Tomato Sauce
1 Can Dr Pepper
1 Cup Brown Sugar
Pork Boneless ribs or roast
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1 minced clove of garlic

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook for 4-6 hours on low. Serve on salad or tortillas with rice, lettuce, etc.

Funeral Potatoes

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've had family visiting for the last two weeks and I haven't had a chance. But we did make this as part of our Easter dinner and it was DELICIOUS. Absolutely one of my favorite dishes. And of course, it's served best with ham.

7-8 medium size Potatoes
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 pint (8 oz) Sour Cream
1 Green Onion
1 Cup (8 oz) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 Tbsp. Margarine or Butter
2 cups Corn Flakes

Wash potatoes. Leave skins on and boil for 30 minutes. Make sure they're completely covered in water. Drain and let them cool just long enough for you to touch them without getting burned. Peel off the skins and shred the potatoes. In a separate bowl mix the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, green onions, and cheese. Fold in potatoes and transfer to the pan. You can use a 9 x13 or a 9 x 9. Crush 2 cups of Corn Flakes and mix with the melted butter or margarine. Cover the potatoes with this mixture.
At this point, you can refridgerate for later or bake now at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly hot. Bake longer if refridgerated.

Our unwanted Easter guest.

During our Easter dinner, Landon tells us that there's a bug on his bean.  We go look and sure enough, this little guy was baked into the bean.  Never knew what hit him.  Good thing Landon saw this before he ate it.  My niece and nephews don't like green beans and I'm pretty sure after this they won't ever.

Pretty funny, huh?  Maybe I should contact Green Giant and see if we can settle. :)

Chicken Enchiladas

Not a great picture. Sorry.
Steve's lactaid pills didn't really work with this recipe. Oops!

2 Chicken Breasts cubed
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
About 8 oz of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Green Onion
Tortillas

Cube the chicken and cook in a frying pan in water almost covering the chicken. When fully cooked remove from water.
Chop up the green onion really fine.
Mix sour cream, cream of chicken soup, chicken, green onion, and about 5 oz of the cheddar cheese together.
Put that mixture in the tortillas and roll up. Don't use all of the sauce and top the tortillas in the pan with the sauce. Use the rest of the cheese to top that. Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and they're warmed through.

Chicken Wraps

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

My friend, Tristy, brought this to our recipe club last week and I thought it was perfect for St. Patty's Day. I had never had the Garden Spinach wraps before and I loved them!


1 lb chicken - cubed
Spinach Tortillas
Italian Seasoning
Ranch dressing
Shredded lettuce
Olive Oil

Cut up about 1 lb of chicken into cubes, sprinkle with Italian Seasoning until desired amount (I covered them). Cook in any type of oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil) until white all the way through. Dry with paper towel then put ranch, shredded lettuce and chicken in wrap and roll like a burrito.

Chicken Sausage, Shrimp, & Rice

I'm not really sure what to call this. I guess it's kind of like Jambalaya.
The Chicken Sausage is one of my best finds ever. I get it at Sam's Club and it's called Chicken Sausage with Spinach and Asiago Cheese. Not only does it taste great, but each sausage only has 110 calories!

1 box of Long Grain & Wild Rice
5 Chicken Sausage Links cut up
1 lb Shrimp
Olive Oil
Tabasco Sauce (Optional)


Make rice according to directions on the box.
Cut up sausage links.
Take the tail off of the shrimp.
Put sausage and shrimp in frying pan with a little olive oil. Fry until lightly browned. Cooking it together helps the shrimp absorb some of the sausage flavor.
When rice is finished, mix it all together.

I asked Steve if he had any suggestions and he said the only thing he could think of is maybe adding a little Tobasco sauce to it. I told him next time he can just add it to his since I'm a huge wuss when it comes to stuff like that.