Favorite Desserts -Lemon cake/ Texas sheet cake/ Scotcharoos

Lemon Cake (Nana)

¾ c water

2 or 3 eggs

⅔ c oil

1 small ok lemon jello

Yellow cake mix

(Bake 350 for 40 Mins)

Mix. Bake as instructed on cake mix. Pierce with a fork. Pour glaze over cake, while it is hot.

Glaze:

2 c powdered sugar

½ c lemon juice

Curtis Family Texas Sheet Cake

Make two cakes to one batch of frosting and divide the hot frosting in half between the two hot cakes.

Ingredients and instructions make one cake and one batch of frosting- so make two cakes and one batch of frosting.

Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter

1 cup of water

4 Tbs of cocoa

2 cups of flour

2 cups of sugar

½ tsp of salt

1 cup of sour cream

2 eggs

1 tsp pf vanilla

1 tsp of baking soda

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. On the stove, in a sauce pan melt the butter.
3. Add the water and cocoa into the sauce pan. Bring to a boil
4. In a bowl (or Bosch), mix the flour, sugar, and salt.
5. Add the mixture in the sauce pan to the flour mixture.
6. Then add the sour cream, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla.
7. Mix well, and then put into a sprayed cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
9. You will want to add the frosting onto the cake when both the frosting and cake are hot so start on the frosting when you have about 5-7 minutes left for the cake to bake.

Frosting

Ingredients:

6 Tbs of evaporated milk

1 cup of butter

3 Tbs of cocoa

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan on the stove (I use the same pan I used for the cake)
2. Add the evaporated milk and cocoa. Bring to a boil.
3. While that’s boiling, in a bowl (or a Bosch), add the powdered sugar. (again, I use the same bowl I used for the cake)
4. Once the mixture is boiled, add it and the vanilla to the powdered sugar and mix well so there are no clumps.
5. Add to while the cake and frosting is hot.
   
   
   SCOTCHEROOS
   
   
   • 1 cup light corn syrup
   • 1 cup sugar
   • 1 cup peanut butter
   • 6 cups Rice Krispies
   • 1 package (6 oz., 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
   • 1 cup butterscotch chips
   1. Place corn syrup and sugar into 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated. Press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.
   
   
   2. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand until firm. Cut into 2 x 1-inch bars when cool.
   
   
   Note: Before measuring the corn syrup, coat your measuring cup with cooking spray--the syrup will pour easily out of the cup.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Breakfast Casserole - especially good for Christmas morning - you can make it the might before and cook it in the morning

It is always hard for me to put down exact ingredients because I am so much a “cook with what I have” type of person.  But I will give some of the basic directions with some possible variations and suggestions.

8 slices of bread (cubed or torn)

8 eggs

2 cups milk

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 Tbsp prepared mustard or can also use dry (apprx 1 tsp)

Optional items:

Meat  (ie: 6 Bacon strips  (cooked and crumbled) or cubed cooked ham or 1 lb sausage - cooked)

1 to 2 cups cheese (your favorite kind   -- *provolone is good with spinach)

½ med onion (diced)

¼ -1/2 cup diced green  bell pepper  (other possible veggies: steamed broccoli or spinach or sauted  mushrooms)

Potatoes  ( up to 6 baked potatoes cubed or grated  or 1lb frozen hashbrowns  cubed or shredded

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Place bread in the bottom put potatoes in next over the bread. 
Whisk eggs, milk and seasonings together and pour over the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 40 min. (You are looking for the eggs to be set, can test with a knife in the center coming out clean)

Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta (or really any kind of pasta would work- I actually used Penne pasta)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef (season with pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and minced garlic)
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (I added a zucchini to my sauce just for more veggies!)
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 7-8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 2 8×8 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray. Layer as follows in each pan: 1/4 of the ziti, 1/4 of the sauce, 4 slices of Provolone cheese, 1/2 of sour cream,  1/4 of ziti, 1/4 mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake covered for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

You can eat one for dinner now and freeze the other for dinner another day!

To freeze this meal: Follow the instructions above, except for the last step of cooking it. Cover the assembled ziti with foil and stick in the freezer (I usually use 2-3 layers of foil just to keep out the freezer burn). It will last in the freezer for about 30 days. When you are ready to eat it, remove from the freezer and place in the fridge to thaw 24 hours in advance. By allowing it to thaw in the fridge, you can cook it at the regular time and temperature (350 degrees for about 30 minutes). If you do not thaw it in advance, it will take much longer to cook. If you cook it completely frozen, it will take anywhere from 90 minutes – 2 hours to cook all the way through.

These fill the 8×8″ pans to the top, so I cooked mine on a large cookie sheet just in case they bubbled over (which they did!).

Pacific Rim Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
2. ½ C chicken broth
3. 2 tbsp soy sauce
4. 2 tbsp fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil, crushed
5. 2 tsp corn starch
6. ½ tsp crushed red pepper (I use ¼ tsp)
7. ½ tsp turmeric (optional)
8. 1 tbsp oil
9. 1 C sliced carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
10. 2 C broccoli florets
11. 1 red or green pepper, diced
12. ¼ C cashews or peanuts (optional)

Cooking Directions:

Cut chicken into bite-size strips and set aside.  Combine broth, soy sauce, basil (if using dried), corn starch, red pepper, and turmeric in a small bowl; set aside.  Pour oil into a large wok and heat over medium-high heat.  Add vegetables to the wok; cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender.  Remove vegetables from the wok.  Add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes while stirring, or until chicken is no longer pink.  Push chicken from the center of the wok.  Stir the sauce, add to the wok’s center, and cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Return cooked veggies to the wok; combine veggies and chicken with the sauce, add fresh basil (if using), and stir until heated through.  Serve over white rice or Asian noodles.

Copy-Cat Panera Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Another wild rice soup! Our other one has curry and this is just creamy goodness!

INGREDIENTS

·    6cups chicken broth

·    2chicken breast halves(cooked, boneless and cubed)

·    1(6 ounce) package long grain and wild rice blend, quick cooking version (You will use the seasoning packet. I used Uncle Bens roasted chicken flavor) (best with alternative option)

·    1⁄2teaspoon ground black pepper

·    1⁄2cup all-purpose flour

·    3⁄4cup butter (12 tbsp. or a stick and a half)

·    1cup carrot, diced (double for us)

·    1cup celery, diced (double for us)

·    1cup onion, diced

·    3cups light cream (can lighten by substituting part or all of the cream with fat-free evaporated milk, or half-and-half, or 2%)

DIRECTIONS

1.      Open rice, pull out seasoning packet and set aside.

2.      In a small bowl, combine pepper and flour. Set aside.

3.      In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth and chicken. Bring to a boil, then stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat.

4.      In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add carrots, celery and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in contents of seasoning packet, and continue cooking vegetables until softened, about 5 minutes more. Add seasoned flour gradually while constantly stirring, to form a roux. Saute roux for 3-4 minutes to cook out raw flour taste.

5.      Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.

6.      Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through and rice is done,15-20 minutes.

7.      Alternatively, for those who cannot get the quick-cooking version of the rice, I have put the broth on to boil and cooked the 25-minute version of long grain and wild rice blend according to the directions, while sauteeing the veggies in the butter. I tend to cook the veggies longer this way, and I like them quite soft. I then follow the rest of the directions above, adding the rice/broth to the cream mixture. I've also used fat-free half and half with no appreciable difference in flavor. Enjoy

Energy bites

Everybody Loves theses!


2 C Oats
1C unsweetened shredded cocobut
1C Chocolate chips
1/2 C Flax seed
1/2 C Chia Seed
1 C Peanut butter (Adams Natural is my fav)
1 C Rice crispies
2/3 C Honey
2t vanilla

Mix all ingredients together, then refrigerate for 30mins. for imto balls (or half balls with tablespoon) Store in fridge or freezer.

Creamy Chicken (over RIce or Hawaiian haystack sauce)_

Eat over rice or for Hawaiian haystack sauce. DELISH!

5 chicken Breasts
8oz low fat cream cheese
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
1 pkg low sodium Italian seasoning

Throw in crockpot  on high for 5 hours