Strawberry Party Punch

Strawberry Party Punch

 

Ingredients:

6 c. sugar
6 qts. water
1 qt. ginger ale
1 lg. can pineapple juice
1 sm. can frozen lemonade
10 oz. frozen strawberries

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and pour into 3 (1 gallon) containers. Freeze until about 3 hours before serving.

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 1½ cups fresh cranberries
• 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp grated orange rind
• ½ cup butter, softened and divided
• ½ cup packed dark-brown sugar
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• ½ cup fat-free buttermilk
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp melted butter
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch square or a 9- or 10-inch round baking pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.

2. In a small bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts, and orange rind. In a small saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium. Stir in brown sugar, orange juice, and cinnamon. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into pan. Sprinkle with cranberry mixture. 

3. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

4. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium, beat granulated sugar and emaining butter until creamy. Add vanilla, egg, buttermilk, and flour mixture. Spoon over cranberries.

5. Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert onto a rack to finish cooling. Beat glaze ingredients. Drizzle over cake. Slice.

KITCHEN COUNTER:

Serves: 9. Per Serving: 350 calories, 56g carbs, 4g protein, 13g fat, 50mg cholesterol, 290mg sodium, 2g fiber

Butterfinger Cake

This cake is ridiculous. Absolutely… positively… dangerous….You should make it.

This is one of the more kid friendly recipes I have tried since I had Amelia. She helped me crack the eggs. She is an expert egg cracker. No lie. She helped me poke holes in the cake with straws, and when it came time for us to pour the condensed milk and caramel topping (yeah you heard me right) over the cake she looked like I had bought her a pony. She smiled her brightest smile and asked me when we could eat it.

I told her it had to cool. I thought the kiddo was gonna cry.

This cake is so moist. It is a recipe you should definitely have up your sleeve for pot lucks, family reunions, and for when company comes over.  It’s best when made the day before.

I hope that whatever readers I do have enjoy this cake as much as I have. It was so easy to make, and even easier to eat.

This recipe could also be customized to suit your favorite candy bars. I am already thinking up some alterations for variety. Heath Bars here I come! Recipe variations soon to come!

Butterfinger Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to make the cake ( I use the butter recipe yellow cake mix)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 jar Smucker’s caramel ice cream topping

1 (8oz) tub Cool-Whip

4 regular sized Butterfinger candy bars, crushed

Directions: 

Bake cake according to direction on the package.

While cake is baking, mix milk and caramel topping until well blended. When the cake is done and while it’s still hot, poke holes in it with a fork or straw. Pour milk mixture over the cake. (Try not to swoon too much!)

Allow cake to cool completely.

Sprinkle two candy bars over cake. Spread Cool Whip over the top, then sprinkle the remaining candy bars on tip. Chill.

Tip: I like to freeze the butterfingers and crush them right in the wrapper.

Resurrection Rolls

A friend of mine emailed this recipe to me last week, and I was so excited about being about to do this with my Amelia.

It is a great way to teach the kiddo’s about Jesus and the true meaning of Easter.

This recipe and all photos are from  Feathers From My Nest. I liked that she coated the outside with cinnamon and sugar! Yum!

These hollow dinner rolls represent Jesus’ empty tomb. Hope you all have a very blessed Easter!

Resurrection Rolls

Recipe by: http://www.feathersfrommynest.com/

Ingredients:

Frozen dough for dinner rolls

Regular Marshmallows

Melted Butter

Sugar and Cinnamon Mixture – I recommend about a 4:1 ratio.  (4 being the sugar…mmmmm)

1.  Thaw rolls – Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Arrange dough balls, leaving about 2 inches between each ball.   I usually plan on 3-4 rolls per person (we snack on them later in the day) so I place about 16 per cookie sheet. Spray some plastic wrap with non-stick spray (so the wrap doesn’t stick to your dough) and cover them as they thaw.  This will keep the dough from drying out and getting a hard crust.  My house was fairly warm the day I made these and it took about 1 and 1/2 hours for them to thaw.

2.  Add Marshmallow – Before the dough rises, flatten it to a 3″ diameter circle.  Place your marshmallow in the middle and pinch the dough closed around the marshmallow to completely cover it up.  Roll the dough ball in the palm of your hand to smooth out the closure and seal it.Amendment:  A few have commented with difficulties getting their dough to stick close around the marshmallow.  Before putting the butter on, put marshmallows in ALL the dough balls.  If your fingers get greasy from using the butter it will easily transfer to your dough and prevent it from sticking closed around itself.

3.  Roll dough covered marshmallow in butter. (Or brush it on.)

4.  Sprinkle on cinnamon & sugar mixture.  Or you can do like my family does and roll it on. We like them super flavorful, sweet and yummy.  (By the way…I typically use raw unbleached sugar which is why mine has a darker color and a more coarse texture.  You can use whatever style sugar you keep on hand.)

5.  Place them on a greased cookie sheet, cover them again with your non-stick coated plastic wrap and let them rise until they double in size.  This takes approximately 30-60 minutes depending on how warm the environment is.  And not to worry…if they don’t rise they’ll still taste yummy.  I’m not sure why yet…but it isn’t often that I actually get my rolls to rise as they should.  This particular time would be one of those times.  They barely rose but left one of the better ‘tombs’ I’ve had in my rolls.

6.  Don’t forget to pre-heat your oven during the last 10 minutes of your rising step.  When they are ready to bake, place them in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

7.  When they are done baking, remove them from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

8.  Enjoy them together.

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay.”
Matthew 28:5-6

No Bake Cookies

No Bake Cookies Recipe
(From Ali over @ Gimme Some 0ven!)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups quick oats

Method:

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter.  Then add milk, sugar, and cocoa and stir to combine while bringing to a boil.  Boil for 1-2 minutes, then remove pan from heat.  Stir in vanilla and peanut butter, until melted.  Stir in oats.

Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool until hardened.

Tips:

Once you stir in the oats, the cookies go from gooey to set up pretty quickly.  So Ali recommends prepping your wax paper beforehand (or while your butter is melting!).

Also, some other fun mix-ins (while you stir in the oats) might be:

• peanuts
• chopped almonds or walnuts

(You could  also press mini peanut butter cups or M&M’s into the cookies before they set up!)

How to pop popcorn on the stove!

Okay, I know that people do this all the time, and have forever… seriously, but… I just learned last night.

I had to look it up, so I figured I would break it down for the few people who don’t know that would like to learn. It is seriously the most simple thing you could ever do. A monkey could do it.

Popping popcorn on the stove is just as simple and quick as doing it in the microwave… only it is twice as fun. Amelia LOVED hearing the popcorn bounce around in our great big spaghetti pot. I have posted our recipe below, but you can season the popcorn with what ever you like. We just used olive oil and seasoned with sea salt.

The recipe below make a big batch of popcorn. Next time I might half the recipe. Just keep that in mind if you are only making this for yourself and not to share!

Popcorn with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Ingredients:

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

3 tbsp olive oil

Sea Salt (season to taste)

Directions:

Add olive oil to a big heavy bottom pot and swirl around in the saucepan to fully coat the bottom of the pot. Add popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover pot with a lid. If your lid doesn’t allow steam to escape you can leave it slightly ajar.

Turn heat on to medium. Heat kernels for about 20 seconds or just until the oil starts to warm, and then remove the pot from heat for 30 secs. This will allow the kernels to all come to the same temperature and result in less un-popped kernels.

Put pot back on stove eye. Keep lid on, cuz its about to get interesting! Allow kernels to pop until you hear the popping start to slow… When you can count 2 to 3 seconds between pops you can remove the sauce-pot from the heat, and season to taste with sea salt or whatever other seasonings you prefer! You can put on your oven mits at this point, turn the pot upside down and shake the popcorn kernels around to even coat them in the remaining oil and seasonings.

Enjoy!

Incredibly Moist Pumpkin-Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

A coworker of mine shared this awesome recipe with me. When I tasted it for the first time I immediately blurted out, “I need the recipe!” I love this cake. It is the perfect spice cake. I ended up finishing my piece of this cake alone in the break room at work, and was almost tempted to lick my plate when I was done. I did scrape the icing off of my plate which is almost as bad. The icing is my favorite cream cheese icing by far. That may or may not have to do with the fact that it has 5 cups of powdered sugar AND 16 oz of cream cheese….oh yeah and butter. The cake itself is very dense and moist. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I am not posting or will I EVER post any nutritional information about this cake so as to not sway anyone from trying it. It is worth every single calorie.

Incredibly Moist Pumpkin-Spice Cake with

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:

1 box (1lb 2.25 oz) Betty Crocker SuperMoist Spice Cake Mix

2/3  cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 sour cream

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 pkg (3.4oz) pumpkin spice instant pudding mix

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Frosting:

2 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

5 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottoms only of 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with baking spray with flour.
2. In large bowl, beat all cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes on high speed. Divide batter equally among pans. Bake 19 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until frosting reaches desired spreading consistency.
4. Place 1 cake layer, rounded side down, on serving plate; spread about 3/4 cup frosting over top to within about 1/4 inch of edge. Top with second cake layer, rounded side up; spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with third layer, rounded side up. Spread thin layer of frosting on side of cake. Spread remaining frosting on side and top of cake. Store in refrigerator.

Salted-Caramel Banana Pudding Pie

Salted-Caramel Banana Pudding Pie

Ingredients

• 1 box vanilla wafers (65 cookies)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 1 cup salted caramel, plus more for garnish (1 cup caramel, plus 1 teaspoon fleur de sel), recipe follows
• Vanilla Pudding, recipe follows
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put 45 vanilla wafers in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are finely crushed. Reserve 1/2 cup to top the pie. Stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter in a small bowl until blended. Firmly press it into the bottom, up the sides, and onto the lip of a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool until completely cool, about 30 minutes.

Coat the banana slices with salted caramel. Arrange some banana slices evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread half of the hot, prepared Vanilla Pudding over the bananas, top with vanilla wafers, and more caramel-coated bananas. Spread the remaining filling over the vanilla wafers, and caramel-coated bananas.

In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Add the almond extract, and sugar and beat until peaks form. Make sure not to overbeat, or the cream will become lumpy, and butter-like. Spread the cream over the pies. At service, garnish with a caramel swirl, and the reserved vanilla wafer crumbs.

Vanilla Pudding:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a bowl whisk together the sugar and flour until all of the lumps are gone. Once it is a fine powder, whisk in the eggs, and egg yolks, and continue whisking until a smooth paste is formed. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk, and once this is incorporated add the remaining cup of milk. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, and cook over medium heat whisking constantly, until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding, about 10 to 15 minutes. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when the whisk is lifted.) Remove from the heat, and stir in vanilla.

Creamy Caramel

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

(for Salted Caramel add Fleur de Sel (or Kosher salt) 1tsp at a time until it tastes the way you want)

Directions

Over low heat, mix the water, and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 to 10 minutes. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boiluncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot!

Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go fromcaramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat, and stand back to avoid splattering. Slowly add the cream. Don’t panic – the cream will bubble violently, and the caramel will solidify.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.

My new favorite Mac N Cheese!

This Macaroni and Cheese is easier than ANY box mix.  You toss a bunch of simple ingredients together.  You stir.  You bake.  You wait for forty minutes then drool as you take it out of the oven. No need to preboil the noodles. You just need one HUGE bowl to stir everything together, and another deep casserole dish to transfer it in to. This dish is definitely not calorie free, but it is the best Macaroni and Cheese I have ever had!

Easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese
1 (16 oz.) pkg. macaroni
1 c. milk
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 c. swiss, grated
1 c. monterey jack cheese, grated
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 tsp. onion salt
fresh ground pepper
1/2 c. flour

In a large bowl, stir together the macaroni,  milk, and chicken broth.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix together using a large wooden spoon.  Pour into a very large, deep casserole dish.  Bake uncovered in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until pasta is fully cooked.  Turn oven broiler on for the last two minutes of cooking time to brown up the top part of the mac and cheese.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
1 large egg at room temperature
1 large egg white at room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Glaze & Garnish:
1/2 cup packed confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon nonfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips or toasted chopped nuts (see Tip)

Directions

To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl.

Blend 1 cup buttermilk, pumpkin puree and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Beat in whole egg and egg white. Stir in oil, corn syrup and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake the cake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely on the rack, about 2 hours.

To glaze & garnish cake: Combine confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon buttermilk in a small bowl, stirring until completely smooth. Place the cake on a serving plate and drizzle the glaze over the top; garnish with chocolate chips (or chopped nuts) while the glaze is still moist.

To warm an egg to room temperature, either set it out on the counter for 15 minutes or submerge it (in the shell) in a bowl of lukewarm (not hot) water for 5 minutes.To toast chopped nuts & seeds: Cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.