Birthday Cake

JACOB’S BIRTHDAY CAKE
(BUTTER CAKE LAYERED WITH STRAWBERRY PRESERVES & A WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING)

So instead of going to the store and buying a cake Jacob asked me to make him his birthday cake, he was turning 13 so he didn’t really want a little kids cake. But he had some stipulations: no milk chocolate, no peanut butter and no coconut … so this is what I came up with and it worked … he was happy and it tasted good … which was my main goal.

Recipe:
Ingredients: Cake
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups of sugar
3 cups of cake flour, has to be cake flour all purpose flour will not turn out
3 tsp. of baking powder
½ tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
1 jar of strawberry preserves

Ingredients: Frosting
2/3 cups of White Chocolate Chips
2T butter, softened
1 pack of cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
2 cups of powdered sugar

Baking Instructions: Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray 2 9in. round cake pans
In a mixing bowl cream butter until smooth … slowly add sugar while still mixing … it should be creamed and light … add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one … sift flour, baking powder, salt in another bowl … to the wet mixture add the almond and vanilla…mix… add the flour mixture and the milk alternating between the two and mixing well after each one … mix batter until nice and smooth … pour into cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes …. Let cool a few minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely before frosting.

Mixing Instructions: Frosting
In a microwave safe bowl... combine your white chocolate and butter … put in microwave and melt stirring occasionally … you want it to be smooth, no lumps
Mix cream cheese, salt, vanilla and chocolate in a bowl until nice and smooth
Add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until nice and smooth and creamy

Putting it together:
Once your cake has cooled, flip them over so they are bottom to bottom; spread one half with the jar of strawberry preserves, top with the other half of cake …. Frost the entire cake starting in the center of the top and working your way down the sides … sprinkle the top with remaining chips from the bag … let set for a good hour before cutting into it.

Shrimp & Garden Vegetable Linguine

SHRIMP LINGUINE WITH GARDEN VEGETABLES

This is one of my absolute favorites, my mom made it for us first and now that I am on my own I tried to recreate it with my little twist on it. It really is so good and a great spring summer meal, farmer’s market vegetables are always great too! The recipe that follows will have the general vegetables that I use but you can put any kind of vegetable with this recipe so use what you like.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 box of linguine pasta
1 pound of fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lemon
½ cup of parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper
5 stalks of Asparagus
1 good size zucchini
1 good size yellow summer squash
1 tomato, cut into wedges
Sprinkle of fresh parsley

Cooking Instructions:
Cook your pasta according to box instructions, remember to salt your water after it starts to boil
Clean your shrimp, by peeling and deveining … heat up a medium size skillet with 2T of butter, 2T of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic finely minced … once the butter is melted add the shrimp … stir to coat with the butter and garlic … cook both sides till they are pink

In another pan add sliced vegetables (accept the tomatoes) and about ½ cup of water and a sprinkle of salt … cover with lid and put on high heat until water boils and vegetables are steamed

In a large bowl combine drained pasta, drained steamed vegetables, sautéed shrimp with all the dripping (that’s your flavor), wedges tomatoes, parmesan cheese, sprinkle of salt and fresh black pepper... drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and squeeze the juice of one lemon…… Toss it all together and sprinkle with fresh parsley …. There you go its done!

Jumble Cookies

JUMBLE COOKIES

These cookies came from me not being able to decide what kind of cookie I wanted but knowing that I was having a major sweet tooth attack. They are yummy and a new family favorite; A combination of Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter and Snicker Doodle cookie all in one.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened (must use butter, it is a cookie after all)
1 ¼ cups of brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 cups of old fashioned oatmeal oats
1 bag of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
½-2/3 cup of chopped peanuts (chop pretty finely)

Cooking Instructions:
Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees
Cream butter, sugars, vanilla in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy
Mix in eggs one at a time until well incorporated
Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well
Stir in oatmeal, chocolate chips and chopped peanuts
Spoon onto sprayed cookie sheets
Bake for 10-12 minutes
Let cool on brown paper bar or cooling rack
Enjoy!

Saturday, March 4th, 2011 - Minestrone Soup with Vegetables & Pasta

On a gloomy day this is a really nice, warm and comforting dinner … not to mention we could smell it cooking all day so by dinner time we were so hungry. I am not a big soup person, just a few I will eat but this one was really good … I recommend it!

I used a Little help for this one … Love Robin Miller she makes really good food that is affordable and realistic for the everyday person. Main Idea came from her with a few changes from me to make it my own … Enjoy!

MINESTRONE SOUP WITH PASTA, BEANS AND VEGETABLES

Ingredients
• 3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 clove Garlic, Finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked mini bow tie pasta
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 medium yellow squash, chopped
• 2 cups loosely chopped fresh spinach
• ¼ Cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• Chopped fresh parsley, garnish, optional
• Grated Mozzarella Cheese, garnish, optional

Directions:
In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, onion, thyme, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add pasta, zucchini, squash, parsley and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley

The Only thing I did different was I did not use the carrots, we are not big fans and with the zucchini I added some yellow squash. The pasta I used was small bow ties. Also I am a big fan of spinach, fresh or frozen is fine, but I used fresh baby spinach. With Onions I have a tendency to get heart burn so I used about ½ cup and added a small diced clove of garlic. Add some crusty bread or biscuits along side it.

Friday, March 4th, 2011 - Breakfast Tart

Tonight I was craving breakfast for dinner... I was watching the Food Channel and “Everyday Italian” was on she was making a breakfast tart and I thought well I can make that... The ingredients she was using were a little to expensive for me so I had to substitute a lot of things to make it my own

Here it is: You will need a tart pan, if you do not have one a pie pan will work just fine. Make sure you butter the sides and the bottom. I am not that good at making my own pie crust so I used a pre made pie crust... line the pan with the pie crust trimming off the edges... remember to poke the bottom and sides with a fork all over to release the air bubbles ... put in a pre heated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. When done set aside and let cool a little.

While the crust is cooling you will want to start your filling ... you will need 5 eggs at room temperature, 1 tub of cream cheese at room temperature (you won't be able to mix it if it is to cold) 1 brick of Swiss cheese grated, 5 strips of bacon cooked and drained on a paper towel, 1 long green onion, 3 stalks of fresh asparagus and salt & pepper.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the cream cheese and beat until smooth then add the cheese, diced onions, diced asparagus and crumbled bacon season with salt and pepper .. mix all together really well ... pour mixture into pie shell and smooth over to the edges ... bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes... your egg mixture will settle, puff up and the top will be golden brown .... Let sit for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven.

There you go... yummy! I wish there was a way to let you smell how good the kitchen smells while this is baking... my goodness it is delicious! You will just have to make it!!

This particular night I made some homemade apple sauce, get a pot chop up about 5 or 6 apples, I leave the skin on ... put in to pot with about 2/3 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon ... stir and let simmer for a good hour stirring occasionally to break the apples up ... it is a great homemade apple sauce and best of all you know what’s in it.

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 Philly Cheese Steak

Well it is the end of the week and that normally means using some of the leftovers that are in the fridge to make a great dinner.  So tonight I made a semi-version of a Philly Cheese steak.

I had left over roast, from the crock pot roast beef, left over marinated chicken, the chicken was marinated in soy sauce, lime juice and garlic salt for at least an hour... I think mine was a few hours I like the flavor a little stronger then put it on the grill... getting side tracked ... and left over mushrooms from the Alfredo.

You will need a frying pan with good sides, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add the mushrooms, sauté until brown, they will shrink a little... then add the diced up chicken and beef .. Warm through

While the mixture is cooking heat your oven to 400 and toast 2 sub rolls (they are a little big if you want them smaller use hot dog buns) probably 6-8 minutes they should be lightly toasted.

Take your toasted buns and spread one half with mayo, one half dijion mustard and then a little raw horseradish (I don't like onions and peppers, so the mustard and horseradish kind of take the place of them) it provides a nice tang... then spread the meat mixture high on the bun and top with provolone cheese (you can use what ever kind of cheese you want but I like provolone because it melts nice) Then most important.. smush it all together, you have to smush to get everything to stick together.

For a side I had mashed sweet potatoes and mashed regular potatoes so I made potato pancakes ... the pancakes I baked in the 400 degree oven instead of in the frying pan, it cuts down on the fat, for about 8 minutes on each side.  Then I topped them with butter, can you tell I love butter, for the Sweet Potato Cakes I sprinkled with cinnamon sugar

That is what we had for dinner tonight and the best thing about it ... I had everything already in the fridge so I spent $20.00 bucks on groceries and got 3 dinners out of it ... not bad!

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 - Chicken Alfredo

So Mr. Lucas, my son, has been feeling a little under the weather the past few days so I have been trying to make things I know he likes and will eat. Tonight we are having creamy chicken and mushroom Alfredo with fresh asparagus. I have a feeling I am going to get hungry just telling everyone about it ... yummy!
First I start with pasta, normally boxed linguine is what I will use, however I had a coupon! Love Coupons try to use them whenever I can... anyways I will be using Butioni (sp) which is fresh made pasta that you can find in the refrigerator section of the grocery store .... Maybe one day I will learn to make pasta, that would be amazing. You are going to cook the pasta like you normally would in a pot of boiling salted water for about 10-12 minutes then drain. (fresh made pasta will puff up a little and flot to the top of the pot, so it might not take as long as 12 minutes)

Next you are going to start your chicken, because chicken has to be cooked completely, you are going to want to brown it in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and fresh diced garlic ... stir and cook until the inside is white .. No Pink! Then cube it up and set it aside.

To start your cream sauce: you need about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablesspoons of flour... you are going to completely melt the butter and then stir the flour in until it is completely incorporated with each other ... this is called a rue ... make sure you do not burn it, if you do you have to start all over.

After your rue is made keep your heat on medium,  poor in 2 1/2 cups of cold milk stir until slightly thickened but not boiling, then add your cream cheese ... normally I use 1 1/2 bricks tonight I am trying something a little different.. because again I had a coupon ... so I got a tub of Italian Herb Cream Cheese for Cooking for .59 cents (normally $2.99) melt that into milk until it is fully meld together, then add about 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese ... play your cheese by ear, if you like more use more it is your dinner. Once all your cheese is melted and your sauce is thickened add your sliced mushrooms and cooked chicken (scrape your chicken right from the pan so you will get the garlic flavor also) let sit in the sauce on low heat for about 25-30 minutes, stiring frequently (you do not want your sauce to curdle)

In a separately trim your asparagus and drop into a pot of boiling salted water ... I like mine bright green and crispy so I cook for about 3 minutes, drain, then melt butter and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt ... serve alongside your pasta

Yummy this is an amazing dinner..... I will post a picture of the finished product if I can figure it out hahaha

I reference coupons a lot ... I am a coupon clipper, have to be ... also pretty much every grocery store out there has bonus cards that they offer for free ... if you do not have one get one you can save so much money .. Even if you are not a coupon clipper always use a bonus card.... BiLo is probably the best because they have a Fuel Perks card... you save money on your groceries and every time you spend $50.00 you get .5 or .10 cents off a gallon of gas ... lets be real gas is radically high and when do you not spend that much on groceries.

So I hope that you try my Alfredo recipe ... pretty easy and very much a crowd pleaser ... Good Luck!