Cinnamon Bun Cake

This is a really easy recipe. It requires little effort with a big payoff! This is delicous!

Cake batter:

3 cup a.p.flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla flavor
1/2 cup butter, melted

Cinnamon batter:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP a.p. flour
1 TBSP. cinnamon

Glaze:
2 cup powdered sugar
5 TBSP. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all cake batter ingredients together except for butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and then pour batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Mix the cinnamon batter together. Drop by TBSP fulls all over the cake batter. With a knife, swirl together the two batters. Do not over mix! You want to see the marble effect when you slice it after baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min. Watch it. You don't want to over cook it. You will need to touch it or insert a toothpick to check when its done. Prepare the glaze and set it aside. While its cake is warm pour the glaze over it and let it cool. This is sooo good with a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pesto Pasta

This recipe has all the quintessential Italian ingredients to satisfy your cravings and is easy peasy to boot!

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup roasted red bell pepper (fresh or jarred)
1 cup basil leaves
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. penne pasta (I like to use the miniature version)
1/4 cup heavy cream, optional

Directions:

1. Place garlic and pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.

2. Add Parmesan, red pepper, basil leaves, salt and pepper. Pulse until well combined.

3. With motor running, add olive oil through the feed tube and process until incorporated. Set
aside.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot. Add the pesto to the
pasta and stir to combine. Stir in heavy cream if desired for a creamier sauce. Heat until
warmed through.

Source: Picky Palate

Tuscan Pork Chops

Let's be honest with each other, ok? Pork chops don't always turn out that great. They can be tough, easily overcooked and bland. Today I am rescuing the pork chop. This recipe has amazing flavor and texture, and put pork chops back on the dinner menu at our house. Before I get to the recipe, here is a link to a tutorial on how to finger test the doneness of meat:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/the_finger_test_to_check_the_doneness_of_meat/

Remember that pork needs to be cooked all the way through. I would recommend cooking on a cast iron skillet if you have one because it retains it's heat well and allows you to turn the stove off completely and still have warmth for your pork chop to finish cooking through.

4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

4 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

1 large tomato, sliced into chunks, OR pint of grape tomatoes, halved

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 T dried basil

2 tsp. of italian salad dressing OR balsamic vinegar

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until golden brown. Remove onions from pan and set aside.

2. Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to the hot skillet. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and place in skillet. Seer about 2 -3 minutes on first side until browned. Turn and seer on second side for about 2-3 minutes, then turn the temperature down to medium-low or (off if using cast iron) Test for doneness and cover for about 2-4 minutes more (testing for doneness often). When the meat is done, remove from pan and keep warm under some foil.

3. Return the heat to medium. Heat remaining oil in the skillet. Return onions to skillet, and stir in tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Cook and stir about 3 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender. Mix in dressing or balsamic vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Top chops with the onion and tomato mixture, and sprinkle with feta cheese to serve.

Source: adapted from an allrecipes.com recipe

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Is that a black and white photograph of food? Why, yes, it is. Because whipped cream is white, anyway.

My husband has recently had a hankering for strawberry shortcake. So at Food Lion today, I was going to buy some whipped cream in a tub from the frozen section--but then I looked at the ingredients. Cream was not one of them. In fact, the main ingredient was water. So I decided I'd whip my own cream.

Ingredients:

1 C heavy whipping cream

3 T confectioners' sugar

1/2 t vanilla extract

1. Chill a small mixing bowl and beaters in the refrigerator ahead of time.

2. Using your chilled bowl and beaters, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until soft peaks form. Store in the refrigerator.

Note: Do not overwhip your cream or it will start becoming runny.

Source: Submitted to allrecipes.com by the Taste of Home Test Kitchen

Strawberry Sauce

Yummerz...and it can do so many things...

Ingredients:

1 pint (which is 2 C or 32 oz.) strawberries

1/3 C white sugar

1 t almond or vanilla extract

1. Wash strawberries and remove stems.

2. Combine berries, sugar, and extract in medium saucepan over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, constantly stir/break up the strawberries. Allow to simmer for five minutes as you continue to stir and break up the berries.

3. Once it's been five minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool enough to transfer mixture to blender. Pulse to desired consistency.

I didn't put this batch in the blender because I was making it for use in strawberry shortcake, and my husband likes the chunks. But other times, when I use the blender to truly make it a sauce, I like to use it for strawberry lemonade/limeade. See the source for some other usage ideas and for a picture of it with a thinner consistency.

Source: Kate from Our Best Bites

Ground Beef Chili

My favorite grocery store (Publix) often has meal demonstrations with samples to try. They also conveniently have all the ingredients ready to pick up right next to the station. I swung in to get a few items, and came out with a whole meal ready to cook. This chili is great. Originally, it has a good bit of a kick to it, I love that, but my husband's tummy doesn't... so I tamed it down a bit. The leftovers were great over baked potatoes too!

You can cook this fast or slow. Both variations are included below.

Ground Beef Chili

Serves 8

Ingredients 
1 onion, coarsely chopped  (my husband doesn't like onions, so I substituted onion powder, tasted great!)
1 1/2 lb ground chuck beef
3 tablespoons chili powder (I only used 2 T.)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (10.75-oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes/sweet onions, undrained (I used regular diced tomatoes to tame the spice a little) 
1 (10-oz) can milder diced tomatoes/green chiles, undrained (Ro-tel Brand)
1 (16-oz) can chili beans in mild sauce, undrained)  (Bush's Brand)
1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained

Directions
Preheat large saucepan on medium-high 2–3 minutes.
Place beef, chili powder, seasoned salt, pepper, and one-half of the onions in pan; cook 4–5 minutes, stirring to crumble meat, or until meat is brown and no pink remains.
Stir in remaining ingredients, including remaining one-half onions.
Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 10 more minutes to blend flavors. Serve.

Slow Cooker Variation
Combine everything, except beef, cook on low 4-6 hours. About 10 minutes before serving, brown the beef then stir into chili.


I served it with some cheddar cheese and sour cream along with some Corn Muffins on the side. YUM!

Spinach Dip

BEWARE: Once you take this dip to a party, it's the only thing your friends will ask for in the future. It is THAT GOOD! And I'm not even a Swiss Cheese fan. I mean, LOOK at all that cheesey goodness!

Ingredients:
2 (9 oz) packages of Creamed Spinach*, thawed (found in the frozen veggie section)
3 2/3 Cups Shredded Swiss Cheese
3 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cups Sour Cream
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 Loaf Sour Dough Bread

1. Mix all ingredients, except for the bread bowl, in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Using a knife (we use a steak knife), cut into the bread bowl diagonally, making a circle--much the same as a jack-o-lantern top-- and remove the top. Trim off extra bread to make the underside flat, and set both aside.
3. Cut all the way around the inside of the bread bowl, leaving 1/2" wall. Carefully remove the bread from inside the bowl. We try to leave fairly big chunks of bread. Store all the extra bread pieces in an air tight ziplock bag for later.
4. Empty the cheesey contents from the mixing bowl into the bread bowl.
5. Put the "lid" back on the bread bowl.
6. Wrap the entire thing in tin foil (we use 2 sheets. One wrapped one way, the other for the other way) and bake at 450 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Serve immediately with extra chunks of bread or your favorite crackers. Our favorites are Club and Multigrain Toppers, although really, ANY cracker will do! Refrigerate and reheat leftovers...if there are any.

*One time I couldn't find creamed spinach anywhere--honestly, what is WRONG with grocery stores these days?  I used 1 10 oz. (or less) bag of frozen chopped spinach instead and it still turned out deliciously. Thaw the spinach and dab away any excess water with a paper towel. Kind of eyeball the amount you put in. There should be more cheese than spinach. Add a few Tbsp cream, evaporated milk, or regular milk to help with consistency.

When the dip is gone, rip into the bowl!  Go ahead. Say, "Ahhh..." and take a bite!

Source: I can't remember, but Mr. Blue Eyes actually made this round of dip. So the credit is all his!

~Kara