Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

I'd promised my friend a yummy dessert for our Family Fun Friday dinner. I also promised there would be no redeeming quality about the cake and that it would be chocolate. Unfortunately, I didn't meet the chocolate criteria. BUT - I did find a yummy cake that was very easy to make.

My failure from this came came from the Buttermilk Vanilla Glaze. The pictures from the cookbook have a gorgeous, thick, white glaze. I ended up with a almost clean running syrupy type mess. It was still good, don't get me wrong, it just didn't make the pretty cake from the picture.

Ingredients:

1 18.25 oz package white cake mix

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup melted butter

5 large eggs

3 T light brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Shortening*

1 T granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 1/2 minutes or until thoroughly blended; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.

Grease a 12 cup bundt pan with shortening; sprinkle with 1 T granulated sugar.

Spoon one third of batter into prepared pan; sprinkle brown sugar mixture evenly over batter. Top with remaining batter.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool 20 minutes. Drizzle Buttermilk-Vanilla Glaze over slightly warm cake.

* instead of shortening, I used Vegetable Oil Spray.

Buttermilk-Vanilla Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 T melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 - 2 T buttermilk

Stir together first 3 ingredients and 1 T buttermilk until smooth, adding additional 1 T buttermilk, if necessary, for desired consistency.

Adapted from Cake Mix Miracles

Baked Penne and Sausage

It was pretty darn cold today. Plus, we had a good amount of snow to plow through this morning to get to our cars and work this morning in our area. Today was also the "End Of Month" push where I work which meant . . . OVERTIME!

This day ended up just screaming EASY PASTA DISH!!!!

I was glad to have the Baked Penne recipe!

It was an okay pasta. The Husband liked it - as did Miss Mia. That gal certainly put away a goodly amount! Personally, I felt it needed some spice.

Ingredients:

1 lb turkey Italian sausages, casings removed

12 ounces low fat ricotta cheese (about 1½ cups)

1 tsp ground black pepper

12 ounces part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3 cups)

3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1½ cups)

1½ lbs Penne

4½ cups spaghetti sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make certain rack in center of oven.

Bring 6 quarts of water to boil in a large pot over high heat.

Meanwhile, cook sausage in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage loses its raw color, about 5 minutes. Drain the sausage on a paper-towel-lined plate and set aside. Mix ricotta cheese and pepper together; set aside. In a separate bowl, toss the mozzarella and Parmesan together until combined; set aside. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Reserve 1½ cups of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the drained pasta to the pot and stir in the marinara sauce, sausage, and reserved pasta cooking water.

Pour half of the sauce and pasta mixture into a 13×9-inch baking dish. Drop large spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture evenly over the pasta, then pour the remaining sauce and pasta mixture over the ricotta layer. Sprinkle the top of the pasta mixture evenly with the mozzarella mixture. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray.

Bake until the sauce bubbles lightly around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until pasta is completely heated through, 25 to 30 minutes longer.

Menu Plan Monday!

This is week two of my two week Menu Planning Attempt. Last week was pretty successful - we did end up with bologna sandwiches on Tuesday, and I'm not really certain how that all came about! This week, we've got more comfort foods and meat for The Husband!

Refer to orgjunkie.com for more menu plan ideas!

Monday - Meatball Hoagies

Tuesday - Quesidillas

Wednesday - Baked Ziti

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - taco salad

Darn God Chocolate Cake

This is a nice and simple chocolate cake that turns out to be surprisingly yummy. Be warned, it's not a low-cal dessert! The best part - no icing needed. Pull it out of the oven, let it cool a few minutes and then ENJOY!

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan (i used cocoa powder)
1 package plan devil's food or dark chocolate fudge cake
1 package chocolate instant pudding mix (i used sugar free)
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil (i used canola)
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Lightly mist 12 cup Bundt pan with spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set pan aside.

Place the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, warm water and oil in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer sped to medium and beat 2-3 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 45 - 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and inert it onto the rack to cool completely; 20 minutes more. Or invert it onto a serving platter to slice and serve while still warm.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I'm lazy. If you know me at all, you know this for fact. I HATE having to exert myself and will find ways to cut corners. Unfortunately, this means I don't make lots of crusts/doughs/breads from scratch as they require WORK!

This dough recipe is an exception. Oh wait, there is NO WORK involved. It's a VERY easy peasy pizza crust!

You do need a bread machine!

I use a 2 lb recipe which "says" it makes 2 12" pans, but I like my crust thin, and this will make 3 12" pans for us.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup WARM water

2 T olive oil

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

3 T Italian seasoning

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp dry yeast

Directions:

Add all ingredients to bread pan in the order given. Set on "dough" setting of bread machine.

When dough is done, remove to floured board*. Separate until 2 or 3 evenly-sized balls. Lightly sprinkle pizza pans with cornmeal. Hand pull crust to start shaping into pie pan. Use dough roller to finish shaping crust. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool (if you have the patience). Top with your favorite toppings and bake at 400 until pizza cheese is golden brown.

* Or, place in bowl greased with olive oil, turn dough over to coat, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

~ adapted from The Breadman's Bread machine recipe pamphlet

Slow Cooker Angel Chicken

I really love the Slow Cooker. It is so nice to prepare the food the night before with just a few instructions for The Husband to get the meal ready for that evening. It was especially nice this Friday as it was a Family Fun Night here.

We used Walmart's Whole Wheat Pasta - I recommend this pasta as MIZ Picky put down the guitar and paused the Wii Game while she ate 3 servings of the pasta! Seriously! The chicken was not "too spicy" per my Mom and The Husband ate all of the leftovers! The Husband took the chicken straight from the freezer for in the slow cooker for this meal.

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

2 T Italian Seasoning

1 T minced garlic

1 T minced onion

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. chicken broth

4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese

2 green onions, chopped

1 pkg whole wheat angel hair pasta, cooked according to box directions

Directions:

Place chicken in slow cooker. Microwave cream cheese until soft. Mix Italian seasoning, minced garlic, minced onion, soup, cream cheese, green onions, and broth in with cream cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Just before meal time, cook pasta according to directions on box. Pour chicken mixture over cooked pasta.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

When I discovered this recipe over on another website, I was all excited. The poster raved about it and said that this recipe would be going into her family's meal rotation. I've tried other of her meals and enjoyed them, so I jumped on the chance to try it. I LOVE Buffalo Chicken, and I love lasagna, so what more could I want???

The Hubby and I prepped the food and got it cooking in the slow cooker so we'd have it just in time for dinner this evening. As it cooked throughout the day, I was a little disappointed as I never got the Buffalo Chicken whiff I thought I would . . .

When it was ready, I was so excited. Unfortunately, I wasn't overly impressed. I wanted the Buffalo Chicken taste to knock me over, but it didn't do that. The Hubby liked it and it was easy to toss together, so I will probably make it again, but it won't go in MY favorites file.

Ingredients:

Uncooked lasagna noodles

3 cooked skinless boneless chicken breasts, chopped

1 jar pasta sauce

1 cup buffalo wing sauce

3 red, yellow and/or orange bell peppers, chopped

1 15 0z tub ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend

1/2 cup bleu cheese crumbles

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Use a 5 qt oval slow cooker for best results. Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. In large glass bowl, combine cooked and chopped chicken breast, pasta sauce and buffalo wing sauce. Ladle spoonful of sauce mixture on bottom of slow cooker. Cover the sauce mixture with a layer of lasagna noodles (breaking some to cover sauce). Add a layer of ricotta cheese on top of noodles. Add a layer of chopped bell peppers. Sprinkle a layer of cheese blend. Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients.

Add the bleu cheese crumbles. Put 1/4 cup of water into empty pasta sauce jar and shake. Pour liquid over top of lasagna.

Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. When cooking time is complete, unplug and take the lid off of the slow cooker. Let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Meatball Hash Brown Bake

Here is a "ME NEED MEAT" meal for The Husband. I'm guessing he was quite deprived of meat b/c he was ready to hug the casserole dish when it came out of the oven. I was able to freeze one serving. The rest of this meal - gone!

Ingredients:
cooked meatballs*
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed reduced fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 large onions, chopped
1 30 oz pkg frozen shredded hash browns, thawed**

Directions:
In bowl, combine soup, sour cream, cheese and onion. Pat hash browns dry with paper towels. Stir hash browns into soup mixture. Transfer to greased 13x9 baking dish. Arrange meatballs over top, pressing into mixture. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover, bake 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

Yield: 8 servings

* I used 8 meatballs, but you could use more or less to taste. As for meatballs themselves, can use homemade, and bake the meal until meatballs are no longer pink or use frozen and just plop on mixture frozen.

** I made hash browns from potatoes had in house. Browned them with some Montreal Seasoning before mixing in the soup mixture and turning the potatoes into the baking dish.

Menu Plan Monday!

The Husband has requested that we have meat in our meals this week. He was getting kinda tired of all of the vegetarian meals. So, I made him sit down with me and plan our meal, and then dragged him to the grocery store as well. If he wants specific meals on that menu, he needs to work for them!

For all meals, the side dish is the same - SALAD. I've been on a lettuce kick lately and can't get enough! In the crisper, I have romaine, red leaf and green leaf. I'm lucky that Miss Mia and The Husband don't mind eating lettuce either. And, since The Husband and I are cutting back on portion sizes, having just the main dish and a salad is another way to help!

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Lasagna (new recipe)

Tuesday: Meatball Hoagies

Wednesday: Enchiladas

Thursday: Slow Cooker Angel Chicken (new recipe)

Friday: Homemade pizzas (including crust) *

Saturday: leftovers

* this might switch with Saturday evening as we have company coming, but I am not certain if they'll be here Friday or Saturday

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

WARNING!

This is a very difficult recipe. It was so, so difficult that Miss Mia did MOST of the work! Plus, the amount of ingredients will leave your head spinning! Rumor has it that one muffin is a single Weight Watchers point - if you don't add the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips, and you might wanna rethink obtaining Weight Watchers' approval.

Ingredients
2 boxes Spice Cake Mix
32 oz pureed pumpkin (or 1 32 oz can pumpkin)
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix Spice Cake Mix and pumpkin. Add chocolate chips. Using ice cream scoop, fill cupcake tins a little more than 3/4 full. Muffins will not rise much during baking. Bake 20-25 minutes. This made 36 muffins with just enough batter left over that no one was fighting over the bowl!

*** UPDATE ***
After my hubby and parents devoured the muffins, the consensus was that we would've liked them better WITHOUT ****gasp!**** the chocolate chips!

Beef Picadillo

I am trying to mix up the menus each week. Sometimes, I seem to get stuck in a rutt where I'll only make pasta for an entire week, or the menu each night needs burger. This recipe does call for beef sirloin, but had it the night after a vegetarian meal, so that kept meat-lovin' hubby happy! I wasn't too sure I would like this recipe, but after having attempted it, I know I'll put this one in the recipe folder. Hubby really liked it as well. Miss Mia - well, she enjoyed picking out the olive pieces and eating them. She's going through a phase where she will only eat one or two bites of anything I place before her.

I suggest surving this dish with rice and a big, leafy salad.

4 Servings

2 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
8 large pimiento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound ground beef sirloin
2 T tomato paste
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 tsp chopped cilantro
salt and pepper

Brown ground beef sirloin. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, bell pepper, olives and garlic. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ground beef, using a wooden spoon to break up any large clumps. Increase the heat and cook until liquid is reduced. Stir the tomato paste into the meat mixture and simmer over medium low heat, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in 2 - 3 T water to loosen the sauce. Stir in the peas and carrots, cover and cook until just cooked through, 4 minutes. Stir in the cilantro; season with salt and pepper.

Adapted from Rachel Ray magazine

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Turnovers

I've been cold the last few days and unable to get warm. Plus, was having a bout of PMS. What does that mean???? COMFORT FOOD! And this recipe is, for certain, a comfort food! Please forgive the photo as we were racing to get dinner on the table prior to heading out the door for an appointment.

4 Servings

Ingredients
1 T butter
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
8 ounces sweet Italian pork sausage, casings removed
1/4 tsp salt
pepper
8 large eggs
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks, at room temperature
1 sheet packaged frozen puff pastry, thawed

Preheat oven to 400. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until melted, 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, salt and a few pinches pepper and cook, breaking up the meet with a wooden spoon, until lightly golden, about 8 minutes. In a large bowl, beat 7 eggs. Add the beaten eggs to the sausage mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked but not dry, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese until just combined. Let cool to room temperature. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to a 16 inch square. Cut into 4 equal squares. Divide the sausage-egg mixture evenly onto each square, just slightly off center. In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg with 1 T water. Brush the edges of each pastry square with the egg-water mixture and fold over to form 4 triangles, crimping the edges with the tines of a fork to seal. Brush the turnovers all over the tops and edges with the egg-water mixture. Transfer the turnovers to a baking sheet and bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

- adapted from Rachel Ray's magazine.

Now, when I was making this, I realized our puff pastry was wrong - we only had shells instead of the roll out square. So, I baked the cups for a few minutes and then pulled the lids off, placing them at side side of cups. I filled the bowls with the sausage-egg mixture. I also used crescent rolls.

AND this made 8 nice-sized servings.