Homemade Pound Cake

So someone I am aquainted with posted that they made some homemade pound cakes. So I though, hey why not? I could try that! So of course I found a reasonably simple recipe on Pinterest and set to work! 

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2.5 cups sugar

1 cup of softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 eggs

1 cup milk

Directions:

So first I creamed the sugar and butter together. But since that attachment no longer exists on my mixer due to an unfortunate mishap years ago, I did it in the food processor. Worked just fine. Then I put that in a bowl. I added the eggs and sprinkled in the baking powder and salt (to get them out of the way). The original instructions said to sift them in with the flour but since I wasn't planning on sifting anything, that wasn't happening. So I used a hand mixer to mix all that together. Then I added the flour one cup at a time alternating with some of the milk and kept mixing until it was nice and creamy. And it did get very creamy looking. So I thought to myself- wow this is looking so good, let me smell it.... Bad idea. Just an FYI- don't bend over and smell anything with the hand mixer on. Results posted below...

Anyway, after you mix everything- pour into a baking pan or two. Make sure they are greased and floured or at least use cooking spray like I did! Bake that deliciousness for an hour on 350 degrees F. 

They turned out delicious despite the lapse in judgement!!!

Below is what happens when you get too close to that mixer!!! 

Homemade Gnocchi.. Made from a RUTABAGA?!?!

Ok so I bought a rutabaga the other day, not knowing what it was, what it tastes like or how to cook it. But it was cheap and I'm in "cheap mode"! So Pinterest to the rescue! Most recipes were for mashed or baked rutabaga. Eh. That was ok I guess. But one was for rutabaga gnocchi- ok, this was different! So yesterday I took the plunge and hoped for the best! Of course, you know by now that I didn't follow the recipe exactly... Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

1 rutabaga

2-3 cups flour

A pinch of salt

Peel and dice rutabaga. This was easier than I thought it would be. 

Boil that sucker for 30-60 minutes until you can stick a fork in easily. 

Mash it! 

Let it cool completely in the fridge. 

Now- mix in about 2 cups of flour and kneed it in the bowl. Make sure it's not too "sticky" then take a chunk and using your hands, roll it into a snake on a cutting board. Then use a butter knife and cut that snake into small pieces. (Like an inch each). Set aside onto a floured or sprayed sheet pan. I used non stick cooking spray. When you're done you can put that in the fridge till you're going to cook it. 

To cook it- boil a pot of water and drop them in one at a time so they don't stick together. Original recipe said about 20 at a time. I did that. The first "batch", but I sure didn't want to stand there all night so after I fished them out I just dumped the rest in all at once. Boil for about 4-6 minutes. They seemed to float to the top when they were done which was super nice of them! Fish them out with a big spoon with holes in it. Done! 

So here's the thing- they tasted just like TURNIP. Not my fave. So you have to make some kind of sauce to kill that taste, unless you're a turnip fan, then you're good. So I also fried up some turkey sausage and mushrooms to add to my gnocchi bowl. Then sprinkled some fresh cut up cilantro and parsley. (Would probably use basil next time, but I was too lazy to be chopping more herbs). Then- here's the special sauce- in a bowl mix some lemon juice (2 small lemons) and about 3-4 Tbspns of syrup... Yeah, pancake syrup... Trust me. It just makes a small amount but when you pour that on the gnocchi, it completely changes that flavor!! 

So let me know if you make this and how it goes over in your house! And let me know if you made any changes to the recipe and how it worked!!!

The pre-cooked gnocchi ready to go!

And the finished meal below!

Red Velvet Biscotti- the easy way!

Ok, so we love biscotti and haven't had it since we relocated to the south. Sitting on the sofa the other night, DH says "why don't you make some for dessert?" Umm because I've never even thought about making it. A quick search showed me that it wasn't going to happen at 8pm that night! It has to be baked twice so I told him I'd gladly do it during the day. I also knew I had seen a recipe for an easier version using a red velvet cake mix- so I had time to hunt that down! These ended up being really tasty! (And I am not a fan of red velvet cake to be honest!)

INGREDIENTS 

1 package red velvet cake mix

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Pre heat oven at 350 degrees

Melt butter

Mix everything in a bowl together. I used a hand mixer then once it was pretty well mixed I used my hands. 

Form into 2-3 patties- they call them biscotti logs. They look like flat rectangular patties to me, maybe about 1/2 inch deep. 

Bake for 30 minutes. 

Let cool for about 10 minutes. Then cut into 1/2 inch strips. (If you don't let them cool enough, they will break)

Then place back on cookie sheet with the inside of each of the strips facing upwards. Bake for another 10 minutes. I had to put them back in so the bigger pieces could have some more time for a total of about 20 minutes. 

They were good like that! But I wanted something more so I added a cream cheese drizzle!

Mix:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tblspn cream or half and half. 

Put that all in a zip lock Baggie- cut the tip off and drizzle that frivolousness all over your finished biscotti!

Pizza bites made with QUINOA???!

Yeah- that's what I said! I decided to make something somewhat healthier for lunch today and decided on this quinoa pizza bite recipe I found on Pinterest. They were super easy to make and not as bad as I expected them to taste!

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa

1 cup mozzarella cheese

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup diced beef summer sausage (or pepperoni but I didn't have any!)

Directions:

Cook and cool quinoa

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 

Put into greased muffin tins 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Serve with pasta sauce. 

Quick, easy and somewhat healthy lunch!

Don't Knock it till You've Tried it!

I've been wanting to try this depression era recipe I've seen on Pinterest for a while now- called TOMATO SOUP CAKE- but keep putting it off because, quite frankly, it sounds utterly disgusting! Well tonight I finally made it. Maybe i had a change of heart because I was running on fumes after only 3 hours sleep last night... Who knows, but there I stood in the kitchen mixing up a batter that closely resembled that stuff you see after giving birth.. Yeah, I said that. I really didn't have much hope for it even as I poured it into the baking pan, but alas, while in that oven for exactly 35 minutes, it transformed into pure deliciousness! I used a recipe I found on Pinterest that happened to have a super sweet caramel frosting, but there are others that use a cream cheese frosting. I also added a handful (or two) of chopped walnuts- because that's just how we roll here! 

http://chindeep.com/2013/08/06/tomato-soup-cake-with-boiled-caramel-frosting/

Ingredients

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1 lightly beaten egg

1 can tomato soup

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ginger (ground) 

Directions

Mix the butter and sugar. Then add the rest. The directions said to sift the flour, baking soda and salt- so of course that didn't happen! Not sure I even own a sifter! Throw that hot mess into your baking dish and pop it in the oven- 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Stick a butter knife in it to make sure it comes out clean. 

To make the caramel glaze- grab the following:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Throw it all in a pot. Heat until it's boiling. Then boil for one minute. Make sure you're whisking it the whole time. You'll have to keep moving it off the heat intermittently because that shit was starting to boil over. Anyway after you've babied it for a minute. Take it completely off the burner and keep whisking for 5-10 minutes till it thickens a bit. I went middle of the road and whisked for about 7 minutes. I was bored. Then pour it over the cake- YUM!!!!!! 

Depression Era Crack... I mean CAKE ~ pure deliciousness!!!!

Okay so I am always trying to make new recipes but keeping the cost LOW! And when they taste good, then that's a WIN for me! I started looking up "depression era" recipes on google and pinterest and found some pretty cool recipes. One of my favorites is this Depression Era Cake recipe- which should really be called Depression Era Crack, it's that good. When I make this cake it is gone in a day! I even made one and took it to the town historical society annual picnic and it was a huge hit. So, give this a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1.5 cups water
1/3 cup oil
2 cups raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 cups flour
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking SODA
2 tsp water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350. Lightly spray 9X9 pain with some cooking spray. In a saucepan (a pot) combine the brown sugar, water, oil, raisins and spices (everything from the first section of the ingredients!). Bring this to a boil and stir frequently for about 3 minutes. Not sure why it's three minutes. I did it for 2 just to see what would happen and it turned out just fine!

So let this cool a bit... (just turn the burner off)

Mix the baking SODA with the little bit of water and put that in the mixture... let the kids watch because that shit will foam and it's super cool!

Then dump in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Original recipe said to mix them all together in a bowl first... but of course I didn't do that. Just dump that stuff right in the pot.

Dump this whole mixture into your greased baking pain and bake at 350 for 34-55 minutes. This is SO delicious!!!! Enjoy!

(picture is NOT mine... it's from Pinterest from JoandSue.blogspot.ca.... because I kept forgetting to take a picture of mine before us heifers dug into it!!!

Cheesy beef casserole- NOT a HIT in my family!!!

OK~ here's the deal- I started this a few days ago and wasn't sure if I wanted to post it or not. You see, I made this recipe and it was not a big hit at the dinner table. OK... so I figured the fam must not have been that hungry that night. I put the leftovers in the fridge thinking they'd be gobbled up in a day or so. I was wrong.... this stuff sat in the fridge for days, until garbage day in fact! Now, you may have a completely different experience with this so I'm going to share it anyway. It was something I found on Pinterest and since my kiddos usually love anything cheesy, I honestly thought this would be a hit. Let me know if you make it and end up with a totally different opinion! And let me know if you did anything different to make it into something more fabulous!!!!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup cooked rice

1 can peas

Spices: pepper, cumin, garlic, celery seed (to your liking)

1 cup chicken broth

1 small can of tomato paste

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

"Extra cheese"- 1 cup shredded mozzarella, cheddar slices, smoked Gouda slices. 

Layer cooked rice in greased baking dish. Then layer peas on top. 

Brown meat with spices. Add chicken broth, cheese and tomato paste. Simmer for 2 minutes then add this as the top layer of the casserole. Layer extra cheese on top. 

Bake at 350' for 30 minutes.