Tasty Tuesday’s: Hot Cocoa Cake

I know summer is not the best time to be making a hot cocoa cake, but I’m in a chocolate mood so I thought I’d share it anyway :)

A couple of years ago, my mom bought me a really nice slow cooker.  I had a smaller one (that was used only for making my rotel cheese dip), but it was hard to do much cooking other than that.

After she bought me my new slow cooker, I immediately went to the book store to find some slow cooker cook books.  I have to admit, even though I am not a huge fan of cooking, I LOVE the Food Network.  I think I could watch it for hours on end and never get bored!  I’ve learned quite a bit from it and constantly comment on ingredients like I know what I’m talking about, but I truthfully have not put any of those tips to good use (except for teaching Alex how to pit an avocado :)).

Anyway, one of the books I picked up was Sandra Lee’s Slow Cooker Recipes.  She’s one of my favorites and I had already bought her holidays and gatherings book for party planning and really liked some of her recipes, so I figured this one wouldn’t disappoint as well.

One of her recipes caught my eye:  the recipe for a hot cocoa cake that you obviously make in the slow cooker.  I was a little skeptical, but when I was cooking dinner for Alex one night, I decided to try it out.  It was AMAZING!  It was super moist and just delicious!! :)  Even Alex, who is not a huge chocolate fan, loved it as well :)

Here is the recipe (taken from iVillage, but the exact same version as the book)

Sandra Lee’s Hot Cocoa Cake

Slow-cooked cake may be the moistest cake you'll ever eat. Chocolate pudding and scalded milk seep into the batter during baking, making the cake rich down to the crumbs. Melt marshmallows on top before serving.

Serving: 10
Prep Time: Prep 20 mi minutes
Cook Time: Cook LOW 4 hours, Stand 5 minutes

Butter-flavor cooking spray, Mazola Pure

2 cups milk

1 box (18.25-ounce) chocolate cake mix, Betty Crocker

11⁄4 cups water

3 large eggs

1⁄3 cup canola oil, Wesson

1 box (5-ounce) chocolate cook-and-serve pudding mix, Jell-O

Miniature marshmallows, Kraft

Chocolate-flavored syrup, Hershey's

Coat a 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray; set aside. In a small saucepan, over high heat, heat milk until almost boiling. Remove from heat; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, eggs and canola oil. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down side of bowl. Transfer batter to prepared slow cooker. Sprinkle pudding mix over cake batter. Slowly pour in hot milk. Cover and cook on LOW heat setting for 4 hours. (Do not lift lid for first 3 hours of cooking.) Turn off slow cooker. Sprinkle cake with 1 cup of the marshmallows. Cover; let stand for 5 minutes to allow marshmallows to melt slightly. Serve warm by scooping out cake.* Top with additional marshmallows and chocolate-flavored syrup (optional). *Note: Cake also can be left to cool completely and sliced. From Sandra Lee Semi--Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes ©2006 Meredith Books

Enjoy!

Love,

Tasty Tuesday: Brie en Croute

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I grew up in a very Southern family.  We never really had fancy dinners so I wasn’t exposed to a lot of “fancy” foods growing up.  In elementary school, my best friend always took me out to eat with her family so I got a chance to try lots of different types of cuisines that we never had at home (Chinese, Italian, etc.)  I not only learned to try new things, but I also learned that I liked a lot of different types of food.

Specialty cheeses were something I never knew anything about until I worked at Creative Campus.  We had a lot of wine and cheese receptions and I was constantly having to order “fancy” cheeses.  One cheese that I fell in love with (thanks to not only Creative Campus, but Alex as well) was brie.  Last summer, while browsing the discount section at Barnes and Noble, I ran across this Campbell’s Cookbook.  I knew that I had eaten a ton of recipes that mom got off the soup labels and they were always good, so I thought this might be a good purchase and boy was it worth more than the $2.99 I paid for it! :)

I’ve tried several recipes out of it, but the first one I tried was the Brie en croute.  I made it as an appetizer one night as part of the dinner I made for Alex last year (I made a 3 course dinner…I was so proud)  Anyway, here is the recipe

Click on the picture to go to the website and see a video on how to make it! :) (By the way, mine was not near this pretty, but tasted good!)

Brie en Croute

From: Campbell's Kitchen

Thaw: 40 minutes
Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
Stand: 1 hour

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

1/2 package of a 17.5 ounce Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cups toasted sliced almonds (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 (1 pound) Brie cheese round
1 package Pepperidge Farm® Entertaining Quartet Distinctive Crackers

Directions:

Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes or until it's easy to handle. Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.

Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14-inch square. Cut off the corners to make a circle. Sprinkle with the almonds and parsley in the center of the circle. Top with the cheese. Brush the edge of the circle with the egg mixture. Fold the sides of the pastry over the cheese. Trim the remaining two sides to 2 inches  from the edge of the cheese. Fold the two sides up onto the cheese. Press the edges to seal. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Decorate the top with pastry scraps, if desired. Brush with the egg mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes or the pastry is until golden brown. Let stand for 1 hour. Serve with the crackers.

 

It was quite yummy and I was super proud of how it turned out :)  It was a great start to our dinner that evening :)  As always, let me know if you try it!

Tasty Tuesday’s: Easy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Josh’s football coach used to invite the team over every once in a while for dinner.  Since the coach’s wife had a big group to feed, she made spaghetti quite often.  Not just any spaghetti though…it was chicken spaghetti.  My brother would come home raving about it and finally asked what was in it.  My mom just happened to run across a recipe that was very similar, if not identical, to the one his coach’s wife made for them. 
Mom actually made it this weekend and it has definitely become one of my favorite meals (I’ve even made it for Alex and he liked it too!)
So here is the yummy recipe (from Neighbors magazine October 2008)
EASY CHEESY CHICKEN SPAGHETTI
1 pound spaghetti
2 (13-ounce) cans chicken, drained and flaked
2 (10-ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
1 (10-ounce) can cheddar cheese soup
1 (10-ounce) can mild Rotel tomatoes
2 cups shredded three-cheese blend
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook spaghetti according to package directions and drain. In a large bowl, stir together spaghetti and remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9- by 13-inch casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.

I will say, it is super easy to make (like I said, even I’ve made it!) and super yummy!
As always, if you try it, let me know what you think! :)
Happy Tuesday!

Tasty Tuesday’s: Simply Lasagna

I’m a huge fan of Italian food, and almost every Italian restaurant Alex and I go to, he orders lasagna.  My grandmother has always made an excellent lasagna, but it always looks so hard to make.  Well, one night I was determined to find something to make Alex for dinner and I ran across a recipe in my Kraft Food & Family called “Simply Lasagna”.  The best part about this recipe is that you don’t have to boil the noodles before putting it together (which makes it much easier and quicker!) and still tastes really good!  To make things even easier for you, Kraft even has a “how-to” video here.

 Picture from Kraft Foods.com

Here’s the recipe:

Prep Time: 20 min      Total Time: 1 hr 35 min
Makes: 12 servings

What You Need!

1 lb. ground beef
2-1/2 cups  KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 container (15 oz.) POLLY-O Natural Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1   egg, lightly beaten
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 cup  water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Make It!

HEAT oven to 350°F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1-1/4 cups mozzarella, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan, parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
DRAIN meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add water to empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and cheeses. Cover with greased foil.
BAKE 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Size-Wise
Since this comfort food classic serves 12, it's a perfect dish to serve at your next gathering.
Substitute
Substitute 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach for the browned ground beef. Thaw spinach; squeeze out excess liquid. Prepare as directed, covering each ricotta layer with 1/3 of the spinach.
Shortcut
Adding water to the sauce helps cook traditional noodles during baking, so you don't have to cook them beforehand. This saves you 15 to 20 min. of prep time.

Now mine wasn’t near as pretty as the one in the picture above, but it tasted good :)  Let me know if you try it and what you think! :)

Tasty Tuesday - My attempt at cooking…or making dinner :)

If you know me at all, you know I don’t cook.  The few things I’ve made turned out fine (except the time I messed up Kool-Aid my freshman year of college, but I’ve learned a lot since then ;)), but I’m not super comfortable in the kitchen so I usually avoid cooking if I can.  This usually works out well since Alex loves to cook :)

Anyway, last week I decided I would make dinner for him.  I spent hours looking through recipes to try and decide on something.  Note – it is not that he is a picky eater, he is just really good at cooking and is used to fancy food so the level of the dishes I can make are not usually up to his standards ;)  We finally decided on a dish (surprisingly a salad!):  Grilled Steak Salad with Avocado Dressing.

Picture from kraftfoods.com

It was super easy to make and although the salad part was nothing impressive, Alex is a huge fan of avocados so that’s what drew us to the recipe.  Anyway, here it is!  (Recipe from kraftfoods.com)

Prep Time: 15 min    Total Time: 29 min

Makes: 4 servings, about 3 cups salad

 

What You Need!

1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak

Dash  of chili powder

8 cups torn mixed salad greens

1 cup  cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup sliced red onions

1/4 cup  sliced black olives

1/4 cup KRAFT Light House Italian Dressing

1/2   of a medium ripe avocado, peeled, pitted

 

Make It!

PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Sprinkle steak with chili powder. Grill 5 to 7 min. on each side or until medium doneness (160ºF). Remove from grill; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 5 min.

MEANWHILE, toss greens with tomatoes, onions and olives; place on serving platter. Place dressing and avocados in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.

CUT steak across the grain into thin slices; place over salad. Drizzle with dressing mixture.

My tips (We had to tweak the recipe a little):

• We cooked the steak on the stove instead of on the grill just to save some time.  It was fine, but I think it could use a little more flavor (so you may want to marinate it however you’d like) and of course grilling will add flavor as well.
• We doubled the ingredients for the dressing and we barely had enough!  I highly suggest you do that because it is a thicker dressing, it did not go very far.
• You could easily substitute chicken instead of the steak to make it a healthier (and equally yummy) option :)

Our favorite part was the dressing and we decided it would be yummy just pouring it over meat or chicken so we might try that next time.

This salad was super easy to make, perfect for a summer dinner, and surprisingly very filling :)

If you try it out, let me know what you think!