Chocolate Mint Bundt Cake

This is another of Larry's favorite recipes. I had two different recipes from two different aunts that I kind of combined to get this beauty. Larry loves the green mint chips in this cake, they have a stronger flavor, and they are heavy and always sink to the bottom(that then becomes the top), and then the top kind of falls apart. But it is soo tasty. Use mint flavored chocolate chips if you want a more mild flavor, and if you don't want the chips to sink to the bottom. Either way it is a delicious cake.

Chocolate Mint Bundt Cake

1 box Devils Food cake mix

1 (6 oz) instant chocolate pudding

4 eggs

1/3 c. warm water

1/2 c. oil

8 oz sour cream

16 oz mint chips

Mix all together until smooth, then add mint chips(if I use the heavier green mint chips then I will just fold them into the batter after it is in the pan). Pour into a well greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for a50-60 minutes. Cool right side up for 25 min., then remove from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with your favorite frosting or glaze.

Lemon Basil Pasta with Grilled Chicken

I got this recipe off one of my favorite recipe blogs, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I love the pioneer woman. I love her recipe blog because she uses lots of pictures, and I am a very visual person. This was really yummy, and a definite addition to my recipe collection.

Lemon Basil Pasta with Grilled Chicken - slightly adapted

4 whole Grilled Chicken Breasts, Sliced *I used this lemon chicken marinade:

Grilled Lemon Chicken
Juice of one lemon (~3 Tb lemon juice)
3 Tb oil
1 tsp minced garlic (~ 2 medium-large cloves)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp oregano
1 lb chicken breasts

1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente

½ sticks Butter

3 whole Lemons, Juiced

¾ cups Heavy Cream

¼ cups Half-and-half

1-½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)

Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste

20 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped

Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a

colander.

In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons.

Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. Dump in cheese and

whisk until melted. Add salt and pepper. Add pasta to the sauce. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed. Add about half of the basil.

Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining basil all over the top,

then add sliced chicken breasts. Serve immediately!

German Pancakes

I love breakfast foods. I especially love making breakfast foods for dinner, because seriously, who wants to spend time cooking first thing in the morning. I am soo not a morning person, I'm barely awake enough to pour my boys a bowl of cereal. So we often do breakfast for dinner, and we all love it.

GERMAN PANCAKES

1 c. milk

1 c. flour

6 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

3Tbs. butter

Place butter in a 9x13" Pyrex dish. Place int he oven at 425 until melted. In the mean time, mix and beat all other ingredients. Pour into sizzling hot dish with the melted butter. Be sure your pan is a Pyrex, as anything else will crack with the heat. Bake for 20-25 min. Serve with lemon and powdered sugar, syrup, or jelly.

This time we ate it with the lemon and powdered sugar and the boys all loved it! I think it is a nice change from regular pancakes and syrup.

This is what it looks like in the pan. The boys had fun watching it while it baked.

Project: File Folder Games

This is one of my constant projects. I always have one or two file folder games that I work on when I have a spare moment. File folder games are great, but they are a bit of a process. You can find a lot online that you can either print in black & white, or color. I usually do black & white and color them myself. It gives me something to do when Larry is working late. Here are a couple that I finished a little while ago, but am just now posting!!

REESE'S PIECES Peanut Butter Cookies

I was craving cookies the other day, and wanted something with as little chocolate as possible. So I did a little searching online, and found this recipe here. They were really tasty, and I am definitely adding this recipe to my collection.


REESE'S PIECES Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup REESE'S PIECES Candies(I had the mini baking pieces)

Heat oven to 350°F.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in candies. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned; remove from oven. Cool slightly; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. About 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

"Wingers" Sticky Finger Salad

This is the most awesome salad ever!! I got the Sticky Finger recipe from my good friend TerriLyn. Then Larry pieced together the rest of the ingredients for the salad. The sticky fingers themselves are so versatile. They are good on quesadillas, salads, or just on their own. Enjoy!


Sticky Fingers Sauce
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. ketchup
1 T. honey
2 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce(more if you like it spicy!)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Pkg. frozen breaded chicken strips

In a saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients except chicken. Warm sauce, stirring occasionally while you cook the chicken. Follow package directions for cooking the chicken. When the chicken is done, toss it in the sauce, remove with a slotted spoon and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 5-7 min. or until sauce thickens and becomes sticky.

*Larry has discovered that if he follows the directions to fry the chicken rather than bake before adding it to the sauce, the chicken turns our crispier.

Sticky Finger Salad
salad greens(iceberg or romaine, or a combination of both)
sticky finger chicken tenders, cut up
cherry tomatoes
chopped red onion
Craisins
grated cheddar cheese
ranch dressing

Assemble your salad, and enjoy!!

Pesto Pizza with Pine nuts and Feta

This a really yummy gourmet pizza recipe I got from a friend from Missouri. She also has a cooking blog called Sisters Cafe. I just use my pizza crust recipe located here.

Pesto Pizza with Pine nuts and Feta
Preheat Pizza Stone in 400° oven Roll out prepared pizza dough and place on preheated pizza stone. (I don't have a pizza stone, so I just preheat my oven, and then sprinkle my pizza pan with corn meal before I put the dough on.)Top pizza dough with the following ingredients in order:

1) Pesto - You can use store bought, or make your own, which is actually really easy and tastes better. Below is a the pesto recipe I use when I can get basil cheap, like from a farmers market. (LIBERALLY spread pesto over the pizza, so you can’t see the dough through it, and up on top the edges so the crusts will have pesto on them as well.)
2) Feta cheese (about 4 oz)
3) Red onion slivers (about 1/3 onion -I like lots of red onion and tomatoes)
4) Chicken pieces (about 1 1/2 Grilled Lemon marinated breasts, diced and cooked) - recipe follows
5) Tomato slices (1-2 tomatoes, bite-sized slices)
6) Mozzarella cheese (to your liking)
7) Pine nuts (sprinkle over top)

Bake in 400° oven for 18-20 minutes.

Pesto - This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe. It is super good, and super easy.
¼ c. walnuts
¼ c. pignolis
3 T. diced garlic (9 cloves)
5 c. fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ c. good olive oil
1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top. Makes 4 cups.
*If I am able to get a lot of basil then I will make a bunch of pesto and freeze it in oiled ice cube trays. After it freezes, just remove the pesto cubes and store in Zip-lock bags. Its great on pasta too.

Grilled Lemon Chicken
Juice of one lemon (~3 Tb lemon juice)
3 Tb oil
1 tsp minced garlic (~ 2 medium-large cloves)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp oregano
1 lb chicken breasts

Marinate chicken overnight. If I'm using this for a pizza or salad, I dice the raw chicken and marinate it that way. If it's diced it has more surface area to marinate and then you can get away with only marinating it for 8 or so hours. You can grill this indoors or outdoors, or you may use a skillet.