Pumpkin angel food cake!

So my partner is very picky about desserts but he loves pumpkin pie so this was a delicious variation from that he loves! I got this from the Betty Crocker website.


Cake
1
box (1 lb) Betty Crocker® white angel food cake mix
1
tablespoon Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 1/2
teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4
cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1
cup cold water
Ginger-Cream Filling
2
cups whipping cream
1/4
cup powdered sugar
2
tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 350°F. In extra-large glass or metal bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 1 minute. Pour into ungreased 10-inch angel food (tube) cake pan.
Bake 37 to 47 minutes or until crust is dark golden brown and cracks are dry. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof funnel or glass bottle. Let hang about 2 hours or until cake is completely cool. Loosen cake from side of pan with knife or long metal spatula. Turn cake upside down onto serving plate.
In chilled large bowl, beat whipping cream and powdered sugar with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Fold in ginger. Cut cake horizontally in half to make 2 even layers. Spread half of the filling on bottom layer; replace top of cake. Spread remaining filling on top of cake. Sprinkle with additional pumpkin pie spice if desired.
Makes 12 servings


I decided to leave some not frosted because he hates frosting but it was good even without frosting!

Cherry cordial cookies!

Okay so I saw a recipe on Pinterest for strawberry cookies made from cake mix. I was inspired by this and decided to make my own version using cherry chip cake mix. And they turned out awesome the recipe follows.

1 package Betty Crocker cherry chip cake mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl (cake mix, baking powder) in separate bowl whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.

When well mixed slowly add to dry ingredients until well mixed and no powder remains.

Carefully add chocolate chips

Spoon cookie dough into balls about 2 tablespoons worth place 2-3 inches apart on non stick cookie sheet cook 8-10 minutes no longer they will be soft when you first take them out but should harden up as they cool

They will be delicious so be sure to make plenty!

Onion bacon chicken

So I decided to try a recipe I saw floating around on Pinterest, but I decided to alter it a bit, of course. It was a forgotten chicken where you mix minute rice with cream of chicken soup and put chicken breast on top sprinkled with onion soup mix. I decided to try this in the crockpot and added a layer or bacon to the top. This turned out awesome. I decided to add a splash of port wine towards the end of cooking also.

The ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, bacon, minute rice, 1 pkg. onion soup mix, can of cream of chicken soup, can of cream of celery soup, water.
Mix together “cream of” soups, 1 can of water, and 2 cups of minute rice (uncooked.) Pour into bottom of crockpot.
Lay chicken breasts on top of rice mixture and sprinkle onion soup mix on top.
Cut bacon into one inch pieces and layer over top of chicken.

Cook in crockpot on low 6 hours towards the end of cooking I added a splash of port for added flavor. Enjoy!

Sugar and almond crusted poppyseed pound cake!

Okay so I have this completely weird obsessions with almond extract! Don't ask me why but I love it! Ever since I was a kid I loved anything flavored with it. So naturally I <3 almond cookies, almond poppyseed muffins and breads really just about whatever you can come up with to add it to.
Now in addition to that admission my ex mother in law used to make this killer rum poppyseed cake with a sugar crust. This thing was so good. Even my ex husband who doesn't like sweets totally loved it! I decided to combined these favorite things of mine and as a result we have...dun dun dun Sugar and almond crusted poppyseed pound cake!

The reason for the 3 whole eggs and 4 yolks was I found it added an extra rich creamy texture to the cake.

So here is the recipe I used
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Grease bundt pan with butter then sugar the inside dump out excess sugar. Take almond slivers and put them in the bottom of pan.

Okay now w are going to start the cake batter first mix together sugar, butter, almond extract, and all eggs and yolks. I don't have a mixer so I just mixed together by hand for a few minutes until nice and smooth.

Next in separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. I alternated mixing dry mix and milk until everything is combined and smooth. Mix in poppy seeds until they are well mixed into batter. Pour into buttered and sugared bundt pan. Cook 1 hour and 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool 10 minutes and then flip on to plate you plan to use. At this time you can drizzle glaze onto cake if you desire.

Ingredients
Cake
I small package of almond slivers
2 3/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c softened butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 large eggs
4 egg yolks
3 c flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Optional glaze recipe I found on sassyfamily8.blogspot.com/2012/04/almond-poppyseed-pound-cake.html

Almond glaze
4 tablespoons butter softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 c powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons cream or sugar

Combined all glaze ingredients until smooth and drippy.

Healthy, yummy kids lunches!

Okay fellow savages I am sure we all have the same struggle finding healthy, quick lunches our children will also enjoy. Or maybe that's just me. Mine can def be a struggle at the table. But I have been trying new combinations to find some healthy delectable meal choices so today I made...

Turkey and baby spinach sandwiches on mixed grain bread
Fresh cut pineapple with blackberries
And lastly a tomato and cucumber salad with feta and a balsamic vin

The kids not only enjoyed lunch but I enjoyed knowing they were nourishing their bodies!

Sweet potato cakes

Okay so I was a little nervous about these not sure if I would like them to much but I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. My hand got pretty tired with grating all the sweet potatoes but I survived.

What you will need

2 sweet potatoes
2 green onions finely chopped

1/2 cup egg whites Approximately 4 eggs worth

1 cup Parmesan

1 tsp Cajun/creole seasoning
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper


Dipping sauce
Reserves sweet potato juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp Cajun/creole seasoning
1 teaspoon lime juice
Rosemary sprinkled on top as garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit
Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray

Peal sweet potatoes 

Shred sweet potatoes using grater.  Squeeze out all the juice from the sweet potatoes reserve for the dipping sauce.  I had about a quarter of a cup or so.

finely chop 2 green onions I know I only have 1 pictured but use 2 trust me.

Add green onion, egg whites, parmesan cheese, cajun seasoning, rosemary, garlic powder and black pepper.

Mix mixture well.  Form into small very thin patties and place on cookie sheet.  Cook approximately 30 min flipping half way.  They will get crispy.

Take reserved sweet potato juice mix in sour cream, cajun seasoning, and lime juice.  Sprinkle with rosemary and enjoy!

The Pescetarian Pantry: Homemade Gnocchi Made Simple!

The Pescetarian Pantry: Homemade Gnocchi Made Simple!: Hi Foodies! So, guys this week I have gone a little crazy and tried something completely new!  Well, new for me anyway and this excit...