Chocolate Raspberry Cake Balls

Hi everyone! It's Maggie!

I think long, long ago someone tagged me to include a recipe of my favorite messy meal. Well...basically everything I do in the kitchen leaves a path of destruction, but today I discovered THE MESSIEST DESSERT EVER! But It's so good that it's totally worth it.

I call these cake balls.

you'll need:
A chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
apple sauce
1/2 can of chocolate frosting
a package of fresh raspberries
a bag of milk chocolate chips

First you bake a chocolate cake using the lowfat directions. The cake mix I used called for a cup of water, 3 eggs, and 1/3 cup applesauce. Bake and cool.

Next scoop 1/2 a can of chocolate frosting in a large bowl and add about a 1/3 of a cup of applesauce. Mix in about 3/4 a package of raspberries. Using a hand mixer on the lowest speed, mix the ingredients until they are blended. The raspberries will be chunky.

Now's the FUN part! When the cake is cool, cut it up into large pieces and dump them a few pieces at a time into the large bowl with the frosting mixture. Use a hand mixer to blend everything together. The consistency should be very moist but the mixture should hold together enough to hand-form balls.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Using a spoon, scoop up the "dough" and shape it into small bite-sized balls (kind of the size of a donut hole) with the palms of your hands. Place the balls on the wax paper. You can place the balls fairly close together on the wax paper but just not touching.

When all the dough has been formed into balls and placed on the wax paper. Put in fridge for about 1 hour to cool and firm.

After cooling, pour 1 package of milk chocolate chips into a small saucepan (the smaller the better because you want it to be deep enough to dip the balls in the melted chocolate). Melt the chocolate on very low temperature. Add a little milk if you think you need more moisture. Once melted, hand-dip each ball into the chocolate so it is completely coated. You can also pour spoonfuls of the melted chocolate over the ball while holding it over the melted chocolate. Be careful to not burn yourself if the chocolate is too hot, because throughout this process your fingers will be absolutely covered in the melted chocolate!

Place each chocolate covered ball back on the wax-papered cookie sheet and when all the balls are covered in chocolate, be sure to lick all the remaining chocolate off your fingers!!! :) Place the cookie sheet back in the fridge for another hour or so to chill before serving.

Serve chilled on a plate garnished with the leftover fresh raspberries.

In this recipe I cut back on the fat by using the lowfat baking method, plus cutting back on the frosting by adding applesauce. The result is still a delicious moist chocolate and raspberry flavor. You can probably see that this recipe is very alterable. You could use any cake mix flavor or frosting flavor and could use white chocolate to cover the balls if you want. You could also add different fruit flavors. I'm serving these ToNigHt at a dessert party so I'll let you know how they go!

Miss you all!
Maggie

Pepper Jack Chicken

It's Di again! Matt loves pepper jack cheese, so I put a little twist on mac n cheese, to make him a happy hubby.

2 cooked, chopped up chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper (canned chicken works too)

2 lbs. penne pasta cooked and drained
(opt. cooked broccoli)

Sauce:
4 T. butter
5 T. flour
3 cans of evaporated milk or 3 c. milk (evaporated milk makes the sauce smooth)
2 t. salt
2 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
1 c. shredded swiss cheese
1/2 c. shredded colby jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour whisking until it turns a light brown. Slowly whisk in milk and 2 t. salt and cook until it begins to simmer and thickens. Take off heat and stir in cheese. Add salt and pepper if needed.
Place pasta and chicken and optional broccoli in 9X13 dish, pour the sauce over. Stir together. Bake 15 minutes.

The PERFECT Sloppy Joe

Sloppy joe, slop sloppy joe!

It's DI! I have my own kitchen, I'm cooking again, so I'm BAack!
Early in my marriage, my husband asked if I would make Manwich over rice for him. Eh? That sounded so disgusting to me! I had never had Manwich before, and I didn't even know what it was! I soon learned that sloppy joes were a favorite of his. I have tried over the years to perfect the elusive joe to no avail. Seriously, it's either too sweet, or not sweet enough, too spicey, flavorless, etc. I tried adding bell peppers, celery, carrots, even red beans, and it was never very good. Manwich has chopped up pickles in it, and it tastes like a tin can. NO WAY!
Lo and behold, I picked up my favorite magazine, Cook's Illustrated at Costco, and it had a recipe for sloppy joes! This magazine is so awesome because they write an article on each recipe explaining the many experiments they did to perfect it. They also recommend different brands of products and offer many cooking tips. I have never been disappointed by their recipes. So, without further ado:

The PERFECT Sloppy Joe!

2 T Vegetable oil (I used Olive oil)
1 medium onion chopped fine
Table salt
2 medium garlic cloves minced
1/2 t chili powder
1 lb. 85% lean ground beef (this percentage keeps it flavorful and less greasy, but just use what you have)
Ground black pepper
1 t. brown sugar
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. water
1/4 t. hot sauce like Tabasco
4 hamburger buns (the recommend Pepperidge Farm Bakery rolls, but I got the whole wheat buns, still good!)

Heat oil in skillet on medium heat, add onions and 1/2 t. salt. Cover and cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. If they start to brown, turn down the heat.
Add garlic and chili powder and cook about 30 seconds.
Add beef and break down with wooden spoon, until just pink.
Add 1/4 t. pepper, brown sugar, tomato sauce, ketchup, water, and hot pepper sauce. Simmer until mixture is slightly thicker than ketchup, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on buns.

You won't be sorry!

A Different Sort of Salad...

We had this for lunch today. It's different, refreshing, and fun! Logan and Sophie ate so much I had to take it away. I think it's the corn chips.

Some of the ingredients look weird, I know, but trust me...it's fabulous!

Mexican Salad
1 large head lettuce chopped, romaine or iceberg
2 or 3 tomatoes chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
1 can kidney beans, rinsed well
1 bottle Catalina French dressing
1 ½ lbs grated cheddar cheese
1 large bag Frito Lay Corn Chips

Toss together the first 5 ingredients, cover and refrigerate until needed. Mix in the remaining ingredients when ready to serve.

Enjoy!

-Em

Greek Shrimp Kebabs

I've never actually made anything with shrimp before and there was a random sale at the store...voila!

These were pretty dang good! I hope you try them!

Greek Shrimp Kebabs
1 ½ lb shrimp, uncooked
1 onion, chopped
¼ c fresh lime juice
¼ c olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb bacon, uncooked

Peel and devein shrimp. Tails may be left on. Combine onion, lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add shrimp. Cover. Refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Discard liquid. Wrap each shrimp in ½ strip of bacon. Thread 5 to 8 shrimp on each skewer. Grill over low heat (bacon burns easily) just until shrimp are opaque and firm. Yield: 4 servings.

Enjoy!

-Em

Chocolate Torte

Tonight I was in the mood to make a yummy dessert but had no butter, so I pulled out the old ward cookbook and searched through it. The first recipe I found looked simple enough, and I decided to try it out. HOLY HECK! So yummy! And so easy! And so elegant!

Chocolate Torte

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. cocoa
1 c. sugar

combine. Make a "well."

1 c. water
1/3 c. oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp vanilla

Add to dry ingredients. Spoon into regular-sized or miniature lined or sprayed muffin tins. Fill 1/2 full

Filling

Combine 8 ounces cream cheese (softened), 1 egg, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Stir well. Add 6 ounces of chocolate chips. Spoon 1 tsp over chocolate mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Makes about a dozen and a half (with regular-sized muffin pan)

I greased a cookie sheet and flipped the finished tortes upside down on the sheet. They popped right out and looked like mini lava cakes.

SOOOOOO yummy!

Enjoy!

Adrienne's Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

I'm not trying to confuse you, but this recipe was given to me by my friend Adrienne (this is Adrianne). We're both part of the large network of APX wives here in Louisville. All of us decided to have a recipe swap earlier this week, so I now have an arsenal of delicious recipes to try once we move home next week (Meaning, I better see some of you at the Goodrich reunion next weekend). I haven't tried this recipe myself, but Adrienne brought some over to me, and they were DELICIOUS. I snarfed it in seconds!!
I will definitely be adding more recipes as I try the ones that have been given to me!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze:
prep: 15 minutes cook time:15 min. makes 44 cookies

Ingredients:
cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp lemon juices
1 lemon zested

Directions:
preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cookies:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with the parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookies) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:
combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. spoon about 1/2 teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookie into decorative container.

P.S. I am making Emily's french chicken with cool whip tonight, so I'm excited to see how it turns out!
P.P.S. I cannot wait to get back to Utah. Another cousins' part, please?

Pepperoni and Cheese Breadsticks

These are so easy and fun for the kids to help with. They love them too - major plus!

Pepperoni and Cheese Breadsticks
2 ¾ c Original Bisquick mix
1 c shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 medium onion, finely chopped
½ c sour cream
½ c buttermilk
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 package (3 oz) sliced pepperoni, chopped
1 c grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Stir all ingredients except Parmesan cheese until a dough forms. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons into the Parmesan cheese. Roll in cheese to coat. Roll into 8-inch breadsticks. Place about 1 ½ inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, cheese sauce, or ranch for dipping!

ENJOY!

If you feel like GRILLING...

YOU MUST MAKE THESE! These are my birthday ribs. Logan makes them for me special on my birthday (or whenever I beg and plead enough). They are SERIOUSLY so amazing. You may need to add another rack to the grill because I promise you'll be tempted to eat the whole thing.

Logan’s Baby Back Ribs

Rub:
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon prepared chili powder
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

2 racks baby back ribs, 1 ½-2lbs each

1) Mix rub
2) Remove thin white membrane from back of ribs. Season ribs all over with rub. Wrap ribs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-3 hours.
3) Allow ribs to stand at room temp. for 20-30 minutes.
4) Grill over indirect low heat until the meat is very tender and has shrunk back from the ends of the bones, 1 ½-2 hours.
5) Transfer ribs to a baking sheet and tightly cover with aluminum foil. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

-Emily and Logan

Summer is here, and I am in fear!

I'm running out of dinner ideas!!! I feel like we have the same 5-10 dinners, and it's time to try something new. I like recipes with fewer ingredients. Anything crock pot recipe is great.. because Jed doesn't get home from work until 10pm-12am depending on where he is working that day. Oh.. and I'm looking for some new ideas with beef (we eat chicken allll the time, and he's getting tired of it), but we're usually too poor for anything but ground beef. Does anyone have anything they'd like to share?

One of our favorite beef meals is pretty easy, and scruptiously delicious! --Stuffed Bell Peppers!
This recipes is for 2 peppers. You can adjust as needed.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium green bell peppers
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided
• 1/4 cup uncooked instant rice
• 3 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Cut tops off peppers and discard; remove seeds. Blanch peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water; set aside. In a bowl, combine beef, 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, rice, 2 tablespoons of cheese, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and egg; mix well. Stuff the peppers; place in an ungreased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over peppers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until meat is no longer pink and peppers are tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; return to the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This recipe is very easy to modify. I've used all colors of peppers. I always use soy sauce instead of Worch. And sometimes I like to use half ground beef/half ground sausage so it has some zing to it!

Spring Time Pasta

Spring is here and it makes me want to stuff my face with vegetables! Asparagus is one of my favorites and it makes this pasta delicious and healthy. Try it with wheat pasta too! It is super easy and really quick! Enjoy!Asparagus Pasta
16oz pkg penne pasta
1 lb bunch asparagus
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 c low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
¾ c shredded parmesan cheese (divided)
2 Tbsp butter
1 c pecan halves, toasted and divided
parmesan cheese and pepper for garnish

Prepare pasta according to package, rinse, and drain. Snap off tough ends of asparagus and cut into 2 inch pieces. Sauté asparagus in hot oil in a large skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 2 minutes or until asparagus is crisp/tender. Season with salt and pepper. Toss together pasta, asparagus mixture, basil, ½ c cheese, butter, and ½ c pecans. Sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese and pecans.

P.S. We're coming to Utah for the summer if anyone wants to play!

Emily

Easy Greek Feast!

Greek Salad and Souvlaki

This is Di! Today is Greece's independance day, so we had to celebrate. Why? Because it's a reason to eat Greek food! I looked up some recipes on the internet that were so easy and turned out so well, that I had to share! Our menu consisted of Greek kabobs called souvlaki, white rice, and Greek salad with baklava for dessert. Then enjoy your favorite Greek movie like My Big Fat Greek Wedding or Mama Mia.

Keep in mind I had to convert the measurements, so they aren't exact.

Souvlaki
3 lbs tender pork or beef (I used a pork roast)
3 T olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
3 T oregano
1 T thyme
Salt and Pepper

Cut meat up into cubes removing any fat or gristle. Thread on to skewers (if you're using wood skewers they need to be soaked in water for a few minutes) brush with olive oil, season with oregano, thyme, and lots of salt and pepper.

I cooked mine on a grill pan under a sheet of aluminum foil. This traps the heat in so they cook faster and more evenly. Over medium heat, they need about 3-5 minutes per side. You can use a thermometer to check if they're done, it should register at 170 degrees. These are also good cooked on a bbq or you could broil them in the oven.

When thoroughly cooked, put the skewers on a plate and pour lemon juice over them. I garnished it with some lemon peel, that is why you see yellow chunks on it in the picture.



Greek Salad

Make a yummy salad with romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese and Greek olives. Top with red wine vinegar and olive oil or your favorite salad dressing.

Baklava
Filling:
1 lb chopped walnuts (since my mom is allergic, I used almonds, and that was really good too!)
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon

Mix together in a bowl

Pastry:
8oz. Fyllo dough (you find this in the refrigerator section of the store)
1/2 c. melted butter (you may need more)

Butter the base and sides of a 9X13 pan. Put a sheet of fyllo dough on the bottom of pan, brush with butter, then another sheet and brush with butter, repeat five times. Keep in mind the dough may be too big for the pan, but it will shrink. Sprinkle some of the filling on. Layer more dough with butter brushed between each layer 3 times. Then sprinkle more filling, then layer 3 more sheets brushed with butter. Add the remainder of the filling. Layer the rest of the dough (there should be about 8 sheets left). Be sure to put a lot of butter on the top layer so the pastry gets nice and brown. Cut the pastry halfway through-don't cut it all the way to the bottom-in diamond shapes with a sharp knife. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake 20 minutes longer. Cool, pour the syrup over the top. It will be a little soupy, but that just makes it yummy. The pastry slowly soaks in the liquid, so this dish is good for days after it's made.

Syrup:
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
2 cinnamon sticks or 1 t. cinnamon
2 t. lemon juice
a few pieces of lemon peel
2 T honey

Put all the ingredients except the honey in a saucepan. Dissolve the sugar in the water simmer for 6-8 minutes. Add the honey, simmer 5 minutes more until it thickens.

Baklava (Obviously, I made two. You can't just make one and expect everyone to be happy!)

I got these recipes from http://www.greek-recipe.com/

Aunt Kathy's Debut Post...

Aunt Kathy's Black-Eyed Pea Dip
1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas (drain and rinse)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 Tablespoons minced onion
1 Tablespoon diced jalapeno pepper
1 Tablespoon jalapeno juice
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Tillamook cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 3ounce can deviled ham
3 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
Cook peas two minutes and drain. Lightly mash peas and mix with salt, and mix with next 6 ingredients. Pour into a 9-inch round baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve warm with chips, crackers and veggies. Enjoy!

Di's Sweet'n'Sour Chicken!

I got this recipe from a friend a few days ago and thought I'd try it out. She says that she and her husband always fight over who gets the leftovers, and Boy is that true! This stuff was soooo yummy, I wanted to share it with you lovely ladies. And to my surprise I see that Di has already posted the EXACT same recipe! I'm glad I have cousins with such great taste!

I did, however, double the sauce and add some red and green peppers, onions, and pineapple! And I ate it over warm fluffy rice! MMMmmmm Mmmmm! If you haven't tried this yet, please do! It is scrumptious!

Hoping my husband hasn't finished the leftovers yet,
Adrianne

New Favorite Chicken Dish

Here's a fun spin on chicken for dinner. Sophie ate ALL of it; it was that yummy! Success...especially because she wouldn't even touch her Mac'n'Cheese! It's really easy!

Tomato Basil Chicken
4 boneless, chicken breasts
3 Tbsp butter
2 tomatoes, chopped (or ¾ can petite diced tomatoes)
1 small onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 c heavy cream
2 Tbsp basil, chopped

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter. Cook chicken for 8 min or until chicken is no longer pink, turning once. Remove chicken and set aside. In the same skillet, melt 1 Tbsp butter and sauté tomatoes, onion and salt stirring occasionally, 3 min or until tomatoes are tender. Stir in broth and cream. Reduce heat to low and return chicken to skillet. Simmer uncovered 6 min or until sauce has thickened and the chicken is heated through. Garnish with basil and parmesan cheese. Serve alone or over rice, noodles, or asparagus.

Enjoy!

-Emily

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

Di came over and we made these little delicacies:The kiddos were little angels just eating their fruit:It was the mamas that were having a hard time. After one boiling hot pot of ramen and a brand spankin' new gallon of milk dumped all over the kitchen floor, we were finally able to sit and enjoy this site (for a minute): Yeah...they're that good. Go ahead, try them for yourself:

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes
1 box yellow cake mix
1 sm vanilla instant pudding
2 c pitted cherries
½ c sugar
½ c water
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Cook cupcakes according to package. Add cherries, water, and vanilla to a pot. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the cherries. Cook until thick, about 20 minutes. Fill cupcakes using the cone method once the filling has cooled. Top with frosting and a rinsed and dried maraschino cherry.

Vanilla Buttercream
1 stick butter
3 c powdered sugar
vanilla
milk

High-five team!Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

Hey Ya'll... so married life is good, and I gotta admit I've enjoyed cooking real meals so much! It seems I've been doing so well, until I look at the GG blog and realize how amateur I really am! Yikes! Well, i looked through and didn't see anything similar to this, so if you all know it already, please forgive me!

When making these chicken enchiladas, i looked at a couple of recipes and just kind of did my own thing with what I had in the Cupboards! I have never been a real fan of red sauce, so this is a creamier, less severe version (that I'm sure you've all had before).

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
about 6-8 ounces of sour cream (I eyeballed it here)
1 half (give or take) of an onion
Handful of fresh mushrooms
1 small can of diced green chillies
Mexican blend cheese
2 cans of green enchilada sauce
8-10 flour or corn totillas (or even spinach totillas, YUM)

(Let oven preheat on 350 degrees)
First, I started by sauteing chopped onion and mushrooms (i didn't saute them together though, in fear of the muchrooms taking in too much onion flavor)
Next, grill 2 chicken breasts on the George Foreman Grill-- cube when fully cooked
Combine chicken, onions, mushrooms, chillies, a handful or two of cheese, cream of chicken soup, and sour cream (with some salt and pepper, and a dash of ceyenne pepper, if you want)
Fill totillas, roll, and place in a sprayed 9x13 pyrex
Top with two cans of green sauce and spinkle with cheese!

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and delicious!


Seriously-- you will love this!

--Newest newlywed, Adrianne Jayne Young

(this was just off the top of my head-- I'll add more recipes later)

Am I the only one who always has left over pesto?

I don't know why, but whenever I make or buy pesto I always have too much.  I also don't know why, but I HATE pesto plain.  So I had some left over pesto and I had some sun dried tomatoes left over from a salad.  I stuck them both together and voila!

 (totally not my pic...but that's pretty much what it should look like)

So...what do you do with left over pesto?  Make this:

Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta

place several sundried tomatoes in a bowl of water (I had 7 and it made about 4 servings of sauce) and let them sit and plump up for an hour or so.  When you're ready to eat.  Make your pasta of choice and reserve some of the cooking water.  Boil the tomatoes in the pasta water for a few minutes to soften them up.  Then place them in a food processor with a few Tablespoons of pesto and a little olive oil.  Chop it all up and pour it over the pasta.  Toss and garnish with some parmesan cheese.  Quick, different, delicious.  

Enjoy!

-Starving in Seattle

Emily

P.S. So fun to see so many of you at Cami's.  I'm going to be back down next week and I want to have a cousin cupcake party.  Let me know if any of you are interested in getting together to fill and top a bunch of different types of cupcakes!

P.P.S. I HATE January.  I get so bored.  I tag Di, Jordan, Adrianne (Young Love WOOT WOOT!), Mandy, Beth, and Cami to post a favorite pick-me-up meal.  Or post whatever you think might add some spice to my life!  Thanks!

Aunt Kathy's Sweet Potato Souffle

Ok, this is slightly belated, since Thanksgiving was last week, but make it now anyways—it’s sooooo good! It’s my favorite dish at Thanksgiving, and in between times too!

Aunt Kathy’s Sweet Potato Soufflé (Casserole)

3 cups sweet potatoes
½ C sugar
¼ C butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 t. vanilla
1/2 C milk

Topping:
1/3 C melted butter
1 C brown sugar
½ C flour
1 C chopped pecans

Peel and chop sweet potatoes, boil till tender, mash (use an electric mixer). Add the rest of the soufflé ingredients and spread in a greased casserole dish. Mix topping ingredients together and put on top of casserole. Make 350F for 30 minutes.

If I remember correctly, Aunt Kathy uses the yellow sweet potatoes, not the orange “yams,” but I don’t really like those and you can’t find them where I’ve been living anyway, so I just use the sweet orange ones! Also, I substitute honey and maple syrup for the sugars, slightly reducing the amount, and it tastes even yummier!

Make it today while supplies are cheap--your husband and kids are going to love it!

Love you all! Mandy

Spinach Tortellini

I adapted this from a Cooking Light recipe I found. Seriously...try it...NOW. It's so good and a great change from traditional pasta dishes! Happy cooking!Spinach Tortellini – Emily Bohman
1 large package fresh cheese tortellini
¼ c pine nuts
1 tsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 packages fresh baby spinach
½ c shredded Parmesan cheese
pepper to taste
crumbled bacon

Cook pasta according to the package, drain, and transfer to a large bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and toast pine nuts for about 2 minutes until toasted. Add nuts to bowl. Heat oil in the pan and sauté the garlic lightly. Add spinach and cook for about two minutes or until the spinach wilts. Stir constantly. Add spinach mixture, cheese, bacon, pepper, and toss well. Serve immediately. Serve with watermelon, cantaloupe, or honeydew melon wedges on the side.