Blueberry Cobbler

1 stick butter
1 c milk
1 c sugar
1 c flour
3 t baking powder
1 can blueberries, drained
brown sugar

Melt butter & pour in 9x9 pan. Combine next 4 ingredients, & pour over butter. Pour fruit over top. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 30-40 mins at 375. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Fondue

Yummy fondue goodness! (from the February Fondue Night)


Chocolate Raspberry Fondue

2/3 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon honey
1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chunks

In a fondue pot or 2-quart saucepan, mix whipping cream, raspberry preserves and honey. Heat over warm/simmer setting or medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, just until bubbles rise to surface (do not boil).

Add chocolate; stir with wire whisk until melted. Keep warm over warm/simmer setting. Serve with dippers.



Chocolate Cream Pie Fondue

8 ounces milk chocolate finely chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
½ cup milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt chocolate; add cream cheese, milk and vanilla and stir until blended. Pour into warm fondue pot. Keep warm over low heat.



White Chocolate Butterscotch Fondue
(tastes like caramel!)

1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
¾ cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

Combine brown sugar, corn syrup and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a full boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the cream and vanilla and stir until the mixture is blended. Add the white chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour into a warm fondue pot. Keep warm over low heat.


Thanks, Rebecca, for sharing these!

Zucchini Chip Bread

So I've made this recipe for a few activities, and I thought I might as well post it so others can enjoy it, too!


Zucchini Chip Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking powder. In another bowl, beat the eggs, applesauce, oil, orange peel and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, nuts and chocolate chips.

Transfer to two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for another 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.


*I usually leave out the orange peel when I bake this bread. I don't like the flavor it adds--reminds me too much of a fruitcake cookie I never liked. And I usually bake mini-loaves of zucchini bread. The oven temperature is still the same, but the cook time is 40-45 minutes long.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 egg
2 t vanilla
1 c brown sugar
1 c butter
1 c peanut butter
1 c flour
1/4 c cocoa
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 pkg chocolate or peanut butter chips (opt)
Mix first 7 ingredients together. Mix in chips. Bake 10 mins at 350 degrees.

Healthy Chocolate Walnut Cake

8 eggs
1 c sugar, divided
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c toasted ground walnuts
2 t vanilla
6 T flour
1/3 c cocoa
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
3/4 c fruit jam
1 t powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil & flour 9-in spring form pan.
Crack 2 eggs into large bowl. Separate 2 more eggs, placing whites in 2nd large bowl, & yolks in 1st bowl. Separate remaining 4 eggs, adding whites to 2nd bowl (yolks not needed).
Beat egg whites on high til foamy. Add 1/3 c sugar, & beat til soft peaks form. Set aside.
Add brown sugar & remaining 2/3 c sugar to 1st bowl, & beat on medium speed til thick & light brown. Beat in nuts & vanilla. Beat in flour, cocoa, salt, & cinnamon. With rubber spatula, fold in 1 c beaten egg whites, til smooth. Fold in remaining egg whites very gently (some white streaks may be visible). Gently pour into pan.
Place pan in oven & reduce heat to 325. Bake til set, 40-45 mins. Cool completely on wire rack.
Remove pan's side. Release cake from pan's bottom with long, thin, metal spatula, & transfer to serving plate. Slice cake in 1/2 horizontally with long, thin knife. Lift off top, spread jam over bottom layer, & replace top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Graveyard Cake AKA Red Velvet Doggie Bone Cake

This recipe comes from the Ladies Home Journal. I think the bone's recipe could be used in many ways for different shapes, letters or fun decorations!

Prep: 30 min
Start to Finish: 2 hr

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 two-layer red velvet cake (see recipe center) **I added a package of instant pudding to the cake mix to make a more moist cake!**
  
• Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees F with two racks centered. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heat-proof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and whisk gently until sugar is dissolved, about 3 min. Remove from heat. With an electric mixer, whisk on medium-high until a stiff meringue forms, about 10 min.

2. Transfer meringue to a piping bag fitted with a #12 plain tip, then pipe 3-1/2- to 4-inch-long bone shapes on baking sheets. Bake 20 min. Turn oven off and let meringues dry in oven for 30 min more. Let bones cool before carefully removing from parchment paper.

3. Coat one cake layer with 1/2 cup frosting and top with second layer. Frost entire cake and refrigerate to set, 30 min or overnight. Decorate with whole and broken bones before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:In a mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and 1, 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened together until creamy, about 2 min. Stir in 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted. Add 1 lb (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3 to 4 tbsp milk and stir until smooth. Can be refrigerated up to one week; bring to room temperature and stir before using Makes 3 cups.

Fudge

1 stick butter or margarine
1/4 c milk
1 T vanilla
1 lb powdered sugar
1/2 c nuts (optional)
flavoring options: 1/2 c cocoa; 1/4 c peanut butter; 1 t extract (maple, mint, citrus...); basically any flavor or mixture of flavors you want

Melt butter in saucepan on stovetop over medium heat. Whisk in milk, vanilla, & flavoring. Turn to low heat. Whisk in powdered sugar til smooth. Mix in nuts. Pour into buttered 9x9 pan. Chill in refrigerator til firm (or freezer for faster time). Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Banana Biscotti

Last weekend I was challenged to cutting eggs out of baking. Since I’d never really thought about taking out eggs I decided to give two of the suggestions a try in one recipe – Chocolate Banana Biscotti. These turned out 100 times better than I ever imagined! First out of the oven they have crip outsides, a warm and chewy inside, and a flavor that is sweet, but not too sweet. I could have eaten them all day, but I stopped myself after two. : )

The best part is the calorie count – I sliced my logs to make 19 cookies, and with a little math I discovered that puts the average sized ones at 93.42 calories. And with the fat corners I cut, the only fat involved is what comes in the original batter, and what’s in the chocolate chips. Not a bad treat!

Chocolate Banana Biscotti

• 1 package banana bread mix (I used Pilsbury)


• 3 Tbs water


• ½ banana, mashed


• 4 oz plain, fat free yogurt


• 2 Tbs natural applesauce


• 2 servings of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I actually counted them so that I could do the calorie math and I used 64)

Combine all wet ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until combined. Add wet ingredients to banana bread mix and stir until mixed. Chop half of the chocolate chip pieces until slivered, then add them and the rest of the chocolate chips to the batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. Since I took all of the oil out of the recipe, I sprayed the foil with cooking spray until well coated for ease of removing logs. Divide dough in half and form two rectangular logs (about 4.5 inches x 8 inches) – dough will be sticky, but touchable (use wet hands if needed).

Bake logs for 30 minutes, remove from oven and cookie sheet, and allow to cool on wire racks. Once the logs are cooled cut them into ½ inch strips. Put strips back on the cookie sheet, cut side down, and bake for another 10 minutes. Flip strips to other side and bake another 10 minutes.

Kim’s note: Mine were crisp on the outside with a chewy center using the method described above, but have softened even more as I’ve stored them. If you want them to be truly crispy throughout like a coffee house biscotti, I’d suggest baking the strips longer, but still doing the 10-minute flip so that the edges don’t have the chance to burn.

Happy Cooking!

Bean and Veggie Enchiladas & Easy Oreo Fruit Salad

Bean and Veggie Enchiladas

• 2 cans (15 ounces) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 can (4 ounces) diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 small yellow pepper chopped
• 2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 heaping Tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped (plus more for garnish if desired)
• 2 cups shredded pepper-Jack cheese (10 ounces)
• 1 can (20 ounces) enchilada sauce
• 8-10 flour tortillas (depending on how full you like your enchiladas)

Directions

Chop onion and pepper then sauté them on med-high heat with the frozen corn until just softened. Add chili powder, salt, cumin, and cilantro. Drain and rinse beans, then mash slightly with hands. Add them to the veggie mixture.

Pour about ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 13×9in baking dish, turning dish until the sauce coats the entire bottom. Place desired amount of bean mixture in a line on one side of a tortilla shell then roll up. Place rolled enchilada, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat until bean mixture is gone. Top tortillas with remaining enchilada sauce, sprinkle with cheese and additional cilantro if desired.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Enjoy with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and Mexican rice.

Kim’s hint: If you would like to serve this dish with rice, a quick way to take white rice to Mexican rice is to reserve about 3-4 Tbs of the enchilada sauce and add it to 2 cups of plain rice with cilantro, some splashes of lime juice, and dashes of onion powder.

------------

In my house, if I suggest that we have fruit as a side dish I usually get met with dull, bored stares. But when I threw this little treat together I had both of my guys scraping the bowl for every last drop. The thinner Oreo crackers really soak in the moisture from the cool whip and become a smooth chocolate – delicious!

Easy Oreo Fruit Salad

• 3-4 c. fresh fruit cut to bite size pieces
• Light Cool Whip
• 1 – 100 calorie package Oreo snacks (these are the Oreos that are more like crackers)

Put all fruit in large mixing bowl. Add cool whip until everything is just coated. Crush Oreo crackers into crumbs of all sizes and mix in to salad. Chill until time to serve.

*Kim’s notes: For my salad I used 1 apple, 2 bananas, and 1 mango, but you could use any fruit based on your family’s preferences. Can be served as a dessert or side. Also, if you aren’t trying to be calorie conscious, another fun way to make this salad is replacing the Oreo crackers with chopped Snicker’s bar.

Happy Cooking!

Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes

I recently found an awesome cupcake recipe on Bakerella .... a really cool blog dedicated to all things yummy & bake-able. (just click on the word Bakerella if you wish to see the website) She made cupcakes by scratch. Whoa.... by scratch? Never done it before! I'm usually using my trusty box of cake mix. However, this recipe was from Martha Stewart, and how could it be bad if it's from Martha Stewart??!! Well, the recipe was SO simple, so easy..... and involved few ingredients and ONE bowl! Away I baked...... and they were SO delicious! WAY better than cake mix cupcakes, I must say!

My fudge frosting is from my Betty Crocker recipe book. I use it on ALL of my chocolate cakes. So incredibly yummy!

Ingredients
Makes 18 to 24
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Amy's Notes: This was very runny batter ~ and I was very hesitant that I did it right (since cake mix batter isn't very runny)... but it's supposed to be runny, so you did it right! If you don't have buttermilk, just take 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar & add enough whole milk to make a cup, let sit for 5 minutes!

No-Cook Fudge Frosting
(from Betty Crocker's recipe book)

Cast of Characters:
4 3/4 c sifted powdered sugar
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c margarine or butter, softened
1/3 c boiling water
1 tsp vanilla

Mix powdered sugar & cocoa. Add margarine, boiling water, and vanilla. Best w/ an electric mixer on low speed till combined. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Cool for 20-30 minutes or till or spreading consistency. Frosts tops & sides of two 8 or 9 inch cake layers.

Snowball Cookies

1 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t almond extract
1 t vanilla
2 c flour
1-2 c finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 c powdered sugar

Cream together first 5 ingred. Mix in flour. Mix in nuts. Chill dough at least 1/2 hr. Form into 1-in balls, & bake on ungreased cookie sheets 12-15 mins, at 350 degrees. While still warm, roll cookies in powdered sugar.

Raspberry Shortbread

1 c butter, softened
1 t vanilla
2/3 c sugar
2 1/2 c flour
1 jar raspberry jam (or preferred flavor)
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 T milk or water
1/2 t almond extract

Beat butter, vanilla, & sugar at medium speed til light & fluffy. Gradually add flour, beating at low speed.

Divide dough into 6 equal portions, & roll each portion into a 12-in-long x 1-in-wide strip. Place strips on greased baking sheets. Make a 1/2-in-wide x 1/4-in-deep indentation down center of each strip. Bake 15 mins at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven, & spoon jam into indentations. Bake 5 more mins, or til lightly browned.

Whisk powdered sugar, milk or water, & almond extract, 7 drizzle over warm shortbread. Cut strips into 2-in pieces, & cool.

Crock Pot Banana Upside Down Cake

(from Lauren S.)

Bananas:
5 T butter, cut in small pieces, plus more for crock pot
¾ c brown sugar
1 T molasses
2 T pineapple juice
6 ripe, medium bananas, peeled & halved lengthwise

Butter inside of crock pot, line completely with foil, & then butter foil. Turn crock pot onto high. Sprinkle butter, brown sugar, & mixture of molasses & pineapple juice over bottom of crock pot. Cover with banana halves, cut side down, slightly overlapping, & press them into the sugar.

Cake:
¾ c flour
¾ t baking powder
½ t cinnamon
¼ t nutmeg
¼ t salt
4 T butter, softened
2/3 c sugar
1 egg, at room temp
1 egg yolk, at room temp
2 T milk, at room temp

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, & salt in bowl. In another bowl, beat butter & sugar on high, til light & fluffy (about 10 mins). Beat in egg. Beat in egg yolk. Turn mixer to low, & mix in 1/3 part flour mixture. Mix in 1 T milk. Mix in 1/3 part flour mixture. Mix in 1 T milk. Mix in last of flour mixture. Briefly mix batter on medium to smooth it out. Pour batter over bananas, & even out with spatula.

Lay doubled length of paper towels from end to end over top of crock pot, to line lid & create tighter seal. Put lid on crock pot, & continue cooking on high, til cake begins to slightly brown on sides, & springs back when touched in middle (about 3 ½ hrs).

Turn off crock pot, & let cake sit 20 mins more. Lift cake from crock pot using the foil, & set on counter to cool 30 mins. Fold back foil, & carefully invert cake onto platter so you can see bananas. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

chocolate covered bananas

My grandma made this for me when I was a kid... and I.LOVED.IT!


I think she dipped hers in chocolate chips that were melted. Then sometimes she rolled the banana in nuts.

My mom made some too, but she used Magic Shell, and those were so yummy too!

Peel & cut your bananas in half, and stick a popsicle stick in the middle of each one. Place on a tray and put in freezer for 3 hours.

Maddie brought home some Heath Magic Shell from a leftover ice cream party. I put it in the fridge.

Apparently it is the WRONG thing to do, because it was hard. There was a little section on the back (in tiny letters, I have to add!) that says "DO NOT REFRIGERATE!" Oops! So, I ran under hot water for a few minutes until I had some that poured out. The Magic Shell will harden almost immediately, so you will not be able to roll in nuts, M&M's or anything fun.

If you wish to use melted chocolate chips, don't freeze your banana first.... chop your banana in half, then roll in chocolate, then you can easily roll in a bowl full of nuts, chopped M&M's, etc. Just place in freezer for a few hours.

Ta-da! You'll have a very happy kid eating a frozen treat that is semi-good for you!

Spicy Pear Compote

This is from Veronic Southby's canning book and our 5/21 enrichment night!

1 Cup canned Whole Cranberry Sauce
3 Tbs. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 pint (16 oz) canned pears
2 medium oranges, peeled, sliced and halved

In a medium saucepan combine canned cranberry sauce, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger; bring mixture to boiling. Drain pears, reserving 1/4 cup syrup. Cut pears in half lengthwise. Add pear quarters, orange slices, and the reserved pear syrup to cranberry mixture in saucepan; stir gently. Return to boiling. Reduce heat;cover and let simmer 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon fruit into serving dishes. Serves 6.

pineapple drop cookies

This recipe is from Ruth W., from Lauren S.'s home ward, in Aberdeen, SD.

Ingredients

1 c butter or margarine

1 1/2 c sugar

4 eggs

1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple (well drained, reserve juice)

4 c flour

4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1 c chopped walnuts

Mix together all ingredients. Refrigerate dough 1 hr. Drop by tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 mins at 375 degrees.

Frost with brown butter frosting while still warm:

6 T butter, browned (over medium heat, melt butter in skillet, til it turns brown)

6 T reserved pineapple juice, hot (heat in microwave)

1 t vanilla

3 c powdered sugar

Beat all together.

pina colada cake

Another yummy recipe from Lisa P.!!

1 yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
11/4 Cup shredded coconut
17oz can crushed pineapple, drained ~ SAVE JUICE
15oz can CREAM of Coconut
1 8ozCool Whip

COMBINE dry cake mix and dry pkg of INSTANT pudding in mixing bowl.

MIX cake as directed using pineapple juice as all or part of the liquid (depending on how much you get from draining).

FOLD IN 1 Cup of coconut and the drained pineapple to the mixture.

BAKE cake @ 350 degrees in a greased 13"x9" pan. Check with toothpick to be sure middle of cake is done.

PUNCH holes in top of cake while hot out of the oven.

SHAKE can of CREAM of Coconut well then pour all over cake.

COOL

SPREAD Cool Whip over cake and sprinkle with rest of coconut.

Refridgerate cake and serve cool. Refreshing!

homemade ice cream

My family is BIG on homemade ice cream. Every single hot holiday we break out the ice cream maker, and let it churn..... and of course, we eat Mayonnaise cake on the side. :) We make banana ice cream, butterfinger ice cream, strawberry ice cream... on & on the list goes. Here is the basic recipe, and you add flavors as you like (just close your eyes at some of the ingredients... I have to!).........

Ingredients

2 quarts half & half

6 eggs

2 c sugar

milk (to fill to the rim... you may not need it though)

a little touch of vanilla

Mix all together in blender, then add to ice cream maker. From there, freeze according to the directions from your ice cream maker (use ice cream salt, ice, etc).

Now, if you want to make banana ice cream, I used 6 bananas that needed to be used, and FAST! I froze my bananas for an hour first (take skin off!), then placed 3 bananas, 1 cup sugar, 1 quart half & half in the blender, pour it in the container, then do another round in the blender w/ the remaining ingredients.

If you want to make butterfinger ice cream, chop up 6 big butterfinger bars, and decrease your sugar to 1 3/4 cup.

mini molten chocolate cake dessert

There are these little boxes of Betty Crocker (or is it Duncan Hines?) that you can get those Mini Warm Delights cake and you put it in the microwave?! Well, now you can do it for MUCH cheaper...

1/4 c chocolate cake mix

1 tbsp + 1 tsp water

Mix well

Add in hot fudge, drizzle it over cake

Microwave for 30 seconds

If it is still "wet" looking, add 10 more seconds.

**you can use ANY kind of cake mix and just add water and any ingredient for a quick slice of cake. Beats making an entire cake just to satisfy a craving!