Creme De Menthe Cake

This is a fun and very easy dessert for St Patrick's day, or even a Spring celebration. It makes a very light and delicate green and is super yummy! It does have alcohol in it, but it cooks out of the cake.  If you don't want to add the alcohol, just add green food coloring to the frosting. I don't care for mint and I really enjoy the mint flavor of this cake. I got this recipe from my mother-n-law.
Creme De Menthe Cake
1box yellow or white cake mix, or even chocolate!
1/2C creme de menthe liquor
Make cake according to pkg directions, adding in the liquor
Let the cake cool and frost with chocolate frosting.
Mix 1 (8oz)carton of cool whip lite with 1/4C creme de menthe liquor.
Spread on top of the frosting and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Tomorrow is potluck day at church! YES! I LOVE LOVE LOVE potlucks! For someone like me who loves recipes and to try new food, it is SO much fun attending a potluck! Especially at church when all the older women make recipes they've been making for years....that is why whenever you see a church cookbook or a community cookbook, BUY IT! They are full of good 'ol recipes that you can just count on to have extreme comfort food! Our church has some pretty awesome older ladies, they are just so sweet and kind and you can learn so very much from them.  It is a true blessing for me to sit and visit with older people.  It is a generation and quality of people, that sadly, we will never probably see again.  These older people have been through wars and depression and seen so very much and I love to hear their stories and their wisdom. Can you imagine what they have seen in their years, as technology has progressed so much? I am amazed at technology and don't know how to figure half of it out, I can't imagine what that generation thinks! I have been blessed my whole life to still have my grandparents(except one) and I have the best relationship with them and it is so fun to watch them be grandparents now to my children! They get spoiled even more than I do! That generation has respect and loyalty and morals and kindness and have worked hard their whole lives and feel blessed to have every single thing they own. They wouldn't think twice about disrespecting authority(be parents or teachers or law), like so many kids do these days. They are genuine and they truly care about people, about this nation, about everything.  I know there are still plenty of terrific kids these days, but some kids just amaze me at their outlooks on life and how they think everyone owes them something and they have no respect for anyone. I really do believe the theory that if you have to work hard to get something that you will appreciate it so much more than if it were just given to you.  Anyways, I could talk forever about this topic, but the next time you have an opportunity to visit with an older person, or help them, just see how much you are blessed by it and it will also bless them!
On to the recipe! This is a very simple lemon bundt cake that I found on allrecipes, it is much like the one I posted for my daughter's birthday, but even easier and this one has sprite in it. It does not have a frosting, but I think a simple lemon glaze would be great. I plan to just dust it with powdered sugar and keep it light.
Lemon Bundt Cake
1 pkg lemon cake mix
1small pkg instant lemon pudding mix
3/4C vegetable oil
4 eggs
1C sprite
Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 10inch bundt pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix, then stir in oil.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sprite. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 35min(mine took 50min), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20min and invert onto serving dish.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

St Patrick's Day is coming up quick and those corned beef are going on sale at the stores! I usually buy a few of them while they are on sale and freeze some for later. We love reuben sandwiches around here, so I save some corned beef meat just for these sandwiches. This recipe can be made in a dutch oven or adapted to a crockpot! I got the recipe from allrecipes from Laria Tabul
Corned Beef and Cabbage
3pounds corned beef brisket(with spice packet)
10 small red potatoes
5 carrots, peeled
1 large head cabbage, cut into small wedges
Place corned beef in large pot, or dutch oven, and cover with water.  Add the spice packet.  Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer 50minutes per pound.  Add whole potatoes and carrots and cook until almost tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15min more. Remove the meat and let it rest for 15minutes. Place veggies in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth from the cooked meat as you want. Slice meat across the grain.
Crockpot version: Add meat and sprinkle spice packet on top. Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 5-6 hours. Add potatoes and carrots and cabbage a few hours before serving. If you had to leave for the whole cooking period I would think you could add the veggies in with the meat, they may just get mushy.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know, another chocolate chip cookie recipe...didn't I just post one last week? I must be on a choc chip cookie kick?? I don't know what it is...there are thousands of recipes for these cookies and every single time I find a new one I can't say no...I have to try it! It stays on my mind until I finally give in and make the new recipe..each new one I find is SO convincing that their recipe is the best and, well, I guess I fall for it! I could have worse bad habits, right?!  Today's recipe comes from the wonderful yummy blog, Mel's Kitchen Cafe  Go check her blog out, she has awesome recipes! She swears these are the perfect chocolate chip cookie and her "go to" recipe, so I had to try them and find out for myself!   I have got to tell you....I can finally rest and not feel obligated to make another chocolate chip cookie recipe I come across....these were AWESOME! PERFECT! I can finally rest on my quest...thank you Mel! These cookies had the perfect amount of salt, the perfect amount of chocolate chips and butter and they were the perfect texture! Next time I will add nuts.....that way my family will stay away from them!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
from: melskitchencafe.com
21/8C flour
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
Mix these three ingredients and set aside.
12T(1 1/2sticks)butter, slightly melted and cooled
1C brown sugar
1/2C sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2t vanilla
2C semi sweet chocolate chips
Mix the butter and sugars until combined. Then add the egg,yolk, and vanilla and mix until the batter has lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Add in the flour mixture along with chocolate chips and stir until combined. Form into tablespoon balls and place on greased cookie sheets.  Frozen balls can be stored up to 2 months. Bake the cookies 10-12minutes or until slightly browned on edges, do not over bake or the cookies will be tough and hard. If baking frozen cookie dough add 1-2minutes to cooking time. Store baked cookies in an airtight container, or freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months.
(when I made this recipe I used my cookie scoop which is bigger than a Tablespoon and I had to cook them 14minutes...they won't look done, but take them out! I let them rest on the cookie sheets a few minutes before transferring them to wax paper. If you are using dark pans, take them out sooner)

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie!   Finally!

Chicken Bake

This is a dish that I have tweeked until I found the right combo for my family. So feel free to use the veggie you like and you could change the cheese for a different taste and it would be great for leftover turkey instead of chicken.  Kids love this casserole and it's easy to sneak in the veggies without them knowing they are hidden within the stuffing!  Stuffing and cheese make anything better! Shoot, if I was a kid again, I'd eat my veggies if they had stuffing and cheese on them, maybe even that darn canned stringy spinach stuff my parents use to make me eat, yuck! That stuff shouldn't even be edible!  That is punishment, making your children eat canned spinach! OK.....I have a confession to make....I use to have to sit at the dinner table until my canned spinach was gone from my plate, which meant that I was still sitting there at bedtime! (my parents were very consistent and meant what they said!and I was very stubborn!)Well, after sitting there for hours each time we had canned spinach, I realized it was cutting into my play time and I did NOT like that! So, the schemer in me thought of an evil plan!(I didn't want to be this way, my parents brought this out in me!) I would only drink half of my milk during supper and then when my family would get up from the table and go into the other room, I would put my untouched spinach into the milk and hope that it stayed hidden! Mom would check my plate and see the spinach gone and I was FREE to go!  I know, terrible right?!  I don't think I ever told my parents about this "scheme" until I had my first child 11 years ago and the tables turned and I thought how my little one may do these terrible things to me! Thank goodness prepackaged fresh spinach came along, that stuff tastes totally different then that canned stuff.....besides, I would never make my children eat canned spinach! Anyways, just a heads up if you are a parent that makes your child sit there until their food is gone....check their milk!  And I forgive you mom and dad for making me eat that stuff!

Chicken(or turkey)Bake
Preheat the oven to 400. Prepare a package of stovetop chicken stuffing according to package directions and set aside.  Mix 2C of cooked and shredded chicken with a bag of frozen broccoli(or your choice of veggie) and place in a greased 13x9 dish. I have also used a 9x9 and it worked great.  Stir together a can of cream of chicken soup with 1/2Cmilk until smooth.  Add a small can of water chestnuts(optional), bag of cooked wild rice(or your choice of flavor) I use the 90second Uncle Bens rice in the microwave. Pour the mixture over the top of the chicken/veggie layer.  Top with a layer of shredded cheddar cheese and then top with the prepared stuffing. Bake for 25-30minutes

Penne and Smoked Sausage

Does anyone else just LOVE the magazines Simple and Delicious and Taste of Home? I have been following these magazines for years and get many wonderful recipes from them.  The recipe today is from one of them(can't remember which one).  Enjoy!
Penne and Smoked Sausage
2C uncooked penne pasta (I use Smart Taste, it is healthy pasta)
1pd fully cooked kielbasa, (I use lite, or turkey sausage)
11/2C milk
1can cream of celery soup(I used cream of mushroom)
11/2C cheddar french-fried onions,divided
1C shredded mozzarella, divided
1C frozen peas
I had fresh mushrooms so I added them also
Cook pasta and drain.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage for 5minutes(add mushrooms and raw onion here if you want them). In a large bowl, combine milk and soup and stir til smooth. Stir in 1/2C french fried onions, 1/2C cheese, peas and sausage. Drain pasta and stir into sausage mixture.  Transfer to a greased 13x9 dish.

Cover and bake at 375 for 25min or until bubbly.  Sprinkle with remaining onions and cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes more, or until cheese is melted.

Apple Crumb Pie

So, yesterday was sunny and short sleeve weather, overnight we had small hail and a thunderstorm and this morning it is snowing.....crazy Kansas weather! No worries though because it is FRIDAY!!!  I've been wanting to make this yummy apple crumb pie recipe ever since I spotted it over on the food blog Good Eats'n Sweet Treats.....it looked so simple, with very few ingredients.  I am use to apple pie with two crusts, which there is nothing wrong with that, but I thought the crumb topping sounded fun to try.  Let me tell you.....this was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! Very delicate, with the perfect amount of sugar and cinnamon and butter and the crust combined with the crumb topping was a perfect combination! The only thing I would do different is add toasted walnuts or pecans to the crumb topping, of course then no one else in my family would eat it if I added nuts to it....which of course may just be a pretty darn good plan!
Apple Crumb Pie
1 pie crust(I used Pillsbury!)

6C. or 5-7 tart apples, peeled and sliced

1C sugar, divided

1tsp cinnamon

3/4C flour

1/3C butter

Thaw pie crust and place in pie pan. Add sliced apples to the pie crust and combine 1/2C sugar and 1t cinnamon and sprinkle this over the apples.  Combine the remaining 1/2C sugar, the flour and the butter in a bowl and use a pastry blender(I just use my fingers) to incorporate the butter, until it resembles crumbs. 

Pour this over the top of the pie. Bake at 400 for around 40minutes or until apples are tender and the crumb topping is slightly browned. Cool completely before serving.