Mardi Gras King Cake – Recipe Review

When I woke up this morning I had no idea it was Fat Tuesday. I did, however, remember that it was Tuesday which, for me, is an accomplishment in and of itself. But, when I logged on to Twitter (my favorite news source) I was quickly reminded of the holiday. And, since baking is one of my favorite passions (sweets being another), I quickly set off on an internet search for a King Cake recipe.

Whenever I’m looking for new recipes I always go to Allrecipes.com first and today I found exactly what I wanted there once again. Here is the recipe I used… (go ahead and check it out first then come back here to see the mods I made)

Mardi Gras King Cake

Every time I try a new recipe from Allrecipes.com I read the reviews for suggestions and based on what I read this time I made the following modifications:

• I halved the pastry portion of the recipe because I only wanted to make one ring, but I left the measurements for the filling portion of the recipe as written because other reviewers said the recipe needed more filling.
• I substituted cinnamon applesauce for butter (same amount) in both the pastry and filling.
• I left out the raisins because I’m not a big fan.
• I made the dough in my bread machine (omitting steps 1-3 of the recipe) using the ‘dough’ setting.
• For the frosting I mixed 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1.5 tsp water and food coloring. I did three bowls of this so that I could have gold, green, and purple and it made just enough frosting.

Here are some “in process” shots:

The dough and the filling ready to be combined.

All spread out and ready to be rolled up “jelly-roll style.”

Egg washed and ready to go in the oven!

I’m really happy with how this turned out. I can not attest to the authenticity of the recipe, since I’ve only had a genuine King Cake once YEARS ago, but I will say that the flavor and texture were great!

I forgot to take a good picture of the “baby” before I inserted him into the bottom of the cake, so I’ll just have to use this grainy iPhone photo instead.

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!!

Man, I wish I was in New Orleans!

Lasagna Rolls

We’re having this for dinner tonight so yummy!

Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients:

• 12 Lasagna noodles, cooked and cooled slightly
• 15oz Ricotta Cheese
• Meat of choice, chopped
• Veggies of choice, chopped
• Sauce of choice
• Additional Cheese of choice

1.  Mix the ricotta cheese with your chosen meat and veggies.

2.  Lay out one noodle and top with mixture, then roll up the noodle like a cinnamon roll and cut them in half making two spiraled rolls.  Place them in a 9×13 dish. Continue doing this until the dish is filled with 24 rolls.

3.  Pour your sauce over the top and smooth over the rolls filling in and around them.  Then sprinkle the cheese of your choice over the top.

4.  Cook at 350 degrees until bubbly.

For the rolls pictured above I used fajita seasoned chicken, broccoli, alfredo sauce, and a mixture of parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

Easy Fruit Pie

I created this recipe by slightly altering one I found in our local electric company’s magazine. You can adjust this recipe to work for almost any fruit, and I’d love to see what combos you come up with. So far I’ve only tried peach and mixed berry (photo below).

Ingredients:

1 9″ graham cracker pie crust
fruit of your choice (enough to almost fill crust)
1/4 cup of fruit flavored gelatin (any flavor will work)
1/4 cup corn starch
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup liquid of choice (water, fruit juice, soda – will all work)

Spread the fruit inside the pie crust and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small sauce pan and whisk over high heat. AS SOON AS the mixture begins to bubble up (thicken) remove it from the heat otherwise it will bubble over. I wasn’t fast enough and got the goo all over my counter and sink. Luckily I managed to keep it off the hot burner, though. Pour the thickened mixture over the fruit until the is shell is filled (you may have a little leftover). And gently tap/shake/stir to evenly distribute it. Place in the fridge until firm. ENJOY!

Simple Tres Leches Cake

My hubby LOVES Tres Leches cake which is odd because he usually doesn’t have a big sweet tooth, and this cake is SWEET!  He asked me to make it for him the other day and I started searching out recipes, but couldn’t find anything that was exactly what I was looking for. So, I combined a few recipes and made them my own.  If you’ve never had Tres Leches cake before you’ve GOT TO try it. SO GOOD!!! 

Ingredients

boxed white cake – and all ingredients called for on the box

14oz can of condensed milk
12oz can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup of regular milk, 1%, 2%, whole… any kind will do

1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of white sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions

Make and bake white cake according to the package instructions. After cake has baked let it cool slightly then take a fork and poke holes all over the cake.  Whisk together the three milks and pour over the entire cake.. yes it will be watery, but don’t worry it the cake will absorb it all up. Once the cake has cooled completely cover it and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.  Just before serving whip together the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until ‘firm’. Spread the whipped cream over the cake and ENJOY! Goes really well with fresh strawberries too.  Be sure to store any leftovers in the fridge.

This post is happily submitted to this weeks edition of Tasty Thursday.

Banana Muffins

The recipe for these muffins is actually a variation on the Banana Banana Bread recipe found on allrecipes.com. I’ve rewritten the recipe below with my additions/alterations in red.

Ingredients
1 cup bread flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons honey
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (I used 5 bananas)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and honey.

Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.

Pour banana mixture into flour mixture and stir just to moisten.

Line muffin tray(s) with paper cups or spray with floured baking spray.

Spoon batter into muffin cups until about 3/4 full.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool. (makes 12-16 muffins)

These are so moist and delicious! Plus they are ready in 1/3 the time of a loaf of bread. My girls could eat the whole batch at once. Enjoy!

This post is happily submitted to this week’s edition of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Thursday.

Seasoned Ground Meat

I use this meat for so many different things (tacos, spaghetti, casseroles, pizza, sandwiches, omelets, etc.) that I thought I’d better go ahead and write it up so that I could link to it for any future recipes I post which include it.

Honestly, this really isn’t a recipe at all but more like a list of ingredients. Of which, the combination and quantities change almost every time I make it.

The first item is of course the meat. We use ground: beef, turkey, chicken, veal, or lamb. In other words, you can do this with pretty much any type of ground meat. Lately I’ve been sticking with ground turkey because it’s better for you than beef but, once it’s seasoned, it tastes very similar to beef. Usually I make up a large quantity (3-4 lbs) and use it for 3-4 recipes in a week. Or, I make the dishes and freeze them for future use.

These next items I use almost every time I make this, no matter what other seasonings I will be adding to it.

Primary Seasonings
Sazón Goya Sazón with Coriander and Annatto packet (1 packet per pound of meat)
garlic powder
cumin
onion powder
salt and pepper

Just be sure that when adding the salt and pepper you take into account any salted or peppered seasoning mixes you may be adding in. We’ve tried and frequently use all of the following:

Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
Cholula Chili Lime Seasoning
Bolner’s Fiesta Brand Fajita Seasoning

In addition to the primary seasonings I usually add in these items, which give the meat a Mexican/Spanish/Latin (whichever) taste. Even if I’m going to use this meat for another type of dish, Italian for example, I will generally still flavor it with the following because we think it tastes good in any dish.

Additional Seasonings
taco seasoning (we buy it in bulk) I usually do not add the water that it calls for on the package
cilantro
ground oregano
lime juice
and a bit of one of the above mixed seasonings
sometimes Italian seasoning or basil (if I want a more Italian flavor)

The only time I generally do not use these additional seasonings is when we are making ground lamb for a shepherd’s pie. Instead I would add in sage, thyme, and possibly oregano.

The thing to remember is to change the combination and quantity of the ingredients to fit your tastes and to match the dishes you will be using the meat in. You can even leave some of the ingredients out if you need to.

If you are worried about getting the flavor wrong than just add the seasonings after the meat is fully cooked. Turn the burner down to low and slowly add in and taste as you go. However, you may need to add in a little water as well to help the seasonings dissolve correctly.

Once you’ve done this a few times you will know which combination of ingredients your family likes and will be able to add the seasonings in as the meat cooks.

This post is happily submitted to this week’s edition of Tasty Thursday at Southern Fried Mama.

Orange Cake Cookies

Ingredients
1 box of orange cake mix
1/3 cup of orange soda
1/4 cup softened/slightly melted butter
1 egg
granulated sugar (for coating)

Whisk together the soda, butter, and egg.

Stir in the cake mix until lumps are gone. The batter will be thick and very sticky.

Scoop out a teaspoonful at a time and toss in a bowl of sugar coating all sides. Because of how sticky the batter is I actually like using one of those small ice cream scoops instead of a spoon.

Place on a greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. I use parchment paper instead of grease because the one time I used grease (cooking spray) the cookies got a little too brown on the edges. So, if you have parchment paper I highly recommend using it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

These are soooooo good. They’re crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect!

The great thing about this recipe is that you can mix things up by playing around with the cake mix and soda flavors. I’ve tried Holiday Funetti Cake (white cake w/ sprinkles) with Sprite, Spice Cake with Ginger Ale, and Red Velvet Cake with Coke. They were all good.

This post is happily submitted to this week’s edition of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Eggs a la Goldenrod

Practically every summer when I was a kid my brother and I would get to stay with my grandparents for a few weeks. My Grandma Edie would frequently make us this egg dish for breakfast and she would serve it over her homemade bread. Actually, I think we begged her for it every morning, and I don’t know how she put up with making it so often because peeling all of those hard boiled eggs could not have been fun.

Anyway, once I became an adult (and summers with the grandparents were a thing of the past) I went years and years without eating this dish. Then one day something triggered my memory of its deliciousness and I just had to whip out my pots and pans. And now you can enjoy it too…

Ingredients
1 dozen hard boiled eggs
4 tbsp butter or margarine
4 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
paprika
salt and pepper
toast or biscuits
(The amounts I used in this recipe should serve 4-6, but can be easily altered to serve more or less.)

1. Separate the egg whites and the egg yokes and break the whites into bite sized pieces.

2. Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the flour to the melted butter, whisk until smooth, and let bubble slightly.
4. Add in the milk and turn up the heat slightly to get the sauce bubbling. Continue whisking as the sauce thickens to prevent lumps. Also, add in salt until the flavor is to your liking.
5. Turn off the heat once the sauce has thickened and add the egg white pieces to the sauce.

6. Spoon the sauce over toast or biscuits and top with grated egg yolk, paprika, and pepper.

And, that’s it! YUMMY! I don’t know why it’s called Eggs a la Goldenrod, but that’s what my Grandma called so that’s what I’m calling it too. She is a wise woman, so who am I to question her?

This post is happily submitted to this week’s edition of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot… this one’s for you Jennifer, thanks for visiting and tweeting.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For…

Ice Cream BREAD?

So, I tried a new recipe today and I thought I’d share. It’s very simple… here are the ingredients:

1 Pint of Ice Cream (softened) and 1 1/2 cups of Self-Rising Flour

Mix them together until well blended…

Pour into a greased/floured bread dish. 7×3 would be best, but I only had a 9×5

And, bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 mins. I did mine for only about 30-35 mins because of the larger pan making the bread thinner.

Here’s what it looks like half way done. Please ignore my dirty oven.

The finished product.

The verdict… pretty darn good. Not as sweet as I expected, but I liked that. It would make a great breakfast bread with some honey-butter, or jam.
Not too shabby, and VERY simple. I will definitely be making this again. It might even be fun to experiment with different flavors of ice cream.

Nana’s Chicken Enchiladas – TMTT

I got this recipe from my Mother-in-law, and it is SO GOOD and easy too! Thanks Nana!

Ingredients

2-3 chicken breasts, or shredded chicken
12-14 small corn tortillas
8-10 oz ~ mexican shredded cheese
enchilada seasoning (we LOVE this kind)
vegetable oil

Cut chicken into large chunks and saute in a little oil with about 2 tsp of enchilada seasoning. After if has cooked through and cooled slightly shred it with two forks.

While the chicken is cooking make enchilada sauce according to package directions. Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, and set 1 cup of sauce aside to pour on top of the enchiladas. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and add in about 8 oz of cheese. Mix well.

Heat a small amount of oil in the bottom of a pan and pass each tortilla through the oil for a few seconds to soften it up. Put a large spoonful of the chicken mixture into each tortilla, roll, and place them side by side in the casserole dish until the dish is full. Pour the remaining sauce over the top, cover with cheese, and cook at 350 degrees until bubbly and heated through. (about 20-30 minutes)

For more great recipes be sure to check out this weeks edition of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.