Josh's Birthday Chocolate Cake!

I normally don't pay too much attention to the recipes on the back of packages and boxes. BUT this is a chocolate cake recipe I got straight from the Hersheys Unsweetened Cocoa tin. I made it for Josh's birthday. I followed the cake and frosting recipe exactly, and it was yummy. Taste like what a chocolate cake should taste like, rich and chocolatey. I like my chocolate cakes to have substance;) It's nice to have a cake from scratch every now and then. So if you are looking for a chocolate cake recipe, look no further than the back of the Hershey's cocoa tin.

But don't get my wrong, I am a big cake mix fan;)

I don't feel like posting the recipe but it is easy to find:)

Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

My husband loves this shepherds pie, he is a big fan of sweet potatoes. So I have made this a couple of times in the fall. It a great cool weather/fall dinner. The picture isn't the best, but it is a tasty and filling dish, though I think my husband likes it more than me. (It's a Rachael Ray recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground turkey or chopped leftover turkey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 onion, cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups turkey or chicken stock (recommended: Kitchen Basics brand)
• A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas
• 1 very ripe banana ( I instead added some brown sugar and a little butter)
• A few dashes hot sauce
• 2 cups shredded sharp yellow Cheddar (I usually have put this on, but if you are making your sweet potatoes sweeter, then I prefer without it)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a deep skillet or a Dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add meat and break up with a wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper and poultry seasoning.

Place sweet potatoes in a pot, cover with water, cover pot, bring to a boil, salt and cook 15 minutes until tender.

Grate onions and carrots into the turkey. Add the celery and stir, cook 5 minutes. While vegetables are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add flour to melted butter and whisk 1 minute then whisk in stock and season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire. Thicken a few minutes.

Stir the gravy into the turkey mixture. Stir peas into meat and turn heat off.

Drain potatoes and return pot to heat. Add remaining butter and melt over medium heat. Peel and slice banana and add potatoes to the pot. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and a few dashes hot sauce. Mash potatoes and banana to combine, adjust seasoning. Top the meat with the potatoes. Cover potatoes with cheese and set in oven. Bake to melt cheese, 5 minutes.

Linguini con Vongole e Cozze

Here is my finished product! I served it with a crusty garlic bread.

I LOVE seafood and lately I have been craving a savory pasta dish with clams and mussels. I had some in Italy and at other restaurants I have been to in the past year, and I loved it. I had never really had mussels or clams (besides clam chowder) in a dish until recently and now it is one of my favorite things. Steamed mussels with fresh, crusty bread to dip in the broth or clams with pasta, you name it, I like all of it!

So here is a seafood pasta dish from Emeril Lagasse with a little alterations. The nice thing about this dish is it is flexible and easy to alter, like most pasta dishes.

I found some good fresh mussels and clams at a nearby place. In fact ALL but one of them opened when I steamed them, which means all but that one are good to eat. You will normally have a few that don't open when you steam/cook them and that means you want to throw them out because it's probably bad shell. So whoever says you can't find good seafood when you are not by the sea, I must say you are wrong. Yes, living on the coast gives you better options but, you are not without options when you are landlocked:)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 2 pounds baby clams (littleneck if available), scrubbed
• 1 stick of butter, cut into tablespoons (I cut back on the butter by about half, but it probably would be better with all)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic, in all
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pounds fresh angel hair pasta (I used linguini)
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

Bring a pot of salted water up to a boil. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and the garlic cloves. When the garlic starts to turn golden discard the cloves, about 2 minutes. Add the mussels and clams to the oil. Cover the pan and saute the seafood for about 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, or until the shells open. Remove the pan from the heat and discard any shells that did not open. Pour the seafood into a bowl and set aside. Place the saute pan back on the heat and melt the butter with the minced garlic, over medium-low heat, about 2 minutes. I also added some seafood (or chicken stock) to the pan for more liquid. I wanted more of a broth with my pasta. You can also thicken it a LITTLE, with a LITTLE cornstarch. Drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Sauteed mussels and clams with their liquid back into the pan. Saute for 1 minute. Remove the pasta from the water and drain. Place the pasta directly into the saute pan. Remove from the heat and toss the pasta with the mussels and clams. Season with salt and pepper. Mound the pasta in the center of an over-sized pasta bowl. Garnish with the grated cheese and chopped parsley.

Like I said, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but this is basically the way to get this type of dish. Just play around with it:)

Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream!

I love homemade ice cream, especially when there are great fruits in season. About a month ago, I found some great, big beautiful blackberries, and I decided to make blackberry ice cream! Yes, this is a indulgence, not for those on a "diet" :) But hey, everything in moderation, right?

I have a Cuisinart automatic ice cream maker but this recipe should really work with any ice cream maker.

1 and 1/2 cups, blackberries, lightly smashed

1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 and 1/2 cups whole milk

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar (you can add a little more if you like sweeter, I like it a little more tart)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Smash the berries with a mash potato smasher or chop with a large knife. I left it a little chucky because I like small chucks of fruit, but smash as much as you like.

Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan and heat until it almost boils about 5-8 minutes. Reduce to heat to low.

Meanwhile beat egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in small bowl until light yellow and smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

Important: Add four tablespoons of hot milk/cream mixture to the egg mixture in the bowl, stirring while adding. This helps temper the liquid, so that you don't get scrambled egg ice cream, eww! Then slowly add the tempered egg mixture to the hot cream/milk mixture in the saucepan, stir while adding it to avoid scrambled eggs!

Cook over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes.

Cool completely (or else it will melt your ice maker ice bowl or ice and never turn into perfectly frozen and fluffy ice cream). When cool add the berries and stir until combined.

Pour into ice cream maker, and let it run for about 45 minutes or longer, until it is thick and fluffly, like what ice cream should look like, it shouldn't be drippy. But keep in mind it will not look as hard as store bought ice cream. It will be better! It is best right when it is done, but you can put it in a air tight container and store it in the freezer.

Little tip I learned, make sure your ice cream maker is not in a hot kitchen, or near a heat source, like a stove that is being used, or your ice cream will never quite set! That may be obvious to some, but not to me. I was hosting a dinner party a while back, and homemade ice cream was the dessert and it never set because I had been using the stove and oven cooking away for the dinner party. The kitchen was just too warm. So no ice cream for us...just berry soup :) The key is just get the ice or ice cream maker as cold and frozen as possible.

Chili and Breadsticks for the Super Bowl

Chili is a great football party food! I made some along with my mom's homemade breadsticks and it turned out to be an easy and hearty Super Bowl dinner:)

This chili recipe is a copycat recipe of the Wendy's Chili, which I love, a great low fat and hearty option!

P.S. You need a large pot!

Wendy's Chili

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
one 29-ounce can tomato sauce
one 29-ounce can kidney beans (with liquid)
one 29-ounce can pinto beans (with liquid)
1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)
1/2 cup diced green chili (2 chilies)
1/4 cup diced celery (1 stalk)
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water

1. Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat; drain off the fat.

2. Using a fork, crumble the cooked beef into pea-size pieces.

3. In a large pot, combine the beef plus all the remaining ingredients, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours.

Makes about 12 servings.

Tidbits: For spicier chili, add 1/2 teaspoon more black pepper. For much spicier chili, add 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. And for a real stomach stinger, add 5 or 6 sliced jalapeno peppers to the pot. Leftovers can be frozen for several months.

Parmesan Breadsticks

1 Tb. Yeast

3 ½ cup flour

1 ½ cup water

½ tsp salt

2 tb. Sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water, then mix in dry ingredients. Cover 10 minutes to rise.

Topping

¼ c. margarine

¼ c. parmesan, grated

¼ c. mayo

¼ tsp. parsley flakes

¼ tsp. garlic salt

Spread dough in a greased cookie sheet pan. Spread the topping over the dough. Cut dough in slices. Allow to double in size. Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Really Easy BBQ CHicken Pizza!

I didn't have cilantro for this pic, but I do recommend it!

So this is a really quick dinner idea! And it's really good! I was amazed at what a great pizza crust Boboli pizza crust makes.

1-2 chicken breast, cut in pieces, or you can use precooked chicken pieces you can find in the refrigerated section near the salads, or rotisserie chicken, cut up.

1 regular Boboli Original Pizza Crust (you can find it at most grocers)

Shredded cheddar cheese (as much as you like on your pizza)

Good quality BBQ sauce, my favorite is Dinosaur BBQ's sauce

cilantro

red onion (if you like, I don't)

*just a note, a good BBQ sauce is key in making this really good, if you are a BBQ aficionado, you should really by a jar of the Dinosaur BBQ Roasted Garlic Honey BBQ sauce(find online or in NYC), its one of the betters ones I've had. I am not a fan of too sweet or too spicy BBQ sauces and this one is perfect for me!

First, heat a saute pan with oil and add chicken pieces and a little bit of salt and pepper. Once cooked, add a few tablespoons of the BBQ sauce to saute the chicken in the sauce.

Spread the BBQ sauce on the Boboli bread as you would if it was pizza sauce, however much you like. Add the cheese and the cooked chicken pieces. Garnish with thinly sliced red onions, and chopped cilantro.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Voila! All done! Can garnish with extra cilantro, because I love cilantro.

Orange Chicken!

This is like the orange chicken from Panda Express, but a little bit healthier. It's not deep fried goodness, but it is very tasty! I served this with a yummy fried rice that I also made (if you want me to post it, please comment). It's also good with brown or white rice and sauteed green beans with garlic!

ORANGE CHICKEN

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

white pepper

oil for sauteing

equal parts cornstarch and flour, enough to dredge the chicken pieces

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon gingerroot, minced, or 1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

1/4 cup water or chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

ORANGE SAUCE FOR STIR FRY (mix this together in bowl before you start with chicken)

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons water or orange juice (I used OJ)

4 tablespoons sugar(if you use OJ, cut the sugar to about 3 TB)

5 tablespoons white vinegar

1 orange, zest of

Directions

1. Place chicken pieces in large bowl.

2. Stir in salt and pepper.

3. Add cornstarch and flour and toss the chicken so that it is lightly coated with the flour mixture

4. Heat enough oil to coat a saute pan.

5. Add chicken, small batches at a time, and cook until golden.

6. (Do not overcook chicken).

7. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

8. Clean out the burnt pieces from pan and heat 15 seconds over high heat.

10. Add 1 tablespoon oil.

11. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant; about 10 seconds.

12. Add and stir-fry crushed chiles and green onions.

13. Add the Orange Sauce and bring to boil.

14. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

15. Stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into the water until smooth and add to pan.

16. Heat until sauce is thickned.

17. Stir in sesame oil and orange zest.

Cafe Rio Copycat!

Those of you who are in love with the wildly popular, yet regional (unfortunately), Cafe Rio, will definitely appreciate this!

My dad found this online, and tried it out. And guess what? It is pretty darn close, actually, it's just like it. And it's a great remedy for those craving Cafe Rio with no access to it!

This is the recipe for the Pork Salad, so that means, the lime-cilantro rice, the black beans, the pork, and the creamy dressing.

I am giving all the credit to this lady who tweaked the recipe to perfection ...but I am going to help share this secret!

So here is the link to it:

CAFE RIO RECIPE