Cake Lollipops

My dear Ron's sister, Julie and her husband Chad are having a baby in September. Yay! I wanted to do something very special for her shower. I saw this yummy concoction on Bakerella's website and had to make it for the occasion. I used blue cake with a pink shell, and blue sprinkles since they don't know what they are having. Brave! Also, it was fun day because my friends Maggie and Dianna were on hand to help me. Thank you girls- you are the best!

Ingredients:

2 boxes of white cake mix (you can really use any kind you want)

2 containers of white frosting (second the above)

3 14 oz bags of candy melts

Lollipop sticks

Sprinkles

Instructions

-Bake cake according to instructions (I added blue food dye while mixing). When the cake is done make sure you allow enough time to cool (about 30 minutes).

Remove cake from pans and crumble into a large bowl. Add both containers of frosting to the cake (I dyed the frosting blue as well) and stir till frosting is fully incorporated with the crumbled cake.

Roll (about 1 1/2 inch diameter) balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for about 1 1/2 hour or 25 min in the freezer. These were too big and we thinned them down, but forgot to take a picture :-(

Before you remove the cake from the fridge/freezer melt you candy in a microwave safe bowl. Be careful not to get any water into the melted candy. Remove cake from the fridge/freezer to begin the assembly line. First, dip the cake end of the lollipop stick into the melted candy and then slide into the cake ball about a 1/2 inch. Dip cake in melted candy up to the stick (a spoon is handy for this step). Gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl while rotating to remove access coating.

Next, sprinkle cake with desired toppings (we used blue sprinkles).

Place the finished product in a styrofoam holder (make sure to pre-cut the holes before) to dry. put mine in the holder and then to the fridge since they won't be served till Sunday.



YUMMY!! :)



Someone stole a bite!


Kitty Approved- Thank you Strider!

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

My Aunt Cherry makes the best meat sauce in the world. No joke. I have been eating it for 25 years and trying to figure out how she does it. Naturally, she doesn't have a recipe (she's that good) so i have been watching to try and figure it out. This recipe comes pretty close-hers just has something special- but i think it is really tasty.

Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

1 lb extra lean ground beef, i like to buy 93/7

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes, canned

1 Tbs minced garlic

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 cup portabella mushrooms, sliced

1 3/4 tsp salt, divided

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1 pinch rosemary

1 tsp garlic pepper seasoning

3 tsp Italian seasoning, divided

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp splenda (you can use sugar, but I would use a little more because splenda tends to be a little sweeter)

1 bay leaf

Parmesan Cheese, garnish

Parsley, garnish

Instructions

-Turn burner to med-low and spray with a bit of PAM to a deep skillet.

- Add garlic and onion, mix together.

- Add ground beef to skillet and stir ingredients together.

- Add crushed red peppers, garlic/pepper seasoning, rosemary, oregano, black pepper, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp Italian seasoning. Allow this to cook for about 15 minutes and stir frequently.

- Add tomato paste to mixture, stir well.

- Add crushed tomatoes and stir well.

- Add 3/4 tsp salt, 2 tsp Italian seasoning, garlic powder, bay leaf, and splenda, stir well.

- Serve over pasta and garnish with Parmesan and parsley.

Serves 4-6 (depending on how hungry your eaters are).

My First Post: Diet Coke Chicken with Green Bean Casserole and Salad

I really like simple dishes- mainly because i have a pretty busy schedule. However, i love homecooked meals. I suppose I am somewhat "semi-homemade". This is one of my favorite things to make for dinner. A friend of mine made diet coke chicken in while we were at Edgewood (Madison, WI), and loved it!




Diet Coke Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large pieces
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup BBQ
1 tsp A-1 Steak Sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 can diet coke ( I use diet pepsi because that is usually what I have on hand)

Instructions:

Lightly spray skillet with PAM and turn burner on low. Add chicken pieces and brown for about 5 minutes. While chicken is cooking mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken. Depending on your burners you may want to go to medium-low. Simmer for 30-40 minutes. Serve Hot.

Green Bean Casserole (i was a slacker on this and used canned)

1 can kitchen cut green beans
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 TBS crispy onion straws (i used French's)

Instructions:

Mix all ingedients together except the onion straws on the stove top. Plate when heated and add onion straws.