Grandpa Dallan's Favorite Dessert

Dallan is Matt's Grandpa. Matt and his Grandpa were very close and when his Grandpa passed away it was a tough, tough time for Matt. I love hearing about all of his memories with his Grandpa. The fishing trips they'd take up on Gull Lake, the practical jokes Grandpa would play, the quality time Grandpra would spend with each of his Grandchildren. It's so heartwarming.

I first had this dessert at Christmas last year. His Grandma made it and when she called out that dessert was served, you should have seen the family flock to the kitchen. By the time I went to get my piece, this was all that was left! I definitely want to make it myself someday.

This recipe was in the 1980 newspaper and Matt's Grandma still has the original clipped article. It was shared as part of Fairview Southdale's favorite desserts, submitted by employees.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Dessert
Recipe from: 1980 Newspaper Article

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tblsp melted butter
16oz cream cheese, softened
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
2 cans blueberry pie filling

Place graham cracker crumbs into the bowl and add the sugar and melted butter. Mix together.

Press into a 9x13 pan. Mix eggs and sugar together and add to the softened cream cheese and blend well.  Spread over the graham cracker crumb mixture. Bake at 375* for 20 minutes and let cool.

When completely cool, spread the blueberry filling on top of the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate and serve with ice cream or top with whipped topping.

Serves 12-15

Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake

I can't believe how delicious and easy this cake is. The longest part in the whole process is assembling the cake. Most recently, I made it for a family Christmas. When we got there, everyone was in the family room downstairs playing some games, having drinks and chatting. I put this cake in the refrigerator and we went downstairs to join everyone. Awhile later, we all slowly filed upstairs to get ready to eat the main meal and being one of the last ones upstairs I could hear the gasps, oohs and aahs coming from upstairs. Talk about a perma-smile on my face.

This cake will not disappoint. Seriously. Like I said, it's so easy to prepare and you could definitely prep this all the day before an event or special dinner and just assemble an hour or two before eating.

You should definitely give away what is leftover of this cake, unless you will be able to over power your desire to inhale whats left of this cake.

If you're inviting friends over for a Valentine's Day gathering, this will for sure be the hit of the party!

Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake
Recipe from: Our Best Bites

Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 package  Devil’s Food Cake

1 recipe  chocolate ganache (recipe below)

1 bag of Heath bits

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

1 Tbsp. cold water

2 Tbsp. boiling water

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 c. whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

 

Easy Chocolate Ganache

Recipe from: Our Best Bites

8 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate

8 oz. heavy cream

 

Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes and stir.

 Heat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until chocolate is fully melted and can be whisked and incorporated into the cream. Be sure and scrape the sides and bottom to make sure you don’t find any globby bits of chocolate when you start working with it.

 

The ganache will thicken as it cools, so if it’s a little too thin for you, hang tight and it will be ready pretty quickly. When it’s completely cool, it will be thick and fudgy and can be used like frosting. Store in an airtight container. You can reheat it to achieve your desired consistency.

 

Directions for baking and assembling the cake:

 

Bake cake according to cake mix instructions in 2 8″ round pans. Allow to cool and set aside. You could definitely do this the day before you need it. Or, if you are really planning ahead, you can freeze the cake layers.

 

In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water and allow to stand for about 1 minute. While gelatin is softening, bring 2 Tbsp. water to a boil in a microwave safe dish. I used a glass pyrex measuring cup.  Whisk into the softened gelatin and allow to cool slightly.

 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, whipping cream, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until medium-stiff peaks form. Mix in gelatin mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Prepare the ganache recipe according to directions.

 

With a serrated knife, carefully slice the dome-iest part of each cake layer off so the layers are level. Place one layer on the serving plate and spread about 1/2 of the chocolate mousse over the cake. Sprinkle with Heath bits.

Place second layer on top of Heath bits.

Spoon ganache over the top layer, allowing it to drip down the sides. Sprinkle with additional Heath bits and refrigerate until ready to serve.

You could really take this cake over the top and prepare some fresh whipped cream to go with the cake.

Enjoy!

Menu for October 3rd-7th

I start my new job tomorrow! It's a 7hr day with all kinds of orientation. I'm sure it'll be a long day full of lots of information. To make things a little easier as we transition into my new job (with different hours and a separate commute) I'm going to start planning our weekly menu. This will help Matt too because he'll likely be home before I will, therefore he'll be cooking a lot more for us.
Sunday: Homemade Chicken Chow Mein
Monday: Tortellini Pasta Bake with garlic bread
Tuesday: Biscuits & Gravy
Wednesday: BBQ Bacon Chicken
Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with leftover garlic bread
Friday: I'm thinking we'll get some take-out. We're having our friends' 15month old over for a sleepover so it'll be something kid-friendly.

Our Weekly Menu 8/8-8/19

Monday 8/8: Spaghetti and Meatballs with side salads

Tuesday 8/9: Take out Fake out orange chicken (recipe)
Wednesday 8/10: Creamy Taco Mac (recipe) with side salads
Thursday 8/11: Alfredo Pasta Bake (recipe)*
Friday 8/12: I will be gone for the night, Matt will be on his own...
Saturday 8/13: I will be gone for the night, Matt will be on his own...
Sunday 8/14: Dinner out
Monday 8/15: Homemade pizza (will make extra dough to throw in the freezer, too) (recipe)
Tuesday 8/16: Porkchop Hashbrown Bake (recipe)
Wednesday 8/17: Low-fat Zesty Shrimp pasta (recipe)
Thursday 8/18: Shrimp tacos with spicy avocado sauce (recipe)
Friday 8/19: At Mom and Dad's for the weekend

What I'm baking this week:
Monday: Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats to bring to a meeting that I'm co-leading. (recipe)
Thursday: Brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies to bring to my conference with me to share. (recipe)

Buffalo Chicken Salad

My Husband LOVES buffalo anything. Buffalo wings, buffalo chicken wraps, buffalo chicken salad, buffalo chicken pizza, buffalo chicken flavored pretzels. If it has buffalo chicken in the name, he'll eat it. This man has a heat tolerance I've never known before. I can never ask him if something is too spicy, because to him it's not. However, when I take a bite, I feel like my lips will start on fire. There have only been a few things to ever make him sweat from the heat. One of them being my Mom's salsa. Nobody else in my family can manage her salsa, but he loves it!

We had some bags of lettuce to use up so I figured buffalo chicken salad would be a light, yet tasty, meal. I was at the grocery store and was prepared to buy chicken breasts from the meat section but decided that a rotisserie chicken would work just as well and would probably be much easier.

Our salads ended up being HUGE. Seriously. Neither of us could finish our plates! We had plenty for leftovers the next day and it was delicious even on the second day.

The only recipe I have for this is for the hot sauce coating. The rest is up to you. Use whatever lettuce you like and whatever veggies you like. I preferred ranch dressing but my Husband chose bleu cheese for his dressing of choice.

Hot sauce coating
Amy's Kitchen Creations original recipe

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup buffalo sauce
2 tablespoons worchestshire sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

To start, take all of the meat off of the rotisserie chicken and shred it to your desired size. In a small frying pan turned to medium-high heat, add two tablespoons of butter. Let it melt. Add the chicken pieces to the butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. Make sure all of the chicken pieces are coated. Cook until the sauce isn't as thin as it was originally (about 10 minutes or so).

Let cool a bit and then top your salad with the chicken pieces and dressing!

Enjoy!

Alfredo Pasta Bake

When I saw this recipe on Carrie's blog I knew that this dish would be something that I would enjoy as well as my alfredo' lovin Husband. I haven't made it for us yet but I did make it for a friend after she had surgery. She said that her kids loved noodles of all varieties and I knew that her Husband, a meat and potatoes kind of guy, would enjoy this as well.

Because I was making this for kids ranging in ages from 1-8, I didn't use italian sausage because I knew that it could be a little spicy and would make dinnertime more hassle than delicious.

Below is the recipe that I used. Remember, I made this for a friend so I had to alter the way I prepared it a little. I wanted to make sure that it was ready for her to just put in the oven and not worry about it. Carrie has the original recipe on her blog.

Alfredo Sausage Bake
Recipe from: Carrie's Sweet Life

2 jars of Alfredo sauce
2 bags of frozen tortellini, cooked per package directions
2 cups of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 package of ring bologna, cut into slices

Cook the tortellini per the package directions. While the tortellini is cooking, place the bologna in a frying pan with a little bit of oil. Fry them until they're cooked through. Drain on a paper towel.

When the tortellini and bologna are cooked, combine the tortellini, sauce, bologna, parmesan cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella. Stir until well combined but be careful because the tortellini will be soft and you don't want to break them.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Like I said, I didn't make this myself but the recipient gave rave reviews and everyone loved it. I know that my Husband was bummed that I didn't make two batches, one to keep for ourselves, so I'll have to put this on the menu for us soon. It was super simple to make!

Ice Cream Cake and Cupcakes

On a Monday morning I was contacted and asked to make an ice cream cake and 1 dozen cupcakes for a 6th Birthday party on that same Wednesday. [insert panic here]

I was so extremely nervous for two reasons. #1: I've never made an ice cream cake before and #2: I've never made a cake/baked good for anyone other than family or coworkers before.

Everything turned out fine. They were to pick up the order at about 4:00pm Wednesday. At 3:50 I slid the decorated cake back into the freezer to freeze a little more before they picked it up, at 4:02 my doorbell rang. Talk about finishing in the nick of time!

I googled countless ice cream cake recipes, watched an ice cream cake video on youtube and just went with my own plan of attack. I didn't follow a specific recipe, but I had the idea in my head. I event went to a local Dairy Queen to check out their cakes, prices and decorations.

Marble cake was the Birthday girls choice!

Ice Cream Cake
My original recipe

1 baked and cooled cake, flavor of your choice
96 oz of your favorite ice cream, softened (I used chocolate and vanilla)
2-3 sleeves of crushed up oreo cookies (I purchased the family size oreo box)
Hot Fudge sauce
Cool Whip or Homemade whipped topping
Buttercream frosting to decorate your cake with
9x13 disposable pans (regular cake pans would work fine, but I was giving this away and didn't want to give away my glass 9x13 pan)

Once my cake was baked and cooled, I knew I wanted to transfer it to a pan other than the pan it was baked in so I took it out and noticed that I needed to cut it down. I used my cake leveler to cut it in half lengthwise. I put the half that I was using in the disposable pan and set the half that I wasn't going to use aside. (I had intentions of making cake balls with it, but it really didn't end up to be that much so I just tossed it.)
Set your ice cream out now for about 5-10 minutes to let it soften up. You want it to be smooth and stirable but not soupy. Put a layer of ice cream on top of the cake. I did about 1/2 to 3/4 of my container of ice cream.

 Freeze for at least 1 hour (this is when I made the cupcakes for the same order)

 After the vanilla ice cream has refroze somewhat, I prepared the cooke fudge layer. I crushed up oreos and ccombined them with hot fudge sauce. I wouldn't recommend this again. The hot fudge got very thick and wouldn't spread as I was hoping it would. I revamped my plan and instead, I sprinkled the crushed oreos on the vanilla layer and drizzled some chocolate ice cream topping over the crushed cookies. I was very generous with both the oreos and the chocolate topping because I wanted them to be very noticeable in the cake in both presentation and taste.

I also sprinkled some Nerds candies on the fudge layer because I heard that the Birthday girl loves candy. Looking back, I should have sprinkled more nerds to create more of a layer rather than a sprinkling.

After you've taken the cake out after freezing it with the cookie fudge layer, you're ready for the final ice cream layer. In this case, chocolate. I tried to go a little heavier with the chocolate ice cream because that was a request from the chocolate lovin' Birthday girl.

At this point, it was about 10pm at night and I was ready for bed. After I had spread the chocolate layer on, I popped it in the freezer and froze it overnight and all day while I was at work the next day.

On Wednesday when I got home from work, I quickly frosted the top with my cool whip, added a few decorations/writing in Buttercream frosting and sprinkled more nerds on top. I can't believe I don't have a picture of the final cake uploaded yet. I'll upload that and edit this post soon.

It was a lot of fun to make and I'm glad to have had the experience. I was so relieved when the Mom of the Birthday girl text me and gave me rave reviews. Her Daughter loved the cake, they all loved the cake!

Whew! Ice cream cake = success.

Here are a few picture of the cupcakes. Both the ice cream cake layer and the cupcakes were box mixes-Duncan Hines marble. Easy & tasty!

 






White Buttercream Frosting
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything
Review: I really loved this frosting. I'm not a fan of usual buttercreams and tend to go with the whipped toppings but this was really tasty. It wasn't too sweet or thick. It was so easy to make and light to work with too. It was a very smooth frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Source: Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Frosting
Review: I was sort of 'meh' on this recipe. I realized that I didn't follow the steps exactly though. It says to alternately add the powdered sugar and milk and without realizing I added all of the milk and then added the powdered sugar. The frosting had a little of a gritty taste to it which could be in part to my error. I'll definitely make this again and make sure to follow the instructions. My Husband who is a chocolate frosting lover, really liked the frosting but also commented on the gritty texture.

Baby Back Ribs

I don't know about you but I'm definitely a meat girl. Not so much meat and potatoes, but I definitely enjoy having meat. Steak, ribs, burgers... I enjoy them all. I remember when Matt and I first started dating, we went to dinner at Applebee's one night before a movie and they had some sort of ribs as a special. I ordered it and it was very tasty. Matt later told me that he was shocked that I ordered ribs. He may deny it but I bet that's when he knew he wanted to marry me. ;-)

We don't have ribs too often, but when they're on sale at the grocery store, we'll buy a rack. They're a very tasty and often simple to prepare meal. We usually have a salad with our ribs or a lighter side. If we feel like splurging a little, we'll have some mashed potatoes or a baked potato.

This recipe is all Matt's creation. He's usually the cook when we have ribs. Up until now, his best recipe was the steamed ribs he did on the gas grill.

Baby Back Ribs
Amy's Matt's Kitchen Creations original recipe

1 rack of ribs (peel the skin off the backside of the ribs)
1 cup of brown sugar
1-2 Tablespoons of Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt*
1-2 Tablespoons of Tastefully Simple Everyday Grilling Seasoning*
2 Tablespoons of Tastefully Simple Awesome American BBQ Sauce

After you've removed the skin off the backside of the ribs, rub 1/2 cup of brown sugar on each side of the ribs. Let sit in the refrigerator for 40 minutes while you prepare your charcoal grill. (a gas grill would work too, but honestly, these ribs were the most tender, flavorful ribs we've ever had)

Just before placing on the grill, season both sides with the Tastefully Simple seasonings. *Matt wasn't sure exactly how much he used, he just sprinkled the seasonings on. Use your own judgement.

Grill for about an hour and a half rotating every so often. At the one hour mark, spread the BBQ sauce over the ribs. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Let rest slightly before enjoying!

Smoothies

This is actually a recipe that Matt whipped up for Breakfast on Friday morning. I had taken a PTO day so he made us breakfast that morning. He scrambled some eggs up with a chopped vidalia onion and some cut up sausages. He added this smoothie to go with it and it was perfect! 

I really like smoothies but don't want to purchase them everyday. Our only options around our house for smoothies are either McDonald's or Caribou. Neither of which I consider to be real smoothies.

This one is super easy and our magic bullet makes it even easier! Smoothies in about 5 minutes flat for uber cheap!

Smoothie

Source: Amy's Kitchen Creation Original

1 cup frozen fruit (we used a blend of strawberries, blueberries, melons and grapes from Aldi)

1 cup (8oz) orange juice

Put both ingredients into the magic bullet and blend until you reach your desired consistency. We like ours thin but not too thin.

What I love most about the bullet is that there is no additional cleanup. You make your smoothie in the same cup you'll drink from. One dish is dirtied and no time is wasted!

Here's something my dear 'ol Husband doesn't know... when I made his smoothie tonight (he's been sick and requested a smoothie for 'dessert') I added 2 tsp of flax seed. hehehe Feel free to add flax seed or any other extra ingredients for added nutrition, I bet you'll never notice!

We were at Aldi again the other day and picked up a different fruit blend. I can't wait to try it. Smoothies are definitely an easy way to get in your daily recommended fruits. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

My Mom recently had a Birthday and I offered to make her Birthday dessert. I was eager to try my hand at red velvet cake and this was the perfect occasion. I asked her if she wanted a cake or cupcakes and she chose Birthday cupcakes! Awesome! Cupcakes are easy, transportable and always well received.

I've never eaten red velvet cake before. I always had this preconceived notion that it would taste 'funny'... as if there was an absurd ingredient in it or something. Who knows. I was wrong. I was so wrong. These were phenomenal. They were perfectly moist and oh so delicious. Oh, and that cream cheese frosting? It was TDF (to.die.for). Definitely the perfect companion for my new beloved red velvet.

Annie never lets me down. I found this red velvet recipe on her website and it was perfect.

The batter is a beautiful, deep red color!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Annie's Eats
Yield: about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2½ cups cake flour
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the frosting (see note at end)
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. In my picture I used a Ziploc bag with a hole snipped at the end. My Mom doesn't have piping bags on hand (not many people I know do) and I didn't think to bring one with.

*Annie recommends to increase the quantities by 50% to make more frosting. This will allow you to have more frosting on your cupcake and if you're swirling it by using a large star tip, you'll want to have the additional frosting. You may end up with some frosting leftover, but hey, you'd rather have that than to be short frosting, right?

I had these cute edible decorations left from Christmastime and I used those to decorate a few of the cupcakes. Although they are edible, I don't think they're desirable. I don't know about you but when I'm eating a cupcake, I really don't want to bite into a hard crunch. I think they're really pretty on these cupcakes though. It really makes them look elegant; like little pearls.