Peach Cobbler...My Style

This is one of my very favorite recipes to make. It takes almost 2 minutes to put together and yet turns out SUPER yummy. I love peaches in this, but any canned fruit with juice will work...so get creative!!!

Start by pouring 2 cans of peaches (juice and all) into a casserole dish and cut them into bite size bites.

Sprinkle a yellow cake mix over peaches. Then cut up a stick of butter and spread over cake mix.

Thow it in the oven at 350 till it is bubbly and brown like so :)

I promise you will love the ease and yumminess! PS- as with most baking just the smell of your house will drive you crazy till its ready to eat!

I love it hot with ice cream, but enjoy it cold just as much! So versatile for so little work!

Happy Baking!

Amanda

Asian Lettuce Wraps ** Mmm Mmm Good

I found this new recipe online and had to try it out. If you have ever been to PF Chang's, these lettuce wraps are very similar. Now I just need to find the yummy dipping sauce.

Surprisingly these were super easy and pretty fast and made a nice change from our usual Chinese night of sweet and sour chicken :)

Start by browning your meat. Drain and put aside to cool.

Chop up a small onion. I mince mine pretty small cuz I don't care for big onion chunks

Next chop up a can of water chestnuts

Brown the onions about 2 mins.

Then add your onion, chestnuts, green onions, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar

After its all heated through toss meat back in

Wash your lettuce carefully so they don't tear. Then...

SERVE IT UP!!

Oh my goodness these are so super yummy.

We had these with brown rice, potstickers and eggrolls. Oh I wish I was eating them again right now...hehe they really are that good!

Happy Cooking!

Amanda

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1 lb hamburger

1 tbs oil

1 chopped onion

2 garlic cloves

1 tbs soy sauce

1/4 C hoisin sauce

2 tbs ginger

1 tbs rice wine vinegar

1 can water chestnuts

1 bunch green onions

2 tsp asian sesame oil

Rince lettuce and pat dry. In skillet, brown meat. Drain and set aside. In same pan cook onion. Add garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar to onions. Add water chestnuts, green onions and sesame oil. Cook till onions wilt, about 2 mins. Serve with lettuce!

(PS you will definately need a napkin :)

Skor Cake

Whenever someone in our fam has a bday this is by far the most requested cake! Most of you have probably heard of/eaten/made this cake, but just in case there is even one person out there who has not...it had to be posted!

One of Matt's employees (k one of my favorites ;) had a bday so I made her this cake! This one is for you Jeni Jo!

Not only is it THE yummiest cake but it couldn't be easier!

Start by baking a chocolate cake. You pick what kind...I always go for the triple chocolate, cuz hey, why not?!

Bake according to box. After it is COMPLETELY cool, use the back of a cooking utensil to poke holes. The more the merrier! Trust me, LOTS of holes ;)

Then pour and entire can of sweetened condensed milk. Make sure you let it pool in the holes, not just float to the outside. (This is what the holes are for you see ;)

Once the milk has set in, then pour a jar of caramel ice cream topping. Use the whole jar (yum I know) and make sure it fills in the holes as well!

Then take either a Skor bar and chop it up or use Heath Toffee Bits and mix into an 8 oz Cool Whip. (PS I have never tried with chocolate Cool Whip but wow, that would be fab). Then spread over the whole cake

There! Doesn't that look fabulous! Now we can't see all those holes hehe

Now normally all cake should be made, frosted and eaten the same day. This is the rule.

But with this cake, you should try hard to break the rules. In fact this cake is 10 times better on day 2 or 3 than on the day you make it. The cake just keeps absorbing the caramel and milk and it just gets more and more moist! It'll be tricky....but you can do it!

Happy Baking!

Amanda

Cookie Dough Brownies...Oh My!!!

WARNING!!!!!

This post is not for the weak at heart. Or for those who don't completely love to dive into chocolate. In fact if you didn't wish you could visit Wonka's factory the moment you saw the chocolate river...you should probably quit reading this asap!

K for those of you still with me, you will adore this yummy recipe and never go back to regular brownies again! Bonus...it is super easy and only adds a few extra steps to take the WOW factor to the top!!!

Start by baking a regular box of brownies. No tricks...let Duncan Hines or Betty do the hard part! ;)

While they are cooling, mix white and brown sugars & butter in your mixer.

Then add milk, vanilla and slowly add flour

There now it looks a lot like cookie dough (but yeah without eggs). After brownies are fully cooled, drop this super thick dough in severl places on the brownies

Then either use a spatula (or your hands if its super sticky) or spreader to cover the entire batch of brownies

Then in a small bowl, add 1 C of chocolate chips (I always use milk chocolate :) and a tbs of oil

Microwave on high in 30 second intervals until it is all smooth and all chips are completely melted.

Then you must quickly pour it over the brownies and spread. If you wait it won't be runny and will get SUPER hard to spread around!

Are you drooling....I am just looking at the pics again

Then take your cutest plate (wink wink jk I just HAD to show off this beauty)....

And fill it with your cut up brownies!

Sadly there was one that didn't make it very pretty out of the pan....hmmm

What to do, what to do

I figured I would just leave it for Matt. But sometimes I can't control myself...let's face it...with this much joy staring me in the face, it only lasted on the plate for...

Well let's just say, not Matt! ;)

I hope you LOVE these yummy brownies!

Happy Baking!

Amanda

Cookie Dough Brownies

1 box brownies, cooked as directed, fully cooled

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 C sugar

1 stick butter

2 tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 C flour

Mix sugars and butter. Add milk and vanilla. Spoon in flour. Spread over brownies

1 C chocolate chips (milk is best)

1 tbs oil

Melt in microwave. Spoon over brownies

**Pecan Pie Bars**

We tried a new recipe for St Patty's Day dessert. Although it isn't green, it IS very tasty! I am not usually a huge pie fan, but if you are going to have pie, pecan is my favorite!

These pecan pie bars were very simple and a crowd pleaser!

Start off cutting your butter into the flour and sugar. Cut until crumbly.

Then dump it into your 13x9 and press it all around to  hit all sides etc

While it is baking, combine pecans, milk, eggs and lemon.

Here is the pretty brown crust after 15 mins at 350

Then pour your pecan mixture over the crust and bake another 24 minutes

When it comes out it will look something like this...

After a few minutes of cooling, cut it into bars and serve!

Or, as I always like to do, make yourself have to eat it with a fork by adding ice cream and caramel!

Now we are talking!

Pecan Pie Bars

2 C Flour

1/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C butter

1 1/2 C chopped pecans

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs beaten

2 tbs lemon juice

Preheat to 350. Combine flour and sugar; cut in butter till crumbly. Press onto bottom of ungreased pan. Bake 15 mins. Combine pecans, milk, eggs and lemon. Pour over crust. Bake 25 mins.

Happy Baking!

Amanda

Lemony Baby Broccoli

I have this wonderful recipe for broccoli that is packed with flavor and yet remains butter free and healthy! I don't know about you but if I can jazz up a veggie and yet keep it healthy...I'M SO IN!!

Start out 1 tbs olive oil in a skillet. Get it hot and add a bunch of broccoli. Add 2 garlic cloves and 1/4 tsp red pepper.

 

Cook till bright green!

Then add 1/4 C water and cover. Cook till crisp tender

Add 1 tbs of lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss! I also sprinkle mine with a few sliced almonds

And wah lah! It is super yummy and ready in 3 minutes! Our family LOVES this recipe. It is so full of flavor there is no need to alter it at all!

Hope you like it!

Happy Cooking!

Amanda

 

**French Donuts**

For family home evening this week I decided to try a new recipe that had been calling to me for a while. Who doesn't love donuts right? I only wish that calorie free donuts were available :(

So when I found this recipe a while back for French donuts and saw that they were baked not fried I got really excited.

Funny thing though...they are nothing like donuts. Nothing at all. Should have figured. French don't do anything the way we do right?

Nonetheless, they were super yummy. Although they are really more of a cupcake/muffin type ordeal, I decided to share the recipe because they were very moist and yummy. But no go on the whole unfried donut thing. Sorry :(

I started by creaming sugar and shortening together

Then adding just the yolk of 1 egg

(I just seperated my egg into a cup. You will need the white in a minute)

Then add milk, flour, nutmeg, baking powder & salt with your mixer. Dough is really pretty thick

In seperate bowl, beat your egg white with a mixer on high. This takes 2-3 mins

When it is "stiffly beaten" it will form peaks and looks something like this

Then fold your egg into your dough. Do not use mixer, use spatula

Grease muffin tin. Fill your muffin tins half full of dough

Melt 1 tbs butter in small dish. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a seperate small dish

Bake donuts for 20 mins. Then pull out and coat with butter and sugar mix

They pop out just like muffins. Doesn't that look good...although its missing something....

THERE!!! Drizzle butterscotch over the donut and a little extra on your plate (you'll thank me for this ;)

Mmmm yummy. Thanks to the French. They have donuts all wrong, but this recipe is still pretty good!!

French Donuts

½ C shortening

½ C sugar
2/3 C milk
1 ½ C Flour
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg; separated
1 Tbs butter
1-2 Tbs cinnamon/sugar mix

Cream shortening & sugar. Add yolk only. Add all else. Fold in stiffly beaten egg (see pic). Fill greased muffin tin ½ full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Brush with melted butter and cinnamon/sugar mix.