My aunt made this cookie cake all growing up. It is super easy and WAY better than any cookie cake you can buy (and way cheaper:)). In fact I was reminded how yummy it is when my mom made it for my birthday this weekend!
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag of chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350
Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil. Add vanilla and stir. Add chocolate chips. Spread mixture in a well greased pizza pan. Bake for 18 minutes.
If you are like me, nothing is better than sitting on the porch in the spring sipping a margarita:) I have tried for years to perfect a recipe but have never been able to make them as good as they are in a Mexican restaurant. Enter my friend Chris Rush. Probably the best drink maker EVER!!! He is always concocting a new cocktail and has, in my opinion, created a margarita recipe better than those in a restaurant.
Here it is:
4 parts silver tequilla (it has to be good tequilla…..you will taste it:))
2 parts FRESH squeezed lime juice (the store-bought, already squeezed lime juice makes them taste funny….I promise I tried)
2 parts water
1 part agave nectar (I think the light tastes better than the amber agave)
Put in a shaker of ice and shake well. Pour over ice and ENJOY! Each recipe makes 2 large margaritas.
This is such a great side dish! I found I needed to cook it a little longer and cut the potatoes thinner to get them to cook enough. If you don’t watch Mexican Made Easy, you need to check it out! Try this today!!!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/potato-and-poblano-gratin-recipe/index.html
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray a glass 9 1/2-inch, deep dish pie dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the poblano strips and corn.
In a small bowl, mix together the half-and-half and crema.
Arrange 1/2 of the potato rounds, overlapping slightly, in the prepared pie dish. Sprinkle 1/2 of the poblano-corn mixture on top, season with the salt and pepper, and top with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat the layers, ending with the cheese. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet. Cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the potatoes are tender and the cheese is golden brown, about 30 minutes longer.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Cook’s Note: For easy peeling, enclose the charred poblanos tightly in a plastic bag.
This is such a simple recipe, but something I loved growing up! Such a comfort food. Not super healthy, but a nice treat every once in a while.
4 pork chops (with or without the bone)
2 eggs
1 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
Olive Oil for cooking (my mom uses canola oil, but the olive oil makes me feel healthier:))
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Beat the eggs on a small plate. Pour the breadcrumbs on another small plate. Dip the pork chops in the eggs and then in the breadcrumbs. Make sure they are really covered in crumbs. Fry in the oil about 6 minutes per side until they are golden brown.
Serve with a salad or whatever side you like. So yummy!
I have to start by saying I HATE lasagna…….really, I can’t stand it. And of course it is my husband’s FAVORITE meal. In fact he loves my mom’s lasagna and she loves to make it for him. I have to say my mom is an AMAZING cook, but I do not like her lasagna. My dislike for the dish comes from the taste of the ricotta cheese. Not my favorite. Recipes that don’t use ricotta use cottage cheese. I dislike cottage cheese as much as I dislike ricotta. So when I came across the recipe below, I was VERY nervous about the cottage cheese. My friend Ashley has made it several times and swore to me I wouldn’t know the cottage cheese was there. We had friends over for dinner on Saturday and I decided to try it. It was AMAZING! Seriously, the BEST lasagna I have ever eaten. And if you are grossed out by cottage cheese, I promise you will not know it is there. This was so easy and so good it even got me to eat leftovers!
Thank you again to the pioneer woman….her recipes never fail!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.
In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).
To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.
Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.
Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.
In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet (iron is best) or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.
Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Turn meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.
Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.
Serve immediately over rice. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.
Since it has been so cold, we have been making LOTS of soup! If you haven’t checked out skinnytaste.com you HAVE to! I have cooked so many of the recipes and they are ALL amazing. They are also all really easy. I found this potato leek soup on the site and it was so good. It tasted almost like the really bad for you loaded potato soup. You could even add some lowfat cheese to make it a little more fun!
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/10/potato-leek-soup.html
Potato Leek Soup
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Size: 1 cup • Calories: 159 • Points: 2.75 ww points
Wash leeks very carefully to remove all grit. I usually cut them horizontally and separate the rings to make sure no dirt remains. Coarsely chop them when washed.
In a medium soup pot, melt butter and add flour on low flame. Using a wooden spoon, mix well. This will thicken your soup and give it a wonderful flavor.
Add chicken stock, leeks, onion, potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth adding the milk and adjusting salt and pepper to taste.Potato Leek Soup
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Size: 1 cup • Calories: 159 • Points: 2.75 ww points
Wash leeks very carefully to remove all grit. I usually cut them horizontally and separate the rings to make sure no dirt remains. Coarsely chop them when washed.
In a medium soup pot, melt butter and add flour on low flame. Using a wooden spoon, mix well. This will thicken your soup and give it a wonderful flavor.
Add chicken stock, leeks, onion, potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth adding the milk and adjusting salt and pepper to taste.
It has been a long time since my last post! We had a busy, yet amazing holiday! We were blessed to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with wonderful family and friends! The girls LOVED Christmas (who doesn’t love presents???). It was so much more fun to see Santa Claus through the eyes of children! It was also a White Christmas, something very rare in the south!
We usually go to the UGA bowl game over the holiday. This year UGA played (or tried to play:)) UCF. We have amazing friends in Orlando who are also UCF grads. Instead of going to the game, they came up to Atlanta and we had a bowl party and fantastic New Year’s celebration with them.
Here are some of my favorite holiday pictures:
Every night Chris bathes the girls and puts them to bed. They take a bath together. When he is done bathing Amelia, Grace stays in the tub and plays and I monitor to make sure she doesn’t flood the bathroom. Last night after he dressed Amelia it was early, so he let her run around a bit. I stepped out of the bathroom for a second to put the Clorox wipes away (in a closet 2 steps from the bathroom). As I was putting them away I hear Grace say “Amelia is in the tub….” Chris and I turn around and sure enough Amelia is back in the tub, clothes and all. She was having a blast! We also learned how much water overnight diapers hold….tons!!
So my girl Sarah shared this family recipe with me! Her mom Diane (Mama D to me) is an amazing cook! Their Italian beef is SO easy and SO yummy!!!
1 london broil
1 can beef broth
1 can beer
1 package of dry Italian dressing
1 jar of banana peppers (Sarah does half hot half mild….I do all hot….depends on how spicy you like it:))
In a roasting pan, place the beef and sprinkle with the dry seasoning.
Add beer and broth (pour on the sides so you don’t wash off the seasoning)
Put peppers on top
Bake at 300 for 3-4 hours.
The meat will fall apart. Sarah and her family serve it on buttered rolls….I love to serve it on a roll and dip it in the drippings.
The leftovers are amazing in salads, quesidillas….anything you can imagine! So yummy!!!!!!
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