Fast Fixin' Chocolate Cake

Today is my husband's birthday and he loves rich chocolate cake.
When I was a kid my mom found this chocolate cake recipe and it has been a family favorite ever since.

1 devil's food cake mix
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 (3.9oz) chocolate pudding mix
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tb flour (optional)
Powdered sugar to dust the top of the finished cooled cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pan(s) you can use one 9x13" pan or two 8" round pans or two 9" round pans. Grease whatever pan(s) you plan to use. You will have about 4 1/2 cups of cake batter so if you need to divide it into two pans then you can put about 2 1/4 cups of batter in each pan.

Ok - mix together the cake mix, oil, eggs, milk and pudding mix.
In a separate bowl toss the chocolate chips with the flour just to coat the chips - this will help them to stay spread out through out the cake and not sink to the bottom while baking. After the chips are dusted with flour add them to the batter and stir just until they are mixed in.

Pour batter in cake pan(s) and bake.
350 degrees for 30-45 min until cake is just pulling away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

when cake is completely cooled sift powdered sugar over the top of the cake and serve.

Today since it was A's birthday I decided to try my hand at homemade Chocolate Buttercream frosting - YUMMY!
Here is the recipe I used
http://www.recipezaar.com/89207

I used the max amount of cocoa and I added some chocolate fudge ice cream topping we had in the fridge maybe 1/4 cup. SO AMAZING!!

I surprised A and brought the cake to his work, he didn't even know I was making a cake. Lots of people he works with came down to the lobby to have cake and to see the baby.

A said this is the best chocolate cake I have ever made - I think he has had a happy birthday so far.

BOO!

This isn't her halloween costume but I thought we would start getting in the spirit a few days early - BOO!
Of course I put a white shirt on my kid today and she had 2 diaper blowouts!
Now, she is in pink and hopefully she will keep the yuckies to a minimum tonight.
Maybe the ghost on her shirt scared the crap out of her - HA!
Ok - bad joke mom!

Happy Girl!

Baby K is full of smiles these days and is finding her "voice" learning to coo and aww. It is pretty much the cutest thing ever!

Mexican Chicken Soup

Today was a rainy fall day and I made some soup. I really like this soup and thought I would share the recipe with you. Didn't take pictures, sorry. This soup is pretty mild, I don't find it spicy at all but you can cut back on the green chilies if you are worried about spicy foods.

3 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
1 1/2 lbs cooked & shredded Chicken (TIME SAVER: Buy an already cooked rotisserie chicken - about 2 - 2 1/2 cups of shredded chicken should be about right)
1/2c onion, chopped
1/2tsp cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1Tb olive oil
1 (14.5oz)can of diced tomatoes
1 (8oz)can tomato sauce
1 (4oz)can green chilies
1/4c fresh cilantro
1tsp oregano (1TB if you use fresh not dried)
serve with shredded cheese

In a large saucepan warm the 1Tb OLIVE OIL. Cook the ONION, CUMIN, & GARLIC in the oil until the onion is tender. Now add the CHICKEN BROTH, undrained DICED TOMATOES, TOMATO SAUCE, GREEN CHILIES, CILANTRO, & OREGANO. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20min. Stir in SHREDDED CHICKEN

I serve with a little shredded cheese on each serving.
Also I love to make Cheese Quesadillas to serve with this soup.
Kind of a tex-mex twist on grill cheese sandwiches & tomato soup - in my opinion it's better b/c I don't like tomato soup (I know..that is so sad, I wish I liked it)

ENJOY!

Chocolate Covered Caramel Apples!!

I love Fall! I love Fall Food! I love making these yummy apples and giving them to friends and neighbors and of course we keep one for ourselves to eat. They are huge and have to be cut into wedges to eat them.
I will share with you how to make these but know they take time but are very rewarding. Also I have embedded a slide show of some of the process although I kept forgetting to take pictures as I went so some steps are missing. But hey, getting some pics is pretty amazing since I was making these while home alone with a 5 week old baby.

I just finished typing the directions and forgot how many steps there are - this is a little crazy. I've been doing it so long I just cruise right through it but some of you may think I am NUTS after you read this.

You will need:
Bamboo skewers
Apples: Granny Smith or HoneyCrip or Jonnygold (a tart apple) -look for ones that are nice and round, sit up straight and have no bruises
Caramels
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Crisco (the white kind NOT the Butter Flavor Yellow kind!)
Favorite Candy (mini M&M's, butterfinger, heath toffee, oreos, etc.)
White Chocolate Chips (or Almond Bark white melting chocolate)

How To:
Wash apples (duh) then put skewer in apple then I use scissors to score the bamboo about halfway down then I break it (otherwise it is way too long or tall)
Then I melt Caramels and add 1-2 tablespoons of cream or milk, whatever you have on hand is fine. Remember to melt slow - 30 sec in microwave, stir, 30 sec, stir, etc. until caramel is nicely melted.
Ok. - dip your apples
I put a cake pan in the fridge lined with wax paper that I have sprayed with spray cooking oil
place caramel apple in fridge to set up caramel.

If you are using mini M&M's then press them on the caramel apple as soon as the apple is cool to the touch. If you want to use another candy then beat the candy into small pieces and press on caramel apple. Put apples in fridge while you melt the chocolate.

While apples are in fridge, In a medium bowl melt your semi sweet chocolate chips & 1/2 -1 Tb crisco (I use the microwave to melt it, same way as before 30 sec, stir, 30 sec, stir, etc. the crisco makes the chocolate shinny and pretty)

In a small bowl melt about 1/2 cup of white chocolate and 1/2 teaspoon of crisco. BE CAREFUL - white chocolate easily overcooks - you'll know it when it balls up on you instead of being smooth and creamy. After the white chocolate is melted let it cool down some and pour into a ziplock sandwich bag (if it is too hot it will melt the bag) you will cut a small hole in one corner of the bag.

Dip your caramel & candy coated apple #1 in the semi-sweet chocolate and place in fridge.
Dip apple #2 in chocolate and place in fridge.
Take Apple #1 back out of fridge and drizzle with white chocolate
Dip apple #3 in chocolate, place in fridge
Take #2 out and drizzle with white chocolate
etc.

Good Luck!
Recently I have just been making them with mini M&M's but my absolute FAVORITE is to smear creamy peanutbutter on the caramel apple and then cover with tiny pieces of oreo cookies and then cover in the chocolate - crazy bad for you but crazy YUMMY!

Accessories - A MUST to finish any outfit

Seriously isn't she the cutest! I went to visit a friend who makes hair bows and headbands for little girls. She makes all different sizes. The bows are interchangeable on the headband and later can be worn just as a hair bow. I just laid some clothing on top of Baby K so she didn't have to put up with me dressing and undressing her several times today just so I could show of her new bows. I love accessorizing my little bald princess! :)
Check out sugarplumboutique blog if you want to see more cute bows or order some of your own.
If you live near Wichita I want to have a bow party probably in January. Sweet treats & cute bows are in store!! Let me know if you want an invite.
ok...now to unloading the dishwasher and starting dinner...what I really should have been doing this whole time.

Today

Rainy Day...

It is a rainy & cool day around these parts today. So Baby K and I are staying cozy in our PJ's and Mommy is enjoying the next best thing to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte... coffee made with love by my husband and some $1.50 CoffeeMate Pumpkin Spice creamer....pretty yummy if I do say so myself. In the entry previous to this one you can see a slide show of Baby K in her PJ's. She is smiling now even when it's not gas! So cute. No pictures of mommy in her PJ's because mommy isn't as cute. :)

PJ Day

the answer is Yes

For those of you who had questions about my previous post...
Yes, it tastes just fine defrosted. We have frozen deli meat before - and we don't like leftovers so if we think it tastes fine my guess is you will agree. :)
Yes, Walmart or any grocery store should shave the meat for free. Although, Sams is the only place I've found a fully cooked turkey breast. But all grocery stores have fully cooked ham.
Happy Savings and happy lunches!

Savings!$!$!$! And a LOT of turkey!

Seriously, we buy a pound of deli turkey every week. My hubby doesn't care for ham so we buy turkey - currently at the grocery store and Walmart smoked deli turkey is $6.99/lb - crazy!
My friend Steph shared with me a while back about how she buys a ham or turkey that is already cooked and asks the deli to slice it for her - much cheaper. If your family will eat ham, you can get it around the holidays for 99cents a pound!
Anyway, yesterday I was at Sams and saw they had JenniO mesquite smoked turkey fully cooked for $3.28/lb! So I picked up a 9.62 lb turkey, rang the meat department bell and asked them to shave it for me - they did - no extra charge!
I found that one pound of turkey will fit in a ziplock sandwich bag so I divided it up and put it in the freezer. Now for more than 9 weeks I do not have to stand in line at the deli, I do not have to spend twice as much on the turkey, I can just go to the freezer and pull out a bag.

Ahhhhh.....it feels good to save money!
Thanks Steph for the FABULOUS idea!

Funny Pics

I took these pictures the other day while Baby K was chillin' in the chair. She was making funny faces and I was cracking up! What a sweetie.
She is 4 weeks old in these pictures.

I want to make these...

Strawberries cored and filled with cheesecake then dipped in chocolate - I must eat one soon! hee hee

Found this recipe on my beloved Foodgawker website.

http://tamiskitchentabletalk.blogspot.com/2008/09/cheesecake-filled-chocolate-covered.html

Unrelated info to this food post...
Baby K goes to the dr. for her 1month appt. I can't believe my baby is 4 weeks old. WOW!
Also, soda pop is now a no go for me. I don't drink it often but the last 2 times I've had it have been Baby K's worst days. The kid's tummy can't handle the stuff, I'm pretty sure.
Dang it! Even though I don't drink pop much, now that I need to avoid it I want it more than ever. :)

Exhausted Mother Saved by Exhaust Fan

My sweet baby is very unpredictable these days. One day she is a perfect angel and another day I think she will never stop screaming and eating.

For example on Tuesday I met up with some old friends for coffee at 10am we sat and enjoyed great conversation and coffee (decaf for me of course) and when we finally decided to check the time it was 1:45! My baby was just hanging out in her car seat sleeping and she ate once but was so quiet. Then we all went to a very late lunch and stayed there until 4 then I went to the grocery store - Baby K was perfect.

Two days later I went to the mall to find a dress for an upcoming event Baby K was having a great morning so I thought we would be fine. Turns out she hated the outing. She screamed pretty much the whole time we were in the mall. Even though I fed her in the parking lot before going in (hoping she would be full and asleep for my shopping) we ended up in the dressing room for more than 30 min. feeding her and then ended up leaving b/c the crying would not stop.

Yesterday evening she was the crying machine again. I think she may have had an upset stomach. Neither my husband or I could get her to relax and go to sleep. She really had not taken more than a 15 min. nap here or there during the day so I knew she was very tired.

A friend of mine had told me that when her son was crying a lot that they would swaddle him up, go to a dark room and turn on white noise and he would settle down.

We don't have a noise maker so I swaddled her up, went to the bathroom with the lights turned off and turned on the exhaust fan and in less than 30 seconds she was silent. I just stood there in the dark swaying back and forth and she was sound asleep in just a few min. We put an air purifier in our room that makes a similar noise and turned out the lights and she slept for 6 hours!! This morning she was not going down for a nap so we went to the bathroom again - works like a charm. I love that exhaust fan!

Maybe I will move her bassinet to the bathroom until I am able to go out and buy a noise maker. ha ha

Here is a picture of baby K learning to pose like a model. :)

Here is a picture of dad asleep with baby and the dog. (we had to touch up some spots on the back wall so the paint is a little crazy in the background)