Summer has come, and I will have more time for posting my yummy recipes on here! On Sunday I made a delicious strawberry layer cake!

It was very easy! I used a box of white cake mix and divided it into two round cake pans.  When they were cool enough to touch, I took them gently out of the pans and placed the bottom one on a plate.  I used strawberry jam for the filling and then placed the second cake on top.  The frosting is a whipped white frosting out of a can.  My parents happened to go to a farmer's market that morning and stopped by for lunch.  She found some small strawberries that I was able to use on the top of the cake.  I turned out very yummy.  Next time I need to use a little more jam for the filling though. :)

    Oh my, it has been a long time since I have posted on here.  It isn't because I'm not cooking, thats for sure!  Last night I made spaghetti with mussels in a white wine sauce.  It was so good!  I cheated a little though because I bought frozen garlic and butter mussels.  I did pump up the sauce so it would be enough for the noodles.  I added about a cup or so of white wine, some olive oil, garlic powder and italian herbs.  It turned out just how I wanted it to :) I love to cook!

Ok friends, this is what I made last night for dinner....Pesto Chicken!! It was so delicious I didn't take the time to take a picture!!! I'm sorrry :(  The recipe was very simple.  I cut two chicken breasts into strips and placed them on top of a thin layer of pesto in a square baking dish.  I then brushed more pesto on top of the chicken strips, covered the dish with foil and baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  When the timer goes off, remove the foil and cover the chicken with mozzarella cheese, place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes to let the cheese melt and viola! It is done.  So easy and so delicious!  The picture in the link looks exactly what mine looked like last night!

Pesto Chicken!!!

Peanut Butter Cake Bars

   I found these in an email, again! I LOVE Taste of Home and their emails. :) I am a HUGE fan of peanut butter and chocolate, so when I found this recipe I thought that it was a must try! It has a part cake/part cookie texture that is pretty awesome.  I would like a little more peanut butter flavor, but they were still really great!!

Peanut Butter Cake Bars



BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

   I made this recipe in the crock pot, it was kind of an experiment. :) I had an idea for a bbq pulled chicken sandwich and it wouldn't let go away! :)  I used two chicken breasts, about 3/4 C. honey barbeque sauce, 1/2 C. Jack Daniels barbeque sauce, 1/3 C. Garlic Hoisin sauce and I also added 2 C. chicken broth.  I let this cook all day, it smelled AMAZING!!!  When it came time to eat, I toasted the buns in the toaster and then topped them with the chicken.  We are big fans of Asian flavors in this house, hence the hoisin sauce, it really brought a nice garlicy flavor.  My measurements aren't spot on, but pretty close...Sorry I kind of go with my gut sometimes when I'm experimenting!

Mint-Chocolate Cupcakes!!!

   Sorry Friends that it has been so long since I have posted on my blog, but this recipe is worth it!!!  I saw a recipe in my email from Taste of Home for these Chocolate Mint Shamrock Cupcakes and I thought "Those sound great!"  I didn't make the green shamrock candy that is supposed to go on the top because I was mostly just interested in the mint frosting and chocolate cupcake part of the recipe. :)  This was a really easy recipe because you make a cake mix, bake it into cupcakes and melt andes mints with a little heavy whipping cream for the frosting.  Very Easy and Very Delicious!! I'm so happy that I tried these!  I made some regular size cupcakes and some mini cupcakes with this recipe and still have leftover frosting.....I wish I had an idea of how to use it!

Chocolate-Mint Cupcakes

Asian Sesame Chicken Wings

Ok, so this is way late, but here is the wing recipe we made for the Super Bowl!  Some orange marmalade, asian sesame salad dressing, garlic powder and some red pepper flakes make the sauce.  Cook the wings for 15 minutes at 415 degrees, take out and coat with sauce, place back in oven for another 15 minutes and done!!! They turned out great, but needed a little more red pepper flakes for my taste! :)

Ultimate Chicken Wings

The Best Mac N Cheese I've Ever Had!

(And Jay Agrees!)

   I've been wanting to make some homemade macaroni and cheese, and tonight was the night!  I looked up some easy mac n cheese recipes that called for cottage cheese and cheddar cheese, and found a great one, Chucks Favorite Mac-and-Cheese.  We had a can of chili and I decided that it sounded good mixed in with the mac n cheese so I reduced the amount of cottage cheese and sour cream in the recipe to allow for the amount of chili I was adding in.  I followed the rest of the recipe as directed and baked it for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.  It was AMAZING!  I love macaroni and cheese, and this was literally the best I've ever had! 

Turkey Bacon Egg Cups

   I saw something like this on Pinterest and had to try it!  This was kind of an experiment, I know now that I need a larger cupcake pan. :)  We put the biscuits on the bottom of the cupcake indents and put a little turkey bacon, swiss cheese and an egg on top.  With the cupcake pan I used, one egg filled up two holes, so some of the egg cups were whites only.  I baked them as directed on the biscuit can and then had to broil them for a  little to finish cooking the eggs.    They tasted really good, but didn't look so good, that's why I don't have an after picture. Hee Hee

Mushroom Stroganoff

  

 This is a really easy recipe.  I get some stew meat and cook it in a pan seasoned with some salt, pepper and Greek seasoning.  When the meat is fully cooked I put in the Cream of Mushroom soup and 3/4 a can of milk to make the "gravy".  Add a little more pepper and Greek seasoning to the gravy mixture.  Cook the noodles as directed on the box, I use about half the box for the two of us. 

Lunch Edition ;)

   I wanted to use the rest of the smoked salmon that we used for omelets this weekend, so I decided to pair it with some cream cheese and crescent rolls.  I rolled out the crescent rolls and spread a small amount of cream cheese on the larger end.  Then I put some salmon on top of the cream cheese and carefully rolled them up.  I tucked in some of the edges that were open so they wouldn't brown more than the rest of the roll.  Baked them for 10 minutes at 350 deg.  They turned out delicious!

Here's a closeup of a finished roll.  :)



Baked "fried" chicken was on the menu this evening. :)  I used italian seasoned breadcrumbs with a little extra garlic powder to coat the chicken.  Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 410 deg, then take off foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes to brown.  Dinner was good, and pretty speedy as well!

Tonight was Lasagna Night!  I found a really good recipe on kraftrecipes.com for two people.  I add some extra cheese of course, and ground turkey.  I have found a great spaghetti sauce from Safeway that has big chunks of garlic in it that really gives the lasagna a lot of flavor. :) It was a big hit as always with a side salad.

Table For Two Lasagna

Hello out there, 
     This is my new food blog.  I have a love of cooking that began a couple of years ago.  Living with Jay has inspired me to become a better cook for him and myself.  I have become more and more interested and invested in making really good food.  I find myself wanting to please others with my cooking.  Hopefully sharing my recipes and successes with you will inspire you to try the recipes as well. :)