Hawaiian Wedding Cake with Whipped Cream-Cream Cheese Frosting

So far this week has been uneventful. We are trying to transition school assignments from one grade to the next. Not a lot of excitement, just a  relaxing pace here! 😉

A few years ago I made this Hawaiian wedding cake for my husband and he really enjoyed it. I kind of forgot about it until the other day when I found it in my recipes. I tweaked the recipe a little to bring out the natural flavors and added a cream cheese frosting made with whipping cream.

For the cake you will need:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 cup finely chopped (or crushed) walnuts
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Then mix in the eggs, vanilla and crushed pineapple with all of the juice.

Pour into a well greased pan 9″ round or 9″X13″ rectangle

Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees (or until toothpick in the center comes out clean). You can serve it this way if you want…or you can kick it up a notch with a simple creamy whipped cream-cream cheese frosting!

For Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting you will need

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (let it come to room temperature for easier blending)
1 cup white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Gently fold the cream cheese mixture and whipped cream together.

I topped mine with a little toasted coconut. 🙂

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Tangy Green Bean Casserole – Something a Little Different

I hope that everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! Ours was eventful and involved a trip to the ER.

Happy 6 (Superman) jumped off a bed and landed on Happy 7’s (Batman) head. So of course, we headed to the ER. Fortunately, everything was fine. That’s life with boys …I hope I survive the superhero stage… 😉

On to today’s recipe! 🙂

When I was a kid, my mom made a green bean casserole that was a bit different than the usual mushroom soup casserole. Not that I have anything against the mushroom soup casserole, but I will probably never crave it. My mom’s casserole, however, is a different story altogether!

You will need:

2 pounds fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces

2 TBSP finely chopped onion

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP white vinegar (or rice vinegar)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp pepper

2 TBSP saltine cracker crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 stick butter, melted

Put beans in a pan with a little water to cover. Cook until almost tender. Drain off water, then mix green beans,  minced onions, garlic, olive oil, pepper and vinegar in a casserole dish together.

Melt butter

Add cracker crumbs and Parmesan cheese to the butter and mix well

Place crumb mixture on top of the green beans in casserole dish

Bake at 350 degrees until the top is golden brown.

I have been known to polish off large portions of this in lieu of a proper lunch or dinner! 😉

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Cowboy Mashed Potatoes

Living in a house full of boys, there are always superheros, various Star Wars characters and (of course) cowboys underfoot. My three-year-old is especially fond of playing cowboys. His little Fisher Price farm set has a little farmer with it that Happy 3 insists is a cowboy.

Happy 3 is also the most picky eater of all my boys. Most of my kids will gobble down vegetables as fast as I can set them on the table…but not Happy 3. He needs a little more convincing.

So tonight we are having mashed potatoes “cowboy” style. I am hoping that the combination of his beloved mashed potatoes combined with some vegetables and a slightly spicy kick will rope him in. 😉 I think my husband is sold…I’ve had to chase him away a couple of times…after all, we need some to be left in the bowl for when the chicken is finally done and it is time for the food to be placed on the table!

Anyway, you will need:

15 – 16 medium potatoes

1 cup carrots (cut very thin…matchsticks)

1 onion, minced

1/2 cup butter

10-15 slices of pickled jalapenos (I used 28 slices…we all like a little more ‘kick’)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella)

8 oz. corn

3-5 minced garlic cloves

salt and pepper to taste

Peel, cut and boil your potatoes as you normally would for mashed potatoes. Saute the garlic, onion, carrots and jalapenos in a little oil.

Place butter in the bowl you will be mixing the potatoes in

Pour the (hot) boiled potatoes over the butter and mix (mash)

Add the corn to the sauteed mixture and saute a few minutes longer

Add the sauteed mixture to the potatoes and mix

Then mix in the cheese and serve

And in the words of my husband “Yee Haw!! Let’s eat!!”  😉

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Chocolate Chess Pie

I managed to get my technical problems sorted out….basically resulted in buying a new part. Apparently one of my kids took something off the laptop and hauled it off. Whenever something like this happens we usually check with my three-year-old or my twenty-year-old. If the three-year-old has it then it is stashed away somewhere for him to play with later. If the twenty-year-old has it…we make yet another trip to his GI doctor to have more x-rays. So far they have found a lot of interesting things…hehe…but that’s another story! 😉

While my husband was gone we spent some time with my parents and some of my siblings. There were lots of kids around so we decided to have an impromptu cookout. I whipped up about four chocolate chess pies. These pies are  really easy to throw together and have a rich chocolaty flavor!

You will need (this will make two pies):

2 unbaked pie shells

3 cups sugar

6 TBSP cocoa powder

4 eggs

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tsps vanilla extract

Mix your cocoa and sugar together.

Lightly whisk your eggs then add to cocoa mixture.

Beat in milk, butter and vanilla.

Pour into your pie crusts and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min or until a knife comes out clean.

See?? Super easy! So flavorful that everyone will think you knocked yourself out to make them! 🙂

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No, I’m Not Missing In Action…

…..I’m just having some technical difficulties.  

My husband came back earlier in the week from his business trip to Singapore and the Philippines. We are so happy to have him back home! No one told me that jet lag was contagious! After he got back, we were all tired as if we had gone with him! Maybe it was watching him yawn so much…poor guy was really tired!

In the meantime, I am dealing with some technical issues that I hope will be resolved soon. I have lots of things to share, so just hang in there while I work on these issues, please! See you all soon! 🙂

Easy Asian Chicken

Do you like to entertain? Do you like Asian style meals? Here is a recipe that can save you time and money if you need to feed a lot of people in a hurry. You can also freeze this and heat it up later. I make this (mildly spicy) chicken for my family of seven and it always goes pretty far! And it’s delicious too!

You will need:

3 lbs of boneless skinless dark meat chicken, cut into chunks

1 onion

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp chili paste

3 TBSP brown sugar

2 TBSP lime juice

1 TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP hoisin sauce

1/3 cup cornstarch (or enough to evenly coat chicken)

First julienne the onion (cut into matchsticks)

Thoroughly coat chicken with cornstarch

Saute onions and garlic in a few TBSP of oil

Mix water, vinegar, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, chili paste, lime juice, and soy sauce together

Add the cornstarch-coated meat to the onions and garlic. Stir occasionally until chicken is fully cooked and cornstarch is starting to crisp slightly in some places. Pour the sauce on.

Continue to simmer for about 7 min.

Serve with rice, honey glazed carrots, and zucchini sauteed in oyster sauce and you will have a healthy and filling meal that is sure to please just about everyone!

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Quick, Easy and Oh-So-Tasty Caramel Sauce

Today has been one of those lazy days when I don’t really feel like doing much. I know I should wash some laundry before it becomes an insurmountable task. Or perhaps mop the floors which are sorely neglected at the moment. Or at least organize my upstairs sitting area (not really sure what to call that spot…it’s a bit big to be a hall, but not really big enough to be a real room). Instead I opted for sitting around in comfy clothes with my husband and kids. 🙂

I guess it’s just a little hard to get motivated knowing my husband will be leaving for an overseas business trip soon.At least my neighbors are family members, so we won’t be too lonely. And  it’s only for a week…it could be worse. He could still be in the Marine Corps and be deployed for long periods of time. I’m really going to miss him!  I can say that I definitely admire all the men and women who serve our country…both in the military and those who hold things together while their spouses are deployed.

Anyway, I’m rambling… 😉

Since it’s fairly hot over here we decided on ice cream for dessert tonight which is easy for me! This caramel sauce recipe I’m going to share with you is super easy, too!

You will need:

1/2 cup butter (no substitutions)

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup heavy cream, unwhipped

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

In a small saucepan melt butter. Add the brown sugar; whisk until combined and thickened (about 2 minutes).

Whisk in the whipping cream, until thoroughly blended (2 more minutes).Mix in vanilla (if using) until combined.

This sauce will thicken up more when refrigerated. It has a very creamy taste and texture…not overly sticky or gummy.

Store it in the fridge in a jar and use this on just about anything that requires caramel sauce.

As for me, I’m going back to enjoying my lazy day! 🙂

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Peanut Butter Mousse Pie with Chocolate Fudge Topping

It’s so hot here in the Carolinas right now! Definitely time for swimming, cookouts,water-gun fights and watermelon! 🙂

My kids have been spending more time outside lately, in spite of the heat. Of course that means that I’m out there with them and when I come in I don’t really feel like standing over the hot stove! Tonight when we came in I decided to make a nice ‘cool’ pie.

I really like the creamy pies that you can make with Cool Whip, but not the hydrogenated oils that Cool Whip is made from. This PB mousse pie uses real cream instead of Cool Whip which gives it a creamy and rich flavor without hydrogenation.

For the peanut butter mousse you will need:

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup heavy cream, lightly whipped

Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla until well blended.

Beat in 1/4 cup of the whipped cream until mixture is smooth and blended.

Slowly fold in remaining whipped cream.

Spread into pie crust.

For the chocolate fudge you will need:

7 ounces of sweetened condensed milk (1/2 can)

6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate (1/2 bag)

Melt chocolate and sweetened condensed milk together. (Usually about a minute in the microwave will do it.)

Stir until smooth.

Carefully spread on top of peanut butter mousse. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! 🙂

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My Comfort Food – Schnitzel

One of my big weaknesses is fried foods. I know…they are bad for me… 😉

Don’t worry, I don’t eat them very often. But every now and then I want some comfort foods like fried chicken or schnitzel.

I am often surprised at how many people do not know what schnitzel is. I think most often people expect some sort of pastry or sausage. Weiner schnitzel was traditionally made out of veal or pork cutlets that were pounded thin, breaded and fried. There are lots of different ways of serving schnitzel: different toppings, sauces and even fillings you can use. However, I prefer mine to be the very simple traditional version. See?  Not everything I make is spicy! Just in case you were wondering… 😉

To make schnitzel you will need:

6-8  sliced pork loin, pounded thin

1 cup flour

4 eggs

1 TBSP oil

salt and pepper to taste

3-4 cups bread crumbs

1/8 cup oil for frying

After pounding the pork loin slices, dredge them in flour

Whisk eggs with 1 TBSP oil and salt and pepper

Dip flour coated pork loin into egg mixture and coat evenly

Then  dip into the bread crumbs to coat evenly. I usually go back and dip it back into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs a second time to give it a thicker crust.

Fry the schnitzel until golden brown on both sides.

Schnitzel is traditionally served with lemon slices. Drizzle the lemon juice (that is what is in the little white bowls, but I couldn’t get it to show up in the pictures) over the schnitzel.

If you are looking for traditional side dishes to serve with schnitzel try potato salad, mashed potatoes, beets or braised red cabbage. We usually eat ours with potato salad and beets

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