Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

My Melvin said this cake on a scale of 1-10 is a 20!!! My camera is out of batteries right now so I can't post a picture... that is if there is any left. But I just wanted to share this recipe with anyone who loves peanut butter. Mel usually slathers peanut butter on most sweet things. Banana bread, cookies, etc.... so this recipe worked out great!

I do cheat. Yes you caught me! I used a box cake mix for this recipe. Any dark chocolate is fine... devils food cake mix, chocolate butter cake mix, etc. How can you even go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate? You can even make cupcakes and then frost each one. Maybe top with a few reeses pieces or one reeses peanut butter cup. Yum.

Ok, so obviously you need to make your cake. Let cool completely. This time I used a bundt pan, but I also thought about doing to 9" rounds and putting a layer of frosting in the middle. Very tempting. Once the cake is done and completely cooled, frost!

Peanut Butter Frosting

3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy if you want smooth, crunchy if you want crunch)
1/2 cup margerine (1 stick, softened)
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons milk (ONLY if it's too thick for your liking)

• In a large bowl, add softened margerine and peanut butter. Beat with electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
• Add powdered sugar and beat about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
• If it's a little thick for your liking, add 1-3 tablespoons milk. I used about 1 tablespoon. Beat until desired consistancy is reached.
• Frost cake, enjoy a slice, then go to the gym :)

No recipe, just blogging nonsense!

So Christmas is just around the corner, why am I feeling like the Grinch?

I we put up some Christmas lights and a mini Christmas tree but what is a holiday without a bunch of little ones running around? I know the way I used to light up and be just estatic for Christmas when I was little....I'd like to experience that again with my own kids.

I've been doing some baking.... cookies, pies, cheesecakes, cakes, etc which Melvin loves. As of Decemember he is temporarily out of work until February. This will be a bit of a hard period but we do have things figured out and our stability is not at stake. The bright side is he will be home a lot more and we will have tons of time to spend together. Of course I will still be working but that is quite necessary so I can get out of the house and not go crazy :)

It sure is hard to get in the Christmas spirit while living in Southern California. In Decemember it's been in the 80's and it's very annoying. Obviously no snow and only a day of rain so far to speak of. I miss Seattle and would love to spend a Christmas in a snowy place, maybe next year.

Turkey Noodle Soup - OMG it's heavenly!

So since we knew we were spending Thanksgiving at Mel's Mom's house, I wanted to make a turkey a few days before Thanksgiving so we could have our own bird!! **You can do any and all of these recipes with chicken as well** After I finished stripping all the meat off of my turkey, I put all the bones in my crockpot. I added about 8 cups of water, 2 bay leaves, and some salt and put my crockpot on low overnight for 8 hours. In the morning I took all the big bones out, strained, it and then I had amazing Turkey Broth for my soup the next day! I stored it in a tupperware in the fridge.



The first night we had an amazing Turkey dinner... turkey slices, mashed garlic potatoes, and I made a delicious gravy from the turkey drippings. It was easy and came out so full of flavor:



Turkey gravy: In a small saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine. Add in 1/4 cup flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes until smooth. Add black pepper, the more the better. Add 2 cups turkey drippings (so obviously you make your gravy when the turkey is done, while it's resting) and stir constantly for a few minutes, it will continue to get thicker and thicker. Taste test and add more black pepper if needed. SOOOOOO GOOOD.



So anyways, the next night we had some delicious turkey sandwiches. It was nice to have such an easy dinner after a night of lots of cooking and dishes with the turkey!! The night after that I was so excited to make my Turkey Noodle Soup. The best part? Homemade NOODLES!! Yum. You will never want storebought noodles again after you try this. Here goes -



Homemade Noodles

2 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup water

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

• In a large bowl mix flour and salt. Create a hole in the middle, and add beaten eggs, oil, and water. Mix well with the flour mix.


• Form dough into a big ball and on a well floured surface, knead dough for about 8 minutes until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.


• Divide dough into 4 parts. Using a rolling pin, flatten each part (on a floured surface) until pretty thin, but not too thin. Let sit out on the counter 2-3 hours.


• When soup is pretty much done, start cutting up your flat pieces of dough into small strips. You can make them as fat/skinny, long/short and any shape you want. They will stay the same shape even when cooked in the soup.

Ok while your dough is sitting out for a couple of hours, you can start your soup!

Turkey Noodle Soup (or chicken!)

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced into little carrott rounds

2 celery stalks

4 garlic cloves, minced

6-8 cups turkey broth (or chicken) depending on how soupy you like your soup. You can add 6 to start off with, and add more later near end of cooking time if you like

2 bay leaves

1/2 tablespoon thyme

1/2 tablespoon sage

3-4 cups cooked, shredded turkey

Salt and pepper to taste. The more pepper, the better.

• Ok so using a large dutch oven or big soup pot, heat the oil. Chop up your carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. Put in hot oil and stir fry for about 5 minutes until semi tender.


• Add desired amount of turkey broth, and turn up heat to bring to a low boil


• Add spices and shredded turkey


• Turn down heat to a low simmer and simmer uncovered about 1 hour to let flavors blend.


• Add noodles during last 5 minutes of cooking time. Serve with crusty bread.


• Enjoy !

"Olive Garden's" Sausage Potato Soup

Melvin is not a big soup lover but this warmed us up tonight. It's very cheap to make and I had mine ready in just over half hour. Perfect for weeknight cooking. This is about enough for 3 or so people, so just double it if you're feeding more or want leftovers. To me it tastes like the soup they serve at Olive Garden!

Sausage Potato Soup

1lb sausage (breakfast or italian)
1 small onion, diced
14 oz. can chicken broth
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 large potato, diced in small bite size pieces (leave skin on)
8oz evaporated milk
1-2 handfulls shredded cheddar cheese

In a large sauce pan or dutch oven brown sausage and onion. Drain and add back to pain.

Add chicken broth and spices, and bring to a boil.

Add potatoes, and simmer medium heat for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are very soft and some skins fall off.

Take off heat, stir in milk and cheese. Serve.

SO FREAKIN EASY!

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

It's Halloween time again!! I was in full force pumpkin mode today. I made these amazing seeds (thought up the recipe as I went along), carved 2 pumpkins, and also made a pumpkin cheesecake. I was really happy with my "old man with a mustache" pumpkin then I made the mistake of going fast with the little carving knife and I cut the swirl off one side of his mustache. I was so sad... there was no going back!!

Shhhh heeheee, I'm eating the seeds as I blog! Oh, also this recipe is for the pumpkin seeds of two regular sized carving pumpkins. I know each pumpkin is different, but just go by what you think is the right taste for your family. And from what I've learned, bigger pumpkins don't have more seeds, they just have bigger seeds!

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Once you have all the seeds out of your pumpkin, place in a large bowl. Fill bowl with warm water. All the pumpkin guts and stringy stuff will sink to the bottom, and all the seeds will float to the top. Take out seeds with hands or a slotted spoon place into another clean bowl. If there is a little bit of the guts still on the seeds, it's ok.

Boil a pot of water. You want about 2 cups of water for each 1/2 cup of seeds. Once boiling, add about 1/8th cup of salt. Add seeds and boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Watch, or they will boil over. Very important to keep stirring. Preheat oven to 350.

Once 10 minutes is up, pour seeds and water into a colander and shake all excess water off. Put your clean, boiled seeds back into the bowl without the pumpkin gunk. Add the following to the bowl, and mix well with a large spoon:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce (mix, then add spices)

1 tablespoon cajun seasoning

few dashes cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasonings

Mix well. Coat a large cookie sheet with foil. Spread pumpkins out as much as possible. Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes. Stir. Bake another 20 minutes. Stir. Bake another 10 minutes and eat one. If they are done, great! If not, bake another 10 minutes. Seeds should be perfectly crunchy (you eat the shell and all) at about 50-60 minutes total baking time.

Store in an air tight container or zip lock bag. Yum!

Homemade Thin Crust Pizza

I used to buy the Boboli pizza crusts but the economy is bad right now and they are expensive! Might as well order a pizza for the cost of those! So I use this homemade, super simple and easy thin crust pizza and we really enjoy it. We love sausage but you can do whatever pizza toppings you like... sky is the limit!

Thin Crust Homemade Pizza

In a bowl mix the following:

1 cup flour

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

Mix well with a spoon. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use parchment paper for easy clean up. Put paper (this is not a must) on a large cookie sheet. Spoon the dough out evenly all over the cookie sheet. It looks like it will stick bad to the pan, but once it cooks, it won't! I usually use a spatula to spread it all evenly.

Do not put any toppings on yet. Bake for 20 minutes by itself.

While the dough bakes, open a can of tomato sauce and put it into a small sauce pan. Add italian spices to taste. I use a combo (without measuring) of basil, thyme, oregano, herbes de provence, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Let simmer while the dough bakes. If you don't to do this step, just buy pre made pizza sauce.

Once the dough is done (just the edges should be getting brown) take out of the oven. Spread the sauce all over. Top with your favorites. In the picture, I have diced onions, sliced olives, cooked italian sausage, and colby jack shredded cheese. Put your toppings on, top with shredded cheese, and put back in the 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Your cheese should be nice and melted, and your pizza should be thin and crispy. Enjoy!

Succulent Melt in Your Mouth Croutons

Sadly I love carbs. Way too much. I also love croutons, which are good for the tastebuds, but bad for the waistline. Oh well :) Here is my recipe for croutons, on which are amazing on salads, soups, gumbos, or just as a snack. They are so easy too, and very affordable to make. I keep a couple bags of cheap hot dog buns in my freezer for whenever I need these!

Succulent Croutons

4 hot dog buns

6 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon hot sauce (tabasco, cholula, or whatever you have)

• In a large microwavable bowl, comebine butter and dry spices. Microwave 30-45 seconds or until melted.


• Stir together, then add olive oil and hot sauce. Stir again until everything is well blended.


• Cut up hot dog buns (I cut mine up straight from the freezer) into crouton size squares and put into the bowl.


• Stir until squares are all coated with butter/spice mix.


• Line large cookie sheet with foil and bake for 8 minutes at 450 degrees. Flip/stir, and bake for another 4-5 minutes but watch very closely as they brown super quick!


• Take out and give one final stir and let cool. Store in a air tight space like a large ziplock or tupperware once they are cool.