Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm a little behind the times in posting this, as my birthday was last week.  But, Mississippi Mud Cake is delicious and needs to be posted about, no matter how many days late it is.

Mississippi Mud Cake

4 Eggs
1/3 C Cocoa
1 C Butter
2 C Sugar
1 1/2 C flour

Melt butter and add the cocoa.  Beat all other ingredients into the melted cocoa butter.  Pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 min.  Top with one small jar of marshmallow cream.

Frosting:
Melt 1/2 C butter with 1/4 C cocoa.  Add 6 Tbsp milk, 1 tsp vanilla, and 4 C powdered sugar.  Mixture will be runny.  Pour over cake and allow to cool.

Story:  When I was in elementary school I entered this into the Arvada CO Harvest Festival cooking competition and won.  Clearly even the local food judges think you should try this recipe!

Taco Soup

This recipe is pretty big, so for just two of us I cut it in half.


3-4 Carrots, diced
1 Onion, diced
3-4 stalks celery, diced
28 oz stewed or diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
2-16 oz cans of beans (whatever kinds are your favorite)
1 can corn
2-3 tsp chicken bouillion
2 Tbsp taco seasoning (or 1 pkg)
1 lab ground beef, cooked

Cook carrots, onions, and celery in a small amount of water (enough to cover the vegetables).  Cook until tender.  Add remaining ingredients.  Simmer 15 minutes.  Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, avocado chunks, etc.

Enjoy!

Original recipe from my Mom!

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

Note the Cucumber Tomato Salad from here

I adore mushrooms!

8 oz pkg mushrooms, sliced (or more if like me, you can't get enough of them)
half an onion, diced
spices
handful of mozzarella cheese
2 Chicken breasts
bread crumbs
flour
egg, beaten

Saute the mushrooms and the onion in a little bit of olive oil for 10 min.  Remove pan from heat.  Throw in a few cloves minced garlic and 1/2 tsp thyme.  Grind in some salt and pepper.  Throw in a handful of mozzarella cheese.

Slit chicken breasts in half lengthwise through the thickest part of the chicken and stuff the chicken with the mushrooms.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.  Brown in a hot skillet coated with olive oil for a few minutes on both sides (until starting to brown).  Bake at 350 for 15-20 min. 

This was a keeper.  My husband and I shared a chicken breast and we have one left over for later this week - I never complain if I don't have to cook later in the week because I get to eat something delicious twice!

Pan Fried Ravioli with Tomatoes

Beat together: 2 Tbsp water with 1 egg

Mix together: 3/4 C panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), 1/4 C parmigiana cheese

Dip fresh ravioli (9-oz package) into eggs then crumbs.

Heat a large skillet with some olive oil.  Add half the ravioli to the pan, saute 1 or 2 minutes per side (or until golden brown).  Remove cooked ravioli and repeat with second half of ravioli.  Remove from pan.

Throw 4 C chopped tomatoes (again, I wish I had done more - I never seem to have enough tomatoes in pasta dishes) in the pan.  Grind some salt and pepper over tomatoes.  Cook 3 minutes.  Add 3 cloves minced garlic.  Throw ravioli in with the tomatoes and serve.


This was super tasty - sometimes I feel like I say that about all food.  But it's true.  Every time. . . . Maybe I just really like eating.

Original Recipe from Cooking Light Sep 2010 Magazine by Julianna Grimes and Vanessa T. Pruett

Potato, Corn, and Fresh Basil Salad

This is absolutely amazing.  If you have ignored all the other recipes, it is time to actually try one.  THIS one.

Combine boiled potatoes (boil til tender), 2-3 C corn, 2 C tomatoes, and a red bell pepper in a large bowl.

Combine 1/4 C minced shallots (I used one little shallot and then some green onion I needed to use up), 1/4 C balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, some freshly ground salt and pepper.  Whisk.  While whisking continuously, slowly pour 3 Tbsp olive oil into mixture.  Drizzle over potato mixture.  Add several handfuls of spinach and ~1/2 C fresh basil.  Garnish with feta.

Original Recipe from Cooking Light Sep 2010 magazine.

Yummy Pasta with Sausage, Tomatos, and Spinach

Cook 1/2 package of Italian sausage with some minced garlic.  Toss in some tomatoes and freshly ground salt and pepper and let the tomatoes get a little mushy.

When you drain the pasta reserve some of the cooking liquid in a bowl or cup.  Toss pasta with tomatoes/sausage.  Add in enough reserved cooking liquid so the pasta dish doesn't look dry but looks mildly saucy.  Add several handfuls of spinach.  Top with freshly grated cheese (I think I used a 5 blend Italian something or the other).

In retrospect, I needed way more tomatoes then I used - so use more than you think you need!

Yummy.  Enjoy!