DEE-LISH Chocolate Cake!

1 package devils food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup water
4 eggs


Preheat oven to 350. Combine Ingredients expect chocolate chips. Mix until smooth. Fold chocolate chips into batter. Pour into a greased bundt pan. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*this recipe was originally posted here.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Candied ginger is used in this recipe, but candied kumquats would also give your guests a little kick in the pants! Pumpkin pairs well with citrus, so a tablespoon of lemon juice or a teaspoon of lemon zest would really rev up the flavor.

6 cups French bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
3 eggs
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup candied ginger, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange bread cubes in an 11x7-inch glass baking dish. Pour whipping cream and milk over, stirring to combine. Set aside. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, spices, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Pour over bread cubes and stir to combine. Mix in candied ginger. Bake for about 60 minutes or until set. Cut into six pieces and top with Cinnamon Whipped Cream.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

2 cups chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Beat chilled cream, sugar and cinnamon until peaks form.

Zupa Toscana

This is just like the yummy soup from The Olive Garden!

2 3/4 cups chicken stock or broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 medium russet potato
2 cups chopped kale
1/2 lb spicy italian sausage
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Combine stock and cream in large saucepan over medium heat. Slice unpeeled potato into 1/4-inch slices, then cut slices into fourths and add to soup. Add kale. Grill or saute' sausage. When cooked through, let cool and slice sausage at an angle into 1/2-inch thick slices. Add sausage to soup. Add salt and red pepper flakes. Let soup simmer about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Heavenly Caramel Brownies

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 (8 oz) pkg caramels
3/4 C melted margerine
2/3 C evaporated milk
1 C chopped pecans (optional)
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Melt caramels with 1/3 C evaporated milk. Combine cake mix with melted butter and the remaining 1/3 C evaporated milk. Spread half of the cake mixture in a greased 9x13 pan, and bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips, then spread caramel on top. (If you're using pecans, sprinkle on top of the caramel.) Then, crumble remaining cake mixture over the top. (It will spread out while it's baking, so don't worry about it not covering the caramel completely!) Bake for 18 minutes. ENJOY!

Chili & Corn Bread

Chili

1 pound of ground beef
1 packet of chili seasonings
chopped onions
1 can of diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of red beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of chili beans (with sauce)
1 can of corn (drained)

Directions: Brown ground beef with chili seasonings and chopped onions.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Put cheese, green onions, and sour cream on top of the chili.




Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups corn meal
1 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 can cream style corn
2 eggs
1 cup chopped chilies

Directions: Mix all ingredients together except cheese. Stir in oil, corn, peppers, eggs, milk, and 1/2 of the cheese until blended. Pour into greased pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Notes: For sweet cornbread mix 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix and 1 box of yellow cake mix. Mix separately according to individual boxes then mix together. Bake according to cake box.

Beautiful Fruit Pizza

CRUST:

-1 yellow cake mix
-1 egg
-1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

Mix cake mix, egg and margarine together and spread on greased
and wax papered large pizza pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool.

TOPPING:

-4 ounces cream cheese, softened
-1 cup confectioner's sugar
-4 ounces Cool Whip topping
-fresh fruit (blueberries, kiwi, strawberries,
peaches, mandarin oranges, bananas, etc.)

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

1 (32 oz.) jar marshmallow creme
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

Mix the marshmallow creme and cream cheese. Blend with a mixer until smooth and creamy. Use as a dip for a fruit tray or as frosting on the cake of your choice or as the sauce on a fruit pizza.

So easy and so yummy!

Country Style Spare Ribs

Country style pork spare ribs (boneless) washed and placed in a 9" X 13" pan.

Mix sauce in medium mixing bowl:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup Colgin Hickory Liquid Smoke (I can't always find the Colgin brand and haven't noticed a difference)
2 dashes soy sauce
1/2 cup Pace Picante sauce -- mild
1/4 cup brown sugar (you can add a little more if you like)
1/2 tsp. pureed garlic

Pour part of the sauce over ribs in pan, cover, and bake at 350 degrees for 4 hours (make sure there is enough sauce so they don't burn. Pour off most of the liquid and add more sauce and return to oven for a little longer (20 minutes or so).

Tastes great paired with baked potatoes.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Craisins

Rich & Chewy Cranberry
White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup oats
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup Craisins

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, brown sugar,
and honey. Add egg and vanilla. In another bowl mix flour,
oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix two bowls together,
then add white chocolate chips and cranberries. Cook about
8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about
2 ½ dozen 2" cookies.

Feel-Good Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken and Rice Soup

1 rotisserie chicken
enough water to fill a pot
1 or 2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 onion, chopped
celery, chopped
carrots, chopped
minced garlic (to taste)
salt (to taste)
Baby Bam (to taste)
dry Italian seasonings (to taste)
1 bay leaf (optional)
crushed red pepper (to taste)
parsley (to taste)
rice (cooked)

Take a rotisserie chicken and put the whole thing (bones, drippings, everything) in a pot. Fill pot with water until chicken is covered; put on the stove and bring to a boil. Cook at a low boil for about an hour or so. Then put a strainer in a big bowl and pour contents of pot through the strainer. Pour the broth from the bowl back into the pot and put the chicken aside to cool a little bit. Put one or two bouillon cubes into the broth depending on how much flavor you want. Add the chopped onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Put in all of the seasonings and let that simmer all together while you sort through the chicken and bones and just take out the good stuff, which then goes in the pot. At the very end, add however much you want of the cooked rice ( I cooked my rice in a rice cooker).

NOTE: This is a variation of a recipe in Emiril's "There's a Chef in my Family!" called Feel-Good Chicken and Rice Soup. So, for those of you who prefer specific measurements for your ingredients would probably want to refer to that recipe. It's basically all the same ingredients, I just have my own methods for preparing this soup.

Also, this soup is awesome for kids because the rice is easy to eat (easier than noodles) and the vegetables are soft and tasty. Lastly, I find that this is very convenient dinner to make when you serve a rotisserie dinner for chicken by itself, then use the leftovers to make this soup. Make sure that there is enough chicken left on the chicken, if not, you may have to add more chicken.

Cupcake Surprise

1 pkg Devil's Food cake mix

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
dash salt
1 12-16 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare cake batter according to directions on box. For the filling, mix sugar, cream cheese, egg and salt until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill each cup 1/2-2/3 full, then top with rounded tablespoonful of filling. No need to add more cake batter on the top, it will mostly bake over on it's own (plus, they'll be frosted). Bake for 20-25 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting. Makes about 24.

Chicken Croissants...Super Delish!

4 cups cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup chopped celery (optional)
2 cups red seedless grapes (halved)
1 cup mayonnaise (best foods has the best flavor)
1/2 cup chopped green onions (optional)
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together and stir well. Refrigerate at least 1 to 2 hours before serving. Cut crossiants in half and place chicken "stuff"stuff inside. Serve. Makes approximately 8 crossiants.

*For best flavor chill in fridge overnight.

Italian Chicken

1 bag of chicken tenderloins (frozen, Costco or Sam's Club)
1 16 oz bottle of Italian Dressing (Fat Free is ok to use)
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes (regular or italian)
2 4 oz can mushrooms
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Place chicken in pan, dump everything (with juices) on top. Cover with foil. Bake at 325 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Serves about 15 people.

Lionhouse Cheesecake

CRUST
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter

In a 9x13 pan, mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Use fork and level well, then press firmly in bottom of pan.

FILLING
1 8oz package of softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix until smooth. Fold in: 2 cups whipped topping. Spread over graham cracker crust.

TOPPING
Cover with: 1 can cherry pie filling. Chill at least 2 hours. Makes 18 - 24 servings.

Key Lime Tarts

24 Key Lime Cooler cookies

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lime juice, preferably Key lime

1 teaspoon lime zest
Fresh sweetened whipped cream

Mint leaves or lime zest, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill 2 (12-muffin) mini muffin tins with paper cups and spray cups with cooking spray. Place 1 Key Lime Cooler cookie in the bottom of the cup, flat side down.
Prepare filling. Beat together cream cheese, egg, sugar, lime juice, and zest until well mixed. Fill the cups to the top. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove tarts to cool. When completely cool, fit a star tip in a pastry bag and fill with the whipped cream. Pipe the whipped cream on top of the tarts. Garnish with tiny mint leaves or lime zest.

Recipe from Paula Deen

Stuffin' Egg Muffins

1 pkg (6 oz) chicken flavored stuffing mix

12 eggs

3 Tbsp bacon bits (real)

1/2 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package, omitting standing time. Spray muffin cups with cooking spray. Press 1/4 cup stuffing firmly onto bottom and up sides of 12 muffin cups, forming about 1/4 inch rim around top of cup.

Crack 1 egg into each stuffing cup. Sprinkle with bacon bits and cheese.

Bake 20 minutes or until yolks are seat. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Creamy Basil & Tomato Pasta

2 lb tomatoes, chopped (about 3 cups)
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato vinaigrette dressing (any brand)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pkg (16 oz) linguine
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Toss tomatoes with cream cheese and dressing; cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Cook pasta as directed on package; drain. Place in large bowl.

Add tomato mixture and pine nuts; toss lightly.

Makes eight 1 cup servings.

*Variation, add 1 lb cooked shrimp

Graham Cracker Eclair Cake

15 graham crackers, broken in half (30 squares total), divided
1 1/2 cups milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding mix
1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed
1 cup chocolate ready-to-spread frosting (I like Dark Chocolate)

Arrange 10 of the graham squares, overlapping slightly, in bottom of 8-inch square baking pan; set aside. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire wisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes until thickened. Gently stir in whipped topping with wire whisk until well blended.

Spread half of the pudding mixture over graham squares in pan. Top with 10 of the graham squares and remaining pudding mixture. Cover with remaining 10 graham squares.

Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Spread with chocolate frosting just before serving. (If you microwave the frosting for 1 minute first, you can just pour it over the top of the cake - much easier than spreading thick frosting.)

Makes 9 servings, 1 square each.

Lemon Shrimp Pasta Salad

Zesty Grilled Vegetables

4 medium zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch-thick slices
3 each red and yellow peppers, cut into 1/3 inch-wide strips
1/4 cup Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat grill to medium heat. grill vegetables 10 minutes or until crisp-tender, turning occasionally.

Place vegetables in a large bowl.

Add dressing; toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.

Makes 8 servings.