Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Yum, yum, yum! I came across this recipe on Annie's Eats. I was debating whether to make this pound cake recipe or my MawMaw's. I went with this one because it has the butter. Butter makes everything better. My grandma's calls for shortening. I felt this was a truer pound cake. Turns out this is the same recipe my mom used for her wedding cake. Get this...she made her own! My mom, with some help from her sisters and a friend, made her own wedding cake... from scratch, without a Kitchenaid mixer. I know a lot of people make their own, but hers was gorgeous! I wish I could find a picture to post for you. It looked so professional. When we got married the thought of making my own cake made me cry. So $350 later I had a beautiful and delicious cake and some time on my hand. Maybe we should have tried it.

Okay, so do you know the history of the pound cake? It's not called a pound cake because you gain a few pounds. Although, you probably will! It's because a traditional pound cake called for a pound of butter, sugar, and flour. Also, most cakes call for some sort of leavener...like baking soda. Pound cake does not. Pound cake gets it's rise from all the air in the batter. So get ready to beat!

I made one loaf and 24 mini bundt cakes with extra batter left over!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Source: my mom and Annie's Eats

1 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temp.

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp.

3 C sugar

6 large eggs, room temp.

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter and flour your pan. Combine the butter and cream cheese together with a mixer on medium speed. Add the sugar, cream together on high for at least 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl when needed. Mix in vanilla and almond. Add in the flour and salt and mix together.

Pour the batter evenly into the pan. Smooth out the top of the batter. Bake until golden brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Cooking times...

Bundt cake: 75 minutes

Mini Bundt cakes: 18 minutes

Loaf Cake: 60 minutes

For the sauce...

This was so easy and so yummy! I bet it would be even better in the peak of strawberry season. I had to look up what coulis even meant. According to Wikipedia, it's a fruit or vegetable made into a sauce by pureeing and straining. I don't have a fine sieve, so I skipped that step. It was still delicious!

Strawberry Coulis

2 C strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/4 C water

3 T sugar

1 T fresh lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Puree until smooth and then strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the strawberry seeds. Cover and refrigerate. Serve cold.

Asian Beef and Noodles

This is another Weight Watcher's one. We really liked it! According to the source I got this from you could use chicken or shrimp with ramen noodles in those flavors. The beef was really good though. I didn't have sesame oil, so I used olive. Because of this, I also used both seasoning packets for the flavor. I'm sure all of this altered the points a bit. We like our stir fried dinners and I usually buy steak and cut it up. While shopping at Food Lion this week I found that they sell chopped up bits of steak, with very little to no fat, that are perfect for this kind of dinner. Don't confuse these with beef tips which are much bigger bites. And they are very cheap! This was a very inexpensive meal. If you're making it for more than 2 people I would definitely double it. I'm thinking of making 1/2 more next time so we can have leftovers for Charlie's lunch.

Asian Beef and Noodles

Source: Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes

8 oz lean steak, chopped

2 tsp dark sesame oil (or olive)

1 C green onion, sliced

2 C packaged cabbage coleslaw mix with carrots

2 packages of Beef Ramen Noodles

1 1/2 C water

1 T low sodium soy sauce

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add steak and green onions. Cook until steak is browned and appears to be done. Remove from skillet and keep in a warm oven. Heat remaining tsp of oil in same skillet. Add slaw. Stir fry for about 1 minute. Add to the meat in the oven. Add water to skillet with 1 (I used 2) seasoning packet. Bring to a boil. Break noodles in half and add to water. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the noodles are ready. Stir in the steak and coleslaw mixture. Mix together. Serve!

Makes 2-10 WW point servings

Cheese Stuffed Sliders

These were yummy and not at all disappointing. They were part of the healthy recipes I collected. Here's a warning though...they aren't exactly healthy! This is a Weight Watcher's recipe. These are considered "healthy" if you're counting your WW points and these are within your point limit. I mean everything can be eaten on WW. The trick is using your points wisely. I don't know that this recipe is following that model. Maybe if you've been really good all week and you save up your flex points. Also, you have to use the healthy ingredients or the points won't be right. I didn't do that. I also didn't get the amount of burgers out of my recipe that it said I should. So I'm sure mine had more points in them.


Cheese Stuffed Sliders
Source: Weight Watchers Magazine

1 lb lean ground beef (95%)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 C shredded low fat cheddar
1 onion chopped (I skipped this)
8 2" potato rolls
garlic powder (my own addition)

Mix all ingredients together. Make into 16 very small patties. Put a little cheese in the center of 8 patties. Top with the additional patties.

Spray a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Cook 2 minutes on each side. Reduce heat. Cover. Turn 1 minute on each side.

7 pts for 2 sliders.

Chicken Pot Pie

Healthy recipe number two. We had a lot of leftovers from the pork loin and then went out another night. I really haven't had to cook much this week. So here is my second chance at cooking healthy. I wouldn't say this is super healthy because of all the milk and the crust, but I would say it's healthiER than your average pot pie recipe. Definitely better for you than Marie Calendar's!

This was tasty, although my favorite part was the crust (not from scratch). Charlie thought it was a little bland, so maybe next time I'll add more spice. I don't know. You can substitute the apple juice for a dry white wine. Funny how we didn't have wine, but did have apple juice. You'd think we have kids, but we don't. I got this recipe at the library last weekend from a magazine. I don't remember which one though...sorry!

Oh! and if you remember from the dill pork tenderloin I used too much dill because it was supposed to be fresh. This is the ratio for fresh to dried...3:1...so in this recipe I used 1 tsp. dried thyme instead of 1 T fresh.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 lb chicken breast

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 carrots, diced (I used half a small bag of baby carrots)

3 T flour

1/2 C apple juice

2 C milk

10 oz frozen peas

1 T fresh Thyme

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

9 in pie crust (the frozen kind you unroll)

Heat oven to 400°. Cook chicken in a pot of simmering water 10-12 minutes until cooked through (165°). Shred.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan on high heat. Add onions and carrots. Cook for about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to a low med-high (a 6 on my stove). Sprinkle with flour, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add apple juice and cook for 5 minutes. Add milk and cook for just a couple minutes. Stir in chicken peas, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Transfer to pie dish. Cover with crust and seal edges. Cut vents in crust. Bake for 35 minutes on a baking sheet.

Apple Butter Pork Loin

Charlie's back on his we need to eat healthy thing. This is hard for me! I spent forever last week looking for healthy recipes that I thought sounded good and only came up with a few! I'm not sure that this recipe is actually healthy. The site claimed it was, but who knows. Either way it was yummy! We bought a huge jar of apple butter on our Honeymoon at the Mast General Store. If you ever go to Boone you should go to Mast. It really is a cool store! Our apartment smelled delicious between the apple and cinnamon. I'm so ready for fall!

Apple Butter Pork Loin

Source: All Recipes

1 Pork Loin (mine was 3 lbs)

seasoning salt

2 C apple juice

1/2 C apple butter

1/4 C brown sugar

2 T water

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350°. Season the pork loin with seasoning salt. Place in a 9x13 baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork and cover.

Bake for 1 hour. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon and cloves. After one hour, remove from oven and spread the mixture over the top.

Continue to bake until pork is done (165°). You need to cook 1/2 hour per pound of meat.

Roasted Orange and Thyme Chicken Thighs

The first time I make a meal from a recipe I stick to exactly what the recipe says. Unless of course we're talking about garlic and then I go crazy. So I made this yummy meal for family last night. Charlie wondered why we were having chicken thighs. I never buy thighs, it's usually breasts, but that's what the recipe said so that's what I did! You could make this with any kind of chicken you want. Although, I will say our thighs were very juicy and just fell apart. I miss having skin on my chicken too. Some people think it's gross, but it's so yummy...and yes, I know so bad for you.

This did not have a strong orange flavor like I expected. I didn't use any extra sauce on my plate, but everyone at the table who did said you could taste the orange in the extra sauce.

Roasted Orange and Thyme Chicken

10 chicken thighs
olive oil
salt
pepper

3 T olive oil
1 small red onion, diced
3 C orange juice
2 tsp thyme, dried
1/4 C maple syrup
2 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375°. Place chicken in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat 3 T of olive oil in a small sauce pan and saute onions. Once onions are sauteed, cook chicken in the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, add OJ and thyme to the onions and bring to boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, until reduce to about 1/2 cup. Stir occasionally. Add syrup, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Boil for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

After chicken has cooked for 20 minutes, brush with generous amount of sauce. Return to oven and cook for another 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cupcakes

This was supposed to be a 2 layer round cake. Believe it or not, I don't own a round cake pan! Crazy, I know! It was one of things that we got rid of when we moved in together. We both owned at least one and then I donated them. I don't remember what my thought process was on this, but either way, I have none. So instead of spending the money on new pans, I adapted this into cupcakes.

I have to admit, I cheated on these as well! Some of you will love this because you aren't big bakers like me. I LOVE to bake and will steer clear of a box mix most of the time. Sometimes though I will take the shortcut! So, I used a box this time. So for the cake part, use a box, or your own yummy recipe. :)

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cupcakes

1 pkg. Devil's Food Cake Mix

4 squares Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

1/4 C butter, cut up

1 pkg. (8 oz) Cream Cheese

1/2 C sugar

8 oz. whipped cream, thawed

12 Oreos, crushed

Bake cake mix according to box directions. Fill the cupcake pan almost full! You want tall, big cupcakes. I got 18 cupcakes out of my mix. Let cool. Slice the tops off the cupcakes to make 2 layers.

Microwave chocolate and butter in small bowl on High 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted. Cool for 5 minutes.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in whipped cream and cookie crumbs. Spread a generous amount of cream cheese mixture in between each cupcake layer. Spoon chocolate glaze over top of each cupcake. Let stand until set.

Store in the refrigerator. These are good cold!

Linguine in a Tomato Cream Sauce

This is another restaurant quality meal! Except this one's a little quicker and easier to make than the garlic chicken farfalle. I've made this twice. Once with chicken and once without. And once with fettuccine and another time with linguine. I think we prefer the linguine. I am indifferent about the chicken. I think it gets lost in the meal. Maybe grilled chicken would be better. If you're making this for a crowd I would add the chicken for a little more bulk to fill everyone up with! To make it without the sauteed chicken just half the butter and olive oil in the beginning.

Linguine in a Tomato Cream Sauce

1/4 C butter

1/4 C olive oil

2-3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into cubes

1 onion, chopped fine

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 C whipping cream

1 packet Alfredo sauce mix

15 oz can Italian tomatoes, pureed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 T dried basil

2 T Italian seasoning

1 lb linguine

1/2 C grated Parmesan

*Start water for noodles when you begin making the sauce.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken, onion, and garlic. Saute until chicken is lightly browned.

Stir in Alfredo packet, whipping cream, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens. Stir in Italian seasoning and basil. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, toss pasta and sauce together. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Parmesan Bow-Tie Skillet

Quick, super easy, and yummy!

Parmesan Bow-Tie Skillet

Source: Food and Family, Holiday 06

6 oz. Farfalle, cooked and drained

1 jar (14 oz) spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 grated Parmesan

Combine pasta, spaghetti sauce, ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and 2 T Parmesan in a skillet. Cook on medium heat 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Serve!

Lemon Squares

Okay, so three dessert posts in one day. I know what you're thinking...but I promise we didn't eat these all ourselves! I baked them all for a party we went to! So, happy birthday Andy...sorry Charlie ruined the surprise :)

Lemon Squares

Source: Food and Family, Spring 07

20 vanilla wafers, crushed

1/2 C flour + 2 T

1/4 C brown sugar

1/4 C cold butter

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 T grated lemon peel

1/4 C fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8" square baking pan with foil. Combine wafer crumbs, 1/2 C flour, and brown sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender. Press firmly into bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes.

While baking, beat cream cheese, and sugar with mixer on medium speed. Add eggs and 2 T flour. Mix well. Blend in lemon peel, lemon juice, and baking powder. Pour over baked crust.

Bake 25-28 minutes. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into squares.

Black Forest Mousse

I got a trifle bowl as a wedding present. It is beautiful! I know some of you are thinking, how can a glass bowl be beautiful...but it is! So thank you Shelley for knowing how important some things are...like owning a trifle bowl. :) I love the way dessert looks layered in this bowl, or any trifle bowl for that matter. This is beautiful and oh so yummy. And VERY EASY! :) Some of my friends have complained that my recipes are too in depth to make. They just don't have the time or energy. That's fair, I mean most of you have kids or a job, or both! I doubled the original recipe for this to make it look pretty in my bowl. I wouldn't want to make an ugly trifle! So I'm going to post the doubled recipe. Just note that you can half it if needed. Although, it's so yummy, you will want to make a double recipe!

*I used Double Stuffed Oreos. We never buy cookies, so if I was to have extras I wanted the good stuff. This made it a little hard to crush because of all the filling. If you don't mind the regular ones (is that a sin?) then you should probably use those. Also, if you half the recipe you will need 16 Oreos. I know, 16 is not half of 26, but trust me.

Black Forest Mousse

Source: Food and Family, Winter 06

2 pkg (4 servings each) Chocolate Pudding mix

3 C cold milk

2 tubs (8 oz each) whipped topping, thawed

26 Oreos, crushed, divided

2 cans Cherry Pie filling

Mix pudding mix with milk. Stir using wire whisk. Add 2 cups of whipped topping. Add 20 crushed Oreos to pudding mix.

Layer half the pudding on the bottom of the trifle bowl. Spread half the remaining whipped topping. Top with one can of cherry filling. Repeat with the remaining pudding, whipped topping, and pie filling. Sprinkle the remaining 6 cookie crumbs on top.

YUM!

Hillary Rodham Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, let me start this by saying if you're not a Hillary fan you should still eat these cookies! I by no means am a fan of Hillary or her husband, but hey I know a good cookie when I eat one! :) Besides, I highly doubt she actually makes these herself or came up with the recipe. I remember when I was younger, my step mom, Cindy, made Barbara Bush cookies. I think every President and his wife comes out with a cookie recipe. If I remember correctly, George W. Bush had cowboy cookies. Anyway, these were yummy, so don't turn away because of political views. I don't think eating these cookies makes you a Liberal :)


I want to say two things about baking cookies:

1. Use a cookie scoop. I didn't always have one of these. They make your cookies perfectly round and the same size. They also make it go quicker in getting them onto the pan and into the oven.
2. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. I don't bake cookies without this stuff! They keep the cookies from sticking and burning! The bottoms are perfect!


Hillary Rodham Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: White House Cookbook


1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 C shortening
1 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C rolled oats
12 oz (about 2 C) semisweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Beat shortening on medium speed. Add sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and chocolate.

Drop by rounded teaspoons on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 4-5 dozen. (I got 4)

Strawberry Shortbread

I love shortbread. It's one of my favorite cookies! I have also been loving the taste of strawberries lately. These cookies looked so pretty and they were very tasty. They are rich though and one cookie is enough. Make sure you have someone to share them with. We sent some to my brother's family. Also, I would use a small cookie cutter.


Strawberry Shortbread
Source: Christmas Cookies 2007

Cookies
2 T strawberry preserves
1 C butter, softened
1 tsp almond extract
2 2/3 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Glaze
1 T strawberry preserves
2 C powdered sugar
1 T milk

Beat butter, strawberry preserves, and almond extract in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Roll into a log on plastic wrap. Wrap and freeze for 1-2 hours, until firm.

Preheat oven to 325°. Stir together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter mixture breaking of pieces. Use a pastry blender to mix. Knead dough until mixed together and smooth.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half on floured surface and cut with cookie cutter.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 12-16 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Microwave strawberry preserve for glaze at 50% power for 30 seconds, until melted. Stir in powdered sugar and milk with wire whisk. Stir in 1 T of milk at a time (if needed) for glaze to be spreading consistency. (1 T was enough for me)

Spread glaze over each cookie and store at room temperature for 3 days or 3 months in the freezer.

Chicken and Dumplings

It's been chilly here today and I love it! Fall is my favorite season. I love the smell of the crisp air and putting on comfortable jeans. Fall is also my favorite because it reminds me of falling in love. In just 2 weeks Charlie and I will have been together a year. Crazy considering we're already married :)
This meal cooks in the crockpot and makes the house smell so yummy!

Chicken and Dumplings

4 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
2 T butter
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 tube of Grands biscuits, cut into eighths

Place chicken, butter, soup, onion, celery, and carrots in the crockpot. Add 3 cups of water. Cook on high for 5 hours. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken. One hour before serving top with biscuits. Cook for one more hour. Enjoy!

Pizza Casserole

I didn't feel well last night and thank goodness this was on the menu! I refused to let my body get the best of me and was adamant about cooking dinner. This was so easy and yummy. There's no pic though because I didn't feel well enough to worry about it. So just trust me on this one! Mine also ended up very garlicky because I dumped half a jar of garlic salt in it while cooking. I scooped as much as I could out. Although, I loved it...you know me, the more garlic, the better!

Pizza Casserole
adapted from Family Circle

2 cups egg noodles
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook noodles, drain, set aside. While noodles are cooking, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in a skillet over medium-high heat in the oil. Drain the fat off the meat. Stir in Italian seasoning, salt, garlic salt, soup, 1/3 cup water, and noodles. Heat the mixture.

Take off heat and add half the cheese. Pour into a Pyrex dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Lemonade Pie

This is easy and yummy, but only if you like the sour taste of lemonade!
Lemonade Pie

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
8 oz whip cream
1 graham cracker crust

Mix the first three ingredients and pour into crust. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Thaw for about an hour before serving.

Pepper Steak

This is an old recipe I'm pulling out. Actually, by old I mean it's not the first time I've made it. We love this one for many reasons. One, it's so yummy! Two, it's weight watchers. Three, we get to use the wok. And four, it's cheaper than take-out and just as yummy, if not more!

Note: If you are my or my husband's Facebook friend you know that we had a fire in our kitchen tonight! Don't walk away from your wok while heating the oil :) Also, this can be made in a skillet.
Please don't judge my horrible picture :)

Pepper Steak
Source: Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes

12 oz top round beef
4 tsp + 3 T soy sauce
1 T rice wine
3 tsp cornstarch
6 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced into thin strips
1 bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1/2 tsp black pepper

Slice meat into thin slices with the grain. Cut pieces to about 1" long. Place in bowl with 4 tsp of soy sauce, 1 T rice wine, 1 tsp cornstarch and black pepper.

In another bowl, mix 3 T soy sauce, 1 T water, and 2 tsp cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat the wok on high. Swirl in 1 T oil and add the beef. Cook undisturbed for 20 seconds letting the beef brown. Stir meat and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Add remaining 2 tsp oil to the wok, add peppers and onions. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in beef. Add the sauce. Stir fry about 30 seconds until thickened.

4 servings. 5.5 ww pts. per serving.

Strawberry Muffins

These were supposed to be strawberry cupcakes. When I made them I decided they were much better as "muffins" and make a great breakfast! We all need an excuse to eat a cupcake for breakfast, right? These were delicious! They may have turned out more muffin like than cupcake because of all my substitutions. I don't know. So, I'm posting the recipe via my substitutions rather than the original. If you make the original recipe I'm linking you to and your "cupcakes" are more like a real cupcake let me know.

Don't you just LOVE my awesome picture?! Thanks Krystal for your amazing photography skills!

Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Annie Eats

Muffins:

2 cups + 3 T all purpose flour

5 T cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup salted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chopped strawberries

Frosting:

1/2 cup strawberries, puree

8 oz cream cheese, room temp.

1 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temp.

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1 T. vanilla

Heat oven to 350°. Line muffin tin with liners.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, with electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add buttermilk and oil. Beat in flour mixture in batches. Fold in strawberries. Fill tins 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes 24 muffins.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until fluffy with electric mixer. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and strawberry puree. Frost muffins once cooled.