Texas Sheet Cake

A few people were interested in this Texas Sheet Cake recipe so here it is.(sorry I didn't take a picture)

Texas Sheet Cake
Mix: 2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt


Boil: 1 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
Pour over flour mixture
Add 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. soda
2 eggs
1 tsps. vanilla

Beat together and put in large pan. Bake 20 min. 400 degress

Frosting
1 cup butter
5 tbl. canned milk
1/4 cup cocoa
1 Tbl. vanilla

Bring to boil. Cool slightly and add 1 pkg. powdered sugar. Beat and spread on warm cake.

Mexican Lasagna

Here is one I needed documented online. It's fabulous and oh-so flexible. I originally found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website here.


Ingredients
2 c. unprepared rice
3-4 c. low sodium chicken broth
2-4 tomatoes
1-2 onions
4-5 large cloves of garlic
1 lb. ground beef
1- 16 oz. bag of mexican cheese blend
2 cans corn (drained)
1 can of black or pinto beans
1 jar of salsa verde
1-8 oz. jar of enchilada sauce
Taco seasonin (or Chili powder, paprika, and cumin) to taste
sour cream
cilantro
butter

Directions:
Prepare rice by boiling it in chicken broth. Once prepared, salt to taste. Chop up tomatoes, onions, and garlic as small as you prefer. Saute in a pan with a tablespoon or so of butter. Add approx. 2 Tbs. chili powder, and 1 Tbs. of both paprika and cumin (or your little taco seasoning packet). Stir until nicely combined. Feel free to add beans (don't drain). Mix cooked rice together with tomato/onion/garlic mixture. Brown the groud beef using about 2 Tbsp. chili powder, 2 Tbsp paprika and cumin and salt to taste. You may have to add water to create the taco beef.

Spread one container of salsa verde in the bottom of a casserole or baking dish. Layer on tortillas covering salsa verde. Some overlapping is exprected. Spread half of rice mixture over tortillas. Use half of the chese layered on top of the rice layer. Add another layer of tortillas on top of cheese. Pour enchilada sauce over the tortillas and spread it out evenly. Add layer of browned groud beef. Add 2 cans of corn (drained) on top of beef layer. Then the remaining amount of rice mixture on top of corn layer followed by the remaining jar of salsa verde. Sprinkle top with the remaining cheese. Can also sprinkle top with some taco seasoning or cayenne pepper.

Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes until cheese has melted and begins to brown a bit.

Decadent Strawberry Pretzel Salad

This is one of my favorite desserts. It is delicious, light, fluffy, and perfect for picnics and spring dinners. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Crust

2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

Filling
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Topping
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin mix
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl combine crushed pretzels, 3 tablespoons confectioner's (powdered) sugar and melted butter. Mix well and press into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cool.

4. To make the filling, combine in a medium bowl the cream cheese and 1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar; beat until smooth. Stir in whipped topping; spread mixture in crust and refrigerate.

5. Meanwhile, combine gelatin mix and boiling water; add strawberries. Let gelatin mixture thicken slightly, and then pour over the crust and filling layers. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

My current favorite snack

I get on and check every now and then but I haven't been much of a cook since Ava was born (pretty pathetic about it really).  I thought I would share my new favorite snack anyway, even though it has nothing to do with cooking whatsoever.  Chocolate graham crackers.  Yummy.  Just dip in milk and there you are.  I feel like I'm eating cookies, but I'm not. . . so much better for you.  I can only find them in the Western Family version right now though.  Anyway. . . just thought I'd share :)

Biscuits and Gravy

Ok, I've gotta say, the very hardest part of actually making dinner is coming up with a functional meal idea that doesn't require a ton of wild ingredients that I never have on hand and will take 3 hours to cook. If I could just have a list of brilliant ideas that I could come to this website for, I would be one happy camper. If any of you have go-to no-nonsense simple meal ideas, please share them. I'm not looking for anything involved, I just need simple last minute meal ideas.

I came up with a brilliant one tonight! I never have liked biscuits and gravy much, but tonight I had a thing of pillsbury biscuits and thought I'd give it a try.


First, I browned some sausage and the biscuits in for the meantime. While the sausage was browning I stirred up a package of country gravy. First I've gotta say I couldn't have been 15 min. total before it was ready to eat. Second, it tasted so good! I don't know if it will work for you, but it's a new favorite for me.

Pasta Al Forno aka Sweet Heaven

1 lb. sausage (optional)
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
2 mushrooms finely chopped
3-5 cloves garlic minced
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 pint heavy whipping cream (or canned milk)
1 lb. Rigatoni pasta
mozzarella cheese
fresh or dried Basil

Brown sausage. Remove sausage, leaving pan dippings. (Add some olive oil if you choose not to use sausage). Add carrots, celery, and mushrooms to pan and "sweat" (cook for several minutes until tender). Add onion and garlic and saute for several minutes.

Add can of tomatoes, with salt, pepper, and basil to taste. Simmer about 20-30 minutes.

Cook pasta al dente. In large baking dish, put a tiny bit of sauce on bottom. Layer 1/3 pasta, the 1/3 cream (if you're being healthy use canned milk), then 1/3 cheese, then 1/3 sauce twice. On the last layer, switch sauce and cheese so you end up with cheese on top. Cover and bake 45 minutes at 350. Uncover and bake til cheese is bubbly. Add Parmesan at table.