Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats

Today's recipe comes from Kaitlin from Kaitlin in the Kitchen.  

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats seem to be all the rage in food blog land because I have seen them on many of the blogs I have visited.  We love Rice Krispie Treats (who doesn't??) so I knew I had to give this recipe a try. 

I have to say that the addition of cake mix really does give a regular Rice Krispie Treat a nice new flavor.  And sprinkles instantly make everything more fun!!

The Stars of the Show:

Rice Krispies, marshmallows, white cake mix, butter, rainbow sprinkles.

The method for making Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats is similar to making regular Rice Krispie Treats.  Start with melting the butter in a pot (I sure wish I had a large non-stick pot for this).   Once the butter is melted throw in the marshmallows.

 Keep stirring as you melt the marshmallows.  You do not want them to burn or stick to the pan.

Once the marshmallows are melted add in the cake mix and stir until it is dissolved.

At this point, I took the pot off the heat before adding the sprinkles.  I didn't want the sprinkles to melt and turn my Rice Krispie Treats a funky color :-).

Put Rice Krispie mix into a greased pan.  I always spray my hands with cooking spray before doing this so that I can pat them down evenly without it all sticking to my hands.  I added some extra sprinkles to the top.  Pretty!

I really hope you give this new take on an old treat a try!  You won't be disappointed!!

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats

Via Kaitlin in the Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Butter
1 10 oz. Package of Regular Marshmallows or 4 Cups Miniature Marshmallows
6 Cup Rice Krispies
1/3 Cup White Cake Mix
1/3 Cup Rainbow Sprinkles

Directions:

Melt butter or margarine in a large sauce pan, add marshmallows and constantly stir until they are melted, then add in your cake mix and stir until it is dissolved in the marshmallows. Add your Rice Krispies and your sprinkles and mix until all of the cereal is evenly coated in marshmallow. Transfer mixture into a greased casserole dish and let cool before cutting.

Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna is a pretty classic comfort dish that my family loves.  I don't make lasagna too often because it makes so much and we never eat all the leftovers.  These lasagna rolls are a perfect solution because you can make a much smaller amount and they taste just as great!

The Stars of the Show:  Lasagna noodles, an egg, basil, parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, a jar of pasta sauce, basil and salt (used only for salting the pasta water).   You could also add ground beef or sausage to these if you want.  Oh and for the record, I am totally anti- cottage cheese in lasagna.  I always use ricotta!

First, you need to cook your noodles and lay them out on a piece of waxed paper to cool.  You want to make sure you undercook them slightly because they will continue to cook in the sauce.

Mix up the egg, ricotta cheese, basil, parmesan cheese and a generous handful of mozzarella.  Pour some sauce into your baking pan to cover the bottom.

Once the noodles are cool enough to handle, evenly divide up the ricotta mixture and spread onto the noodles.  Spoon some of the sauce on top of the cheese, then roll them up and put them into a pan.  I used an 8 x 8 in. pan for 8 rolls. 

After all the rolls are in the pan, top with more mozzarella and put it into the oven to bake! 

Lasagna Rolls

8 lasagna noodles

1/2 pound lean ground beef or sausage (If desired)

1 egg

1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp.  dried basil

1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  When it reaches a boil, salt liberally and add the noodles.  Stir occasionally and cook to just al dente.  You want to leave them slightly undercooked since you'll be baking the pasta.  Drain noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet brown meat.  Drain and return to the pan.  Add pasta sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg.  Add ricotta, Parmesan, basil and a handful of mozzarella and stir together.    Add enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.  To assemble, on a cooled noodle, add a spoonful of ricotta mixture.  Top with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up.  Place seam side down in pan.  Continue until you've used all the noodles.  Top each with a little more meat sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella.  Bake uncovered for approximately 30 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Meatloaf ~ Comfort Food at it's Best!

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes has got to be high on the lists of many when it comes to comfort foods.  

As a kid, I wasn't a huge fan of meatloaf and I think it was because I didn't love the way my mom made it.  I'm pretty sure she just formed the ground beef into a loaf and poured some ketchup or bbq sauce on it and threw it in the oven.  Blech!  (Good thing my mom doesn't read my blog)

I have experimented A LOT with meatloaf trying to come up with the perfect mix of ingredients to get the flavor and texture I like.  Much like my hamburgers, I want the meat in my meatloaf to taste good by itself.  The sauce on the meatloaf is equally important.  I like a sweet, ketchup-y based sauce not spaghetti sauce.

So....after many attempts, here is the recipe I use.  My family loves my meatloaf.  I like to serve it with mashed potatoes (of course) and a veggie.

 The Stars of the Show:  Ground beef (like burgers, I use 80/20 because you need some fat to keep it from drying out), ketchup, an egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, minced onions (you could also use fresh minced onions but my onion haters would spot those so I use dried) and milk (which somehow escaped the picture).

Ok, let's talk cooking vessels for a moment.  Many people cook their meatloaf in a loaf pan for obvious reasons.  It gives you that loaf shape.  I never use a loaf pan for meatloaf because the thought of it sitting in all that grease does not make me happy.  Same reason I don't cook mine in any other shallow pan where the meat is sitting on the bottom.  Swimming in grease.  Yuck!  I have this really nifty "Meatloaf Pan".  Yep.  That's exactly what it's called.  I'm not usually a fan of kitchen equipment that only serves one purpose, but this one is worth it!  Plus, technically you could take the insert out and bake bread in the pan!  This loaf pan has an insert with holes so you place your meatloaf on the insert and all of the grease and fat drops to the bottom of the pan as it cooks leaving the meatloaf with a delicious, crusty exterior!  Genius!  Oh and the whole thing is non-stick too which means it's very easy to clean!  I know these aren't too difficult to find but if you don't have one and don't want to buy one, I would recommend using a broiler pan instead.  Same effect.  

 This is what you will need for the sauce: ketchup, brown sugar and cider vinegar.  YUM!  I could eat my way out of a bathtub full of this sauce.  That's how much I love it!

All you do is mix up your meatloaf ingredients, form it into a loaf and put it into the pan.  Then mix up your sauce and pour some over the top.  I always put some of the sauce aside before doing this so I can add more to mine when it's done.  Did I mention how yummy this sauce is?

And here it is! 

Meatloaf is a great make ahead meal also.  Sometimes I'll make my meatloaf (uncooked), wrap it up in plastic wrap, then mix up all the sauce ingredients and put that in a small ziplock baggie, then put the sauce and the meatloaf together in a gallon size ziplock and put it in the fridge.  Then when I get home from work all I have to do is put it into the pan.  It's so quick and easy!  You have to add about 15 minutes to the cooking time if you do this though since it's starting out so cold.

I hope you give this recipe a try and I hope your family loves it as much as mine does!

Meatloaf

1/2 Cup bread crumbs

2 tbs. ketchup

1 tbs. dried minced onion

1 egg

1 tbs. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 lb. ground beef

For the Sauce:

1/4 Cup ketchup

1/4 Cup brown sugar

2 tsp. cider vinegar

Mix together the first seven ingredients.  Add ground beef and mix to combine.  Form into a loaf and place in pan.  Mix sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over the top of the meatloaf.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Meal Plan Monday ~ Week of July 18

Well, today marks the one week anniversary of my blog!  Woo-Hoo!  Lol, ok I know, pretty cheesy.  I have to say though that I have really enjoyed blogging my recipes and have gotten a lot of positive feedback from my friends and family about my new blog.

In case you are wondering what Meal Plan Monday is all about, I found out about it here and decided to jump on board!

I've always been a meal planner.  Sunday mornings for me are always the same.  I plan my dinners for the week, make a list and go to the store.  That way I have all the ingredients I need and don't need to make any last minute trips to the grocery store, or worse, try to figure out what to make for dinner when it's time for dinner!

I have a dry erase calendar on my fridge where I write down the meal plan for the week so that everyone knows what we're having for dinner.  It's pretty handy. 

As a busy, working mom I plan meals that are easy and quick to make and use "normal", easy to find ingredients.  I also will look for recipes that can be partially made in advance and then I will do part of the prep work on Sunday so that during the week making dinner is even quicker!

So...this is what we're having for dinner this week!  What are you having?

Monday- Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, seasoned green beans
Tuesday- Lasagna Rolls, salad, breadsticks
Wednesday- Margharita Pita Pizzas, salad
Thursday- Breakfast for dinner- pancakes, sausage and fruit

The words in red are recipes that I will be posting soon!

Herbed Steak Fries

This is a great recipe for jazzing up store bought, frozen french fries.  

In general, I like to try to avoid extra salt and preservatives by cooking my meals from scratch.  But there are certain convenience foods that really do make preparing dinner quicker and easier.  

As a full time working mom, using some of these items is a necessity.  Frozen fries make a very easy side dish and are something I use regularly.  

This recipe makes frozen fries so much more special than just regular fries and ketchup.  I just love the flavor of the olive oil and the basil and they have just the right amount of saltiness.  

I usually serve them with my All-American Hamburgers but they would also be great with sloppy joes, cheese steaks, subs or even steak!

The Stars of the Show:  Frozen steak fries, olive oil, garlic salt, dried basil, seasoning salt and dried parsley.  You can always vary the herbs on these fries.  They would be wonderful with rosemary or thyme also.

Mix the oil with the seasonings, add the frozen fries and mix it up.  So fast and easy but makes the fries taste so good!

Spread the fries in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Try to keep them from overlapping to maximize crispiness.  Throw them in the oven and you're done!!  So easy!  

And did I mention how great these fries taste with just a little extra work?  

I would have liked to take a picture of them after they were finished cooking but my hungry family dug into them too fast!

The next time you pull a bag of frozen fries out of your freezer you should give this recipe a try!

Herbed Steak Fries

4 cups frozen steak fries

1 tbs. olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. seasoned salt

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; toss to coat.  Arrange steak fries in a single layer in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Shrimp Scampi

This post probably comes as a big surprise to anyone who knows me.

I have to say that I never cook fish.  I don't like shrimp or any other seafood.  But my hubby does so I decided to try to make Shrimp Scampi for him for Father's Day.  

I decided to use a recipe I found on Picky Palate which by the way, is one of my greatest blog finds of the summer!  I stumbled across it by mistake and then spent about three days looking at all her wonderful recipes.  

Then I discovered that she was a contestant in one of the Pillsbury Bake-Off competitions and quickly recognized her from watching it on Food Network!   

After I finished working my way through all the pages of Jenny's blog I sent her a message to tell her how much I loved her blog and recipes.   

I got a nice response back from her which I will probably never delete from my inbox.  I feel like I got an email from a celebrity!

So anyway I digress.  This was a great recipe!  It was really easy to make (especially for someone who has never cooked shrimp before) and the hubs loved it!  

Peanut and Muffin loved it too although Muffin only ate the pasta, wouldn't touch the shrimp.  What can I say, he takes after his Mama.  

I will definitely keep this recipe in my recipe binder and add it to our rotation! 

Simple Shrimp Scampi

via Picky Palate

5 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ Cup finely chopped white onion
4 cloves garlic
24 medium cooked shrimp, devained, cleaned, shell removed (fresh or frozen)
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ Cup chicken broth or white wine
2 pinches salt
¼ teaspoon fresh pepper
1 lb linguini fini dry pasta noodles
2 Tablespoons butter
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ Cup fresh chives chopped (I left these out)

 Place butter and olive oil into a large 5 qt skillet or other large pot over medium heat. Once melted and hot sauté onion for 3-5 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic for 60 seconds then stir in shrimp. Season with salt and pepper and cook 4-6 minutes or until pink and firm and cooked through. Stir in lemon juice and chicken broth. Reduce heat to low and set aside.

 Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and stir into shrimp. Stir in 2 Tablespoons butter, parsley and chives. Serve and enjoy!

Note:  I did not add the last 2 tablespoons of butter at the end.  There seemed to be enough butter in the sauce as it was.  This was just my preference.  If at the end your pasta looks a little dry go ahead and add the extra butter!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

 Look at these little cuties!!  The recipe for these came from Cookies and Cups, a beautiful blog full of yummy sweet treats! These peanut butter cookie cups have got to be one of the most delicious treats I have ever made.  And to make it even better, they were so easy!  They are soft and so peanut buttery delicious!

All you really need to make these is a package of peanut butter cookie mix (plus ingredients to make the dough)...

and some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

The only thing I did differently was to drizzle melted chocolate on top instead of using the white chocolate buttercream she used in her recipe.  I put a handful of chocolate chips in a small ziplock baggie, put the baggie in a measuring cup to keep it upright and microwaved it for 15-30 seconds at a time until it was nice and smooth.  Then I cut a little hole in the corner of the baggie and drizzled away!  Super easy way to make a pastry bag!  

I honestly did not miss the buttercream on top.  These babies are pretty sweet!  I'd like to try to make a mini version of these using mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and a mini muffin tin.  

Stay tuned for that!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups & White Chocolate Buttercream

via Cookies and Cups

1 package peanut butter cookie mix

12 Reese's Cups

Make cookie dough according to directions on package.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and place unwrapped PB cup at the bottom.  Scoop approx 2 Tablespoons dough on top of PB cup it will yield approx 12 cookie cups. 

Bake at 325 for approx 20-25 minutes until cookie is set.

White Chocolate Buttercream

(will frost 36 cupcakes)

18 oz white chocolate chips (about a 12 oz bag and a half)

1/2 cup milk, divided in half

1 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 cups sifted powdered sugar (approx 2 pounds)

Cream butter and shortening with mixer.  Add vanilla.  Gradually beat in sugar, scraping the sides, Icing will appear dry when all sugar is in.  Add 1/4 cup milk.  Beat until fluffy on medium, approx 30 seconds.

In microwave safe bowl add white chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup milk.  Microwave on 50% power 1 minute, then stir, continuing with 30 intervals until chocolate is just melted.  If there are a few lumps, just give it a good stir until they lumps melt, DO NOT overheat, you will ruin the chocolate.  When chocolate is melted, add to the prepared buttercream.  Beat in on medium until fully incorporated.  Let cool for 15-20 minutes, then pipe on.