Eat Cake For Dinner

May 22, 2013

Spaghetti a la Philly

Spaghetti sauce mixed with cream cheese?

Need I say more?

What doesn't taste better with cream cheese, I mean really?

This tasted great. Nuff said.

Spaghetti a la Philly

adapted from: Mommy's Kitchen

(Printable Recipe) or (Printable with Picture)

1 Lb. ground beef or sausage
salt and pepper

1 (24-26 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce

4 oz. cream cheese, cut into cubes

8 oz. spaghetti noodles

Parmesan cheese, for topping

Cook ground beef or sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked through; season with salt and pepper. Add the spaghetti sauce and cream cheese. Heat until sauce is warmed and cream cheese is melted. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions; drain. Serve sauce over noodles and garnish with Parmesan cheese. Serve with a side of garlic bread. Serves: 3-4

Jenn's Notes: You could also add some chopped onions or peppers if you like. I used a mixture of hamburger and sausage and it was delicious.

Linked up at Weekend Wrap Up!

May 19, 2013

Aunt Patrecia's Yogurt Pie - No Bake

This was one of my favorite childhood treats and I have so many memories attached to a yogurt pie.

My aunt Patrecia and her family live up in Washington. When I was younger, we would pile into my Grandma and Grandpa's car and visit them each Summer. It's probably been 15 years or so since I last went up there.

My cousins and I would have so much fun going boating, riding our bikes, playing video games and just messing around being kids, but . . .

. . . It wasn't all fun and games up there, they would put us kids to work :) In the front of their house, they had rows and rows of raspberry bushes. We had to help pick the raspberries in the HOT Summer with bees buzzing around. I don't know about you, but when a bee flies around me, I become a statue. I don't even dare blink or I think it will sting me.

As a kid, it seemed like there were millions and millions of never ending raspberries.

The only good thing was, when we were done, aunt Patrecia would "thank" us with a yogurt pie.

Yogurt pies are DELICIOUS. The filling is pillowy soft and light and creamy. All you do is combine yogurt, whatever flavor you like. You can even mix and match and create your own flavor. Fold it together with some Cool Whip and spread into the pie crust. The recipe calls for a graham cracker crust, but you can use a Nilla Wafer crust, shortbread crust, OREO crust or whatever you like.

ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS and as easy as could be.

This time, I tried Greek yogurt for added protein and fat-free Cool Whip. It is totally FABULOUS and IRRESISTIBLE. I would feel good about my kids eating this. Much healthier than a cream pie, cake or cookies. You can even use sugar-free Cool Whip if it makes you feel better (I haven't tried a sugar-free version).

The lighter the Cool Whip you use, the softer the pie will be, but it will still hold its shape just fine, even with fat-free. You can serve it straight out of the fridge or you can serve it frozen.

Make it, love it!

P.S. this even makes an amazing fruit dip!

Yogurt Pie
From: Aunt Patrecia
(Printable Recipe) and (Printable with Picture)

2 (6 oz.) cartons yogurt, any flavor(s)
1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 graham cracker crust

Combine yogurt and Cool Whip and very gently fold together. Spread into pie crust and refrigerate until set, several hours. Serve with fresh fruit, if desired.

Jenn's Notes: Both Greek yogurt and regular yogurt taste great. Regular, light and fat-free Cool Whip all work great too.

Linked up at Weekend Wrap Up! and Strut Your Stuff Saturday!

May 17, 2013

Smokey Mesquite BBQ Bacon Burgers

My Oven/Range is still broken, but I finally got a tracking number and it looks like the part will be here on Tuesday. Cross your fingers it comes on time. Luckily, I have a few recipes saved up.

Every single time I get on Pinterest I see those yummy looking Smokey Mesquite BBQ Meatball Sliders and I couldn't resist anymore.

I found the Kraft Fresh Take Smokey Mesquite BBQ Mix at Walmart for under $2. Worth it! It was hanging up next to the cheese.

I came home from the store and threw it in the pantry. Several days later, I grabbed it out of the pantry and had a "duh" moment. Umm . . . . there is a package of cheese in there. Oops.

The cheese went in the trash, but the smokey bread crumb mix was good to go.

Instead of dealing with meatballs, I went with regular hamburger patties. These burgers turned out AMAZING. The smokey bread crumb mix adds a ton of flavor to the burgers and when topped with Cheddar cheese, grilled onions, bacon and barbeque sauce, this is one gourmet burger you are going to want to try.

Perfect recipe for Memorial Day Weekend!

Smokey Mesquite BBQ Bacon Burgers

adapted from: Food Family & Finds
(Printable Recipe) or (Printable with Picture)

1 Lb. ground beef

1/2 pkg. Kraft Smokey Mesquite BBQ breadcrumbs
salt and pepper

1 egg
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 Lb. bacon
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
Kraft Hickory BBQ sauce
Cheddar cheese, sliced
4 hamburger buns

In a medium bowl, mix together ground beef, breadcrumbs, a little salt and pepper, egg and Worcestershire sauce. Mix together until combined. Form beef into four patties, slightly larger than your hamburger buns; set aside. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Discard all but 1 Tablespoon bacon grease. Add the sliced onions and cook over medium heat until browned and tender.

Meanwhile, grill the hamburgers on the George Foreman or on a grill pan on the stove. When done, top each burger with sliced Cheddar cheese and place in a warm oven to melt the cheese and keep warm until the onions are finished cooking.

Toast the hamburger buns, top with a hamburger, grilled onions, sliced bacon and top with barbecue sauce. Serves: 4

ON THE SIDE:

Twice Baked Potatoes

Oven Baked Steak Fries

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Mom's Macaroni Salad

Linked up at Strut Your Stuff Saturday! and Mop It Up Mondays! and Weekend Wrap Up!

May 14, 2013

OREO Chocolate Chip Cookies aka The Cookies that Broke my Oven

The cookies that broke my oven . . . make these at your own risk :)

Story Time

"The Mr." wanted some OREO stuffed chocolate chip cookies. He doesn't request things much, so I happily obliged to make him some cookies. I tried a few where I baked a whole OREO cookie inside the chocolate chip cookie, but they were monsters. I decided it was a much better idea to chop up the OREOS and mix them into the dough and that did work much better . . .

except . . .

There I was, staring at my cookies through the oven window, trying to decide if they were done. All of the sudden I heard a loud POP and I saw a big red spark fly out of the back of the oven and then all of the lights in the house turned off and it was silent. No power to anything.

What the *#@%

That is when a few choice words may or may not have come out of my mouth.

I hurried and looked behind the oven, afraid it was going to start on fire. Why would a big spark fly out of it?

I called Mr. fix-it (My Dad), but he was at a camoflauge wedding (for real - Mama June style), so I had to wait for him to get done to come check it out. Do you realize how much we rely on power. EVERYTHING USES POWER. Hello.

We were able to restore power to the rest of the house, but not the range. The control panel to my range was fried. Literally, look at it, it is BLACK and no chance of saving it. The new part is $150 and I have to wait a whole week for it to get here. Can you believe my kitchen will be closed for a week. Suddenly, I have a million things I want to bake.

What am I going to eat? This foodie cannot survive on cold cereal.

Thankfully, I did manage to get a few cookies out if it, before it blew up and they tasted really good. I used Birthday Cake OREOS and the flavor was so good mixed with a chocolate chip cookie. Plus, it gave the cookies pretty colorful speckles.

I can't tell you how many cookies you will get out of a batch of this dough, since I made some stuffed, a dozen regular and I sent the rest of the dough home with my SIL.

At least "The Mr." requested these cookies, so I can blame my oven problem on him :)

OREO Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from: Picky Palate
(Printable Recipe) or (Printable with Picture)

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. light brown sugar

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbl. vanilla extract

1 tsp. kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp. table salt)

1 tsp. baking soda

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 - 1 bag chocolate chips

20 OREOS, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and both sugars until well combined. Mix in the eggs and the vanilla extract. Add the kosher salt and baking soda. Then, gradually add the flour and mix until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped OREO cookies. Roll dough into Tablespoon size balls and bake in preheated oven for 8-9 minutes.

Jenn's Notes: My dough was pretty dry and wouldn't quite come together, so I added around 1 teaspoon of half-and-half and it came together and baked up perfectly. If you have the same problem, you could add a little water, milk or cream.

Linked up at Lil Luna! and Wow Me Wednesday! and Your Creative Timeout Party! and Strut Your Stuff Saturday! and Strut Your Stuff Saturday! and Mop It Up Mondays! and Weekend Wrap Up!

May 12, 2013

Lemon Berry Chia Seed Yogurt Muffins

My mom showed up to work the other day with some homemade strawberry jam for me! mmm . . . my favorite! Of course I had to use some immediately. I made these muffins for breakfast last Saturday morning and they were delicious. You can taste the lemon, you can taste the strawberry jam and they have a nice crunch from the Chia Seeds.

I used my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Recipe and subbed the plain yogurt with plain Greek yogurt for a bit of added protein, I subbed the poppy seeds for Chia seeds and I added some of that amazing strawberry jam. To top it all off, I sprinkled them with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. I love the flavor of cinnamon mixed with lemon and berries and I love the crunchy top if gives the muffins. If you don't want to try the cinnamon, you could always mix a little sugar with some more lemon zest, rub it together and sprinkle it over the top just before baking.

You might also like:
Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins
Old Fashioned Blueberry Muffins
Almond Poppy Seed Bread with Orange Glaze
Banana Chia Seed Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Lemon Berry Chia Seed Yogurt Muffins

From: Jenn@eatcakefordinner
(Printable Recipe) or (Printable with Picture)

2/3 c. sugar
2 lemons, zested and juiced, divided
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. chia seeds
or 2 Tbl. poppy seeds
1 c. plain non-fat Greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
1/4 c. vegetable oil
strawberry jam
1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 c. sugar, for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill muffin tin with paper liners and spray lightly with cooking spray; set aside. Combine sugar and zest of two lemons and rub together with your fingers until fragrant. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chia seeds. In a separate bowl, mix together the juice of two lemons, yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon extract and vegetable oil. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix together just until combined. Batter will be lumpy.

Fill muffin liners 3/4 full (an ice cream scoop works perfect for this). Top each muffin with a heaping 1 teaspoon of strawberry jam. Use a toothpick and swirl the jam into the muffin. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes around 16 muffins.

Linked up at Time to Sparkle! and Tuesday Talent Show! and Lil Luna! and Wow Me Wednesday! and Your Creative Timeout Party! and Strut Your Stuff Saturday! and Mop It Up Mondays! and Weekend Wrap Up!