Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

We went on a Cruise for our Honeymoon about 4 months or so after we got married.  And the food on said Cruisewas tasty and abundant.  I was sick due to being pregnant, so I didn't eat much except for hamburgers, pickles, green jello, and pineapple sherbet.  But hubs got this dessert pretty much if not every night.  So for Father's Day I decided to make it for dessert.  I accidentally overcooked ours slightly (which is easy to do, so be careful!), but it was still decently ooey gooey in the middle.  This is such a good dessert, and it was a lot easier to prepare than I expected.  They cook fast, so if you want to prepare them ahead of time, after baking, cover the ramekins in plastic wrap and/or foil to trap in the heat and keep them moist.  And if they need rewarming before serving, pop them in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds.

  Serve with you favorite Vanilla Ice Cream (ours is Breyer's Vanilla Bean).

Recipe found here

Ingredients:
6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
3. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
4. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
5. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
6. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
7. Cook for about 10 minutes. (I would cook it for more like 12-14 min.  You want the sides to be firm and the middle to be jiggly-not soupy, jiggly)
8. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.

Chicken Ranch, and Rice Soup..thank you Picky Palate

I love soup.  I could eat soup all summer long.  If you aren't a summer soup eating person, just save this recipe for the fall.  This makes for a tasty meal.  It has ranch seasoning in it, which wakes up the traditional chicken and rice soup.  It is nice to get some different flavor dimensions.  It is also a quick recipe, so you can make some homemade rolls too and not feel like you have been living in the kitchen all day. 

 

recipe found on Picky Palate

(check it out, she has some pretty great stuff!)

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 Cups of cooked rice (which would be 1 cup of dry rice)
64 oz chicken broth (that's 2 cartons-not cans)
1 Tablespoon dry Ranch Dressing seasoning
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce, like Tabasco (optional)


Directions:
1. Heat oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat.
2. When hot, saute onion, carrots and celery for 7-10 minutes or until softened slightly. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Stir in chicken breast and rice then pour in chicken broth. Stir, then season with ranch seasoning, salt, pepper and add in Dijon and hot sauce.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer until serving. Taste and season accordingly.

H is for Hair Fairy

An Alphabet of Encouragement and Insight for Kids (and Kids at Heart!) With Cancer

Written by: Kim Martin

Illustrated by: Wend Boomhower

Have I mentioned how much I love Alphabet books?  Well, I love them lots.  This one was written and Illustrated by 2 people I grew up going to church with.  It is an alphabet about Cancer, mostly giving encouragement and insight (best way to explain it, also written on the cover!).  This is such a good book, and a great one to have in your home or in your classroom, especially if you know someone facing this trial.  Visit the website, HairFairy.org for more information, and to order a book for yourself or classroom!

You will also notice on their website, the "Hair Fairy Project".  What this is, is that on the day a child or young adult loses their hair, Mr. and Mrs. Hair fairy leave a gift, note, and this book for that child/young adult.  I think this is a fantastic project, soo much love and caring goes into this.  Cancer has not affected my immediate family as of yet, but I have seen it in other people's lives.  Anything to make those affected smile or bring hope and happiness is such a wonderful thing.   Donations are gladly accepted.

Spanish Rice, my new Favorite

Sorry, this was a last minute picture, had to make sure I got one before it was all gone!  This rice was fantastic!  We paired it with some Fajitas, and it was soo good.  It seriously was to me better than some of my favorite mexican places.  I have always loved rice when we go out for Mexican.  I usually get no beans and extra rice.  And now that I can make it at home, I can have all the extra rice I want!  I found the recipe here, and added some cummin on my own.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce*
3 cloves finely chopped garlic *
1/4 of a medium onion*
2 tablespoons oil
4 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (optional)
Cumin and salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add in the fresh garlic and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add in dry rice. Stir for about 5 minutes until rice becomes a golden brown color.

Add in broth and tomato sauce (Slowly into rice, not directly onto hot pan!) Add in the parsley if you're using it. Stir it up and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork.



*If you don't have fresh garlic or onions on hand you can use the equivalent in powder form. Do not saute the powder, just skip that step and add the garlic powder and/or onion powder when you add the liquids. If you don't have tomato sauce you can use unseasoned stewed tomatoes, or canned diced tomatoes with their liquid. (this was from the website.  I would suggest using fresh garlic mostly because I think it tastes better :) )

Coconut Pineapple Cake

I found this recipe here while looking on Food Gawker a while ago (a favorite past time of mine), and since my spouse doesn't care for Pineapple, I decided to wait until I was on vacation at my parents home to make it since I knew more people would eat it there.  Troy did tell me I could make it but I should just put pineapple on half the cake...but then that would mean I'd have to eat half a cake!  Which I could probably do, but would probably hate myself for afterward when I saw the effects in the mirror! I made this the other night, and I personally thought it was great!  Try it out for yourself!  It is a great summer treat.

    

Ingredients:

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 (3.4-ounce) box French vanilla pudding, plus ingredients to prepare
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup flaked, sweetened toasted coconut


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare yellow cake mix as directed on the box as well as the cooking time.
3. While cake is baking, combine the pineapple and 1 cup of sugar (I would recommend ½ cup) in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. Remove cake from oven and using a fork, pierce holes into cake. Pour pineapple mixture over hot cake and set aside.
5. Prepare pudding according to package directions. Spread pudding over cake and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
6. Whip heavy cream and remaining sugar until stiff. Cover top of cake with whipped cream and sprinkle toasted coconut on top.

Peanut Butter Cookies (Skippy Truffle Cookies)

I found this recipe in a magazine and it has been a favorite ever since.  This is a very rich cookie, so eat with a glass of milk!  It makes about 24 cookies, and I could probably eat them all in one day!

Ingredients:

1 c. Skippy® creamy peanut butter (Any Peanut Butter works, we like Peter Pan, chunky is also good)
1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips


Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, with a wooden spoon, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips until blended. Stir in chocolate chips just until combined. On ungreased baking sheets, using slightly rounded teaspoonfuls, drop dough 2 inches apart. (Do not flatten.)
2.  Bake 9 minutes or until cookies are puffed and golden. (Cookies will be very soft.) Place baking sheets on a wire rack and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from sheets and cool completely.

Chicken Stew

Found here

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

2      Tbsp olive oil

2      chicken breast, skin-on and bone-in* (~1 1/2lbs), trimmed excess fat

2      stalks of celery, cut into bite-size pieces

1      carrot, peeled, cut into bite size pieces

1      small onion, chopped

2      small gloves of garlic, minced (about 1 tsp)

1      can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice

1      can (14 oz.) low sodium chicken broth

1/2   cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

1      Tbsp tomato paste

1      bay leaf

1/2   Tbsp fresh (or 1/2 tsp dried) thyme

1      tsp Italian seasoning

1      tsp red pepper flakes (adjust to your own taste)

1     can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I skipped this ingredient since it is not something I usually have!)

Directions: 

1.  Brown the chicken - Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a heavy 5 1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat.  When the oil is hot but not smoking, brown the chicken breast skin size down first, 3 to 4 mins on both sides, until the pink is almost gone. Remove chicken from saucepan, discard the skins. (I used frozen chicken breast, and did not brown them, I boiled them until they were almost cooked through and it turned out great!). 

2.  Saute the veggies - With the oil from the chicken in the saucepan over medium heat, (add more olive oil to make up to about 2 Tbsp), saute the celery, carrot and onion until the onion is translucent, about 4 to 5 mins. Add the minced garlic to the veggies and stir for a few seconds.  Season the veggies with salt and pepper to taste. 

3.  Add liquid, seasonings and chicken - Stir in tomatoes with juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, Italian seasonings and red pepper flakes. Put the chicken breasts and any juice came out back the pan, press to submerge. 

4.  Let it simmer - Bring the cooking liquid to a boil and turn down the heat to medium0low and simmer gently, uncovered, until the chicken is almost cooked through, about 25 mins.  Flip over the chicken breast and stir the mixture occassionally.

5.  Add beans - Take out the chicken breasts and let it cool for 5 mins.Add the chickpeas and simmer until the liquid has reduced to stew consistency, about 10 mins. 

6.  Add shredded chicken - Remove and discard the bones from the chicken breast. Shred or cut chicken into bite-size pieces.  Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.