White Chocolate Bundt Cake

I got this recipe from my Aunt Kaye, and I have to tell you, this cake is amazing. Make it for something fancy, or serve it with all of your fresh raspberries this summer. You're welcome.

The Cake

1 Betty Crocker yellow cake mix with pudding in the mix
4 oz. instant white chocolate pudding mix (or you can use cheesecake flavor pudding)
1 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup canola oil
2/3 cup skim milk
1 egg white
2 eggs
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Coat a 10" bundt pan with non stick cooking spray. Combine cake mix through the eggs in a bowl, blending until well mixed. Stir in white chocolate chips and pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

The Glaze

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup skim milk
1 Tablespoon almond extract

Mix in a small bowl. Cool cake for 10 minutes in pan before inverting on a serving plate or cake stand. Brush glaze on with pastry brush to coat cake. I just drizzled it over the top and used the back of a spoon to smooth it all over the cake. If desired, you can sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the glaze.

The Raspberry Sauce

1 10 oz. package frozen raspberries in syrup
1/4 cup sugar
2-3 Tablespoons orange juice

Drain 1 package raspberries and discard juice. Puree the rest in blender and strain if desired.

If you can't find raspberries in syrup, make your own heavy syrup by dissolving 3/4 cup sugar in 1/2 cup boiling water. Puree a bag of whole raspberries in the blender and slowly add enough of the syrup (not all) to make raspberries pourable. Add orange juice.

Add this to a bag of frozen raspberries

The Assembly

Garnish the cake with fresh raspberries.

To serve, first take a slice of cake. This is what the cake looks like with the pecans and white chocolate chips inside. It is so moist.

Then top it with raspberry sauce. Drizzle a little extra on the plate so you can dip the cake in it.

Top it with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Delicious, I tell ya. Enjoy!

Ice Cold Strawberry Milkshakes

My dad recently reminded me of this tasty low calorie treat. If I'm craving ice cream or something sweet at night, this will really hit the spot and satisfy my craving. Plus, it's really filling and you'll eat it slower because it's cold! These are so good, even strawberry haters (yes, they do exist, in my own house, actually) will gobble them right up.

15 frozen strawberries
1/2 cup Splenda (or sugar)
2 cups fat-free milk

Blend until smooth. Makes 4-5 cups. Weight Watchers Point Plus Value: 4 points for the whole batch. About 1 point per cup, depending on serving size.

Rainbow Jello

St. Patrick's Day is this week, and I've been trying to work up a green menu plan for my family. I have a hard time adding green food coloring to all the food. It seriously grosses me out. I know much of the food I buy at the store is full of food coloring, but somehow it's different than green scrambled eggs or green milk. Corned beef and cabbage would never fly at my house, so I've been trying to come up with some ideas of more naturally green food.

This year, we're going to go easy on breakfast with some Lucky Charms. My kids have never had them, so I think they'll be a hit. I'm still working on some fun ideas for lunch. I'd love to hear any ideas you've got to share.

For dinner, I've got some spinach pasta from the grocery store, which is already green! I'm going to make some fresh pesto sauce to go on top. Get out your green table cloth, and serve it up with a green vegetable and some of this rainbow jello and voila! You're family will be so impressed. You could even serve some of this low calorie key lime pie for dessert.

This jello will take a while to make, but most of it is down time while you wait for the next layer to set up in the fridge. It's a piece of cake if you are working on other projects around the house. Just take a break from folding laundry and add your next layer before moving your load of whites over to the dryer. I'm going to make mine the day before St. Patrick's day so it's ready to go and I don't have to worry about it the day of.

Now, this is important. Unless you fridge is more level than mine, it won't look very cool if your layers aren't level. I usually have to fold up a piece of paper and shove it under one side to compensate.

Check out more St. Patrick's ideas at the below, and remember to share your green ideas with me in the comments!

Other St. Patrick's Day Ideas:

Veggies: broccoli, green beans, spinach, cucumbers, green salad

Fruit: green grapes, honey dew melon, kiwi, green apples dipped in a pot of gold (peanut butter or caramel)

Treats: goldfish crackers, gold mini Reeses peanut butter cups, Skittles, M&M cookies with green M&Ms or Andes mints

Lunch: green juice boxes, green jello cups, pickles, green fruit leather

Recipes:
Broccoli and Bowtie Pasta
Green Zucchini Soup with peasant bread
Key Lime Pie
Green smoothies via my sister-in-law Jen
Other St. Patrick's ideas from Jen

My St. Patrick's Day Pinterest Board

Rainbow Jello

Use a 9 x 13 dish.

You will need small boxes of jello (in this order):
lime
lemon
orange
strawberry
cherry
black cherry (purple)
1 1/2 lb. sour cream

Combine one box of jello with 1 1/4 cups boiling water. Divide this mixture in half.

First half, add 1/3 c. sour cream and stir until smooth. Use wire whisk to add sour cream. Mix it gently, being careful no to make it too foamy. Pour your sour cream jello layer into your glass dish and pop any bubbles before putting it into the fridge. Refrigerate 1/2 hour.

For the second half of the jello, add 3 Tbl. of cold water. Carefully spoon onto first layer. Chill 1/2 hour. You will end up repeating this process twelve times--two layers each of six colors of jello. Be careful as you pour on each layer. Remember to check that the dish is level before leaving it to set up.

Top with cool whip and serve to all those little leprechauns at your house!

Easy Milkshakes

Lately we've been blending up ice cream and milk in the blender to make milkshakes. The chocolate ice cream milkshakes tasted more like Frosty's, but our favorite are the Oreo milkshakes that we make with cookies and cream ice cream. The consistency is better.

ice cream flavor of your choice
milk - amount depends on how much ice cream and the consistency you want.

Directions are simple: Blend.

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Sometimes you just need some cookies without all of the mess and cleanup. Voilà!

1 cube butter
½ c. milk
2 c. sugar
2 Tbl. cocoa
½ tsp. salt

Cook together in pot and bring to a boil. Then add 1 tsp. vanilla and 3 c. oatmeal. Spoon onto wax paper or foil with a spoon and let cool.


Originally posted 2/21/07 without picture

Zucchini Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

I dreamed about these the other night. I guess that's what pregnancy does to you (that, and essentially shut down your recipe blog for extended periods of time). My aunt made these for a party last week and they were heavenly.

3 eggs
1 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. orange juice
1 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes exactly 2 dozen cupcakes. You can substitute apple sauce for the oil.

Caramel Frosting:
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar

Combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat in powdered sugar.

Mint Brownies

From the kitchen of Aunt Kaye: Yes, you read right. There are 5 1/2 sticks of butter in this pan of brownies. And yes, this recipe makes a ton, but the amount of butter alone should tell you how good these are. I think we figured out one time that one brownie contains about half of your calories for the day, so if you are going to splurge, this is the way to do it.

Brownies:
3 c. flour
3/8 c. powdered milk
3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 c. cocoa
1 rounded tsp. baking powder

Add :
2 1/2 cubes melted butter
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. water

Bake in jelly roll pan at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Mint Frosting:
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. soft butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cap peppermint extract
red food coloring (make the frosting pink)
little milk

Mix well and frost brownies evenly. Put in fridge till firm.

Chocolate Topping:
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz.)
1 stick butter

Melt together. When shiny, spread over top of mint frosting in a very thin layer. Cool.

Cut off the edges before serving.

These need to be kept in the fridge until just before serving.

Key Lime Pie

Aka, my new addiction.

I've posted this before, but I've figured out a few tips to make it better (*at the bottom), so I thought I'd share.

1 reduced fat graham cracker crust
1 small package lime jello (sugar free)
24 oz. key lime pie yogurt (depending on the size of the containers, 3-8 oz. or 4-6 oz.)
1 1/2 c. fat free cool chip (half a container)
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1/2 c. cold water
1/2 c. boiling water

Sprinkle 1 envelope Knox gelatin over 1/2 c. cold water and let sit for 1 minute. Add lime jello to 1/2 c. boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add the gelatin mixture to the boiling water and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved. Chill for 10 minutes to cool. (so it doesn't curdle the yogurt)

When jello mixture is cooled, fold in key lime yogurt. Chill again, about 10 minutes.

Add cool whip. Pour mixture into graham cracker crust and chill.




Just before serving, top each slice with a dollop of cool whip and a slice of lime.

They also make key lime yogurt in a thick and creamy variety. I think this works best.


And THEN I discovered these cute little babies:


They're mini crusts. Tart size. And they are cute.

When we made a couple of these pies at my mom's house, we always had a little bit of filling left over that wouldn't fit into the pie crust. These would be perfect for that leftover filling. For some reason, when I made it at my house, it fit into the crust perfectly. So of course I had to scoop a little off the top to try out one of the cute little mini crusts.


*I have figured out a few tricks after making this a few times. I use the thick and creamy yogurt. It helps it set up the thickest. I whip the yogurt together before adding the jello, they add the jello only a few teaspoons at a time and stir it until it is a uniform consistency before adding more jello. This way I don't get chunks of jello like this:


You can tell even from the pictures that the texture is a lot smoother this way. Don't chill the yogurt and jello mixture too long in the fridge before adding the cool whip, or it sets up to much and the consistency will be more lumpy than smooth.

Last time I had to take it to a party, so I cut it into pieces and topped each piece right in the pie plate (top picture).

The Best Sugar Cookies You Will Ever Eat

The best part about this recipe is you don't have to refrigerate the dough before you use it! So they are fast and easy, plus they have the added benefit of being the best tasting sugar cookies you will ever eat. They are soft and cakey with just a hint of nutmeg. I have had people who swear they don't like sugar cookies ask me for the recipe. I honestly can't decide if I like them better frosted, or just plain without the frosting.

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 1/4 c. flour (double batch = 6 c. flour)

Mix well. Roll out to about 1/4 in. thickness on a floured surface and cut shapes. Don't roll them out too thin. No crunchy sugar cookies allowed. You do not need to grease the cookie sheet.


Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. You want them to be soft. Frost and top with sprinkles or other decorations if desired.

Here's a good frosting recipe.

Snow's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our neighbors brought these cookies over to us, and they were soo good.

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
2 1/2 - 3 c. oatmeal
6 oz. chocolate chips (half a bag)
1/4 bag Reeses peanut butter chips

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-9 minutes.

Originally posted 1/13/06 without pictures

Gingerbread Cookies

Go make yourself some festive gingerbread men, or as we like to call them, cookie boys.

1 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
1 egg
1 c. molasses
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. boiling water
1 Tbl. ginger
1 Tbl. cinnamon
1 Tbl. soda
3-6 cups flour to make soft dough (I used 5 c.)

Roll out dough on floured counter and cut cookies.

Bake at 350 for 7-8 min so they are still soft.

Originally posted 11/25/07 without picture

Sour Cream Cookies

UPDATE: Emily made these and I loved her variation on the frosting.

Emily said: "If you like my hieroglyphic cookies, here's what you do: add more milk to thin the Browned Butter Icing, be too scared to brown the butter and just melt it real good, and use a Ziploc to make random squiggles/cave paintings. And then give them to all your favorite people that don't know Japanese."


Cool, no? Thanks, Emily!

The original recipe is below.

I got this recipe from my aunt Lisa, who made them for our bus tour for my grandparents 50th anniversary. I had never had them before, but these cookies are GOOD.

I think they must be the softest cookie I've ever had. Because when I accidentally left them sitting on the counter for too long, I expected them to be dried out and hard - but they were still as soft as when they came out of the oven!

1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sour cream

Cream butter and brown sugar; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla. Sift dry indredients together and add alternating with sour cream to creamed mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. (I do 7 or 8). Cool and frost. Makes 6 dozen.

Frost with Brown Butter Frosting.

Brown 3 tablespoons butter, add 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon milk, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Beat until smooth. Be careful not to brown the butter in the frosting too much. :)

Originally posted 11/14/06 without picture

Cowboy Cookies

1 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 c. rolled oats
1 package chocolate chips (2 c.)

Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Originally posted 4/3/07 without picture

Fruit Ice Cream Compote

This ice cream is another wowzer from Aunt Kaye. It has a very light flavor and really hits the spot on a hot summer evening.

1 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
1/2 gallon pineapple ice cream, softened
1 package frozen blueberries
2 packages frozen raspberries
4 sliced bananas

Stir softened ice cream together in a large bowl. Gently fold in berries. Ice cream will turn a light pink color. Fold in bananas. Pour into air tight container and return to freezer to firm the ice cream a little.

Serves 16-18 good size portions.

Rice Krispy Treats

I usually make these once a year for the big family campout. But for the first time I made them just to make them (thanks to the many extra bags of marshmallows I inherited after the family campout). How else do you use up marshmallows? I don't know what else to use them for besides hot chocolate and rice krispy treats. Leave me a comment if you have other ideas for marshmallow usage.

They were a hit with the kids and I forgot how easy they are so I guess we'll have to make them more often. Nothing special, so if you want to ramp up your rice krispy treats look here and here. Or here.

This is just the plain old recipe right off the box.

3 Tbs. butter
4 cups mini marshmallows or 1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows (about 40)
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt butter and marshmallows completely, then stir in cereal to coat evenly. Press into greased pan with a greased spatula or waxed paper and cool.

Cut into 2 inch squares. Best served same day.

Fruit Dip

I haven't had this for awhile, and I forgot how good it is. Even my 5 year old said "Mmm mmm mmm!" when I set it in front of him. Hey, if this stuff gets my kids to eat fruit, that's success in my book.

Large jar marshmallow cream (13 oz.)
8 oz. cream cheese - room temperature (low fat won't work)
1 Tbl. lemon juice

Mix together with whisk attachment, and serve with fruit: apples, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, etc.

Originally posted 1/13/06 without picture

Birthday Cake Roll

I don't like birthday cake and ice cream. Not even a temptation to me. But this cake roll? Love it. For my birthday I either want this, or chocolate zucchini cake.

Chocolate cake mix
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

Make chocolate cake mix as directed on the box. Bake in a jelly roll pan that is lined with foil and sprayed with PAM. Bake for a shorter amount of time because of the different pan (about 15 min).

Let cake cool and then remove from pan by carefully lifting out the foil liner. Line pan with a piece of plastic wrap and replace cake in pan with foil side facing up. Carefully peel the foil from the cake.

Let ice cream soften slightly and slice into ½ inch slices and completely cover the top of the cake with ice cream. Use a spoon dipped in hot water to smooth over top of ice cream and fill in all gaps.

Slowly roll the cake into a roll using the plastic wrap to help you. This takes 2 people.



Leave entire cake roll wrapped in plastic wrap, wrap in foil, and freeze until ready to slice and serve.