Donna's Cake

This is a recipe that is a family favorite for I don't even remember how long. We always rotated homes for the holidays. My brother and sister are quite a bit older so they were out on their own with their own families as I was growing up. So whenever my sister hosted a holiday meal this cake was ALWAYS served!! I love it, it's one of my favorites. It is time consuming so plan for a while to make it. It's best if you let it sit for a while and not serve it right away. But I warn you, a little goes A LONG way. It's very sweet, but soooo worth it!

Donna's 10 Layer Cake

2 boxes plus pudding cake mix (any flavor you like-my sister uses yellow, I used 1 yellow and 1 devil's food since that's what I happened to have on hand)
8 eggs
2C water
2/3 C veggie oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix above ingredients together. If using 2 different cake mixes, mix separate of course and just half the rest of the ingredients per cake mix). Grease and flour cake pans (I used 9in round-I have 4 of them and kept them in rotation). Pour enough of the batter to cover the bottom (about 3 serving spoons full). The layers will be thin. Place 2 pans at a time in oven and bake about 8 minutes. Cool completely and keep going until you have all the layers. Sometimes you'll get more layers and sometimes you make get less. Just depends on how heavy your pour is when adding batter to the pans. The more layers, the more dramatic a presentation.

While layers are cooling make frosting (if you want it to completely cover the cake you'll need to double this):

Frosting
3C sugar
2/3C baking cocoa
pinch salt
1 1/2C evaporated milk
4 tbsp margarine
1 tsp vanilla

Place sugar and coca and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Add milk gradually, stirring so the mixture won't become lumpy. Keep at medium heat until the chocolate begins to boil. Add margarine and vanilla. Mix will. Keep on low until all the layers are baked, stirring occasionally as you ice the cake.

spoon a little of the icing between each of the layers, the cake will soak in some of it.

just keep staking and icing layers

2 of the kiddos really enjoyed licking the bowls!

since I used 2 different mixes, I just alternated the flavors.

once caked is completely stacked pour the rest of the frosting over the cake (the frosting will harden slightly-so don't eat it right away), let it drip down the sides. I did not double the frosting recipe so it didn't completely cover the cake. You can choose the double it or keep it as is.

the inside presentation. Yummy!!!!

(ignore the snowflake plate-it's the only one I had that was big enough!)

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!

anytime sandiwch

I saw this particular recipe on Paula Deen's show the other day and thought it would be really easy and super yum! I grew up eating fried egg sandwiches. Whenever my parents would get home late and mom didn't want to cook-it was breakfast or egg sandwiches. A lot of the time we would fry up bologna to go with it. This time bacon is used and let's face it....everything is better with bacon! Even cooked the eggs in a bit of the bacon fat. Mmmmm...... happy!!!! So it's not terribly healthy for you,but really good!! Enjoy!

Fried Egg, Bacon and Avocado Sandwiches
2 slices of bread, toasted
1 egg, fried however you like it
2 pieces of bacon
sliced tomato
lettuce
slices of avocado

build your sandwich however you like it. With mayo or mustard (my 5 year old wanted ketchup on it......). Eat and enjoy. These were really good. Even the kids liked them!! This is great for a fast and easy lunch or dinner. Even a breakfast on the go!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I love comfort food. There just something about it's ooey, gooey, goodness that pulls me in every time. So I decided one day last week that we needed tuna noodle casserole. I tried it once in the crockpot and it was good, but this time I just wanted to do it the old fashioned way. So here it is: all ooey, gooey and good, I mean yummy!!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole
1- 16oz box pasta (i used corkscrew pasta)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can's worth of milk
1C shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans tuna, drained
1-12oz bag frozen mixed veggies
saltine crackers crushed (a couple of handfuls)

Cook pasta just under al dente according to box. They will finish cooking in oven and nothing is worse than mushy noodles.

In a bowl add soup and milk and mix until creamy. Add frozen veggies and tuna. Mix well. Add pasta and fold in. Place in 13X9 in baking pan. Top with cheddar cheese and crackers. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until heated through.

Serve wtih salad or whatever your family likes. This was really good and super creamy. I just love tuna noodle casserole. :O)

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Chicken Taco Pie

A couple of years ago I was part of a food swap. I may have mentioned it before, but basically you make X-amount of one meal and then pass it out to however many are in your group. The group I was in had 5 people participating. So we actually would make 5 each of 2 meals. It was really nice! This was one of the meals I came up with for the swap. Easy and it's really yummy. Might even help with that Mexican craving. ;O)

Chicken Taco Pie (quiche)
1 deep dish pre-made pie crust (baked according to package directions)
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 bell pepper, chopped
4-6 eggs (depending on size of crust)
splash of milk
2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided


In medium skillet brown chicken. Add 1/2 pkg of taco seasoning to chicken while cooking. DO NOT ADD WATER. Add bell pepper and cook until tender and chicken is browned.

In a bowl mix eggs with milk. Add rest of taco seasoning. Add 1C of cheese.

Once pie shell is baked, put chicken mixture into pie shell. Top with egg mixture.


Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. After 15 minutes, put foil around edge of pie crust to prevent burning. Cook remaining 30 minutes adding the last cup of cheese the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Serve with salsa, ranch, or sour cream. This was yummy! Perfect for making more than one and freezing for later. If freezing, go through all steps and bake, then when ready to use thaw to room temperature before baking. Then bake to heat through about 30 minutes.

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!

I am so scatterbrained lately, I can't remember if I posted this. So I'm posting it anyway. You can never have too much of a good thing! :O)

Herb Crust for Turkey or Chicken
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tbsp sage
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp olive oil (I used veg oil this time around)
1 tsp lemon juice

Mix together. Put rub underneath the skin of turkey (or chicken). Pull skin up but don't tear off. Put 1/2 mixture under skin and other half on top of skin. let sit over night in the fridge.

When ready to cook pour 1 C chicken stock in pan and bake in a 325 degree oven for 2 hours. Cover with foil and let rest until time to serve.

I made this on chicken the other night and have also used it on a turkey. Both were so good and juicy that I can't even begin to describe it. The turkey I made was the best turkey I have ever done. I HIGHLY recommend this marinade!!!

Take out at home

Anyone who knows me knows I love Asian food. Anytime we got eat at the food court in the mall (now I know it's not true Asian cuisine) I always want to go to the Asian places. Just something about it. Anyway...I've had a great need for sweet and sour chicken lately. HungryMan has a really good meal and whenever the mood strikes i'll grab it (or more likely when it's on sale and I have a coupon-those are pricey). So I decided to try my hand at making it for once. I have to warn you-this recipe makes a TON of food. I would recommend halving it unless you plan to feed a crowd. This will feed at least 8 people. There were only 5 of us and we have enough left over for days. Which doesn't bother me a bit!!!! Here you go!

be prepared for lots of pans on this one!

Fried Rice

• enough brown rice for 8 servings made according to pkg directions
  
• 2/3 cup chopped baby carrots
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• soy sauce to taste
• sesame oil, to taste (optional)

In a small saucepan, boil carrots in water about 3 to 5 minutes. Drop peas into boiling water, and drain.
Heat wok over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in carrots and peas; cook about 30 seconds. Crack in eggs, stirring quickly to scramble eggs with vegetables. Stir in cooked rice. Shake in soy sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, and toss again (I used dehyradted carrots in mine and it was really good. I also added the green peppers from the chicken part of the recipe into the rice)

Sweet and Sour Chicken

• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained (juice reserved)
• 2 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 5 drops red food coloring, 3 drops yellow food coloring
  
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 C buttermilk
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 cups water
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice, and orange food coloring. Heat to boiling. Turn off heat. Combine 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; slowly stir into saucepan. Continue stirring until mixture thickens.

Combine flour, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and egg. Add buttermilk and 1 1/2 cups water gradually to make a thick batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces, and stir until chicken is well coated. Let sit about 15 minutes.

Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until golden. Remove chicken, and drain on paper towels.

When ready to serve, layer green peppers, pineapple chunks, and cooked chicken pieces on a platter. Pour hot sweet and sour sauce over top. (like I mentioned earlier, I put the green pepper into the fried rice and then added the pineapple chunks into the sauce just before serving)

I was looking through pictures and realized that I hadn't posted in a while. So sorry about that. I guess I have been a little too focused on Easter and all that goes along with that. I hope everyone has been well. I have a couple of super yummy recipes for you. I hope you enjoy them! One has been around my family since I was little and the other one I came up with on a whim and wanted to do something a little different with our dinner.

Sloppy Joe Bundles
1 pound ground beef (can use turkey, chicken, whatever you like)
1/2 bottle favorite BBQ sauce
1C dehydrated onions
1/2C dehydrated carrots
20z velveeta cheese
1/2 pkg. puff pastry dough


Let dough thaw on counter. In the meantime brown and drain off ground meat. Add bbq sauce, onions and carrots and simmer until dehydrated veggies are plump, around 15 minutes or so. Add cheese and allow to melt completely.

Once dough is pliable, roll out and cut into 6 squares. Roll those out and place a dollup (I seriously didn't measure it) onto the middle. Dampen edges with water and fold up like a little package. Repeat until all meat mixture is used. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Keep and eye on them. You want them golden brown, but not burnt on the bottom. Some ovens may vary. These were good and so easy to make. The kids even loved them which surprised me. I figured they take one look and say that it was too wierd to eat (my kids are strange like that! haha). But they were a big hit!! We served these with homemade onion rings. Yum!!!





Now for dessert. I made the bundles a few days ago, but this dessert I made yesterday to take to our friends for dinner. It's really easy and it makes A LOT!! This makes a double batch and unless you want them really thick (which I did) you can halve the recipe and it will still be perfect!! Normally if I make them for just us I will do that, but these needed to feed about 13 people yesterday so I just made them really thick! They were a HIT especially with the 10 and under crowd!!! These were a favorite of mine growing up and I hope you get much enjoyment out of them!!!

Peanut Butter Fingers
Cream together: 1 C margarine
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
Blend in: 2 eggs
2/3 C peanut butter (I used crunchy since that's what I had on hand)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Stir in: 2 C all purpose flour
2 C oatmeal

Spread in 2 13X9in greased pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min (because mine were so thick I baked them for 35 minutes). Sprinkle top with 12oz pkg of chocolate chips. Let stand 5 min and spread evenly. I used white and milk chocolate chips along with some colorful sprinkles. These would also be really good with the peanut butter/chocolate chips.



And here's a picture of the kiddos after finding eggs in the back yard. The Easter bunny came to our house twice, once to leave baskets and then he came while we were at church and hid eggs. It was a great day!! Hope yours was just as wonderful!!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

A Reuben Makeover

This dinner was supposed to be for St. Patty's Day. But I was sick and not in the mood to really do anything. So I saved it for tonight. It's really easy, I mean really easy and since 4 out of the 5 of us don't like saurkraut, I made it over, Rebekah-style. Enjoy!!!

Make-over Reubens
4 packages corned beef lunchmeat (use those individual serving packets found near the bologna)
2C coleslaw
1C shredded cheddar cheese
hamburger buns


Slice the corned beef into thin strips and warm in a med sautee pan in a tsp of butter. Add the cheese and allow to melt. Top on bun with mustard or mayo and then top with coleslaw.

Even the kids ate this. I used my regular cole slaw recipe and added a little ranch dressing for zing. Really good. Served this with chips.

Hope you have a great weekend. Back soon with some more yummies for your tummy!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!

Hawaiian Haystacks

This is one of my favorite dinners. My mom would make this all the time growing up whenever we had a crowd to feed. Usually this fed missionaries, but sometimes she would make it just for us. All the different textures and hot and cold in this just make it super. I really can't explain it all. I hope you'll find as much enjoyment in it as I did. I LOVE IT!!!!!

HAWAIIAN HAYSTACKS

2- 10 3/4 OZ cans cream of chicken soup (any creamed soup would work)
1 C chicken broth (I used milk since I didn't have any broth on hand and it just came out thicker-so either would work as well)
2 C cooked, shredded chicken
8oz frozen peas and carrots
4 C brown rice
1 -9 1/2 oz can chow mein noodles
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 C chopped bell pepper
1/2 C chopped celery (I omitted this)
3 green onions, chopped
1- 20oz can pineapple chunks
1C grated cheddar cheese

Combine soup and chicken broth in a medium saucepan to make gravy. Stir to blend. Once heated through add frozen veggies. Add chicken to gravy and stir to heat through.

Place cooked rice and chicken gravy on plate. Then layer rest of the ingredients as you like.

This is how we did it:






This is really yummy and good. Really good as leftovers too. Hope you enjoy!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!

Winners

Winners of the Yoplait Contest are

NANA
STEPHANIE
ERIN

Please email your mailing address to rebekahskitchen(at)live(dot)com. Your information will not be saved or shared. Thanks!!! Hope you enjoy the packs!!

LAST CHANCE

MY CONTEST ENDS TONIGHT!!! Tell your friends, enter-it's a really cute prize pack and if you don't want the games in it, GREAT GIFT idea!!! What child wouldn't want paddle ball, a beach ball, a jump rope and jai-ali!?! GOOD LUCK!!!