Berry Angels

1 Angel Food Cake Mix

Fresh Or Fozen Berries

Fat Free Cool Whip

Our family is watching their intake these days so Our favorite cake now is Angel Food Cake. I prepare cake as directed on the box, and then 1/2 c of fresh or frozen (thawed) berries with the cake and fat free cool whip.

It's lowcal, it's healthy and on a spring and hot summer day it's soooo good..Pull up a slice.

Sun-Drop Cake

Allow me to start off the first ever wha'cha got cookin' Cake Off with an old favorite. It's from a cook book I was given as a wedding present. I take this cake to a lot of pot-lucks & rarely bring home left overs. The best part? It's a doctored mix, so it's super simple.

For those of you who've never been south of the Mason-Dixon line, Sun-Drop is hyper charged Mt. Dew. Any soda of that variety will work.

1 box lemon cake mix
1 small package instant lemon pudding
1 (12 oz) can Sun-Drop
3 eggs
3/4 C. oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine lemon cake mix, lemon pudding, Sun-Drop, eggs, and oil. Mix well. Pour into greased tube or Bundt pan. Bake 35 minutes or until cake tests done. Let set for 5 minute in pan, then invert onto serving plate. While still warm, prepare glaze.

Glaze
1 C. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. water (I use Sun-drop in place of the water)
1 tsp. vanilla or lemon flavoring

Mix all together until sugar is dissolved & mixture is smooth. Pour over cake.

While I'm at it, I should share a story about this cake. I took it to church once for a pot luck for our missionary & his wife. She had a slice of the cake & loved it, so she asked about it. When she was told it was a Mt.Dew cake (since we couldn't get Sun-Drop around here at the time) she nearly panicked. Apparently she was on some kind of medication that reacted badly if taken with caffeine. Since there's only one can in the entire cake, she was fine....but it made for an interesting church dinner.

Cheesy Ravioli Bake

We love this one at our house and it's pretty easy to put together.

Cheesy Ravioli Bake
serves 4 to 6
From Cook's Country Magazine Feb/March 07

3 TBLS. unsalted butter(the real butter, not margarine)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes(this is a large can, I just use to regular size cans)
2 TBLS. coarsely chopped fresh basil, can use dry just use about half of that
1/3 cup heavy cream
salt
2 (8 oz) pkgs fresh cheese ravioli
1 (6 oz) bag baby spinach
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot for cooking pasta. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease shallow 2 quart baking dish with 1 TBLS butter.

2. Melt remaining 2 TBLS butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant but not brown, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, increase heat to high, and cook until thickened and almost dry, about 10 minutes. Stir in basil and cream and simmer until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Season with salt.

3. Add 1 TBLS salt and ravioli to boiling water and cook until al dente(you want it to still be pretty firm pasta because it's going to go in the oven for a few minutes). Add spinach to pot with pasta and stir until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain pasta and spinach, return to pot, and stir in tomato sauce. Transfer mixture to baking dish, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until top is golden, about 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

"Pass The Beer, Grandma" Beef Stew

Okay, better explain the title. Farmwife and I share a grandmother who is known as a tea-totaller to the max. At Cardinal/Cubs baseball games in St. Louis, she would refuse to pass the cups of beer down the aisle, and it would have to go over her. She's a hoot that way. (Can't wait until she comes to my house and I feed her food with alcohol based sauces. Hee hee.) Anyway, I found a couple of beef stew recipes in Real Simple's cookbook, and decided to combine them and modify them according to my pantry and refrigerator contents. Here's what came about. Just so you know, Henry David loved it and had two big bowls.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt (about 1 T.)
Black Pepper (however much you want)
3 T. Brown Sugar
1 T. Dried Thyme
1-2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
3-4 Garlic Cloves, diced
2 Yellow Onions, chopped in bigger pieces
6 Small Yukon Gold Potatoes, quartered (peel if desired)
2 Carrots, peeled and sliced in ovals
1-2 Parsnips, peeled, woody core removed, and cut into 1" pieces
28 oz. Can of Diced Tomatoes not drained
2 lbs. Stew Beef, chopped in bite-sized pieces
1 Can of Beer (any kind will do....I had leftover Budweiser from my slug killing days, which is what I'm sure you just wanted to know during a cooking session)
16 oz. Water

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a Dutch Oven, brown beef stew pieces in a bit of olive oil over medium heat on the stove top. There is no need to dredge in flour. Remove when browned and put on plate to use later.

2. Add onions and garlic to the Dutch Oven, using more olive oil if needed. Saute until softened and partially carmelized, about five minutes.

3. Add beef stew pieces back to the Dutch Oven with the onions and garlic. Add in the can of tomatoes, liquid included. Add in the carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. Add about 16 ounces of water, the can of beer, the brown sugar, thyme, rosemary, black pepper, and kosher salt. Stir well over medium heat for a few minutes until nicely simmering.

4. Cover and put in oven for about two hours, taking it out every 30 minutes or so to stir. The last 15 minutes, put the Dutch Oven lid partially ajar. It's ready when everything is tender. It smells wonderful and tastes incredible. No one will ever guess you used water and not beef stock. I think the secret is the beer and the brown sugar.

***This makes about six cereal bowl sized servings.

mushroom sauce for beef roast

I made my very first oven-baked top sirloin roast yesterday. I rubbed it in a garlic/ginger rub, and added salt pepper, and worscestshire sauce to it before sticking it in the oven at 325. Pretty standard. It turned out a tad dry, but it was only a 1.3 pounder.

Anyway, since it was a bit dry, I decided the sauteed mushrooms and red onions needed to be in more of a broth or thin gravy.

I sauteed them as normal (lots of butter, about 1 tsp minced garlic), then I added about 1/2 c vegetable broth, 1/2 c Sutter Home Merlot, and a little water. I used flour to thicken it just a smidge. I also added salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Sorry it's not more of a recipe format, but that's what happens when you throw something together. Anyway, hubby and I were pleased with the results, and Baby Bear LOVED the mushrooms.

A different kind of breakfast burrito

I make this for the kids now and they love it.

1 T of salmon cream cheese (or cream cheese of your desired flavor) (1pt)
1/2 c of egg substitute (1pt)
1/8 c of l/f shredded cheese (1pt)
1/4 c of diced mushrooms (free)
1/4 c of diced peppers (free)
2 t of bacon pieces (I use the hormel) (.5 pt)
1 w/w tortilla (burrito size) (4 pt)

I use pam and spray my pan. Turn my burner on 5 (medium heat) and pour the egg substitute in pan. After it cooks a bit I sprinkle, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese around on top of the egg. While that is cooking, I move the pan to move uncooked egg around. I flip the egg (not breaking it and lightly brown other side)

I take the 1 tablespoon of cream cheese and spread it on tortillia.

Place egg in center of tortilla and roll. You'll get egg mixture in every bite.

(7.5 pts weight watchers but it's very filling and the kids love it)

Ropa Vieja

This is great served on rice - but we also tried the leftovers wrapped in a tortilla and it was awesome... This is from Cooking Light magazine...

Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 (1-pound) flank steaks, trimmed
3 cups thinly vertically sliced red onion
2 cups red bell pepper strips (about 2 peppers)
2 cups green bell pepper strips (about 2 peppers)
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 tablespoons thinly sliced pitted green olives (I LEFT THESE OUT OF MINE...)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons sherry vinegar (Not sure if it's the same, but I used Red Wine Vinegar - couldn't find Sherry Vinegar at the store)
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon no-salt-added tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 steak to pan; cook 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove steak from pan. Repeat procedure with cooking spray and remaining steak.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, bell peppers, and garlic to pan; cook 7 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in olives and next 5 ingredients (through black pepper); cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in vinegar, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook for 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in broth, tomato paste, and bay leaves. Add steaks; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 1 1/2 hours or until steaks are very tender. Discard bay leaves.
Remove steaks from pan; shred with two forks. Stir shredded beef and cilantro into pan.