Whoa - planning?

Don't die of shock. I planned a menu. We've noticed this is much more budget friendly. Now if I can just get off my lazy trash and do it....

BBQ Spare Ribs w/ grilled parmesan ranch potatoes (I need to post the recipe)

Grilled salmon with Wild Rice Pilaf

Shredded Beef Chimichangas and.... some sort of side dish to be determined

Omelets and hashbrowns

BLT sandwiches with potato chips and fruit

Chicken Spaghetti with green salad

I'm trying to keep it basic and easy since it's supposed to stay fairly hot outside. I hate cooking in the summer time if I can avoid it. As I used to do, I've gone through the grocery store ads and determined what kind of meat was on sale before I started finding recipes. Happy cooking?

Rainbow Cake

Well, this will answer the how. I'm not sure I have a good reason for the why. This cake was cute, but wow it took a lot of work.

serves: Lots with huge pieces in Time: eternity (really about 12 hours)

2 white cake mixes

6 eggs*

2 1/2 C. water*

2/3 C. vegetable oil*

food coloring

Frosting:

2 sticks butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

approx 4 C. powdered sugar

1 tsp. milk

1 small tub Cool Whip

Skittles

Mini marshmallows

Prepare cake mixes according to the package directions. Split batter into six smaller bowls, about 1 3/4 C. batter in each. Color each with food coloring. Pour each color of batter into 9" round cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Whip room temperature butter until smooth. Add vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar, about half a bag, to taste. The mixture will be somewhat chunky. Add 1 tsp. milk to smooth. If it doesn't come to desired consistency, continue adding milk, 1 tsp. at a time, until it smooths. Fold in Cool Whip.

Stack layers on a cake plate, starting with purple and spreading a thin layer of frosting in between each.
Frost entire cake with a very thin layer of frosting. Place cake in the freezer long enough that the frosting is set. (Probably about an hour).
Cover cake entirely with frosting. Rinse icing spatula and dip in warm water. Use clean spatula to smooth frosting to desired finish. Keep a cup of warm water on hand to dip spatula frequently. Return cake to the freezer and allow frosting to set, about another hour. Decorate with Skittles and marshmallows as desired.

* - These ingredients may vary. This is how they were listed on the cake mixes I chose.

Notes: There was just enough frosting to handle the job here, but it was super sweet. For my own personal tastes, if I'm crazy enough to do it again, I will use less sugar. I opted for golden vanilla cake mixes instead of white. As you can see, there was no problem with the color being bold and I like the vanilla flavor better.

I also recommend keeping the cake in the fridge, even after decoration. The frosting kind of melted while it was sitting out so the Skittles I had carefully placed kind of slid. It didn't matter a whole lot, because I'm not adept at frosting a cake smoothly anyway, but it would be terrible to have it flawless until it melted.

I baked everything with only two 9" cake pans, and it totally sucked. I recommend using at least three so you don't have to wait eternity for the layers to cool so you can keep baking. I had a problem with the green layer because I didn't let it cool enough; I kind of glued it back together with frosting, but after I served the cake, the green layer contributed to a very sad toppling incident.

P.S. I totally stole this idea at Melissa's urging from The Idea Room.

Twice Baked Potatoes

So, I tried to keep things simple for our Easter dinner this year, and these were really the most complicated part. I could also argue that they were the tastiest part. Either way, these appear to be an Easter tradition for our family because, although they are so good, it's the only time I make them! As is my usual way, I have made these complicated by combining several recipes.

Serves: 8 in Time: 2 hrs. 15 mins.

4 large baking potatoes

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 C. sour cream

1/2 C. milk

4 Tbsp. butter, softened or melted

salt and pepper to taste

1 C. shredded cheddar cheese, divided in halves

8 green onions, sliced and divided in halves

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare four sheets of foil with non-stick cooking spray and wrap potatoes. Bake for 1 hour. Let stand until cool enough to work with, 10-20 minutes.

-Slice potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, scoop as much potato as possible into a medium sized mixing bowl. Leave enough in to keep the shells sturdy enough they won't lose their shape. Place shells on a foil lined baking sheet.

-Mix potatoes with bacon, sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add half of cheddar cheese and green onion, then stir to combine.

-Spoon mixture generously back into potato shells. Top with remaining half of cheddar cheese and green onion. Return potatoes to the oven, still at 350, for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through.

Notes: Really, you could add almost anything into these. They take a little work but are pretty hard to screw up (thus I don't mind doing the work). They tend to be gooey (as you can tell from my picture above), but that is not a problem for me or my family. You can also bake the potatoes way ahead of time and just leave them in a little longer at the end.

P is for Pancakes

Weird, no? Our pancakes randomly cooked with this "P" in it one morning.

1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. white sugar

1 1/4 C. milk

1 egg

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

1. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Sift a second time. Make a dry well in powder.

2. Add wet ingredients to dry well. Mix until combined.

3. Scoop by 1/4 cups full onto a greased griddle. Cook until browned and flip. Cook again until brown on second side.

Notes: I usually do these a little larger than 1/4 C and I have no issues with that. I use an electric skillet at 300 degrees. We add food coloring according to Mason's mood; the picture above is yellow. Also, sometimes I do what I call "Grandpa pancakes". I add a little vanilla, some nutmeg, and some cinnamon. Not tons, probably less than 1 tsp. total of extra ingredients.

Oatmeal Pizza Crust

This is from The Best Kept Secrets of Healthy Cooking by Sandra Woodruff.


1 1/4 C. bread flour
3/4 C. rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp. rapid rising yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 C. plus 2 Tbsp. water

1. Pour water into a small saucepan. Heat to approx. 125 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, combine 3/4 C. bread flour and all other ingredients in a bowl. Add water. Continue adding flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until a soft dough is formed.
3. Turn dough out onto a smooth, lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes, incorporating small amounts of remaining flour as needed to form a smooth, satiny ball.
4. Coat a large, clean bowl in nonstick cooking spray. Place ball of dough in bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place. Stand for approximately 35 minutes or until double in size.
5. Punch dough down and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Dough is now ready to use as needed.