Strawberry Yogurt Cake…Fail!

Strawberry Lemonade Cake I had made the night before for Andrew. So I told him that he could choose anything on Pinterest that he wanted me to make and this Strawberry Yogurt Cake was what he chose. The cake was really easy to make, but for some reason it completely crumbled when I took it out of the bundt cake pan. Nevertheless, the cake tasted like a dream! Everyone in my family loved it, including my Mom, who doesn’t like fruits of cake!


What You Need:
-1 package of fresh straberries
-Bundt cake pan
-1 cup (2 sticks) of butter…softened
-2 cups sugar
-3 eggs
-3 tablespoons lemon juice
-Zest from 1 lemon
-2.5 cups flour
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-8 oz vanilla Greek yogurt

-1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Grease & flour a bundt pan
-Mix together 2 1/4 cups of flour, baking soda, salt, & lemon zest in a bowl and set aside
-With an electric mixer cream together butter & sugar
-Add in eggs 1 at a time and then 1 tablespoon lemon juice
-Mix in yogurt
-Slowly add in flour mixture….do not over mix
-Cut strawberries up into bite size pieces
-Gently stir strawberries into batter
-Pour batter into bundt pan and bake for 60 minutes
-Let cake cool IN PAN for AT LEAST 30 minutes! (I think this is why mine fell apart, it needs to cool completely!)
-Once cake has cooled completely flip out onto serving dish
-Mix together 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and powdered sugar. Mine wasn’t liquid enough so I had to add a little bit of milk and put it in the microwave. After that you just drizzle it over the cake

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

Yesterday I told Andrew he could pick a dessert off my Pinterest that I hadn’t made yet & he wanted. So he chose this Strawberry Lemonade Cake. I changed a thing or two on the original recipe to fit our tastes better, but this cake is so fabulous! It’s like summer in a cake. The cake part is really sweet and then the icing is tangy and tart. It’s such a great combination. Andrew and I both loved it and he’s going to take the rest to the guys at the farm tomorrow (No way we could eat this entire cake by ourselves!) Now let me also say that I am certainly no chef or baker! My dishes always turn out super tasty, but as far as looks, decorating, and presentation goes, I’m terrible at that!
Here’s What You’ll Need:
-1 box of strawberry cake mix (plus water, vegetable oil, & eggs)
-8 oz of cream cheese (1 package)
-1 packet of Kool-Aid Lemonade
-Yellow food coloring
-2 cups of marshmallow creme (1 large jar)
-8 oz of whipped topping (1 tub)
-1 cup powdered sugar
-Fresh strawberries
Directions:
-Make the cake mix according to the box instructions
-Bake the cake mix in 2 9″ pans
-Turn the cake pans over on a wire wrack and let cool completely
-Mix together cream cheese, Kool-Aid packet, & yellow food coloring (You can use as much food coloring as you like until it’s the desired yellow. I ended up adding more color later to make it more yellow)
-Mix in the marshmallow creme, powdered sugar, & whipped topping until completely smooth
-When the cakes are cooled cut each cake in half
-Place one piece of cake on your serving dish and cover it with the yellow icing
-Keep layering the cake slices & icing until finished & top with icing.
-If you want it to look more like a cake (like mine) instead of a torte’ then cover the sides with icing too. I think it looks just as pretty without the sides being covered.
-Garnish the top with fresh strawberries
-Refrigerate and serve chilled

Peanut Butter Filled Brownies

So last minute Andrew & I went to a crawfish boil on St. Patrick’s Day. It was actually Andrew’s brother Jeff & his wife Lisa’s wedding anniversary party.

Nonetheless, I just HAD to bring a dessert. Since this was so last minute I didn’t even have time to go to the grocery store and get supplies! I was left to create something with only what I already had at the house (which was not a lot at this time!) So I found this recipe on Pinterest of course, and you can find the original recipe here. In the original recipe they used regular peanut butter, but since I was doing this for St. Paddy’s Day, I used green food coloring to dye the peanut butter green! You could dye it any color you like or just leave it. I had some shamrock shaped cupcake pans so I started out using those and then I realized that you couldn’t even tell the shape so I just switched to regular cupcake pans.

What You’ll Need:
-1 box of your fav brownie mix. (I always used BC with the hershey’s packet)
-Creamy peanut butter
-Food coloring (optional)
-Cupcake pan

Directions:
-Preheat oven to whatever brownie box says (I can’t remember off the top of my head)
-Make brownie mix according to box instructions
-Place a couple tablespoons of peanut butter in a small bowl
-Add food coloring of your choice to peanut butter and mix it until all the peanut butter is colored
-Drop about a tablespoon (maybe a little more) of brownie batter into the bottom of each cupcake hole in the pan.
-Drop a small amount of peanut butter on top of each of the brownie batter
-Cover the peanut butter with another spoonful of brownie batter (The peanut butter should be sandwiched between the brownie batter.
-Bake for about 20 minutes (A toothpick should come out clean)
-Let cool completely before removing

Dr. Seuss Cookies

So I saw these fabulous Dr. Seuss cookies on Pinterest & you can find the original recipe here. I altered the recipe a little because I was in a super big hurry! I put them in the oven at 12pm and I was supposed to be somewhere at 12pm! Lol

Here’s What You’ll Need:
-1 package of sugar cookie dough, any kind you like (I used the Pillsbury kind that is in a roll)
-Food coloring, several colors (I used red, green, blue, & yellow but pastel colors were in the original and they are sooo cute!)
-Rainbow sprinkles (I didn’t use the sprinkles because I was in a super big hurry)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Separate the cookie dough evenly into small bowls
-Add a different color of food coloring into each bowl
-Stir up the dough and coloring until all the dough is colored
-Take a dime sized piece of each dough and roll it into a small ball
-Put all the balls together and roll together into a large ball
-Roll the large ball out into a long cylinder
-Coil the cylinder around itself & place on greased cookie sheet
-If you’d like you can roll the edges in the sprinkles
-After all the dough has been used up and on the cookie sheet bake for about 10 minutes

Slow Cooker Duck

It is absolutely no secret that Andrew LOVES to duck hunt. He goes every single day that it is in season. Andrew puts his whole heart into anything that he is passionate about and that is one of the things I love the most about him; duck hunting is no exception. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy duck hunting too.

Over the past year or so I have noticed that our freezer has become extremely full of duck meat. The reason for this is that I have run out of new ways to cook duck and therefore I get bored with it. I mean there’s only so many days in a row you want to eat grilled or fried duck meat.

So, I really have to give credit to this dish to Andrew because it was completely his idea and I was very skeptical that it would even turn out well. Of course, it was fantastic! Don’t tell Andrew I’m bragging about his skills because his head is big enough already!

The dish is a traditional slow cooker pot roast & veggies, but with duck meat instead. It is fabulous! Like roast, duck meat can dry out very quickly so it cooks very well in the crock pot. The duck comes out tasting EXACTLY like the roast! If you didn’t tell people what it was, they probably would never know the difference!

Here’s What You Need:
-Several pieces of duck breast. Depending on how many people you’re needing to feed, I’d throw in 2 breasts for each person. I have never had duck meat from a store so I have no idea what it’s like. I would suggest wild duck breast because they are pretty small.
-1 package of McCormick slow cookers savory pot roast seasoning.
-1 package of fresh baby carrots
-Potatoes….I had a 5lb bag, but I didn’t use it all. I just kind of guessed about how much I needed.
-1 cup water

Directions:
-If your duck is frozen be sure to thaw it out, obviously.
-Put the duck in a bowl and sprinkle with salt, enough to cover it.
-Fill the bowl with water, to cover the duck, & let sit in the fridge overnight or for several hours. The salt will pull out the blood so it doesn’t cook all bloody.
-Dump out the water and place the duck breasts in the bottom of your crock pot.
-Pour the bag of carrots over the duck breasts.
-Do not peel the potatoes! Just cut them into cubes and put them in the crock pot.
-In a bowl mix the package of seasoning with the cup of water
-Pour the seasoning mix and water into the crock pot.
-Cover & cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.

I did notice that since duck breast has basically no fat on it, it doesn’t make the “juice” in the crock pot like roast does. Next time I might add some more water to the seasoning mix so there is more juice, but the way I did it turned out great so experiment away people! Happy Cooking!

Oreo Creme Pie

This is probably one of the easiest tasty desserts to make! It’s no bake and takes about 5 minutes prep time! It does need an hour in the fridge though!

What You’ll Need:
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
Milk
Oreos
1.5 cups Cool Whip

Directions:
-You can either make your own pie crust with crushed Oreos & butter or you can use a store bought chocolate crust. Place crust in 9 inch pie plate.
-Make the vanilla pudding according to package instructions
-Add 1.5cups Cool Whip to the vanilla pudding.
-Stir in crushed up Oreos. Use as much as you like, I probably use too much. Save some for topping!
-Spoon the filling into crust
-Top with crushed Oreos
-Refrigerate for at least 1 hour

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Now, I’m well aware that I have said about a bajillion times “Andrew really loves this” or “this dish is fabulous!” and I really do mean all that! I’m not going to post anything for y’all to try unless it’s simply great! Trust me, I have tried my fair share of pure nastiness in between the good posts! This is another one of those wonderful things though! If you love loaded mashed potatoes or twice baked potatoes then this is the side for you! It’s so easy to make and is a huge hit with everyone! Ever since I first made this recipe I have had to take it to every family function.

Here’s What You Need:
-5lbs potatoes
-10 slices of cooked bacon (sometimes I’m lazy & don’t want to cook bacon for this so I use the Oscar Mayer Fully Cooked Bacon and it works just as well!)
-8 oz of cream cheese (1 package)
-1/2 cup melted butter
-1 cup sour cream
-1/4 cup chives (Most of the time I just buy the sour cream that comes with chives already in it!)
-2.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
-2 teaspoons salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350
-Peel potatoes and cut into cubes
-Put potatoes in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then cook for about 20 minutes
-Drain & mash potatoes until fluffy
-Add cream cheese, butter, & sour cream to potatoes
-Add chives, 2 cups cheese, half the bacon (torn into little pieces), salt, & pepper to potatoes
-Transfer potatoes to a greased casserole dish and cover with cheese
-Bake for 30 minutes
-Garnish with bacon

I know the bacon has to be cooked and then torn into little pieces and it would seem easier to use bacon bits, but I don’t recommend doing this because they would be too dry and crunchy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

So I made this pie for Thanksgiving, as stated before, and it was a huge hit! My grandmother even came back over the next day to get some more of it for her and my grandad! It’s a little time consuming to make, but the outcome is ridiculously rich! If you like chocolate pie or you like peanut butter pie or if you’re like me and like both, you’re sure to love this!

Here’s What You’ll Need:
3 cups chocolate Chex cereal (Sometimes I can’t find the chocolate chex & I use plain rice chex instead)
5 tablespoons melted butter
1 bag (12oz) semi sweet chocolate chips
1.5 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
6 tablespoons whipping cream
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions:
-In a small bowl mix chex and melted butter
-Press chex into the bottom and sides of a greased pie plate
-Refrigerate crust for 30 minutes
-Heat oven to 350 degrees & bake crust for 15 minutes
-Sprinkle crust with chocolate chips & set aside
-In a large bowl mix cocoa & remaining chocolate chips
-In a saucepan heat half-and-half over medium heat until almost boiling
-In a bowl beat sugar, egg, & egg yolks with a whisk
-Slowly beat in half of the hot half-and-half
-Pour the mixture into saucepan with the remaining half-and-half
-Heat over medium heat until boiling
-Stir with whisk for 1 minute
-Pour into cocoa mixture and beat until smooth
-Pour into crust & refrigerate 30 minutes
-In a saucepan add whipping cream and heat to boiling
-In a bowl add white chocolate chips and peanut butter
-Pour hot cream on top of peanut butter and let stand until it all melts
-Beat with a whisk until smooth
-Spread peanut butter mix over chilled pie
-Refrigerate AT LEAST 1.5 hours, but overnight is better!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

This breakfast cake is a favorite of Andrew’s & it’s really simple to make so I don’t mind baking it in the mornings. Let me post a warning though, it is made with Buttermilk so do not accidentally drink the buttermilk! I bought buttermilk a few days ago specifically to bake this and while it sat in my fridge for a day or two before I was ready to use it, I accidentally poured a small glass of it and took a big drink! Needless to say, it was not milk like I had been anticipating in my mouth. If you like buttermilk then I’m sorry to offend you, but I spit it out all over my kitchen floor. I just couldn’t make it to the sink, it had to get out of my mouth right then before I had a mental breakdown! Okay, so it wasn’t exactly that bad, but i really did spit it out everywhere!


Here’s What You Need:1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons lemon zest (The purpose of lemon zest thoroughly confuses me, so I never use it)
7/8 cup sugar & 1 tablespoon
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Cream butter with lemon zest & 7/8 cup of sugar until fluffy

-Add egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed
-Toss blueberries in small bowl with 1/4 cup flour
-Mix together remaining flour, baking powder, and salt
-Add flour mixture and buttermilk to batter slowly
-Gently stir in blueberries
-Grease 9×9″ baking pan and pour batter in
-Sprinkle top with sugar
-Bake for 35 minutes then check center for doneness.
-Keep in oven as needed checking every 5 minutes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Brownies

I found this recipe on Pinterest a while ago. What?! I found it on Pinterest?! I know, you are all sooo surprised! Anyway though, I finally got some time and decided to make it this afternoon. It was extremely simple to make and is fabulous! It’s super sweet though so I don’t think I could eat more than one small piece a day!

What You’ll Need:
-1 box of brownie mix (I use Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines)
-chocolate chip cookie dough (I use the Crisco recipe which you can get here)
-1 package of Oreos (you won’t use all of them. Yay for left over Oreos!)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Line a 9×13 baking dish with wax paper (I hate wax paper, so I don’t do this)
-Grease wax paper with non-stick cooking spray (Since I don’t use wax paper I just grease the pan)
-Make the cookie dough according to recipe

-Cover the cookie dough with whole Oreos
-Make brownie mix according to the box
-Pour brownie mix over the Oreos
-Bake for 45-55 minutes

These are even more fabulous when served with chocolate syrup and ice cream! Yummy!