Recent Recipe Successes

Here we are again... another 10+ day break from the blog. Last week had its share of ups and downs, including another few days with Jordan away. Unfortunately, this time, my mom wasn't here in town to shoulder some of the work around the house. In short-- we all survived, and I'm feeling stronger and more confident managing 2 because of it.

Basically, between manning the fort by myself and nursing a cold, I've spent most of my free time snoozing...

...That and hanging out with superman.

Back to the point of this whole blog! Recipes!!

While I miss my job and all, having maternity time off has given me the ability to somewhat keep up with housework, laundry, groceries, and cooking. While I haven't quite figured out the best way to balance everything, I also don't have 12 hour shifts eating up portions of my week. We've also spent a great deal of time eating at home, which means I've been able to try out a few new recipes. I wanted to share the winners with you!

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Enchiladas

Source

First, I made this meal for a fellow new mom. When it turned out really well (and got rave reviews), I thought I'd make it for us on a night that we had friends over for dinner. It is muy delicioso! It is also kind of labor intensive. Nothing difficult, just lots of little steps that can't be skipped over. I assure you, however, the end result is awesome. I paired ours with some mexican rice and it was a stellar meal that my husband asked me to make again before he even finished his plate.

Vanilla Pear Muffins

Source

Its funny, these are delicious and EASY muffins to put together, and yet I typically only make them for other people. I made a batch recently for the same mom who got the enchiladas (Lucky girl. Love you, Carole!) and they are deceptively fancy looking. Chances are good, you have all the ingredients in your pantry already and the recipe is super simple and quick. Honestly, I do not know why I don't make them more often.

Lemon Velvet Cake

See the difference between the pretty staged photos above and my awesome iPhone shots?

Now for the good stuff... cake. So my husband's office chooses to celebrate birthdays on the second Monday of each month, which we all lovingly refer to as Cake Day. For many years, a sweet couple made cakes for the staff in honor of their birthdays, and after they "retired" last summer, I've picked up a few months' worth of Cake Days. This month, I made a Lemon Velvet Cake and a Brown Sugar Pound Cake. The Lemon Velvet Cake recipe was easy to follow and produced a fluffy moist cake, which I think is different from the texture of a traditional red velvet cake (for which the lemon velvet cake was fashioned after). Regardless, it was tasty! Next time, I'll cut the frosting recipe in half. You can see how thick the layer of frosting is and I was left with 1/3 of the bowl still full! I considered it a success when one of the office ladies told me this cake would be specially requested for her birthday month.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

I kept referring to this cake as a "Caramel Pecan" cake this morning, which I think fits it better than Brown Sugar Pound Cake. My husband said this was his favorite of the two, and I agree with him. I'd seen this recipe floating around Facebook and made sure to pin it for later. I have a feeling I'll be making this a LOT more. It was easy to put together and the flavors were right up my alley. I may have eaten the topping with a spoon... yummmm. The topping takes less than 10 minutes to put together and quickly hardens into a praline-like consistency (ooh, maybe Praline Pecan Cake?), making it perfect to drizzle over cake. Or ice cream. Or you can just eat it with a spoon like I did.

With posts like these, it's easy to see why I haven't lost any of the baby weight yet.

Happy cooking!

Banana Bread with Nutella Swirl

While there are thousands of other blogs with thanksgiving recipes, I thought I'd throw one out there that is great for any day of the week. It's also great for any meal of the week.

In the last 6 months, I've made a lot of banana bread. I typically buy a small bunch of bananas every week at the grocery store, but they don't always get eaten. I like my bananas nearly green and Isaac seems to be as picky about bananas as his mama. So we end up with lots of brown bananas, which means lots of banana bread. I've had some successes and some total failures... and then I happened upon the Holy Grail of banana bread recipes: Banana bread with nutella swirl.

Be still my jiggly thighs.

I couldn't help but share the recipe here. Even Jordan was pretty impressed with this deliciousness. Even better, it was a super easy recipe that included ingredients that I generally always have in my pantry. Drop what you're doing and make this. You won't regret it.

Banana Bread with Nutella Swirl
(original recipe @ Chef in Training)
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 & 1/4 cups mashed banana (I used 3 large ripe bananas)
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup nutella

Preheat oven to 350º (side note: I used a dark, nonstick pan to cook my bread, so I lowered the temperature to 330º and baked it for an additional 10 minutes) Spray 9x5 pan with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well. Add mashed banana, vanilla, and milk. Mix until well incorporated. Add in dry ingredients slowly, but don't over mix. In a microwave safe bowl, heat nutella for 15-20 seconds, or until slightly warmed. Stir in 1 cup of bread batter to warmed nutella until well mixed. Alternate banana batter and nutella batter in loaf pan and swirl once with a knife to combine. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean (side note: I covered my pan with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes of baking time to prevent the excessive browning that I frequently notice with banana breads.) Cool pan for 15 minutes before turning bread out onto wire rack to cool completely.... or cut into it while still slightly warm and enjoy!!!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we have!!!

Meal Planning For the Win!

So it's been a year since I posted this post, which continues to hold steady at #5 on the list of most-viewed blogs. However, over the course of a year, a lot has changed. For one, I can't tell you the last time I pulled weeds. Or dusted the fixtures. And then there are still several things I hold to: laundry on Sunday and Wednesday, groceries & meal planning for the week on Monday.  Although I would wholeheartedly still recommend a similar schedule to anyone feeling overwhelmed by their household to-dos, I really needed to accept some flexibility in my own schedule. Ever-changing work days, appointments, errands, and plain-old-I-want-to-spend-the-day-with-my-son kinda interruptions come along on an almost weekly basis.

There is one thing that hasn't changed in the year since I revolutionized the way I kept up with my house: meal planning. I can't tell you how much organization this has added to my week, knowing exactly what I need to get at the grocery store and having a set plan for each day's meals. Now, sitting down and planning out a week's worth of meals to satisfy the husband and toddler can be a frustrating process. I can't tell you how many times I've told my husband, "Do you have ANY input?! You are no help at all!!!!" Or I choose meals based on what protein is on sale and get home to upturned noses. Or even just the simple struggle to avoid the same meals over and over and over.

Last week, I was absolutely fed up with myself, unable to come up with a meal that didn't feel overdone and I set out to cook something new every day of the week. Finally I was going to try out all those Pinterest recipes I had pinned months and years ago. I wanted to try a few of the dishes i'd seen pinned over and over and over again. Mostly, I hoped to add some new life to our tired lineup.

Here are a few of my successes!

Chicken Lazone (Source & Recipe): This was SUPER easy, really quick to throw together and gobbled down by both my husband and son. You'll see cayenne pepper on the ingredient list, but it isn't spicy at all, in fact, I'll probably double the amount next time I make this to kick it up a little more. If you need an easy 30 minute meal, this is a winner. The recipe suggests pasta or mashed potatoes, so if you're pressed for even more time, pasta is much quicker than real mashed potatoes (no boxed potato flakes in my house). It could probably go from pot to table in 20 minutes. It's also good reheated as leftovers. I served this with a salad.

7-Up Biscuits (Source & Recipe): One of my coworkers actually brought a pan of these and I was blown away by how good they were. 4 ingredients plus 15 minutes equals delicious biscuits. I whipped these up over the weekend and between fielding a toddler, cleaning the kitchen and placenta-brain, I may have botched the first batch of these. (the same combination of distractors led to a few other new-recipe-failures I won't mention here until I can try them again) The second batch, however, was wonderful. My suggestion is to let them sit for 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan to prevent them from getting too crumbly. I served them with sausage patties, butter & jelly. Yum!

Corn Casserole: Ok, so I'd never made a corn casserole before Sunday evening. Lame, I know. Always admired, never attempted, it came to mind when I was trying to think of a new side dish to serve with fried pork chops. After looking through lots of recipes, both fancy and super simple, I used what I had in the fridge and made my own pan. 1 Can Creamed corn, 1 can kernel corn, 1 box jiffy, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 stick melted butter all combined together and baked for nearly 1 hour at 350 degrees. This was also a huge hit with the husband and toddler.

Shredded Beef (Source & Recipe): I didn't get a pic of this one, even though we've had 2 meals from the one recipe. There were tons of recipes for crockpot shredded beef for tacos, but I especially liked this recipe because it didn't call for a packet of taco mix and a bottle of sauce. This means, you can customize the spices and chiles to suit your own tastes. I used this beef for tacos and quesadillas and it was fantastic- plus had I portioned out my leftovers appropriately, I could have easily gotten a third meal out of one recipe. It would also be fantastic as an enchilada filling. I can definitely see myself making this again. The recipe suggests you pour out all the cooking liquid once the meat is finished, but next time I plan on reserving the liquid and adding some or all of it back in to the shredded meat. Husband said it was a little on the dry side without the liquid.

So there you have it! Four easy, yummy, husband & toddler approved, new-to-us recipes complete with several random iPhone shots of my half eaten plates of food. I'm looking forward to working these dishes into our meal routine. Hope you can also try them and enjoy them!!!

What I've learned: sick meals edition

So, someone around you is ill. Maybe they just had surgery. Or chemo. Or a baby. Or [insert meal-worthy malady here]. It seems like second nature to want to provide a meal to that person. It's the thing you do. Or, at least, it's the thing I do. I LOVE cooking for other people. My heart is filled with someone's tummy is filled.

And then one day, I was the recipient of said meals. I'd gotten meals from my sunday school class on one other occasion for a brief amount of time and that was a huge help, BUT, when Isaac came along, we were inundated with meals. It was amazing. We had so much food, we had to freeze several of the meals and sadly, we even ended up throwing away some of the leftovers because we just couldn't eat it all fast enough.

Which brings me back to the beginning: someone around you is ill and you want to bless them with a home cooked meal.  Here are a few things I've learned about bringing sick meals (from being a recipient!):

     1. Get Organized. Chances are good you aren't the only person who's thinking about this sick meal thing. Get with others and come up with a schedule. There are tons of websites that help you invite more people and keep track of who's bringing on what day, i.e:

Not only should you have a schedule lined up, but organize all the other details ahead of time too. One meal every other day is usually plenty. Fix enough for the entire family. Definitely Definitely Definitely figure out food allergies and aversions, because while you may have a killer spaghetti recipe, what you don't know is that your intended recipient is a vegetarian. Whoops. Also, be courteous and call before coming. Figure out all these little details ahead of time, because the LAST thing you want to do is inconvenience the sickie you intend to bless.

     2. Don't expect to visit. This is true in all cases: sickness, surgery, chemo, baby... you can't come with the expectation that you'll get a visit in exchange for a meal. Bringing meals to friends-in-need is a selfless gift which helps to lift the burden of cooking off of tired shoulders. Recovery is a strange animal and it has no bearing on time or convenience. Keep in mind that your intended recipient might be dealing with pretty intense post-surgical pain, or oppressive post-baby exhaustion. While their heart might yearn for a long chat over coffee, their body simply won't allow it. (Which is why you're bringing a meal in the first place, right?) Sure, there's a chance you'll be invited to stick around and see battle scars or kiss on a newborn baby, but still remember you're not there to be entertained, so don't overstay your welcome. Oh, and if it feels awkward to read this, just think how awkward your friend will feel having to ask you to leave. Be understanding. Be courteous.

     3. Think OUTside the box. It is entirely possible to receive 8 pans of spaghetti and 8 bags of salad in a single week. Lasagna, enchiladas, and spaghetti seem to be "go-to" meals when you're delivering to a family, and sure-- they're great for freezing and tasty (well, until you're on pan #8 of spaghetti). Some of the scheduling websites will allow you to reply with your meal plan, which ideally prevents duplicate meals, but what if you're not using a website? Then it's time to think outside the box. Here are a few "nonconventional" but easy sick meal ideas:

Pork Chops. Corn & Tomato Salad. Enchilada Puffs.
Slow Cooker Sticky Drumsticks. Loaded Baked Potato. Crockpot Beef Brisket.
Chicken & Dumplings. Autumn Chopped Salad. Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu.

One of the greatest "out of the box" meals we received? Breakfast!! It's still a meal, right? I can't tell you how awesome it was to get a basket of muffins and container of fresh fruit salad, because then we didn't have to think about breakfast for days. Many sleepless nights lead to lots of frustrated and tired mornings, so what better way to ease a burden than bringing over some easy breakfast foods??

Pecan Coffee Cake. Fruit Salad. Blueberry Muffins.
Doughnut Muffins. Breakfast Casserole. Breakfast Tacos.

     4. Bring Disposables. Ok, so this is really trivial, and it's mostly for me. My house is like a black hole. Seriously. Chances are good that if you've ever loaned anything to us, it's still here somewhere. I loved getting meals in throwaway containers, because then I didn't have to worry about returning tupperware to the right family. I hate to admit that it took me weeks to return some of our dishes. I also still have most of my borrowed maternity clothes. But nothing tops the drink dispenser that I've had sitting around for over a year. I'm totally ashamed. My own issues aside, it simply makes things easier: No dishes to wash, nothing to return. Everyone wins. 

I hope these tips and tricks are helpful the next time you want to bring a meal to a family in need. 

FYI...

Still pregnant.

Waiting

As I sit here in the very early morning hours, unable to sleep due to that strange and ubiquitous pregnancy insomnia, I can't help but feel a flood of emotions. I've moved from the tossing and turning in my wonderfully lovely bed to the rocker in the corner of our baby-to-be's nursery. The house is still and silent with the exception of some little Mauve movements, which are minimal now that she's figured out it's not time to get out of bed. I can hear the leaves rustling in the trees outside the window and I can see my belly moving and twitching with life. So I'll use the next few uninterrupted minutes in the silence to compose a little love note to this little one I've been waiting so patiently to meet.

Dear Baby,

From the very moment I became aware of your existence, my heart has never been the same. Hearing your heart beat and feeling your little arms and legs swim around has rocked me in a way that I would have never known apart from this. My prayers for you have not ceased, imploring our Heavenly Father for health and for life, both physical life and the kind of life that comes from giving over your whole heart to the Lord. My greatest hope and prayer is that you will indeed come to know a joy in Christ that fulfills your very deepest needs and desires and that you will choose to follow Him with all your being. I pray that my heart is prepared for the challenge of teaching, equipping, and caring for you. This task seems so easy these days, as I always know where you are and am assured that you are nourished and protected. But things will certainly change soon. 

I'll be honest, I'm apprehensive about this new chapter. The pair that has been part of my identity for so many years now --almost a dozen!-- will soon be a trio instead. Part of me will mourn the loss of this old way of life, but my grief over a closing door will surely be more than overshadowed by the overwhelming joy you will bring to both of our lives. 

Oh sweet one, we are anxiously waiting for your arrival. The greatest mystery still awaits us. Are you a sweet girl or a handsome boy? Who will you resemble? Will you have lots of hair? What will your little voice sound like? I am riveted with excitement at the thought of meeting you soon, which is a curious paradox considering you've been a part of me from the very beginning. 

You are so loved. 

Breaking the Rules

So we've finished painting the nursery, which makes this whole baby process seem a lot more real. And yes, I was right in the middle of all the painting. I let my husband do all the work that required a ladder but certainly wasn't about to let him paint my sweet baby's nursery all by himself. In my defense, we used the no VOC/very low odor/environmentally friendly (read: expensive!) paint from Sherwin Williams. And I had a fan on and the window was open until it got so hot and humid (thank you coastal Texas!) that I just had to close it.

Maybe I haven't followed all the pregnancy "rules." Like the painting thing. And the fact that I've had my share of caffeine on an almost daily basis. And I've eaten lunch meat, but haven't acquired Listeria. And I've taken a few nice warm bubble baths. And I frequently forget my prenatal vitamins. And even though Jordan was the ladder man this weekend, I spent an afternoon recently carrying boxes up into our attic (via that rickety fold-up ceiling ladder). Lets not even discuss some of the shenanigans I get into at work. Oooh, and sometimes I wake up lying flat on my back.

And so far, my baby is still happy & healthy, kicking around and doing barrel rolls in my belly. I have no reason to believe that he or she will come out with 11 fingers or one eye (a la Cyclops). I do my best to make healthy eating choices and load up on the water throughout the day. I don't consume alcohol or smoke or do illegal drugs and I hope that if my irresponsible, unhealthy 15 year old patients can have healthy babies then my little one should be just fine. Makes sense, right?

Wanna see how the room came together this weekend?

Step 1: Empty the room out (well, almost.)

Step 2: Tape [almost] empty room off. Test possible color choices. 

I had pretty much decided on a color from Sherwin Williams called Watery. SO sure in fact that I was thisclose to just buying a can of Watery and going with it. I stared at a paint chip for weeks and at the last minute, this little voice in my head said, "try a few colors out!" I consider this the voice of reason and not the voice of schizophrenia, so I chose another color, also Sherwin Williams called Raindrop. Apparently my inner voice of reason knows best, because in the end, we went with Raindrop. Go figure.

Step 3: Paint!

Step 4: Stand back and enjoy!

The more and more I look at the new room color, the more I like it! So now it's time to put the crib together and get organizing. 

Cake Batter Blondies

Ok new blogger. My type "A"ness isn't jiving with your recent changes.

Regardless.

So I baked on Monday!

I whipped up a batch of these little treatees for my lovely coworkers. Here's a confession: I'm that irritating girl who adds extra syllables and sounds to the end of words. Treats become treatees, tennis shoes become tennees. Feel free to be irritated. So, back to the goodies. I found this recipe @ The Six Sisters Stuff, which is this fun blog that's written by (gasp!) six sisters. There are a ton of easy and tasty recipes and I'm hoping this will be the first of many that I try.

Cake Batter Blondies with Icing
Cake:
1 Box Funfetti Cake mix
1 Egg
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Milk
1/2 cup White Chocolate Chips

Frosting
1/4 cup Butter
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
Splash of milk (or more depending on the desired consistency)
Food coloring of your choice (I happened to have neon colored food colors on hand, so we went with hot pink and blue.)

350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 pan. Combine cake mix, egg and oil, then slowly mix in milk. Finally, fold in the chips. Spread in to pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. Blend all frosting ingredients together until you find the desired consistency... dense or whipped, thick or thin. Go with what feels right. Frost and eat. I put some sprinklees on top.

I was looking for something relatively specific to make for my coworkers this week and remembered my dearest friend Kelli always making funfetti cookies while we were neighbors in seminary. I usually ate at least 7 cookies, but they were super quick and easy and almost as good as her lemon bars. I had a box of funfetti mix on hand and came thisclose to making cookies, but thought at the last minute that I'd try something new and found this recipe. So of course, with a cake mix/semi-homemade type recipe, it's super fast and super easy. The batter went together in minutes, baked up without a problem, were iced and went out the door. Final verdict? They were very well received at work - folks were still talking about them today. Personally, I think they are SOOOOOOOOOOPER sweet and necessitate a cup of strong black coffee to offset the cavity inducing sweet fest. The frosting can easily be omitted. Need a quick, crowd pleasing, technicolor cookie bar type treat? This will probably fit the bill perfectly. Will I make them again?

Eh.

Did I eat 3 of the not cute, ugly cut, poorly iced leftovers when I got home from work?

(plead the fifth.)

Caramel Apple Bread

Now that the 24DC is behind me, I'm working some baked goods back into my life. I really missed cooking and baking during the challenge, which frowns upon all things containing sugar, butter, and cream. Jordan is starting the 24DC as soon as his kit arrives, so very soon it'll be back to grilled chicken and green beans, but I was itching to bake something recently for both of us to enjoy before he takes the big Advocare plunge.

I made this Caramel Apple bread back in the fall and we both loved it. It's definitely a fall-ish food; great for when the best apples are in season and full of cinnamon and ginger flavors with a sweet caramel-y glaze on top. But it's also delicious all the other seasons and a piece of cake (bread?) to make, so I threw the "seasonal food" excuse out the window and made us a loaf the other night.

(image via Cooking Club)

Caramel Apple Bread

Bread:

1 3/4 cups AP Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples (I used Honeycrisp)

1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

Glaze:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (I ran out of brown sugar and subbed in plain old granulated. It worked just fine I think!)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup heavy cream (I didn't promise this was low cal!!)

1 tsp light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

350 degrees. Generously grease 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan. Combine dry ingredients and whisk together in a bowl. Blend brown sugar, oil, sour cream and eggs until smooth and then incorporate into dry ingredients. Stir in apples and ginger. Pour in loaf pan. Bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean but slightly moist. Cool for 10 minutes.

While cooling, bring all the glaze ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Cool slightly. Remove bread from pan and poke holes in top of bread with a wooden skewer (about every inch or so) Spoon about 1/4 cup of the warm glaze over the hot bread allowing the glaze to seep into the holes. Cool completely. Once cooled, warm the remaining glaze until spreadable and spoon over the bread.

Or you could be like me and glaze/eat the bread while it's still warm and awesome. That works too.

Low cal offering

If you're anything like me, you might be looking for a reprieve from the rich holiday foods that are so easily available this time of year. Try working for a church where you get delicious goodies from sweet ladies every day. We've already discussed my penchant for white fudge covered oreos, and I'm proud to say that we've only bought and eaten 1 box so far this season. That's kind of a big deal.

Earlier tonight, we had a lovely time at a Christmas party and ate the most fantastic salad EVER. It was freaking awesome. It reminds me of this salad that I always get at McAlister's. So go and make it tonight. Your love handles will thank you for the break.

Chopped Salad

6-8 cups Chopped Romaine Lettuce

2 Chopped Medium-size Pears

1 cup Dried Cranberries

1 cup Chopped Pecans

4-6 oz Crumbled Feta Cheese

Poppyseed Salad Dressing (we had the T. Marzetti kind)

Balsamic Vinaigrette (Newman's Own Light version does the job nicely)

On a large platter or large bowl, combine the lettuce, chopped pears, cranberries, pecans, and feta cheese. Drizzle generously with poppyseed dressing, followed by the vinaigrette (the recipe says that it's a 70/30 mix on the dressing; 70% poppyseed, 30% vinaigrette). Toss the salad around until it's well mixed. Feel free to add more dressing until your salad is dressed to your liking.

Then devour.

Let it be known that I obtained the above picture from the great equalizer.

Tres Leches

My iPhone auto corrects 'Leches' to 'Leeches.'

I guarantee you this cake has no leeches.

While in Honduras, Rhonda made us a Tres Leches cake to celebrate 2 of our team members' birthdays. It was delicious! I had only had Tres Leches cake once since moving to Texas and had hardly heard of it before then. Georgia's all about pecan pie, peach cobbler, and 'nana puddin,' you see.

On Saturday, we invited the team over for a little post-trip dinner and I thought it would be great to make a Tres Leches cake for dessert.

I had fully intended to take a beautiful Pioneer-Womanesque shot of the cake (hold onto your hats-- this is not the PW tres leches recipe!). I remembered to get the camera only to find the battery was dead, and the charger was nowhere to be found. In the time it took to figure all this out, the cake went from lovely to almost gone. Luckily, one of the teenagers at our little shindig/dinner had brought a camera along and snapped a few pictures for me.

The general consensus

So, make this cake today! Or at least before summer's over- it's kept in the refrigerator (so it's cold and creamy and yum-yum) and is a nice compliment to BBQ or fajitas or... breakfast. You know, whatever floats your boat.

Tres Leches Cake

cake:

5 eggs, separated

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

some milk.

tres leches ("3 milks"):

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 small can evaporated milk

1 cup whole milk

topping:

2 boxes dream whip

2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla

350 degrees. In a bowl, whip egg whites until peaks are stiff. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, vanilla, sugar, and flour until combined. I added some milk because it seemed the right thing to do, but I neglected to measure exactly how much milk I poured in (which incidentally isnt the right thing to do.) I'm gonna make a wild guess and say it was about 1/2 cup. The batter comes out pretty thin- like skinny pancake batter. If it's still too thick, add a little more milk. Just go with it. Anyway, once you've gotten your batter to the perfect consistency, fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake 20-30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean! Combine your three milks in a small pitcher or large cup and pour the mixture over the hot cake. Put it in the fridge and let the goodness soak itself in.

Several hours later.

When you're about ready to cut & eat your TLC, it's time to make the topping. It is completely acceptable to just bust out a large tub of coolwhip and go crazy. It's also completely acceptable to whip sweetened cream until you have the real thing. I chose method #3, which is kind of a throwback to my past (see the Cherry Yum-Yum post to see what I mean). Make the Dream Whip according to the package. I started with 1 box, which is enough to cover the top of the cake, but I totally believe that TLC deserves a TON of whipped cream, so I made the second box as well. Spread the dream whip over the chilled cake. I also chopped a bottle of maraschino cherries and put those on top of the cake too, but that's totally optional.

So once you've got your cake made to your liking (what, with the coolwhip/whipped cream/dream whip/thin layer/thick layer/cherries/no cherries... there are so many possibilities!), cut into it and enjoy. The milks soak into the sponge cake and marry together to form a creamy, sweet, cold caketastic experience. Too little milk and it's nothing to get excited about. Too much milk and it's like soggy bread pudding. So thank goodness you have a recipe that's kind of not at all exact.

To be honest, I dont really know how mine turned out edible, but by the end of the night, the pan had been scraped clean and I'd gotten many thumbs ups & lots of "yum, that's delicious." I'd mark that down as a success.

Luscious Lemon Bars

Crumbs on the couch....

Crumbs on the counter....

Can only mean one thing....

Lemon Bars.

This recipe is easy easy easy and one of the many that I've stolen from a fellow seminary wife. I made these the other night for our Desiring God Bible study and got rave reviews! These arent your ordinary lemon bars, so dont come expecting some bright yellow jelly-like bars with powdered sugar on top (although I wont turn those down either!).

These yummy, creamy, crumbly lemon bars wipe the floor with the ordinary lemon bars.

They fart in the ordinary bars' general direction.

So make these the next time you need a quick & easy dessert! It wont fail you!

Lemon Bars

1 box yellow cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

8 oz cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, 1 egg and oil until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of mixture for topping. In a 9x13 pan, pat the remaining mixture into the bottom, making a thin layer. Bake for 15 minutes. While baking, combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and remaining egg until creamy. Smooth over baked crust. Sprinkle on the crumbled topping. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool and cut into squares.

Or just wait until it's not blistering hot, forgo the squares and eat the entire pan of lemon bars while they're still warm. With skim milk of course.

Yum Yum (UPDATE!!)

I've already blogged about my most favorite dessert ever and I think I may have misspoke.

There's a tie for favorite.

And it just so happens to be another dairy-based dessert. Go figure.

My Nana has made Cherry Yum-Yum for our family since as far back as I can remember. Making it this afternoon made me excited to be going back to Augusta for a visit next weekend. Seeing it and smelling it and tasting it makes me think of my wonderful Nana. Basically, not only does it exceed its given name, but it brings back wonderful memories of childhood. It's fruity and creamy and crunchy. It's almost no bake.

And doesnt it look delicious!??!

Cherry Yum-Yum

1 (8oz) block of softened cream cheese

1 box confectioner's sugar

1 packet Dream Whip

1/2 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 stick margarine or butter, melted

1/2 box graham crackers

1 can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush graham crackers. Mix with 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar and melted butter. Press mixture into a 9x13 pan. Bake 7-8 minutes and let cool completely.

Whip dream whip according to box directions (this is where the milk & vanilla will be used). You can find dream whip usually in the baking goods, and cool whip is not an acceptable alternative! In a separate bowl, mix remaining confectioners sugar and cream cheese. Fold cream cheese into dream whip mixture. Spread on top of prepared crust. Top with cherries (or blueberries, if they're more your style.). Refrigerate and devour!

(The recipe has been altered slightly; my mom got the bulk recipe from Nana, which served 150 people. She attempted to cut it down to a single 9x13 pan-sized serving and ended up with a few incorrectly overestimated ingredients. Shortly after, she found her own recipe that only serves 8 people. The changes made to the above ingredients reflect that.)