Strawberry Trifle

I'm still alive! I still hate cooking, too...hence my lack of posting. Well, that, and the fact that I am ALWAYS working, and I do not find it relaxing to be in the kitchen on my days off...so...anyways, I'm working on it...sorta, I guess. Whatev.

So, back on to my latest creation in the kitchen. Josh's fam was having a fish fry over the weekend of the 4th. I was in charge of dessert...and I did NOT want to make my chocolate chip cookies...because I am tired of making those. I ventured out and tried something fruity and light (and fast and easy...I didn't want much...did I?). So, I got on-line and decided to make a trifle. I think "trifle" is a fun word, and sounds fancy so I was excited. I found the "recipe" on allrecipes.com.

I started by slicing a bunch of yummy strawberries. Can you believe I didn't even like strawberries until about 3 years ago? Now, I love them. Anyways, I even sliced one very pretty for the top of the dessert!

No, the angel food cake was not baked from scratch, or even from a box...it was bought from Sam's Club. That had to be sliced as well. Who knew angel food cake was sticky?

While making instant vanilla pudding, I realized I had never made pudding before. Not that's difficult or anything, just another first for me! Then, I folded in cool whip.

And then, my favorite part, the layering! Cake, pudding, strawberries, repeat! I wish I would have layered the strawberries on the inside and on the top in a more organized way.

Of course there were left overs! So, I had a bowl right away...with hershey's syrup, too! Mmmm! It was delish...and later that evening, Josh's family dug in, and they all gave it a thumbs up!

Banana Bread

Hello! So, uh, it's been...a while. I've been busy. And, to be honest, I haven't been in my kitchen at all! Well, ok, I've been in my kitchen, but mostly to just fix some cereal, make some Kraft spiral mac-n-cheese, or to get something to drink. Oh, and once I microwaved some popcorn.

So, anyways, the last time I actually used my oven was in September. I wanted to try my silicone bakeware that I got from my bro and SIL, and I was craving banana bread. So, I found a recipe on-line, and away I went.

I measured out the dry ingredients, and of course had fun measuring the mashed banana. Then, it was as easy as mixing and pouring. Oh, and I added some chocolate chips. I figured it had bananas in it, so why not balance that out with some chocolate? :-) It baked fairly fast, and I think I got it out just in time so that I didn't burn it! It was a bit tricky getting it out of the silicone bread pan (? or dish? whatever) but other than that, I thought using the silicone bakeware was just fine.

 

  

I thought it was actually very tasty and moist, and easy to make. So, I would definitely use this recipe again. I found the recipe from All Recipes on-line: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx

Today I am baking some of my usual chocolate chip cookies, but nothing special there...and I've already blogged about that. 

And, I do want to try some new holiday cookies/treats this year...so, send along your favorite holiday recipe and maybe I'll give it a try!

Guest Post - S'mores Bars and Friends in Meg's Kitchen!

Hello readers (if I still have any that is)! So, I've taken a hiatus...a long one from my kitchen. Life's been busy, and to be honest, I haven't been in the kitchen this whole time. Geesh!

I am posting now and I have to admit, even now, I had nothing to do with the latest action that went on in my kitchen. Labor Day weekend brought great fun, good friends, and yummy food (no thanks to me)! Josh and I had friends over for an evening of grilling and games, and luckily, I have friends that enjoy my kitchen, too! :-)

I had a craving for s'more bars. Although I was the hostess, I some how managed to con my friends to make the s'mores bars for us! Haha! We, well, ok, not we, my friend Troy searched for a recipe on-line (since we didn't pre-plan, he didn't bring his recipe), and off to the store we went to gather the ingredients. Here we are (photo courtesy of Eric!) getting all set up.

Troy did most of the stirring and melting. Eric measured the cereal, and Kelsie poured the marshmallows. What did I do? Well, I got the pan and sprayed it with non-stick spray...and, that's it...oh, and I took photos. Anyways, we discovered we needed to add more cereal, there was a LOT of chocolate and the bars turned out pretty gooey.

Gooey, but still yummy enough to eat. In fact, I ate one of the s'mores bars for breakfast the next day...hey, there's cereal in those bars, so there!!! Anyways, Troy sent me his recipe to try next time, so, I'll have to try that out soon, too!

Katie's PB Cups!

I received this recipe from one of my good friends back in MN, the lovely, Katie E. I was bored on Friday, so I decided to give it a try. It sounded so tasty and I love peanut butter...especially with chocolate.

After melting peanut butter and butter, you stir in powdered sugar a bit of vanilla. Then, you press that mixture into a greased pan. Next, the chocolate topping...made of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate melted with butter and a touch of vanilla. After pouring the chocolate topping onto the peanut butter layer, all you have to do is chill it in the fridge. I agree with Katie's words, it is defintely quick and easy!

When Josh got home, I cut us each a piece to try. In our opinion, this is a DELICIOUS treat...but, very, very rich. Josh could only eat one bite of his! I ate about half of my piece. I am a die hard pb/chocolate fan. I've been nibbling on bites all weekend, too! :-) Thanks, Katie!

Busy Day Pork Chops

Hi! I'm still here...I promise! Geesh, it's been a long time since I last updated! I have been cooking these past couple months, just nothing new or too exciting. So, last night I decided to try a recipe out of my "Healthy Cooking" magazine, from Taste of Home. Basically, it was a simple recipe for breaded and baked pork chops. According to the picture, here's the final product. So, we'll see how close I get to that...

The breaded mixture was simply seasoned bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. I dipped the chops in skim milk before coating them in the breading.

Winky is SO funny whenever I'm doing something in the kitchen, he always justs sits and watches me. Luckily Josh got home from work at the right time. As soon as he was in the door I greeted him with a "Quick, get my camera and take a couple pictures of me for my blog!" Yeah, I'm a good wife.

Anyways, you spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, then, after placing the breaded chops on the baking sheet, you spray the top of the chops with a bit of cooking spray, too. Then, you just bake them for 9-11 minutes on each side in a 375 degree oven. Here are mine hot out of the oven. I think maybe I sprayed a bit too much Pam.

Oh, while they were baking, I walked into the kitchen and saw this and couldn't help but laugh. I guess Winky and Smokey were curious about what was going on in the oven, too...since I so rarely use it. They probably didn't know what to think...either that, or they were hungry and were hoping they were having pork chops for dinner!

So, here's my plate. Pork chops with some spiral mac-n-cheese. How'd they taste? Well, I asked Josh, and he said, "They aren't bad." Sigh. I had to agree. They weren't bad, but they weren't awesome either. They were somewhat bland. But, at least I can now experiment with adding some new flavors to the breading for next time!