Weekend, balloons, THE chocolate cake.

Friday night was date night. It was nice to get out of the house together. We went to dinner, ice cream and video stop. I had a $17 late fee from February when we were watching Lost. Sweet. 

Saturday, we took the boys hiking at city creek. It was all fun and games until, when racing down the trail, Danny tripped and bit the dust. Literally. Running full speed, he tripped and landed straight on his face. We were relieved there was no blood and no loose/missing teeth. Just lots of dirt in his mouth, a bruised nose and lots of little tiny blood bruises on his forehead from hitting all the tiny rocks. A few minutes later, Morg asked him if he wanted to keep racing. He said no. The child is learning.  

The boys are great little hikers! We found lots of beautiful shiny turquoise bugs. We'd never seen that kind before. They were so cool. We threw a thousand rocks in the creek and counted stink bugs. We love our city creek.

Sunday we baked and cooked and made dinner. I'm still so surprised how well I love coconut oil in place of both shortening and vegetable oil. I've never had it fail me. Not once. 

I found the most delicious chocolate cake recipe ever. Mr. Keller's old favorite was a kind that used a box cake mix and instant pudding -- both so full of artificial and genetically modified ingredients. I've been dying for chocolate cake, but I figured I'd have to try out a few recipes to find one we really liked to replace our beloved old one. We got lucky. This recipe was so basic with real ingredients, and I'm not kidding, we both agree it's the best chocolate cake we've ever had. Do yourself a favor. Make this. Chill it in the fridge for a while. And die. 

'Extreme Chocolate Cake' -- allrecipes

2 cups white sugar (I used organic evaporated cane sugar -- Costco)

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Stir these dry ingredients together, then add the following:

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup coconut oil (liquefied)

1 tsp pure vanilla

Mix with an electric mixer for three minutes.

Add 1 cup boiling water and stir in by hand. The batter will be runny, but it's supposed to be that way.

The recipe was for two 9 inch round pans (350 degrees for 30 minutes), but I used a bundt pan instead and I baked it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or so.

I let it sit for ten minutes then removed it from the pan. I used a boiled frosting base-- I sort of made it up, but that's because I was very low on powdered sugar and cocoa powder. The frosting turned out okay, but I would've liked it thicker. Here's the frosting recipe that went with the cake recipe:

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

5 1/3 cups powder sugar

2/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla 

I chilled the frosted cake for three hours and holy goodness.

And here are some photos from June when we sent Danny's birthday balloons off to Neverland. Happy Monday! 

Cake for lunch today. 

Word. 

Fiesta Corn Dip

Because I was fortunate enough to marry into a family of chef goddesses, I'm always getting to taste (and try) new recipes. This is our new favorite....sometimes we even eat it for dinner. (Yes, it's that good.) Thanks, Holly!


Fiesta Corn Dip

1 can of sweet corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Original RoTell tomatoes, drained 
5 green onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2-1 bunch of cilantro
16 oz of sour cream
1 package of Fiesta Hidden Valley Ranch (buy at Walmart)

Stir well and refrigerate for one hour before serving with chips (Tostitos Scoops are my favorite)

The recipe that changed my life.

There are two things this town desperately needs. Target and Cafe Rio. Once we get both, I may just rest my bones here.

In the mean time, we survive on homemade. And I'm happy to report, it suits us just fine. PS - if we ever invite you over for dinner in the future and you catch me drinking the green ranch from a cup, just ignore me. Jared's gotten used to it. And somehow, magically, he accepts me for who I am. Love that man. (And yes, the ranch is just that good.)

*Note you can make the chicken, or the pork, but you probably won't want to make both at the same time. This recipe makes tons and tons!*

Cafe Rio Chicken

1 small bottle of Italian dressing
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
3 garlic cloves
4-5 lbs chicken breast (I use much less, but still make the same amount of marinade.)
Cook in crockpot on low for 5 hours or longer. Shred before serving.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (DO NOT USE DIET, don't drink diet anything for that matter!)
1/4 cup brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 cup water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, mild spiciness but any will work)
1+ cup brown sugar

Salt pork roast with garlic powder or garlic salt. Pour 3/4 can of Coke in your crockpot, over the top of the roast. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Pour out Coke marinade. Shred pork. Blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste.). Blend well! If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little. Put shredded pork in crockpot then pour blended sauce over the meat. Cook on low for another 2 hours.

Cilantro Lime Ranch
3 medium tomatillos
1 juice of lime (or 2, if you want)
1 bunch of cilantro
5 green onion stalks
2 garlic cloves
½ cup milk
½ cup mayo
½ cup sour cream
1 package dry Hidden Valley Ranch
¼ t. crushed cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno

Mix all ingredients in blender, refrigerate


Cilantro Lime Rice

1 juice of lime (or more)
4 t. powdered chicken boullion
2-3 garlic cloves
1 can green chilies
Salt
3 cups water
Mix all ingredients in blender
Boil, then add 3 ½-4 cups instant white rice, cover with lid and remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes then fluff with fork.

Serve ranch over chicken and rice in warm tortillas. Great topped with cheese, lettuce, black beans (a must!!!!), and corn.

Oatmeal Cookies + Thursday Afternoon.

While this isn't my mom's recipe, nor is it my absolute favorite, I had to settle since I misplaced the other and my mom always seems to miss my important phone calls! What could be more important than recipe-grabbing on a Thursday afternoon? Nothing. I know.

Still, these are yummy. Morgan thinks so, too. They taste especially great when replacing with your normal lunch menu and for afternoon snacktime, too. 

Happy Thursday!

Xoxo.  

Cowboy Oatmeal Cookies - originally from Allrecipes.

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick cooking oats (I use 3 cups old fashioned oats)
1 cup butterscotch chips

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2.In a medium bowl, cream margarine, oil, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients until well blended. Mix in oats and butterscotch chips. Drop from a teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3.Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Let set up on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Nie's Homemade Oreos

I took this picture at 10:15pm on Saturday evening

before we had nestled in to watch NCIS reruns on DVD.

We had eaten all but five by the time we turned in for the night.  

Last weekend, I decided it was time to try Nie Nie's homemade oreos. The recipe was easy! And the cookies? Well, Courtney was right. They were a "revelation". We are all indebted to her for sharing.

I highly suggest that these be the next 'yummy' you fix for your darlings. You will not be disappointed.

And seriously, so easy.

Click here for the original posting.

Oh, and Dear CJane: thank you.

Cookies
1 package of devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup of shortening
blend all together at once.
roll soft dough in small balls on a cookie sheet, don't press down.

Bake 350 degrees for 8 minutes

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2 stick of butter (softened)
2 tsps vanilla
2-4 cups powdered sugar
Mix with beaters until smooth.

When cookies are cool, frost the backs and press together making a lovely cookie sandwich.


PS - the recipe makes loads and loads of frosting. You may want to double or triple your recipe for the cookies. For example, we made one batch. And two days later, made another batch. I still have tons of frosting leftover in the fridge.

Also, I 'dared' to bake a little longer than the original recipe. But, I think I may have made the cookie-dough balls bigger than suggested. I made them the same size as any regular cookie recipe and I cooked mine between nine and ten minutes.

{Chicken Pot Pie Recipe}

photo credit: countryliving

Allrecipes.com is so great! Agreed?  Just the other day, I was browsing through Chicken Pot Pie recipes. Never having made it before, I looked for a recipe that had really great reviews (and a lot of them) and I found a great one! It turned out perfect. I followed the directions to a 'T' and  made it again a few days later for C&S Keller when they were visiting. Excellent recipe!

Double Pie Crust

2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
6 tablespoons ice cold water (using ice water is key to having the pie dough roll out smoothly)
1 teaspoon powdered sugar


Mix thoroughly, cut dough in half and roll each ball of dough out separately.

Chicken Pot Pie
from Allrecipes

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 unbaked pie crusts
Directions

1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

2.In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

3.In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. (I simmered mine for about ten minutes and it was of a perfect consistency). Remove from heat and set aside.

4.Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

5.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Oh my goodness...

wishing i had some of this chocolatey goodness sitting in my kitchen this afternoon.

doesn't it look delicious?

{image and recipe here, via country living}

In the oven.

{Mexican Chicken}

-Cari Zabel and Linda Fisher-

Kuna 5th Ward Cookbook

2 whole chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup salsa

2 tbs salsa

1 cup finely chopped onions

12 corn tortillas, cut into strips

2 cups grated cheese

Boil chicken until cooked thoroughly. Shred. Mix chicken, soups, salsa and onions.

Put two tablespoons of salsa in the bottom of your baking dish.

Layer tortillas, soup and chicken mixture, then cheese. Repeat.

The last layer should be tortialla strips sprinkled with any leftover cheese.

Bake 1 1/2 hours at 300 degrees.

Wish you were here.

right this moment, it's warm in our house. sunday afternoon warm. the way it gets when the sun is hot in the sky and dinner is warming up the house. i'm in my cotton dress (yes, mom, the one you just bought me) and my lovely olive green apron i bought with a gift card we got as a wedding gift to a way-expensive cooking store. i was no cook back then, so instead of buying something useful, i bought this way-over-priced apron. at least it's cute. and i suppose it is useful, since i wear it almost every sunday.

it's warm here. did i say that already? i love it. we're all together. listening to this song on this homemade cd we found in grandpa keller's red truck one night when we were dating. what a beauty this song is. just moments ago, at almost the same time, we both said how it reminds us of when we were younger lovers. it reminds us.

what i love about sundays is being home.

i love my husband.

i love my sweet child.

i love comfy clothes and taking naps and cooking.

.

i love slowing down.

.

.

.

.
here's us.

wish you were here.

and for dessert:

Delicious Chocolate Goodness

(also known as Chocolate Oil Cake)
2 c. sugar
3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
Mix together with whisk, then add:
2 c. water
1 c. vegetable oil
2 tbs. distilled white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

Whisk until most of the lumps are smooth then pour into two round cake pans (make sure to spray well with non-stick spray).
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting recipe! Serve chilled.