Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sauce

This is the perfect "hot fudge" type sauce. It's best served warm, and will turn into awesome chewy yumminess on your favorite ice cream! When cold, it's the consistency of fudge (fight over eating the leftovers with a spoon).

This recipe came about when I had the hankering for something chocolate-PB flavored and we had a bunch of ice cream in the freezer. I searched online for a good recipe but nothing really struck me. Then I remembered the frosting from my chocolate-cherry cake and how I always thought it would make good ice cream sauce. I used that recipe, making it a little thinner to use as sauce, and added the peanut butter. I used crunchy the first time I made it and it was amazing! I then tried it with creamy and it was just as good.

For the record, one of my kids doesn't like crunchy PB and was leery of that batch - but agreed that the nut chunks really made it.

We served it with banana slices and fresh cherries! Yum!!

Recipe:

1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk

Bring these to a boil and simmer for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add:

1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter

Stir until melted and completely incorporated.

Cool until just warm. Serve over your favorite ice cream.

Edit to ADD: We thought this would be great with butterscotch chips, but it really was WAY too sweet. I guess those chips are just sweeter than chocolate. I was going to try white chips, too. Someday I will play with it and see how to adapt the sugar - but it really needs the sugar for the texture, so I don't know.

The Perfect Lasagna

I love to make lasagna. Always have. I used to have people ask me for my recipe when we were in college. I had people pay me to make lasagna and invite them over! My college boyfriend gave me a large lasagna pan for my birthday. That's how good it was!

Over the years I stopped making it. John doesn't like it, and it's a LOT of trouble for one person! I tried making it when the older kids were little and into Garfield, but they didn't like it either. So we went years without lasagna! My friend Michelle would call me periodically asking for my recipe, and I gave it to her. Very simple - use the recipe on the box. Add chopped up green olives to the sauce. That was it!

Somehow, sometime, the kids tasted a lasagna they liked. They started asking me for it. Now I'm trying to perfect it again. They don't care for the olives so I haven't tried that on them. I'm finding that for me, lasagna is like meatloaf. I throw it together and don't use a recipe. When it comes out really perfect you slap your forehead and say D'OH! I should have written that one down!

I should note that I tried a recipe recently that was almost a complete failure. It was Crockpot Lasagna. Sounds just weird enough to be good, right? Sounds like it would be much easier? Well, it wasn't. I followed the recipe exactly, but the noodles were gummy. It tasted OK if you could overlook the texture of the noodles. And it was exactly as much work as regular lasagna, which is the main drawback of fixing it. If I'm going to do the work, I'll just bake it as usual, thanks.

One other note is that I NEVER. EVER. boil the noodles. Mom read that in Heloise years ago. Heloise said to pour an extra cup of water over the top, but that is not needed. Just put them down and make sure there is a layer of sauce over the last layer of noodles. I noticed in the store that some brands are now proclaiming "now no need to boil!" Took them long enough, because there has NEVER been a need!

So here is what I did tonight. I will probably never follow this, but I want to write it down in case anyone ever asks. I think tonight's was about as close to perfect as I've ever made. The noodles were perfectly al dente and everything was exactly as it should be. MMMm yum yum!!!!

Sauce:

2 pounds ground meat
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Cook and drain. Add:

2 quarts of spaghetti sauce
1 large can crushed or chopped tomatoes
1 T Italian seasoning
1 t salt
1 t garlic salt

Mix well and simmer for about 45 min.

Cheese mixture:

1-1/2 large cartons of small curd cottage cheese (24 oz each)
3 eggs, beaten
2 T parsley flakes
1/2 parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Mix well.

In a large lasagna pan (not sure the measurements. It's larger than a 9x13), layer as follows:

Thin layer of sauce
Dry noodles, broken as needed to fill the pan
Cheese mixture
Thick layer of sauce
Noodles
Cheese
Noodles
The rest of the sauce

I know that is out of pattern, but it's how I do it to end up with 3 layers of noodles. The noodle layers with just cheese in between is quite good.

This completely fills up the pan so I set it on a baking sheet. IT WILL OVERFLOW a little bit and you don't want that on your oven floor.

DO NOT top with cheese just yet unless you like it burned.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Top with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 15 minutes more. The cheese will be slightly browned and really gooey. YOu really don't want to cook it any longer than this.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for at LEAST 15 minutes. The longer the better, really. The sooner you cut it, the soupier it will be.

If not for the kids I would have added about 1/2 cup of chopped green olives to the meat mixture, and about a tsp of something spicy.

HEAVEN!!!!

Italian Cream Cake

This is one of my favorites from my childhood. My Grandmother used to make it. When she had moved in with us, as her Alzheimers advanced, it was probably the last thing she ever cooked (and fortunately, we caught her leaving the sugar out in time to fix it!)

Although I inherited her cookbooks, I could not find her recipe. I had to turn to Google to get one. I figure it must be someone's Grandmother's recipe, right? At any rate, it tastes just the way I remember it. :)

I love to make it for Easter. I've done this off and on for years. I don't know why - maybe the coconut (which one year I dyed green and scattered on the outside)? For many years my parents were the only ones to help me eat it. Husband doesn't like coconut. Half the kids do and half don't. That is still plenty of coconut-likers, though!

The frosting would be amazing on carrot cake, too! I like to leave just a tiny bit in the bowl to eat with a spoon. Yum!

I've made it both ways, and it just seems to turn out fluffier with the use of cake flour.

I take the lazy way and use a single pan. I don't know what size but it's bigger than the 9x13 - I call it my lasagna pan. It holds the 3 layers worth just fine Add about 5 minutes more oven time.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

5 large eggs, separated

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup flaked coconut

Preparation

Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour and soda; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in coconut.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, and fold into batter. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cakepans.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation

Bake chopped pecans in a shallow baking pan at 350°, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until toasted. Cool.

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended.

Beefy Tacos

My sister-in-law posted this the other day and I had to try it. I made a triple recipe, due to the size of my crew. I had ground turkey and pork so I used that instead of beef (so they weren't all that "beefy" I guess! LOL!). Everyone loved it, even the one that was initially not sure about the beans. It was the perfect meal to serve on our busiest weeknight. It made great leftovers, too! Definitely a keeper. 

1 pound lean ground meat (beef, pork or turkey, or a mix) 

1 onion, finely chopped 

4 cloves garlic, chopped 

1 can (16 ounces) refried beans 

1 jar (16 ounces) salsa 

1 cup shredded cheddar 

 12 small tortillas 

garnishes: whatever you typically like on your tacos (sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onions, jalapenos, etc) 

 In a large skillet over medium-high heat, stir beef and onion until brown and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Drain excess oils and transfer to a slow cooker. Stir in beans, salsa, and cheddar. Cover and let simmer until mixture is cooked through and bubbling, 3 to 4 hours on high, or 5 to 6 hours on low. Stir and serve over warmed tortillas; top with your choice of fixings.

Lemonade Cake

We had this at a potluck and I had to get the recipe! Then I made it for the church potluck today and it disappeared! Three people asked me for the recipe so I guess it's a keeper. :)

Lemonade Cake

1 lemon cake mix
1 4 oz. instant lemon pudding and pie filling
4 eggs
3/4 c. oil
3/4 c. water

Mix together, bake in ungreased 13" x 9" pan @ 350F for 30 minutes**, or until brown on the top.

After the cake cools, poke with a fork to allow glaze to penetrate.

2 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. lemon juice
2 T melted butter
2 T hot water
1 tsp. chopped lemon zest, optional

Mix and pour over the cake.

I made this the night before and stored on the counter, covered in foil. It was perfect the next day!

** Note - the recipe I was given said to bake for 38-40 minutes. Luckily I set the timer for 30 because it was absolutely done when the timer went off. We just had our oven worked on and the temp should be perfect. Just wanted to add this note, though, just in case. So check the cake and modify the time if needed.

Wendy's Chili Clone - My Favorite Chili

Note: I originally posted this a couple of years ago. We have recently re-discovered it and have been making it almost every week. Two kids even requested it for their birthday dinners! Today I had to take one kid to the doctor, and we stopped at Wendy's for lunch. We decided to bring some of their chili home so we could comparison taste.

Everybody said they liked mine better. I don't think they were "just saying that" - they are brutally honest when I ask for honesty (on the other hand, I have taught them NOT to say anything rude about anything they are given to eat!). I think I would like to do it again as a blind taste test, though. I told them we would do that later this evening.

Some of the comments about the "real" Wendy's Chili were: "too sweet" "just tastes funny" and "something weird in the spices". There is definitely something in the spice mixture that tastes a little bit sweet. We didn't care for it (we never noticed it till we compared) so I won't try to figure out what it is.

I did look up the ingredients for Wendy's Chili, though:

Water, Chili Base (tomatoes, salt, citric acid, calcium chloride), Ground Beef, Vegetable Mix (onions, celery, green peppers), Chili Beans (beans, water, sugar, corn syrup, salt, natural flavorings, onion powder, calcium chloride), Kidney Beans (kidney beans, water, sugar, corn syrup, salt, natural flavorings, onion powder, calcium chloride, disodium EDTA [preservative]), Chili Seasoning (sugar, salt, modified corn starch, chili pepper, onion powder, spices, dextrose, garlic powder, citric acid, disodium inosinate & guanylate, xanthan gum, autolyzed yeast extract, soybean oil, caramel color, extractives of paprika, malic acid, red 40, natural and artificial flavor, silicon dioxide [anticaking agent]).

My beans, by the way, contained just beans, water, and salt.

So there you have it! This is one of the easiest things in the world to make, and makes us happy! I hope you enjoy it too. :)

************************************

Originally posted 11/1/09:

My favorite chili in the world can be found at Wendy's (as in Old Fashioned Hamburgers). So when I found a clone recipe in the book A Treasury of Top Secret Recipes, I was thrilled! However, when I made it I was disappointed. It was decent chili, don't get me wrong. But - having worked at Wendy's all through high school and through much of college - I knew it was NOT a true clone of Wendy's chili. It was close, though, so I set out to tweak it till I got it right.

This is what I've come up with. Your method may vary - but in my opinion it is a pretty darn good copy of the original!

*walks away humming...."single cheese, double cheese, triple all the way"....*

2 pounds ground beef
1 - 29 ounce can tomato sauce
1 - 15 ounce cans kidney beans (with liquid)
1 - 15 ounce cans pinto beans (with liquid)
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cans mild tomatoes with green chilies, with liquid
1 - 15 oz can of water (use to rinse out all the cans and dump it in the pot)
2 teaspoons cumin powder
3 Tablespoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt


Brown the ground beef and drain the fat. Crumble into small pieces.
In a large pot, combine the cooked beef with all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours.

For spicier chili, adjust the heat level with black pepper, cayenne pepper or use a spicier tomato/chili.

Serve with grated cheese and fresh diced onion if desired.

**Now if only I could learn to make the liquid chili seasoning! :)

Chili Casserole

I was surfing around for new recipes the other day and found this one. It's a perfect "busy night" recipe - cook ahead and reheat, or turn off the oven a few minutes early and just leave it in there warming. It's very easy and inexpensive, and there are tons of possible variations.

My family must be used to being my taste-testers by now - they all said it was a keeper, and one even said "be sure to put this in your blog!"

Of course, I did not use the recipe as published! Here is exactly what I made. Keep in mind that this serves 8. You can easily half the recipe; in fact, what you see here is the result of my doubling the original to serve 8!

CHILI CASSEROLE

2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans beans, drained (or equivalent in dried beans, cooked)
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 can tomatoes with green chilies
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cook beef, onions and garlic in skillet until brown; drain.
Mix remaining ingredients (except cheese) with meat. Place into a large (11x14?) lasagna pan (If you're doing the half recipe, use a 9x13).

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Top with cheese and cook for 10 minutes more..

Tips and variations:

* The original called for salsa instead of tomatoes with chilis. It was more liquidy the way I did it - however, the kids loved it. The extra liquid was just like chili and they put it in a bowl and lapped it up!

* Ground pork was on sale so that's what I used. We loved the change of taste. Any ground meat would be great here.

* Because of the extra liquid, you could easily throw in some dry pasta. I would not even cook it first - just mix it with the rest, and maybe add a few minutes to the cook time. Or cook it first. Don't expect any extra liquid if you do this.

* You could also easily add less meat, more beans, chopped veggies, whatever you like.