Chocolate Mousse In Chocolate Bowls With Pink Sea Shells

Chocolate Mousse In Chocolate Bowls And Topped With Pink Seashells

Sunday evening daughter-in-love, Crissy, came over to use my Kitchen-Aid and microwave to make these adorable, molded, chocolate bowls, filled with the most luscious chocolate mousse, and topped with these cute, little, pink seashells...all of which she made.

Chocolate Bowls In The Mold

Chocolate Bowl After Coming Out Of The Mold

Pink Sea Shells In And Out Of Mold

The mousse she made following the instructions on this video:





This was a very creative dessert and I think Crissy did a great job with it! I love the idea of the little, chocolate bowls and have thought of all kinds of things you could use them for. And the shells were just as cute as they could be! I figured the idea might inspire others, so I thought I'd share.

All My Love,
~Rebecca 

A Meal Made Of Childhood Memories

A while back our next-to-the-youngest son (nearly 30 now) requested that I make, and teach his wife how to make, one of his favorite childhood meals. It's been years since I've cooked like this, but, today, at his request, my daughter-in-law, along with two of the grandlittles, came over and we set to work. We made chicken chowder, refrigerator rolls, and a pumpkin roll. With fall in the air, I thought I might as well pass the recipes along to you, so you and your family can enjoy them as well! Have a blessed weekend!

~Rebecca

CHICKEN CHOWDER SOUP

2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 c. boiling water
3 c. diced potatoes
1 c. sliced carrots
1 c. sliced celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. butter or margarine
2 c. milk
2 to 3 Tbsp. flour
2 c. cooked, cubed chicken or turkey
1 can corn, drained, if desired

Dissolve bouillon cubes in water; add seasonings and vegetables. Cover; simmer until tender. DO NOT DRAIN. In separate pan make white sauce with butter, flour and milk. Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir chicken into vegetable mixture. Add cheese sauce. Heat, but do not boil.

REFRIGERATOR ROLL DOUGH

1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/2 teaspoons bulk)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup unseasoned lukewarm mashed potatoes
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 to 7 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in potatoes, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover bowl tightly; refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 5 days.

When you get ready to make the rolls, divide, and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 15 minutes).

PUMPKIN ROLL
(Makes 10 servings)

CAKE:

Powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin

FILLING:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened (I use 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1 cup powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
Powdered sugar

FOR CAKE: PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel (NOT THE FUZZY KIND) with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

BAKE for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool completely.

FOR FILLING: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in a small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re-roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Recipe: Skinny Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Skinny Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

UPDATE: The secret to this recipe is to let the bars set overnight in the fridge! It makes all the difference in the world! YES!!! I WILL be making them again! Will just do it the day BEFORE I need them instead of the day of! Please ignore my comments below! :)

 

I posted in a previous post that I first saw this recipe on Facebook and have been waiting to make it. I got the ingredients to do so, but, to be honest, after making it, I'm not sure that I even like the recipe. It's not at all what I expected. My husband likes it, but, to me, there's just not a whole lot of flavor. I am posting the recipe anyway for those who might like to try it.

 

SKINNY PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE BARS

 

1 box angel food cake mix - the one-step kind

1 15-oz. can pumpkin

3/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese

a few tablespoons water to be mixed with cream cheese

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Let the cream cheese soften on the counter for a while. Then, use a mixer and beat it with a couple of tablespoons of water until smooth.

 

In a separate bowl, mix the cake mix, pumpkin, 3/4 cup water, and cinnamon together until it is smooth and well mixed.

 

Spray a 9" x 13" glass pan with cooking spray. Add half of the cake and pumpkin mixture and smooth out evenly with a spatula. Drizzle half of the cream cheese over the top of it and smooth. Add remaining cake and pumpkin mixture and then the remaining cream cheese in layers. Finally, take a butter knife and stick it into the mix and move it back and forth in figure eights to blend it in a bit.

 

Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

 

 

 

 



 

Fat Loss Rich & Chewy Brownies

Made these for the first time tonight. Delicious!

RICH AND CHEWY BROWNIES

(This decadent delight is made with only fat burning ingredients.)

Ingredients:

Dry
- 1 cup Evaporated Cane Juice
- 1 cup 100% whole wheat flour (use rice flour if gluten-sensitive)
- 1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 heaping scoop of vanilla protein powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 TBSP 60% cocoa semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces

Wet
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 TBSP original soy milk (Silk)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 1 TBSP of both the chocolate chips and the walnuts for the topping, then mix remaining dry ingredients together in a big bowl. It is best if you get the lumps out of each dry ingredient before you add it to the bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients together. Then, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well to prevent lumps from forming. Spray an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the brownie mixture into the pan. Top with the leftover walnut pieces and chocolate chips. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool and serve. Makes 16 servings.

Homemade Baked Donuts

A couple of Saturdays ago, we were invited to go with son and daughter-in-law to go on an autumn outing. One of the places we went was the Louisburg Cider Mill's annual Ciderfest in Louisburg, Kansas. While there I picked up a Norpro Petite Donut Pan and I finally tried it out tonight. Above is a picture of the fruits of my labor. Cute and tasty BAKED donuts! Nice!

Recipe: SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

As per request...

SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

2 sticks butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together by cutting together until crumbly. Pat into shortbread pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. This is one of my favorites to serve with tea!

Recipe - STRAWBERRY GELATIN DESSERT

I originally intended to make a Paula Deen dessert that I had seen on Swagbucks TV the other day, but, when I started making it I tweeked and tweeked and kept tweeking until I think I ended up making more of an original dessert than not...so...here it is...

STRAWBERRY GELATIN DESSERT

2 boxes strawberry flavored Jell-O
1 cup boiling hot water
1 pound fresh strawberries
3 bananas
1 can chunk pineapple
1 cup chopped pecans
1 box sugar-free French vanilla instant pudding
2 cups plain yogurt, sour cream, or milk

Open Jell-O and pour into bowl; add boiling water and stir until dissolved. Crush strawberries and bananas, slice pineapple chunks, and mix together with chopped pecans (I did this with my kitchen aid. Spray an oblong glass baking dish with pan spray and spoon half of the Jell-O mixture into the pan and flatten out level. Put it in the fridge to set (this only took about 20 minutes). While that's setting, mix instant pudding and yogurt, sour cream, or milk (I used plain, homemade yogurt and it worked really well or any combination of the three however you choose would work well, too). After fruit and gelatin mixture is set, spoon the pudding/yogurt mixture over that, then top with the remaining fruit and gelatin mixture. Chill until ready to serve.


This is part of the 12th edition of The Christian Home Magazine.

Recipe - POUND CAKE

I had never made one before, but my dad requested a pound cake for his birthday. I had never attempted any kind of bundt cake, either, but found this bundt pan at a thrift store a while back and bought it. This was the result of my first attempt at both...

Fresh From The Oven Pound Cake In Thrift Store Find Bundt Pan

Pound Cake Cooling On The Cooling Rack

Pound Cake With A Powdered Sugar And Milk Icing Drizzled Over Top

 POUND CAKE 

2 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, softened (I used light butter)
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup evaporated milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour tube pan, 10x4 inches, or 12-cup bundt cake pan. Beat sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, 30 seconds. Beat on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 5 minutes. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt alternately with milk on low speed. Pour into pan. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 70 to 80 minutes. Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan.

For Supper - 3/28/11 - London Broil, Caesar Salad, French Bread, Plum Custard Kuchen

Here's what's on the menu for supper tonight at the Knox's -

London Broil

Caesar Salad

Homemade French Bread

Plum Custard Kuchen

As a general rule we don't eat beef anymore, but every once in a while I'll find a nice piece of black angus beef on mark-down at Summer Fresh and, when I do, I'll buy it and do something special with it, or stretch it out for as many meals as possible. Recently, I found a nice 2-lb piece of London Broil for only $5.19, so I am doubling the recipe below. We are eating part of it for supper tonight and I will freeze the rest for later. We will get between 3 and 4 meals out of this one piece of beef.

Recipes-

LONDON BROIL

1 pound high-quality beef flank or London Broil cut

2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cut both sides of beef steak into diamond pattern 1/8 inch deep. Cook and stir onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt in butter until onions are tender; keep warm. Mix remaining ingredients; brush half of the mixture on beef.

Set oven control to broil and/or 550 degrees. Broil beef with top 2 to 3 inches from heat until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn beef; brush with remaining oil mixture and broil 5 minutes longer. (I broiled it longer because I wanted it well done.)

Cut beef across grain at slanted angle into thin slices; serve with onions.

Serves 4.




PLUM CUSTARD KUCHEN

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 c. butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used skim milk)
1 egg

2 1/2 cups pitted and sliced plums

1/2 cup heavy cream (I used skim milk)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl mix flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and baking powder. Cut in  butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in 2 tablespoons cream (or milk) and 1 egg. Press in bottom of ungreased 9-inch square pan and arrange plums over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

While cake is baking, in a bowl combine 1/2 cup cream (or milk), 1/2 cup sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat well and pour mixture over plums and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until custard is set. Serve warm or cool. Store in refrigerator.

(Note: I only use light salt, light butter, and extra-virgin olive oil in all recipes.)

Another Cool And Easy Treat On A Hot Day

Jell-O Cake! And, oh! So easy to make! Bake a white cake according to package directions. While cake is still warm from the oven, and using the round end of a wooden spoon, poke holes, spacing them about an inch apart, all over the top of the cake. After cake is completely cool, mix one cup of hot water with whatever flavor of Jell-O brand gelatin you prefer (we like blueberry or strawberry). When gelatin is completely dissolved, add one cup cold water, and stir thoroughly. Ladle gelatin mixture over top of cake, making sure a little goes down into every hole. Top cake with one envelope of Dream Whip whipped topping mix, made according to package directions. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.