Accidental Recipe Awesomeness – PINEAPPLE DUMP CAKE!

On Sunday night I was craving something sweet. Since completing my hCG diet, I have actually stopped eating most sweets and now it is a rare treat. I also like it better that way! When I do crave them, fruit of some sort will suffice. So I know Pineapple Preserves AREN’T really fruit…but Hey at least I didn’t eat a bag of kit kats!!

After gathering things from my pantry I ended up with, pancake mix, french vanilla cake mix, cinnamon, pineapple preserves, 1 egg and milk. I stood there for a minute and then it hit me….CAKE!

So here it is, the best, most random desert I have ever made!!

PINEAPPLE DUMP CAKE

 

What You will need:

• 1 Egg
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup French Vanilla cake mix
• 1 cup of pancake mix (the kind that only requires water to make pancakes)
• 2 tbsp. Cinnamon
• 1 jar of Pineapple Preserves (you won’t use the whole jar, just a few spoonfuls.)

Pre-heat your oven to 350 and grease your baking dish. I just added a little butter to the pan and let it melt for a minute while the oven was heating up. Combine pancake and cake mix, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly. Once ingredients are well mixed, add in 3-4 large spoonfuls of pineapple preserves. Mix again and pour in baking dish. Bake for 16-18 minutes.

When the cake is done, and still very warm, spread 2 spoonfuls of the pineapple preserves over the top for a glaze. Let cool and either slice or like I did, just dump some in a bowl!!

 

 

Both The Hubbs and Little Man LOVED this stuff, and because of the pancake batter it is not a heavy, dense cake. It stays light and fluffy!`I will definitely be making this again! You can use really any preserves that you have on hand. I hope you all enjoy this as much as We do!!

 

 

 

*My Sister is EXTREMELY allergic to pineapple, so I just want to apologize to her for this recipe. <3<3<3 LOVE YOU Little Lady!!!

 

 

Mmmmm. Homemade Apple Syrup!!

Sorry for the picture quality! Momma still needs a new digital camera!

OMG y’all! I made buttermilk pancakes and apple syrup for breakfast this weekend, and BOTH the guys LOVED IT!! Jp is a huge apple fan anyway, and I had half of one in the fridge from the night before, so thus HOMEMADE APPLE SYRUP was born!! Next time I make it I will increase the apple though to a whole one, because it was so delicious!

I just threw this recipe together, so measurements are NOT exact, and can really be done any way you like!

Here We go!

What you will need:

1 large red apple, diced- (peeled if you prefer)

1 tbsp. butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 tbsp. cinnamon

In a medium sauce pan, add butter and diced apples. Saute on medium heat until apples are just beginning to become soft. Increase heat to high and add sugar, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and the reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce starts to thicken. You will need to stand near it and watch, or you could end up with a serious mess! Once the sauce has come to a syrup consistency, remove from heat and spoon over your pancakes, waffles, toast…even ice cream. Yea, I did it and it was DELICIOUS!!

Hurry up Saturday…I want to make this again!!!

Ranch Pasta Salad

So I have been TRYING for 4 days now to get this post uploaded. Something always happens when I sit down to type it. Jp has been fighting a sinus infection from HELL for the past 2 weeks, so majority of my time has been spent taking care of him and trying to disinfect my whole house. MOMMA CAN’T AFFORD TO GET SICK!! Well I finally sat down and took the time to type out this awesomeness!

Normally I am not a Pasta Salad fan. There is something about the tangy vinaigrette’s that just seem to put me off. Well…fast forward to a hectic day at home with little man, and me not feeling like making a huge trip to the store. What resulted was THE BEST Pasta Salad that I have ever tasted. The Hubbs AND Little Man even approved, so you know it must have been tasty! So here it is…tentatively called

Here’s what you will need:

• 1 package of your favorite pasta ( I used pipe rigate because the other ingredients collect in the pasta, making for yummy bites!!)
• 1 can of Rotel
• 1 can of corn
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

First, start the water to cook the pasta. You will want the pasta to be al dente so it doesn’t turn mushy by the time you’re ready to serve! When the pasta is done, drain and set in the fridge to cool.

Dice both tomatoes and the clove of garlic. Add them to a mixing bowl. Drain both the corn and rotel and add to the bowl as well. Measure out 1/2 cup of Ranch Dressing and add it in, mixing gently to incorporate. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Once the pasta has thoroughly cooled, add it to the bowl mixing once again. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to eat!

We loved it the first night, but as with many dishes, it was SO DELICIOUS the next day! I used mild rotel because it was all we had this time, but I will be buying an extra spicy one for the next round! Maybe throwing in some diced jalapeno to this would add the perfect kick too! I can’t wait to play around with this recipe!

I hope you all love this, and as always, if you try the recipe out please let me know what you think!!!

Chicken and Cabbage Crockpot Stew

Chicken and Cabbage Crock-pot Stew!! Yumm!!

I love my crockpot!! Like FREEKIN LOVE THIS THING! I am great at just throwing some things in there, turning it on low and letting it cook for hours. I have made BBQ chicken and ribs, all sorts of dips, stews, tons of stuff. Well Saturday afternoon I could already feel that I wasn’t going to be in the mood to cook dinner, so I decided to crockpot it!! Here is what went down…

• 3 Large (I used bone in) split Chicken breasts
• 1 whole small cabbage, diced
• 1/2 a large red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 6 cups of water

I seasoned the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and a little Cajun spice (you could use whatever you like though), and then seared both sides in a  hot cast iron skillet. While those were cooking, I turned my crockpot on high and added the diced cabbage, onion, garlic and water. I also seasoned that with salt and pepper just to make sure everything had flavor. Once the chicken was cooked, I added it whole (still on the bone) to the crockpot, and turned it on low. I let everything simmer together for about 5 hours total. Once everything had cooked, I took out and de-boned the chicken. Making sure to get all the small bones just so Jp didn’t accidentally get one, and added it back in. This was totally delish, and even better the next day!! It also freezes well, in a Ziploc bag. Then when you are ready to eat, you can just put the bag in a pot of simmering water to heat it back up!! How easy is that!! As always if you try it out, let me know what you think!!

Tex-Mex Cornbread Casserole

Last night I got a wild hair to try out a new recipe. I had a pound of ground beef in the freezer that I needed to use before my store run this week, so I decided to put together something. I checked the pantry and came across some cornbread mix, canned corn, green beans, and enchilada sauce. I was thinking about different ways to serve them seperatley, then it hit me. Throw it all in one pan and top with enchilada sauce!! It actually turned out fantastic, and the Hubby and Little Man LOVED it. It’s no secret that Jp doesn’t eat many veggies but he wolfed this down and was really none the wiser!!  Yay. Mom-1 Jp-0! Here’s what I did, but you could really put anything you like in it. Ground turkey would be great to sub for the ground beef, for a healthier option.

 

You will need:

• 16oz cornbread mix
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of green beans
• 1 can mild enchilada sauce
• 2 oz pepper jack cheese
• 1lb ground beef
• 2 tsp chili powder (optional, we like the spice though!!)
• 1 package taco seasoning

Preheat your oven to temprature specified on cornbread mix. Brown ground beef with chili powder and taco seasoning. While beef is cooking, mix the cornbread in a bowl and set aside. Drain corn and green beans and add to cornbread, mixing thoroughly. When beef is cooked, drain and add to cornbread mixture. Pour into an 8×8 greased baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

Enchilada Sauce

In a pan over medium heat add your can of enchilada sauce, and the 2 ouces of pepper jack cheese. Stir with a wisk as cheese starts to melt. I did this last minute so it was piping hot when the casserole came out of the oven.

 

Seriously Jp went nuts for this, and that always makes me happy. Hubbs said that it should become monthly regular meal. I will definitley be playing around with this one!! If you try it out let me know what you think!!!