Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies

If this recipe doesn't scream spring time, you must not have tasted one (or 3)! Light, fluffy with a hint of lemon, drizzled with a delicious glaze, ALL of my kids LOVED them!

lemon poppy seed sugar cookies:

2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 T. poppy seeds
1/2 C. butter softened
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg
1/4 C. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter & sugars together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla & zest of lemon. Mix well.

2. Add in dry ingredients along with buttermilk. Mix well.

3. Drop onto greased or lined cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 mins or until edges are set. the cookies will be puffy and light in color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

glaze:

1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanillla
2 T. milk
1/2-1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)

1. Whisk until desired consistency is reached. With parchment or wax paper underneath wire rack, drizzle glaze over cookies with a wisk. Allow to set up before stacking or storing.

*Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies

Homemade Oreos

These cookies are the most moist, delicious, soft, cream cheesy dream I can imagine right now! A friend who has a birthday tomorrow, has never had the pleasure of tasting these little jewels so I knew I must whip up a batch in his honor! Seriously something might be wrong with you if you aren't salivating at the thought of these puppies! Sigh.......................

homemade oreos:

1 box devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 C. oil (or butter flavored shortening)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Blend together, roll dough into balls a little bit bigger than a quarter in size. Bake for 10-11 minutes, remove cookies from oven and allow to cool completely.

cream cheese frosting:

1/2 C. butter softened
1-8 oz. pkg of cream cheese
3-4 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream butter & cream cheese together well. Add vanilla & powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

2. Place big dollop of frosting in middle of the bottom of one cookie, place a similar sized cookie bottom to frosting and gently press until frosting reaches edges. Allow to set up before storing.

*Makes approx. 2 dozen sandwiched oreos

Sweet & Sour Chicken Over Rice

I've been making this recipe for probably 10 years now & still love it! Easy, yummy & instantly makes you look 10lbs thinner......ok that's a lie but it's good.

sweet & sour chicken over rice:

3 chicken breasts cooked & cubed
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 TB cornstarch
1 can pineapple tidbits
1/3 C. vinegar

1 TB soy sauce
1 small green pepper chopped (optional...I leave it out)

1. Cook cubed chicken, set aside. Saute green pepper & set aside with chicken.

2. Mix brown sugar & cornstarch in skillet, stir in pineapple with syrup, vinegar & soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, reduce heat.

3. Add chicken & green pepper to sauce, cover, simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Ranch Spaghetti with BBQ Shredded Chicken

How can you go wrong?? BBQ chicken, pasta & ranch??? Throw in a side of garlic bread & I think it sounds divine!! My family was mixed. Some ate it and wanted more chicken on top, some thought the 2 didn't belong together. If it sounds tempting, give it a whirl!

ranch spaghetti w bbq shredded chicken:

1 lb. thin spaghetti noodles
4 TB extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large red onion, peeled & finely chopped (I used about 1/8 onion)
2 TB dry Ranch dressing mix
3/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro ( I used about 1/2 C.)
Shredded BBQ chicken (click here for recipe)

1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to pkg. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
2. Place olive oil into a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until softened and golden.
3. Add cooked spaghetti noodles to onions, mix and then add dry ranch seasoning & cilantro leaves.
4. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Place noodles on plate and top with warm shredded BBQ chicken, serve.

Shark Cake

This weekend was Boston's birthday. He wanted a shark cake. A shark cake?I thought. Hmmmmm. Well I found one someone had made online and tried my best to somewhat copy their idea. So here it is.

shark cake:

1 red velvet cake mix (prepared as directed)

1 white cake mix (prepared as directed)

frosting

candy corns

toothpicks

1. First bake your white cake as directed on box in a 9x13 greased AND floured cake pan, and your red velvet cake in a large greased AND floured loaf pan until toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.

2. Let cool for 15 minutes and then turn cakes out of pans onto rack to cool completely. Carve the red velvet loaf with a serrated knife until somewhat resembles the body of a shark coming out of the water. Use a piece of the loaf you remove to cut a fin and attach it to the body of the shark with a couple of toothpicks. Remember pointed nose, rounded sides & that it doesn't need to be perfect because icing is a miracle worker :) This is what mine looked like:

3. Next because there will be a lot of "crumby" sides on your shark, do a crumb coating with icing. A crumb coating is when you use a little bit of icing to ice your cake with a really thin coating of icing to seal all of the crumbs in and then place your cake in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes to let it harden and then you can resume icing the cake without worrying about all the red crumbs pulling up and appearing in your icing.

4. Use grey (tiny bit of black food coloring paste) on the body of the shark, pink in the mouth (or you could just leave the red cake exposed), a white gum line and then cut off the bottom white tips of your candy corns and apply them with tweezers to your sharks mouth.
5. Then put the blue icing on for your water and then add the sharks fins on top of the water, 2 eyes and some gills. It did take some time & was far from perfect, but if you've got a shark lover at your house like I do, this cake will be a winner! When you cut into the shark, the red velvet cake acts as "blood"....an instant hit with Boston!

Pizza Pasta Casserole

We ate this for dinner tonight......at 7:00.....I can't wait for soccer season to end. Anyway we ate. That's what good mom's do ya know......they feed their kids. I know you're a good mom too.

pizza pasta casserole:

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion chopped (optional)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2-1 pkg (16oz) rotini pasta, cooked and drained
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
mini pepperonis

1. Cook & drain pasta.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet cook beef & onion over medium heat until meat is cooked through, drain.
3. Mix in spaghetti sauce, pasta & mini pepperonis (as many as you'd like).
4. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and then transfer pasta mixture into pan.
5. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Coconut Strawberry Cake

I found this recipe online & it sounded delightful! It's super easy to throw together. It is good, just very rich....I think I prefer just a plain ol white cake. But if you like good & rich this one's for you!

coconut strawberry cake:

1 box white cake mix

1. Make according to directions on box, bake accordingly in 9x13 pan.

1-16 oz. can of Cream of Coconut
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2. Mix together in bowl, as soon as you have removed cake from oven, poke cake all over with a fork then pour above mixture over the top of cake.

3. Place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
4. Scoop out and top with whipped cream & strawberries.