There Will Always Be Cake

First, let me start off by saying that I am so excited to be the guest today! I love “To Each Their Own” and enjoy reading seven different points of view each week. Some of these stories have been exactly the kind of encouragement I needed, while others have brought me to tears. I look forward to more great, wonderful, emotional, and exciting tales from these ladies.

So, with all of the “mushy” stuff out of the way, let’s get down to it!

I’m Courtney! I’m a food blogger, a full-time student, a photographer, a writer, a wife, and a mother of two wonderful little boys (ages 6 & 4). 

With all of that said, I should add….I am an overachiever. Bring on the pamphlets, buttons, twelve-step programs, and support groups, anything that might keep me from committing myself to far too many things. But until that day comes, there is cake. There will always be cake.

When my husband and I first got married, nearly eight years ago, we were newlyweds for just a short while before our oldest graced us with his presence. 

In that time we were trying to find our footing together, learning each other’s habits, likes, dislikes, and more than anything each other’s family traditions. So when my husband first mentioned the idea of “Jell-O Cake” one night over dinner, I gave him a side-eye and convinced myself that such things were just not appealing.

Oh, how very wrong I was.

He walked me through it, as I sat shoveling spoonful after spoonful of mashed potatoes into my mouth. “it’s cake and then Jell-O, instant pudding, and whipped cream” he said enthusiastically. This was a childhood dish he adored. “You want me to put Jell-O in the cake?” I asked. “Yes”.

Okay. I can do this. Mix a box of Jell-O flavoring into cake, people put pudding mix in cake all the time, it’ll taste like strawberries.

“Why don’t we just buy strawberry cake mix” I asked. “No, no, no” he stopped me. “You have to make the Jell-O first”.

Hold up. Wait a minute. TIME-OUT. NO.

“Liquid Jell-O…..dumped over the cake?!?!?!” I was a little more than confused and hoping I was so very, very, wrong.

 “Yes”.

“No”.

 “Yes”.

 “Just no.”This went on for a while.

“Trust me” he said, “it’s good”. 

And trust I did, because the next night I found myself in the kitchen trying to surprise my new husband with his favorite dessert. I read all the instructions on the packages, baked up two round vanilla cakes from scratch, poked holes in the layers, poured my Jell-O, then pudding between the layers, and whipped cream over the whole thing like frosting. I took my masterpiece, placed it on a cake stand, and set it in the middle of the dining room table.

I have to admit, it was beautiful. It was a gorgeous cake.

My husband came home and said, “You made cake!” I smiled.

“What kind” he asked. I frowned, “Jell-O cake”. Couldn’t he tell?

He gave me a sideward glance and grabbed the knife from the table. He pulled a slice out, pronounced it was delicious, and I beamed.

I made cake. I made Jell-O cake.

The next Christmas, as the family gathered together in celebration, there was cake, Jell-O cake, as per my new husband’s family traditions. I stood in the dining room of my in-laws looking at a 9 x 13 inch pan of “Jell-O cake”. And that’s when I realized:

I am an overachiever.

Sizing up this 9 x 13 inch pan, this monstrosity of goo, this one sheet wonder, I realized…Jell-O cake is not meant to be pretty. It’s not meant to be a two-tiered tower of whipped cream and vanilla cake made from scratch. It’s meant to be layered into a pan, one cool layer on top of another, in one giant heap of yummy goodness. It’s not carefully planned, it’s not meant to be decadent, and it’s just meant to be eaten. It is meant to be comforting, something you don’t have to slave over or make sure all the cream is whipped just right. Because no matter what, no matter which way you make it, Jell-O cake will love you and you will love it for loving you just the way you are.

Trust me.

Jell-O Cake

makes one 9 x 13 inch pan

1 Box of Yellow/White/Vanilla cake mix

1 Box of Vanilla Instant Pudding (Small box or large, your choice)

2 small (or 1 large) box of Strawberry Jell-O

Whipped Cream (or cool whip)

Ingredients for the mixes (eggs, oil, milk, water, etc)

Make the pudding first. Mix the powdered mix with the milk, place in a bowl and refrigerate.

Next mix together the cake mix.

Place the mixture into a 9 x 13 pan. This is going to be your serving vessel so if you want something to serve in that’s pretty, choose the pan now. Bake the cake as directed. After the cake is done baking, let it cool for about 20-30 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, mix together the Jell-O. DON’T COOL THE JELL-O YET!!!!

 Then, take something sharp and get all your anger out…stab a TON of holes into the cake. I use a kabob skewer, in the past I have used forks, knives, straws, back of the spoon, etc.

Pour the Jell-O you just made over the cake…yes the whole bowl.

I know it looks like a lot of liquid, but trust me, the WHOLE bowl!

More likely than not you will end up with Jell-O resting on top of your cake...it's fine...it will sink into the cake, I promise!

Next chill the cake for about an hour. 

Then spoon the vanilla pudding over the whole thing, then the whipped cream. Either make fresh whipped cream (like I did) or use cool whip (which is more traditional).

Finally let the whole thing get nice and “happy” in the fridge for at least two hours. You can make this in the morning if you’re serving it that night, or make it a day ahead. Either way, this whole thing needs to be kept in the fridge and is meant to be eaten cold.

Slice and serve! Enjoy!

If you liked this recipe, come check out all the other delicious goodies over at A is for Abel

Easy Baked Salmon

We eat a lot of fish in the summer, so that's what I think of when I hear "summer recipes". My husband fishes all summer and I cook it up. So... here is one of my favorite Salmon recipes. :)

I apologize in advance to those of you who are perfectionists, I didn't measure anything, I rarely do. Just add this and that until it tastes good. Ha ha. I'm fairly certain you can't mess up this recipe.

You will need:

Dill Weed

Lemon Pepper

Paprika

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Mayonnaise

 Mix it all together to taste

De-bone your Salmon and put it skin side down in a pan covered with foil that's either non stick or been sprayed with cooking spray. Then spread your dressing mix onto the Salmon, as much or as little as you want

Bake at 350 for 25-30 min or until Salmon flakes easily.  Enjoy :)

It's fast easy and delicious, my kind of meal!

The S'more the Merrier

When I think of summer recipes (especially sweet treats) I think of the gooey, delectable, chocolatey-marshmallowy-grahamy goodness of a S’more. It is probably one of my all-time favorite summer treats. Ok, let’s be serious here. It’s one of my all-time favorite, ALL-YEAR-ROUND treats. I really can’t get enough of them.

I can’t remember exactly when my taste buds were introduced to this gorgeous, gooey goody but I was probably around 12 or 13. I do remember it was at a church youth activity we call firesides, where a member of our church would share a positive, devotional/spiritual message to the teenagers. When I discovered them, I couldn't get enough of them and since then, anytime someone looks at me and says they haven't tried a S'more, I feel like Ham from the movie Sandlot and want to scream "You're killin' me, Smalllss!" (If you see a ginormous space below, it's because your phone doesn't let you see this epic youtube video. Kinda annoying and since I don't know how to fix it,  just click on the "You're killing me, Smallls" link above if you're dying to see how a s'more is made). ;-) 

Due to my love of S’mores, I have found myself looking for different ways to enjoy them. The idea of a S'more Cookie bar made it's way to my pinterest page and after making several different renditions of the treat and tweaking to perfection, I am done looking for recipes and I am done tweaking.  If you love S'mores you will die and go to HEAVEN with this recipe. Here it is:

S’mores Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of REAL, salted, softened butter (1/2 cup)

• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 tsps. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1-2 cups marshmallow cream (I use marshmallow "Fluff").

• 18-20 small Hershey milk chocolate bars (or 5-6 regular sized ones).

Note to selves: There are four ingredients in this recipe that you should never substitute: 1) REAL butter, 2) brand-named Graham crackers (I love Nabisco Original Grahams), 3) Marshmallow Fluff- Not Marshmallows (I know, I know but I'm telling you, the Fluff is the way to go), and lastly, 4) REAL Hershey Milk Chocolate bars, because hello, we're making S'mores here. 

Ok, let's go!

First: In a large mixing bowl (I'm using my kitchen aid here, but you can use a hand beater), mix that softened, REAL butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

Second: Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract.

Third, you can buy pre-made graham cracker crumbs, but I typically just put one whole package of graham crackers in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and use my rolling pin to crush to crumbs. Unless...(ahhh- enter choir of kitchen angels) you have one of these babies:

Here is my new Cuisinart Food Processor. (You know life has changed when getting new kitchen appliances makes me happier than, well, happier than this cute guy): 

Next, Add your dry ingredients: the flour, graham cracker crumbs, and baking powder.

Fifth, in a greased 9 inch square baking pan, press half of the cookie mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Unwrap the Hershey bars and place them on top of this amazing graham cookie crust.

Around this time, Princess Mini-me arrived in the kitchen to see what was going on. I'm telling you all, this 

child can hear the unwrapping of a chocolate candy bar like A MILE AWAY. She is always willing to 

help with the chocolate part.  (P.S. She would not take her Snow White dress off all day. New

development for us.

Ok, so after you place the chocolate on top of the crust, and using a knife or a spatula, spread the
marshmallow cream (fluff) ON TOP of the Hershey bars. This can sometimes be a little tricky as you have
to make sure the Hershey bars don't move around too much. But I have a trick to overcome this. 
Just.add.MORE marshmallow cream! Hey, the S'more the merrier, right?

After this, take the remaining graham cracker cookie mixture (from the bowl) and crumble or "dot" it on top of the Marshmallow cream. (At this point, we got kind of excited in our house and forgot to take a picture).

Then, bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. (Also not pictured because we seriously ate them as soon as we took them out of the oven).

Once done, let cool for 10-15 minutes. The first time we ever ate these, we served them warm and with this yummy Breyers S'more ice cream on top. Like I said, the S'more the merrier.

Yup. Pure awesomeness that night. We spare no calorie here. Or, you can just eat them warm. BBH actually likes to let them cool a little more so that he can enjoy them as an actual cookie bar. I like that, too.

First picture of the final product

Here's an even more creative picture of the finished product, obviously not taken by me, but by my much better half, BBH:

2nd picture of the final product. Umm..apparently BBH is much better at "staging" food than I am.

If these babies last, you should store them in an air-tight container. The recipe should make about 18 bars for a normal, disciplined person. Naturally, this would not be me. So who knows how many bars this makes in the K home. 

And folks, just so y'all know…National S’mores day is on August 10^th…another reason to make it this month, yet again. Enjoy!

Inigo Montoya On A Stick

Do you know what a pincho (peen-cho) is? Sure you do! It’s a Spanish/Puerto Rican style shish kabob!

If you’re still not sure what I’m talking about, then let me paint you a picture. Well, you know, upload one! And if you’re worried you’ll forget what it’s called, just remember that when you eat it you’ll be begging someone to “pinch” you because you’ll think you’re dreaming.

 

Feast your eyes on this hunk o’ meat on a stick! Pinchos are compilation of herbed and marinated meat (chicken or pork) and vegetables arranged to your satisfaction on a skewer (long wooden or metal pointy stick) and then grilled or baked in an oven. In Puerto Rico, street vendors serve pinchos as a fast, flavorful treat. I fondly remember pulling over to the side of the road with my grandma to buy some of these yummy kabobs!

Anyway! Enough Drooling! Put on your cooking face. Play your favorite Pandora salsa or tango station. Slide on your apron and let’s get cooking! It’s as easy as cha cha cha! 

**This is a simple way to prepare your marinade. You can add any other yummy spices! Like cilantro (my favorite herb), cayenne pepper for a nice spicy kick, lime, etc.)**

** Soak your wooden skewers in water to avoid burning.**

 

Uno: Mash it like you’re mad!

Mash six peeled garlic cloves and 2 tsp. of adobo in a mortar and pestle or food processor. When it’s done, it should be the consistency of paste. It will smell very appetizing, but hold your horses! With patience comes great… idk, just don’t eat it yet.

Dos: Marinade like a merry maid?

Add 1 1/2 tsp. pepper and 3 tsp. ground oregano into the garlic and adobo mixture. Stir in 3 tsp. of achiote-flavored olive oil and 3 tsp. of vinegar. Set mixture aside for now. We’ll be back to it pronto!

Dos and ½: Let your hips do the talking.

Do a little shimmy and a my “Hips Don’t Lie” Shakira hip shake. Walk over cavalierly to your un-expecting 1 lb. of meat. Glare at it raptly. Raise your brow and brazenly say, “My name is insert your name here. You killed my father, prepare to die.” Proceed to step 3 (tres). 

 

Tres: Chop it like a ninja (or Inigo Montoya).

Cut 1 lb. of pork or chicken into 1-inch cubes and place in a 1-gallon freezer bag.

Chop your onion and bell peppers into 1-inch pieces. Place in zip lock bag and set aside.

Cuatro:  Cool it, sistah!

Pour the marinade on the meat and a bit on your vegetables, and mix and seal both bags. Place the bags in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. To boost the taste, let your meat slumber in the fridge for 24 hours. It’ll awaken with a blissful aroma that kisses you gently on the cheek, then smacks you and shouts, “Cook me, senorita! Ahora!” (I think I’ve officially made this recipe post PG-13, with the violence and all).

Cinco: Poke ‘em. Grill ‘em. Turn ‘em. Eat ‘em. 

 

Thread the meat and vegetables on the skewers, alternating until the skewer is full. Grill for 10-15 minutes. Be sure to turn the meat occasionally to cook evenly.

 

IF OVEN GRILLING

**If you’re oven grilling your kabobs, preheat your oven to 400 degrees prior to threading meat and veggies. Place kabobs directly on racks. No need to turn them. Bake them for about 15 minutes, until meat is fully cooked.   

Serve them over some rice, plantains, or warm bread!  ¡Buen provecho!

Thank for reading! Wish you many smiles today!  Don't forget to subscribe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So...there's this blog...

So there’s this thing called a blog. A blog that I’m supposed to write for every Wednesday. A blog that has a theme each week. This week’s theme (summer recipes) should have been a piece of cake (pun intended) for me since I love cooking.

But there’s also this thing called life. And a dog. Yes, we got a dog. For a whooping six days… Today (Tuesday) she went back to the shelter after agonizing over the decision all weekend. I’m gonna miss my girl. But she, sadly, wasn’t the right fit for us. One day it won’t be so sad, but today it is a sad day for our family.

With all this said, recipes just haven’t been on my mind, let alone finding a moment to take pictures of me making something.

BUT I do love to cook so I figured I could, at the very least, share a couple of websites that I frequent, well, frequently to build my meal plans:

Skinny Taste—Gina creates all of her own recipes skinny style. Each recipe also has Weight Watcher points all figured out if you’re into that sort of counting :). I have yet to make something of hers that wasn’t amazing. Seriously, my mouth waters just thinking about her website. Her chicken enchiladas and cilantro lime rice have been a staple in our home for years.

A is for Abel—one of my dear Texas friends, Courtney, created this blog. Basically, I hate her for it because her pictures and stories make me drool. Just kidding, I also love her because she feeds me yummy food all of the time J. Want a heartwarming story? Check out this post.

100 Days of Real Food—confession:  I like organic and healthy things. Well, not enough to not buy McDonald’s pancakes. But enough to Google “low calorie” or “healthy” or “dairy free” or “no GMOs”. And enough to try and prepare meals that are as unprocessed as possible without going insane. This site helps me do just that. And although they don’t curb the Mickey D pancake cravings, her Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes are gulped down even by the banana hater in my house. I also love making her slow cooker whole chicken and subsequent homemade chicken broth.

Well Folks, that’s that. I now declare a week of rest for this tired (physically and emotionally) Mama. Ha, if only!

This pudding is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

...If you didn't sing-spell the title of this post... you need to.

So- this week our topic is "Favorite Summer Recipes".
Somewhere between getting married and now- I was magically able to convince my husband to do 90% of the cooking in our house.  Don't ask for my secret because I really couldn't tell you.  It just happened.  And it's awesome.

Except... somehow along the way I also kind of forgot how to cook.  Use it or lose it or something like that.  Don't get me wrong- I CAN cook... it's just a lot harder/more stressful.  And uses up the parts of my brain I usually reserve for other things.  Like patience. And saying nice things.

When I do venture into the kitchen, it's usually to make something quick and easy- or for dessert.  Oh man... I DO love making desserts.  Brandon doesn't bake so I'm not a complete culinary waste.  Today I had originally thought to make deviled eggs. I love them.  They're easy. And they super tasty.  But the recipe I use is my mother's and basically one of those "mix these thing until it tastes right".  I thought long and hard about how to portray a taste on this blog and ultimately came-up empty handed.  So on to plan B.

Plan B was to make the dessert we happen to already have the ingredients for, so Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers it is!  (There's most likely some better/fancier name for this dessert but most of you probably already know what I'm talking about so it works.)

This is a pretty straight-forward process.
There are some variations here and there, but I'm telling you my way is the best way.


Step 1:
Assemble your ingredients.

Step 2:
Realize that you are making this post just in time because your toddler has nearly annihilated your vanilla wafer supply.  Also keep in mind that brand-name Nilla Wafers are the way to go- but if you have a two year old who loves "cookies"- this is not a very cost-effective option.

Step 3:
Line your dish with vanilla wafers...try to use as many of the non-broken ones as possible because it's fancier.  And we all know fancier is better.  I put the outside ones with the pretty "tops" facing the glass because it's nicer  to look at when you see them through the sides of the clear glass.

Step 6:  Cut up a banana (or two) and layer the bottom of your dish ( on top of the wafers) with the slices.  Think carefully about how big you want your banana pieces to be while you're eating your pudding later- and cut them the right width accordingly.  Also keep in mind that some people hate actual banana slices in their banana pudding and will not eat your dessert if you put them in.  This could be used to your advantage if you so choose...not that I would ever do that.

Step 5:   Mix up your instant banana pudding.  I use brand-name Jello pudding mix because it's awesome and worth the extra 3 cents or whatever.  I also get the bigger box because the little teeny ones are ridiculous.  Doesn't hurt to pretend your one of the witches from Hamlet while you're mixing it up.

Step 6:   Pour your pudding on top of the wafer/banana layers in your dish. Mmmmmm tasty.

Step 7:  Put your dish in the fridge so the pudding can finish solidifying and your wafers can soak up that banana goodness.  Then take another selfie in the kitchen because the interior your fridge is such a mess it should not be photographed.

Look at me! I made instant pudding! whooohooo!!!!

Step 8:  Cover with Reddi-Whip and enjoy while your two year old throws a temper tantrum on the kitchen floor behind you  because he wanted "cookies" for lunch.

Also I saw these  "Banana Caramel Creme Dessert" dishes on Pinterest and thought they looked so delicious.  I don't have caramel sauce or maybe I would have attempted this instead....but I'm pretty happy with my result. :)