Rich Chocolate Cake

This cake is a mixture of P.F. Chang's and Magelby's chocolate cakes! It is to die for! It is massive, as you can tell, but well worth the calories. My sister made this for me for my 22nd birthday, and I will love her forever for introducing me to the best, fanciest chocolate cake ever!

Rich Chocolate Cake

Printable Version

2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. With a mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Then, add flour mixture alternately with milk. Beat until batter is smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan(s). Either one 9x13 or three 8 inch round pans. (I put wax paper in the bottom of my round pans, then grease and flour them). Bake 40-45 minutes for a 9x13 or about 30 minutes for 8 inch rounds. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cocoa

7 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

Boil butter with cocoa. Remove from heat, add powdered sugar and milk. Beat until smooth.

Recipe From: Amanda

Lemon Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Okay, so I was a little scared to make this dish...so I made half with the lemon flavoring and half with the regular alfredo sauce. BIG MISTAKE!! Okay, so it is still great with just the reg, but the Lemon flavor adds some kick! It is fun for a Chicken Alfredo that is a little on the edgy side. Now, I know you are all thinking, "oo, I just don't know..." TRY IT! I really, really liked this recipe!

Lemon Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Printable Version

7 oz. wheat pasta, cooked

2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Cook pasta. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and boil until cooked through.

Drain both pasta and chicken, top with Sauce and garnishes below.

Sauce:

1/4 Cup butter

3/4 Cup flour

1 1/2 Cup 2% milk

1 1/2 Cups chicken broth

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp. Parsley Flakes

2 tsp. Oregano

2 Tbs. grated lemon peel

6 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 large tomato, diced

green onions

Melt the butter on low heat. Add flour, milk and broth and cook until slightly thicken. Add Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup at a time. Heat until parmesan is melted, then add parsley flakes, oregano, lemon peel, and lemon juice.

LOW HEAT! Enough said! (Okay, so one more tip...I used 1% the first time(because we are anti-2%) and it wasn't quite the correct consistency. Definitely use 2%!!!)

Amanda and Chelsea's Homemade Alfredo Sauce

I hate, absolutely hate, canned alfredo sauce! So, I called my amazing sister one day, and she gave me this recipe. We talked as I was making it, and added things here and there, and it came out PERFECT!!! Honestly, I will never eat canned alfredo sauce again! Woo-hoo for sisters!

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Printable Version

1/4 Cup butter

3/4 Cup flour

1 1/2 Cup 2% milk

1 1/2 Cups chicken broth

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp. Parsley Flakes

2 tsp. Oregano

Melt the butter on low heat. Add flour, milk and broth and cook until slightly thicken. Add Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup at a time. Heat until parmesan is melted, then add parsley flakes and oregano.

Chef's tips:

LOW HEAT! Enough said! (Okay, so one more tip...I used 1% the first time(because we are anti-2%) and it wasn't quite the correct consistency. Definitely use 2%!!!)

Sante Fe Chicken Soup

This sounds like a tedious recipe, but it wasn't actually that hard-and it is SO SO good! Perfect for a cold day when you need a zesty meal!

Sante Fe Chicken Soup

Printable Version

1/3 cup brown rice(uncooked)
4 portions chicken breast
1 lime, halved
2 tsp. taco seasoning
toritilla chips
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can diced green chilies
6 cups chicken broth
4 Tbsp salsa
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

1)Cook brown rice according to package directions. While the rice is cooking, cut chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and place in a dish with the lime juice and taco seasoning. Let marinate for 10-20 minutes. Then grill chicken until cooked.

2)Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, saute for about 8 minutes. Add Cooked rice to the pot and saute for 3 minutes. Add green chilies and saute for 2 more minutes. Then pour chicken broth into the mixture and bring it to a boil. Add chicken to pot and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes.

3)Break tortilla chips and place on bottom of bowls. Spoon soup into each bowl and garnish with a few more broken tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, and cilantro!

Adapted from Eating for Life

Serves 4.

White Chicken Chili

Cody and I made this today(believe it or not, he is quite the chef!). It is a recipe from someone on his mission, and it is SOOOOOO good!

White Chicken Chili

Printable Version

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 T. vegetable oil

4 15. oz cans great northern Beans, drained

1 14 oz. can chicken broth

1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and whipping cream. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Enchilada Soup

This was perfect for a cold, blizzardy day! It took about 45 minutes to prepare, and about 10 minutes to eat! We really liked this meal. It is a nice, light meal, which means that there is still room for dessert! O, and these pictures are copyrighted by Cody Winterholler...:)

Delicious, healthy soup....it doesn't get any better!

Enchilada Soup

Printable Version

1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. minced garlic

2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro

8 corn tostadas

2 chicken breasts

7 oz. pureed tomatoes

1/2 onion finely chopped

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

3 oz. tomato paste

1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Cheddar cheese

Sour Cream

Avacado

Warm olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cilantro; saute for 3 minutes. Break apart 4 tostadas and add to pot. Saute until softened, about 3 minutes.

While tortillas are cooking, slice chicken in bite-size pieces. Add chicken and saute for about 3 minutes. Add pureed tomatoes, onion, chicken broth, water, tomato paste, cumin, chili powder; bring to a boil.

Reduce to low, add ground red pepper and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with additional broken tostadas, cheese, sour cream, and avacado.

Chef's Tips:

The avacado is optional, but I think that it makes this dish so much better! Also, I am a cilantro junkie, and I couldn't taste it as much as I would have like to, so my suggestion would be to add cilantro on top of your soup as well! This meal would be great with pita's cut in fourths, topped with oregano and garlic salt and broiled for a few minutes.

Adapted from Eating for Life

Serves 4.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Okay, so if this isn't the best Sweet and Sour Chicken, I don't know what is! It doesn't take too long, and definitely makes husbands smile! Which, we all know, can sometimes be hard! (Love you hunny!)

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Printable Version

3-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken breasts
Cornstarch
Egg

Cut boneless chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown. Place in baking dish.

Sauce:

¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon accent

Cover chicken with sauce. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. Serve over warm rice.

Chef's Tips:
Don't double the sauce to make it better! I know that it is tempting, but it will just make it soggy...not good! But, I did warm an extra batch of sauce while the meal was in the oven and put it onto our finished meal, and MMM! Perfect!

Recipe From : Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe

Serves 4