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Creme De Menthe Cake

October 18, 2010

This is one of my favorite cakes to make but more importantly one of my favorite to EAT! I am not a huge mint/chocolate fan, it’s ok, sometimes I like eating but I don’t crave York Peppermint Patties or Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. This cake is a hit every time I make it.  I got this recipe from my mom, she always made this cake for me for my birthday!

You will need one box of yellow or white cake mix, oil, eggs, Creme De Menthe liqueur or syrup, one 8 oz. jar of hot fudge sauce and a 12oz. container of whipped topping.

Prepare the box mix as per the directions on the box except you will replace 1/2 of the water in the cake mix recipe with the Creme De Menthe.

Bake according to the box directions.  It will look a funky tannish green color when it’s done, don’t worry, no one will see that!

When the cake is baked and cooled, you are ready to spread the hot fudge topping over the cake.
I warm mine up a bit in the microwave for ease of spreading but you don’t want it to be hot and really runny. After the hot fudge topping is on, mix in a tablespoon or two of the Creme De Menthe into the whipped topping container and mix well. Spread the whipped topping on top of the hot fudge layer and then refrigerate the cake for at least a few hours before serving. Enjoy!

A few notes, alcohol bakes out of the cake so if you are concerned about using alcohol in your cake, it’s fine. Really it is.
Someone suggested to me that I try it with a chocolate cake mix but I just can’t bring myself to do it.  So if you try it with a chocolate cake mix instead,  I’d love to hear your reviews on it!!!

And the next time I make this, hopefully I will remember to take more instructional pictures for this post!  Enjoy!

By 1 Comment Filed Under: dessert, recipes

Meal Plan Oct. 8th to Oct. 21st

October 8, 2010

I am so not in the mood for meal planning but it must be done as tomorrow is grocery shopping day. Somehow I ended up with extra meals leftover from the last meal plan. Here it is….
1.  Grilling out with our neighbors – brats/hot dogs and potato salad
2.  Grilling again- chicken, baked potatoes and corn on the cob
3.  Small Group night  no meal needed
4.  Brinner — pancakes, hashbrowns, sausage and eggs
5.  Chili with Corn Bread
6.   Stuffed Shells with garlic bread and corn
7.   New Recipe – Enchilada Casserole
8.   Leftovers
9.   Stromboli and Creme De Menthe Cake (My birthday favorite!) will post recipe soon.
10.  Hawaiian Ribs with rice and green beans
11.  Eat out 
12.  Italian Bow Tie Pasta garlic bread and peas
13.  Sloppy Joes , french fries and broccoli
14.  Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: meal plans, recipes

My new old kitchen chairs

October 8, 2010

I have disliked our kitchen table and chairs for a few years now. They are the ugly honey oak color that I think almost every table and chair that was made in the early to mid 2000′s was stained. Ok, well not every table and chair but every table and chair that we could afford at that time. I decided on a whim the other day that I was going to paint the chairs and table black. I really thought about doing white but with white kitchen cabinets and white beadboard, I thought the table might get lost or make it look like a snow storm hit my kitchen. I also debated doing an espresso color but I chose black. I thought for sure Mr.A would not like this idea so I sort of started the project before I told him what I was doing. He doesn’t always like my project ideas when I explain them to him but if I do it first and don’t tell him beforehand he usually really likes my projects. Well was I surprised when he said, “I actually thought of that the other weekend when you were gone. I thought it would be cool if I could do it for you and surprise you when you came home but taking care of the kids was enough for one weekend.” That was so sweet of him!
I kind of went blindly into this project like I do so many others. I bought some primer and paint and a sponge roller. I sanded the table down with the palm sander first to get the polyurethane coating off the top. I didn’t do the legs of the table or the chairs though. I then primed it all with the roller and then changed my mind on the paint and went back and bought spray paint instead. The first two chairs I didn’t sand down the primer and I wish I would have but instead I just started spraying them. I did sand the primer off the rest of the chairs before spraying them with the black. In between the fist and second coat of spray paint I also sanded some spots that were a little rough. I didn’t take any before pictures but I found this kitchen picture that shows the table and chairs in their oakiness.

Here are a few after pics of the chairs.  I am not done with the table but will post that soon (hopefully).

This is the spray paint I used on the chairs, I so far have used 8 cans and I need probably at least 2 more to finish the legs and apron of the table.  This picture didn’t turn out the best but it’s all I got for now!

By 4 Comments Filed Under: Before and After, painting, projects

Cooking in the crockot – Lasagna

October 7, 2010

I was hoping to have a new meal to share earlier in the week but this week has just been flying by! Maybe the birth of my niece on Monday threw things out the door, not really sure but what a great reason to have your week go haywire! Anyways, this wasn’t on my menu plan but I have all the ingredients for it and I thought I’d give it a whirl. So today I’m making crock pot lasagna! I even remembered to take some pictures, woo hoo! I got the recipe from Stephanie at A Year of Slow Cooking. and if you haven’t been over there to check out her blog yet, what are you waiting for!?! 

I based my meal off of Stephanie’s recipe but varied mine a little bit.  I used 9 lasagna noodles, you want the regular noodles not the oven ready.  I used one jar of spaghetti sauce but added some tomato sauce to it, I was hoping to add some diced tomatoes but I didn’t have any on hand.  I added some crushed garlic to the spaghetti sauce as well.  I used about 9 meatballs chopped up and threw those in the spaghetti sauce.  I used a larger container of cottage cheese, mixed in two eggs and some parmesan cheese. 
I used my oval shaped crock pot and this worked out well.  I could do 3 noodles across but I had to break off some of the sides of the noodles to make them fit.  I added meat to my lasagna, I had some frozen meatballs that I chopped up and threw in with my spaghetti sauce.  I didn’t get a picture of it but start with a layer of meat/spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your crock pot.  Then place the noodles on top.  I had already started putting this together in the crock pot before I thought about taking pictures.  So this is already a layer or two in but you get the idea.  Like my jagged broken noodle?

 Next I put my layer of cottage cheese or ricotta (whatever you perfer)  over the noodles.

Then I put the mozzarella over the top of the cottage cheese.  My cheese looks funny because I was trying to be all frugal and thought I could shred my own mozzarella.  I am saving you from pain and ugly cheese clumps by telling you to just by the shredded cheese, it’s not worth it! 

Finally, top with your  meat/spaghetti sauce mixture.  I also ended my layers with this and it worked out well.  I also put 1/4 cup of water in my spaghetti sauce jar and shook it up and poured it over the top.  This also could be why the lasagna was really lwatery but not sure.

Then I sprinkled some real shredded cheese and some parsley flakes on top. 

This is what it looked like after cooking on high for 4 hours.

My camera doesn’t take the best pictures but here it is, ready to be devoured served.

Another picture, maybe not the prettiest lasagna but it was yummy and that’s all that really counts in my book. 

Mine was a bit watery but that could be from my scary chunky shredded myself mozzarella that came from the freezer.  My kids really liked this, well at least 3 out of 4 did which is a rarity in this house.  In fact, the eldest child asked if we could have this for dinner every week.  I will be making this again, I liked throwing it all together in the crock  pot and then walking away for 4 hours.  I let it sit for another hour after it was done on the warm setting and it was still hot and yummy.  If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.  If you try this, I’d love to know what you thought so please feel free to come and leave a comment!  Enjoy!

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By 3 Comments Filed Under: Crock Pot, recipes