Chocolate Cobbler

picture courtesy of thepioneerwomancooks.com I ate it too quick to take any pictures..don't judge me!

I was really skeptical of this recipe. After I cooked it, I was still skeptical because of how it looked...but then...I put a big scoop in a bowl with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream..and I put a spoon full in my mouth... It is DIVINE! I'm so glad I chose this recipe...Anyway, try it and savor it and comment! It is so good!

1 cup All-purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoons Salt
7 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder, Divided
1-1/4cup Sugar, Divided
1/2 cup Milk
1/3 cup Melted Butter
1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2cups Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1-1/2 cup Hot Tap Water

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar. Reserve the remaining cocoa and sugar.
Stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch baking dish. I prefer my small oval Corning Ware glass dish.
In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining white sugar (it should be 1/2 cup), the brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter.
Pour the hot tap water over all. DO NOT STIR!
Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set.
Let stand for a few minutes.
Eat it, savor it, take a few breaths and repeat

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) container Alfredo-style pasta sauce (I use regular Bertolli Alfredo sauce)
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Roughly chop the spinach and place in a bowl. Drain the artichoke hearts and chop. Add to spinach. Pour whole bottle of alfredo sauce into the bowl. Add 1 cup of shredded mozzarella to the bowl. Add garlic powder. Mix in the cream cheese. Make sure all ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Be sure that the cream cheese is fully combined with the other ingredients.

Spray an 8X8 pan with PAM or any other baking spray. Pour mixture in the pan and sprinkle the top with remaining cheese. Cover pan with aluminum foil and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 10 minutes or until mixture is bubbly.

Serve with sour cream,salsa and tortilla chips!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

So I definitely made this pizza from trial and error. I made it deep dish because I was too lazy to go buy a pizza pan and I don't keep one handy. I got the pizza dough recipe from allrecipes.com and tweaked it.


Pizza Dough- I love this recipe because it was super easy and fast to make!

3 cups all purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive or veggie oil (I used olive)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup warm water

Toppings
1 1/2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce ( I used honey =) )
2 tsp white or brown sugar
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
half of a red onion chopped thinly
1 1/2 C Shredded Mozzarella or Gouda cheese
Directions
Dough

Combine flour, salt,garlic powder, italian seasoning, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water.
(Okay after this step, I put a little flour on my hands and just mixed it with my hands. Next, I put a little flour on my counter and plopped the dough in the middle of it. I got my rolling pin and rolled the dough out to fit my pan)
Spread out on a large pizza pan. Brush with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven.


Toppings
Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

Cut the chicken breasts in half. Fill a dutch oven with water and add the chicken breast. Boil until the chicken is no longer pink inside and has an internal temp of 165 degrees F. Remove chicken from dutch oven and let cool. Shred chicken with hands or two forks. In a large sauce pan, add shredded chicken, bbq sauce,sugar, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Heat the chicken mixture until slightly warm. Top pizza dough with warm chicken mixture. Sprinkle red onions on top of chicken and finally sprinkle pizza with mozzarella or gouda cheese.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy, b/c its ridiculously addictive!

Pioneer Womans Chocolate Cupcakes and Icing

A few months ago I made this utterly sinful,seductive sheetcake from thepioneerwomancooks.com If you don't know already, the woman who owns the website is a food genius! LoL Her name is Ree Drummond and I've gotten some GREAT recipes from her site!

I changed her Chocolate Sheetcake into some ridiculously delicious cupcakes.
The Recipe follows!

2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preparation Instructions
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into greased/floured (or cheat like I do and use Bakers Spray!) cupcake pan or fill cupcake liner 3/4 full and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

Makes 12 cupcakes

I also sampled this icing! What is amazing and odd at the same time is this icing turned out without POWDERED SUGAR! I hate powdered sugar icing because when I eat it feels like my teeth are going to rot. Gross visual, I know but its true. I know this Icing might seem suspect because it has.. *cough* FLOUR in it. It's nice and light and definitely leans more towards the whipped icing side but its delicious.... Follow the link to mouthwatering icing
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/03/a-tasty-recipe-thats-the-best-frosting-ive-ever-had/
OR Cheat and use store bought chocolate icing which I did on a few of the cupcakes and it was just as delicious either way!

Three Olive Vodka Grape Drink

8 oz Three Olive VODKA (GRAPE)(1 cup)
2 C Grape Koolaid- sweetened and mixed
1 C Ice

Pour vodka into the blender, koolaid and 1 CUP of ice. Blend the mixture just until combined. DRINK!

Add VODKA as needed.

Milky Way Cheesecake

I love cheesecake. It has gotten me through boot camp,A school, deployments and other Navy related drama lol. My favorite cheesecake to make is this milky way one. Its messy but so worth it.


Milky Way Cheesecake

2 cups crushed oreos
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

1 bag of caramel bits or 1 bag of Individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped(find in your baking aisle)
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 Cup of crushed oreos

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs


Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups of crushed oreos, sugar and melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan.

In a separate bowl, microwave the chocolate chips for 1 minute or until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from microwave and allow to cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold 1/3 of the filling into the melted chocolate, then pour the chocolate mixture back into the filling and mix until no streaks remain. Pour into crust.

Fill a 9X13 baking dish with water and place on bottom rack. This will keep the cheesecake from cracking.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until center is almost set.
Cool in oven with door cracked open. Refrigerate at least 5 hours.

In a small saucepan combine caramel and milk and heat on low. Mix often until the caramel is smooth and melted. Drizzle the caramel on top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle the remaining cup of oreos on top of the cheesecake.

Enjoy!!

P.s. Its okay if you have a crack in your cheesecake! The caramel and oreo topping will cover it! It tastes just as rich and delicious with a crack. It adds character. =)

Fish Flour

I tried a new catfish recipe a few weeks ago. I got the fish flour recipe from Delilah's Everyday Soul Cookbook. It was delicious, a little different but yummu. I added 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the fish flour but I will give the recipe as the original cook intended!

Fish Flour

Makes 2 3/4 cups

2 C All Purpose Flour
3/4 C yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 Cajun seasoning

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and store at room temperature in an airtight container.

It makes a crisp delicious crust.

A link to her cookbook on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Delilahs-Everyday-Soul-Southern-Cooking/dp/0762426012

Lasagna

I make 3 different types of lasagna. A chicken kind, hearty meaty kind, and a saucey meaty kind. My friends husband was deployed so I thought I would make her some comfort food. I made the saucey meatey kind.

1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 pound hot ground sausage
2 T minced garlic
2 26 oz Classico four cheese pasta sauce
14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
12 mozzarella deli slices
16 oz Cottage Cheese
2 large eggs
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
2 T parsley
1 T Italian seasoning
1 T Seasoned Salt
1 T black pepper
1 T onion powder
9 lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook al dente.

Brown ground beef and sausage in a skillet. Add minced garlic, seasoned salt, pepper and onion powder. Cook meat until it is no longer pink. Add diced tomatoes and both bottles of sauce. Mix well over medium heat. Add italian seasoning to the sauce mixture and continue to simmer on medium. In a bowl beat the 2 eggs into the cottage cheese. Add parsley and 1 cup of the parmesan cheese to the cottage cheese mixture.

Spray a 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray. Place 4 noodles on to the bottom of the dish. Layer with half of the cottage cheese mixture. On top of that layer place 6 slices of mozzarella cheese. Scoop half of the meat mixture on top of the cheese. Layer the other 5 noodles on top of the meat mixture and follow it with the cottage cheese mixture. Place the last 6 slices of cheese on top of the cottage cheese. Pour the rest of the sauce mixture on top of the cottage cheese. Finish by sprinkling remaining parmesan cheese on top.

Cover dish with foil and bake for 1 hour covered. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Southwestern Egg Rolls

So you see that little boy up there? Thats my nephew, Harrison Jr. First of all he is the most handsome, funny, sweet and loving little boy I have ever loved. He turned 1 on November 29th and I flew back home just to cook for his special day. One of the things I cooked was an appetizer of Southwestern Egg Rolls. It's really a bastardization of this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southwestern-Egg-Rolls I have changed it up quite a bit. It is ridiculously delicious and disappears from food tables at parties like it never existed. Here's my version!

4 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 T Seasoned Salt
1 T Black Pepper
2 tsp Paprika
1 T Garlic Powder
2 T butter
1 C of fresh spinach,chopped (frozen spinach can work but I love the fresh taste)
2 C of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 can of whole kernel corn
1 Red Bell pepper
1 Jalapeno,(Chopped and seeded, Remove the membrane if you don't like spice)
6 10 inch flour tortillas
Olive Oil

Set oven to 350 degrees.

On medium melt butter in a large skillet. Add shredded chicken to skillet along with seasoned salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Mix well and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add corn,jalapeno, and bell peppers to the seasoned chicken. Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add spinach and 1 cup of cheese to the mixture. Mix until cheese is melted.

Cover a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil.Spray the foil with cooking spray. Spoon even amounts of the mixture and shredded cheese into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture. Secure with toothpicks. Brush each tortilla with olive oil. Arrange neatly on cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy.

Why haven't I started this sooner?

I am a total food whore. lol I bake/cook/create/imagine food all the time. I learned how to cook by watching my mom in the kitchen and a food and nutrition class in highschool. My mom is a southern cook raised by a southern Navy Chef father. I am also Creole and that sometimes influences my food. My husband is Jamaican and lately,that has been a big focus of mine. I know I can't ever compare to his families cooking but I want to learn how to cook the Caribbean foods that reminds him of his mom. I want to be able to cook food for our *future* children that lets them know where they came from.

Above all, I am a southern girl. I think butter is one of God's greatest creation. Frying chicken and fish is an art form that MUST be mastered. Food represents family, love, good times and happiness. In the south we come together as a family over meals. In my family for every holiday we have a HUGE dinner over one of our aunts homes. Everyone brings a dish. We talk, we laugh, we argue, we tell stories, we love through food.

On another note I was raised by a father who is a personal trainer . He is all about nutrition. So sometimes a healthy meal might sneak its way into this blog. I will include recipes, pictures, stories, articles and great websites.

I hope you enjoy! Eat.Love.Live!