Dessert with Alcohol In It?..Go Figure

Besides being a huge cheese lover I am obsessed with Chocolate. I once tried going a day without it and in all seriousness I couldn’t do it. I guess you would say I have a little addiction haha. When baking a dessert there are so many different ingredients you can use which is always fun. For example adding Kahlua to a cake gives it a little kick, which is quite tasteful. Today’s recipe happens to be Kahlua Cake. Like I have mentioned previously, I always make my friends a birthday dessert of their choice. This one happens to be one of the most popular desserts with my friends from home. I also tend to make it for almost any gathering during the summer because it’s easy to make, it’s big and it’s tasteful. One of the other good things about this recipe is that it has a low fat version. This is always a plus if you’re trying to cut back on calories but want a little sweetness in your life.

Matt, I think I am definitely going to pick up that magazine you mentioned. Even though I tend to eat a little unhealthy here and there, overall I really do care about my health and not consuming tons of calories. The Cooking Light Magazine probably has tons of excellent low fat recipes. Thanks for telling me about it! Also, I did think about how a lot of people kind of don’t really like Swiss cheese because it’s a little strange. I think the Alpine Chicken recipe would still taste really good if you substituted it with a sharp cheddar cheese like you said. It will taste different, but I am sure it will still taste good. I am glad your roommates enjoyed the normal recipe though! On to the cake! Here is a picture of the actual cake down below...it was actually the cake my mom made me for my birthday. The picture above is kind of what is looks like but in a nicer fashion.

Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes (most of it actually occurs after you bake it)
Cook Time: Approximately 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:
1 package of devils food cake mix – you can bake the low fat recipe found on the box
2 regular size boxes of Jell-o Sugar Free and Fat Free Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding (make sure it says instant on the box)
16 oz. container of Kraft Cool Whip Lite
1 cup of Kahlua
1 Bag of Snickers Poppers or any candy that has some crunch (if you are doing the low fat recipe 4 heath bars is plenty to keep the calories down)

Directions:
-Prepare the cake and the pudding according to their boxes
-Once the cake is done take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes
-Once cooled, cut the entire cake the into small squares
-In a large bowl, add half of the cake squares
-Pour ½ a cup of Kahlua over it
-Pour half of the pudding over the cake and smooth it out with a spatula
-Pour half of the cool whip over the pudding and also smooth it out with a spatula
-Cut the little balls of snicker’s poppers in half or crush the heath bars
-Sprinkle half of the candy over the cool whip
-Repeat with another layer of cake, Kahlua, pudding, cool whip and remaining candy.

You can eat the cake when it is done, but it usually tastes better if you let it sit a day so that the Kahlua can settle. Definitely make sure that you keep this cake refrigerated when no one is eating it. This cake is perfect to bring to family gatherings because it’s quite large. Maybe surprise your family with it on Thanksgiving! Hope you guys like it!

For other tasty desserts that include Kahlua check out these website:

1. CDKitchen.com- tons of different Kahlua brownie recipes
2. RecipeLand- tons of different Kahlua cake recipes including a cheesecake!
3. MASSrecipes.com-over 100 different recipes involving Kahlua

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Skiing Chicken for Dinner?!?

I figured that I would give you guys another dinner recipe this week. This recipe is one that is always a hit when my mom makes it for dinner. I have never actually made it myself but I have watched her prepare it and it is quite easy. Well I know the title gives away a little hint about my recipe, but the actual real name of this week’s recipe is Alpine Chicken. If you guys have never actually had it, I’ll tell you one thing right away…it involves CHEESE, Swiss cheese to be exact!

Before I get to the next recipe I want to say I am glad that you guys are enjoying the cartoons and that you were pleased with the past few recipes that I posted. I also liked that some of you have been providing me with new recipes which is so nice. I am always up for expanding my recipe collection. And one final note before I start this weeks recipe, I am glad that one of you tried the dip with turkey beans! I actually just bought the Hormel turkey and I was curious of how it tasted before I made the dip for my roommates
On to the recipe!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40-50 minutes

Ingredients:
1 ½-2 lbs of chicken cutlets
2 cups of seasoned croutons
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of mayonnaise
¼ cup of chopped onions
1 tsp. salt
8 oz of Swiss cheese

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350°
-Chop the chicken into bite size pieces and sauté them in a frying pan until fully cooked
-While the chicken is cooking, chop up the onions and slice the Swiss cheese
-In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together- chicken cutlets, seasoned croutons, milk, mayo, onions, salt and cheese
-Pour all of the ingredients into a casserole dish
-Bake 40 – 50 minutes
Eat to your hearts content!

Bren, I am sorry to say that I unfortunately do not have a recipe for sweet potatoes or any potatoes but I did find these websites that do have those particular recipes.

• Southern Food- has a wide array of recipes for sweet potatoes and recipes involving sweet potatoes
• Diana's Kitchen- A simple easy recipe on how to make sweet potatoes
• BigSpud.com- The potato recipe collection

This week's links to other recipes will be based on Swiss Cheese. The following websites will give you a bunch of recipes that involve that ingreadient:

1. RecipeSource- Has a recipe for Cheese Fondue...yum!
2. Recipe*Zaar- Has a delicious recipe for Baked Cheese Toast which sounds absolutely amazing.
3. RecipeLand- Recipe for an Eggplant/Swiss Cheese Casserole

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Garfield's Favorite Dish

I am really glad that you guys all enjoyed the double feature from last week. I knew that you were all cheese lovers so you would enjoy the Dip but I had no idea that the Dirt recipe would be such a huge success! I am glad you all love Oreo’s because they are one of my personal favorites. Thanks for the Sand recipe Natalia that sounds really good. I love Vienna Fingers too…maybe I will make it for Thanksgiving; I am sure my little cousins will love it. The food processor idea is also good to know about because hammering the Oreo’s can be quite the pain in the butt.

Now on to this weeks recipe which once again involves our favorite ingredient…cheese! There is nothing like a delicious lasagna dish especially when it is made out of vegetables. Since I was little I was never really a fan of beef so my mom would always make the lasagna with different vegetables instead. I am sure that you all figured out that this week’s recipe by now and it is none other than Vegetable Lasagna! My mom makes it with all low fat ingredients because she is really health conscious but you guys can feel free to use non-low fat ingredients; the taste outcome will still be the same! So here you guys go…Garfield’s (yes I am still a 5 year old at heart and love my cartoons) favorite dish!

Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
1 box of lasagna noodles
2 cups of tomato sauce
16oz. block of part-skim mozzarella cheese
32 oz. container of part-skim ricotta cheese
1 bag of frozen chopped spinach/frozen broccoli/frozen cauliflower mix ~ You can use any vegetables you like. I for one enjoy the chopped spinach because it’s a smoother texture

Directions:
-Preheat oven 350 degrees
-Put lasagna noodles in a pot and cook as directed by the instructions on box
-Microwave vegetables per instructions on bag
-Multi-task and slice the mozzarella cheese while you are waiting for the vegetables and past to finish cooking
-Pour the ricotta cheese into a bowl
-Add the vegetables to the bowl once they are cooking and mix with the ricotta cheese
-In a baking pan spread sauce to cover bottom of pan
-Create a bottom layer of noodles
-Pour a 1/3 of the vegetable-ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles
-Add 1/3 of the sliced mozzarella cheese
-Repeat the process by creating three layers. The top layer should be the last layer of noodles
-Sprinkle some more mozzarella cheese over the lasagna if desired
-Cover with aluminum foil.
-Bake for 1 hour

Since all of these are pretty basic ingredients I decided to focus this weeks other recipes on Ricotta Cheese. I figured its a little bit different than the others so various other recipes can be found containing it. So here are some other recipes/websites that have to do with the ingredient Ricotta Cheese:

1. Ricotta Cheese Recipes and Cooking Tips- tells you some great tips and interesting information about Ricotta Cheese
2. Cheese and Salmon Pastry- an interesting little recipe that includes Ricotta and Parmesan Cheese. It's from the main website Cheese.com which has a lot of great other recipes as well.
3. Ricotta Cheese Recipe- a recipe on how to make your very own Ricotta Cheese! This recipe comes straight from one of my main recipe sources, Recipe*Zaar!

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Mmm I Love To Eat Dirt, Anyone with Me?

I am really glad that all of you enjoyed the two dip recipes that I posted. I have tried the spinach and artichoke dip at Friday’s and it is absolutely wonderful. You can even buy it in Pathmark right now and they are on sale 2 for $6, which is a steal! Oh and by the way I was in Pathmark today and the Hormel Chili is at the end of the pasta aisle (just so you guys know where to find it!). The second recipe that I am printing this week is also amazingly easy to make. This recipe is none other that the dessert…Dirt! Yes guys, it’s the dirt that we all used to eat when we were little that is made out of some easy ingredients and gummy worms! Whenever I make this I feel like I am a little kid again, but it is so yummy and is perfect for your chocolate cravings. So here’s the quick and easy recipe:

Preparation Time: Approximately 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:
16 oz. Container of Cool Whip Lite (you can choose whichever kind you want)
2 regular size boxes of Jell-o Sugar Free and Fat Free Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding (make sure it says instant on the box)
1 box of Oreo Cookies
1 small bag of Nestle Chocolate Chips
1 Bag of gummy worms (optional- sometimes they tend to get to hard to chew when in the mixture)


Directions:
-Pour the two boxes of Jell-o into a large bowl
-Add the four cups of milk and follow the directions on the pudding boxes
-Open the Oreo package and place the Oreo’s in a large sealed ziplock bag; then place this bag into another plastic grocery bag.
-Take a hammer and crush the Oreos (the double bag is to avoid the mess)
-Pour the Oreo’s into the pudding
-Pour 12 oz. of the Cool Whip into the mixture
-Pour in as many Chocolate chips as you like (I prefer the whole bag because I am a die hard chocolate lover at heart)
-Add the gummy worms if you like them
-EAT!!

And, don’t forget to share! Believe me your roommates will love it!
Here are some recipes that involve Oreos (my all time favorite cookie)

1) Oreo Pizza Recipe
2)Oreo Pop Cookies
3)Oreo Blizzard (Milkshake)

Some really great websites that have really easy recipes are Ichef Recipe*Zaar and one of my personal favorites Kraft

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Bonus Recipe Woohoo

DOUBLE FEATURE this week!! Hey everyone, this week I decided that I am going to post two recipes for your eating pleasure. This first recipe is by far the easiest of any of the ones I have previously posted and it is a recipe that my friends from home have either called or text messaged me for spur of the moment. If you love cheese, and chili and chips…then you will love this amazing NO BEAN CHEESE TACO DIP. My friend, Daniel Boone (one of our fellow posters) will agree that it is pure wonderfulness. It is a recipe that serves a bunch of people anytime time of the day, evening or late night. (2 am weekend munchies after a night out). It can be reheated multiple times too which is a plus! So here is your bonus recipe of the week:

Preparation Time: Approximately 1 minute
Cook Time: 3-4 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Can of No Bean Hormel Chili (they have it in Pathmark in the pasta aisle or 1 aisle back- it is in a really weird place, so ask an employee for assistance)
1 Bag of Mild or Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Bar of Cream Cheese
1 Bag of Tortilla Chips

Directions:
-Use any large shallow dish (look at the one in the picture I have provided)
-Put the Cream Cheese in the dish and microwave for about 20 seconds
-Spread the Cream Cheese evenly over the bottom of the dish
-Pour in the Hormel Chili and spread it evenly
-Sprinkle cheese all over the entire dish. I use the whole bag because I love it. You can use whatever amount you prefer
-Microwave on high for about 3 min and 30 s or until all of the cheese is melted

This dip is amazing…all of you need to try it and as you can see it takes less than 5 min. to make. I know that many people are not crazy about beef, such as my roommate, but there actually is a no bean chili in Pathmark that is made with turkey instead of beef. Next time I make this recipe I am going to try it with the turkey chili to see if it tastes the same. I’ll let you guys know and If any of you try it before we do…let me know! Hope that you enjoy this little bonus recipe!

Todays Top Recipes According to Kraft.com:

1)Cheeseburger Salad

2)Pudding in a Cloud

3)Boo Cups

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By popular request an Appetizer!

Yum, there is nothing better than a nice warm appetizer in which you can dip tortilla chips, warm pita bread or crackers into. This recipe is one that I acquired about a year ago from one of my best friends at home. Every year we have a big New Years party in which everyone is to make a food dish (or at least the girls do) so that we can all chow down. This past New Years, my friend Danielle (who I need to give recognition to! Ahah) made an amazing Artichoke Dip which we all devoured quite quickly. Honestly, I think that it is better than the Tuscan Spinach and Artichoke dip that Friday’s serves as an appetizer on their menu. Plus you can impress your friends with your amazing cooking skills all within the comfort of your own home. I know that some people are wary about the taste of artichokes. I for one do not really like them when they are by themselves, but for some reason I love when they are a major ingredient in a dip. So if you are a little nervous about this recipe I still feel like you should give it a shot because it’s really delicious!

Preparation Time: Approximately 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 ,14 ounce can of artichoke hearts- plain & drained
4 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup of cream cheese softened
2 tablespoons of bread crumbs

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 375º
-Place artichoke hearts and garlic in a blender or food processor
-Blend on low speed until the artichoke hearts are chopped very finely
-Pour the artichoke hearts and garlic into a bowl
-Add parmesan cheese, lemon juice, mayonnaise and cream cheese
-Mix together thoroughly until the mixture is rather smooth
-Pour the mixture into an oven safe dish (about the size of a brownie pan)
-Sprinkle on the breadcrumbs (add more if you like a lot of crispy-ness on top)
-Place in the oven for about 20 minutes

Voila, you now have an amazing Artichoke Dip that is to die for! Hope you enjoy it and If you guys have any suggestions for next week definitely feel free to tell me!

New Addition!
Each week I am going to also post links to other recipes that revolve around the dish that I provided you guys with. So here are some websites you can visit that have recipes that include artichokes as a main ingredient. Also don't forget to check back to my previous posts because I added new links there as well. So check out these cool sites:

Artichokes.org -A wide array of different recipes that span from dips to dinners

The Wonderful Artichoke - Informs you about how to clean, prepare and cook artichokes. It also contains a bunch of great recipes.

Artichokes.net - Tons of great artichoke recipes separated into unique categories such as "Microwave Artichokes" and "Baby Artichokes"

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Bubba loved his Shrimp and apparently so do some of you!

At the request of a previous commenter, today I will be providing all of you with a decently quick and easy, Shrimp Scampi recipe. My mom has informed me that this recipe is extremely easy to make and that everyone always enjoys it. I have in the past watched her prepare it and it does look quite tasty; my brother and Dad always seem like they are happy with its outcome as well. So I hope that you guys like it and I am sorry that I do not have much input for it!

Preparation Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 lbs. of frozen cooked shrimp
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 tablespoon of bread crumbs

Directions:

-Defrost the shrimp (either in the microwave or leave it out while you are at class during the day) and remove its tails
-Preheat the oven to 350º - Place a sauce pan on the stove and add the butter. Once it is melted stir in the garlic and remove the mixture from the heat -Place the shrimp in a small baking dish
-Add in the butter/garlic mixture
-Sprinkle bread crumbs over the entire surface
-Place in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes

This is a great meal to eat with linguine or pasta!

I want all of you decide what next week’s recipe should be…The most popular response will obviously be the winner. You guys have a choice of an appetizer, dinner, desert or a side dish! It’s up to you guys to decide!

Also here is a link to the website that Anu was telling us about in class, Food Magic. I was on it yesterday and it really is a great website to get cooking ideas from. I am definitely going to be a regular visitor on that site. Hope you guys enjoy it too!

Now if you shrimp lovers are interested in some more shrimp recipes check out these three recipes below. I asked my roommates about them and they all agreed that they sounded tasty...so check them out:

1. Coconut Shrimp
2. Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo
3. Cajun Shrimp Pasta

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