Moist Chocolate Cake

I love cake. I always have. I love most cake flavors, but for my birthday, my mom always makes me chocolate. And because she loves me, she LEAVES THE FROSTING OFF. There are some frostings I don't mind, but I love cake so much, I figure, why ruin a good thing? Cake is so good by itself.

Another reason I like cake? Because box mixes go on sale so frequently I can stock up, and when the mood strikes, I can have cake at a few moments' notice. I know some people have an aversion to boxed cake mix (my mother-in-law, to name one), but what can I say? My palate isn't so refined that I can't still enjoy Betty Crocker's convenient mixes.

In fact, until recently, I had only ever made cake from a mix--I wasn't scared to try one from scratch, but I just didn't see the point in going to the trouble when I liked the box variety just fine. But a while back, I complied a cookbook of some of my husband's family's favorite recipes. Among the 30 dessert recipes was one for my mother-in-law's Moist Chocolate Cake. When, last week, I got a hankering for chocolate cake and had no chocolate mix on hand, I knew I had to try it.

Sweet fancy Moses, it was good. I sampled a piece while the cake was still slightly warm (because my willpower is lacking, apparently), and it was light and airy, with a tiny bit of crunch on the top. It was divine, I tell you. Now, it is pretty delicate, and if you're looking for a cake to decorate for your child's birthday party, this is probably not the one. I suspect it wouldn't stand up to heavy frosting. But if you want a fluffy, tender, soul-satisfying cake whose rich chocolate flavor you can augment with some sweetened whipped cream or fruit or some sort of gooey, drippy glaze, then, friend, look no further.

Or better yet, in my opinion, eat it plain. Eat it for breakfast on a Sunday morning while huddled over a heating vent, like my kids did a couple of days ago. Eat it in a house, with a mouse. Eat it with ice cream scooped on top. Whichever way you do it, you're going to love this one.

Moist Chocolate Cake

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. cocoa powder
2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. hot coffee
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Stir together dry ingredients.
Add oil, coffee, and milk. Mix at medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat for two more minutes. Batter will be VERY RUNNY.
Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. (The original recipe says 25-30 minutes, but that MUST be a typo.)

My mother-in-law likes to top the cooled cake with 2 cans of cherries or 2 cups of sliced strawberries, and mounds of Cool Whip. I, as you know, like it plain. But do whatever suits you!

Menu Plan

I haven't even really come up with a plan of attack for this week's meals yet, and here it is, Tuesday already. I figured I'd better jot something down before I get crazed.

Monday
We had Smoked Sausage
Garlic Smashed Potatoes
Peas

Tuesday
Roasted Chicken Thighs
Risotto
Salad

Wednesday
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Brothers Bread

Thursday
Chicken Stew
Roasted Red Skin Potatoes with garlic and dill

Friday
Taco Soup
Rice/Cheese/Corn Chips

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Baked Spaghetti
Salad

Menu Plan

It has been a while, hasn't it? I am So behind on blogging, I don't even know where to begin. I thought a nice, easy Menu Plan might be just the thing to give me a good jump start. You know what else needs a jump start? A normal diet. We've been so involved with Christmas goodies, eating out, and scrounging for a quick bite between stuff, our meals have been a bit abnormal. We're REALLY looking forward to getting back to good old, from-scratch, (relatively) healthy home-cooked meals. Here goes...

Monday
White Chicken Chili
Yellow Rice

Tuesday
Pork Chop Stuffing Bake
Chopped Salad w/ homemade dressing

Wednesday--back to Church activities; we're going for a crock pot meal
Beef Stew
Homemade rolls

Thursday
Bacon Sesame Fried Rice (with veggies)

Friday
Florentine Quiche
Salad

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Spaghetti?

Menu Plan

As if the Thanksgiving meal wasn't enough comfort, this week, I've planned lots of comfort favorites. Let's be honest--EVERY WEEK I plan lots of comfort favorites. Why should this week be any different?

Monday
Baked Potato Soup
Salad

Tuesday
Stuffed Shells
Salad

Wednesday
Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday
Burgers
Potato Wedges
Corn

Friday
Orange Chicken
Jasmine Rice
Steamed Broccoli

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Crock Pot: Pot Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots

Menu Plan

Hmm. I'm afraid this week's menu plan feels rut-ish again. I'm just not certain what to do about it! There are several nights this week where I'll need do-ahead dinners that can either simmer in the crock pot or be reheated when we need them, and there are a few things in that category that really sound good.

Of course, next week's menu plan will be different. You know what? Maybe I'll just go ahead and do that now...

This Week

Monday
Leftovers (strange for a Monday, I know...)

Tuesday
Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Lemon Sage butter
Herbed Egg Noodles
Spinach Salad w/ homemade dressing, toasted almonds, feta, and dried cranberries

Wednesday
Chili (w/ diced onions, beans, and cheese...so, four ways?)
Cornbread

Thursday
Scalloped Potatoes with Thyme and Bay
Ham
Steamed Peas

Friday
Chicken Divan with Rice Casserole

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Takeout OR Roast Beef, Carrots, and Potatoes (crock pot); depends on how early I get up. :)

Next Week

Monday
Steak
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans Amandine

Tuesday
Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Maple Dijon glaze
Chopped Salad
Garlic Bread

Wednesday
Beef Vegetable Soup
Rolls

Thursday
Oh, I don't know...Turkey? Stuffing? Mashed Potatoes?

Friday
Travel to Ohio (hey, Mom...we're thinking of coming home this weekend. What do you think?)

Saturday
Mom decides

Sunday
Mom keeps deciding

Menu Plan

Well, we're headed to the doctor today for poor Ruby. I am also under the weather, and against my better judgment, I sent Charis to school today with the sniffles. On deck this week are meals that will bring us comfort and cure what ails us. (Sleep and lots of fluids should help, too.)

Monday
Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday
Shepherd's Pie Skillet
Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday
Baked Potato Soup (with cheese, bacon bits, and sliced scallions)

Thursday
Two-Saucy MockZagna

Friday
Hawaiian chicken (Teriyaki-glazed chicken breasts topped with a pineapple ring and melted cheese. I'm pretty sure they don't eat this in Hawaii, but what else do you call it?)
Pineapple and Almond Rice Pilaf
Green Beans Amandine

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Takeout

Also, My hubby's dad had back surgery on Saturday, and they also found out that he has cancer. It was a swell weekend, as you can imagine. He is in the hospital now, so our life and schedules have changed quite a bit. I will either rely heavily on the Menu Plan for this week's dinners, or else it might all need to be tossed out the window as circumstances change. Don't be shocked if you see a few of these items on next week's Plan...

Menu Plan

I really did a menu plan this week. I did! I wrote it on the back of my shopping list. Which got lost somewhere between Baking Needs and Produce. I opted not to roam around the store with ny two little ones in tow to try to retrieve it, which I think was the right decision. I think it went something like this:

Monday
Kielbasa
Sauerkraut
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Tuesday
Chicken cutlet sandwiches
Homemade mac and cheese
Salad

Wednesday
Hot Chicken Salad

Thursday
Pork Medallions in sage cream sauce
Stuffing with celery, onions, and apple
(I may even go one better and make pork tenderloin roulade with the stuffing in the middle and the sauce over top. Or I may may take a nap instead.)

Friday
Pasta e Fagioli soup
Crusty Artisan Bread (that one's for you, Ellen)

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
fingers crossed...Takeout.

Two-bean Chili

There's something about a crisp, Fall day that makes me crave chili. Even if I'm chilled to the bone, one bowl of chili brings me back to right and makes me feel cozy. I've tried a million recipes with varied success, but this here recipe I'm about to give you is Chili The Way I Like It. It didn't come from a published recipe, it came from tinkering with process and spices, and it's not super hot, but it does have a nice heat at the back of it. Just The Way I Like It. If you're in need of a satisfying chili recipe, give this one a whirl!

Two-Bean Chili

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 c. water
28-32 oz. of canned tomatoes (I used a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of diced tomatoes because that's what I had on hand, but use whatever you've got)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder (or use 1 clove minced)
1 1/2-2 tsp. chili powder (adjust this to your taste)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 can kidney beans, mostly drained
1 can black beans, undrained

First, heat up a pot until it's "screaming hot" (as Rachel Ray likes to say), then crumble in your ground beef. Cook it most of the way through, constantly breaking it up with a spoon or spatula. Then add the salt and black pepper, along with the onion and water. Cook over high heat until most of the water has evaporated--this makes the meat nice and tender and really saturates it with the onion and salt and pepper. I could almost eat it just like this.

To the now-relatively-dry ground beef mixture, add the oregano, cumin, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir the mixture over medium high heat for about a minute, just to "toast" the spices and bring out their flavor.

Then add the tomatoes and beans. Then toss in the bay leaf and give it a stir. Let the mixture come to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer for at least half an hour, preferably more. OR you could toss it into the crock pot and let it simmer for a long time on Low. Mmmmm good.

My favorite way to serve this is over pasta (radiatore, rotini, and elbow noodles are all favorites) and topped with cheese. Delish!

Serves 6.

Menu Plan

August 19th? REALLY? I can't believe it has been that long since I've posted anything. I am a terrible, horrible slacker.

So. My 5 year-old started school. Gone are the days of sitting at home playing with food; these days, I'm back and forth to school, and pick-up time often collides with the time I might ordinarily have spend making bread or doing other time-sensitive meal preparations. Pick-up time also collides with nap time, too, so now I do not typically have a moment in the day where the house is entirely quiet, and during which I am at liberty to cook and plan as I wish. Woe is me.

All this to say that my meal planning has completely fallen by the wayside, and we've sadly been turning to mostly quick-and-easy types of meals: tacos, spaghetti, and I'm drawing a blank here because I can't for the life of me remember what we've eaten in the past few weeks. Not good. I envisioned the spotless house and the carefully organized life that I thought would naturally flow from having only TWO children at home, but that has not been the case at all; it turns out Charis was a huge help to me, and I actually get much less accomplished without her here. Meals are no exception.

This will never do. Tacos, spaghetti, soups (soups!) and such have their place, and there are certainly days when there is no other option than a quick-and-easy meal, but I'd like to make a return to the variety we had in menu plans of old. This week, I sat down and planned not one, but TWO weeks' worth of meals. I figure a little bit of planning goes a long way.

Week 1
Monday
Eat out in celebration of our anniversary. Yay! No dishes!

Tuesday
Butterflied Korean Pork Loin (trying recipe for the first time tonight!)
Sesame Ramen Noodles
Sugar Snap Peas

Wednesday
Chili Mac
Cornbread

Thursday
Roasted Chicken
Roasted Potatoes
Glazed Carrots

Friday
Hot Chicken Salad
Green Beans

Saturday
Stuffed Shells
Salad

Sunday
Leftovers

Week 2

Monday
Schultzie's Mess
Buttermilk Biscuits with homemade peach jam

Tuesday
Country-style Ribs
Mac and Cheese
Broccoli
(OR Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole. We'll see)

Wednesday
Tomato Soup
Grilled cheese sandwiches

Thursday
Cheese Ravioli "Lasagna"
Salad

Friday
Chicken Pot Pie

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Chinese Takeout

Menu Plan

Monday, it was:
Grilled Steak
Baked Potatoes
Buttered Peas
Fresh French Bread

Tuesday, it was:
Grilled Chicken
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Steamed Green Beans
Sauteed Vidalias
Fresh salsa
Tortilla chips

Tonight, it will be:
Sauteed Sweet Italian Sausage
Aglio e Olio with fresh basil
Tomato, Cucumber, Sweet Onion salad with fresh herbs

Thursday:
Subs on Homemade French bread (using my new French Breead pan) with homemade vinaigrette and garden-fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers

Friday:
Salad
Cumin-rubbed Pork Chops
Homemade Refried beans with cheese
Tortilla chips
Sliced tomatoes

Saturday:
Clean out the fridge

Sunday:
Chicken Pasta Salad