Orange Roughy with Lemon Sauce

From recipe.com

Orange Roughy with Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

1 pound fresh or frozen orange roughy or red snapper fillets, about 1/2 inch thick
1 pound asparagus spears
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium yellow sweet pepper, cut into strips
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
2 cups hot cooked couscous or rice


Directions
1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry. Cut fish into 4 serving-size pieces, if necessary; set aside. Snap off and discard woody bases from asparagus. Cut asparagus in half; set aside.

2. In a 10-inch skillet combine 1 cup of the broth, the lemon peel, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Carefully add fish and asparagus. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 4 minutes. Add sweet pepper strips. Cook, covered, 2 minutes more or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Using a slotted spatula, transfer fish and vegetables to a serving platter, reserving liquid in skillet. Keep fish and vegetables warm while preparing sauce.

3. For sauce, stir together remaining broth and cornstarch. Stir into liquid in skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Stir in chives. Arrange fish and vegetables on couscous; spoon sauce over top. Makes 4 servings.

How it went: I actually used tilapia since I couldn't find frozen orange roughy or red snapper at my grocery store. This recipe was pretty easy and fairly quick, but it wasn't my favorite tasting meal ever. Very healthy, and good, just not great. Not sure if I'll ever make it again.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 medium pumpkin
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can water chestnuts
1 can mushrooms (6.5 oz)
1 cup cooked rice
2 T. brown sugar or to taste
2 T. soy sauce or to taste
Onion (optional)

Hollow out pumpkin. Brown ground beef in large skillet. Add all ingredients. Empty skillet contents into pumpkin and place pumpkin on cookie sheet with the top on the pumpkin. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until pumpkin is golden.

Here's how it went:

Pumpkin in the oven. Love it.

And this is what the meal actually looks like. I thought it turned out pretty good, and I'm sure I'll make it again some Halloween/autumn time.

Nutella-Almond Pound Cake

*Adapted from a recipe on Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals TV show


While working out one day at our apartment's gym, I was waching the Food Network and saw this idea on Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals show. So I decided to try it out! Here's how you do it:

Use store-bought loaf pound cake (or I just used a mix and made my own, since all the stuff at the store was pre-sliced). Slice the loaf in half lengthwise. Spread Nutella (or any hazelnut spread) over the loaf, then top with toasted sliced almonds:

Reassemble the loaves like so:

Then slice it up and top with whipped cream and berries, if desired. Rachel Ray made some sort of orange whipped cream, so I used heavy whipping cream and added some orange zest, then whipped it up and served with raspberries. I liked it with the berries, but for some reason the whipped cream wasn't my favorite. I actually preferred the pound cake without it. But anyways, this was a yummy, easy dessert idea.

Cider-Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter-Pecan Rice

From Cooking Light Magazine October Issue

Ingredients:
1 (3.5 oz.) bag boil-in-bag brown rice
2 T. butter, divided
1 lb chicken breast cutlets (about 4 cutlets)
3/4 t. salt, divided
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C. refrigerated apple cider
1 t. Dijon mustard
1/4 C. chopped pecans
2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Cook rice according to package directions in a small saucepan, omitting salt and fat; drain. (I used whole grain wheat rice, and it turned out well.)

2. While rice cooks, melt 1 t. butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 t. salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 min on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Add cider and mustard to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until syrupy. Add chicken to pan, turning to coat. Remove from heat; set aside.

3. Melt remaining 5 t. butter in saucepan over medium-high heat; cook for 2 mintues or until browned and fragrant. Lower heat to medium; add pecans, and cook for 1 minute or until toasted, stirring frequently. Add rice and the remaining 1/2 t. salt; toss well to coat. Serve rice with chicken. Spinkle with parsley.

My take: I thought this was a great recipe. Very healthy, and a fun fall-themed recipe (i.e. the apple cider). And the pecan rice was to die for! Jack said the rice was like dessert. Not that it was sweet or anything, but it was just that good. And I like using the chicken cutlets, because they cook through quickly and aren't all thick and dry. This is definitely a recipe worth repeating.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

From Cooking Light October Issue

Bread:
1 1/2 C. mashed ripe banana
1/3 C. plain fat-free yogurt
1/3 C. creamy PB
3 T. butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
6.75 oz. all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 C.)
1/4 C. ground flaxseed
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. ground allspice
2 T. chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Cooking spray

Glaze:
1/3 C. powdered sugar
1 T. 1% low-fat milk
1 T. creamy peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.

4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 T. peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice).


This was actually the first time I've ever made banana bread, and I thought it turned out pretty well, and pretty darn sweet. But I think I'd prefer regular banana bread over the peanut butter banana bread. This was good, but plain banana bread is also good, and why mess with a good thing?

Oven-Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

From allrecipes.com

1 teaspoon Lawry's® Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Lawry's® Garlic Powder With Parsley
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons Bertolli® Classico™ Olive Oil

1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In small bowl, combine Lawry's® Seasoned Salt, paprika, Lawry's® Garlic Powder With Parsley and chili powder; set aside.

2.In large bowl, toss sweet potatoes with Olive Oil; sprinkle with seasoning mixture and toss to coat. On jelly roll pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, arrange potatoes in single layer.

3.Roast, turning once, 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden. Serve, if desired, with additional Seasoned Salt.


Ever since having some awesome sweet pototo fries at Farm of Beverlyl Hills in California, I've been hooked. So I decided to look for a good recipe. This one turned out pretty well and was really easy. I wish they had turned out more crunchy, but I wonder if you'd have to deep fry them for that (and thus make them more unhealthy....) But these were good, and I'd definitely make them again.

Mock Chocolate Macadamia Toffee

*Recipe and photo from MelsKitchenCafe.com



Mock Chocolate Macadamia Toffee
adapted from a recipe found on steamykitchen.com

½ box of graham crackers
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 sticks butter
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 ounces roughly chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a lipped baking sheet with a layer of tin foil (I used an 11X17 baking sheet). Arrange a single layer of graham crackers in the pan without overlapping. In a small saucepan, melt butter and add the sugars. Whisk to dissolve. Let boil and simmer for 5 minutes on low. Very carefully pour mixture onto the graham crackers, working quickly with a spatula to even out the layer. Bake 10 minutes. Remove and evenly spread out the chocolate chips and leave it to melt for 5 minutes. Using spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly. Top with chopped nuts. Let cool. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Break into pieces.

How it went: I totally forgot to take any pictures! So the photo above is from the website where I got the recipe. This was super easy; probably the most time-consuming part was chopping the macadamia nuts.

My take: Definitely a recipe worth repeating. So easy, and really good. It really has that yummy toffee taste, plus all the chocolate on top doesn't hurt, either.

Bernard's Bistro

I know I haven't done many restaurant reviews on here lately. I have tons from our California trip that I need to do, but I'm skipping ahead and reviewing this restaurant we ate at on Friday night. It's Bernard's Bistro, located at Lake Las Vegas (love this area). It's Mediterranean food, and was really good. We started off with the escargot, which was probably the best escargot I've ever had. The garlic sauce was awesome, and the escargot weren't super chewy like they usually are.

I ordered the seafood in lobster creole sauce, and it was so good! The seafood was prawns (huge!), oysters, and scallops. It came with yellow squash ravioli, which were also really good. The lobster sauce was over everything, and it is what really made the dish. I was even dipping the bread in it! Jack ordered the filet mignon which came with fries. The steak was pretty good, but not the best ever. The portion size for both dishes, but particularly Jack's, seemed fairly small to me, but in a way it was just perfect. Enough to fill you up, but not a tons of food like most restaurants give you these days.

The atmosphere was great. We ate out on the patio (weather was good), and there was live music (Fab, a Beatles tribute band). So that was fun. That's why we went in the first place - to hear the band, so we picked this restaurant since they had outdoor seating and you could listen while you ate. And I love the Lake Las Vegas area - it's made to look like a little Italian village, plus it's on an inlet of Lake Mead.

The service, however, was HORRIBLE. They got slammed with a huge party of 50 before we came, so we had to wait a little while for a table even though there were open ones. This was no big deal, but then our waiter was just plain bad. I think the service is usually better, though.

Food: 4.5 stars (because of Jack's steak; if it was all about my food, I'd have given it 5 stars)

Atmosphere: 4.5 stars

Service: 2 stars

Would I got back? Yes, and I'd just hope for better service. :)

Chocolate Mousse Torte

*From kraftrecipes.com

Chocolate Mousse Torte

Ingredients:
37 NILLA Wafers, divided
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. cold milk, divided
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh raspberries

1. STAND 16 wafers around inside edge of 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap. Melt 3 chocolate squares as directed on package.

2. BEAT pudding mixes and 2 cups milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP; pour into prepared pan.

3. BEAT cream cheese, sugar and remaining milk with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of the remaining COOL WHIP; spread over pudding. Top with remaining wafers. Refrigerate 3 hours.

4. MEANWHILE, shave remaining chocolate square into curls. Invert torte onto plate; remove plastic wrap. Top torte with remaining COOL WHIP, berries and chocolate curls.

How it went: This was a nice and easy recipe, plus it comes out looking really fancy. I did find it hard/annoying to get those darn vanilla wafers to stand up around the edge of my round pan, though.



My take: I'd make it again. It'd be good for a get-together or some sort of function where you want to impress people with the presentation. :) I thought it was pretty good, and Jack really liked it. It's fairly rich, so I thought there was no way we'd finish it. But over the course of a few days, we definitely did. I didn't have any raspberries on hand, but if I make it again I'd like to add those.

Perfect Potatoes au Gratin

*From thepioneerwoman.com

Perfect Potatoes au Gratin

■4 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
■2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
■1-½ cup Heavy Cream
■½ cups Whole Milk
■2 Tablespoons Flour
■4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
■1 teaspoon Salt
■Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
■1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.

Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.

Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving by the spoonful. Delicious!


How it went: The recipe was easy to follow and fairly quick.

My take: Very good, and definitely a repeat recipe. All the garlic created a great flavor (I love garlic).

Fried Round Steak

*From thepioneerwoman.com

Fried Round Steak

Ingredients
■3 pounds Cube Steak (round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
■1 cup All-purpose Flour
■1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
■3 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper, Or To Taste
■Salt, For Seasoning Meat
■½ cups Canola Oil (more If Needed)
■2 Tablespoons Butter
Preparation Instructions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Mix together flour, seasoned salt, and pepper.

Season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece in flour mixture, pressing to coat with as much flour as possible.

Add butter to pan right before frying.

When butter is melted, fry pieces of steak in butter/oil mixture. Flip when sides are deep golden brown and cook about 1 minute on the other side.

Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately.

How it went: This was a pretty easy recipe, but it seems that when I make fried steak mine always takes longer to cook than the recipe says. Maybe I'm just being overly cautious about making sure it's good and cooked all the way through.

My take: These turned out pretty well, but not awesome. I'd say if you're going to make fried steak, go all the way and use egg or crackers for more coating, i.e. chicken fried steak. This recipe just didn't seem to have enough "fried" flavoring, i.e. the steak was kind of bland.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

*Originally from OurBestBites.com

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

1/3 C Cream Cheese
1/4 C salsa verde
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
2 C grated pepper jack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add salsa verde, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 tbsp of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place plan in oven and back for 15- 20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.


How it went: These took a little time to assemble, but the effort was well worth it!

My take: We liked these so much that I've already made them again. Very good, and they seem pretty healthy, too.

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

*From thepioneerwoman.com

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients
■1 cup Milk
■6 Tablespoons Butter
■2-½ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
■2 whole Eggs
■⅓ cups Sugar
■3-½ cups All-purpose Flour
■1 teaspoon Salt
■⅓ cups Sugar
■2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
■Egg And Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
■Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing
Preparation Instructions
Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don’t boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it’s warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you’re going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool. Slice and serve, or make cinnamon toast or French toast with it.

How it went:

That is one HUGE loaf! On thepioneerwoman's blog she kept talking about how hard it is to get her bread to rise where she lives (up in Montana or somewhere). I obviously do NOT have that problem here in the desert heat of Las Vegas. I didn't even let the dough rise as long as the recipe calls for, and still this is how big it was!

My take: I'd probably make it again. It was pretty good, and it'd be even better if it hadn't risen so much. That way the bread to cinnamon sugar ratio would be more even. I did find myself thinking that with all the work that went into it, I might as well have made cinnamon rolls. So keep that in mind. But I guess it all depends on what you want - bread, or more of a sugary treat.

Shrimp Pasta in a Foil Package

*from thepioneerwoman.com

Shrimp Pasta in a Foil Package

Ingredients
■½ cups Olive Oil
■4 cloves Garlic, Minced
■3 whole 14.5 Ounce Cans Diced (or Whole) Tomatoes
■½ cups White Wine
■2 pounds Jumbo Or Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined
■Salt And Pepper, to taste
■Fresh Parsley, Minced
■1 pound Linguine, Uncooked
■Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
Preparation Instructions
Cook pasta for 1/2 the recommended cooking time. Pasta should still be very firm.

In a large skillet or pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Dump in the tomatoes and wine. Stir the mixture together, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a large parcel of heavy duty aluminum foil. It should be large enough to hold the entire pasta dish.

Throw the shrimp on the top of the pasta sauce. Throw the drained pasta over the top, then pour the whole dish onto the foil. Tightly wrap the foil into a parcel.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm until serving.

Open the foil parcel right before serving. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the top. Squeeze on lemon juice, if desired.

Here's how it went:

Making the sauce.

Adding the shrimp.

And then the pasta. Let me just say that this skillet is really big. There is just a lot of food there.

All the food in the foil package.

My take: I didn't like this and wouldn't make it again. There was so much food that it was hard to mix it all up. Plus, it was just messy working with all that saucy liquid in a foil package. It definitely leaked. And even with all the mess, I wasn't a fan of the final product. Not enough flavor for me.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream with Ferrero Rocher Pieces

*From Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe Booklet

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream with Ferrero Rocher Pieces

1 C. whole milk

1/2 C. granulated sugar

8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I use semisweet) broken into 1/2 in. pieces

2 C. heavy cream

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 C. chopped Ferrero Rocher pieces

Heat the whole milk until it is just bubbling around the edges (this may be done on the stovetop or in a microwave). In a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse to proces the sugar with the chocolate until the chocolate is very finely chopped. Add the hot milk; process until well blended and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and let the chocolate mixture cool completely. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. Cover, refrigerate, and chill for 2 hours or longer.

Mix according to ice cream maker directions. Add Ferrero Rocher pieces during the last five minutes of mixing. If a firmer ice cream consistency is desired, place in an airtight container in the freezer for two hours or longer. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving.

Here's how it went:

Pulsing the sugar and chocolate pieces.

Heating up the milk on the stovetop.

The milk/chocolate/sugar mixture.

Adding the heavy cream.

And mixing in the ice cream maker.

Now for the little bit of heaven.

All chopped up and ready to go.

So delicious!

My take: I've used this chocolate ice cream recipe a lot before, but if I added anything I used York peppermint patties (which is also really good). But when we were in California we had some Ferrero Rocher gelato, then I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa where she made some chocolate ice cream like this, so I decided to go for it. It turned out really well, and Jack even said this was better than his previous favorite (homemade coconut ice cream). I did learn from Barefoot Contessa that you shouldn't use chocolate chips for your chocolate pieces, since they have some sort of waxy additive in them. And I always put my homemade ice cream in the freezer after mixing it so that it gets hard like normal ice cream.

Crawfish Etouffee

*Recipe from Houston River Baptist Church 50th Anniversary Cookbook

Crawfish Etouffee

1 stick butter
1 med onion, chopped
1 med. green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C. celery, chopped
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. red pepper (I used ground cayenne pepper)
1 10-oz can Rotel
1 10.5-oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 10.5-oz can cream of celery soup
1 10.75-oz can cream of shrimp soup
1 10.75-oz can cream of cheddar soup
1 lb. crawfish tails

1. Saute in butter the onion, bell pepper, and celery until tender. Add seasonings, Rotel, and soups. Cook and stir until all ingreidents are blended together.

2. Add crawfish and cook about 20 minutes until crawfish are done. Add 1/2 C. water or more if needed should the mixure get too thick. Served over cooked rice.

Here's how it went:

Sauteeing the veggies.

Cooking it all up. I was worried it was too light-colored, but I guess it browned up with time because it came out looking like this:

So good!

My take: Having never made crawfish etouffee before and only ever eaten it a few times, I was a little worried about the end product. But Jack and I both like etouffee, so I wanted to try it out. This recipe was so easy and came out tasting really good! It has a spicy kick to it, but I like that. I often ask Jack (when I try out a new recipe) if it's worth repeating. That's the true test. This time I didn't have to even ask him. As we were eating he said it's a definite repeater.

Lime Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce

*From Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade


Lime Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce


1 (16 oz) boxes pound cake mix
1 1/3 cups water or whole milk (I used water)
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 t. lime zest
1 T. lime juice
Strawberry Sauce (recipe follows)
Garnish: lime wedges and fresh strawberries


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a tube pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.


2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, butter, and eggs; beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium, and beat for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape bowl as needed (batter will be thick). Stir in lime zest and lim juice. Spoon batter into prepared pan.


3. Bake for 1 hour and 10 mintues, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with Straberry Sauce. Garnish with lime wedeges and strawberries, if desired.




Strawberry Sauce


1 1/2 C fresh strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 t. lime zest


1. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine strawberries, sugar, and lime zest; process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

My take: This actually turned out pretty well, as evidenced by the fact that Jack and I ate the whole thing by ourselves! Over the course of a few days, of course. I did think the cake was a little dry - could have done with some sour cream or something.


Here are some pictures I took along the way:

Gathering my recipe and ingredients.

Prepared tube pan.

Zesting the lime.


Mixing all those ingredients together.

Adding the lime zest.

And the lime juice.

Time to bake it.

And ta da!

Making the tangy strawberry sauce.




And there you have it.

Chicken, Tomato, and Fresh Mozzarella Ravioli Salad

*From Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade

Chicken, Tomato, and Fresh Mozzarella Ravioli Salad

1 (9 oz) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli (or you can use the frozen kind as well)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (8 oz) package fresh mozzarella ball, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
3/4 C Italian dressing

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain, and rinse well with cold water, tossing to cool.

2. In a large bowel, combine cooked pasta, chicken, mozzarella, basil, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with dressing, and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

My take: Good, mostly because it has fresh mozzarella in it, but not great. I love fresh mozzarella! But I thought there was too much Italian dressing, so next time I'd put it on the side or only use 1/2 cup. I also added grape tomatoes.