Chocolate Eclair Cake

Crust:

1 Cup Water

1 Cube Butter

1 Cup Flour

4 Eggs

Put water and butter in a pan and melt them on the stove. Once they are melted, take off the heat and add the flour. Whisk the eggs in one at a time. Spray a 9 X 13 pan with Pam (and your hands too) and press the dough (quite sticky) into the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake till light brown. 400 degrees 30- 35 minutes.

Filling:

3 3 oz. pkg instant Vanilla pudding

4 cups of Milk

1 8 oz. Cream Cheese room temperature

Mix together until smooth. Let crust cool and pour filling into the crust. Top with whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce! Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Onion Roasted Red Potatoes with Cheese

Happy Easter! Per Nate's request we had a nice traditional Easter dinner. On the menu was smoked brisket, rolls, asparagus, strawberry lime punch, and these potatoes. We love red potatoes in our family, so when I saw this recipe, I had to try it. You really can't get easier than this, and I love that you don't need any fancy ingredients, just things you most likely have on hand. I got this recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up, she has lots of yummy things, be sure and check out her site.

Ingredients:
8 medium sized red potatoes
1/4 C olive oil
1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup mix
Salt and Pepper (I didn't add any salt or pepper and they still turned out awesome)
1 C cheddar cheese

Preparation:
Chop up the potatoes into even sized pieces. Mix together the potatoes, olive oil, onion soup mix, salt, and pepper. Once well combined, pour into a 9x13" baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes, stirring half way through. Once cooked, top with cheese and broil for just a few minutes to melt cheese. Serve hot.

Strawberry Lime Punch

I am not a huge dessert fan as everyone knows. I am however a big fan of yummy drinks. Instead of serving dessert with our Easter dinner we had this.

Ingredients:
10 oz. frozen sliced strawberries, thawed
1 can frozen limeade concentrate
2 L diet lemon-lime soda (doesn't have to be diet)

Preparation:
Mix limeade concentrate and soda. Puree strawberries in a blender. Strain the seeds out and then combine the pureed strawberries with the soda mixture.


Okay, so I haven't unpacked my one and only pitcher, so I had to make it in a big mixing bowl.

Cafe Rio Style Chicken

I know there are a million and one versions of Cafe Rio chicken floating around out there, but this one had the addition of ranch seasoning, so I gave it a try. It turned out really good, but next time I make it I am adding less chili powder. I got the recipe at Mandy's Recipe Box. For just the two of us, I halved this recipe, we put it on salads and I still had leftovers.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 a small bottle of zesty italian dressing
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 pkt ranch dressing mix, mixed with 1/2 cup of water
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder (I would only add half this amount)
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours. Shred with fork and serve in salads, burritos, tacos...etc.


Oh my gosh, please just ignore this picture, this is the leftover chicken from after we had made our salads. So not pretty, but it was way tasty!

Shell Pasta Bake

This was the first real dinner I made in our new place! I was really pleased with how it turned out. Nate is not a big fan of pasta but he gave this recipe a 9.5! We don’t like our tomato sauce to be sweet, but if you do, feel free to add a Tbsp. of sugar to the sauce. I got the idea from Jamie Cooks It Up, but I changed it up to suit our tastes. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
1 lbs. ground beef
1 (20 + oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz. shell noodles
McCormick Hamburger seasoning (I always add a little of this when I make ground beef)
1 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning
1 Tbsp. butter
¼ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:
Brown ground beef and season with a bit of hamburger seasoning. Add the pasta sauce and 1 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning and stir to combine. Heat through and simmer while you cook the pasta. DO NOT overcook the pasta, just cook it ‘til al dente, otherwise you will have soggy pasta. Melt your butter and add the garlic powder, onion powder, and parmesan cheese. When noodles are finished, drain them, but don’t rinse. Pour the noodles in a mixing bowl and toss with the butter mixture. In a 9x13 pan pour some of the sauce/meat mixture. Pour noodles on top of the sauce, then pour the remaining sauce/meat over the top of the noodles. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover with parchment paper and then tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Chicken Fried Steak - Trying It Again

Nate's favorite meal is chicken fried steak. I've only made it once before for him with mixed results. He liked it, I didn't. Tonight I let Nate pick out what he wanted dinner, he said chicken fried steak. I thought this time turned out a lot better, but I have decided that chicken fried steak is not my favorite. I just don't care for breaded beef. Nate loved this version! He have it a 10 out of 10! As you can tell Nathan doesn't like vegetables. His meal was chicken fried steak, biscuits, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Could there be any more carbs? Guess I'll be taking some extra insulin tonight.

Ingredients:
4 beef cube steaks
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
Lawry's seasoned salt
Lawry's seasoned pepper
1 1/2 milk
1 egg
vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:
Evenly pound out the cube steaks. In a shallow dish pour 2 cups all-purpose flour. In another shallow dish combine egg, milk, 1 tsp. seasoning salt, 1 tsp. seasoning pepper, and baking powder. Lightly salt and pepper the steaks on both sides. Dip steak in flour mixture, then the liquid mixture, and back into the flour. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a thick frying pan to 325 degrees. Fry the steaks for 3-5 minutes on each side, they should be golden brown. Serve hot.

Double Decker Tacos

Anytime we have tacos, this is the way Nate wants them. Many of you probably have this recipe, but I feel like I haven't posted in forever! With all the packing we have going on at our apartment, I have just been making super simple dinners lately. Hopefully once we are moved I will have lots of fun new recipes for you!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkt. taco seasoning plus the water it requires (Nate like the Taco Bell brand seasoning)
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
hard taco shells
flour tortillas

Toppings:
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese
diced tomatoes
sour cream
taco sauce
salsa
really, whatever taco toppings you like


Preparation:
Brown ground beef and seasoning with taco seasoning packet. In a small pot heat refried beans and 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning. Once hot, add shredded cheese and continue cooking until cheese has melted. Before assembling tacos, heat flour tortillas for 30 seconds in the microwave to make them easier to work with. Spread some of the refried bean mix onto a tortilla. Then lay down a hard taco shell and fold the tortilla around the hard shell. Fill your taco with ground beef, lettuce, cheese and any other topping you like. Enjoy!

As you can tell, my tortillas were a bit big, but you get the idea.