Drumroll Please……….

The lemon cake was a huge success! Now, I will say, if you expect it to be a normal lemon cake you might be disappointed. This is more like what I would like to call a pound cake and a sugar cookie with a lemon twist! My husband absolutely loved it. I actually liked the lemon cake better the next day when it had time so set a while. Mmmmmmm………..

So, I thought I would share my delicious lemon cake recipe and where I found it. By the way, the site I got it from (www.joyofbaking.com) is awesome! I can’t wait to try more!

Lemon Cake with lemon icing recipe

Enjoy!

Anticipation….

At this very moment, there is a lemon cake baking in the oven. I will tell you this:

– The batter was one of the best tasting ever.

– I will share the recipe if I like it.

– Results will not be in until probably Monday because it is my husband’s birthday today and I have to save the cake for tonight!

To Be Continued…

Smothered Beef Stew Meat and Rice

Ok, so I am actually taking a step back for a second to post my very first meal that I tried when I decided to start cooking more. I was going through my mom’s recipes and found the one that looked the most simple. Here is what it was:

About 1.5 lbs. Beef stew meat, one can of cream of mushroom soup, one can of cream of onion soup

Preaheat oven to 325. All you do is whisk the two soups together, put the stew meat close together but not stacked in a 9×13 pan (I would probably use glass as opposed to metal), and spoon the soup over the meat. Make sure all the meat is covered. There will be extra soup so just spoon that on top, try not to let soup just sit in the bottom of the pan or it may burn. Then you cover the pan with foil and bake for 3-3.5 hours. Serve over white rice.

Let me say, this is a good, solid comfort food. The soups make an amazing gravy like sauce, and it is excellent over the rice! Trav and I both gave this meal 4 out of 5 stars!

Enjoy!

Spinach Dippin’ Chicken and Pasta

So, last night I decided to try out a new recipe that I have been checking out on the Kitchen Kimberley website. I am a huge fan of spinach in just about everything, so I figured I would like the spinach dippin’ chicken and pasta. I was correct. This dish is a great pasta/casserole and it feeds a lot of people (which is why I still have over half of it in my fridge).  I think maybe it needs to cook just a little longer than the recipe calls for because it was not quite bubbly enough in the middle, so I uncovered it and cooked it for about five extra minutes. It really is pretty simple to make and doesn’t take a lot of prep. The most work is getting all the water out of the spinach. I think it is easiest to just microwave it to thaw and squeeze the heck out of it in handfuls. 🙂 Trav rated it 4 out of 5 stars. I would probably give it a 3 star rating. Great, but not spectactular 🙂 Spinach Dippin’ Chicken and Pasta Recipe by Susan Litchfield, for the MIO Recipe Roundup

Ingredients: 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach 1 can artichoke hearts, drained 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 c. Braum’s shredded Mozzarella cheese 1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 ½ c. Hiland sour cream 1 ½ c. Garden Club mayonnaise 2 tsp. Head Country All-Purpose Championship Seasoning 1 bag (20 oz.) Advance Fast Fixin’ Fire Roasted Chicken Breast 12 oz. mini penne pasta

Instructions: 1. Thaw spinach and drain very well; chop with artichoke hearts and garlic. 2. In a large bowl, combine cheeses, sour cream and mayonnaise. Add spinach mixture and Head Country Seasoning. 3. Boil pasta according to package directions; rinse and drain well. Meanwhile, cook chicken breast according to package directions (microwave method only takes 4 minutes!). Slice cooked chicken breast thinly, and then add with pasta to mixture in bowl. Mix gently to combine well. 4. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 x 2-inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray; spoon mixture into casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes in preheated 325-degree oven. Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

ENJOY!

My Cooking Endeavors – The very first post

Hello! Although I am sure there are a million blogs out there very similar to this blog that I am starting, I still wanted to keep track of my cooking endeavors if for no one else but myself. Before you ask, yes, I did watch Julie and Julia and absolutely loved it, and yes, I am starting this blog because of that movie. Using someone else’s good ideas is ok, right? Of course!

First, let me tell you that I am not an experienced cook, but I am not a dummy. I simply want to start cooking more. You might find some of my meals are very simple, so don’t be disappointed. I may try some complicated things everyonce in a while but, let’s face it, I am a married woman, I have a job, and I constantly have children staying in my home, so I don’t always have time to cook something extravagant!

One last thing, I will always try to give credit where credit is due, but a lot of times, I have no idea where I got the recipe for something, so if you see something on here that you recognize, please don’t be mad! haha, well, ENJOY!