sugar cookies

Tuxedo Cake

You just can't go wrong with Chocolate buttermilk cake, Whipped frosting, chocolate ganache, and strawberries!

We got this fantastic recipe from Annie at Annies-eats. PLEASEEE go check it out. It may look intimidating to make your own from scratch chocolate cake. But trust us. IT.IS.SO.GOOD!

fruit salsa

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grilled steak marianade

Are you hungry yet? Are you itching for some yummy summer grilling?

Best Steak Marinade in Existence

from Allrecipes.com

In blender, mix:

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tbs garlic powder

3 tbs dried basil

1 1/2 tbs dried parsley

1 tsp ground black pepper

Optional:

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

1 clove minced garlic

Pour over meat. Cover and refrigerate for minimum 1hr (overnight is best)

Grill meat to liking.

Enjoy!!! 

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Marinade

This is my new favorite marinade that Meredith found.  I've made it for all my recent events.  Everyone loves it. The chicken is so moist and flavorful.   I used it for marinading the chicken and the veggies when I make Kabobs.  If you are doing both, I would double the marinade.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Marinade for Kabobs
adapted from realmomkitchen

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup homemade ranch dressing (hidden valley recipe)
3 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or a fresh sprigs chopped
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white sugar

5 boneless skinless chicken breast halves – if making Kabobs-cut into cubes

Other Items for Kabobs- cube each item so it is skewerable

Fresh pineapple- cubed/chunked
cherry tomatoes- washed
canned whole potatoes

green/red/orange/yellow peppers- cubed/chunked

onions- cubed/chunked

Mushrooms- washed

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. If you are making Kabobs then make 2 bowls- One for chicken and one for veggies. Equally pour marinade over each bowl or Ziploc bag. Stir to coat with the marinade or move the bag around to cover the food. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade. Thread like veggies on skewers.You can baste with the veggie marinade. DO NOT use the chicken marinade for basting.
3. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear or the veggies are cooked.

Dirt Cake

Its been so hot out lately that some nice cold and creamy dirt cake sounded so yummy.  I misplaced my bag of gummy worms so I added some mini chocolate chips instead.  After I had the cake assembled, I found the bag of worms on the counter.  Guess the boys will enjoy them another day.

Mostaccioli/ Mrs. Taylors Goulash

Let me start saying it was hard for me to make this dish.  First, I normally make it for a crowd. I've never made it for just the 4 of us.  My normal shopping consists of Sams club where I get the peppers, onions, meat, cheese, spaghetti sauce and sour cream in big portions so bare with me as I make this in smaller portions.


I got this recipe from my moms neighbor.  She calls it Goulash but its what I consider mostaccoili. I love her goulash and the mostaccioli at Billy’s Tip ‘n Inn. So, I combined the two.

Ingredients

1lb Ground Turkey or Beef
1lb Bulk Ground Italian Sausage
1 lb sour cream
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 box of penne or ziti noodles
a few small baby carrots chopped (adds sweetness)
1 chopped onion
1 piece of celery chopped
1 pepper chopped- red or green
Mozzarella cheese ( I like the big bag of stuff at Sams)

Brown together the Turkey, Italian Sausage, peppers, carrots, celery and onions.  Drain the grease then add the Spaghetti sauce.  In a separate pot- boil the water and cook the noodles. Keep the noodles and meat SEPARATE!


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer in a 9x13 pan with some of the noodles, then meat sauce then a few dollops of sour cream all over. Repeat with the noodles, meat sauce and sour cream until you have used everything up.  Then top it with that delicious Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan if you have it.  Cover with foil then bake for 45 min to 1 hour. At the end remove the foil and bake till the cheese gets a little "kissed" on the top from from the heat about 15min.

Enjoy! Serve with garlic bread and a salad.