Confetti Cauliflower

This is a healthy recipe for today. It's cold here and I keep looking for comfort food. When I do that, its usually something that is not so healthy.

I won't lie to you, finding colored cauliflower is not something you can find just anywhere. You really have to look for it. If you can't find it, that's okay because there's nothing wrong with using the regular white cauliflower. The taste is the same.

Confetti Cauliflower

1 large head confetti cauliflower (purple, orange, yellow or green)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 packet Hidden Valley Original Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix

Preheat oven to 350° F. Break cauliflower into bite-size florets about the size of popped corn.
Toss cauliflower florets, olive oil and Hidden Valley Original Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix in a large bowl until well coated. Spread cauliflower on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, turning 3-4 times while baking, until cauliflower is slightly browned and tender. Remove from oven and serve immediately. If desired, set a bowl of ranch dressing our for dipping.

Carol

Coca-Cola Cake

I was looking back through my recipes on here because I thought I had already posted my Coca-Cola Cake recipe. I didn't find it, so my apologies if I have already posted it.

I'm a little late with this because January 27 was National Chocolate Cake day and I got busy with things and forgot to post. I guess its better late than never.

I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but it was given to me by my late aunt, who was a wonderful cook. It has to be the most moist chocolate cake I have ever had. If you need a dessert for your Super Bowl party, Valentine's Day, or you're just craving chocolate, I highly recommend this one.

Coca-Cola Cake

2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 T. cocoa
1 t. soda
2 sticks butter or margarine
1 c. Coca-Cola
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 c. mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350° f. Mix all dry ingredients together and set aside. Heat butter/margarine, cocoa, and Coke to boiling. Pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Finally, add the marshmallows and stir until they've melted.

Pour into a 9 x 13 inch prepared baking pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.

Icing:
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 1/2 T. cocoa
3 T. Coca-Cola
1/2 t. vanilla
powdered sugar

Put all ingredients, except the powdered sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add just enough powdered sugar to the mixture to make it a consistency to spread.

Popcorn

If I were only allowed one snack in my life, it would be popcorn. I love the stuff and never seem to be able to have enough of it. It's considered a staple around our house. During football season, I always pop a big bowl of it to munch on during the game.

Normally, I pop it on top of the stove in a popper that my parents used when I was a kid, but when I only want a little, I will grab a bag of microwave popcorn. The bad thing about microwave popcorn is that some bags are coated with something that can get onto the popcorn during the cooking process. This chemical is not really good for you and has been thought could cause cancer.

So, since it's a new year and I'm trying to eat healthier, I'm going to try and make my own microwave popcorn where I can control the ingredients. It's actually easy to make, but you'll have to do the trial and error thing with your own microwave to make sure you get the right amount of cooking time and remember that, as with regular microwave popcorn, not all of the kernels will pop. Keep an eye on your bag during the popping, you don't want it to catch fire, if popped too long.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

1/2 c. popcorn
1 t. oil, vegetable or olive oil (either will work)
salt to taste

Mix ingredients together and pour into a small brown paper lunch sack. Microwave on high for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes on high. Pour into a bowl and enjoy.

Super Duper Totally authorized Top Secret Recipes ebook

Super Duper Totally Authorized Top Secret Recipes eBook by Todd Wilbur

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was a fantastic ebook. I never really wanted to get a recipe book on my Kindle because I don't want to use it in the kitchen where it could get dirty, but this is an exception. Not only does it have recipes from well-known restaurants and fast food chains, it has a few paragraphs with each recipe to explain how they reproduced it.

I have one of this author's older hard back books like this, but this one is up-to-date with current dishes.

I would highly recommned this e-book and when I got it, it was a free Kindle download, which makes it all the better.

View all my reviews

Snack Mix in a Jar

It's 13 days until Christmas and are you still stuck with what gift to get someone. Well, I have the perfect thing. This is probably the easiest jar gift you can make to give to family and friends. When I first found the recipe for it online, it said to layer the different ingredients in the jar. I found that wasn't nearly as eye appealing as mixing all the ingredients together and then putting them in the jar. I also cut out a circle of holiday cloth to put under the ring before screwing it on.

The great thing about this recipe is that there really is no set ingredients. You can add or omit whatever you want. If someone is allergic to nuts, you definitely wouldn't want to add those in. Below, I'm going to list several ingredients. I don't use all of them, but instead pick out what I think the recipients of the jar will like.

Snack Mix in a Jar

sunflower seeds
salted peanuts
fish crackers
small pretzels
raisins
M & M's
mini chocolate chips
peanut butter chips
butterscotch chips
Cheerios, or any small size cereal of your chosing
chocolate covered raisins
banana chips
various dried fruit

As you can see from the list, the sky is the limit with what you put into the mix.

Carol

Sweet Potato Casserole

Forgive me for being brief in this post, but I'm in the middle of edits for my novel scheduled to be released in January and my time is running out. Today, I thought I would share a recipe that will be served at many holiday dinners this month, Sweet Potato Casserole. It's quick and easy to make and one that everyone loves.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 C. mashed sweet potatoes
1 C. sugar
1 stick of butter or margarine
2 eggs, beaten
1 t. vanilla

Topping:
1 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. pecans
1/3 C. flour
1/3 C. butter or margarine

Mix all ingredients well. Pour into a casserole dish and spoon topping over the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes at 350° f.

Holly Wreath Cookies

One of my aunts made these for a family Christmas dinner when I was a kid. I thought they were so cool at the time and still do. They're very easy to make, so festive, and everyone will love them.

Holly Wreath Cookies

1 stick butter
30 large marshmallows
5 C. corn flake cereal
green food coloring
red hots candy

Melt butter and marshmallows together in a heavy pan on the stove, stir well to keep from burning. Add 3 t. green food coloring, blend well. Remove from heat and stir in the corn flake cereal. Using greased teaspoons, drop onto a sheet of wax paper or a greased cookie sheet. Grease hands and shape the cookies into wreaths. Decorate with red hots. If you don't want to make wreaths, you can add the red hots to the drops of the corn flake mixture without making into wreaths. They look great that way, too.

Enjoy,
Carol