Ooey Gooey Cake

This "cake" is delicious. The texture reminds me more of a caramel brownie. I had the Peanut Butter version at a Relief Society fireside and the person who made them emailed the recipe out so I made the Chippy Gooey a couple weeks ago. They were both delicious. I think the original recipe comes from Paula Deen. Even if you normally don't like cake, I bet you'll like this kind.

Cake:
1 (18.25-oz) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9x2-inch pan.
2. Combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with electric mixer. Pat into the bottom of the baking pan.
3. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in sugar and beat well. Reduce mixer speed and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.
4. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake 40-50 minutes. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake past that point!
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Variations:

Pumpkin Gooey: Use a spice cake mix instead of yellow. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-oz can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual. Top each square with a pecan half. Serve with whipped cream

Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-oz can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the filling. Proceed as directed above.

Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (about 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the filling. Proceed as directed above.

Carrot Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to filling. Sprinkle top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts.

Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling.

Banana Gooey: Prepare filling as directed above, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg.

Nutty Gooey: Add 1 cup chopped nuts to cake mixture.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or Heath bits into the filling. (I used the Heath bits and it was delicious!)

Toy Tips

It seems that my house has been taken over by toys! And its a good thing - toys are what keep the boys busy all day. Emerson and Finlay are too little to go to school, but their toys are great learning tools. Ricky and I don't have a ton of money to spend on the latest and greatest toys, but the boys haven't been deprived. Here are some tips on how to build your toy collection on a budget.

• Raid your kitchen cabinets: Some of the best toys are in your kitchen. Children love to bang on unused pots and bowls. Metal bowls make great drums. You can use plastic serving spoons for drum sticks. Give your children different size plastic or metal bowls to play with. The bowls can be used as musical instruments, places to put other toys, or even hats.

• Evaluate boxes, plastic jars, etc before throwing them away: Some of the best toys come from empty cereal boxes, cracker boxes, empty water bottles, and empty jelly jars. Plastic jars make great bath toys. Kids love to pour water out. Kids also like to carry around old cereal boxes.
• Let your kids have your old phone books: Kids love turning the pages (and sometimes tearing). It gives them practice looking at "big kid" books without ripping the pages of your favorite children's stories.
• Cut fabric pieces from old clothes and blankets before you throw them away: Teach your children about different textures by cutting squares of fabric from clothing and blankets your are discarding. Put the fabric pieces in a box your children can play with. They have fun feeling the different textures and taking the pieces out of the box and putting them back in.
• Make bean bags and/or snakes: Cut squares from old fabric. Sew three sides and part of the fourth side, fill with rice, stitch up the hole, and you have a bean bag. You can cut the arm off an old sweater to make a snake. Just sew on some eyes and a tongue, fill with rice or dried beans, and then stitch the opening closed.
• Join the Toys 'R Us birthday club: Go to the toys 'r us web site and sign your child up for the birthday club and they'll get a $3 gift certificate in the mail before their b-day. Our boys used their money to buy these fun rubber balls and a Dr. Seuss board book.

• Make your own toy "boxes": Homemade toy boxes make clean-up more fun. Just take an old box (we like the boxes Sam's Club wipes come in) and cover it with contact paper. We just used an old roll left over from a project. We have four boxes like this for the boys to keep their toys in.
  
  

• Take advantage of freebies: Kids love cheap toys. They don't expensive gadgets. Finlay got these little toys from a Toys 'r Us Easter egg hunt. Watch the news paper and neighborhood bulletins and bring your children to the fun events in the areas.
  

• When you do buy toys, but ones that have multiple uses and can grow along with the child. For example, if you buy nesting cups they can use them to build towers, hold small toys, nest inside of each other, etc. If you buy toys that are very age specific they will only last a short time. However, if you buy something like a ball or blocks the children can adjust the way they play with the toys as they grow.

Leprechaun Pizza and St. Patrick Parfaits

I love holidays and the color green so of course we had to have a fun St. Patrick's Day dinner. All four of us gobbled it up.

Leprechaun Pizza

1 tube jumbo biscuits

1 cup alfredo sauce (colored green with food coloring)

mozzarella cheese

broccoli (cooked)

bacon bits

cheddar cheese

parsley

These are so easy. Just flatten the biscuits (flat enough that you can barely get 8 to fit on a cookie sheet). Spoon Alfredo sauce onto each biscuit. Cover the sauce with mozzarella cheese - however much you like. Sprinkle the cheese with bacon bits. Place a few pieces of broccoli on each biscuit. Sprinkle broccoli with cheddar cheese and parsley. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until biscuits are done.

We served the pizza along with Shamrock spears (green beans) and St. Patrick Parfaits. The parfaits were just crushed Graham crackers and pistachio pudding with coconut and pecans on top.

Fajita Enchiladas

Can't decide whether to make fajitas or enchiladas? Make them both! This is a flavor and nutrient packed dinner that tastes sooooooooooo good. Emerson and Finlay even loved it. You can alter the recipe however you like. I just looked in my fridge and tried to use all the fresh produce that needed to be eaten. The measurements are just approximations. Have fun and use whatever amounts you like.

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 cup fat-free sour cream
2-3 cups cheddar cheese
6 whole-wheat flour tortillas
1 can green chili enchilada sauce
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/4 medium onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fat-free Italian dressing
Light Ranch dressing (optional)

1. Boil the chicken until done (approximately 30 minutes). Shred or cube the chicken.
2. Cut the peppers in half (save half the red pepper and half the yellow pepper for later). Cut half of each pepper into bite-size pieces.
3. Mix the chicken, pepper pieces, sour cream, 1 cup cheese, and 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning in a mixing bowl.
4. Pour enchilada sauce into small bowl. Dip each tortilla in the sauce and then fill with chicken mixture.
5. Place enchilada in 8x8 baking dish. When all six enchiladas are in the dish pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the cheese with 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.
7. While enchiladas are cooking, slice the remaining pepper halves into thin strips. Dice the onion and garlic cloves. Put into a bowl and pour the Italian dressing over the top. Let the veggies sit in the dressing for about 20 minutes.
8. About 5-10 minutes before the enchiladas are done baking saute the pepper/onion mixture. Cook until the onions are translucent.
9. Serve each enchilada with the fajita mixture on top. It is also yummy with a little Light Ranch dressing drizzled over the top.

Carrot Raisin Pecan Bread

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat eggs, sugar and oil.
3. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat well.
4. Add carrots, pecans, and raisins and mix.
5. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan, and pour in batter.
6. Bake one hour.

Tisha's Banana Bread

We eat a lot of banana bread at our house, and each time I make it I use a different recipe. Now after 3 1/2 years I have finally come up with a recipe for banana bread that I am going to stick with. Ricky and I made this version on Saturday and we loved it. The texture and taste were perfect. This recipe makes one loaf, but is very easy to double.

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
Optional: 1 cup Ocean Spray trail mix (or your own combination of dried cranberries, honey-roasted peanuts, flaked coconut, dried pineapple, and dried mango).

Mix shortening, sugar and eggs in mixer. Add bananas and mix. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Next add baking soda, vanilla, and trail mix. Mix until well blended. Pour into greased and floured bread pan. Bake for 1 hour at 325 (you may need to cook a bit longer),

Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

This recipe is so easy to make, but so tasty. I had it at a Relief Society activity last year and then Ricky and I altered it a little bit and made our version last night. It is best served warm with vanilla ice-cream.

Combine:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Then add:
1/3 cup milk
1 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well and then add:
1/2 cup low-fat creamy peanut butter.

Mix all the ingredients and then pour into crock pot.

Mix together:
1/2 cup sugar
3 heaping Tablespoons cocoa powder

Gradually stir in 1 cup boiling water.

Pour over the batter in the crock pot. Cook on high 2-3 hours.

The Nine

The picture of the book turned out pretty small - oh well. This one is a must read! Ricky and I both tore through it. It is an interesting look at the Supreme Court and the justices that serve on it. Maybe we found it interesting because Ricky is in law school, but I think it would be good for everyone to read. It gives interesting background information about each justice and some of the big cases from the past few decades.

Team of Rivals

This book was amazing. I learned so much and thought it was especially appropriate as we approach the upcoming presidential election. The book delves into the inner workings of Abraham Lincoln's ascension to the presidency of the United States and then how he picked his cabinet members and orchestrated the country through the Civil War. The book talks a lot more about the cabinet members and their interactions with Lincoln than any book I have read. Therefore, I learned lots of interesting facts about this time period I never knew before. The book left me with the impression that Abraham Lincoln truly was a political genius. I think he was the perfect man for the times. I enjoyed the book so much that I would recommend buying it. It is very thick with small print and is not the kind of book you just sit down and read until you're finished. It's best digested in small chunks with time to think about. Ricky and I both enjoyed it.