Better Than Sex Cake

From one of my co-workers. It's a lot like this recipe.



Ingredients:
1 box German chocolate cake mix
1 (12 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12.25 oz) jar caramel topping
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 (2.1oz) Heath bars, coarsely chopped

Directions:
1. Bake cake in a 13 x 9 pan as directed. Cool cake for 5 minutes. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke several holes in cake.

2. Drizzle milk evenly over top of cake; let stand until milk has been absorbed into cake. Drizzle with caramel topping. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cover and cool completely.

3. Spread whipped topping over top of cake. Sprinkle with toffee chips. Store covered in refrigerator.

Comments:
One of the ladies at work brought this in last week. I don't particularly like caramel or toffee so I took home a piece for Adam instead. He LOVED it and insisted I get the recipe and make it immediately. So I did. The one thing he said was the wooden spoon makes holes that are too big. Maybe next time I'll use a fork instead. Other than that, a success.

Chicken Cheese-Steak Wraps

From The Biggest Loser Cookbook



Ingredients:
1/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup onion slivers
1 whole-wheat flour tortilla
1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp sliced pickled hot chili peppers

Directions:
With a sharp knife, cut the chicken into thin slivers at a 45-degree angle.

Set a medium skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot. Mist with olive-oil spray. Place the chicken and onion in the pan. Cook, separating the chicken, for 2 minutes or until evenly browned and no longer pink. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the tortilla between two damp paper towels. Microwave on low power in 10-second intervals until it's warm.

Place the tortilla on a serving plate. Spread the cheese, leaving about 2" bare on one end, in an even strip running down the center of the tortilla. Top with the chicken mixture, ketchup, and peppers. Fold the bare end of the tortilla up over the filling and then fold the sides of the tortilla over the middle.

Comments:
Didn't totally follow this. I used low-fat cheddar instead of the Laughing Cow (which is Swiss and neither of us like that.) I also skipped the ketchup and peppers because, well, eww. Just the chicken, onions, and cheese were perfect. I used this thin flatbread stuff rather than tortillas as well and that was great too. I think we'd eat this again.

Weekly Menu 8/29 through 9/4

Saturday 8/29 - Cobb Style Rice Bowls (got displaced by golf)

Sunday 8/30 - Chicken Cheese-Steak Wraps (Biggest Loser)

Monday 8/31 - Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday 9/1 - Adirondacker Burger

Wednesday 9/2 - Farfalle with Turkey, Leeks, & Broccoli

Thursday 9/3 - Sauteed Salmon with Mango-Pineapple Chutney (RR's 365 cookbook - I don't see it on any of the various food sites)

Friday 9/4 - Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Ham

Brown Rice and Edamame

From Recipezaar.com



Ingredients:
3/4 cup long grain brown rice
1 1/4 cups frozen edamame, shelled
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, toasted
1/2 teaspoon sugar
crushed red pepper flakes
3 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a med saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups lightly salted water to boil. Add rice, reduce to a simmer; cover and cook, 30 minutes. Stir in edamame; cover and cook until rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together lime juice, vinegar, oil, red pepper flakes and sugar until sugar is dissolved. With a fork, stir in lime juice mixture and scallions into rice; season with salt and pepper.

Comments:
I was finally able to track down some edamame. None of the grocery stores we usually go to carry it. What's up with that? Anyway, I tried this as my first edamame experience. I think they might have been undercooked, but it was still pretty good. They don't really have a flavor of their own, but the vinegar/sesame/sugar mixture and the scallions helped that along. I'm looking for other recipes for edamame. Let me know if you have a good one.

Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
2 pounds ground turkey breast
4 scallions, finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (a generous handful)
1 tablespoon grill seasoning
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 apple, such as granny smith, cut into 12 slices
8 slices extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
4 sandwich-size english muffins, split and toasted
8 leaves red- or green-leaf lettuce

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the turkey, scallions, parsley, grill seasoning and poultry seasoning. Form into 4 patties, pressing your thumb into the center of each to prevent it from bulging.

In a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook for 6 minutes on each side for medium. Top each with 3 apple slices and 2 cheese slices, tent the pan with foil and cook until the cheese melts, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together the cranberry sauce and mustard; slather on the muffin tops. Pile 2 lettuce leaves on each muffin bottom, top with the patties and set the muffin tops into place.

Comments:
We left off the "burger" part of this so I omitted everything after the cheese. These were good - a nice contrast of sweet, tart, salty. I might play around with it next time - maybe put the cheese and apple inside the burger... hmmm...

Cobb Style Rice Bowls

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
8 slices bacon
1 bunch kale (8 ounces), stemmed and thinly sliced (4 packed cups)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
5 cups cooked brown rice
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Directions:
In a large, heavy skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes; transfer to a paper towel and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the grease. Add the kale and 3 tablespoons water; cover and cook over medium to medium-low heat until tender, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until the tomatoes are softened, about 8 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon salt until dissolved; stir into the rice.

To serve, divide the rice among 4 bowls and layer with the kale, tomatoes, avocado, bacon and sunflower seeds.

Comments:
Adam had considered making this a while ago for one of his "Adam Cooks" nights but opted for ribs instead. So I made it instead. My avocado wasn't ripe so I left that out. This is pretty good. I wasn't so sure about the kale, but it's not bad. I'm thinking the fact that it steams in bacon drippings couldn't have hurt...

Weekly Menu 8/22 through 8/28

Saturday 8/22 - We're going down to Sheboygan Falls for a belated Anniversary Dinner with my dad & Cheryl

Sunday 8/23 - Adam cooks

Monday 8/24 - Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers

Tuesday 8/25 - Meaty Rigatoni Bake

Wednesday 8/26 - Cobb Style Rice Bowls

Thursday 8/27 - Oven-Baked Chicken Parmesan

Friday 8/28 - Fish & Chips (the AB way)

Sticky Chicky

From Taste of Home, but I can't find it on their site. It was in the April/May 2009 issue.



Ingredients:
16 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (any kind)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water

Directions:
Preheat over to 400F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the chicken in the pan in a single layer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Pour evenly over chicken. Turn pieces to coat both sides. Bake, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.

Remove chicken from the pan and keep warm. Carefully pour the sauce from the pan into a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water and mix until smooth. Add to sauce. Cook until sauce in bubbly and has thickened. Serve hot chicken with extra sauce on top.

Comments:
My edits: breasts instead of thighs, omitted the ginger, white wine rather than red wine vinegar.

These turned out great. They smelled good while they cooked, came together easily, and weren't too overwhelmingly barbecue-y. Which is good because we all know I don't particularly like BBQ. Adam suggested the sauce would go well with ribs. We'll see if we can't work that into the menu at some point...

Adam Cooks: Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Gorgonzola

From Rachael Ray via Foodnetwork.com



Ingredients:
4 (1 1/2-inch-thick) beef tenderloin steaks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound Gorgonzola
4 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced

Directions:
Let meat rest 10 minutes before beginning dinner preparation.

Place a large, flat griddle or skillet over high heat. When hot, using a pair of tongs and a folded paper towel, wipe cooking surface with oil and place steaks on hot pan. Caramelize the steaks, 2 minutes on each side. Reduce heat to moderate. Season meat with salt and pepper and cook 4 to 5 minutes longer on each side.

Preheat broiler to high.

Arrange steaks on baking sheet. Top each steak with 3 ounces Gorgonzola. Place baking sheet 6 inches from broiler heat just long enough to melt the cheese. Remove meat from the oven and top with slivers of fresh sage. Let meat rest 2 or 3 minutes, then serve immediately.

Comments:
What did I tell you - the man loves his steak. Part of mine wasn't done enough for me, but the parts I did eat were pretty tasty. Some of the comments on the recipe post on the website critized using such a strong cheese. Yes, gorgonzola is stinky and has a very distinct flavor. If you don't like it, you probably won't like this recipe. Duh.

Lemon-Grilled Chicken

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray

Directions:
1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.

3. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on each side or until done.

Comments:
Who makes things with 7 servings? That's kind of weird.

Anyway, totally simple. I didn't grill them - I cooked them on the stove - but they turned out great. Just a hint of lemon in the background. I love chicken...

Weekly Menu 8/8 through 8/14

Saturday 8/8 - Porcupine Meatballs (have I never posted that? I find that hard to believe...)

Sunday 8/9 - Adam cooks

Monday 8/10 - Lasagna Roll-ups

Tuesday 8/11 - My final summer board meeting!

Wednesday 8/12 - Fridge clean-out session

Thursday morning we're making like the Go-Gos and going on vacation! See you next week!

Warm Chocolate and Caramel Cakes

From Delish.com



Ingredients:
Butter, softened
1 jar good-quality caramel sauce
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup strong brewed coffee, warm
1/3 cup light olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Generously coat six 6-ounce ramekins with softened butter. Chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes, and brush with a second coat of butter. Pour 3 tablespoons caramel sauce into the bottom of each ramekin and transfer to the freezer for 1 hour.

Whisk the cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside. Stir the coffee, oil, vanilla, and vinegar together and whisk into the flour mixture just until smooth.

Fill each ramekin with 1/3 cup of batter. Bake at 400 degrees F until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the caramel has bubbled up the sides, about 20 minutes.

Comments:
I know, the balsamic vinegar sounds weird, but you don't even taste it so don't worry. These are pretty easy to assemble. I ended up using about 2 tablespoons of butter to grease the ramekins. The rest of the softened stuff got slathered on a couple fresh ears of corn from the local farmers' market. Yum. Anywho, these are good, but rich, so it's mighty convenient that they're individually portioned out. Still totally bad for you though. Don't look at the nutrition facts. You'll wish you hadn't. Also, they do re-heat pretty well in the microwave.

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp

From Rachael Ray via Foodnetwork.com



Ingredients:
12 jumbo raw peeled deveined shrimp, 16 to 20 count per pound
1 lime, juiced and zested
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon grill seasoning or coarse salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
12 slices center cut or applewood smoked bacon, cut in 1/2
Toothpicks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place shrimp in a shallow dish or bowl. Dress seafood with lime juice and zest, a generous drizzle of sesame oil, grill seasoning and hot pepper flakes. Wrap each shrimp with a half slice of bacon. Wrap each shrimp working from head to tail, pulling bacon snuggly around the shrimp. Fasten bacon in place as necessary with picks.

Arrange the shrimp on a slotted baking pan, such as a broiler pan, to allow draining while bacon crisps. Bake shrimp 10 to 14 minutes, until shrimp is pink and curled and the bacon is crisp.

Comments:
Adam had made the scallop part of this recipe previously so I decided to do the shrimp this time. (And that's what I had in the freezer...) Not too hard, but I was informed I was a little heavy-handed with the lime. Whoops. That's what I get for using an actual lime rather than the bottled stuff.

Weekly Menu 8/1 through 8/7

Saturday 8/1 - If we don't end up going down to Brat Days in Sheboygan it will be a leftover night

Sunday 8/2 - Adam cooks

Monday 8/3 - Leftovers - I work late

Tuesday 8/4 - Bacon Cheeseburger Buns

Wednesday 8/5 - Scrambled Egg Burritos

Thursday 8/6 - Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Friday 8/7 - Lemon-Grilled Chicken Breasts

Hmm, not too many new ones and a lot of bacon there.

Speaking of bacon, I got a new skillet this week and guess what the first thing I cooked in it was?



Yep, that'd be bacon.

Chicken & Spaghetti Di Napoli

From what looks like one of those recipe cards you pick up in the grocery store - possibly from Creamette?



Ingredients:
6 strips bacon
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced (I omitted)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 26 oz jar pasta sauce
1 lb spaghetti, uncooked
2 tbsp softened butter or margarine

Directions:
In a medium skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove. Crumble and set aside. In the same skillet, brown chicken in 2 tbsp drippings. Remove. Cook carrot and garlic until tender. Add pasta sauce and chicken. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain. Add butter, toss to coat. Slice chicken. Serve over spaghetti with sauce. Garnish with bacon.

Comments:
I just wasn't feeling very "carrot-y" yesterday but that's the only change I made. That and leaving out the butter. Not necessary... I might make this again sometime with my homemade sauce. This time I used Prego...

Weekly Menu 7/25 through 7/31

Saturday 7/25 - Mac & Cheese Lorraine

Sunday 7/26 - Adam cooks - he's taking me out to The Melting Pot!

Monday 7/27 - Crockpot chicken & veggies

Tuesday 7/28 - My night out for the month - I'm thinking Hu Hot but I'm not 100% yet

Wednesday 7/29 - I won free tickets to the Comedy Club so we'll eat dinner there

Thursday 7/30 - Chicken & Spaghetti Di Napoli (from a card in my recipe box, but this one is very similar)

Friday 7/31 - Black Bean Pita Pockets

Adam Cooks: Herb Chicken

From Beer Cookbook: 101 Recipes with Beer



Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
6 cloves garlic
1 12oz bottle beer
2 springs parsley

Directions:
Salt & pepper chicken and broil them until golden brown. Place the chicken in a slow cooker with the rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, and beer. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Comments:
Following my bad example, he didn't exactly follow this recipe. He didn't brown the chicken before cooking it. It went on low for about 6 hours. The spices are really strong so unless you're really into it, maybe dial it back a notch or two. The beer also really intensifies in the slow cooker. I don't know that we'll try this one again.

Miniature Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
5 teaspoons butter, melted

FILLING:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons beaten egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 miniature peanut butter cups

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom of six paper-lined muffin cups; set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until smooth. Add egg and vanilla; beat on low speed just until combined. Place a peanut butter cup in the center of each muffin cup; fill with cream cheese mixture.

Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until center is set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Comments:
So, I didn't exactly follow this recipe. I realized when I got back from the grocery store that this recipe calls for MINIATURE peanut butter cups and I got full size ones. Oops. So I improvised. Also, I used chocolate graham cracker crumbs since I had them around still from these parfaits. (Hmm, those were pretty good. I should make those again...)

Oh, and my tops totally sank in after they cooled, so I hid that with whipped cream. :)

Cheese Stuffed Burgers

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
2 hamburger buns, split
Lettuce leaves and tomato slices, optional

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into four thin patties. Sprinkle cheese over two patties; top with remaining patties and press edges firmly to seal.

Grill, covered, over medium heat for 6 minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink. Serve on buns with lettuce and tomato if desired.

Comments:
Similar to another burger I've made in the past. These are easy to make, the cheese didn't ooze out too much, and it ignited all kinds of creativity in Adam's head. He suggested all kinds of things to put inside the burger - mostly coming back to bacon. He's really on a bacon kick lately...

Bistro Breakfast Panini

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
6 bacon strips
1 teaspoon butter
4 eggs, beaten
4 slices sourdough bread (3/4 inch thick)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 ounces Brie or Camembert cheese, thinly sliced
8 thin slices apple
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add eggs; cook and stir until set.

Place eggs on two slices of bread; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Layer with cheese, apple, bacon, spinach and remaining bread. Butter outsides of sandwiches. Cook on a panini maker or indoor grill for 3-4 minutes or until bread is browned and cheese is melted.

Comments:
These were delicious! I omitted the spinach, but other than that I stuck to the plan. I used Granny Smith apples and these cute mini brie wedges:



Wee Brie! Adorable!

I still can't get them to brown on the press. I even cranked it all the way up this time. I'm not sure what that's about. But they tasted just fine. At least they weren't soggy like the turkey sandwiches always turn out to be.