Sweet Sushi

I saw this idea in Family Fun magazine and we had fun with it (although my didn't turn out half as cute as theirs)!Cake (i used a box cake but I think pound cake would work better at least for decorating and then you could cut the slices thinner since the cake mix was a little tall for the fruit leather)
white frosting
sweetened coconut
fruit leather
fruit snacks or other "fishy" things to put as the inside of the sushi

Cut circles from cake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Frost the top with frosting and then wrap a fruit leather around (i cut my fruit leather in half lengthwise and then those two pieces covered the whole circle). I used fishing line to help hold it in place and then before we ate them if you snip it off they stay put. Sprinkle coconut on the top and garnish to make fish insides. They even went a step further in the magazine to use a green and red starbursts to make wasabi and ginger. You just heat them up and shape the green one into a ball for wasabi and flatten the red one out and then shape into pickled ginger that they usually serve with sushi.

Grandma’s old fashioned baked beans

(For any of you who have suffered through a BBQ at my house, this is the recipe for the beans we serve)
1 large (family size) can bush’s original baked beans
1/3 cup chopped onion or 4 Tbsp dried onion.
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup catsup and mustard mixed.
Mix first three ingredients in a glass or oven safe dish. Add catsup and mustard on the top. Mix together, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. When hot and bubbly, remove and serve.
You can take the time to make the beans from scratch like my grandma always did, but any can of premade baked beans works just as well and saves you some time. You can also just microwave this dish, but it won’t thicken up like it does in the oven. another way is to do this in a crockpot or slow cooker. It will thicken up nicely as it cooks.

Lemon cheese bars

Lemon Cheese Bars (from the cake mix bible)

1 pkg white or yellow pudding in the mix cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup veg oil
8 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350
Combine cake mix, 1 egg, and oil in a large bowl. Stir until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup crumb mix. Pres remaining mixture into bottom of an ungreased 13X9 inch cake pan. (I always do a light butter and flour greasing anyways)
Bake at 350 for 15 min until light golden brown.
Combine the remaining egg, cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Beat until smooth and well blended.
Spread over baked layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake 15 min at 350. Cool pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Makes 18 bars.

Pork and Pineapple Kabaobs & Grilled Asparagus

The weather is getting warmer here and this was the perfect meal because it was almost completely cooked outside! Ive never done asparagus on the grill before but since I didn't want the stove on I tried it tonight and it was so yummy!

Pork and Pineapple Kabobs

2 lb boneless pork chops, cubed
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp dried onions
can of pineapple chunks
1 red bell pepper, cubed
1 onion sliced into chunks

Put first 5 ingredients in a bowl and marinate for 3 hours or so. Thread pork, peppers, onions, and pineapple onto skewers. Prepare grill and grill until pork is done basting with extra marinade. Serve over rice with soy sauce.

Grilled Asparagus

Wash asparagus and cut off bottom 2-3 inches. Place on grill that is on low and let cook for about 5 minutes. Melt 1 Tbsp of butter and baste asparagus with it for the remainder of cooking. Sprinkle with seasoning salt after removing from grill.

Lemon Meringue Cake

Lemon Meringue Cake

1 White or Lemon cake mix
1 pkg lemon kool aid mix
¾ cup veg oil
1 ¼ cup water

3 eggs
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes in a glass greased 13x9 inch pan. Let cool completely before serving.

Frosting
1 cup powdered sugar
¾ cup milk
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (one stick) of butter softened
Mix the milk and flour in a small saucepan cook over low heat until thickened.
Remove from heat and chill.
Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla.
Mix in chilled flour and milk mixture and cool frosting.
Frost when cake is cool. Will resemble almost a slightly thicker glaze.

When cool, cut into square portions and garnish with a strawberry fan. (to make cut strawberry in four sections with point towards you. Leave room at the top by not cutting through completely. Fan out and garnish on each portion. )

Grandma's Brownies

Very simple to make and delicious! They are a little more cakey than fudgey and they're moist. These are my favorite brownies by far!


Grandma's Brownies

1 c. margarine (2 cubes)
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Add flour a little at a time. Add cocoa. Mix well. Add vanilla. Bake at 350 degrees in a greased 9x13 pan for 25 minutes (or toothpick comes out clean). Top with chocolate frosting (below).

Chocolate Frosting

2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1/4 c. margarine
1/2 tsp. vanilla
slowly add milk to reach desired consistency.

These brownies are really good with vanilla ice cream!

Tres Leches Cake

This is a really yummy cake. It's easy since it starts with a cake mix - my favorite Mexican dessert.


Ingredients for Cake:
1 package (18.25 oz.) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 oz.) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
Vegetable oil cooking spray for baking pan
Ingredients for Milk Syrup:
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
One 8 oz. container of Whipped Cream Topping
.

Directions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly spray a 13-by-9 inch baking pan with vegetable spray. Set the pan aside.
Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well mixed for about 1 minute. Scrape the batter off the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Beat an additional 2 minutes on medium speed. The batter should be well blended. Pour the batter into the sprayed baking pan.
Bake the cake until it is golden brown, 30 to 34 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely for about an hour.
While the cake is cooling, make the milk syrup. Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream and vanilla in a medium-size bowl.
Poke the cooled cake all over the top with a fork. Use a large spoon or ladle and spoon some of the milk syrup over the cake. Let the syrup soak into the cake. Continue spooning the syrup on top until all of it has been used up. When you have finished, not all of the syrup will be completely absorbed.
Cover the cake loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until all of the syrup is absorbed for about 2 hours.
Before serving you may spread on the whipped cream topping. Store this cake, loosely covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Note: I used fresh whipped cream and strawberries on top.

Fresh Fajitas

1 red pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow pepper, sliced thin
1 onion, sliced thin
1 lemon, cut in half
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 chicken breast, uncooked sliced thin
tortillas
cheese
sour cream
avocado if you want

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add chicken and on med-hi heat let it get just browned. Add garlic and veggies and let them cook on med heat stirring frequently. Squeeze half the lemon over and continue cooking. When the veggies are soft and wilting turn heat to high, stirring often, and let them get just blackened. Squeeze the other half of lemon over and let them cook for just 30 more seconds.

Place mix in tortillas with a little cheese, avocado, sour cream. So yummy and very healthy if you don't add to many of the fatty insides.