Red Velvet Cake Balls

This is another easy dessert that is very versatile. You can change all the ingredients to combine your favorite flavors. My sister and I put this combination together.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Ingredients:

1 box moist red velvet cake mix

1 container Betty Crocker rainbow chip frosting

1 cup white chocolate

assorted sprinkles

Directions:

1. Bake cake according to box directions.

2. Once baking is complete crumble warm cake in a large bowl. Add container of frosting and mix completely.

3. Form cake into quarter-sized balls. Freeze balls for about 1 hour, or until firm.

4. Melt white chocolate in microwave for about 1 minute or until completely melted.

5. Cover frozen balls with white chocolate. Top with sprinkles before chocolate begins to harden. You will need to do this pretty quickly since the balls are frozen the chocolate hardens very fast. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tip: We found the easiest way to coat the cake balls is to poke the bottom of the ball with a toothpick, then dip top into the white chocolate. Use a spoon to get the cake ball off the toothpick and place on a cookie sheet with wax paper.

Other yummy combinations:

*strawberry cake/cream cheese frosting/white chocolate or dark chocolate coating

*chocolate cake/chocolate frosting/dark chocolate coating

*spice or carrot cake/cream cheese frosting/white chocolate coating

*yellow cake/butter cream frosting/chocolate coating

Chocolate Drop Pretzels

I got this recipe from a friend at work. These are so easy to make (definitely kid friendly) and taste so yummy. How can you go wrong with pretzels, chocolate, and caramel?

Chocolate Drop Pretzels

Ingredients:

1 bag of Rolo candies

1 bag mini pretzels

1 cup whole pecans

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Line pretzels on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Top each pretzel with a Rolo on the center.

4. Bake for 5 minutes, or until chocolate begins to melt.

5. As soon as you remove from oven top each with a pecan, smashing down the Rolo onto the pretzel.

6. Melt white chocolate chips in microwave until melted. Drizzle white chocolate over Rolo pretzels for decoration.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle

Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle

Adapted from Taste of Home Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 box family size brownie mix

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1 package (10 oz) peanut butter chips

4 1/4 cups cold milk, divided

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 packages (5.9 oz each) instant chocolate pudding mix

1 carton (12 oz) cool whip, thawed

1/4 cup mini Reese's pieces

Directions:

1. Prepare brownie mix according to directions, add pecans or walnuts to the mix. Pour batter into a greased 13x9 baking pan.

2. Bake according to box directions. Cool on a wire rack.

3. In a heavy sauce pan, combine peanut butter chips, 1/4 cup milk, and cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chips are melted. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 4 cups of milk and pudding mixes for two minutes. Let stand for two minutes or until soft-set.

5. To assemble: crumble 1/2 the brownie mixture into a 4 qt. trifle bowl. Pack the brownie mix down into the bottom of the bowl. Layer 1/2 the peanut butter sauce, pudding, and cool whip; repeat layers.

6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Sprinkle with Reese's pieces just before serving.

Cheddar Jalapeño Beer Bread

OK...so here is my first attempt at making bread from scratch and it came out really good. The dough was a little dense but that is certainly something I can work on. The taste was fantastic. I got this recipe from one of my friends at work and adapted it slightly. Thanks Meredith!

Cheddar Jalapeño Beer Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups self rising flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 12 ounce beer

2 tbsp diced jalapenos

3/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl combine flour and sugar until mixed

3. Slowly add beer to the bowl stirring slightly

4. Add in jalapenos and cheese and mix until dough forms a ball. It will be a little sticky.

5. Shape dough and place into a 5x9 loaf pan

6. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I love anything with rice but one of my favorite things to eat is gumbo. It's just a perfect way to warm you up on a cold day. This is the first I've made this year but know there will be plenty more to come.

I know it's cheating a bit but I always use jarred roux. You can definitely make your own if you want to take the time. I just think the jarred is a little easier. You always want to make sure you include the trinity of New Orleans cooking: ONION, BELL PEPPER, and CELERY. You can hardly find a good cajun recipe without those three. Also make sure you have a big enough stock pot. For this time around I tripled the recipe since we had pe

ople coming over to watch the Alabama LSU game, which we won by the way! GEAUX TIGERS!! Anyway, I ended up having to transfer a third of the gumbo to another pot because when I tried to add all the meat it was almost overflowing. Definitely compensate for the meat and veggies when you are figuring out the water level. We also like our gumbo very meaty so I tend to go a little overboard on the meat. It's totally up to you how much you use.

Just a suggestion...DJ's family loves to eat their gumbo with a serving of potato salad. Just make your plate and spoon the potato salad right on top of it. I've never tried it but they claim it's the only way to eat gumbo. Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who wants to try something different.

The Cajun Trio:

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

8 quarts of water

1 16 oz jar of roux (or you can make your own)

2 large yellow onion, chopped

2 green bell peppers, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 pounds of chicken breasts

1-2 pounds of andouille sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you can't find andouille use a high quality smoked)

season to taste with pepper, Tony Chachere's, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder

Directions:

1. Combine water and roux in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and boil for about 30 minutes or until roux is completely dissolved. Make sure to stir constantly so the roux doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

2. While the roux is dissolving, saute the veggies in a small amount of olive oil until tender.

3. Add veggies, sausage, and chicken to boiling water/roux. Reduce heat and simmer on low for about 2 hours. The longer you cook it the better the flavors mend.

4. While cooking, season to taste.

5. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Cookies

I had been craving these cookies for while. I saw this recipe on the Betty Crocker website and decided to try them. They are extremely easy and very tasty. I only made one batch this time and they were all eaten in no time. I should have definitely made two batches.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

adapted from Betty Crocker

1 package (1 lb 1.5 oz) Sugar Cookie Mix

2 tbsp flour

1 egg

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Combine cookie mix, flour, egg, and butter. Stir until a soft dough forms.

In a seperate bowl combine sugar and cinnamon

Roll dough into balls and cover with sugar/cinnamon mixture

Bake for 10-11 minutes

Weeknight Simple Tortilla Soup

It's starting to get a little cooler here in Houston, though that's not saying too much (it's currently 57 F). Anyway...it's a nasty rainy day which seemed perfect for soup. This is one of my favorite soups and it super easy! Definitely good for a middle of the week dinner after a long day of work.

Weeknight Simple Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 package Bear Creek Tortilla Soup Mix (or any other tortilla soup mix)

4 cups chicken broth

6 cups water

1 can original Rotel

1 small can chopped chilis

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 package frozen corn

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

1/2 tbsp. onion powder

1/2 tbsp. garlic powder

Optional Toppings:

sour cream

avacado

salad tortilla strips

cheese

pica de gallo

Directions:

1. Bring chicken broth and water to a boil in a large pot

2. Once boiling, whisk in soup mix until combined

3. Reduce heat to low

4. Add remaining ingredients

5. Let simmer for about 30 minutes

6. Serve with desired toppings and enjoy!

Goes great with homemade cheese quesadillas.

Homemade Red Beans and Rice

As much as I hate to admit this, for the last several years when ever I got a craving for red beans I always opened a can of Blue Runner red beans, doctored it up a little bit and I was good to go. I finally decided it was time to move on to the real thing. This was my first time attempting red beans from scratch and it was a complete success. My fiance, DJ, said they were the best he's ever eaten!

Homemade Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

1 pound dry red beans

1 package smoked sausage

1 smoked ham steak

1 ham hock

1 large onion chopped

3-4 stalks of celery chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

4-5 green onions chopped

3-4 tbsp fresh parsley

10 cups water

seasonings:

2 bay leaves

1 tsp basil

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp onion powder

1/2 tbsp pepper

1/2 tbsp Tony Chachere's

Directions:

1. Soak beans in water overnight

2. When you are ready for cooking. Chop sausage and ham then brown in a large pot over medium heat.

3. Add vegetables to pot and saute until soft (appx. 5 minutes)

4. Drain red beans and add to the large pot. Mix in and cook for about 3 minutes.

5. Add water and seasonings. You may have to adjust seasonings while cooking. Taste halfway and test.

6. Bring to a boil then immediately reduce heat and simmer on low for about 2-3 hours or until beans are tender. If you like you beans a little creamy, use a potato masher to mash some of the beans while everything is cooking.

7. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Ok...so here is the start of my very own food blog. I have alway wanted to do one of these so here goes...