Borrowed and Shareing

Mexican Chicken Spaghetti. Seriously sent from heaven!!

Ingredients...
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb velveeta cheese, regular or Mexican (or ask me how to make HEALTHY Velveeta from REAL Cheese!)
1 can(s) rotel tomatoes, regular or hot
1 lb spaghetti pasta
1 stick butter (yes Butter is GOOD for you!)
1 can(s) cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 can(s) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, red or green, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

1 Boil chicken breasts in a large pot adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper to water.
2 Remove chicken when completely done, about 10 to 12 minutes.
3 Boil spaghetti pasta in remaining broth according to package directions. Drain pasta after done and discard water. Set aside the pasta...Do not rinse.
4 Melt the butter in that same (empty) pot and saute the onion and bell pepper.
5 Add tomatoes, soup, cooked chicken (cut into bite-size pieces) and spaghetti to the sauteed onion mixture, one at a time, and gently mix together.
6 Add cheese and stir together, mixing well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7 Heat until cheese is melted thoroughly, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching.
8 SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve with a salad and hot garlic bread

 

Ripening Hard Avocados

Whether they want to make guacamole or put it on a sandwich, people love avocados for all sorts of uses. This can make it a big problem when they just bought some avocados from the store that still aren't ripe, but they want to eat it right now or they promised to make the guacamole for a party tonight. Ripening a rock-hard avocado can actually happen much quicker than waiting a few days.

First, the avocado needs to be wrapped in foil. Then it will be baked for 10 minutes, then placed in the fridge for 10 minutes. Now it will be soft enough to slice and serve however needed, and they even show a great way to easily get the skin off. While most might prefer to wait for their avocados to ripen naturally or in a paper bag, this is a useful technique for those who need their avocados ready sooner.

Corn Casserole

Corn casserole

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can cream-style corn
1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix (8 oz.)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or your favorite

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. mix all ingredients, minus the cheese, together and pour into a greased baking dish. After the casserole has baked for 45 minutes, or is set in the middle and golden brown, sprinkle with cheddar and put it back in the oven. Let the cheese melt, take the casserole out and enjoy this ridiculously buttery dish.

Butterfingers Pie

Borrowed and sharing

Butterfinger Pie
14 ounces of Butterfinger candy bars*
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 12-ounce container of Cool Whip, thawed
1 9-inch graham cracker crust

Chop Butterfingers into small bits and set aside, reserving 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top of the pie. I've done this a few ways over the years and have found the best way is to just line them up on a cutting board and chop with a chef’s knife. Using a food processor or smashing with a mallet or rolling pin tends to cream the chocolate a bit and things start to clump together. 

Beat cream cheese and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add half of the cool whip and mix until smooth.

Fold in crushed Butterfingers and remaining Cool Whip and mix by hand until evenly combined. Spoon mixture into pie crust. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup of crushed Butterfingers over pie. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator. 

*Use any size of Butterfinger candy bars (snack sized, fun sized or standard) so long as you have about 14 ounces total.
Read more at http://www.southyourmouth.com/2014/06/butterfinger-pie.html#RhjtoXeTw4mcdMD8.99

Avocado Chocolate Cake

CAKE 

3 cups all-purpose flour 

5 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

2 teaspoons baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/4 cup canola oil 

1 ripe avocado, mashed until smooth 

2 cups water 

2 tablespoons white vinegar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

2 cups sugar 

FROSTING 

2 ripe avocados, mashed until smooth 

2 cups confectioner's sugar 

5 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9” round cake pans.

In a large bowl, whisk first five ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk canola oil and next four ingredients. Once combined, add sugar.

Pour wet avocado mixture into flour mixture and mix well until smooth. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake cake in two 9” round cake pans, checking for doneness after 30 minutes.

To frost, allow cakes to cool in pans, then turn out after 15 minutes to cool completely. Add a layer of frosting on first cake layer, then top with second cake layer. Add remaining frosting to the top of cake.

Crazy Cake

No eggs, no butter, no milk and no bowls. What more can one ask for

CRAZY CHOCOLATE CAKE
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

You’ll Need
– 1-½ cup all-purpose flour
– 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– ½ teaspoon kosher salt
– 1 teaspoon white vinegar
– 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
– 1 cup water

How To

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8-inch square or 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Add all the dry ingredients directly to the pan and mix.
3. Make 3 depressions – 2 small and 1 large – in the mixed dry ingredients. Pour the vinegar in one of the small depressions, the vanilla in the other small depression, and the vegetable oil in the large depression. Pour water over all, and mix with a fork until smooth.
4. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool. Top with your favorite frosting and enjoy!

What a treat! Such a good option for your vegan and dairy-free guests during celebrations, don’t you think? Have you ever made a cake like this one before? Tell us if you give it a try!

Cobbler

21 hrs · 

Homemade Kentucky Blackberry Cobbler

Blackberry Cobbler is a very easy recipe, the only catch is that it takes about 45-55 minutes in the oven to go through the bubbling, caramelizing, browning process (now that doesn't sound too bad, does it?). The cobbler batter is a wonderful base that I could eat directly with a spoon if I didn't have the promise of blackberry heaven in my immediate future. It is akin to biscuits, and doesn't have sugar in the batter itself…that comes with the blackberries to create a nice glazed crust on top. For warmer weather, you can serve the cobbler with warmed cream (which I chose), or with fresh whipped cream–whatever makes you happy.

Traditional Recipe

2 1/2 C Fresh blackberries, washed
1 C Sugar
1 C Flour
2 t Baking powder
1/2 t Salt
1 C Milk
1 Stick of unsalted butter, melted

First you should take care of the blackberry and sugar mixture because it needs to sit for a while. Stir together just the berries and sugar in a large bowl and let it sit out for 25-30 minutes. This will coax out the juices of the blackberries so that they can be sweetened up by the sugar, and we can taste the full spectrum of the fruit–this process is called macerating.

After about 20 minutes, you should turn on the oven to about 375º and start preparing your batter.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk with a wooden spoon. Next, stir in the melted butter and hand-mix it until the ingredients are well incorporated and you have few clumps.

Pick out a clean baking dish– a smaller one will do– pour in the batter and smooth it out. You can choose to line it with parchment paper or not, but don’t grease the pan (there is enough butter in there already!). Finally, pour the macerated blackberries on top with all the sugar included and evenly distribute it over the batter.

Bake this promising pan of happiness in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how golden you prefer it to be. Let it set up for a good 15 minutes so it will hold its shape. It will be bubbling like crazy and quite hot, so be careful!

This hour goes a little like this: you can hear it bubbling through the vent behind the stove, you can smell the buttery dough caramelizing with the sugar, and you can see the dotted crown of blackberries creating that quintessential golden cobbler crust. It is a marvel to have in your oven, let me tell you!

Serve warm or room temperature with warmed cream or fresh whipped cream. You can store this at room temperature with foil over it for 2-3 days, probably longer in the fridge…but it never lasts that long for me!