Kitchen Gadget That Saves You Loads of Time

I do a lot of cooking and a lot of dicing. The problem I had, is that my electric chopper, made most of my stuff mush, so I went looking for a manual chopper. I had used the one with the zig zag blade but that didn't hold up very long and it didn't work good either. Then I read about this Vidalia Chop Wizard.  I ordered it and have been using it for the past 2 months. I LOVE this thing. Just click on the link and you can see a short video on how it works. Just  put your vegetable on the grid and with one push, it's done! As you can see, there is a measuring label on the side. This saves you from dirtying a measuring cup. If you are cooking something that needs one cup of diced onion, just chop and turn it to the side and you'll see how much you've done. My son's birthday was last month and we had some company over. He wanted some powdered fries so I had to cut up 10 pounds of potatoes. This was a breeze with this thing. All the potatoes were the same size, which is great for even cooking, and it took no time at all. That would have been a lot of work if I had to hand cut them all. This wizard has 2 different grids that go in it. One for the bigger diced things and one for the small things like garlic. One tip I read on Amazon, is to put the vegetable in it and just hit it one time with the side of your fist. This really works for hard things like carrots. I shopped around and the best price was at the site I've highlighted because you can get the second one for just the extra shipping. Just make sure you click that you want 2 or they'll just send you one, but you only pay for one. It also comes with a little 'comb' thing to clean it with, which is a breeze, that you see in the picture. This thing has made it so much easier to make stir fries, cook potatoes whether it's for fries or hashbrowns or just cubed, and for other recipes that need a lot of dicing like most soups. It has really saved me a LOT of time in the kitchen. This is one gadget that is worth having. 

Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake

I found this recipe on on this blog and tried it Saturday. It's SO good and moist.  The whole family agreed that this was a keeper. They tried to get me to make a second one on Sunday when they finished off  the rest of the first one.  I used her picture, since she took it so perfectly! The only things I changed, is that I didn't use Dutch chocolate and I used sour cream, not yogurt and I made a different glaze, which I've included in this recipe. I don't like the glazes made with the bittersweet chocolate, so I found one online made with cocoa and it was perfect!
1 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup cocoa 
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


 Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350. Butter and flour a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Whisk in the sour cream  and the vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
 Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.

 While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate glaze.
6 TBS butter
1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup cocoa
2-1/2 cups confectionery sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the milk and cocoa. Let it cook simmer for a minute or two until it thickens. Add the sugar and vanilla. Spread over cake.

Here is another one of my favorite CDs. Such sweet songs that get your mind on Christ. I love it!

Very Sweet CD of Hymns

This is a very good CD. I listen to it almost every day. The hymns are very sweet and get my mind on God. That's the kind of music God wants us to listen to. If it doesn't turn our thoughts and hearts towards him, then it's turning us away from him. Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Taco Bake

I found this recipe on Pinterest, but made a couple of changes. This is a VERY easy meal but VERY good! Our entire family loved it. 

3 cups dry pasta, smaller pasta blends  better

1-1/2 lbs. hamburger

1/2 cup diced onions

2 packages taco seasoning

2 cups water

8 oz. cream cheese

3 cups Monterey Jack/Colby cheese

Cook the pasta according to directions and set aside.

Cook the hamburger and onion together. Drain and return to pan. 

Mix the taco seasoning with 2 cups of water and stir into meat. Bring to a boil and let this simmer for 5 minutes, to reduce the liquid. 

Add cream cheese and stir until melted. 

Remove from heat.

Put the pasta and 2 cups of the cheese in a 9x13 baking dish. Stir. 

Top with meat mixture and stir to blend.

Top with remaining one cup of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Peanut Butter Cake

This is one of those always to go to recipes. We are having company today and this is what I'm making for dessert. This cake is so moist and easy to make. It's also very good!
1/2 c butter
1-1/4 c sugar
1/2 c peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c plain flour
1/2 tsp.salt
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 c milk

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the peanut butter, then eggs and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.
Alternately add the milk and flour to the cream mixture.
Put in a greased  9x13 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.


No Cook Fudge Icing
1/2 c butter
4 c confectionery sugar
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c boiling water

Mix the butter, sugar and cocoa in a mixing bowl. Add vanilla and then slowly add the water until you get the consistency you like. Spread on cake.

Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

These are the best lemon cookies I've ever had. I have tried MANY different lemon cookie recipes but none compare to this one. They are soft and have a lot of good lemon flavor. SO good. If you like  lemons, please try these!

                             
1/2 c butter
2/3 c sugar
1 TBS lemon zest
6 TBS lemon juice
1 egg
1-1/2 c plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 TBS poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl cream the sugar and butter. Add the zest, juice and the egg. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Stir in the poppy seeds.
 Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake  for 10-11 minutes. Take out as soon as you see any brown on the edges.
Glaze:
1  c confectionery sugar
2-3 TBS lemon juice
Mix together to the consistency you like and drizzle over warm cookies.

Chocolate Trifle

This is a family favorite at our house. It's so good.
1 chocolate cake
10 oz. peanut butter chips
4-3/4 milk, divided
3/4 cup whipping cream
2-3.9 oz. packs instant chocolate pudding
12 oz. cool whip, thawed
8 pack of mini candy bars of your choice, chopped
Bake the cake and cool.
While it is baking, put the peanut butter chips, whipping cream and 3/4 cup of milk in a small saucepan and heat over low until the chips are melted. Set aside to cool.
Mix the two boxes of pudding with the remaining 4 cups of milk. Put in refrigerator.
When every thing is cooled, put it together in a trifle dish.
Crumble half the cake in the bottom of the dish.
Add half the peanut butter sauce.
Half the pudding.
Half the cool whip.
Half the candy bars.
Repeat layers and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
It really is better if you wait the 4 hours. I have also used all milk when I forgot to buy the whipping cream and it works fine.

Free Bapron Pattern

I saw this pattern on Pinterest and loved it. Then I went to Wal-Mart and saw this cute monkey fabric. I don't know what you call this stuff, but it feels soft on front but has a vinyl backing. Perfect for bibs or diaper cover pants. I like this bapron because of the way the bias goes around their arms. Too many times when my  kids were babies, they would pull the bib around and food would get on their clothes. This holds it in place.  If you want to get a free pattern and directions for this bapron just go here.  I don't have a baby to put this on, so I had to use a prop. But you can see how cute it is!

Two Very Handy Tips

I've been cooking for over 30 years and I never knew this tip until a couple of weeks ago. There are little tabs on the end of the tenfoil and Saran Wrap boxes that you just push in. It holds the rolls in place. No more pulling  and the roll comes out! This has made it SO easy to use. Why didn't I know this before???

Another tip I found on Pinterest, is how to break in new shoes in just 2 minutes so that they don't wear a blister on your feet. One of my daughters got some new shoes and she tried it. It worked. You can read the post here.