Catz in the Kitchen

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Spice Cake Cookies

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My first encounter with a cake cookie was back in 2008 when I was pregnant with my little Edie. My sister and dad came from Vegas for a visit and my sister made a delicious batch of devils food cake cookies and they were crazy good! Luckily for me, my sister made me a copy of her delicious cookie recipe, but unfortunately up until now, I had forgotten about that recipe. Which is a shame because there is nothing quite as easy as cake cookies.

Last week in all of the excitement of The Hunger Games premiere, one of the bloggers I follow, Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen,  did a fun little Hunger Games party and recreated some of the foods talked about in the book. These cookies made an appearance at her party and I knew I had to make these myself. It must of been fate because I had a spice cake mix already on hand!

My husband just about flipped his lid when he came home and discovered I made cookies. He's all but eaten them all now, LOL!  These cookies are a great if your short on time but want something delicious and moist.  The kids can even get involved with this recipe. So if you've got a spice cake mix laying around, you should make these. Even if you don't have a spice cake laying around, pick one up and make these with your kids...or your husband. Or even just for you;  I can keep a secret ;) !

Spice Cake Cookies
1 box of Spice Cake Mix
1 stick butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
Coarse Sanding Sugar- I could not find this anywhere in my store, so I used granulated sugar
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl of a mixer, beat cake mix, butter, and eggs together on medium speed until fully combined. 
Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle generously with coarse sanding sugar (or if you can't find it like me, sprinkle with granulated sugar) and bake for 10-12 minutes. 
When cookies have puffed up and edges have set, remove from oven and allow to cool on sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling sheet. 

Tuesday's Tidings for March 27, 2012

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1. I saw "The Hunger Games" on Saturday! It was incredible, amazing, so worth all the hoopla that circulates around it! I'm already convincing my hubby to take me to see it again!

2. My oldest daughter Gracie is leaving me on Friday to travel to Washington with her grandparents to visit her aunt. I miss her already. Somebody, hold me! *Tear*

3. This is Josh's last week at his branch before he is working about a mile and half from home! I'm so excited that I might just start running up and down our streets banging pots and pans!

4. My cat has found a new place to hang out in our kitchen.

She rules the roost!

5. Eden, ( my youngest) has told me that not only does she want to grow out her hair like Rapunzel's, but that also she wants to be a princess when she grows up.

Somebody, please tell me what kind of princess dresses up like this. Should I be concerned, lol?

6. It snowed again last week. Grace made a snowman.

The snow is gone now and I have a very sad pathetic little carrot hanging out in my backyard now. It's kind of sad when you think about it.

7. Josh and I watched the Mad Men season premier last night. It was awesome. I'm singing "Zou Bisou Bisou" in my head now all the time. In the shower, tying my shoes, to my kids. They think I've lost it..."Zou Bisou Bisou..." I wish I could sing in French. *sigh*

8. Josh and I went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's Saturday night. We got those little shots of dessert. O-M-G...those are so good! I wish I could ordered like 40 of those little itty bitty desserts!

9. Josh surprised us all Sunday night by buying Lofthouse cookies. There are two left. Does it make me a bad mom if I were to eat the last two and deny my kids the cookies? Yeah, I thought so too. I was just dreaming out loud anyways.

10. "Zou Bisou Bisou" :)

Weekly Menu 3/26-4/1

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How was everyone's weekends??? Did it rock your world?? My weekend rocked my world too! Josh and I got a rare date night. Not that we're desperate of date nights, but when they happen it is nice to have the alone time together.  The weather cleared up for the weekend. In fact on Saturday, it got up to 70 degrees! I had forgotten what 70 degrees felt like. My cute little niece turned 2 years old this weekend and we celebrated with her and her momma made some A-dorable cupcakes. I wish I would of snapped a picture of them, they were so darling! And I did a little shopping. Long story short- My mom bought this really cute dress and I fell in love with it and I forced her asked her to pick me up one too since I had a gift card that I had been hanging onto too. So she did, I got it home, it was the right size, but it hung weird on me, big in some areas and just right in others. And then after playing with multiple shoes and other accessories, it just wasn't working. It looked so much better on my mom than me!!! So I returned it and got a really cute frilly girly dress and it fits great and all my shoes work with it! Now I'm happy!

This week is spring break week, however Grace and I are still working on school to get her caught up. She'll have some days off the following week too, so I'm not to worried about it, I just want her caught up. This is also Josh's last day of work at the Salem branch before transferring to the bank that is a mile and a half away from our house. BAM! Some of the dinners will reflect our crazy week. Josh is slammed at work and I'm headed back to the gym after to many weeks off due to being sick and other things.

Monday
Josh's Egg Mc Muffins with fruit
( roll over from last week)
Tuesday
Balsamic& Brown Sugar Pork Chops with artichokes and roasted parmesan potatoes
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Chicken Peanut Sauce served with rice
(rollover from last week)
Saturday
I'm not sure about Saturday...
Sunday
Grace is leaving later this week with her grandparents to go visit her aunt and uncle, so that's why I'm a little unsure about our dinner plans at the end of the week. Grace is such a good eater and I hate to make things I know she enjoys so normally we end up winging it whenever she's gone. 
Desserts and other goodies

Tuesday's Tidings for March 20, 2012

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1. Today I'm taking over my husband's job of teaching Grace her math class. Out of all the classes in school, math was the subject I hated the most. Which means if I'm teaching math for Josh today, I must love him a lot to put myself through this torture again.

2. Eden tried to burn the house down during math. She had placed one of our pillows against the fireplace and I smelled something burning. Luckily, I have a great nose that smells everything. My pillow on the other hand is slightly grilled and smells like smoke...but all is well!

3. Hunger Games this week! Be there or be square!

4. I'm jealous of all my fellow foodie bloggers who keep talking about about their beautiful grilling warm weather. Please send me some warm sun!

5. I'm still tired, can I go back to bed PUHLEASE!!!!

6. Grace won a lava lamp this past weekend. She's been collecting tickets from a pizza and game center for months now trying to save up for a lava lamp she wanted. Finally this weekend, she got enough tickets. And now she has a cool pink lava lamp in her bedroom. I have to admit, I'm kind of jealous, I wanted a lava lamp when I was a kiddo too. I'm thinking about having a sleepover in room just so I can spend some time with her lava lamp. :)

7. Josh went grocery shopping for me on Saturday because I wasn't feeling good. He forgot to buy butter. BUTTER! It was there on the list and he forgot to buy it. I almost had a heart attack! Butter makes everything better, kind of like bacon!

8. Josh and I watch Mad Men on netflix and am I the only one who still wishes we could dress as if it was the 50's and 60's? All the men looked so dapper in their suits and they all wore hats and the woman looked glamourous in their dresses with gloves and matching purses. I loved the fashion from that era!

9. I just read that Michael Bay is remaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. C'mon, why do people have to go and mess with the classics!

10. All I have to say is they better leave Ghost Busters alone or I'm going to have a real problem!

Weekly Menu 3/19-3/25

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It snowed again this morning!! It snowed last week and then again this morning. This is very odd weather for us this time of year. But I will take the snow over the rain. It's about this time of the year that Josh and I start feeling a bit squished by the grey clouds. Btw- is it grey or gray? Someone tell me what the difference is because I'm to lazy to look it up.

Spring Break starts next week and this year Grace will have two weeks off! As a homeschooling mom, a break is music to my ears! Especially since we've fallen a little bit behind due to vacation last month and being sick a few weeks ago. I've had Grace doubling up in all of her books to get her caught up before Spring Break arrives, which has meant a lot of LONG school days. Normally, when we start it takes us a few hours. But we've been doing school till 2 or 3pm some days and I'm beat by the end of it. But we've done some fun projects and Grace is doing very well. So I can't complain.

Monday
Shepherd's Pie with a side salad
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Chicken Peanut Sauce with rice and salad
Friday
Saturday
Date Night- Josh and I are going to go see The Hunger Games and go to dinner, I think P.F. Changs!
Sunday
Josh's Egg McMuffins - Roll Over from Last Week's Menu
Not sure about Dessert this week, Josh did the grocery shopping and forgot to grab me some butter which I'm out of for baking. So until I get to the store to pick more up, baking is out :(

St. Patricks Day Chocolate-Mint Parfaits

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I'm not sure if I've celebrated St. Patricks Day since I was a kid. I was that girl though that didn't like wearing green just because it was St. Patty's Day so if someone ever went to pinch me, I was like waving my finger in their face saying," Uh-uh, I'm wearing green eyes. YOU can't pinch me!" It annoyed a lot of kids and I still got pinched. So I guess that finger waving didn't help my case to much huh?!

BTW- how do you celebrate St. Patricks Day. Is there a particular way you celebrate? Is drinking green beer how most people celebrate?? I've never celebrated that way...probably because A) Beer isn't my thang and 2) I have kids; so the desire and time works in my favor, lol! But if your like me, and not sure how to celebrate, I have just the thing for you. Celebrate with a dessert the whole family can enjoy. Not only is this Chocolate-Mint Parfait super easy, but super yummy too!

Speaking of super easy, you can use a box pudding mix or like I did because I didn't have boxed chocolate pudding on hand, I made my own and it took no time at all, which the recipe is printed below!

Chocolate-Mint Parfait
1 pkg (3.9 oz) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 cups Cold milk
¼ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
1 cup Thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
6 drops of Green Food Coloring
Beat pudding mix, milk, and extract with whisk for 2 minutes. 
Whisk COOL WHIP and food coloring until well blended.
Layer pudding alternately with COOL WHIP in parfait glasses. 
Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Yield: 6-8 servings
1 cup sugar
½ cup baking cocoa ( I used Dutch Cocoa, it's what I had on hand)
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
2 TB butter
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt, gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir of 2 minutes. Remove from heat;  stir in butter and vanilla extract. Chill until serving! 

Tuesday's Tidings for March 13, 2012

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1. Josh and I finally got around to watching "The Help" this past weekend. O-M-G...I cried, I laughed, I got angry, and I became proud! This movie is life-changing. I can't wait to read the book now.

2. Everyone, Stop and drop whatever it is your doing and go out and buy The Pioneer Woman's Second Cookbook- I'm drooling and coveting it right now like crazy! I can't wait to run out and buy mine!

3. I'm convinced that Daylight Savings is out to kill me. All morning I was going by the one clock in our whole house that was not set for the correct time. When I finally realized my mistake, I cried, screamed and threw some pillows around. My bedroom is a big scary mess right now!

4. My husband is finally getting transferred to manage the Banking Center in our town. You know what that means??? Every day he gets to come home for lunch. We're saving a lot, and I mean A LOT of money in gas, and it also means my husband will have more time with our little family. I'm so happy I wish I could stop crying because my mascara is ruining my face!

5. We got a new patio set. Well, new to us I mean. My parents bought a new set for their backyard and offered us their old one. Do you know how happy this makes me??? We no longer have to drag out our dining room chairs to our patio now for our kids. We can entertain outside more now! I can't wait for Spring! Here's a Looky Looky at our new to us set!

6. School starts back up today. We took a week off because we were sick and now we're behind. :( I hate, despise being behind :(

7.  One of my friends posted this on their FB wall yesterday...

It made us laugh!

8. I'm so tired of the rain. *Sigh*

9. I want a nap!

10. Snooki's pregnant...I'm saying prayers for that child as I write this.

Weekly Menu 3/12-3/18

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We are all FINALLY feeling better! It was a rough week and from what I hear, we aren't the only family dealing with cold and flu season. Several other families in our church have been very sick too. Grace and I still have an annoying lingering cough, but other than that really, we're all back to normal!

Josh and I finally took advantage of our Kitchen Kaboodle gift card that we got for Christmas and bought some fun kitchen things. Josh got his egg rings he's been wanting. I got some biscuit cutters that I had been wanting. And we crossed off a proper salad bowl on salad tongs off our wish list. We bought a really beautiful salad bowl with some tongs and I can't wait to make a salad with it now! Now, I need to get my immersion blender...but I'm thinking that the closer it gets to spring, I might just end up waiting till Fall when it's more of a soup season; seeing as thoughI rarely make soups in the summer.

Monday
Tuesday
Soy and Garlic Wings with baked potatoes, and salad
Wednesday
Thursday
(Awana Night)
Turkey Shepard's Pie with Salad
Friday
Me and the girls having dinner with my parents- Josh has a charity dinner he's attending. 
Saturday
Josh's Egg McMuffins with Bacon
Sunday
Chicken with Mustard Gravy, Corn, and maybe rice
This week, I'm making snacks for the Awana kids again, and I'm not sure what I want to make. I'm still searching around for something that sounds good to me.  I'm going to make cookies for Josh's lunches and muffins for the girls I think. 
Desserts and Snacks
Oatmeal Chocolate Chewies
Something delicious for the Awana kiddos
Butterscotch Brownies- I still want to make these from a few weeks ago

Slow-Cooker Three Beans and Sausage

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This is one of my old standby slow-cooker recipes. I could assemble this meal with my eyes closed, it's so easy. I've been making this meal since Grace was a baby and now she is nearly 8 years old (Eeek)! I came across this recipe back in the day when I was given a subscription to the Taste of Home magazine and I was thrilled when I came across this recipe because I was just beginning to use my crockpot. It's been a favorite in our household ever since.

Not only is this dish flavorful and easy, but extremely frugal too.  I love it, my husband loves it, and more importantly, my kids love it, too!

Slow-Cooker Three Beans and Sausage

Slow-Cooker Three Beans and Sausage

Yield: 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes

Not only is this dish flavorful and easy, but extremely frugal too. I love it, my husband loves it, and more importantly, my kids love it, too!

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ pounds smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (15 ½ ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 can (8ounces) tomato sauce
  • ⅔ cup chopped celery
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • Hot Cooked Rice

Instructions

  1. In a 5qt. slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients.
  2. Sprinkle with oregano and thyme.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 4 ½ hours or until heated through.
  4. Discard bay leaf. Serve with rice.

Notes

Taste of Home

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 1067mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 5gSugar: 8gProtein: 16g

Nutrition information isn't always accurate.

© Catz in the Kitchen
Category: Slow-Cooker

Tuesday's Tidings for March 6, 2012

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1. My cat thinks she's a person. Every time I start to cook she's jumping up on the kitchen counter and trying to sniff/ eat whatever I'm doing. Friday, she tried to eat the Chili I was making in the crockpot.

Saturday morning, she stole a lone blueberry that fell off one of my daughter's bagels.  She is endlessly entertaining I tell ya!

2. This past week Jennifer Garner and Ben Afleck had their 3rd baby- A boy after 2 little girls! There is hope for my parents yet that at some point the streak of grand-daughters will be broken. ( They have 5 grand-daughter's so you can see why they are concerned, lol)!

3. Target recently started carrying Rachael Ray products, this could possibly be the death of me!

4. We're all sick here except for little Eden. Nothing makes me sadder than when my kiddos are under the weather.

5. My 3 yr old is addicted to Adele- all day long she runs around the house singing," Someone like you, Rumor Has it, and Rolling in the Deep." I'm thinking about making a video of her and sticking it on youtube.

6. Am I the only one who gets emotionally involved in Soap Operas???

7.  I'm getting cavities filled later this week- I'm considering taking Benadryl to help knock me out before the visit and ask for laughing gas to help ease my pain.

8. I'm thinking about binging out on sweets before my dentist appointment :)

9. Is it Spring yet?

10. The Kardashians drive me crazy!