Recipe | It's Great To Be Home

Microwave Cup Cake (a.k.a. The Easiest Dessert You’ll Ever Make)

March 21, 2012 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 8 Comments

Have you ever come across a recipe on Pinterest that looked too good to be true, and secretly wondered if it would poison you?

That thought crossed my mind when I first saw the 1-2-3 Cake recipe from The Hidden Pantry – would it be awesome, or deadly?

I had to try it out for myself – and not only did I live to tell the tale, it was actually good!

So here’s how you can make your own cup cake (by the way, I had to call it a “cup cake” since I am obsessed with all things cupcake-related):

Step 1: Assemble your supplies.

- 1 box angel food cake mix (no negotiating on this one, you must have it)

- 1 box cake mix of your choice*

*I recommend chocolate since chocolate is the best flavor ever invented. Also, you want a strong flavor since it will be diluted by the angel food cake.

- measuring spoons

- water

- coffee mug (or similar small microwaveable bowl)

Step 2: Stir your cake mixes together. I just dumped both of mine in a Ziploc bag, shook it around and stirred it a bit. I labeled my Ziploc with the contents and the cooking instructions just to make things easy (and I would have used a cute glass container but, alas, I’m out). Obviously you only have to do this step once per large batch (which should make around 20 individual servings).

Step 3: Grab your cup and add 3 tablespoons of the blended cake mix with 2 tablespoons of water.

The result will be a slightly foamy-looking mixture.

Step 4: Pop it in the microwave for 1 minute. I put a paper towel under my cup in case things got crazy in the microwave (the cup is on the small side) but nothing happened.

Step 5: Get over the way it looks and just eat it already!! The finished cup cake will look a little . . . unappetizing. It’s definitely spongy in texture, which might throw some people off, but I recommend powering through any aversions you might have to the texture and just get to gobbling this sucker up.

As I noted before, the angel food cake definitely dilutes the flavor of the other cake mix, so my cup cake wasn’t overly chocolate-y. I’m contemplating adding chocolate chips next time (have I told you how happy chocolate has made me through this pregnancy?), or you could serve these goodies in little ramekins with sliced strawberries if you’re trying to class things up. This time I added a dollop of French vanilla ice cream – not necessary, but delicious nonetheless.

So that is now officially the easiest recipe I have in my repertoire – seriously, even little kiddos could make this as an after school snack! And it’s definitely a great alternative to a “real” dessert since it kills the craving without a zillion calories.

Now do tell – what’s your easiest recipe?

Fiesta Chicken Pockets

March 1, 2012 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 5 Comments

I love it when I come across a recipe that I can throw together in a few minutes, using pretty much whatever I happen to have on hand. Don’t you?

Well, this is one of those recipes. Meet my Fiesta Chicken Pockets – quick and easy!

( By the way, I fully realize and acknowledge that I will never have a career as a food stylist – my apologies. )

When I ran across Jenna’s chicken rollups on Pinterest I was inspired to make my own version – and the best part is that you could adapt this recipe to fit what’s in your fridge or pantry. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

If you want to make this version, here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

1-2 packages crescent rolls (How many you’ll need depends on how full you fill the pockets. Also, I used reduced fat crescent rolls.)
1 box cream cheese, softened in the microwave (I used reduced fat.)
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (my hubby bakes a bunch of these a couple times a week, so great to have on hand)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon fiesta ranch dip mix
salt and pepper to taste (if you use the dip mix I would lay off the salt)
Optional – small can diced green chilis (not pictured)
Optional – sour cream and/or salsa for topping (not pictured)

Directions:

Step 1 – mix everything together in a large bowl, except for the crescent rolls (Captain Obvious here).

Step 2 – Lay out your crescent rolls on a baking sheet and fill with about 2 large spoonfuls of the chicken mixture. Be sure not to fill them too full, you need to be able to fully seal up all the edges. (By the way, my rolls got wonky coming out of the package so I had to roll them out and cut new pieces, so please forgive me for the crazy appearance of my rolls.) Note – I had a lot of chicken mixture left over – I’m not sure if that’s because I didn’t make enough rolls when I rolled out my dough, or if I simply needed another package of crescent rolls. So here’s your warning – you may have extra chicken mixture. I’m thinking I’ll make these with my leftovers (I’ve made them before and they’re yummy!).

Step 3 – Pull the edges of the crescent rolls over the chicken mixture and pinch shut.

Step 4 – Cook the chicken pockets according to the instructions on the crescent roll package.

Step 5 – Top with sour cream or salsa, or eat them as they are. Enjoy!!

The moral of this story is that just about anything will taste great if you bake it in a crescent roll. I made these a few weeks ago for a brunch with my girlfriends and they were a hit, and I’m thinking it would also be yummy to try chicken with apricot jam (maybe?) for a sweet dish or chicken, cheese and broccoli for a quick dinner. Do you have any crescent roll recipes we need to try? Let us know!

P.S. Google Friend Connect doesn’t work on my Wordpress blog anymore – so if you were using GFC to follow this blog make sure to keep up with new posts by clicking here to get’em delivered straight to your email inbox. Thanks!

A Lazy Gal’s Chicken Noodle Soup

March 28, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 24 Comments

I had high hopes of finishing my breakfast room chairs this weekend but, alas, it didn’t happen. So you get my homemade soup recipe instead!

My approach to soup is simple (and lazy) – throw some things in a pot with some chicken broth and call it a day. It typically works out pretty darn well! I’ve come up with a version of chicken noodle soup that is incredibly easy, and Jason and I think it’s really tasty.

You can adapt this recipe however you want, but here’s how I make it:

Ingredients*

32 oz low-sodium chicken stock

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can corn

1 can navy beans

1 tablespoon bacon bits

2 tablespoons minced dried onions

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

ground pepper to taste

3 handfuls fresh, washed baby spinach

1-2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (you can use rotisserie, canned, whatever – Jason always bakes a few chicken breasts each week and we use them for sandwiches, pizza toppings, tacos, and soups!)

8 oz uncooked pasta (I use acini de pepe – little round pasta balls)

*These are all things that I always have in my pantry/fridge – make changes to the recipe to incorporate staples from your kitchen!

Pour the chicken stock into a large pot and whisk in the cream of mushroom soup (this gives the soup a little more substance). Start heating the chicken stock/mushroom soup to a boil while you start opening cans, etc. Then drain and rinse your cans of navy beans and corn.

Add the beans/corn into the soup pot and add in bacon bits, onions, ground pepper and red pepper flakes.

Add in the shredded chicken, and then tear the baby spinach into small pieces as you add it to the pot.

The last ingredient you will add is your pasta – by this point you want your soup to be at a boil. I think it’s fun to use the tiny acini de pepe instead of macaroni noodles just for something a little different and unexpected – they kind of act like rice in the soup, but you don’t want to add them until the end because they can get really gummy if they’re overcooked.

Just cook the pasta as directed (mine took 9 minutes) and then your soup is ready to enjoy! It should make about 6-8 servings.

(The soup thickens as it sits, so any leftovers will look a bit more stew-like).

I like to serve this with jalapeno cornbread – delish! How about you guys – do you like to experiment with making soups? Or maybe you’ve created some other delicious dish? Do tell!