~Almond Sheet Cake~

I have wanted to make this dessert for months now and just never got around to it until yesterday. AND I AM SO GLAD I DID! I have never had a more moist cake in my life. I looooove almond extract, and yes I know the cake isn't chocolate, but trust me. It is literally amazing!! I made this on Sunday for my folks who were coming over for dinner. My dad had two pieces and wanted to take some home! I also took some to Church for my Sunday School class. The boys loved them. I took the rest to work and they were inhaled by noon (except the pieces I hid for myself hehe...). Some of my coworkers requested the recipe, so here you go!

I feel like you can see how moist the cake is even through the picture! SOOOOOO yummy! I have never made a cake before this with such simple ingredients. I didn't have to buy anything at the store--I had everything in my pantry or fridge. Love these recipes!!

Makes 24 servings

You'll Need:

Cake:

1 c. butter

1 c. water

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. sour cream

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Icing:

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. milk

3 1/2-4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

Get Busy:

Cake: Preheat the oven to 375. In a small saucepan, add the water and butter and bring to a boil. In a mixing bowl, add the flour and sugar. Pour the boiling mixture over the flour mixture in the mixing bowl and beat well. Add the baking soda, almond extract, sour cream, and eggs; mix. Pour batter into greased 9x13 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cake cool for 20-30 minutes before you start the icing.

Icing: In small saucepan, bring butter and milk to boil. Add remaining ingredients in large mixing bowl; then add boiling mixture. Stir until well-mixed. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar. It should be pourable though. Pour onto the cake and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Serve with fruit or ice cream or nothing :-)

~Carrot Cake Bars with Cinnamon/Cream Cheese Frosting~

Yep...these are pretty good! Yes yes, I know it's not chocolate, but some desserts without chocolate are still good! I have always loved carrot cake (it's healthy, right? hehe) and anything with a cream cheese frosting has my attention. How could anything with a cream cheese frosting taste bad?? I made these for my parents when they came for dinner on Sunday. I accidentally made them in the wrong-sized pan so they were thicker than they were supposed to be. Ha, whoops. Better luck next time, Ang. I would recommend these for any dessert for home or for a party. Everyone will like them!

Makes 48 bars

You'll Need:

Bars:

1 box Betty Crocker carrot cake mix

1 c. butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

3 Tbs. milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. maple extract

Frosting:

1 pkg (8 0z.) cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

2-3 tsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 c. powdered sugar

Get Busy:

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 15x10x1 inch pan with baking spray; then flour. In a large bowl, beat the bar ingredients until blended. Pour into the pan. Bake 15-18 minutes or until top is evenly golden brown and the bars spring back lightly when touched. Do NOT overcook or else they will be dry. Frown face. Cool completely.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, milk, vanilla and cinnamon with a mixer until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar until smooth. Spread the frosting over the bars evenly. Enjoy!

Easter Sunday

Growing up, Easter was such an awesome holiday. Supermom used to either sew me a new dress every year or buy me a new dress--either way I got a new church dress--yesss. Then every year (and she still does this) Supermom makes fudge eggs for everyone and writes our names on it in frosting. Yum. We would have big Easter egg hunts which were never very fair, as I am the youngest of 7 kids and they are all much older than I am. So I got shoved aside and beat for my candy! (Kidding, love you all). We used to do Easter egg hunts at Aunt Jayne's house in Newport which were the best because Aunt Jayne hides the golden egg which had a $20 bill in it. Austin (one of the triplets) and I forgot about the candy eggs and just searched for the golden egg. So fun. This year unfortunately we didn't get to do an Easter egg hunt. However, I did make a delicious special breakfast for us, and I even let Jeremy sleep in until 10 or so.

Breakfast, sticky buns--soooooo delicious! (fab recipe here)

For dinner, I made what is called Lazy Sunday Casserole. It is fantastic--and I don't usually even like Italian sausage!! I'll post the recipe this week.

We spent our Easter day at church, learning about Christ. I taught my Sunday school class (9, 10, and 11 year-old boys...sigh) about the Resurrection and the Atonement. What a wonderful day. I even made my boys chocolate chip cookies with butterscotch chips too!

This week I also went to the temple. This is my favorite place on earth. I hope everyone can make it to the temple this month--it's such a special place ;-)

~Sticky Buns Breakfast~

I don't make breakfasts like this very often (let's be honest...it's not that healthy). HOWEVER, what a delish treat this is on an occasional Sunday morning! Next time I spend the night with the padres I'll definitely make this for them. I know my daddy would love it! It's easy to make and doesn't take long to prepare.

Now since this is such a sweet treat for breakfast, I also cut up fresh strawberries and bananas for a side. At least something from this meal was healthy!

The nuts and brown sugar really make this dish amazing in my opinion. I would say this serves 4 people...but my hubby and I inhaled it. SO depending on how hungry you are, it serves 2-4 people.

You'll Need:

1 1/2 tubes Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits

3 Tbs. butter, melted

1/2 c. pancake syrup (I make my own)

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. chopped pecans, optional

1/4 c. chopped almonds, optional

Get Busy:

Now normally this is made in a bundt cake pan...but I couldn't find mine! (Curse you Jeremy for trying to "organize" my kitchen so I can't find anything). So I made it in a bread pan. Spray your pan with a non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl; set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Pour half of the syrup mixture in the pan, then sprinkle half the brown sugar mixture over it. Lay the biscuits down overlapping each other at a slant. Top with remaining syrup mixture and nut mixture. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until the biscuits are not doughy. Let it cool for a minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter.

Enjoy! Most of you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already, which is the best! If you're out of ideas for breakfast one morning, you'll love this one.

~Rich & Creamy Tortellini~

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes :-) It's such a simple recipe and everyone who's ever had it likes it! Sometimes I buy cheese or mushroom ravioli instead of tortellini, but any filled pasta will pair well with this sauce. It's exactly what its name says--rich and creamy. MMMMM. I adapted this recipe from my awesome Taste of Home (which I highly recommend getting). We have tried soo many good recipes from that magazine.

This dish takes about 20-25 minutes to make, depending on how soft your cream cheese is...but either way it cooks up quickly. This is a good dinner to make when you don't have a ton of time or don't want to wait for a meat to cook. For a slightly healthier alternative, buy whole wheat pasta, non-fat milk and reduced fat cream cheese.

Don't ever cook tortellini or ravioli too long--it will be soggy and no bueno! I cooked my tortellini a little too soon, but instead of letting it sit in the hot water, I just let it sit in the strainer.

This time I bought 4 cheese tortellini, but other times I have tried ravioli, spinach tortellini, etc. It's all good!

The day I made this, my girlfriend and I accidentally showed up at work wearing the exact same outfit! So funny. Same blazer, white shirt, black slacks and closed-toed black pumps. Love you, Patty!

Serves 2-4

You'll Need:

9 oz. package refrigerated cheese tortellini

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs. butter

4 1/2 tsp. flour

1 c. milk

15 oz. jar marinara sauce

4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

salt and pepper, to taste

Get Busy:

Cook the pasta according to the directions. In a saucepan, saute the garlic cloves in the butter for 1 minute. Stir in flour; slowly add the milk and bring to a boil. Add the marinara sauce, cream cheese, and salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts. Serve over tortellini. That's all folks!

~Oven Baked Kale~

Who knew kale could be so delicious?? I did not think kale was good until I cooked it this way. Baked kale is amazing!! I used to be afraid of trying new or different vegetables I didn't grow up with, but as I get older, I find myself being a little more daring. I would like to thank Pinterest for this. I try a lot of different things from that website I wouldn't have otherwise tried. I tried chard for the first time a few months ago and wasn't a huge fan. If anyone has a good chard recipe, send it my way, and I will give it another go. (Same thing goes for quinoa recipes.) These basically turned into chips when I made them--and it's an incredibly healthy way to have your veggies. I am not a big fan of smothering my vegetables with butter/cheese/other fattening but yummy adds...I try to keep my veggies very simple. I learned this from my awesome sister, Ashley. I asked her one day why she didn't make her veggies fancier, and she replied, "Because I don't want my kids to get used to veggies added with all that stuff. I want them to learn to like veggies the way they are..." (or something like that).

I have made baked kale several times now, and it's even good cold! I could make these at night and eat them as a snack at work the next day and enjoy every bite. This is a very healthy, very easy way to make your veggie for dinner--it requires minimal attention.

They're so pretty! Kale is an awesome superfood and is called the "queen of greens." It is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet and a nutritional powerhouse, according to WebMD. It's incredibly low in calories (36 for every cup) and contains a bunch of vitamins and nutrients.

Serves 2-4

You'll Need:

1 bunch of kale

olive oil

sea salt

pepper, optional

Get Busy:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the kale and pat dry. You can snap off the long ends if desired. Place on a cookie sheet (with a lip) and drizzle some (not a ton) olive oil over the leaves. Toss the leaves so that they are mostly covered by the oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning the leaves once. Enjoy! The edge of the leaves may turn dark, and you'll know it's done if when you're eating it the leaves are slightly crunchy. Yum.

Kauai, Hawaii Part II

I think I had too many pictures on the first post, so I'll post the rest here from our trip.

From our luau, which was soo fun! There were wild peacocks on the property that were absolutely gorgeous.

Best hot dogs on the island!!

Don't know why I couldn't get this picture upright! This is Secret Falls; it's so cool!

A smaller falls on the way to Secret Falls

Hiking to Secret Falls

So it had rained a ton the week before we arrived, so there was a ton of mud on the trail. It was actually quite soothing on my skin

To get to Secret Falls we had to cross a river with a very strong current (several times) and hold onto a rope so we didn't get swept by the current

Rope swing :-)

Lighthouse on the north shore

Kayaking the river

Waimea Falls

The lighthouse

The peacocks were trying to impress the females... :-)

We got so close to the peacocks :-)

I even got to feed some right out of my hands

At the luau

The guys pulling the pig out of the ground

This was just the first round at the luau...

The wet and dry caves. Apparently the cave goes back 300 yards.

I found a baby turtle stuck in the sand! It had been washed down the river into the ocean from all of the rain, so we took it to the river and it swam away. Glad I found it before a seagull did.

Mr. Turtle. We had a blast this week.