Strawberry Cofee Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
TOPPING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the egg, milk and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Top with strawberries.
• For topping, combine flour and sugar in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans if desired; sprinkle over strawberries.
• Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares; serve warm.

White cake with lemon curd filling

If you like lemon, this is pretty heavenly. I frosted it with a lemon butter cream frosting, but you can use any frosting.



3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tb baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter, just until coated with flour.
• Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. Add wet ingredients gradually to the dry until it is well mixed.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Lemon Curd Filling

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
6 Tb unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• Whisk together juice, zest, sugar and eggs in a saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface. (About 6 minutes.)
• Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Tortilla Soup ll

1 pound chicken
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

• Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
• An hour before serving, take out chicken, shred it and put it back into the soup.

Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo

1 lb fettucine noodles
1 Tb butter
1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup half and half
6 Tb grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste
fresh parsley

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• In a large skillet, saute shrimp and garlic in the butter for about one minute. Pour in half and half; stir. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese in one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. After all Parmesan is added, mix in parsley and salt. Stir frequently making sure it does not boil. Sauce will take a while to thicken.
• When sauce has thickened, combine with cooked pasta noodles; serve hot.

Healthy Oat and Yogurt Pancakes

2 eggs
3 Tb vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups yogurt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tb sugar
2 -4 Tb milk or water to thin batter

• Beat eggs and vegetable oil together until combined and smooth. Stir in the yogurt.
• Stir the dry ingredients together. Quickly mix into the egg mixture and let rest for 5 minutes. Cook on a griddle set to 350. (The batter was really thick, almost like biscuits so I squished them down after turning them once on the griddle.)

Chocolate Cupcakes with a Kick

1 pkg chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 Tb vanilla
1/2 -1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1 pkg chocolate chips
2 tsp flour
1 recipe for white frosting
2 oz chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream

• In bowl combine cake mix, sour cream, eggs, oil, vanilla and chipotle pepper. Beat on low to combine and then mix on medium for 2 minutes.
• Fold flour and chocolate chips into batter. Spoon into greased or lined cupcake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when you touch them. Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Makes 24 cupcakes.
• Frost with white frosting and then drizzle with chocolate. For drizzle, placed chocolate in a small bowl. Bring whipping cream to a boil over the stove. Pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth.

White Frosting

8 oz pkg softened cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 - 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• Beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar until mixture is a spreadable consistency.