Cake Balls and a Birthday

Yesterday was one of my best friends birthdays. Her golden birthday. She turned 29. Can you believe she had never had my cake balls/pops? For her birthday I made her ice cream cone cake balls and cake balls in the shapes of 2's, 9's, and stars. Her favorite cake flavor is white. I actually had never made white cake balls before and they were really good. So far every flavor I have tried has been great. I'm looking forward to trying more flavors.





I made the stars using a cookie cutter. I think they turned out great.













I made the twos and the nines using cookie cutters as well.


























Me and Angela.

Oven Roasted Corn Salad

When I make corn on the cob I normally shuck it and then boil the cobs in water. I have found a new way to make my corn on the cob. In the oven. Now this may not be new to most people but it was new to me. It takes a little more time but it was worth it. Once I get to grilling I'm going to try it on the grill.

This salad was really good. Very fresh and yummy.

Oven Roasted Corn Salad
adapted from Bobby Flay

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12 ears of corn, soaked in water for 30 minutes (I removed pieces of husk that were hanging and the silk tassel on the top)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 lime, juiced and zested
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup cotija cheese
2 tablespoons butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place soaked corn on a cookie sheet and bake 30-40 minutes. I baked for 40. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle. Remove the husks from the corn and cut the kernels off the cobs. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and add the corn and onion. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the sour cream, lime juice and zest, chili powder, cilantro and cheese. Cook for another 10 minutes. You can serve hot or cold.

Bisquick Pinwheels

Pizza is on my brain. I took a stab at making pizza pinwheels using Bisquick. Will and I both agreed that they turned out pretty tasty. I put pizza sauce in them but they needed a little more sauce so I served sauce on the side. I think these would be good dipped in ranch.

Bisquick Pinwheels
a Lacey original

8 servings, 4 WW pints per serving

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2 cups Heart Healthy Bisquick
3/4 cup water
1/4-1/2 cup pizza sauce
9 slices reduced fat provolone
Toppings of choice (I used pepperoni on half and veggies on the other half)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the Bisquick and water. On a clean surface dusted with Bisquick knead the dough 10 to fifteen times. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the sauce on the dough. Top with cheese and then the toppings. Roll up as tight as you can like a jelly roll. Spray a cookie sheet with cookie spray. Using a sharp knife slice the pizza roll into 8 slices. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until dough is cooked through and the cheese is melted.

Cherry Pretzel Cheesecake

One of the foods I look forward to the most in the summer at parties is strawberry pretzel jello salad. Most of the time someone has made it and I gladly eat it. It's so yummy but I have a fear of making it. What if the jello doesn't set up right? I have anxiety just thinking about it. For my book discussion this month I came very close to making it but I chickened out. I found the strawberry pretzel jello salad recipe on Betty Crockers website. When I decided I wasn't going to make it I looked on that website for something else to make and found a recipe with the name of strawberry delight something. It was basically the same as the strawberry pretzel jello salad but instead of a jello topping you used strawberry pie filling. I had cherry pie filling on hand so that is what I used. I sorta of meshed the two recipes together. I liked the pretzel crust recipe better from the delight recipe and the cheesecake mixture better from the pretzel salad. This dessert is awesome. If you like the salty sweet combo this is for you. The pretzels just give it a great taste and it's not too sweet. I will be making this again probably with a few tweaks so I can have it on WW.

Cherry Pretzel Cheesecake
adapted from www.bettycrocker.com

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2 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 8oz package reduced fat cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 8oz tub Cool Whip
1 can cherry pie filling

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.

Combine pretzels, butter, and sugar. Spread mixture evenly into a non greased 9X13 cake pan and press with hands for form a crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Fold in the Cool Whip. Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled crust. Open the can of cherry pie filling and evenly spread over the cream cheese mixture. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.



Sage says hi.

French Bread Pizzas

I think I have mentioned I'm having a terrible craving for pizza. I love making French bread pizzas. The sub rolls sold at Strack and Van Til are great for this but any would do. These are a very easy weeknight meal that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.


French Bread Pizzas

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2 sub rolls cut in half lengthwise
8 slices reduced fat provolone
1/2 cup pizza sauce
Desired toppings, I used onion, mushrooms, and green pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the sub roll halves on a baking sheet. Evenly distribute the pizza sauce over the four halves. Top with desired toppings. Top each half with two slices of provolone cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is all nice and melted.

3pt Homemade Oreos

I make Will his homemade Oreos using chocolate cake mixes. I wondered if I could make them for me modifying the recipe a little bit. Instead of oil I used water and instead of whole eggs I used egg whites. For the filling I used marshmallow creme. The batter isn't as stiff as the original recipe but I just used my smallest cookie scoop instead of trying to hand roll them. You could use two spoons if you don't have a cookie scoop. I think these turned out great and one of Will's friends must have liked them because he ate the rest of them. I wasn't to happy with Will giving away my cookies but I can make more.

3pt Homemade Oreos

21 servings, 3 WW points apiece

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1 box chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup water
3 egg whites
1/2 container marshmallow creme


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the cake mix, water, and egg whites. Using a small cookie scoop drop batter onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie slightly with fingertips. Bake for 8 minutes. Recipe makes 42 cookies, 21 Oreos. Evenly distribute the marshmallow creme between 21 cookies. Top each cookie with another cookie. Enjoy.

If you don't want to sandwich these cookies together with creme you can eat them plain. They are really good and only 1 WW point apiece.

Homemade Pizza Pockets

I have been having a terrible craving for pizza lately. Of course I have gotten back in my Weight Watcher wagon and I think pizza out is a lot of points. Who can only eat one or two pieces? Pita pizzas are really good but I wanted something different. These pizza pockets turned out really good. I wasn't sure how they would turn out when I made them. Sometimes my experiments just work out. I love when that happens.




Homemade Pizza Pockets

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8 servings, 4 WW points per serving

2 cups of heart healthy Bisquick
3/4 cup water
8 tablespoons of pizza sauce
8 slices of reduced fat provolone cheese
Veggies of choice chopped up small, I used onion, mushrooms, and green pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the Bisquick and water. If dough is sticky add a little more Bisquick. If it is to dry add more water. On a clean work surface sprinkled with Bisquick knead the dough 10 to 15 times. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough. Using a large round cookie cutter cut out as many rounds as you can. Re roll out the remaining dough and cut some more. Flatten out each round a little more with the rolling pin. In the middle of each round spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce. Place a slice of cheese on the sauce. You may need to break up the piece of cheese to fit. Place some of the cut up veggies on top of the cheese. Fold the dough over and seal the edges together. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until dough is cooked through and cheese is melty.

Mini Pie Crust Cinnamon Rolls

I was looking up cinnamon roll cookie recipes when I read a post by someone saying that her mom used to slather pie scraps with butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and bake it. It got me thinking and drooling because that sounded fabulous. When I went to the store I bought some pie crusts to experiment with. I think my experiment turned out great. At the time I was also baking cinnamon bread for one of my co-workers birthdays and she didn't want the icing that came with the kit on the bread. So I used that icing on my rolls. But making homemade icing would be very easy.


I like that they were soft in the middle but buttery and flaky around the outside.

Mini Pie Crust Cinnamon Rolls

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1 package of pie crusts, I get the Great Value brand
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll both pie crusts. Evenly distribute the butter between the two pie crusts, spreading it out on each crust to the edges. Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar onto each crust. Sprinkle cinnamon over each crust. I didn't measure I just sprinkled it on. Tightly roll up each crust. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 15-30 minutes to firm up the dough. Liberally spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Take the cinnamon roll logs out of the freezer and unwrap each. Slice each log into 1 inch slices. Place each slice on the cookie sheet. It's okay if they are close together. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove immediately from the pans. Once they start to cool the butter mixture will stick to the pan making it very hard to get them off. I drizzled on the icing once them were cool. You can make icing by mixing together 1 cup powdered sugar with enough milk to make a thin icing.

Veggie Pasta with Feta

I love grilling season. Since we have only had about two days of hot weather I haven't started grilling yet. When I do I will be grilling chicken and veggies. Grilled veggies in pasta is so good. Since I'm not grilling yet I cooked my veggies on the stove. Still really yummy. Disregard the whole wheat pasta. It didn't have an expiration date on it and when I cooked it up buggies were floating around. That's not the kind of protein I'm looking for. So I dumped it out and started over after washing out my pan and cooked up small shells instead. Using whole wheat pasta is healthier but not when it has bugs in it. This pasta was really good. If you don't like feta, Italian cheese would be good in this also. This is enough to feed a crowd so make it for your next picnic or grill party.


Veggie Pasta with Feta

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About 10 one cup servings, 6 WW points per serving

2 zucchinis
1 yellow squash
1/2 red onion
1 container grape tomatoes
1 package of small pasta shells, or pasta of choice
1/2 bottle light balsamic vinaigrette
1 package reduced fat chunk Feta

Cut each zucchini in half long ways. Slice each half up into slices. Repeat with the yellow squash. Discard the ends. Finley chop up the onion. Lightly coat a skillet with olive oil, butter, or cooking spray. Add the onions. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and squash and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the grape tomatoes and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the skins of the tomatoes have started to pop. While the veggies are cooking, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and put in a large bowl. Add the veggies and the dressing. Cut up or crumble the feta and add it to the bowl. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours to let all the flavors meld. It's even better the next day. Or if you can't control yourself eat a bowl right away.

Cheese Ball

I love cheese ball. I love this cheese ball. I'm not sure where the recipe originated from I just know that my mom made it all the time for parties. She would put green onion in it and roll it in nuts but I prefer it plain. Serve with Ritz crackers and enjoy.

Cheese Ball

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2 blocks of cream cheese, softened (using fat free would be fine)
2 packages of Budding Beef, cut into small pieces
1/2 to 1 tablespoon garlic powder

In a bowl mix together the cream cheese, Budding beef, and garlic powder. Start with 1/2 tablespoon garlic and add more if it needs it. Once mixed together shape into a ball and place on a pretty plate. Serve with crackers.

If you need to make a really big cheese ball just double the recipe.

Black Bean Corn Salsa

I found this recipe several years ago I believe on Kraft.com. This salsa is so good and so refreshing. I used to make it all the time and then for some reason I stopped. My friends mom loves this salsa and the last two times we have gotten together I have made it. I think I'll be making it a lot over the summer.









Black Bean Corn Salsa

The whole recipe is 19 points

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1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained (or you can use frozen corn)
1/2 large red onion, chopped finely
10-15 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Big handful of cilantro, chopped
salt
juice of one lime

In a large bowl mix together the beans, corn, onion, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice. Sprinkle in some salt.

Coke Zero Brownies

I make cake with diet pop so I thought why not brownies. The texture is that of a molten lava cake. Dry to the touch on the top and ooey gooey on the bottom. I thought they were tasty. Will liked them. He inhaled the leftovers.

Coke Zero Brownies

20 servings, 3 WW points per serving

1 box brownie mix
1 can of diet pop

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the brownie mix and diet pop. Grease a 9X13 pan with cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-28 minutes.

My first baked good order!

A few weeks ago a woman I work with said she wanted me to make her ice cream cone cake pops and a small smash cake for her grandson's first birthday. And she was like I'm going to pay you. I was like all right then. My only problem is not knowing what to charge. I just told her to give me what she thought was fair. Yeah, I'm not the best business woman. Any way she wanted banana cake and since it was her grandson's first birthday I cut the cake to look like the number one. I have to say that banana cake pops are awesome. I had some left over that I dipped in milk chocolate, white chocolate, and peanut butter chips. Awesome!!! if you like banana.

Using an empty coke box I made an ice cream stand. It wasn't as sturdy as I would have liked it to be but it got the job done.

Banana Cake
Gina Neely's cupcake recipe from Food Network

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2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs
4 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup walnuts, optional (I didn't use nuts)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine the dry ingredients, set aside. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Slowly beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Add the bananas and nuts. Don't over mix.

If making a cake grease a 9X13 pan. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

If making cupcakes evenly distribute the batter into 24 cupcake liners. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Frost with cream cheese icing or icing of choice.

It's all about the boys!

Mr. Whisk on his piano. This is his perch.















Spike in a trash can lid. These cats love to lay in weird places.














This is Anthony, my Aunt Faye's grandson, and my handsome hubby.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I never used to like sweet potatoes. Now I love them especially this casserole. It blurs the line between side dish and dessert.

Sweet Potato Casserole

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4 small cans or 2 large cans of yams, drained and mashed
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter

For the topping:

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Combine the first six ingredients and pour into a buttered 9X13 pan. In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients until incorporated and crumbly. If the topping isn't crumbly enough add more flour. Sprinkle the topping over the casserole and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

When I made the topping according to the recipe I didn't have enough to cover the casserole and I didn't have enough ingredients to make more. In the recipe I'm providing I doubled the ingredients for the topping. Hopefully that will be enough.



Ingredients for the topping.












It's ready to eat.

Corn Casserole

I can't remember a holiday without making corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, and deviled eggs. For Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter my mom and I would whip these dishes up to take to my Godparents house. Let me tell you I hated making deviled eggs. I always had trouble peeling the eggs. My mom made the best deviled eggs so we would make them not only for holidays but for every party we went to. So my mom would peel the eggs and make up the filling and I would fill them using our cookie shooter. I liked that job. When my mom got really sick and went into the nursing home I stopped making deviled eggs. My godmother makes them now. I still make the corn casserole and sweet potato casserole even though I can't find the church cookbooks the recipes were in. We had these two church cookbooks that only got cracked open three times a year. Not because it didn't have good recipes in it but because they were the holiday cookbooks. Now they are gone. I'm not sure what happened to them so I had to find the recipes online. I knew what went in the recipes but couldn't remember quantities. The corn casserole recipe is the same but the sweet potato casserole recipe is a little different. Still really good though.

I'm not really sure why I only make corn casserole three times a year. It's really good and should make it more.

Corn Casserole

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1 can whole kernel yellow corn, undrained
1 can cream style corn
1 8 oz. carton sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 stick butter, melted

Mix all together and pour into a large, lightly oiled casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. I usually have to cook it for more than an hour.


Mixed together ready to bake.














Baked and ready to eat. Yum, yum.