Bundt Cake #41 Pina Colada

Hello Mama.  I love me some pina colada.  Love me some.  This cake was meant to be from the beginning.  It's like taking a bite out of Hawaii.  Yum.

Shopping List

1 box of yellow cake mix

2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding

1/2 cup of veggie oil

3/4 cup water

 4 eggs

1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple (do not drain!)

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, divided

1 can store bought Vanilla Frosting

1 cup Cool Whip

1 teaspoon rum extract (or more if you like it really rum-y tasting)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease (I use Pam) a 10 inch bundt pan

In mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, water and eggs with electric mixer.  Stir in pineapple (with juice!) and 1 cup of coconut.  Pour cake batter into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes.  Then, invert the cake onto a serving plate.  

To make the frosting, combine store bought frosting with one cup of Cool Whip.  Stir in remaining cup of coconut and teaspoon (or so) of rum extract.  Spread on cooled cake.

I didn't use real rum in this recipe because I think the extract does the job (and I have it left over from a few other cakes).  However, if you have rum on hand and want to pour a little in, go for it.  This cake will make you feel like you're on vacation. 

Strawberry-Pineapple Ice Cream Sandwiches

You know my favorite little cookie recipe is the Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cake Cookie recipe.  With 3 ingredients, you just can't beat it.  I've already mixed and matched it twice before but this time, I needed a summer spin.  What says summer better than strawberry and pineapple?...Well, coconut sherbet in between.  These were so yummy!!  Of course you can eat the cookies by themselves but who can resist a little sherbet in the middle?  If you don't groove on the coconut, I bet lemon would be yummy too.  Enjoy!

Shopping List

1 box of strawberry cake mix

1 egg

1 (15 oz) can crushed pineapple

Coconut Sherbet

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl with electric mixer.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of dough onto parchment for each cookie.

Bake 12 minutes.

They're cake cookies, so don't expect a "finished" looking cookie.  They're done though after 12 minutes.

After cookies finish cooling on a cooling rack, take one cookie and place about two tablespoons of sherbet or ice cream in the middle, top with a second cookie.

Summer time is calling.

Lemon Whoopie Pies

I made these whoopie pies for my brother and some of his friends.  They were a huge hit!!  One girl told me that she had always lived by the quote, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" but that now she would always remember the quote as "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels except for lemon whoopie pies".  Love it! 

Shopping List

1 box lemon cake mix

1/2 cup veggie oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

Lemon Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and water in bowl. 

Drop by 2 tablespoons onto lined cookie sheet (leave about an inch between each cookie)

Bake 9-10 minutes

Cool on pan 5 minutes, move to wire rack and cool 15 more minutes

Take one cookie and place a tablespoon or so of store bought icing in the center.  Press another cookie on top (this will spread the icing out to the edge).

Being the lemon lover that I am...I find these whoopie pies to be perfection!

Dinner Tonight: Chicken Fajita Tostadas

I am super into tostadas these days!  They're easy, they're crunchy, they last forever in the pantry, so you can whip them up in no time flat.  This is one of those dinners that I would tell my Grandmother to make on those random Wednesday afternoons when she calls me at 4:45 and says, "Shay Lynn, what am I going to make for supper tonight that's easy and I don't really have to cook?".  Grandmother, this recipe is for you!!

The recipe starts with this awesome already chopped and fully cooked fajita chicken meat (it also comes in steak).  I buy it at the regular grocery store but I also know places like Sam's and Costco sell it too.  Some days, quick and easy is the only way to go.  Here's what else you need...

Shopping List

1-2 bags pre-cooked chicken fajita meat (I say each bag feeds 2 people)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

Tostada Shells

Tab's Guacamole, sour cream, salsa and/or cheese for topping

A little Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) and Salt & Pepper

Heat a few tablespoons of EVOO over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add onion and bell pepper in and saute about 7-8 minutes.  Add in chicken and heat through (about another 5-6 minutes).  Take your tostada shell and top with your chicken and onion/bell pepper mixture and any other toppings you like.

Done.  Finished.  A perfect week day supper.

Little Kensington was excited about them!

Silly girl!

Bundt Cake #40: Skinny Girl Margarita

I did it.  I made a bundt cake that tastes like a margarita.  Genius, right?!?!  So...if you know me, you know that I'm in love with Bethenny Frankel.  Love her.  I know that if we met, we'd be BFF.  She is the creator and founder of the Skinny Girl Margarita...it's a low-cal, ready-to-drink margarita that works beautifully in this cake.  You find Skinny Girl at your local liquor store.  And you find Bethenny on her website or on Monday nights over on Bravo. I heart Bethenny...you'll heart this bundt cake.

Shopping List

1 box of yellow cake mix

2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding

1/2 cup of veggie oil

2 cups Skinny Girl margarita, divided

 4 eggs

4 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter, softened

Coarse Salt or Sprinkles to garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease (I use Pam) a 10 inch bundt pan

In mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, 1 1/4 cup Skinny Girl and eggs with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes.  Then, invert the cake onto a serving plate to finish cooling.

To make the frosting, combine powdered sugar, butter, and a few splashes of Skinny Girl with electric mixer until creamy.  Spread on cooled cake.  Garnish with whatever you like your margarita garnished...salt or sugar sprinkles.

This summer, why drink your margarita when you can eat it in a cake?!  Love you Bethenny :).

The simple (yet fabulous ingredients!).  Yummy!!

Dinner Tonight: Swiss Stuffed Burgers

I love a fancy burger.  Ok, I love any burger.  I am a burger eatin' girl!!  This is a fun way to eat a burger because the cheese is hiding inside the patty instead of on top.  We used Swiss but you can totally use any type of cheese you like...we've  tried it with Cheddar, Bleu Cheese, Monty Jack, Pepper Jack...go nuts!  Burger season has arrived!

Shopping List

1 pound ground beef

3 tablespoons Montreal Steak Seasoning

3 tablespoons A-1 Sauce

1/2 pound Swiss cheese, divided

1 onion, chopped

1 pint of mushrooms, chopped

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Salt and Pepper

Burger Buns

In a medium sized bowl, combine ground beef with steak seasoning and A-1.  Divide into four pieces.  Take a fourth of your cheese and roll it into a ball.  Build each burger portion around the cheese (so that the cheese is in the middle).  Flatten out your patties to a burger shape.  You should get four burgers.

On a preheated outdoor grill or indoor grill pan, cook burgers over medium-high heat about 5 minutes per side (longer if you like your burgers more well done).

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute your onion and mushrooms in a few tablespoons of EVOO.  Do not salt and pepper them until the mushrooms have completely browned.  Salting mushrooms too early draws out their water and it takes them way longer to brown up.  Saute about 15 minutes or until onions and mushrooms have caramelized and browned up nicely.  Now, season with salt and pepper.

Take each burger bun and top it with one patty.  Then top each patty with your onions and mushrooms.  When you bite into your burger, you'll get a nice, gooey, Swiss cheesy center.  Delish!

Kool-Aid Cupcakes

This recipe is a Mix and Matchers dream come true!!  I found the recipe in my Spring 2012 edition of Kraft's Food and Family magazine.  So simple and so yummy!  Plus...extremely versatile!  I could dedicate an entire blog to just making different varieties of these!  Nothing says summer more than a cold glass of Kool-Aid...now you can have your Kool-Aid and eat it too :).

All you need are the ingredients to make white cupcakes plus whatever type of Kool-Aid you want to flavor them.  We picked fruit punch...but think of the endless possibilities...lemonade, strawberry, cherry, pineapple...and I'm sure you could substitute Crystal Light if you have that at home instead.

Shopping List

1 package white cake mix (plus the ingredients to prepare per box directions)

8 tablespoons Kool-Aid powder, divided

1 can vanilla frosting

1 cup Cool Whip topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, prepare white cake mix per box directions.  Then using an electric mixer, mix in 4 tablespoons of your desired Kool-Aid flavor.  Poor into lined cupcake tins.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cupcakes rest 5-10 minutes in the muffin tin before removing them to finish cooling completely.  To make the frosting, stir together vanilla frosting, Cool Whip and remaining 4 tablespoons of Kool-Aid.  Frost cooled cupcakes.  Store in refrigerator.

That's it!  So simple!  The Kool-Aid doesn't over power the cupcakes.  It's a really nice, subtle flavor in the background.  Look for more variations to come.  This recipe just says SUMMER!

Smith William loved them!

And Kensington Kate did too!