Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 box devil's food cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter, eggs, oil and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Roll into 1 inch balls and place onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing.

NOTE: This recipe is very flexible. Change out the kind of cake and the mix ins, just keep everything else the same. Another one I have tried is German Chocolate Cake Mix with coconut and pecans. Soo good!

Arroz Con Pollo

INGREDIENTS
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 chorizos, chopped casing removed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup saffron yellow rice
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 can stewed tomatoes, chopped

DIRECTIONS
1. Season chicken with a 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and paprika.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and chorizo, cook thoroughly about 8 minutes stirring regularly.
3. Add green pepper, onions, and garlic to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add rice and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in broth, white wine, and tomatoes. Stir in remaining salt, pepper, and paprika. Bring to a boil. Cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the rice is cooked.

Lasagna

INGREDIENTS
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoons basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 pound hot Italian sausage
1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
8 ounces ricotta cheese
8 ounces cottage cheese
½ cup Parmesan cheese

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage with onion and garlic. Drain fat.
2. Mix in oregano, basil, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
3. Bring a large part of salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook 8-10 minutes, drain.
4. In a small bowl mix together cottage and ricotta cheese.
5. In a large baking dish put 2 tablespoons of the sauce or enough to cover the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking. Make a layer of lasagna noodles (3 noodles per layer). Top with a third of the sauce, ½ of the ricotta-cottage cheese mixture, and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with another layer. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Easy Stuffed Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS
4 bone-in thick pork chops
garlic powder
salt
pepper
Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1 box stuffing

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare stuffing mix according to box directions.
3. Make a slit on the side of each pork chop to form a pocket. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides. Stuff each pork chop with the stuffing.
4. Arrange pork chops in a large baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes flipping the pork chops half way through.
5. In a bowl mix together the water and golden mushroom soup.
6. Pour the soup over the top of the pork chops. Cook in the oven an additional 15-20 minutes.

Inside out pizza

I know. You are looking at this recipe thinking, "Shannon can you get any more ghetto?" The answer is HELL YES! Anyway I saw this recipe here and thought, that looks like the perfect quick meal for a week when I don't have much time. You will notice two things. I used ground beef not sausage. That is because I totally thought I still had sausage at home and didn't. I also used diced tomatoes not pizza sauce because my stupid pizza sauce was expired. (Side note: This recipe tasted just as good, hubs said it was like inside out burgers.) Anyway the recipe is super easy but it make enough to feed about 8. If you want a smaller portion only get one can of dough and cut it in half. Then half the rest of the ingredients.


2 cans Pilsbury pizza dough
1 pound italian sausage
1/2 cup pepperoni
1/2 cup chopped red onion
5 cloves garlic chopped
10 pizza sauce
8 oz fresh mozzarella sliced
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2 tbsp garlic powder
salt & pepper
Pam cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13x9 deep baking dish with Pam. Place first pizza dough in bottom of pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until the top is brown. While dough is baking heat a nonstick pan to about medium and add in onions. Cook about 2 minutes and add in garlic. Cook one minute and add in sausage. Cook until just under done. Add in 1 tbsp garlic powder, salt and pepper. When dough is golden brown remove it from oven and line it with the fresh mozzarella. Add sausage mixture over the top and spread evenly. Layer pepperoni on top of sausage mixture and cover with 1 cup shredded mozzarella. Place second pizza dough on top and bake for 12 minutes. Pull pan out and spray top of pizza dough with Pam. Sprinkle remaining garlic powder over dough and cover with shredded Parmesan. Bake for 5 more minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Caramel apple upside down cake

I was browsing Pioneer Woman's site the other day when I came across her skillet apple cake (which is a way better title then what I called it to my husband). I have an overflow of apples growing on my property and until that moment I wanted nothing to do with them. I knew I had everything to make this since it might be the most basic recipe ever so walking home last night I grabbed 6 apples and set to work. First you will notice two things....one: my apples aren't peeled (they should be) my peeler was in the dishwasher and I don't have a paring knife due to an unfortunate incident between the knife and a can. I decided to wing it and see if I could make the recipe with out fucking up before I spent the time peeling apples. The second thing you will notice is my picture order down there isn't quite right. This is because once I got halfway through making the batter I realized I did not in fact have all of the ingredients, I was missing eggs. So, while my husband went and got eggs I skipped around and did what other stuff I could do. Either way it came out gooey and caramelly and artery clogging good! You really really have to make this!

Below is her recipe. I had to make a few edits because she forgot to list a few steps since she lists it all in her picture section.

Caramel topping

4 to 5 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into six equal slices
1 3/4 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Batter

1 stick butter
2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped finely

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a 9 to 10-inch skillet, melt butter over low heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir around, then place apple slices, wedge side down, in the pan. Don’t pack them too tightly, but try not to leave overly large gaps. Allow this to cook over low/medium-low heat while you make the cake batter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 1 stick of butter and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Add sour cream and mix well. In second bowl combine flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Gradually add flour mixture until just combined. Gently stir in 1 chopped apple.

Remove skillet from heat. Spoon batter over the top, then spread gently so batter is evenly distributed. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and bubbly. Allow cake to sit in skillet for five minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Don’t worry if some of the topping isn’t perfect—it’ll taste perfect!

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I don't have a fancy apple corer thing. So I quarter the apples, turn them on a flat side and cut the core out diagonally.

See, you barely lose any apple.

Since I had everything ready to go and then figured out I was missing eggs, I put my apples in some water so they wouldn't oxidize.

The insane thing is, since I used half brown sugar half white, it got extra caramelly but it also created these little chewy caramel pockets, almost like one of those little caramel squares you buy at the store. I had just enough manners to avoid digging through the cake to find all these pieces.

PS My spell check is trying to say caramelly isn't a word. Sometimes spell checks need a reality check.