diarifood 52

When I first met my husband, his favorite ice cream was regular chocolate chip, which I thought was kind of booooring.  I was always a mint chocolate chip girl, and one day he tried mine and realized he’d been an ice cream loser for all of his born days, and immediately converted. Which just goes to show that he was lost without me and it’s probably a good thing for him that we got married.  He would have spent his entire life eating the wrong ice cream, and he wouldn’t get picked on on a blog that tens of people read, and plus, I’m fairly convinced that any other wife would just buy him a cake at the stupid supermarket. Supermarket cakes don’t have magic in them.  Just lots of shortening.  Fact. I’m not normally a homemade cake person.  I’ve tried both homemade and mixes, and find a lot of homemade recipes to be dry, and fairly expensive to make.  I’ve heard good things about the Hershey Perfectly Chocolate Cake though, and the recipe is simple enough, so ...

Tres leches cake is a popular cake in Mexico and Latin America.  It really wouldn’t be a Cinco de Mayo celebration without some Tres Leches Cake! (If you’re still meal planning for Cinco de Mayo then don’t miss my roundup of favorite authentic Mexican recipes!) If you’re reading this than I’m hoping you’ve heard of Tres Leches Cake or “three milk” cake. This classic Mexican cake is one of my favorites of all time! The cake is similar to an angel food cake. The whipped egg whites in the batter make it extra light and spongy. After baking the cake you poke holes in it with a fork and pour three types of milk over the top–evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk–hence the name “tres leches”. The BEST authentic Tres Leches Cake. An ultra light cake soaked in a sweet milk mixture and topped with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon. This simple Mexican dessert is one of our favorites!  Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 5...

Food coloring was so ten years ago. That’s why this gorgeous strawberry pie with strawberry crust gets it vibrant pink hue from freeze-dried strawberries (which you can pick up at Trader Joe’s). Just whirl ’em up in the food processor with your flour and butter, and voilà: You have a pretty-in-pink dessert that’ll blow everyone away. INGREDIENTS One 9-inch pie (10 servings) STRAWBERRY PIE CRUST ½ cup freeze-dried strawberries 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 2½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon fine sea salt 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch-cubes FILLING AND FINISHING 5 cups fresh strawberries, halved 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract Pinch of fine sea salt ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar ⅓ cup cornstarch 1 large egg white Sanding sugar, for finishing DIRECTIONS MAKE THE PIE CRUST: In a food processor, pulse the strawberries and granulated sugar to a fine powder. Add the flour and salt, and continue to process until well combined. Add the bu...

I am so happy to finally be able to share this all-time favorite with you. Finally. This currants roll recipe has been a labor of love, or more so patience. This is a flaky pastry crust that is ram packed with currants.A roll of messy goodness!!So let's discuss this flaky pastry making. Oh before I even get to that. My aunt who owns a bakery, makes big batches of this to sell. So when I decided to make this I reached out to her to get her take on it. She gave me some measurements but they were imperial measurements. So there I was trying to convert and re-measure and running back to my computer to research. After all that frustration, I decided I had to have something close by in my kitchen, and I made a pretty conversion chart to print and save. A flaky pastry crust, filled with an abundance of currants. A popular snack in Trinidad and Tobago. This can also be filled with cheese or coconut filling. This dough can also be used to make cheese rolls and coconut rolls. Yummy INGREDIEN...

Strawberry Poke Cake is made with white cake, soaked with a mixture of white chocolate strawberry sauce, topped with strawberry pie filling and creamy whipped cream. Best Strawberry Poke Cake that I have ever had, hands-down! This cake is basically a dream come true, if you allow me to make a cheesy comparison, I would say that thats what probably angels eat! I mean, this Strawberry Poke Cake is so tender and so fluffy and it melts in your mouth. Its also moist, yes, I said it, its moist! Because it has been filled with the most amazing white chocolate sauce. Topped with a layer of strawberry pie filling and a thick layer of homemade whipped cream, each bite tastes like spring! Usually, a Strawberry Poke Cake is infused with a strawberry gelatin mixture, well, I took it to a whole new level and I made a white chocolate strawberry sauce, that has been poured all over the cake and got into all the holes. Full of flavor, airy, sweet and bursting with all the delicious and different strawb...

Strawberry sweet rolls are the perfect spring treat! The dough is made with a strawberry cheesecake coffee creamer that add a nice strawberry flavor. Inside the sweet rolls is cream cheese and strawberry pie filling that not only smells amazing while being baked but tastes amazing too! My son insists on calling these strawberry cinnamon rolls because they look like cinnamon rolls, but with strawberries instead. I even almost named them strawberry cinnamon rolls, but I know I would get comments that would say there isn’t any cinnamon in these AND it’s true. Soooo.. I’m going with strawberry sweet rolls and I think that’ll work out just dandy. I really love how these came out. I’m thinking of trying a couple other variations of this recipe too. We’ll have to wait and see if I EVER get around to it I suppose. I always have so many ideas and half of them never get to come to life. These strawberry sweet rolls have a homemade sweet roll dough that's been made with a strawberry cheesecak...

I’ve been way, way thinner than I am now and while I did enjoy the compliments I did not enjoy many, many things about trying to stay thinner. When I was at my thinnest (4/6) I was constantly thinking about what I was going to eat. What people were thinking when I eat (because at that point my friends were concerned and they should have been even though I assured them I was fine and told myself they were just jealous). For a while I started off with good intentions of going to do things the healthy way the more and more I lost the less and less I ate because I never seemed to lose as much as I wanted that week.  If I knew I was going to eat out with friends then I would exercise for hours, not eat a thing or maybe cucumbers, that way I could eat more “normal” in front of others. That was if I went out with friends, mostly they would get blown off because I was afraid to eat something “bad” or wanted to be at the gym instead trying to burn just a little bit more. If they bugged me a...

Creamy Bacon Corn Casserole, made with simple ingredients like cream cheese and cornbread mix. So delicious, one of my family’s favorite side dish recipes! Creamy Bacon Corn Casserole is easily one of my family’s favorite side dish recipes during the holiday season. We usually make it every Thanksgiving, Christmas too and sometimes Easter. Creamy Bacon Corn Casserole, made with simple ingredients like cream cheese and cornbread mix. So delicious, one of my family's favorite side dish recipes! Ingredients 5 to 6 slices bacon 3 green onions 1 8- ounce package cream cheese 1 cup heavy whipping cream 4 tablespoons salted butter 1 teaspoon raw cane sugar 1 tablespoon sour cream 28 to 32 ounces frozen corn 1/2 JIFFY Corn Muffin Mix 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 cup cheddar cheese 1/2 cup Colby Jack cheese Instructions Pre-heat the oven to 325°. Cook the bacon and set aside.  Mince the green onions and set aside. In a medium saucepan, add cream cheese, heavy whipping cream...

Butter. A staple of many kitchens. Butter is not created equal. A good, freshly churned butter will elevate any recipe, while a lackluster production will surely disappoint. Butter is also verstile and can be easily transformed into a variety of flavors. One that Americans have seemed to latch onto is Whipped Cinnamon Honey Butter. Make Whipped Cinnamon Honey butter ahead of time and keep in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container or butter plate. Take this butter up another notch by making your own butter in just 5 minutes with your blender! Using the right type of cinnamon also makes a world of difference. Educate yourself about the different types of cinnamon here. Copycat Texas Roadhouse Butter- Whipped Cinnamon Honey Butter, this flavored butter will take your bread to the next level! Super easy with 2 ingredients and 5 minutes! Spread it on everything! Ingredients 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature, cut into cubes 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 2 tablespoons hone...

If you've been reading Pig In Mud for a while you know I love beans! As soon as I saw the words "bean" and "casserole" in the July 2013 Issue of Better Homes and Gardens I knew I'd have to try this recipe. The fact that Garth Brooks likes it didn't hurt either:@) I've had hot dogs with baked beans plenty of times, adding hamburger was new to me and I really like it! These are very tasty beans and perfect for folks that don't like them spicy hot, I wouldn't hesitate to make them for a crowd. Personally I'd use jalapeno and maybe a little cayenne the next time. If you're having a BBQ, they would be perfect to make on the grill. This recipe can easily be cut in half, and half fit nicely into my 8" cast iron skillet. Gotta tell ya, they're great slathered on a hamburger bun too. INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 lb ground beef 1 small onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, cleaned and chopped (2) 15-16 oz cans pork and beans 1/2 C barbecue sauce 1/2 C k...

Barbecue Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken is a smoky,  slightly sweet chicken with just a bit of spice. The flavors are perfect together. They all compliment each other amazingly well! When it comes to weeknight meals we are always looking for simple, easy meals. This Barbecue Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken fit’s the bill perfectly. Not only is it delicious it takes just a few minutes to make. A win win! Barbecue Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken is a smoky,  slightly sweet chicken with just a bit of spice. The flavors are perfect together. They all compliment each other amazingly well! Ingredients 10 chicken tenders 1/2 cup BBQ sauce ( I use Sweet Baby Rays) 3 large cloves garlic, minced 4 tbsp brown sugar 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes use more of less depending on your taste Instructions Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil. Mix brown sugar, red pepper flakes, barbeque sauce and garlic in a small bowl. Dip each chicken tender in sauce and place chicken on the baking s...

These bear paw cookies are not just fun but SO easy! This is one of those things that make you go, why didn’t I think of this sooner? All you really need is a basic sugar cookie recipe and some chocolate. Voila! Ingredients 3/4 C unsalted sweet cream butter, softened 1 C brown sugar 1/2 C sugar 1 egg + 1 egg yolk 1 tbsp vanilla extract 1 tsp instant espresso powder 1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cornstarch 1/2 tsp salt 2 C flour 1 bag of Ghiradelli dark chocolate melting wafers, only need 24 wafer chips 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips, only 3 chips go onto each cookie for the claws Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy Add in the egg and egg yolk, vanilla and beat to combine. Add in the espresso powder, baking soda, cornstarch, salt and flour and beat until a soft dough forms. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop dough into your hands and roll it Place d...

This French Onion Beef Casserole will win hearts all around the dinner table. It is delicious, full of flavor and so comforting! I can’t tell you how hard it is to photograph a casserole. haha. I LOVE a good casserole. I make them all the time, but all those ingredients added together in one dish can be a difficult photography subject. 😉 That being said, don’t judge this based on the pictures. This French Onion Beef Casserole will win hearts all around the dinner table! It is delicious, full of flavor and will comfort full bellies! It is amazing, you guys! I can’t think of any other word except that it is amazing. I am so grateful my kids typically love casseroles too. When noodles are involved at any meal they don’t ask questions. They just eat. ha! I like to serve this with a side of broccoli and it makes a complete meal for my family! Ingredients 10 ounces egg noodles 1 pound lean ground beef 2 cans (10.75 ounces each) cream of mushroom soup 1 jar (15 ounce) Lay's French Onion ...

Quick and delicious Creamy Parmesan Orzo with Chicken and Asparagus that can be on your dinner table in only 30 minutes! Cheesy, creamy, delicious goodness! This creamy, cheesy, Parmesan orzo is my kind of dish and the kind of dish I could have every single night for lunch or dinner. What’s not to like? You’ve got your proteins, your veggies, and my favorite part, the Parmesan orzo.  This dish is everything. This is all I need to be a happy girl. Quick and delicious Creamy Parmesan Orzo with Chicken and Asparagus that can be on your dinner table in only 30 minutes! Cheesy, creamy, delicious goodness! Ingredients 1 lb chicken breast boneless and skinless (about 3) 1/2 tsp salt or to taste 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste 1 tbsp paprika 2 tbsp olive oil 1 cup asparagus chopped 1 large onion chopped 4 cloves garlic minced 2 cups orzo uncooked 2 cups half and half 3 cups chicken broth low sodium, or water 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese grated 2 tbsp parsley chopped, for garnish Instructions Seas...