5 minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Ok, so I had to try this because I didn't think it was possible to make chocolate cake in 5 minutes. But you can! Wow, a chocolate cake addict could be in trouble with this one! Try it out, it is fun. Play around with it and add things you like (caramel, different flavored chips, etc.) It is great warm with some vanilla ice cream.

4 Tbls. all purpose flour (not self rising)
4 Tbls. sugar
2 Tbls. baking cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbls. milk
3 Tbls. oil (I did less)
3 Tbls. chocolate chips
A splash of vanilla
1 hot cocoa mug

• Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well.
• Add the egg and mix well.
• Pour in the milk and oil, mix well.
• Add the chocolate chips and vanilla and mix again.
• Put you mug in the microwave and cook for 2 1/2- 3 minutes at 1000 watts (I cooked on high).
• The cake will rise over the top of the mug but don't be alarmed!
• Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
• Serves 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous.

Halloween Offerings

Hey all-I've got a few festive and fun Halloween dinners to offer. I'm not sure which I'm going to make tomorrow, but I thought I'd post this today in case anyone's trying to be a cool mom on Halloween. :)

*Oh, disclaimer-these are not intended to be healthy or gourmet in any way. They are intended to win you cool points with your kids, and not be too hard or time consuming to make. You'll be doing other things-painting faces, finding that elusive sword, repositioning the tiara... Ok. Here we go.

Mummy Dogs

• Some kind of good hot dog or sausage-brat, whatever you like that comes in a general hot dog shape
• 1 can of refrigerated bread sticks

You can see where we're heading with this-take the breadstick and wrap the lower 2/3 of the hot dog, then leave a space and wrap up the top for his little mummy turban. Bake according to the directions on the bread sticks. When they come out, dot a little ketchup or mustard for the eyes and you're set.





Trick or Treat Turnovers

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can cheddar cheese soup
• 2-3 Tbs ketchup
• Cheese
• 2 cans refrigerated biscuits

Brown beef with onion and drain. Add soup and ketchup-simmer. Meanwhile, take refrigerated biscuits and flatten. Take your knife and carve out simple pumpkin faces in half of the biscuits. Place some of the meat mixture on the non-carved half, then put cheese on top. Gently place a carved face over the top and pinch edges to seal. If you want to get really tricksy, you can nip out a bit of the biscuit and make a stem at the top. Bake according to the biscuit directions.

Happy Halloween!

Vegetarian Chili

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 bell peppers (I used green and orange), chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (4 oz) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained
- 2-4 Boca burgers, thawed and crumbled
- 2 (28 oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
- Almost 1/4 cup chili powder (probably about 1/6 cup-ish)
- 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
- 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the celery, bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, garlic, and green chile peppers. Season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook until vegetables are tender. Mix in the vegetarian burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Put the tomatoes into crock-pot. Season chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, black beans, and corn. Add vegetable mixture. Cook for 30 minutes on high, then 4 hours on low.

This chili has 31 grams of protein and 20 grams of fiber. Forrest ate the Boca burger with no complaints.

Mexican Style Corn

I got this recipe (is it a recipe?! there are only four ingredients!) off of petitelefant.blogspot.com


MEXICAN STYLE CORN

*Prepare corn on the cob as usual.
*Spread sour cream on the corn.
*Sprinkle with paprika.
*Roll in grated asiago cheese.
*Enjoy

I didn't have any asiago, so I sprinkled grated Parmesan (you know the stuff) and it turned out great. Really delicious. Really easy. Oh, and we had the corn on a stick because it was fun.

Flax Seed Meal--not a recipe

I keep a bag of this flax seed meal in my fridge and add it to random things I am baking or as a topping pretty normally (just as a supplement not as a replacement for anything). Today when I was putting it on my toddlers peanut butter/honey sandwich I noticed it said you could replace flax seed meal for oil/butter/margerine (3:1). Has anyone ever tried this? Totally replacing the butter with the flax seed? I tried making these cookies using 1 1/2 cups flax and 1/4 cup butter--I could not not use any butter in cookies (called for 3/4 c. butter). The cookies still tasted alright--definitely not buttery or smooth, but still good. When the oven buzzer went off for the first batch, I opened the oven, looked at the cookies, and thought maybe I had forgot to turn on the oven; the cookies looked exactly like they did when I put them in. So, that was interesting....
(These are cooked! See they didn't melt--no butter--and spread out. They look pretty unappealing, I realize, but taste alright. Thank goodness for chocolate chips!)

So, yeah, back to my question: Have you totally replaced fats with flax seed meal? How did it turn out? Do you have a recipe to share?

**Tangent** I just got a cookie dough scoop and love it! Made dropping the cookie dough super easy to drop and it was fast; I totally recommend getting one if you don't have one already. I got mine at BB&B.

Cheese Enchilada Chowder

Did I already post this? I thought I had, but I couldn't find it using the search feature. Apologies if it is a duplicate. 

Cheese Enchilada Chowder 

(recipe from B-to-the-Weed)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes

10 oz. frozen corn (or more if you like)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped bell pepper (whichever color you like...I have used fresh or frozen)

1 large can enchilada sauce

1 can cream of chicken

2 c. milk

cheese

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, except for cheese. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4. Add cheese to individual servings. Also, I like a dollop of sour cream. 

Serve with chips & guacamole, cornbread, whatever.

The last time I made this I added a can of chickpeas, too. Really good. 

Baked Potato Soup

This is very creamy and yummy.    It makes 8 servings.  When I tried this I only made it for 6 servings and we had enough for another nights dinner plus a few lunches.  When we warmed it up we added buttermilk to it and that made it even yummier.  Try it you will love it. Ingredients 9 medium Potatoes 2/3 cup Butter 7 cups Milk 2/3 cup Flour 1 teaspoon Salt 4 Green onions 1 1/4 cups Cheese shredded 1/2 teaspoon Pepper 1 cup Sour cream 12 Bacon strips cooked crispy and crumbled

Instructions Bake potatoes for 30 minutes, cut into 1 inch chuncks. Melt butter in pot, add milk, slowly mix in flour. Add remaining ingredients. If needs to be thickened, mix water and flour together then add to soup. Simmer for at least one hour before serving.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

To give credit where credit is due, I got this recipe at allrecipes.com. Link here. I made this last week, and they were fan-tas-tic. Loved them.

1 (16oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1T cumin
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 T chili powder (optional)
1 t Thai chili sauce or hot sauce (optional)

1. if grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees (F) and lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans until thick and pasty.

3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Stir into mashed beans.

4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, cumin, chili powder (opt) and chili sauce (opt).

5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into 6 patties.

6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

I cooked mine on an electric griddle, at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on each side.