"True Love" Chocolate Chip Cake

I was passed this recipe by my cousin Carrie during my pregnancy with my daughter when all I craved was stuff with chocolate in it. I must warn you, it's highly addictive!  One reason is that it's so delicious and gooey but another reason is that it only takes about 3-5 minutes to assemble from start to finish.  This is really a "semi-homemade" cake but it tastes like it's made from scratch. The secret ingredient is Jello Instant Pudding which gives the cake the moist texture and yummy taste.  This cake is the sole reason I gained 60 lbs during my pregnancy so buyer beware!

Ingredients:
1 package of any store bought BUTTER yellow cake mix
4 eggs
8 oz sour cream
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup Canola Oil
4 oz package of JELLO Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 small package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Dump cake mix into a bowl.



3.  Add 4 eggs, oil, and water into bowl



4.  Add Jello Instant Pudding into bowl



5.  Add in Sour Cream and using a hand mixer, blend until smooth



6.  Put Chocolate chips in a separate bowl and coat with 1 tablespoon of flour.  This is a great trick I recently learned that prevents your chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom.

7.  Fold chocolate chips into the cake batter



8.  Spray or grease 2 loaf pans, 1 big bundt pan, or really any kind of pan you like using.  Just watch cooking times based on what you choose.

9.  Fill the pans up 1/2 way because the cake will rise a lot.  Pop them in the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees



10.  Take out of oven, let cool, slice and enjoy!   The second cake can be frozen and used for a future time.

"Screw You Sandy" Fritatta

 


Happy Frankenstorm, Everybody! In anticipation of losing my power, I decided to use up all of my eggs and perishable veggies and make a yummy fritatta. It took 10 minutes and was totally easy. And it will be delicious room temperature so if/when the power goes out, we have something tasty to eat. Even better paired with a couple of glasses of red wine (obvi).

Ingredients:
Whatever veggies & cheeses you have in fridge. I used.....
diced onion
diced portabella mushrooms
diced red pepper
spinach
artichoke hearts
goat cheese crumbles
cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 cup milk
salt, pepper, fresh herbs, paprika

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in an oven proof pan. Wilt your spinach and set aside. Sautee onion, peppers, and mushrooms until they are cooked and onions are translucent. Meanwhile, whisk your eggs, milk, spices, and herbs up in a bowl. Put all of your cooked veggies back in the pan and take off heat. Add artichokes. Pour egg mixture over the veggies. Sprinkle cheeses over the egg mixture. Don't be stingy with the cheese! Finally, put the pan in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until it's puffy and cooked. Serve directly from the pan!

Easy Healthy Pancakes Kids Love

My kids eat pancakes literally every morning.  I wish I was joking.  But I'm not.  Last night, I was fortunate enough to meet Katie Lee, comfort food cook extraordinaire and cookbook author.  Aside from being totes gorg, she gave me an amazing new recipe for healthy pancakes.  At first I was skeptical but then I made them and my kids LOVED them! There is no sugar, no chemicals, tons of protein, calcium, and fiber in this meal!!  And the best part is, they take about 1 minute to make.  Bottom line....I felt great about sending my kids off to take on their days after having this meal.

In a blender or vitamix, put:

• 2 eggs


• 1 cup of organic oats


• 1 cup of lowfat organic cottage cheese


• 1 teaspoon of vanilla


• 4 drops of Stevia liquid (can be found anywhere but Whole Foods has it near the honey)

Blend until very smooth and make pancakes as you normally would. I heat a pan with butter over medium low heat, spoon the pancake batter in the pan, then wait for the bubbles to come through the batter. When they are bubbly, flip them. Cook for another 60 seconds or so. Add Syrup. Done!

Rustic Measures Roasted Tomato and Truffle Pasta

It's very early fall and the tomatoes are still magnificent in Jersey.  This simple pasta is very satisfying and easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of cherry tomatoes - red, yellow, or orange


• 1/4 cup good olive oil


• 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh basil


• 1 bag of good quality pasta.  I used Rigatoni.  Penne would work well also.


• 2 Tablespoons of finely diced shallot


• 1 Tablespoon of butter


• 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese


• Drizzle of white truffle oil

Preparation:   Heat your oven to 400 degrees.   Cut tomatoes in half and put in a bowl.  Coat tomatoes in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and give them a stir, making sure all are coated.  Spread the tomatoes onto a baking pan (with sides) and season liberally with kosher salt.  Roast tomoatos in the oven for 20 minutes.  After 10 minutes, mix them around to make sure they don't get too brown.  While your tomatoes are roasting, boil water for the pasta.  While that's happening, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and then sautee diced shallots on a low/medium flame for about 5-7 minutes.  Turn heat off.   Cook pasta according to the instructions BUT check a few minutes before they should be done and make it al dente.  Do not overcook pasta - mushy pasta is gross.  Ok, onward.  When the tomatoes are done, add them to your pan with the shallots in there.  Turn heat back onto low and melt 1 T of butter in the tomato sauce.  Add a little more olive oil to loosen it up.  When the pasta is ready, drain the pasta reserving about 3 T of the cooking liquid.  Add the cooking liquid to the tomato sauce and then add the pasta, stirring everything together into one happy mixture.  Once everything is combined, add the parmesan cheese and drizzle the truffle oil on and voila!  Heaven.

Easy Rugelach Recipe

L'Shanah Tovah everyone!  Here is an easy "fridge to table" recipe for Rugelach.  

1 box of Pillsbury Ready Made Pie Crusts OR any good ready made pastry/pie dough.  I hear French Picnic brand from Whole Foods is amazing but could not find any so I used Pillsbury which was just fine even with the lard and trans fats and whatnot.

1/2 jar of good quality berry preserves (do not use jam, use whole fruit preserves)

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup sugar + 1T cinnamon (mixed together)

• Put cinnamon & sugar mixture on a clean work surface/cutting board and spread it around
• Unroll the pie crust and lay it flat on top of the sugared work surface
• Roll the pie crust out until it's in a rectangular shape
• Spread the fruit preserves all over the crust
• Sprinkle the walnuts all over 
• Sprinkle a little more cinnamon/sugar mixture
• Add some raisins or currants if you want to 
• Roll up the pie crust into a log
• Trim off the uneaven ends
• With a serrated knife, cut the log crosswise into 1 inch wide Rugelach 
• Place cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet 
• Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Mazel.