Creamy Italian Chicken Pasta

So I decide to do something I don't do often... are you ready?....I know you are scared as to what I could be talking about... it is quite shocking really..... I pulled out my Crock pot! gasp I know! Don't get me wrong they are fabulous inventions, and very nice when used... however, it's the whole remembering to pull it out and use it BEFORE it is an hour till dinner that gets me EVERY time! Well I did it the other day adn the result was quite nice! So here you go...

Creamy Itailian Chicken

4 lg. frozen chicken breast
1 T minced garlic
1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
1 can cream of Chicken soup
1 cup water
2 pkgs Italian dressing seasoning mix
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1 box penne(or shape of choice) pasta cooked Al dente

Throw frozen chicken, garlic, cream cheese, soup, seasonings, water and cheese into crock pot. Cook on low for four hours. Season with salt and pepper and toss with pasta. Devour...

Forest Waterfall Cake

So about a week ago I was asked to do some sketches for some cakes for an event here in town. The Forest Service was celebrating their 40th year of volunteers, so I drew up several sketches along with prices and they picked from them. They were on a budget so I was only gonna do one layer of cake on each teir rather than the normal two, which would be more on point for the servings they wanted and the price... however once I got making it...it just wouldn't have looked right with only one layer of cake, so needless to say they got a steal. It was lots of work but lots of fun, however it was hard because I got sick along with the kids...no fun, My hands are raw from washing them so much! But it was worth it!




the front, everything is edible except the stump :) If I were to do anything differently I would listen to Darwin and do the fondant under the water fall blue rather than white as the "water" did kind of run off the edges and you could see the white underneath. over all it was a success!

The back side of the cake, I used a chocolate marshmellow fondnat recipe that I'd never worked with before and it cracked like crazy but I left it for this cake as it was rustic and dirt/bark like.

Now I'm going to bed!

Here is the most Recent of my cakes. This was for Darwin's cousin reception that was in Burns last weekend. It is a walnut carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The carrot cake was a HUGE hit...it is a really tasty recipe so I thought what better place to share than on my blog :) So here it is....


Carrot Cake:

2 cups Sugar

1 ½ cups Oil

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots (sometimes up to 5 cups)

1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream sugar and oil until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix on low speed just until moist. Fold in carrots and nuts. Bake at 350' for 50-60 minutes in greased and floured pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter . softened

16 oz box of powdered sugar

8 oz package softened cream cheese

½ tsp vanilla

½ tsp lemon juice

Mix butter and cream cheese. Add powder sugar and beat well. Add vanilla and lemon juice and mix it in. Frost cake when cool

And here is one more recipe for kicks... so like the recipe says you should grease and flour your pans...this is kindof a pain and you are always wondering anxiously...did I grease and flour it enough...will the cake come out. Until alas, you flip that pan over and nothing happens.... well us cake people that do lots of cakes use something called cake release...

it is an 8 oz bottle and usually goes for about $5.00...now that can get pretty spending if you use it alot like I do....so I did alittle googling and found a homemade version and man oh man I'll never buy that kind again!

 So here it is for you all...

Cake Release

1 part veg oil

1 part shortnening

1 part flour

 whipped till combined and smooth Store in air tight container stir if necessary before use. I store it in a mason jar.

Happy Easter! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday, we had great fun filled with Esater egg hunts, good food, friends and great lessons about the resurection. I did the resurection egg lesson that I do every year and started crying as my kids knew exactly what item represented before I had a chance to tell them or read the scriptures. I was so proud of them and it reassured me that we were doing a good job teaching them the things they need to know. I'm doing yet another wedding cake this weekend and it is going to be carrot cake. The bride really wanted to use her mom's recipe and I thought I better do a test run to check the recipe. So I made an Easter cake. Great Fun! Now I'm trying to unclog my kitchen sink so I can get all the prep done for the wedding cake! And I really Don't want to call a plumber!! AHHHHH! Pictures of the wedding cake will come soon!

Chicken Bacon Pinwheels with a Garlic Cream Sauce

6 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled, reserve some of the grease
1 large shallot small diced
2 clove garlic minced
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
milk (as needed to thin sauce out)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Sliced Chives, garnish

saute the shallots and garlic in a bit of reserved bacon fat. Place in a bowl and add the bacon and cream cheese. Mix till well combined. Pound out the chicken breast till thin, and season each side with salt and pepper. Then spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture (you will have extra) over the chicken. Roll chicken up into a pinwheel and secure with a tooth pick. Saute the chicken in a bit of the reserved bacon fat until fully cooked. In a small sauce pan add remaining cream cheese mixture, add Parmesan cheese and enough milk to make a thin sauce.  Remove chicken from pan and allow to rest 5 minutes. Remove the tooth picks and then slice, drizzle the sauce over the chicken and finish with the chives, serve hot and enjoy!

Green Chili Enchiladas are currently one of my favorite things...I don't know if it the sauce or the cream cheese I put in the filling or what but man oh man they are SO good!  Here's what I do:

makes about 24

5-6 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1 T cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 T veggie oil
1 onion, diced
1 T minced garlic
1 can diced green chillies
1 pkg cream cheese
24 flour tortillas( you can use corn but I prefer flour)
1 large can green chili enchilada sauce of choice
1 lb grated Monterrey Jack cheese

Toss the chicken in the Garlic onion, cumin, salt pepper, pepper flakes and oil. Place on a baking tray and bake at 350` till cooked through. Set aside to cool and rest. In a large pan, saute the onions and garlic till golden. Add the green chilies and cream cheese. Stir to allow the cream cheese to melt completely. Dice the cooled chicken into small cubes. Add chicken to the cream cheese mixture and mix well. Scoop into flour tortillas and roll, place on tray. Top with the canned enchilada sauce and then top with cheese. Bake at 350` for about an hour, serve hot with rice and beans on the side!

Here is Porter with his Stars wars cake! I had to laugh because my kids like me have never really seen Star wars, but it was all he wanted and all he could talk about. He loved it but was bummed that the legs didn't move... Sorry son I'm not going to get in to mechanical cakes!

I can't believe he is five! Here are some facts and things we LOVE about Porter:

• I think he is going to one day legally change his name to Porter Cowboy, he loves everything  and when asked his name Porter Cowboy is what you get.
• We thought we were going to loose him at six months old, when he had his Craniosynostosis surgery. One of the scariest things I've ever experienced. We have been so blessed that he did so well and continues to do well.
• If you ask him about his scar on his head he will tell you a long story about how Parker hit him in the head with a hockey stick and gave him that scar....?
• He loves to play independently, he will find one thing whether it is cars or his soldiers and play by himself for hours.
• Some of his favorite toys are cars, his little green soldiers, his horses and cowboy things of course, dinasours, and his fighter jets.
• He loves all sports, but is really good at basketball. He is excited to start T-ball here in a few weeks.
• He has inherited some of his father's OCD... it really is quiet annoying. He likes things a certain way and doesn't handle change well. For example when he is coloring all of the crayons have to be in a certain order and in a line, if someone needs a color he has, he can't handle it... thus we have a huge bucket of crayon in our house to eliminate any fighting over the yellow crayon. :)
• His favorite color is green.
• some of his favorite foods are, cheese roll ups, any and all things breakfast, steak and green beans and broccoli.
• He is our story teller and comedian, for a kid who didn't say anything other than screams till he was almost three we sure can't seem to get him to be quiet now!!
• He loves to sing and be silly, he loves to give hugs and kisses.
• He loves babies, and there is rarely a prayer that is said by him in which he doesn't pray for more siblings....(his Dad is so proud)
• He is our tough guy, he is always trying to wrestle or box his siblings and he is the one that if he gets hurt he most often just shruggs it off.

We are so very blessed to have Porter part of our family, he brings joy and comedy into it daily. He is such a character and wesure do love him and hope he had a wonderful birthday and felt how much we love him!