Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Apple Nut Coffee Cake

Do you want something tasty for a Saturday or Sunday breakfast? Are you tired of the same old cold cereal each morning? THen you must try this recipe out. My hubby and kids loved this!! I did as well. I found this recipe over at Recipe Shoebox and knew I had to try it out. So a few Saturdays ago we had this yummy coffee cake for breakfast. Now if you are trying to loose weight you won't by eating this cake but you must give it a try. It is a good way to use apples that are going soft or bad.

Apple Nut Coffee Cake
Cake:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1(16 oz)container sour cream(2 cups)
2 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs
1 T. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour(can use white whole wheat flour)
4-5 medium apples(peeled and sliced thinly)I used 3 large apples

Streusel:
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cups flour
4 T. butter

Prepare the streusel topping by combining all ingredients in a medium size bowl until the mixture forms large pieces. Set Aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 14x10 inch roasting pan or 2 8x8 inch pans.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with the 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, eggs, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat mixture at low speed until blended, occasionally scraping bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Spread batter into the prepared pan or pans. Arrange apple slices evenly on top to the edge of the pan(s). Crumblw the streusel topping over the apple Layer. Bake at 45-50 minutes, until the cake pulls away from the sides of pan. Take out and let cool for 10 minutes. Then serve and enjoy.

Note: YOu can eat this without glaze but I put a milk/powdered sugar glaze with 1 tsp almond extract on top. I didn't measure the milk and powdered sugar I just eyeballed it till was the consistency I wanted.

Note: I doubled the streusel topping because I like a lot!!


So yummy!!!!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Moo Shu Noodles

In our house we love any kind of Chinese, Japanese, or Thai noodles. I made this a couple of weeks ago and my family really enjoyed these noodles. I found this recipe on My Kitchen Cafe. She always has the greatest recipes.Go ahead and give these a try especially if you like noodles. Of course my Husband and I drizzled Siracha chili sauce over ours because we love all things spicy!!

Moo Shu Noodles adapted a little from My Kitchen Cafe
1 lb. linguini(can use regular or whole wheat)
1 T. canola oil
1 T. sesame oil
4 eggs
3 chicken breast sliced very thinly(easiest to do this when partialy frozen)
black pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1-2T minced garlic
1 orange, red or yellow pepper sliced thinly
7 oz jar Hoisin sauce(found on the Asian isle of any grocery store)
7 T. soy sauce
1/2 bag coleslaw mix(found near bagged salad at walmart or you can just use a 1/2 head of cabbage and shred it yourself)
3/4 cup chicken broth
Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. When the water starts to boil, add some salt and drop in the linguini. Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain the cooked pasta and reserve. Combine the hoisin sauce and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a small skillet, scramble the eggs and cook til done. Set aside.
In a 12 inch skillet, heat the one T. sesame oil over medium heat. Season the Chicken with salt and pepper, add to the skillet and cook until no longer pink stirring occasionally until golden brown.
Add the T. canola oil to the skillet and add the onions, orange pepper, ginger, garlic and cook till crisp tender. Add the cabbage and stir fry till tender, about 3 minutes. When the cabbage is cooked. add the cooked eggs to veggie and chicken mixture along with the hoisin/soy sauce mixture and the chicken broth. Stir fry until fully heated through and then toss with the cooked pasta. Cook to heat through and then serve.