A quick delicious Goulash!

I was gone most of the day yesterday and when I came home,  my husband was hungry!  Luckily, before I left the house,  I put a piece of round steak in the crock pot with an onion, and water to slow cook all day.

By the time I got home,  it was really tender and done.  I decided to add some stuff to make a Goulash!
Never made this before, but remember the delicious taste of goulash I've had in restaurants, so,  I improvised and created a great tasting dish.  All I did was add a little water to the crock pot,  then put in about 1/4 cup of brown sugar, about 1/4 cup of ketchup, and 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.  Stirred it up and let it cook about 10 more minutes on high,  while I boiled up some wide noodles.  Drained the noodles,  added the Goulash,  added papprika, salt and pepper and boy, oh boy, it was great!  My friend dropped in and had some along with us and agreed it was a fast, easy, delicious meal.  Sometimes things work out well..  Have a great Tuesday!

Ok, so many of you have asked me for the recipe - Here it is!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Strawberries

1 chocolate cake mix. (made with ingredients on box)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

¼ c nutella spread

8 oz softened cream cheese

¾ c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Additional nutella to spread on cake

½ pint fresh strawberries (optional)

Bake the cake in 9” layer cake pan according to directions on box.

Allow to cool completely.

Make the frosting and filling.

Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks

Add the vanilla, cream cheese, powdered sugar and nutella

Beat until it gets stiff peaks

Assemble the cake:

Take the first layer of cake and put on serving plate.

Spread nutella out of the jar on to the cake 10 seconds in micro will make it easier

to spread.

Add sliced strawberries on to the nutella (optional)

Spread the frosting/filling over the strawberries.

Put the second layer of cake on top of first.

Spread the top of the cake with nutella.

Frost with remaining frosting and garnish with chocolate dipped strawberries

New and Different Appetizer

OK,  today I tried a new appetizer.  I decided to call it Greek Cheese Puffs!  Easy and creamy filling inside crispy phyllo dough topped off with apricot jam!  Really good.

Creamy Pizza Dip

Wow!  Like pizza but don't want to make or buy a big one?  Well, here's your answer.  Pizza Dip.  That's right, close your eyes and taste the wonderful taste of pizza in your mouth.  Serve it on bread rounds or crackers and boy, oh boy, it's great!  Easy to make.  Cream cheese as "crust", tomato sauce on top, italian seasonings, parmesan cheese, chopped olives, chopped artichokes and shredded mozarella cheese.  Put in pan, bake 10 min at 400 degrees,  mix it all together and put it in a serving dish.  WooHoo!  This one is a keeper!

Catching Up!

Let's see,  the last post was Tuesday.  Wednesday we had an italian favorite of mine from childhood.  Thin spaghetti and brocolirabe.  My mom used to make this for us and it is so good.  Cook the spaghetti and add the brocoli to the water.  Cook it all together,  drain,  and add chopped garlic that has been cooked in olive oil.  Add a little cheese and my mouth is watering!

Leftover pasta Thursday night.  Make it into a spaghetti pie!  Goat cheese and asparagus make this one different!

Can't forget dessert!  Brownie bites made for a workshop.   MMMMM good.  Never made brownies in mini cupcake pans.  They were wonderful and easy to eat.  Bye for now.

Summer is on it's way out!

Beautiful day today, sunshine, cooler than last week.  The evenings have been in the 60's and great to sleep.

Tonight I made Chili for dinner.  Ground beef, onions, kidney beans, black beans and tomatoes.  I added a can of Rotel spicy tomatoes along with my chili seasoning.  It was really good.  Just enough heat.  Served it with cheddar cheese, crackers and a dab of sour cream.  MMMMM......

Beautiful - cool, Chicken Soup weather

Chicken dumpling soup is one of my husbands favorite dishes.  It is very tasty!  Cool weather brings on the soup.  :)

Beautiful, Cool Day today. Great for baking!

Went to the country last weekend so brought back some great garden vegetables.  Zucchini, corn, tomatoes.  Perfect weather to make a zucchini cake.  Spicy, with cinnamon, walnuts and zucchini.  MMMM.

Fred will be pleased and surprised when he comes home tonight to find it waiting for him.....

A break in the weather!

Now that the weather is a little cooler,  I have no cheesecakes to bake!  Oh well, they all made it to their destination Friday and all were happy.  Baked 19 total.....

Too Hot to Eat!

This weather is really hot.  Almost too hot to eat!  I think eating lighter makes a lot of sense in this type of weather.  Salads are great, and adding fruit to them makes them even better.  Try this simple one using iceberg lettuce cut into large shreds, adding fresh strawberries and mandarin oranges.  Make a light cramy dressing using that new product, Philadelphia Cooking Creme - original flavor, a little red wine vinegar, a bit of sugar, and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice.  Salt and pepper, and a few sllivered almonds makes this one a keeper! 

Cheesecakes Galore!

What a week to be baking 17 cheesecakes before Friday!   Hot outside and hot inside....bless air conditioning.   
So glad to be baking them.  Could use some extra money!!!   Amaretto Choc Chip,  Raspberry Swirl,  Fudge Swirl,  Blueberry Swirl,  Snickers,  Reese Peanut Butter and can''t forget Turtle!  Yummmmm.

Talk to you next when I'm done baking.....