BBQ Turkey Penne Skillet

I found this recipe for BBQ Chicken and Penne on Real Mom Kitchen.  As I have an over abundance of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, I used shredded Turkey instead of Chicken.

This meal could not have been easier to whip up.  And it was super speedy as the meat was already cooked.  It only took about 20 minutes.  AWESOME.

Wanna know what's even more awesome?  My family LOVED this.  Yeah!  Even Blockette raved about this dish.   She actually liked the little bit of spicy from the Rotel.  What is up with that?!  Whatever this change is I'll take it.  She even happily ate the leftovers (and there were a LOT of leftovers).  Not a single complaint.  I felt like I was in The Twilight Zone!

Of course Mrblocko had to add hot sauce to his.  If I was making this dish just for him I would have used the HOT version of Rotel. 

I'll definitely make this recipe again!

Barbecue Penne Skillet from Real Mom Kitchen
1 package (16 ounces) penne pasta
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups leftover shredded bbq chicken or Turkey
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained (like Rotel)
1/2 cup diced roasted red pepper
1/2 cup beef broth (I used beef bouillon)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 chopped green onions (I didn't have any so I omitted this)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute onion in butter and oil until tender. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Stir in the meat, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, broth, cumin, pepper and salt; heat through. Drain pasta. Add pasta and cheese to pork mixture. Sprinkle with green onions. Serves 6-8

Pumpkin Lust Cake

Why is this dessert called "Lust cake?"  I'm not certain, but it must have something to do with the fact that once you finish one slice, you lust after more. 

I came across the pumpkin lust cake recipe over at Sweet Treats and More. Apparently, the original recipe calls for chocolate or vanilla pudding. This particular version has you using the seasonal Pumpkin Spice flavor of Jello Instant Pudding.

One word of caution, the Pumpkin spice pudding is only available seasonally. The seasonal pudding flavors (Turtle, Gingerbread, Pumpkin Spice, Dulce de leche and Peppermint) are not always located in the regular pudding aisle. At my store, they were in a special area in a center aisle along with other seasonal baking items.  If you can't find them at your store keep looking, or better yet, ask!

This dessert tasted like a silky, slightly cheesecake-y version of pumpkin pie. I think I might just like this dessert better than your basic pumpkin pie. That could just be the Cool Whip talking. There's lots of Cool Whip in a Lust Cake.

Another win for this dessert is that the crust didn't get soggy on day two like a pie crust does. I love pie crust, but frankly, it's kind of gross when it gets mushy. The Lust Cake's crust is more like a Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake Cookie. That's probably why I liked it so much. Russian Tea Cakes are like crack for people.

The down side to the Pumpkin Spice Lust Cake is that there is no actual pumpkin in the dish.  You can't even pretend that you are being healthy eating a vegetable for dessert.  The Lust Cake is all garbage.  Yummy scrumdiddlyumptious garbage.

I thought this cake would be difficult to slice and get out of the pan.  The crust didn't stick at all, even though I neglected to spray the pan.  The pudding and Cool Whip held their own too.  

The layers got a bit smeared when I cut into the bars, but you can clearly see all the different strati. 

I also feared the cake would collapse once out of the pan.  Nope.  The remaining cake did not fall when slices were removed from the pan. Everything stayed exactly where it should be without proper support. 

Hey, maybe this cake is the secret to keeping a trim body.  I mean, everything staying where it should be without support?  Isn't that what we're all striving for as we lose our fight against gravity?  Move over Spanx, here comes Pumpkin Lust Cake!

Anyhow, Mrblocko convinced me to make a half batch of this cake. I am both happy and sad that he did so. Happy because we do not need a 9x13 pan of this dessert hanging around the house for just the three of us, and sad because I wanted to eat the entire 9x13 pan myself.

Pumpkin Lust Cake - Half Recipe from Sweet Treats and More
1/2 stick butter(1/4 c), melted
1/2 c flour
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 tbs sugar
4 oz cream cheese (1/2 a package), soft
1/2 c sifted powdered sugar
one 8 oz container cool whip
one 3.4 oz package Jello Instant Pumpkin Spice Pudding
1 1/2 c cold milk
Nutmeg for sprinkling

Crust: Combine butter, flour, chopped pecans and sugar and press into 8x8" baking dish. Bake at 375 for 10-15 min. Let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Layer: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 3/4c cool whip until smooth. Spread over cooled crust.

Pumpkin Layer: Mix pudding mix with cold milk, whisking for several min. Set in fridge 5-10 min to thicken. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining cool whip. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Cut into squares and serve. Keep refrigerated.

'11 Happy Dance #35 and #36: Art Projects with Blockette

I saw this weaving art project on Pink and Green Mama.  Blockette and I made these over Thanksgiving Break. I made a turkey and Blockette made a Christmas Tree.  I traced my picture to get the same type of image.  Blockette drew her two pictures free hand.  I think she did an awesome job getting both pictures to be really similar.

The second art project was also from Pink and Green Mama.  This time it was a watercolor resist project.  The black lines are "drawn" on with a mixture of black acrylic paint and glue.  I don't think I had the right combination of the two, as it was a bit too runny.  Next time I'll have a higher ratio of glue to paint.

Blockette did the mermaid aquarium and I did the space scene.  I like Blockette's picture better!

'11 Happy Dance #34: Another Patch for Jeans

This time the patchy jeans are for me, not Blockette!  Since The GAP decided to discontinue the cut and style of jeans that seems to be the only jeans on the planet that actually fit me, I had to find a way to mend the hole that erupted in the knee of my jeans.

I had purchased this little fish patch years and years ago and it was the perfect size. 

I also had the exact right amount of green ribbon to put around the ankles of the pants as well.

Blockette was jealous I didn't save these things for her next pair of patchy pants. She said the jeans were super cool. At least I'll be fashionable amongst the first grade set.

My New Favorite Way to Cook Turkey

I found this awesome set of directions on how to cook a turkey on Simple Bites.  We are going to cook all our turkeys this way from now on.  Our turkey was nearly 18 lbs and it took less than 3 hours to cook!

Here are the directions in a nutshell (For a lengthier description, including the how and why, please visit Simple Bites.)

Step 1: If your using a frozen turkey, make sure it is completely thawed. I let mine sit in the fridge to defrost for 5 days.

Step 2: The Day before cooking, Remove the packaging and any junk inside the bird.

Step 3: Rinse Turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

Step 4: Put the Turkey in your roaster pan on a rack, and salt liberally.

Step 5: Place the turkey back in the fridge uncovered.

Step 6: Two hours before cooking: Remove the bird from the fridge and let it sit on the counter.

Step 7: Rub a stick of softened butter all over the turkey.

Step 8: Roast the turkey for 20 min at 400F. (Note the bird is not trussed or stuffed.)

Step 9: Turn the heat down to 350F.

Approximate cooking times are:
5 lbs – 1 – 1/2 hrs
8 lbs – 1- 3/4 hrs
10 lbs – 2 hrs
12 lbs – 2 – 1/2 hrs
15 1bs – 2 – 3/4 hours
17 lbs – 3 hours
20 lbs – 3 – 1/2 hours

Step 10: Rotate the bird after an hour and tent with foil if the skin is getting too dark.

Step 11: Let the Turkey rest, tented with foil, for 30-60 minutes before carving.

Thankful Thursday 48.11

1. Discovering I had two each 40% and 50%  off coupons that expired the same day I was going to Joann Fabric.  (SCORE.)

2. Blockette did not have a timeout at Joann Fabrics. (She only got counted to one.  First time ever.)

3. Teaching Blockette how to cross stitch.

4. Not running out of white thread before I went to the fabric store.

5. My best friend lending me her sewing machine when mine stopped working.

6. Not putting up with feeling like garbage.

7. Getting all my shopping done.

8. Knocking out lots of craft projects.

9. Having a grown up conversation waiting for Blockette and M get done with choir.

10. Remembering Wednesday was a 5 hour school day for Blockette and M.

Beer Crust Pizza

I think we all had high hopes for this beer crust pizza from Plain Chicken.  I'm not exactly sure what happened, but the top part of the dough, under the sauce, didn't cook completely.  Maybe this was because we don't have a pizza stone?  That's the only thing I did differently.  I cooked the pizza on a cookie sheet instead.   

The crust was very thin so I just don't understand why it didn't cook up the way it was supposed to, even without the use of a pizza stone. 

We all ate the pizza because even "bad" pizza is good. It just didn't wow me like cooking with beer usually does.

My advice to someone who wants to try this this recipe, but isn't a fortunate enough to own a pizza stone, is to cook the dough for 15 min without any toppings. Once the crust is mostly cooked, then put your cheese, sauce, etc on and broil the whole thing until the cheese is sufficiently melted.

Beer Crust Pizza from Plain Chicken
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp cubed cold butter
1 cup beer

Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 475°.  Pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse in the cold butter until it's well distributed. Add the beer and pulse until smooth*. Roll out dough onto a piece of parchment paper.   Prick dough with fork and add sauce, cheese and toppings.  Transfer pizza to hot pizza stone.  Bake at 475° for  12-15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.
 
*I found the food processor with the dough blade to be unnecessary.  It was easier for me to just combine all the ingredients by hand.