"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Melt butter. Sitr in cocoa.
• Alternately, add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency.
• Add more milk if needed.
• Stir in vanilla.

makes about 2 cups.

SURVEY SAYS:  keeper!!!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

• heat oven to 350º.  Grease and flour 9 inch round baking pans.
• Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
• Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla to dry ingredients; beat on medium speed for two minutes.
• Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
• Pour into pans.
• Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. 
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.  Cool completely.
• Frost (best with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting).

SURVEY SAYS:   Keeper!  Note to self - grease and flour pans VERY well next time!

Sesame Chicken with Honey Sauce

Sesame Chicken with Honey Sauce

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs (plain)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed

SAUCE:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey

In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and sesame seeds; set aside.  In another small bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard and onion.  Coat chicken pieces with mayonnaise mixture, then toss in crumb mixture.  Place on a greased baking sheet (or one that has aluminum foil on it).  Bake at 425º for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.   Combine sauce ingredients; serve with the hot chicken.

SURVEY SAYS:  Keeper!  Sean was out of town last night when I made this, but Ethan and I really enjoyed it.  Ethan didn't end up dipping the chicken in the sauce, but I really liked the sauce with the chicken.  The recipe says that this is enough for 6 servings, but I think it would really only be enough for 4.

Chinese Noodle Casserole

Chinese Noodle Casserole
1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1.5 cans of water
1/2 cup rice
1 small can chow mein noodles
soy sauce

Brown meat with onion.  Add soup, water, and rice.  Stir to mix.  Cook covered for 25 minutes.  Stir and cook 25 more minutes uncovered.  Stir and put chow mein noodles on top and cook for 15 more minutes uncovered.  Serve with soy sauce.

SURVEY SAYS:  It was OK, but I'm not going to put this in our "keeper file."  It took a really long time to make (even though it was easy) and it just didn't taste good enough to keep.  Ethan liked it except for the chow mein noodles.  Sean is out of town so I can't get his take on it until he comes home and has some of it because we have a ton of left overs.

Taco Chicken

Taco Chicken (Crockpot)

2 can cream of chicken (or you could use 1 cream of chicken, and 1 cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream
3-4 chicken breasts (depending on size)

Place soup, salsa and taco seasoning in crock pot. Stir well. Add chicken. Bake on low for 6-8 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to sauce. Add 1 cup of sour cream, stir all together and serve over rice.

SURVEY SAYS: It's a keeper!  We doubled the recipe because we had Sean's sister and her family over for dinner (we doubled everything except the sour cream - we just used an 8 oz. container).  It was really good and very different from the other crock pot recipes we have tried.  It was a tiny bit spicy (probably because we didn't put in double the amount of sour cream) but we liked it that way.  We served it over rice, but it would probably be really good over tortilla chips or even in tortillas - we will definitely be having this again:)

Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti
1/2 package of spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped (I didn't use)
1 jar meatless spaghetti sauce (I used Barilla brand)
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt  (I just used regular salt)
1 egg
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 small container of small curd cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

• Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
• In large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, Parmesan cheese, and butter.  Drain spaghetti, add to egg mixture and toss to coat.
• Place half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased 13x9 inch pan.  Top with half of the cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers.  Cover and bake at 375º for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer at 350º (or until cheese is melted).

SURVEY SAYS:  It's a keeper!  I modified the ingredients from the orginal recipe quite a bit and changed the cooking time and temperature (modifications are above) and my family LOVED it!