Cream of Mushroom Pork Chops and Green Beans (Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System recipe)
Life has been crazy, and I’ve been a bad blogger lately. I haven’t been able to keep up with writing posts. I’ve cooked plenty of food over the last month, but either haven’t been able to find the time to take pictures or I can’t find the time to sit down and type of a post. I know, I am a horrible slacker. I guess this is what happens when life gets in the way. I currently have a 2-year-old with a cold, a basement that is a disaster area due to the two leaks we had from all the rain we got in the midwest, and I’ve been taking my daughter (prior to her getting sick) to various activities. Oh, and did I mention that there is a huge box with a swing set inside on my side of the garage, so I have to climb in through my passenger side to get into my car? Yeah, like I said, life has been crazy.
My goal is to get back to blogging. Even if it means staying up a little later in order to get a post done. So here’s to working toward my goal.
Cream of Mushroom Pork Chops and Green Beans Recipe
- 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 cup water
- 1 package boneless Pork Chops (my package had about 8 large pork chops.)
- 1 can cut Green Beans
- Salt and Pepper to taste
This is a super simple crockpot/slow cooker recipe. (I used my Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System.) There really is no prep work involved. Turn your slow cooker on high. Pour the can of Cream of Mushroom soup and a cup of water into the slow cooker. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Place pork chops into the slow cooker. Add the can of green beans. Cover and cook for 5 hours.
The pork chops will be tender and will pretty much fall apart. You will not need a knife to cut into these chops. I like to serve this over a piece of bread. I put a slice of bread on a plate, spoon some of the liquid (sauce) from the slow cooker onto the bread, then add the pork chops and green beans on top. This is a great meal for a chilly, rainy day.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Nests
I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday. Mine was a bit more relaxed than last year. I hosted Easter brunch last year at my house. This year, my sister said she would host as long as I agreed to bake a couple casseroles to bring over. I made two casseroles from last year (see my old blog posts for the recipes), my french toast casserole and my ham, bacon and egg hash brown casserole. I prepared them the night before so all I had to do this morning was pop them in the oven, then take them over to my sister’s house once they were done. But since I can’t seem to just sit back and relax on a holiday, I decided to make salted caramel chocolate nests. I got the recipe from QVC’s host David Venable. You can find the original recipe at: http://www.qvc.com/SaltedCaramelChocolateNests.content.html
It’s a very simple recipe, but it is very messy to make, so be forewarned. The end result is worth the sticky fingers. It is the perfect mix of salty and sweet. My husband didn’t think the ingredients went together until he tried the end product. It’s quite tasty.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Nests Recipe
12 oz vanilla caramels, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
6.5 oz potato sticks
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
Jelly beans or chocolate eggs for decoration (optional)
I (not quite) doubled the recipe so I could make more nests. I wanted to make sure we’d have enough to eat for a few days. I used one full 14 oz. bag of caramels and 1/3rd of a second bag. It was very caramel-y, so I don’t think I needed any more. I added just a little bit more milk and kept the same amount of salt. I used 2/3rds of a can of potato sticks. The original recipe says it only makes 6-8 nests. I just didn’t think that was enough. I also made bigger nests for the adults, and smaller ones for my daughter. Feel free to make your own changes and adjustments as you see fit.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray the paper with cooking spray. This is an important step to make sure that the nests don’t stick. Set the pan aside.
Place the chopped vanilla caramels, salt, and milk in a microwave-safe bowl. I only chopped the caramels in half to save time. They still melt just fine. Microwave in 30 second intervals and stir after each interval until the caramels are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. (This may take up to 2-1/2 minutes.) Let the mixture cool for 30 seconds.
Carefully stir the potato sticks into the caramel mixture until completely coated. The original directions say to rub your hands with oil and form 6-8 uneven circles and place them onto the prepared baking pan. I tried rubbing my hands with oil, but these were so sticky that I was unable to form them into circles. It just stuck to my hands. Instead, I used a big spoon to scoop some of the mixture out of the bowl, then placed it onto the baking pan to form the circle. This was much easier and less messy. Use one or two fingers (or the back of a spoon) and press the middles down, creating a nest-like shape.
Refrigerate the nests for 35-40 minutes, or until the caramel has hardened. I put the nests in the fridge for a few hours and they still weren’t really hardened. It may be a good idea to pop them in the freezer for a bit if you want them to harden well.
While the nests are in the refrigerator, melt the chocolate chips on top of a double boiler. Or you can melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Dip the bottoms of the nests into the melted chocolate, and then place the nests back onto the prepared baking pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.
Once the chocolate hardens, the chocolate will help hold the nests together better. If you want to complete the nest, add some jelly beans or chocolate coated chocolate eggs to the top. This makes them look super cute, and adds a festive feel to them.
Mine didn’t come out quite as cute as the ones from the recipe picture, but I also had a two-year-old helping me do it. I’m sure that makes a difference.
These treats are definitely good, even if they are a little messy to make. Be prepared to lick caramel off your hands when you’re done. Happy Easter!
Awesome! Super Sweet Bloggers Award
I’d like to give a big thanks to La Petite Gourmande Anglaise (http://petitegourmandeanglaise.com/) for nominating me for the Super Sweet Bloggers Award. If you haven’t seen her blog before, please check it out. She’ll take you on an adventure of French Cuisine with recipes for beignets, creme brulee, and meat stuffed crepes. I’m personally a fan of all types of crepes, so she won me over with her meat stuffed crepes recipe.
The rules of the award are: 1. Visit and thank the blogger(s) who nominated you. 2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back. 3. Answer the “Super Sweet” questions. 4. Nominate a “Baker’s Dozen” (13) blogs for the award, add a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs. 5. Copy and paste the award on your blog somewhere.
The Super Sweet Questions (and my answers) are:
1. Cookies or Cake? Cookies. My daughter would definitely go with cake, but I think I prefer a nice warm cookie right out of the oven. Yum!
2. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate wins hands down. Not even a contest. But I do enjoy putting French Vanilla ice cream over a warm brownie.
3. What is your favorite sweet treat? Pie. Some of my favorites are banana cream, key lime, and custard. I love pie from Baker’s Square.
4. When do you crave sweet things the most? When I’m stressed out. I’m usually a salty food person, but sweets calm me.
5. If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be? Ummm…Sugar Mama? That’s the best I can come up with off the top of my head.
My nominees are (in no particular order):
Domestic Diva, M.D. – http://domesticdivamd.com/
Homemade Delish – http://homemadedelish.com/
The Messy Baker – http://themessybakerblog.com/
Kolpona Cuisine – http://kolpona.com/
Savory Simple – http://www.savorysimple.net/
Local Kitchen – http://localkitchenblog.com/
Frugal Feeding – http://frugalfeeding.com/
Baking with Basil – http://bakingwithbasil.com/
Cozy Apron – http://thecozyapron.com/
Homemade with Mess – http://homemadewithmess.wordpress.com/
Kel’s Cafe of All Things Food – http://kelleychisholm.com/
The Paddington Foodie – http://thepaddingtonfoodie.com/
Cupcakepedia – http://cupcakepedia.wordpress.com/
A hot breakfast to start the day – Homemade Coco Wheats
When I was little, I wasn’t into the sugary cereals. My mom rarely bought them, and when I convinced her to buy me just one box, I usually didn’t like it. It just didn’t appeal to me. By the time I was in junior high, I was eating cereals like Basic Four, which was odd for a kid my age.
In my house, we ate a lot of hot breakfasts. My mom would make scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuits. I loved omelettes, and thought it was a treat when she’d make skillet potatoes. Yum! One of my favorite breakfast treats was Coco Wheats. Not everyone appreciates a nice warm bowl of this chocolate treat, but it’s something I have fond memories of as a kid. I still indulge in the occasional bowl, but not very often.
If you don’t want to buy a box of Coco Wheats, you can always make your own. It’s very simple.
Coco Wheats Recipes
2 cups water
2 – 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 – 1/2 cup farina/cream of wheat
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter (optional)
1. Whisk the cocoa powder into the water in a pot.
2. Heat the water over medium heat until boiling. Add in cinnamon, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Whisk together.
3. Add in farina/cream of wheat slowly and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes. This will prevent lumps. (Add in farina/cream of wheat to your desired thickness.)
4. Turn off heat and cover with lid. Let sit a few minutes.
5. Uncover. Stir in milk, sugar, and butter. I like to add just a little milk at the end to make it creamy.
This is a nice homemade morning treat. Some kids that don’t like the boxed version prefer this homemade version. If you don’t like using sugar or brown sugar, you can use honey to sweeten it up a bit. And you can always skip the butter all together. My mom always made ours with milk, sugar, and butter…so that’s how I always eat mine. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.
A good breakfast
With Spring and Summer quickly approaching, I’ve been trying hard to start eating a little healthier again. No, this doesn’t mean that every meal I eat will be healthy. It just means that I will eat non-healthy things in moderation, and try to incorporate healthier foods into my meals. One of the things I love to add to my daily meals are smoothies. They are healthy, refreshing, and they are something that my daughter has no issues drinking. The options for smoothies are endless. You can be as creative as you want, or keep things super simple. It’s a great way to start off any day of the week. In addition to smoothies, I am trying to find recipes for hot (and healthy) breakfast meals for my family. I’ve come across a few recipes that I am planning to try out this week. I hope you all will join me this week on my hot breakfast adventure. Stay tuned.
P.S. I will also be doing a couple recipes using my Ninja Cooking System this week. It’s going to be a busy week in my kitchen.
Cooking with my Ninja
Over the past week, I’ve been cooking up a storm in my Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System. I’ve made cheddar stuffed hamburgers, pot roast, mini chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, pork chops, creamy potato soup, and vegetable beef soup. Everything has come out amazing so far. I am completely happy with my Ninja. Right now, I probably like my Ninja better than my husband. (My Ninja doesn’t give me attitude after a hard day of work.) This is one kitchen appliance investment that I am completely satisfied with, and would recommend to others.
I currently don’t have the time to do a recipe post, but I will put up a few quick pictures of some of the stuff I’ve made recently. Enjoy!
Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe – Using my Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System
This is my third post with a recipe using my new Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System. I am still on a quest to try out various recipes from the cookbook that came with my Ninja. This recipe is listed under the 30 minute meals section. I really wasn’t expecting to be impressed since making regular spaghetti isn’t that hard. You boil pasta, drain it, add sauce and meatballs, and you’re done. No big deal. Simple. But somehow this easy recipe from the cookbook managed to impress me. And it doesn’t even use fresh meatballs. The recipe calls for frozen meatballs. (Even though you can easily do this with fresh ones, if you want.)
The recipe has only four ingredients. You put them in the cooking pot, set the unit to oven, and let it cook for 25-30 minutes. When you take the cover off, you have this delicious spaghetti dinner that took no effort. Seriously, it takes very little effort to make this. If you have older kids, they can make this meal for the family with no problems.
Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe
- 4 cups water
- 1 lb uncooked spaghetti noddles, broken in half (Or just put them in whole.)
- 1 jar pasta sauce
- 1 package (24 oz.) frozen meatballs
Pour 4 cups water into pot. (I used 4 1/4 cups because the pasta soaks up all the water and I didn’t want it to burn.) Stir in spaghetti, sauce, and meatballs. (The recipe says to break spaghetti in half, but I put it in whole.) Put unit on OVEN at 300°F for 25 minutes. (I suggest 30 minutes. When I checked at 25 minutes, not all of the pasta was tender yet.) Cover and cook until pasta is tender and meatballs are hot, stirring occasionally. NOTE: When using thinner sauces, use 3¾ cup water. For whole grain and thicker pastas, increase cooking time by 2–4 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Serve immediately.
After adding everything to the pot, it’s ready to cook.
In the process of cooking, I checked to see if the pasta was getting tender.
Ready to eat. Yum!
That is literally all it takes to make this meal. I let my Ninja pre-heat while I got my ingredients out. I added the water to the pot and put the spaghetti noodles in without breaking them in half. I put a little sauce directly on top of the noodles, then added the turkey meatballs, and covered the meatballs with the remaining sauce. I stirred it all together, just a little bit, then covered. It is important to stir this at least once during cooking to make sure the pasta is cooking evenly and isn’t sticking together. Other than that, there is nothing else for you to do. Just sit back and let it cook.
There is no need to drain any water. The pasta soaks up all the water. The spaghetti noodles are infused with the pasta sauce. I was a little surprised with how well it turned out, even with frozen meatballs. I think my daughter said it best when she said, “mmmm…yummy!” Yes, it was quite yummy.
This is a wonderful 30 minute recipe for busy people. As a mother of a toddler, I appreciate fast and easy meals. It is crazy how my days can fly by without warning. At least once a week, I end up needing to make dinner in a hurry. I will be adding this recipe to my list of go-to recipes when I need to make something fast.
Note: You can make this recipe in a regular slow cooker, but it will take longer than 30 minutes and you will have to watch closely to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Game Day Chili – Turkey Chili with Corn Bread Crust
It’s Super Bowl weekend. For me, that doesn’t really mean much (I’ve lost interest in commercials and half time performances), but for my husband it means football and game day food.
As stated in my previous post, I recently got the Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System and I am currently trying out different recipes from the cookbook. I ordered my Ninja through QVC and it came with the cookbook, Cooking Easier, Healthier & Better. I will be posting my thoughts and opinions about how the Ninja performs and about the recipes. My intent is to stick pretty close to the recipe instructions in the cookbook so that I am getting a good feel for whether the recipes are good, bad, or okay.
Since this is Super Bowl weekend, I thought it would be fitting to do some Game Day food. One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of game day food is Chili. My husband enjoys eating a big bowl of chili with tortilla chips. It’s the ultimate game day meal. I’m not really into football, but I do appreciate game day food. And I love a bowl of chili on a cold winter day.
The cookbook has a few chili recipes, but I opted to try out the Chili with Corn Bread Crust. (It had me at corn bread.) The recipe calls for using either ground beef or ground turkey. I used ground turkey in an attempt to make this a little bit healthier. I made a few other minor changes and/or additions, but I stuck fairly close to the recipe.
This chili screams comfort food. The corn bread baked on top of the chili is a genius idea. I’ve baked biscuits on top of soup before, but never thought to use corn bread on top of my chili. (Silly me!) What makes it even better is the fact that it was easy to make and didn’t take much prep work. My favorite part was being able to cook the turkey and veggies in the Ninja cooking pot on the stovetop setting, then just add the remaining ingredients to the pot and switch it to the slow cook setting. There was no need to cook the ground turkey on the stove, then transfer it to a slow cooker. That is the beauty of the Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System. Everything can be done in one pot. (Woo Hoo!)
Chili with Corn Bread Crust Recipe
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used olive oil.)
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef or turkey
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced (I used red, yellow, and orange bell peppers.)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 can (about 15 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained (I used two cans instead of one.)
- 1 can (about 15 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 package (8.5 ounces0 corn muffin mix
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/3 cup milk
Additional ingredients I added
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic pepper
- Dash of hot sauce (I like a little kick to my chili.)
Pour oil into pot. Set unit to STOVETOP HIGH and heat oil. Add ground beef/turkey, onion, and pepper to the pot. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until beef is browned or turkey is no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Spoon off any fat. Add chili powder and cinnamon to the pot. (This is when I added in my salt and garlic pepper.) Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir tomatoes, beans, and tomato paste into the pot. (This is when I added a dash of hot sauce to the pot.) Set it to SLOW COOK HIGH for 4 to 5 hours. Cover and cook.
After 4 1/2 hours cooking time, stir corn muffin mix, egg, and milk in a bowl. Uncover pot and spoon batter over chili. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until corn bread is cooked through.
This chili was awesome with the corn bread crust on top. The chili and corn bread alone is a great meal. The cookbook suggests serving it with sour cream and cheddar cheese. I did try it that way, and it made a great meal even better. It was hearty and satisfying. Just thinking about it is making me want to climb out of bed and go fix myself a bowl. Mmmm… Thankfully, I have some self control.
I understand that the recipe would have been healthier without my addition of the salt and pepper, but I personally couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of not having the extra seasoning. I like my food very flavorful, and I know from experience that ground turkey can lack some natural flavor. Sorry, but I am going to have to agree with all the TV chefs when they say that meat needs salt and pepper to bring out the natural flavors. This is just my opinion. If you want to stick to the original recipe to keep this healthier, please do so. I’m sure it is great either way. The hot sauce addition is just something I always add to chili. I considered not adding it, but then I couldn’t help myself. Chili has to have a little kick, right?! Maybe it’s just me.
I was happy with how fast the Ninja heated up on the stovetop setting. The ground turkey and veggies cooked up without a problem. I could see steam coming from the pot and hear the food sizzling. Once I switched it over to the slow cooker setting, everything settled down and it was ready to cook like a regular slow cooker. I didn’t have any issues with the liquid evaporating too much while cooking the chili. But I will say that once you add the corn bread, it seems to make most of the liquid disappear. If you are someone who prefers a chili with more liquid, you may want to add some water to the pot. I don’t have much of a preference between a chili with lots of liquid and one with hardly any, so this wasn’t a big deal to me.
This was a satisfying meal that left me wanting more. The first thing my husband said when I told him what I made for dinner tonight was, “Mmmm, that sounds good.” And then the next thing he said was, “is it spicy?” I was glad I decided to add the hot sauce to the chili. Apparently, he’s like me and likes his chili with a little kick. This chili was the perfect way to kick off Super Bowl weekend in our house.
Apple Cider Pulled Pork Sliders and Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System Review
I got my new kitchen toy this week, and I was excited to finally get to use it. My newest kitchen appliance is the Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System. The Ninja 3-in-1 combines your stove top, oven, and slow cooker into one appliance. It can sear, bake, roast, steam, saute, simmer, and slow cook all in one pot.
The Ninja has a 6 quart cooking pot. It has a programmable slow cooker, a digital oven control mode, and the stove top function has low, medium, and high settings. It comes with a variety of accessories. The included accessories are a roasting rack, a multipurpose baking pan, a loaf pan, a mini muffin pan, and silicone oven mitts (that just cover your hands…fingers and palm). The accessories can all be conveniently stored inside the unit. Depending on where you buy the Ninja, it also comes with a cookbook with 150 recipes. The Ninja is currently sold at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Walmart, and through QVC. I’ve heard that if you buy it from BB&B or Walmart, you will need to purchase the cookbook separately.
This unit is quite large. I was half expecting it to be around the same size as my old slow cooker, but this thing is a beast in comparison. This is not a small, cheap kitchen appliance. The Ninja is a good quality piece of kitchen equipment. The approximate measurements of the unit with handles and dials is 18″L x 13″W x 8-1/4″H; cord 24″L. So be forewarned that this does take up quite a bit of counter space if you plan to keep it out like we do.
The cooking pot is dishwasher safe, but the accessories are hand wash only. That’s not a big deal with me, but I know that can be off-putting to some people, so I thought it was worth mentioning. I cleaned the cooking pot by hand and it was super easy to clean. The pot has a non-stick coating, so it took me about two minutes to clean it in the sink. I didn’t even bother putting it in the dishwasher. I haven’t used any of the accessories yet, but I’m not concerned about having to clean them by hand.
There is a vent on the cover of the pot. Depending on what setting you’re using, you may want to watch the liquid in your pot. The vent will allow liquid to evaporate some while cooking, which may require you to add more liquid. I didn’t have this issue at all with the recipe I used, but I think it is worth pointing out so no one burns their food on accident.
The moment I got the Ninja, I started flipping through the cookbook. I was happy to see that it has a lot of recipes I’d like to try out. Most of the recipes are simple and don’t have a bunch of ingredients. As a mother of a toddler, I am very appreciative of quick and easy recipes. I don’t have much time to spend slaving away in the kitchen. And now that Kayla is getting more interested in helping out in the kitchen, I prefer to do stuff that gets us in and out of the kitchen fast. There is nothing like having a busy little toddler trying to help out in the kitchen when you’re trying to do 5 things at once. The easier, the better.
After going through the cookbook a few times, I decided to start with pulled pork. I make pulled pork all the time. My favorite is BBQ pulled pork. I love making it in a slow cooker because it comes out so tender and you have the juice/liquid to pour over the meat. It is one of my top 25 comfort foods, so what better way to test out my new toy than to make pulled pork.
The cookbook has a recipe for Pulled Pork and Apple Cider Sliders. I thought it was an interesting twist on a pulled pork sandwich. I also took the cookbooks suggestion about preparing sweet potato fries to go with it. I followed the cookbooks instructions exactly (well, almost) and it came out great. No complaints in this household.
I went to the grocery store this morning to pick up all the ingredients I would need, as well as stuff for other recipes for later this week. I was eager to start cooking. I really wanted to sear the meat first, since I have that option with the Ninja, but decided to stick to the recipe exactly as it is written. That way I can not only tell all of you about how the Ninja works, but I can share my thoughts and opinions about the recipes in the cookbook.
Pulled Pork and Apple Cider Sliders Recipe
- 1 boneless pork shoulder roast (3-4 lbs)
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup apple cider or apple juice
- 1 package slider or mini sandwich buns (12 count)
Season pork with salt, black pepper, and paprika. (The cookbook does not state how much salt or pepper to use, so it really depends on how much you want to use.) Stir mustard, brown sugar, garlic, and cider/juice in the pot. Add pork and turn to coat in mixture.
Roast going into pot.
Set to SLOW COOK HIGH for 5-6 hours (I used a 5 lb pork shoulder roast so I cooked it for 6 1/2 hours.) Cover and cook until pork is fork tender. Try not to lift the lid while you’re cooking because it can add time to your overall cooking time. If you’re like me though, you won’t be able to resist checking on it a few times, especially since the lid isn’t glass. It’s impossible for me to not check on things at least once.
Pork when it was ready to be shredded.
Using two forks, shred pork in the pot. Spread additional mustard on buns if desired. Divide pork mixture among buns and serve.
In the process of shredding pork.
Since I used a bigger roast, I shredded my pork at about 5 1/2 hours, then let it continue cooking in the juice for the last hour. When I assembled my sliders, I poured just a little bit of the juice over the meat on the bun. I think this made a world of difference. Don’t add too much or your bun will get soggy. A little juice will go a long way. I opted not to put mustard on my bun. I just added a dill pickle to my sandwich and I was a happy camper. From what I was told, the sandwiches with the mustard added were quite tasty too. I just wasn’t in a mustard kind of mood.
Sweet potato fries
I was very pleased with the outcome of this meal. It is easy to make and tasted great. I didn’t have any issues at all. The liquid didn’t evaporate from the pot. The pork was tender and had a nice, light flavor. Since it was a slider, it was easy for my daughter to try to eat. Nothing stuck to the pot, and the pot was a breeze to clean. The unit is pretty straight forward to use. If you’ve used stoves/ovens and slow cookers before, you won’t have any problems using the Ninja. If you’re a beginner, this will be quite easy to understand. I think even my husband could figure out how to use this, and he rarely cooks.
At this point, I would definitely recommend this cooking system to my family and friends. It is a wonderful idea to have a unit that can cook in various ways, and all without heating up your house. No more using multiple pans to cook, and feeling like you may pass out from the heat of the oven. This summer, I plan to use my Ninja so I can avoid using my stove/oven. I have four more meals planned for the next few days. I will keep you posted on how they turn out. I’m excited to try out a few more recipes.
Red Velvet Bundt Cake with a Cream Cheese Filling
This past Sunday was my mom’s birthday. She dropped hints last year that she would have enjoyed a red velvet cake, so I decided to be nice this year and make one for her. My two-year-old daughter, Kayla, loves to help me in the kitchen, especially if I’m baking. Kayla got situated on her little ladder and we got to work. I didn’t want to do a traditional sheet cake, because that would be way too simple and boring. I’ve had a silicone bundt pan sitting in my cabinet for a long, LONG time now, so I decided to test it out. We made a red velvet cake with a cream cheese filling, and then drizzled cream cheese frosting on top to make it pretty. It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is, so don’t get scared away. It’s actually quite simple to make. Come on, I had a toddler helping me make it! If it was too complicated, I wouldn’t have been able to do it with Kayla.
The end result is quite pretty. It made me think of Valentine’s Day (or Christmas). With V-Day just around the corner, I think this is a perfect recipe to try out. But even if you choose not to celebrate that particular couple’s holiday, this is a yummy cake that is worth trying out.
Red Velvet Bundt Cake Recipe
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk, or 1 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 oz. red food coloring
Cream Cheese Filling Recipe
- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray your bundt pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix eggs with a wire whisk. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and food coloring. Whisk together and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix on medium high with an electric mixer until well combined.
Filling: In a separate mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla; beat just until blended.
Pour 2/3rds of the batter into the Bundt pan. Carefully pour the cream cheese filling on top of the batter, making a ring that doesn’t touch the sides of the pan. Add the rest of the batter on top. Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes. Ovens may vary slightly, so use a toothpick to check to see if it’s done. When your toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. Let the cake sit in the pan for about 30 minutes before inverting onto a plate.
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup milk
Mix cream cheese and butter together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix well.
Allow the cake to cool for at least 45 minutes to an hour before adding frosting. Use a spoon to drizzle frosting over the cake. If the frosting isn’t easy to drizzle, heat it up in the microwave for 10 seconds. This will make it easier to work with.
This cake came out great, and my daughter was super proud of it. She was so excited to show grandma what we made. And lucky for us, it not only looked pretty, but it tasted great too. My mom was very happy with her cake this year, which made me feel good as well.
