Summer cookie sundaes

Sometimes I feel like every summer desert recipe is basically fruit in some kind of crust or with some kind of cream. I wanted something a little more decadent tonight, so I decided to do a cookie sundae. Normally, my cookie sundaes are chocolate cookies and vanilla ice cream, but for a hot summer day I decided to do a  funfetti cookie and peach ice cream. These cookies use cream cheese to get a gooey soft texture that is delicious with cold ice cream. enjoy!

Summer Cookie Sundaes

cookie dough:

• 1 box cream cheese (I actually use the low fat kind)
• 1 stick butter
• 1 egg
• 1 box funfetti cake mix
• 1/4 cup sprinkles
• powdered sugar

For assembly:

• ice cream! (Peach? Strawberry?)
• caramel sauce
• Chocolate syrup
• chopped nuts
• sprinkles

Instructions: Make cookies: Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg. Beat in cake mix Stir in sprinkles Chill 1 hour, then bake at 350′ for 10 minutes

Assemble!! Layer ice cream, cookies, and other toppings until you just can’t stand it anymore.

Then eat. And eat. And smile 🙂

Cajun Shrimp

I love Cajun food. Love it. It’s an incredible thing.

I also love one pan meals with very few ingredients.

This was a hit at home. Wish I’d doubled the recipe so we had leftovers. Flavorful shrimp, bursting grape tomatoes, lots of Cajun seasoning….

Go for it.

if shrimp isn’t in your budget, use chicken or andouille sausage.

Cajun Shrimp

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 Teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 lb frozen precooked shrimp, no tails or veins or shells or anything you don’t want to eat. Thawed.
• 4 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons green onions
• 1/4 cup water
• cooked rice, for serving

Instructions:

Melt butter in a skillet, add garlic and stir for a second

Toss shrimp with Cajun seasoning and add to pan. Cook until shrimp starts to get pink.

Add tomatoes and green onion. Pour in water. Cook until shrimp are heated through and tomatoes are tender.

Scoop this over rice, making sure to get some of the pan sauce.

Feeling cajun yet?

Girl Scout Coconut Chocolate Cake

this cake is very special. It’s a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients, and a lot of delicious “worth it” feelings while you eat. It tastes exactly like my favorite girlscout cookie. The day I made this, there was a tornado in our area and we all huddled together while the sirens went off, eating cake. Then, my boyfriend decided to drive an hour and a half home in that weather, and I ate my worry in cake while curled up on the couch. Luckily, he made it just fine. And I got extra cake out of it, so no hard feelings! The cake is a sour cream chocolate cake, poked with a caramel glaze and layers of toasted coconut, caramel sauce, and chocolate drizzle. My word.

Girl Scout  Coconut Chocolate Cake Cake:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened special dark cocoa powder
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• ⅓ cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1⅓ cups dark brown sugar (or light if that’s what you have)
• 3 eggs

Glaze:

• ½ cup butter
• 6 Tablespoons milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 Tablespoons  caramel sauce

Toppings:

• Toasted sweetened shredded coconut
• Caramel ice cream topping (leftover from glaze)
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1Tablespoon oil
• Samoa or Coconut Dream cookies

Instructions: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, water, and vanilla. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs slowly. Add the 1/3 flour mix to the butter, 1/2 sour cream mixture, 1/3 flour mix, other half of sour cream mixture, and the rest of the flour. Beat after each addition until combined.

Bake the cakes for  25 to 30 minutes

Prepare glaze: In a bowl, combine butter and milk and microwave until simmering. Stir in caramel sauce and then add powdered sugar and vanilla.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave with the oil until smooth and ready to drizzle..

Assemble Cake: When the cake is mostly cool, poke a few sparing holes in the bottom layer. This is not a poke cake or a tres leches cake. Just like, 10 holes. Pour some of the glaze over the bottom layer; about 1/4 cup. Layer on toasted coconut and drizzle caramel and chocolate. Add the next layer and repeat the process, but don’t poke holes in the cake; just drizzle on the glaze and let it drip down the sides. After doing the next layer of coconut and drizzles, garnish with cookies!

You’re done! Eat!

Frozen Banana “Ice Cream”

There are a million recipes for this out there. With honey, chocolate, peanut butter. Feel free to use any of those things. It’s delicious. It’s healthy. It’s cold and creamy and sweet.

Freeze a thinly chopped banana for a couple of hours.

Drop the slices in a food processor. Add a tablespoon of honey and a dash of vanilla. Then a scant tablespoon of any other flavoring you want. Coconut? Chocolate syrup? Caramel sauce? Maple syrup? I used Cocoa powder.

Turn the food processor on and watch closely. I promise, it gets thick and ice cream like. Enjoy!

Perfect Spinach Pesto

Pesto is one of those things not everyone is familiar with. So, for people wary of this green stuff, traditional pesto is ground basil, pine nuts, parmesan, and oil.

But, I have a confession to make. I can’t stand basil. This is not a simple, “I’ll eat around it” dislike. If there is the smallest speck of basil on the plate, I WILL taste it and I WILL stop eating.

So, I make my pesto with spinach and parsley. It’s delicious, it works anywhere basil pesto works, and I feel healthy eating so much spinach.

Now, once you have pesto, what do you do with it?

You can: Toss it with cold or hot pasta and extra pine nuts. Mix it with mayo and dress a chicken salad. Use it as pizza sauce. Put it on a  sandwich. Drizzle over meat or vegetables. Top an ice cream sundae (just kidding!).

Perfect Spinach Pesto

• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ½ cup olive oil

Toast pine nuts in a dry pan over medium high heat until light brown and smelly. Pulse in a food processor (or a REALLY good blender, and watch that you don’t over blend) until ground. Add spinach and parsley, garlic, and salt. Pulse until finely chopped. Add cheese. Pulse until combined. With the food processor running, drizzle the olive oil slowly through the feed tube on top until smooth and saucy. Taste for seasoning. Done!

Easy Turkey Flatbread

We’ve been trying to eat lighter in our household, so for lunch I’ve been making lots of turkey and chicken salads and sandwiches.

This is basically a list of ingredients to use on a glorified turkey sandwich. A few well chosen condiments on an open face flatbread help make it way better than just turkey and cheese on wonder bread.

Easy Turkey Flatbread

Start with a small  TORTILLA or circular  FLATBREAD. Spread on a little RANCH DRESSING and a dollop of DIJON  MAYO (buy premade or mix equal parts of the two). Layer on chopped TURKEY LUNCHMEAT and chopped LETTUCE. Sprinkle on some SHREDDED CHEESE (pick your favorite). Top with a few drops of SIRACHA if you’re feeling spicy.

Better than your typical turkey sandwich? Find out!

Butter Pecan Cake Mix Cake

Let’s face it- we all cheat occasionally and use a boxed mix. Because it’s fast. And easy.

Butter Pecan ice cream is my father’s favorite, so for his birthday I made this piece of buttery heaven and earned the title of “New favorite dessert.” He’s already asked for another.

This is barely a recipe. You dress up a cake mix and make frosting. Done. Enjoy!

Butter Pecan Cake Mix Cake

Cake:

• One white cake mix, ingredients for package directions
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 16 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 lbs confectioners sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, if needed

Instructions:

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add pecans and toast until you smell nuts. About 5 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat oven according to cake mix directions. Line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Prepare cake mix according to package directions, replacing the required oil with melted butter. Add the vanilla extract and butter extract. Fold in the toasted pecans. Bake according to package directions.

For frosting, blend cream cheese and butter. Add confectioners sugar a bit at a time until combined. Beat in extract and milk until desired consistency.

Frost cake after completely cooled. I decorated mine with pecans.