Grandma Betty's Banana and Apple Cakes

Banana Cake
Mix all ingredients together for cake batter
1/2 cup butter (soften)
2 eggs
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream ( I use plain yogurt)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Pour into greased 9 X 13 pan bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes
or until tooth pick comes out clean

Frosting
Soften 4 oz. cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter in microwave, mix then add 2 tsp. vanilla and about 2 cups powdered sugar. Beat until frosting consistency you may need a little more powdered sugar.

Fresh Apple Cake
3 beaten eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
Mix above ingredients then add 4-5 sliced apples. (Betty peels them I don't)
1 cup walnuts
Pour into greased 9 X 13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes
or until tooth pick comes out clean.

These are two easy cakes that taste great and both freeze well.

Mom's Pudding Cake

2 -1 oz. pkg sugar free lemon pudding

2 cans of pears (pureed)

2 cup wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup butter

Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Roasted Red Potatoes

1 lb red potatoes (quartered)
2 T diced onions (optional)
2 T butter (melted)
1 T honey
1 tsp dry mustard
pinch salt
pinch ground black pepper

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Combine honey, mustard, butter, salt, pepper in skillet adding onions last (burn easily). Combine potatoes and glaze in a bowl until potatoes are coated. Spread potatoes in a single layer on cookie sheet and bake 35 minutes.

Monica's Granola

14 cups rolled oats
2 cups wheat germ (can substitute freshly ground flour or 2 extra cups oats)
2 cups coconut
2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
Combine ingredients in bowl and stir well. Then in blender, mix 1/2 cup honey, 1 cup oil, 1 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon vanilla. Blend and pour over dry ingredients and mix together. Pour onto ungreased cookie sheet (might need 2 cookie sheets). Bake 250 degrees until golden brown (for crunchy approximately 2 hours, for chewy about an hour and a half.)

Not-Fat Granola

5 cups oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 concentrate apple juice
1/2 cup dry milk
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried fruit

Mix sugar, juice, honey and heat until sugar disolves. Combine other dry ingredients in bowl and pour liquid over dry mix. Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Rasberry Lime Rickey

This recipe is from melskitchencafe.com and It is delish! It was great with the club soda, but so much better when the syrup was poured over shaved ice (thank you little ninja!!) I could eat that stuff all day long!! It's getting warmer outside, so enjoy!!

Rasberry Lime Rickey
adapted from Cook’s Country

12 oz. package frozen raspberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons grated zest and 1/2 cup juice from 4 limes (It took 4 limes to get the 1/2 cup juice but I only used the zest from 3 limes – it was plenty)
Club soda, chilled
Ice

Heat raspberries, sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium heat until the raspberries begin to release their juices, about five minutes. Mash the berries with a potato masher until the berries break down, then stir in the lime zest and juice. Simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened, about five minutes.

Pour the raspberry mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing on solids to extract the liquid. This works best done in batches so the seeds don’t clog up the bottom of the mesh strainer. You should end up with about 2 1/2 cups syrup. Discard the berry solids. Refrigerate the syrup until completely cool, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 week. To serve, combine 3/4 cup club soda and 3 tablespoons syrup in tall, ice-filled glasses.

Frosty Orange Cream Dessert

Lori and Lindsey served this yummyness at the last retreat. HOLY YUM! I love this stuff! I also found it on this website. It is super yummy as orange cream, but Lori says it is also insanely good when made like a Cookies and Cream dessert too. Anyway, here is the recipe...

Frosty Orange Creme Layered Dessert
2 cups orange sherbet
1 package cream cheese
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip

First, line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with foil. Spread the sherbet onto bottom of prepared pan to form even layer.Freeze 10 min.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually add condensed milk and juice, beating until blended. Gently stir in cool whip. Pour over sherbet in pan.

Freeze 3 hours. To unmold, invert pan onto plate; remove foil.


**I increased the sherbet to about 3 cups and would next time only use half of the creamy topping. While it is incredibly good, the topping is pretty rich. It turns out to be twice as much as the sherbet and I think it would taste much better and more balanced, if the two flavors were equal in quantity to each other.
But don't let this fool you. It is the perfect cool, sweet treat.

check out other super cute stuff at makeitloveit.com.

Lemon Cake (DELISH!!)

1 lemon cake mix

4 eggs

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1 pkg lemon jell-o

1 c. hot water

Mix together above ingredients and bake according to cake mix directions. (I mixed jell-o and hot water first, then added the rest).

Glaze

2 c. powdered sugar

8 TB lemon juice

Poke holes with fork all over the baked cake and pour glaze over top while still hot.

Super Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake

Devils food cake mix (Dry--don't make it according to directions on the box)
1 -4 serving instant chocolate pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
½ cup warm water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Place all ingredients except chocolate chips, in a large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer 1 minute.Stir down sides. Continue to mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.Bake 45-50 minutes at 350. Cool 20 minutes. Invert onto serving platter.
Frosting:
8 Tbsp butter (not margarine)
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 cup evaporated milk (I used 2%-it worked great)
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Whisk in cocoa and milk. Bring mixture just to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar with electric mixer until thickened and smooth. Pour warm frosting over warm cake. This recipe makes a lot of frosting.