The Corset Cake

I came out of retirement for the summer to make a few cakes!  So my first one is a corset cake.  I do love to make them.  Faith will be hosting a free fondant making class in the fall!  Pretty excited about that.

The template and beginning of construction!  I took a chance and did this on cake that wasn't frozen.  My freezer is quite full at the moment.  Worked out good.

Accented with pearls and ruffles!

The corset on the left is a picture of the invitation, the one on the right is my interpretation (Frita colored it for me) and of course the one in the middle is the actual cake.

The finished product!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

We are finally biting the bullet and making our own laundry detergent.  I have been reluctant because I was worried that it wouldn't work as well.  I have done several loads and am quite satisfied. 

It will help if you have a 5 gallon bucket- we got one at Lowe's for $3 I think.  You will also find it helpful to save 10 gallons worth of used, clean laundry soap dispensers.  I hadn't collected enough when the first batch was made so I headed out on trash day and every other house had an empty laundry detergent container in their recycle bin.   I washed them well and have about 6 containers-we'll be headed out again on Thursday to hopefully top off our stash.  Have to get some essential oils to add to it...

Here's the recipe:
4 cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha Heavy Duty Laundry Bar Soap ($0.97 @ our local Walmart)
      You can also use a Zote Bar
1/2 cup Borax ($2.98 @ Walmart)

Fels Naptha Heavy Duty Laundry Bar Soap, 5.5oz ($0.97 @ Walmart) ONLY one bar! OOPs

1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda ($2.34 @ Walmart)***

     ***This is not Arm & Hammer baking soda.  Our Walmart has all 3 ingredients right next to each other.***

Do not turn your back on this- it will bubble over!

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with hot water.  Stir continually over medium heat until soap dissolves and is melted.  Took me about 10 minutes.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of tap water.  Add melted soap, washing soda and borax.  Stir well until all the powder is dissolved.  Fill the bucket to top with more hot water.  Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Richard is such a trooper!

Stir the contents of the bucket.  Fill used, clean laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of the way with water.  Shake before each use because it gels.

You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons.  Add once soap has cooled. 

Makes 10 gallons.

Top load machines - 5/8 cup per load = about 180 loads - For us this is about 6 months worth of laundry detergent!

Front load machines - 1/4 cup per load = 640 loads

Next up Dish washing Liquid!

Best Spinach Artichoke Dip EVER!

For Thanksgiving we pulled a ton of recipes together and this was one of them.  Turns out to be the best Spin Dip ever!  I don't know where I originally got it but it has since been modified so I'll call it  mine and share it with you.

1- 8 oz package of cream cheese ( I use neufchatel cheese - better for you than regular cream cheese)
1 cup of sour cream
2 tsp minced garlic
2-3 cups of mixed cheese (colby/jack and mozarella)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped (have subbed a green one here)
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 jar marinated artichokes, drained and chopped- I used an 8.5oz can of artichokes
1 large bag of fresh spinach- cooked in EVOO and a little garlic

Mix well cream cheese, sour cream, 2 cups of mixed cheese and garlic.  Add peppers, onion, salt, artichokes and spinach.  Mix very well.  Top with about 1 cup of mozarella cheese.

Spread in baking dish.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Shepherd's Pie

I'm throwing a quick meal together for tonight since it will be rather hectic around here.


1 lb hamburger
1 can tomato soup
1 can of green beans (somehow I don't have any canned gb but I did have corn so we're going w/that)
1/2 onion chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 c. prepared mashed potatoes
1/2 c. cheese

Brown hamburger and onion, drain fat.  Add tomato soup, 2/3 of the juice from the beans and worcestershire sauce.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Put beef mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish, top with beans (draining the rest of the juice out), top with potatoes and cheese.
Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sour Cream Enchiladas- It's what's for dinner tonight!

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   Ingredients:

   Boil chicken breasts - then cube or shread.  I actually threw them in the crock
   pot

   1 dozen tortillas

   1 cup grated cheese- your choice- I'm doing a colby-cheddar mixture

   Ingredients for the Sauce:

   2 cans of cream of chicken soup -undiluted

   1 pint of sour cream

   1 small can of diced green chiles

   Mix together sauce ingredients.  Put some sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 dish

   Take flour torts put meat and sauce in the center, roll and place in dish.

   Fill pan with enchiladas, put sauce on top, add grated cheese on top. 

   Bake 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Crock-Pot Chicken Alfredo

Apparently this is not a new recipe but it is new for me and will be a frequent flyer in our house!

Crock-Pot Chicken Alfredo
1 cube of butter (not margarine)
1 pkg of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (or off brand is good to and I went to make it once and found I had no Italian mix so I added real Italian dressing and it too was yummy)
2 chicken breasts

Cook on High for about 3 hours.

Add to the butter sauce:
Cubed Chicken
8 oz package of cream cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of water.

Heat and serve over fettuccine noodles.

So easy and so yummy!

Broiled Tilapia Parmensean

Change of plans for our dinner tonight.  SOMEONE used the last of the hamburger that I had slotted for taco soup tonight so I looked at my freezer inventory of what frozen meat I have and Tilapia it is!

But one of my favorite recipes of all time and super fast too.
Broiled Tilapia Parmesan (or any other cheese you might have)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or any other type of cheese - just not velveta)
2 T butter, softened
1- 1 1/2 T on mayonnaise
1 T lemon juice ( I have omitted this when I didn't have it- works good with or without)
1/8 t dried basil
1/8 t black pepper
1/8 t onion powder
1/8 t celery salt
1 lb of tilapia fillets (I usually get the big bag of individually frozen fillets)

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven's broiler (I do this in my toaster oven on broil).  Grease a broiling pan or line with aluminum foil.
2.  In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together.
3.  Arrange fillets in a single layer on the pan.  Broil a few inches from the heat for 2-3 mins.  Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more mins.  Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the mixture on the top side.  Broil for 2 more mins or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.  Be careful not to over cook the fish. 

Yummo!

Baked Potato Soup - Bennigan's Style and some Potato Skins too.

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I very much miss Bennigan's especially the Monte Cristo with the raspberry dipping jam and the Baked Potato Soup so I went on a mission to find a descent recipe.  I may tweak it a little next time but for the most part it was yummy and Richard and all the kids ate it like champs.
Here it is!

3 lbs potaoes (medium size)
1 T. butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions but I added some leeks too
2 T. minced garlic
1 can of chicken broth- I put in 1.5 cups made from bouillon
3 cups of milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper - I used white pepper
optional toppings- bacon bits, shredded cheddar cheese, chives

...Preparation...

Scrub the potatoes and pierce each one with a fork a few times.  Bake the potatoes in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender.  You will want to flip them once half way through.  Remove from the oven, let cool enough to handle, then peel the potatoes (BUT WAIT- Bennigan's also used to sell potato skins which I also loved) so I cut the potatoes in half and scooped out the middle making sure I had 3 potatoes worth of cubed potatoes and then the rest I mashed.  I froze the potato skins so that we can make them later.  Melt butter in large pot.  Stir in the chopped onions/leeks and minced garlic.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft- do not brown.  Stir in the mashed potatoes; mix thoroughly.  Add the chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir over medium heat for a few minutes.  Reduce heat, cove and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the cubed potatoes, stir, and cook for a few more minutes or until heated through.  Add any desired toppings to individual servings.