Chocolate and Cherry Trifle

For a Christmas party with some amazing family friends, who are really just family, my mom and I decided to take a stab at a trifle.  Neither of us had made one before but it was surprisingly easy and looked beautiful!

What You Need:
1 box of chocolate cake, and any ingredients to make it
2 containers of Cool Whip, thawed
1 box of vanilla pudding
1 jar of maraschino cherries, or more if you want ;)
Extra vanilla extract if you want more vanilla flavor
Chocolate flakes as garnish

Directions:
Depending on the depth of you trfile container, make two or three cakes in 8 inch round cake pans. While the cakes are baking, make the pudding. Mix one container of cool whip into the pudding with a spatula.

Take the maraschino cherries out of the jar and drain them in a colander.  Do not rinse. You can pat them dry if you think they are still dripping.

After the cakes have cooled completely, place one cake on the bottom of the dish. Use a knife to trim it if it doesn't fit in the bottom of the dish. Next place a layer of maraschino cherries on top.  Make sure some of the cherries are up against the glass so you can seem them in the layers. Cover the cake and cherries with a layer of the pudding and Cool Whip mixture.

Keep repeating layers until you reach the top of you dish. The second container of Cool Whip will be the top layer of your dish. Garnish with a few cherries or some chocolate flakes.

This dessert was delicious and surprisingly light so we didn't feel as bad eating dessert after a giant meal. 

Mini Pumpkin Pies

This post is a little late, but better than never.  I made these adorable mini pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. 

What You Need:

4-inch round cookie cutter (or bowl as a template)
Cupcake tin
1 package refrigerated pie crusts
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions:

Thaw the refrigerated pie crust if you bought it frozen. Preheat oven to 425°F.
Unroll the thawed pie crusts on parchment paper and use the 4 inch cookie cutter to cut out 6 circles.

Grease the cupcake tin and line the muffin cups with the 4 inch circles.

Mix pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl until smooth. Pour into pastry lined muffin cups to the top. Top with a pastry leaf if desired.
Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake another 20 – 25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool 30 minutes in pan and remove to wire rack to cool for another hour for pumpkin filling to set completely.

Stovetop Cabbage Casserole

Recently I spent part of a Friday off of work at Miller Farms in Platteville, CO (just 30 minutes north of Denver).  For $20 a person they let you pick a few bags of veggies straight from the ground! After my vegetable picking fun, I had to find some new recipes for all the food I had at home.  

Yes, I got all these veggies for $20! 

Diary of a Recipe Collector had a great recipe for a one-pot cabbage casserole. I'm not normally a fan of cabbage but this recipe is amazing!

What you need:

1 lb. ground beef
Salt and pepper or creole seasoning
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup rice, uncooked
3 large handfuls of roughly chopped cabbage
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups of water 
1 cup shredded cheese 



Directions:
Brown the ground beef and onions in a pan. Once the onions are clear, add the rice, cabbage, tomato sauce and 2 cups of water. Stir everything together and let it come to a boil. 

Then reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes or until rice is done and cabbage is soft. If you lift the lid before the 20 minutes to check the rice it may not cook all the way.  

Once cooked, top with cheese and cover with lid to melt a few minutes.