Chocolate - Chocolate Chip - Caramel Cake

If you have ever had my chocolate cake, then get ready for something even more amazingly delicious (yes, it actually is possible!). Years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to poke cakes. It turns an ordinary boxed cake into a gooey mess of cake goodness. Typically I bake a chocolate cake in a 9x13 pan, use a fork to poke holes all over it and cover it in icing. It's simple and for some reason so much better than just regular chocolate cake. So when I came across this recipe on Pinterest for a chocolate poke cake with added chocolate chips and caramel, naturally I couldn't resist!

Chocolate Chip-Caramel Poke Cake

Ingredients:
1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil's Food Cake mix
 11/3 cups buttermilk (I'm not a buttermilk fan and didn't feel like buying an entire carton just to throw the rest of it out, so naturally I just used the 2% that I had on hand)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
12oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup caramel topping (I used Smuckers caramel ice cream topping)
1/2 cup Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy vanilla frosting

Cooking Directions:
1. In a large bowl mix together cake mix, milk, eggs and oil with an electric mixer for 30 seconds at low speed and then on medium speed for 2 minutes.

2. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips into and gently press into batter. Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes until done.

3. Cool for 30 minutes. Using a fork poke holes all over cake. Pour caramel topping all over cake and allow to seep into holes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. Microwave icing for about 30 seconds and stir until very soft. Spoon into a 1 quart resealable food bag. Cut the tip off one corner and drizzle all over cake.

(photo credit: Betty Crocker)

(As amazing as this combination is, next time I'm going to try milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. The semi-sweet is just a little too bitter for my taste.)

Cut yourself a nice big piece, microwave it for about 10 seconds and top with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice-cream and you have heaven in a bowl!

Make it and devour it. Trust me, you're going to love it (unless you are one of those crazy people that doesn't believe in eating chocolate. how do you people even exist?!).

Mustard Baked Tilapia

Chicken. Chicken. Chicken. I know that by now most of you are probably asking, "Does she ever cook supper with something besides chicken (and the occasional ground beef in a crock pot)?" Truth is, ashamedly, no, not really. So this week I was on a mission to make something for dinner that didn't have ANY chicken in it! Plus, now that we live in Louisiana I'm supposed to become a seafood lover (yeah, good luck with that happening any time soon). There is one fish that I don't mind consuming every now and then that doesn't have much of that "fishy" taste: tilapia.

So I reached into the freezer, past the chicken, and grabbed two tilapia fillets I had picked up at the grocery store earlier in the week. Now what? If I was going to eat fish I didn't want it bland and tasting like, well, fish. So I rummaged through the refrigerator and here is what came of it:

Mustard Baked Tilapia

Ingredients:

2 tilapia fillets

2 tablespoons spicy mustard

4 tablespoons bread crumbs

Cooking Directions:

1. Coat fillets in spicy mustard (I found it easiest to use a knife to spread it). Sprinkle bread crumbs on both sides of the fillets.

2. Place in a baking dish and bake in oven at 350* for 15 minutes.

Sorry that I didn't get a picture but the hubs gobbled his up too quick (and well, I was starving!). The fish came out very juicy and flavorful. The mustard did the trick and covered up any "fishy" taste. I served green beans and pan-fried potatoes as well, so I guess you can say we had a healthy version of "fish and chips". And the whole meal took only 30 minutes. Which was perfect since we had both worked long days and were super hungry by the time that we got home.

So... voila! I can cook supper without chicken! But don't laugh at me when my next recipe is a chicken casserole. It's one I've been wanting to try for weeks. ;)