April 13th was my little monster's third birthday! I can't believe how time flies (especially since this post is almost a month late). I feel like it was just yesterday that she was a baby...
Now she's this big kid who does things like get in a jumping balloon...
She opens her own presents...
She blows out her own candle now...
She has tea parties with friends...
She even goes to the theater to see movies in 3-D!
But...she is my little monster and I love her and would do anything for her. This includes making a 3-tiered Tinkerbell cake!
She may be a lot of hard work but at the end of the day I know that the time is passing too quickly and I just want to make it stop. Can you please be my baby forever??? Please!?!?!????
For years The Hubble and I have made this dish. And for years we failed to bestow upon it a name that sounded savory and delicious. One day, we started calling it "concoction" and because of our lack of imagination and inability to give it an appropriate moniker, Concoction stuck. Though the name may not sound amazingly delicious, every time I've made it and served it to those who have never tasted Concoction, I'm always met with exclamations, praise, and full bellies. So now, I offer to you...Concoction. Don't let the name scare you off, it's actually quite good. Who knows, maybe you might come up with a better name for it. Here's how you make it:
Gather your ingredients.
Grab a large pot and make the mac & cheese like the box tells you to. I know...this isn't a hard step. You will need the large pot later though so let's not dirty too many dishes. Set the mac & cheese aside when done.
Put the ground turkey in a hot pan to start the browning process.
Break it up a little and let it start cooking.
Sprinkle on some Adobo (or poultry seasoning, whichever you have or can find, I just prefer Adobo).
And cook the turkey until browned or thoroughly cooked. Turkey doesn't always turn brown because it's white meat.
Next, take your can of green beans and drain out all the juice.
Add them to the meat.
Take the can of stewed tomatoes and dump them (juice and all) onto a plate.
And chop them up...
Into tiny pieces. These don't have to be perfect, just try to get them to a "diced" size.
Add them to the meat and green beans...
And mix it all up.
Add in the chopped green chiles...
And mix again.
Take the entire meat and veggie mixture and dump it into the large pot with the mac & cheese.
Yup...dump it all in baby!
And yup, you guessed it, mix it up!
Add in the seasoned salt...
And Ranch style beans.
And...oh my gosh...could it be?? You mix it?!?!!!! Yepper! Mix thoroughly so you get all that seasoned salt distributed throughout the mixture.
Yay! You are finally done with the mixing. Now you get to serve it...
And enjoy it. We eat ours with Saltines. But you can enjoy yours with crusty bread or maybe even some cornbread.
You can also add extra flavor. I like to put Frank's RedHot in mine. Mister Man likes crushed red pepper in his. The choices are endless!
Concoction
Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
1 can French cut green beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can chopped green chiles
1 can Ranch style beans
1 box mac & cheese
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Adobo or poultry seasoning
Directions:
In large pot prepare mac & cheese as per directions on box; set aside.
Place ground turkey in large heated skillet; sprinkle with Adobo or poultry seasoning.
Brown ground turkey until cooked through completely.
Drain green beans; add to cooked turkey.
Pour stewed tomatoes (including juice) onto plate; coarsely chop until all tomatoes are diced. Add to cooked turkey and green beans; mix thoroughly.
Add green chiles (including juice) to turkey mixture; mix thoroughly.
Dump turkey and veggie mixture into large pot with mac & cheese, mix thoroughly.
Add seasoned salt and beans to mixture; mix thoroughly.
Serve and enjoy with saltines, crusty bread, or cornbread.
My friend Wendy lost her mojo. Somehow, the Milky Way cake has defeated her. She has made this cake a hundred times over and one day it all went wrong. She's not sure how. She's not sure why. She used the same recipe every time. It's just that one day the cake decided to stop baking for her. It would boil over the pan. It would fall in on itself. It would smoke up the house and make a horrible mess in the oven. So...when I was staying with her for the month, she challenged me to conquer the Milky Way cake. I think it was her way of getting back at the cake for giving her so much hassle. I made the cake. I beat the cake. And I did it all for Wendy. I did it so she could say "take that Milky Way cake!" And I did it like this:
First I gathered my ingredients.
Then I took my beautiful Milky Way bars...
And chopped them into pieces.
Half the butter gets cut into pats and thrown into a saucepan or double broiler...
Toss the chopped candy in with the butter.
If you don't have a double broiler, no worries. Just use a pot of boiling water with a bowl set on top.
Stir the candy and butter frequently as they begin to melt.
Keep stirring and melting....
At this point you may feel as though the mixture will never actually mix...just keep stirring and melting and mixing.
But eventually everything will turn out as it should. Now set this aside to cool a bit. While the candy, butter, melty mixture is cooling...
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside.
Take your sugar and the rest of your butter and cream them together in a large mixing bowl.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter sugar mixture.
In an alternating manner, add the flour...
And buttermilk. Mix well.
Then add the candy and butter mixture; mix well.
Next, add the vanilla and nuts.
This works best if you fold them in instead of trying to use the mixer like I did. After everything is mixed together, pour into a greased and floured bundt or tube pan and throw in the oven.
**NOTE** If you bake this cake until the tester comes out clean the cake may be overdone. It will have a brownie-like consistency.
Once the cake is baked, repeat the melting process with the candy and butter for the frosting. Add in the vanilla and melt in the powdered sugar, make sure you stir until the powdered sugar dissolves. Add milk until desired consistency. (Sorry no pictures of this step).
Quickly frost the cake while the frosting is still warm (it dries EXTREMELY quickly).
Top with more nuts if desired.
Serve....
And enjoy.
Milky Way Cake
Recipe adapted from several in my friend's recipe binder.
Serves 16
Cake Ingredients:
8 (1 ¾ ounce) Milky Way bars (chopped into small pieces)
1 cup butter, divided (I used salted butter)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 ½ cups cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
Frosting Ingredients:
3 (1 ¾ ounce) Milky Way bars (chopped into small pieces)
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon milk
1-2 cups confectioners sugar depending on desired consistency
½ cup nuts (optional)
Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Combine candy bars and ½ cup butter in a saucepan; melt over low heat; set aside to cool slightly.
In large bowl, cream remaining ½ cup butter and sugar.
Add eggs to sugar mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.
Alternate between adding flour mixture and buttermilk to butter/sugar mixture; beat until smooth.
Add melted candy mixture and mix well.
Stir in vanilla and nuts.
Pour into greased and floured bundt or tube pan and bake for 70-80 minutes or until done. (Cake is done when set and batter begins to shrink from sides of pans, if cooked until tester comes out clean, cake will be overdone).
Cool on rack for about 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely before frosting
Frosting Directions:
Melt candy bars and butter in saucepan over low heat; add in vanilla and mix well
Add in sugar and milk (add these ingredients until frosting is desired spreading or pouring consistency).
Add in nuts if desired (you can also top the cake with the nuts after it is frosted).
Spread or pour frosting over cake while still warm.
