Erin go Braugh... Erin go Chocolate!

In honor of St. Patty's Day tomorrow, I decided to try my hand at what I spotted on Bakerella's blog... Cake Balls. These little puppies are bite size pieces of ecstasy! I decided to go with a chocolate cake mix and chocolate frosting... then dip them in vanilla chocolate (the green ones) and mint chocolate (the white ones). Oh yum-yum! The outside is a hard candy shell and when you bite into them, it's like a fudgey brownie consistency.

Added bonus of this recipe: you can switch up the flavors in a billion in one different ways. Kudos to Bakerella and this fabulous recipe!


Cake Balls



1 box cake mix of your choice (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can frosting of your choice (16 oz.)
1 bag of chocolate meltable discs
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I found it easy to use a spatula)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (I used a cookie scoop and ended up with 60+)
4. Chill for several hours. (I left them in the fridge for 24 hours)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It's easier to work with when it's hot.

I then drizzled more chocolate on top for added decoration. I melted some chocolate down, put into a sandwich sized Ziploc bag and snipped off the end. Instant pastry bag!

Channeling my inner Asian goddess

I, for one, love Asian style cooking... anything in an orange sauce or a szechwan style gets two thumbs up from me! I spotted this recipe for Szechwan Shrimp on another blog yesterday and knew I could adapt it for the chicken I was planning to have for this evenings meal. Needless to say, it was incredibly yummy. Lots of kick to it too... Myself and Mr. Tana-Licious' noses are still running!

Not only did I switch the shrimp to chicken, I also added a ton of blanched vegetables to give it a more rounded appeal for a meal... and served it over white rice. Enjoy!

Szechwan Chicken Stir-Fry



8 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon soy sauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup sliced green onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
Mixed vegetables, blanched (I used broccoli, mushrooms, water chestnuts, green beans, and red bell peppers)
1 lb of chicken tenders, cubed
White rice (follow directions on box for serving size & cooking times)

In a bowl, stir together water, ketchup, soy sauce, cornstarch, honey, crushed red pepper, and ground ginger. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in the garlic; cook 30 seconds.
Brown the chicken and stir in half the sauce.
Once the sauce has thickened, add in the vegetables as well as the remainder of the sauce.
Cook and stir until sauce is bubbly and thickened and vegetables are heated throughout.
Serve over white rice.

I heart Giada.

Ok, so if I'm being honest, I have a strictly platonic food crush on Ms. De Laurentis. Although I find everything she says to be a underlying sexual innuendo (I think she describes every food as "creamy"... creamy = sexy? You decide), I do love her recipes.

Tonight's attempt at Shrimp Lasagna Rolls with Creamy Marinara could have been a disaster, but with some quick thinking culinary skills, I turned my rolls into an actual lasagna! See, I knew I had lasagna noodles here... I was just unaware that they were the no boil kind until I was just ready to toss them into the boiling stock pot of salted water!

So here's the recipe... I'll post it as it's meant to be, however, if you're interested in making it into a lasagna, ya just layer pasta sheet, shrimp mixture, creamy marinara sauce. And if you're using the boil-less pasta sheets, follow the bake time direction on your box. Enjoy :)


Shrimp Lasagna Rolls with Creamy Marinara



1 lb lasagna noodles
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (15 oz) containers whole-milk ricotta (I used part-skim and it was fine)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still firm to the bite, about 6-8 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and garlic to the pan and saute until shrimp are cooked, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and let cool. Coarsely chop the cooled shrimp and place in a bowl with 2 cups ricotta cheese, the Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the nutmeg. Stir to combine.
In another bowl, combine the marinara sauce with remaining 1 cup ricotta and stir to combine.
To make lasagna, cover the bottom of a 9 x 13" baking dish with 1 cup marinara mixture. Lay 4 noodles flat on a dry work surface. Spread about 1/4 cup shrimp mixture evenly over each noodle. Roll up and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat twice more to make 12 lasagna rolls.
Drizzle the rolls with the remaining marinara mixture and top with mozzarella. Bake until lasagna rolls are heated through and cheese begins to brown, about 25 minutes.

Back to my roots, ya'll!

So I stumbled upon this recipe yesterday for Kandy Kakes... not just any Kandy Kakes, the delicious PB & Chocolate ones! Ya can't get these little squares (or circles!) of goodness up here in RI... only when we go home to MD and spend some time at the shore are we able to scoop up enough boxes to last us through the winter... or at least the 6+ hour ride home!

Needless to say, I'm thoroughly pleased with how they turned out... and they taste just like them! And can ya tell we have a thing for the combo of PB & chocolate in my house? Mmmm, delicious!

This recipe does make a whole sheet worth so make sure you can either blow your whole diet and eat them yourself
or have someone to share them with... but trust me, they'll go fast!

"Kandy Kakes"



4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
2 c. flour
2 tsp. butter
1 cup hot milk
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 (8 oz) Hershey bars (I used one 16 oz. bag of the meltable chocolate wafers)

Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, baking powder and flour. Melt butter in hot milk and add to batter. Pour mixture into greased jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Spread at once with peanut butter. Refrigerate until peanut butter is hard. Melt Hershey bars and spread on top. Refrigerate until chocolate is hardened. Bring to room temperature before slicing into bars.

Little cups of heaven...

I found this receipe on another fabulous food blog and just knew I'd have to try it! It combines two of myself and Mr. Tana-Licious' favorite things... fudgey brownies & Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! These candy cakes are so rich and decadent, one is plenty (ok, so maybe two... but only if you have a big glass of milk with them!!).

Brownie Candy Cakes



1 package Duncan Hines Chocolate Lovers Double Fudge Brownie Mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
30 mini Reeses cups unwrapped
1 Box Reynolds 2-inch aluminum foil mini cups for muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place 30 foil liners on baking sheet
3. Combine brownie mix, contents from fudge packet in mix, eggs, water and oil.
4. Stir with spoon until well blended. (about 50 strokes)
5. Fill each liner with 2 tablespoons of batter
6. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and remove from oven
7. Push 1 Reeses in center of each "brownie cupcake" until even with surface of the batter.
8. Bake 8-10 minutes longer.
9. Cool 5-10 minutes in pan and then move to cooling rack to cool completely.