Tabitha's Heart

Some favorite recipes that I have collected along the way

Chocolate Coca Cola Cake

This cake is a moist and delicious chocolate cake that any chocolate-lover will enjoy. The fudgy frosting is actually better than the cake so I tend to use the frosting recipe for cake mix cakes. It is by far my favorite chocolate frosting. Here is a link to the recipe in PDF format

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Crockpot Dressing

My mother-in-law, Mema, served this for the family Christmas dinner. Because of conflicting schedules, we had our dinner on Sunday this year. Meal preparation around worship services can sometimes be a challenge. Her niece Bonna had given Mema this recipe for dressing prepared in a crock pot so Mema decided that this would be a good time to try it out. It was a big hit. Moist and tasty. Possibly the best dressing Mema has ever made. I may never prepare dressing in the oven again.

Ingredients

1 8-inch pan cornbread, crumbled
3 slices day old bread, crumbled (I prefer multigrain or whole wheat bread)
4 eggs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
11/2 to 2 teaspoons sage or poultry seasoning (vary to suit tastes)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans of chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Salt and pepper to taste
Non-stick cooking spray

Mix all ingredients except butter together until blended. Pour into crock pot (slow cooker) that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Dot the top with butter and cover. Cook on high approximately 3 hours or on low for 4 – 5 hours.

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Ding Dong Cake

When I was copying the recipe for the Crock Pot Dressing, my mother-in-law also shared this quick and easy dessert recipe. This one will be a handy recipe for fellowship meals.

Cook one packaged Devil’s Food Cake according to package directions for 3 layers. Cool cake thoroughly.

Beat together until well blended:
2 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese
12 ounces of Non-dairy Whipped Topping

Spread this mixture between the cake layers but NOT on top.

Microwave 1 canister of your favorite brand of prepared Milk Chocolate frosting on high for a few seconds until frosting is soft enough to pour being careful to not overheat. I recommend heating in 10 – 5 second intervals until you have the desired consistency.

Stir frosting and pour over the top of the cake. (You can just spread frosting if you prefer)

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Cashew Casserole

My friend Darris served this yummy side dish when we were treated to her hospitality recently. It is the kind of dish that would complement many different main courses. The cashews added a very unique and interesting flavor but also a heartiness. So it would also work well for as a vegetarian entree. This is a great prepare ahead recipe.

Ingredients

1 stalk celery, sliced
1 large carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced or 1 small can
1 cup cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, sliced and drained
1 101/2-ounce can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 1/4 cups water
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 5-ounce can chow mein noodles
Non-stick cooking spray

Saute celery, carrots, onions and mushrooms in a large skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray until tender, stirring often. Add cashews, water chestnuts, soup, water and pepper and stir until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of chow mein noodles. Pour into 2 quart baking dish that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining chow mein noodles
Bake at 350oF for 30 minutes.

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Easy Spanish Rice

I make this as a no fuss side dish when the cupboard is bare. My kids will eat it with refried beans topped with cheese and tortilla chips.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup favorite prepared salsa
3/4 cup brown rice**

Bring water, salt and salsa to a boil in a sauce pan. Add rice and bring back to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan tightly and cook for 45 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Fluff with a fork and serve warm as a side dish.

** To substitute white rice, reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes.

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Almost Instant Clean-out-the-Fridge Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients
1 cup leftover red beans (canned if you don’t have any leftovers
1 cup leftover cooked or canned pinto beans
1 cup of leftover cooked or canned black beans
1 cups leftover or canned corn
1 cup of vegetarian crumbles (fake ground beef) (optional)
1 can tomatoes with chili seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot or sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream or corn bread. Voila! instant supper.

This make a very thick and hearty chili. We like to pile it on top of tortilla chips and eat it like nachos. You can vary the combination of beans to suit your tastes or what you have on hand.We make our chili without meat but if you prefer meat, add browned meat of choice to the pot too.

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Mini Pizzas

This is a quick recipe I invented on day when I had very few groceries on hand and an unexpected meeting for which I had to prepare food. Your mom was right – Necessity really is the mother of invention.

The beauty of this recipe is that it can be adapted to whatever you have on hand. And did I mention that it was quick and easy and inexpensive to boot. Ingredients are approximate because I really didn’t measure as I made this.

Ingredients
1 package of English muffins
1 cup of grated cheese
1 cup of spaghetti, pizza or marinara sauce
1/2 pound of crumbled cooked sausage, bacon, ground beef or turkey, vegetarian crumbles or other meat topping of choice
1 small can of sliced olives, mushrooms or any other pizza topping you like
2 – 3 tablespoons of melted butter (optional)

Preheat oven to 400o F. Cut English muffins in half if not pre-sliced and place cut side up on a baking sheet. Brush tops of muffins with butter and brown slightly in oven. (This will make the muffins crisper but the step can be omitted if you plan to eat them immediately.) Remove from oven and add approximately 1 tablespoon of spaghetti sauce (or your favorite pizza sauce) to each muffin – more or less to suit your tastes. Sprinkle with crumbled, cooked sausage, bacon bits, olives, mushrooms or any favorite pizza topping. Top with grated cheese piled in the center of the muffin (avoid putting very much cheese near the edges because it spreads as it cooks and you want you cheese on the muffin not on the pan). Return to oven and bake for 5 – 10 minutes until cheese is melted, bubbly and just starting to brown. Makes 12 appetizer servings or 6 lunch or supper servings.
It would also be easy to make this recipe into a Mexican style pizza by substituting salsa for the spaghetti sauce and topping with seasoned ground beef, turkey or vegetarian crumbles and refried beans.

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Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

My friend Jody served this at a Youth Devotional at her home. As everyone was raving about how delicious it was, Jody shared her recipe. The recipe is ridiculously simple. No one will ever know that it was easy to make because it is positively yummy. It is also easy to personalize to suit your own tastes or the ingredients you have on hand.

Ingredients
1 large box of Ice cream sandwiches (12 or larger size)
1 large container of Cool Whip
2 cups of mini M&M’s, toffee bits, mini-chocolate chips or crushed Butterfinger or Heath candy bars or whatever candy strikes your fancy
1 jar of hot fudge or caramel ice cream topping

Place one layer of ice cream sandwiches side by side in a baking dish (reserve half of the ice cream sandwiches). Cover with a thin layer of Cool Whip, and half of the candy bits. Drizzle with hot fudge or caramel topping mix.
Add a second layer of ice cream sandwiches. Cover this with the remainder of the Cool Whip, sprinkle with the remaining candy bits and drizzle with hot fudge or caramel. Place in the freezer for several hours or until ready to serve. Cut in 2 inch squares for serving. You could also personalize the recipe by adding nuts, cherries, or your other favorite ice cream topping or candy.

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Chicken Spaghetti

I have tried this recipe several places. My friend Becky reminded me how much I liked it when she served it to me in her home one Sunday after worship. She uses it often for hospitality because it can be prepared ahead. This is a great recipe for feeding a crowd because it makes 2 – 3 large baking dishes. It also freezes well so it is easy to keep on hand for an quick meal. Serve it with a salad and bread and you have a quick and easy Sunday meal.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken or 6 chicken breasts
2 16-ounce package vermicelli
2 large onions
2 large bell peppers
1 stick margarine
1 pound Velveeta cheese (cubed)
2 cans Ro-Tel tomatoes (chopped)
1 large jar sliced mushrooms (drained)

Cook chicken in 2 quarts water. When done, remove chicken from bones and cube. Drain broth; cook noodles in broth and add Velveeta cheese cubes. Sauté onions and bell pepper in margarine until soft. Add chicken, tomatoes, mushrooms and sautéed vegetables to vermicelli. This makes enough mix for two – three 9X13-inch casseroles. Bake for 30 minutes at 350o.
May be frozen.

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Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy

My friend Judy often told me of her favorite childhood treat – biscuits and chocolate gravy. Having grown up in a place where “gravy” was a thick, glop made from meat drippings, I had never heard of Chocolate gravy and, frankly, I thought it sounded rather weird. I mean, why on earth would anyone want to ruin chocolate by making it into gravy!

However, a few weeks ago, I was trying to think up a special Saturday breakfast when I had next-to-nothing in the pantry. I remembered Judy and her mother’s biscuits and chocolate gravy. I checked a couple of cookbooks and unbelievably found a recipe. It looked simple enough, it didn’t sound like the “gravy” with which I was familiar and I had all the ingredients on hand. Why not, I thought. If it was terrible, I could dump it and we could eat biscuits and jelly for breakfast.

It smelled quite good while cooking; like homemade cocoa. Maybe this recipe had promise after all. I gave it a little taste – delicious. As I sat and watched my family devouring the tender, flaky biscuits smothered in rich, chocolaty sauce, I realized why Judy treasured this simple meal. It wasn’t really the chocolate gravy – although it was quite delicious – that made this meal so special. The thing that made this such a special treat was the memory of everyone enjoying breakfast together as a family. The chocolate covered mouths, the happy voices. Childhood memories – the thing that will remain long after all things that you buy your kids are gone and forgotten.

This recipe has quickly become my family’s favorite so I thought you might like to make family memories too. The original recipe comes from More Recipes from Home by Martha Parrish. I modified it slightly to suit my tastes, you will find this version below.

Ingredients

1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons flour
1 ½ Tablespoons cocoa, powder
¾ cup milk
¼ cup water
¼ cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, mild and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil, stirring often, until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Serve over biscuits, shortbread or ice cream. Yield: 1 ¼ cups

Make a batch today and start making family memories. Email us if you need a recipe for biscuits too.

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