Chocolate Trifle

William and I made this tonight for our FHE tomorrow (Aaron is in Chicago tonight).  It is very easy, and really yummy - although all we did was lick the bowls and utensils when we were done.  INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix1/2 cup water1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped...

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Comfort Food: Pasta Salad

I have to explain why this is a comfort food. I have decided pretty early in my mom-days, that dinner is the most important thing I can do in a day. If nothing else goes right, I want to be able to sit down with my family for dinner. Because of that, I've gotten into the habit of making most of my meals, as much as possible, in the morning. I use my crockpot a lot, make casseroles and stick them in the fridge, etc. This meal is my favorite because I can get it totally and completely done in the...

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April Proposal

Comfort food month seems to be a success. Therefore, I am proposing a theme for next month. I propose that April be "Summer food" month- salads, grill recipes, fruit, etc.I don't think that every recipe has to be with the theme, but it did help me think of recipes to post, so I say we do it aga...

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Comfort Food: Warm Pudding

1 package, any flavor, cook and serve puddingmilkMake the pudding according to directions. Take it seriously when it says to stir constantly. And make sure to keep the bottom of the pan scraped. When it is done, pour immediately into mugs and serve.Matt introduced me to this when we were engaged. I was very dubious at first, but now its a standard in our house. By far, the best flavor is butterscotch, but be aware that its very rich. We usually just do chocolate. Vanilla is all right, but...

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Comfort Foods: Beans and Bread

Okay, I have no good title for this one. It is an homage to Grandma and Grandpa Pratt.Admittedly, one of the first tests of my marriage was introducing Stef to Grandma Pratt's cooking. Stef barely survived the experience. It's not that Grandma Pratt didn't know how to cook, it's that she wasn't willing to spend any money on ingredients. So if she had leftover piecrust, green beans, and canned beef, well, she'd make it work. Or at least try.But there was one time they devised something that was truly...

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Comfort Foods: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Go to store. Walk to refrigerated aisle. Put package of Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in your cart. Proceed to check out. Pay and go home. Follow directions on package.The bonus is, no mess and they're done faster. Ha ha ha ha. You thought I was gonna post my secret recipe. Fooled you.But really, the reason why I do cookies this way is because I haven't been able to make my recipe work in our oven. Like all rented apartment ovens, its a piece of crap and doesn't bake right. Since the...

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Alternate cooking method for Bubbles and Squeak

Although a couple of the Pratt siblings use the oven for this recipe, some prefer the stove top method, allowing for a more fresh cabbage texture, and making it more likely you'll have this in warm weather when you don't want to heat up the house with the oven. I have adjusted this to include both the stove top and the crock pot, thus allowing myself to prepare it around 2pm, before the kids come home from school, yet eat it when Aaron gets home at 5:30pm. Boil potatoes, but not all the way....

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Depression-Era Cooking

Even though we are technically *just* in a recession, many economists say that the U.S. is actually experiencing a depression. There are people who are scraping to simply put food on the table, not to mention trying to keep a roof over their heads. How does one survive? Many lessons can be learned from looking to our past, to the last time our country went through this.Clara is a 93 year old...

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Comfort Food: Bubbles and Squeak

Okay, so you all know this recipe I'm sure. I just want to share a few ideas we've had in the last few years regarding this meal.Matt and I both prefer this with cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of chicken. It doesn't confuse your protein tastebuds as much this way.Do not use cheddar cheese with this. Its nasty. Definitely use a white cheese. I prefer mozzarella.The Tennessee Pride brand of sausage has the best flavor. Jimmy Dean just doesn't do it justice. Don't use the sage flavor...

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Comfort food: Fajitas

Tom won an award for this recipe. Okay, not really. We had fajitas out at the farm, and, for some reason, the meat ended up in two pans. Amy (Tom's sister) and Tom decided to have a cook-off, with each of them seasoning one pan of meat. Without knowing whose was whose, everyone tasted, and voted, and Tom's won. They are a staple in our house now.Meat (I prefer chicken, Tom likes steak.)onionspeppers (red, yellow, and orange all make it pretty and add a slightly sweeter flavor that I like. But, they...

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Comfort food: Cookie Pie

This is a recipe of my own invention. It came out of that same lunch where I had the Grilled ABC. But again, comfort food to me involves variations on a theme. Perhaps it has something with President Uchtdorff's talk on creation. When I vary the theme, it becomes my own creation, and as a result of that I get both the warm fuzzy from having invented something as well as from getting to eat it. This recipe makes two pies. I see no point in only making just one pie for a number of reasons. First of...

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Comfort Food: Grilled Cheese

The thing about comfort food is that it is often the most ordinary, even childish food that helps life to roll along more sweetly. Like grilled cheese sandwiches. But the even more glorious thing about comfort food is that it can and should be varied to fit your mood. For example. a grilled cheese sandwich can be made to recall perhaps the only decent food the WHS cafeteria ever served. You simply take a piece of white squishy bread and a slice of cheap cheddar and put it in the oven until the...

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Comfort Food: Brownie dessert (AKA The Chocolate Sasquatch)

This is what I do when I've had a really extreme day. Its not for the light hearted or anti chocolate people out there. Here you go.1 brownie (preferably the center piece, from the Ghiradelli's mix)1 cup of chocolate pudding (preferably the cook and serve kind, but the instant will do)1 scoop of vanilla icecreama bit of chocolate sauce.This must wait until after the kids are asleep or until your favorite primetime TV show has is about to start. Put the brownie in the bottom of the bowl. Add...

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Comfort Food: French Toast!

Are you ready for a Dad-style lecture on the properties of properly prepared Pain Perdu?Unlike French Horns, French Toast is actually a true name. Sure, the French have been know to toast their bread the German way, dried out in an oven, toaster or conventional, and served with some form of mashed fruit, but the French way of toasting things actually involves the egg mixture and the cinnamon and the powdered sugar. Yes, folks, for once the translators got it right. And the true nature of French...

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