Coconut cream poke cake

1 (16 oz) box white cake mix

3 (3.4 oz) boxes instant coconut cream pudding

1/3 cup flour

11/2 cup water

1tsp. Coconut extract

4 eggs

1/3 c. Oil

1/3 c. Sour cream

4 cups milk

2cups sweetened flaked coconut

1 (8 oz) container cool whip

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grab a white cake mix and dump contents into your stand mixer.

3. Add 1 box instant pudding, and 1/3 c. Flour. Toss it around to combine.

4.  Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tsp. coconut extract, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, and 1/3 cup sour cream. Blend the ingredients together on low speed, scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat for two min. Or until the batter is glossy. 

5. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. And pour batter in. Pop it into the oven and let the old girl bake for 35-40 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.

6. Remove the pan from oven and let it cool. 

7. Spread 2 cups coconut out on large cookie sheet. Pop it into the oven and let the coconut get all toasted and wonderful. Should take about ten min. And you will want to stir it a couple of times while it toasts. Be careful when you open the oven. Coconut lets off a really potent fume that can burn your eyes. It's best to open the oven cautiously without looking directly into oven. Let the fumes escape from oven for few seconds then u will be fine.

8. When your cake has cooled for about ten min. Poke a bunch of holes in it with the end of a wooden spoon.

9. Into your stand mixer pour 4 cups milk and 2 boxes instant pudding, with the whisk attachment whip the pudding until thickens. 

10. Pour the pudding over cake. It's ok if the cake is still a little bit warm.

11. Spread it all over cake.

12. Grab some cool whip and carefully scoop it onto pudding. Spread out evenly. If you put your cake in fridge and get it nice and cold then the cool whip spreads nicer and won't get mixed in the pudding. 

13. Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top. Pop the pan in fridge and let it set and chill for at least an hour.

This cake is so good! It's light and fluffy and easy to make. 

Here are some pictures of mine! 

Posted by suanne!

The easiest, quickest, green enchiladas!

You know these enchiladas are quick, easy, and yummy when its actually your husbands recipe and he can make them! They can be changed up to make them a bit healthy, or a bit spicy! At our house we{I} cant handle anything spicy! So these are perfect with the green sauce since its mild!

 Here is what you will need:

Chicken(I used 4 large frozen chicken breasts and then boiled it and then shredded it, but if you want to make it extra easy you could buy a rotisserie chicken and shred that.)

Cheese(Any kind is fine, or if you want to make it healthier avoid the cheese, or just use a small amount, or put it only on half if only some of the people in your family are eating healthy!)

Small tortillas(I love to use corn tortillas for this recipe, but again you can use flour, or for a healthy version use the whole wheat tortillas, they taste pretty good!)

Green enchilada sauce(This comes in a can, either get 2 regular size cans, or one large can, you can choose if you want it hot or mild, I chose mild. Also if you wanted you could use red sauce instead to amp up that spice!)

Directions:

I used a large glass baking dish (or any size or baking dish really)

 I used almost a whole bag of corn tortillas(who doesn't love leftovers!?) 

First you will grab a tortilla and put a spoonful of chicken (I also added salt and pepper to my chicken) you can add cheese to the chicken if you would like, I only added it on top at the end.  Once chicken is on tortilla, roll it up and line your baking dish pretty tightly with them. 

After your dish is full, you can sprinkle a little cheese now if you would like. (I did a tiny amount) then you pour your green sauce over all the enchiladas, soaking them almost completely. The more sauce the better since while baking the enchiladas absorb the sauce. 

Once sauce is poured then you can sprinkle the cheese and the amount you would like. 

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Or until cheese is melted. 

                                     Ready for the oven.

 This is the size of can of green enchilada sauce I use. Any brand is fine.

                                              ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOTE: Cover dish with foil for half of the cooking. Also if you use corn tortillas make sure to put them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to get them warm, I learned this the hard way when I made them once....if you don't do this then your tortillas will rip as you roll them and it will be one big giant mess and turn into a casserole! Ha Let me know if you have any questions! You can add sour cream or salsa if you would like, and its good with a salad too!

The best lemon cupcakes...EVER!

Submitted by Lacie

Ok I am the biggest lemon fan! Are any of you?! I love anything with a little lemon in it, especially in the warm spring and summer months! My Mom shared this Lemon cupcake recipe with me and I decided to try it! 

These are made from scratch, I was nervous and thought anything that wasn't a box cake mix would be hard, but they were very easy! 

Ingredients: Lemon Cupcakes

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) softened to room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

zest plus juice of two medium lemons

Now for the fluffy vanilla buttercream:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste

additional lemon zest for decoration if desired.

Instructions:

1.Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with 12 liners. (This batch makes 12 cupcakes) set aside.

2. Using a handheld mixer or a kitchen aide, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamed. Add eggs and vanilla.

3. In another bowl(you do not have to do in a separate bowl like I did) toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Batter will be thick. Add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix until combined, but do not over mix.

4. Pour batter evenly into 12 cupcake liners. Fill pretty full.  Bake for about 20 minutes. Check them at 18 minutes with a toothpick. Once cooked remove from oven and let cool completely. 

5. To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with a hand or stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt.  Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick. Now frost those cupcakes!!! I added a little lemon zest on top of the cupcakes for decoration, but you could use sprinkles or crushed lemon candies!

A few notes...I think I ended up leaving my cupcakes a minute or two longer in the oven than what this recipe says...every oven is different! I also didnt add a lot of lemon zest(which is the outer peal of the lemon) to my cupcakes, you can add as much as you like of that, I just don't like a ton of pieces in my cupcake when I bite into them! Oh the batter tastes SO good! Ha and your house will smell delicious! ENJOY!!!

Strawberry Angel Food Cake Trifle

Submitted by Lacie
Eric does not have a sweet tooth like me, so when he requested a dessert I was all about that! And it is now one of our favorites! Easy and a must try!
 The recipe is SO easy, you will need:
A package of strawberries, sliced.
One angel food cake(you could bake your own, but I just bought one) cut into bite size squares.
Vanilla Pudding, I bought the pack that had 4 little cups of pudding. And I ended up using all 4. And I am talking about the pudding your Mom used to put in your lunch, NOT the instant pudding you have to make!
One large carton of heavy whipping cream.
Powder Sugar.

Cut your strawberries up and put sugar on them to sweeten them, or I actually had home made strawberry jam that I added to my strawberries instead of sugar. Or you could use a gelatin that you can buy at the store.
Cut up your angel food cake next. Then your very last step is to make your whipping cream. If you do not want to make whipping cream you could use cool whip, but the whipped cream is the  kind where you lick the spoon and bowl clean, its that good! I used my hand mixer, but you could also use your kitchen aide. Whip all the cream and add powder sugar, I didn't add a certain amount of powdered sugar, I just added a little and then tasted if it was the sweetness I wanted. You whip until thick and fluffy! Takes a little bit to get that way!
Now once you have done all that it is time to layer the goods!
On the bottom start with the angel food cake, then on top of that add some strawberries, then vanilla pudding, then whip cream, then repeat! I added a few strawberries on top for a garnish.
Enjoy!!!