Daddy's Oreo Cake

 Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cold water
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the Icing:

• 50 Oreos, finely crushed
• 6 Oreos, whole
• 4 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
  
  

Steps

For the Cake: 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all cake ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3. Beat with electronic mixer on medium to high speed until combined.  
4. Pour batter into a greased 9-inch baking pan (or two if you don't want to split the cake later).
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes (12-15 minutes if two pans) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 
6. Cool completely and place in freezer for 30 minutes before assembling.

For the Icing:

1.  Half six Oreos, set aside.  Chop remaining cookies into 1/4" pieces, set aside.
2. Make Oreo whipped cream in 2 batches. 
1. In a bowl for standby mixer with whipping attachment, whip 2 cups of cream on medium-high to soft peak, spoon into large bowl.
2. In same mixing bowl, whip remaining 2 1/2 cups of cream, sugar, and vanilla to soft peak.
3. Fold into already whipped cream.
3. Gently fold in crushed Oreos to full batch of cream.

Assemble:

1. Remove cake from freezer.  Slice in half horizontally, if cooked in one pan.
2. Place bottom half on serving plate.  Spread half of icing on cake.  
3. Place top layer, ice with remaining icing.
4. Chill two hours to allow Oreos to soften.  
5. Garnish with Oreo halves. 

Notes

• I rarely do the Oreo garnish.
• I rarely use all the icing, but it makes a great treat alone!
• Honestly, could leave out the additional sugar in the icing.  The Oreos make it sweet enough. 

Personal Notes

• We call this Daddy's Cake because Spencer helped me make this cake for Ryan's 36th birthday.  It is now tradition that we make this cake each year to celebrate Daddy's birthday on October 15.  
• For Daddy's birthday, we place the cake plate on the floor or table, and attack with three forks.  

Source: Oreo Cake via Bakerita.com 

Pimento Cheese

Ingredients

• One (8oz) bag mild cheddar cheese
• One (8oz) bag shredded Velveeta cheese
• Four ounces cream cheese, softened
• One (7oz) jar diced pimento, with liquid
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup of sugar
• 3/4 - 1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
• optional, salt and pepper

Steps

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Notes

• Can serve immediately, or let it thicken in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions

• Sandwiches, crackers, veggies....

Personal Notes

• In my long search for the perfect pimento cheese, this is about as close as I can get to my favorite. 

Source: Susanne Freeman's mother

Dump & Bake Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice Casserole

 Ingredients

• One can of cream of chicken soup
• 3/4 cup of water
• One cup uncooked white rice
• One pound raw chicken tenders, diced
• One (12.6 oz) bag of frozen broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• Optional: Ritz Crackers

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray 9x13 dish with cooking spray.
3. Add soup and water to dish.  Whisk together until combined.
4. Stir in uncooked rice, uncooked chicken, and frozen broccoli florets.  
5. Season with salt and pepper. 
6. Cover with foil and bake for one hour or until liquid is absorbed, rice is tender, and chicken ins cooked through.
7. Add cheese, stir.  Allow to melt before serving.
8. Optional: Top each bowl with crumbled Ritz crackers

Notes

• I typically eyeball the cheese and throw in a handful or two.  
• I usually add a little bit of honey mustard or yum-yum sauce to my serving to "spice" it up a bit. 

Serving Suggestions

• Since it has a veggie, I usually service with a fruit.

Personal Notes

This is one of Spencer's (age 8) favorites, and is on rotation in the meal plan frequently.

Chicken Puffs

 This is a family favorite!

Ingredients

• Two cans of crescent rolls
• One (10.5 oz) can of cream of chicken soup
• 10.5 oz milk
• One (12.5 oz) can of chicken
• One cup of cheese (or desired amount, I usually do a couple good handfuls)
• Optional:  One cup of frozen broccoli florets, thawed and chopped

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk cream of chicken soup and milk together.  
3. Place 1/2 of mixture in a 9x13 pan. 
4. In another small bowl, mix chicken and cheese together.  If desired, add broccoli to this mix, or part of the mix. 
5. Open crescent rolls.  Place a tablespoon-ish of chicken/cheese mixture in the wide part of the triangle.  Tuck and roll to create a puff.  Place in pan on soup mixture.  
6. Repeat step 4 until all crescents are used. 
7. Pour remaining soup mixture on top of crescent rolls.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes until rolls begin to brown.  

Notes

• If the top browns too quickly and the bottom does not cook, reduce heat to 350 degrees and increase cook time to 30-40 minutes. 
• In 2020, we added some frozen, yet thawed, broccoli to the puffs.  It was fantastic!  We now make half the pan with broccoli and half without.  Simply construct the first half, then add broccoli to the chicken/cheese mixture and finish!
• Easily frozen.  Bake and wrap well to prevent freezer burn.  Keep wrapped in foil to warm in oven or thaw and microwave to serve. 

Serving Suggestions

• I usually serve with green beans and a fruit.  
• In college, we would have these with hash brown casserole.  
• A nice salad is a good option too!

Personal Story

The first time I remember hearing about chicken puffs, was in high school.  The "guys" would go to Andrew's house before football games and she would make dinner.  When it was chicken puff night, they ranted and raved how good it was. 

Flash forward to college.  Kristi and I would make these on occasion.  One weekend, I remember coming home and we went straight to her house and made our ultimate comfort foods:  chicken puffs and Sarah Petre's hash brown casserole.   We didn't eat until close to 9pm, but it was so good!

It was a staple for Kristi and I when we moved into an apartment.

It's still in the rotation.  Ryan loved it when I made them when we got married.  Spencer liked them.  Parker (4 years old), who wouldn't eat them for a time, now requests them every time I ask if he has requests for dinner or meals when I plan for the week.  Gary even enjoys them!

It is an easy, yummy, kid friendly meal!