Author: Chocolate Castles

Welcome to Chocolate Castles, a blog about food, family and stories that hopefully will bring a smile to your heart. Thanks for reading chocolate castles and may the recipes and stories help bring your family and friends a little closer around the table! Remember that Princess On The Porch is still available on Amazon! Makes a great gift for anyone who enjoys being in the kitchen and needs a little laughter in their lives.
Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Soups · Uncategorized

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

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Last week a dear sweet new friend of mine, Marilyn, from church knew that I was struggling with bronchitis and brought this great soup over for our dinner. To say it was great is really an understatement. It was so good, I kept standing at the counter eating it out of the container it was in even before dinnertime. She said I could post it after telling me that she combined about 3 recipes to get this result. Of course with whipping cream in it, what did I expect except a most wonderful soup.

1 box (6 oz) long-grain and wild rice mix, prepared according to directions on box.

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1 table oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced celery

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 teas dried tarragon

1/4 teas dried thyme

1/4 teas pepper

1/2 teas salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tables cornstarch

2 tables white wine

Saute mushrooms, onion, celery and garlic in oil until tender. Add rice, broth, chicken, tarragon, thyme, pepper and salt; bring to a boil over medium heat. Combine cornstarch and small amount of heavy cream tomato a smooth paste. Stir into vegetable mixture along with rest of heavy cream and wine.Cook 3 to 5 min until soup is thickened.

Serves 4 to 6 depending on size of bowls you use

Breads · Chocolate · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

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If you know me you know that I’m not a very healthy baker or eater. But I figure that if I can run around with a couple of healthy people, some of their good cholesterol and vibes just might rub off on me. Cecilia is probably one of my most healthy friends. She walks and pushes her Fitbit to the limit. Her recipes are ones in which the folks on the biggest loser would be proud to serve. She and I are complete opposite in our cooking but she puts up with and indulges me when they come to see us. This recipe is one she sent when she read that I was going to post at least 2 healthy recipes this month. I have been so busy baking strawberry pies,chocolate almond pies, lemon and orange cakes that I almost forgot that I said I would post a healthy recipe. So before I go to the kitchen to make cream cheese frosting, here for you crazy, healthy size 4 people is my second healthy recipe. Cecilia assures me that they are delicious. I have to admit, everything I have eaten that she made has been wonderful. She got this recipe from her niece Rebecca. Thank you Rebecca for allowing me to share this.

Makes 12 muffins

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

2/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1 teas vanilla

1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree (canned)

1 heaping cup oat flour (directions on this below)

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teas salt

1 teas baking powder

1 teas baking soda

3 tables unsweetened almond milk

a Splash of Apple cider vinegar

Handful or 2 of mini chocolate chips (she used Enjoy Life brand which is dairy, soy, and gluten free)

You can also add a handful or walnuts or pecans.

Preheat oven to 350. She said that she just lightly greased the muffin pans because the muffins will stick to muffin liners.

First, you need to make your oat flour if you don’t have any on hand.

She just took gluten free rolled oats and pulsed them in the blender until they turned into a powder (very easy and quick)

In a small bowl, mix the almond milk and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix coconut oil and apple sauce together well. Add honey. Then add the eggs, pumpkin and vanilla. Mx until all are combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: oat flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Then slowly mix your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients.

Gently fold in your almond milk mixture until well mixed.

Last, throw in the chips and gently fold into mixture.

Fill the cupcake pan about 2/3 of the way. Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes or until muffins tests done. Remove from oven and let sit about 5-7 minutes. Remove to a baking rack to cool completely. It is at this point I would probably take one of the warm muffins and cut it in half to poke a big slice of butter on it. Of course, that would ruin the “healthy” part but it sure would taste good.

Thank you Cecilia and Rebecca. These do sound really good and I do plan to make them. I even have Trader Joes Gluten free oats on hand because I use them in our favorite oatmeal cookie recipe that isn’t healthy, but the oats make amazing cookies.

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Blue Bell & The Beast

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This past week Randy and I had made our 3rd trip of the week to Walmart for the things we forgot the first two trips. On our way, I happened to mention that I wonder if the guys working the security camera have names picked out for us as we walk in the store. “Oh here comes the couple who must not have enough doctor visits on their calendar to keep them busy. They either both have alzheimers and cannot remember what they came for or they eat so much they don’t have room in their house or fridge to buy everything they need in one shopping day. We should give them a name like, “Triple Trips” or “Shopping Cart Sweeties”.  Seriously, I can only imagine the conversations that go on in the camera room. “oh my gosh, look at what they are putting in the cart, and they wonder why their butts are bigger than our aisles.”  or “do they really think they can put on that $3 t-shirt and look like they walked out of Target? Please lady, put back that sleeveless shirt and walk away, your arms are still moving from you stopping the basket 5 minutes ago. Just head on over to the sweaters and cover up those awful upper arms with as much material as you can stand in the heat.”

As we arrive at the store we do out best to find a parking space that will help us get to 3000 steps on our Fitbit. As we head down the frozen food aisle, there is the end of the rainbow. Randy does a double take and comes to a screeching halt. There, down in the middle of the aisle is a man who is unloading a pallet of Blue Bell ice cream. The look on Randy’s face told me that his dreams of finally having BB back in Phoenix has come true. He doesn’t have to wait any longer. We stroll over to the freezer trying not to act like our lives have had no meaning for the year we have lived here. There, in the freezer compartment just staring back at us is the ice cream that is like no other.  I tell him to just take it all in. Look over all of the flavors and pick out his favorite flavor. He looks at me and informs me that “no, he doesn’t want to put it in the basket just yet.” Why? why is he not buying the thing that keeps him writing to Blue Bell once a month asking when are they coming back to Arizona. He told me that he will finish shopping, pay for our groceries then before we walk out the door, he will come back to the ice cream aisle and get his precious treasure, pay for it and then, we will leave.  Truly I thought he was joking. It was at this point that I began to tell him that he didn’t take this much time picking out our wedding rings. Things began to escalate. Thinking that I could go ahead and grab some items while he stayed and drooled over the ice cream section, I walked away just shaking my head. Seriously, I began to remember us picking out rings 22 years ago and remembered that as I was trying to pick out just the perfect ring, he stood beside me and coaxed me to pick out the ring that didn’t make my butt look big.  His sense of humor has always been a little off.

But here we were, finally completing our third trip of the week and all checked out. He pushed our cart to the part of the store where I usually stop on our way out and buy a huge bag of popcorn at the Subway counter before exiting the store. He told me to “take a load off”  (man is he getting so romantic now that he has his Blue Bell back) and he would be right back. So I sat and wondered just how many half gallons of Blue Bell he would come back with.  I watch him, as he goes to the self check out (which he will NEVER go to when I want to hurry) with his precious half gallon of The Great Divide, which for those of you who are not Blue Bell groupies, is half chocolate and half vanilla.  He walks quickly toward me with his ice cream in hand and tells me to hurry and lets get the groceries loaded and get home before any of the ice cream melts. I told him I had not seen him move this fast since…well, actually ever!  For those of you who know my sweet husband, you know how slow he walks.  We speed home, yes, speed home,  not even worrying about a possible ticket, and he grabs the ice cream from the back seat and as I’m hauling in the groceries, I walk in the kitchen to see him standing over the half gallon with the biggest spoon we have. His life is now complete. His Blue Bell is back and life is back to normal. He just took the whole container to the den and told me that he was not to be disturbed. I told him, I thought he was already disturbed.

Yes, life is good and I once again have a sweeter and more gentle husband. All it took was a gallon of ice cream and a flavor called The Great Divide. Maybe I’ll take him to look at new wedding rings. He might be in a little more of a shopping mood than he was years ago.

 

Uncategorized

Pistacio Cake

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The perfect dessert for St Patrick’s Day!!!

Chocolate Castles's avatarChocolate Castles

IMG_2378This cake is so much better than the one we used to make all the time in the 80’s..we were invited over for dinner to some friends house last Sunday evening and when she brought this cake out and set it on the counter, my mouth began to water. The frosting in this cake is amazing. Trust me, you will love this cake. I cannot wait to get my hands on a oven and some cake pans (all of ours are packed) and make it so I can eat the whole thing. Thanks Sylvia and Al for a most wonderful evening and meal. Made such a nice memory.

Mix Together:
1 box of Duncan Hines White Cake mix (the moist one)
1 cup liquid Canola, Crisco or Wesson Oil (whichever you have)
3 eggs
1 cup of club soda
½ cup chopped pecans
1 box of pistachio instant pudding mix

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Chocolate · Desserts · Uncategorized

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

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I know I said I would post two healthy recipes before going into desserts, but…I’m thinking that because these have peanut butter in them, that should count for something. After seeing this recipe in my old Paula Deen magazine from 2008, it amazed me that this had slipped by me for 8 years.  Since some of our grandkids are spending time at our house next week due to spring break, it gave me an excuse to bake these and not have to say they are all for me.

1 cup butter

5 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate

2 1/3 cup sugar, divided

6 large eggs, divided

1 tables vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup flour

1/4 teas salt

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 13″x 9″ baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil; lightly grease foil.

In a medium bowl, combine butte and chocolate. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Will take about 2 minutes total.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups sugar,5 eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed with mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in butter mixture until combined.

In a small bowl, combine flour and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until combined. Spread batter into prepared pan; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, peanut butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 egg. Beat until smooth. Drop mixture by tablespoons over chocolate mixture. Swirl batter gently with a knife. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until brownies tests done in center with just a few crumbs still attached to testing knife. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Daily Thoughts · Vegetables

Spiraled Zucchini

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When we arrived in Texas on our trip back 2 weeks ago, my sister-in-law welcomed us there with a veggie meal, which I had requested. She makes the best veggies and after two days of Mexican food on the road, we were more than ready to see something green on our plates besides green chiles.

As we sat down to dinner, I saw that she had added a new dish to the ones I had requested. Spiraled Zucchini. Along with fried potatoes with onions, fried cabbage, a pot of beans, cornbread was this awesome dish of zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Not wanting to look like I hadn’t eaten in 3 days, I only requested the bowl to be passed twice, but as we were cleaning up, I ask her if I could just eat what was left in the bowl. It was that good. So here is my first healthy recipe for March.

Spiral 2-3 zucchini (everyone who is anyone, has a spiral cutter, right? I actually just got one from a friend who gave me her old one, since she bought a better much pricier one)

In a skillet, add about 1 tables of olive oil and heat. Add the zucchini and add salt and pepper to taste. Toss the squash around making sure it is coated in the oil. After about 3-4 min throw in about 1 cup of cherry tomatoes which you have cut in two. When veggies are tender (about 5 min) sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.  If I hadn’t eaten them up so quickly I should have taken a picture.

Thanks Janece for a great vegetable dinner only to be topped of by your not so healthy, but delicious homemade chocolate cream pie with whipped cream.  And you wonder why we always stay with you? Really?

Uncategorized

All My Ex’s Live in Texas

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When I think of the word “ex”, I think about something that I truly loved and knew I couldn’t live without all the time I had it. We just returned from a two week trip back to our grand state of Texas to visit family and  friends. While there, I also attended a Women’s Conference which encouraged me to quit using “ex”cuses for not moving forward and not allowing God to use me where He has planted me.

On our two day drive across the desert, our conversation alway turned to which of our favorite restaurants we will visit while driving around Dallas. Which stores, that I do not have here in Arizona, do I want to spend our kids inheritance, while in Texas. How many Whataburgers can I consume in a 2 week period? How many times will I get to sit and listen to hymns sung by a choir (yes, I know this gives my age away) before coming back to services which end with drums, guitars and electric pianos?

Yes, I do admit that I do have one ex-husband which is still in Texas. Since he has never married in the 23 years since our divorce, I gather that I either ruined him on the idea of marriage or he figured that he would never be so blessed a second time; I like to think that is the reason, rather than the first. Not sure he would agree, but on to the story.

As we left Texas in the rear view mirror on Wednesday morning, we drove with anticipation as we neared the New Mexico border, getting us closer to home. We had had such a great time with our families and dinners with friends. Our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant had been crossed off our list twice in a 5 day period. We feasted on Texas barbecue, Whataburger more times than I care to tell you (yes, even had one for breakfast one day) and even talked Randy into driving me to my favorite Steinmart.

We sat in church Sunday morning and relished singing hymns that we both knew. After church we stayed around talking to old friends and then stayed just a little longer to listen to the music again as the second service started. It blessed my heart to hear one of my favorite songs being sung last Sunday, Every Praise is Due Our God; yes, every praise is certainly due our God. He had given us a great trip, watched over us as we drove, with a dog   in our lap, going and coming for the 1000 mile trip.

Randy was the chauffeur on the trip back, since I guess all that Mexican food, Whataburger and barbecue gave me bronchitis. I slept and had lots of time to think. Randy enjoyed the peace and quiet as each time I did try to talk, I would start coughing, so he told me to just be quiet and not try to talk. He assured me that he was just trying to take care of me. Yeah, heard that one before. I was able to muster under my breath that I had left one ex in Texas, I might be leaving another one there very quickly.

So, as we approached Phoenix, I really began to think about some of the things I had heard on the CD I had bought from Debbie Steward at the Women’s Conference last Saturday. One of the topics she had talked about was that we are always consumed with “are we in our sweet spot” rather than our “sent spot”. As I listened to her talking about where God sends us sometimes, as being our “sent spot” and how are we allowing Him to use us, it dawned on me that this is where He has me now. In a new community with new friends, a new church, new places to adventure. And what a great thing. How blessed Randy and I have been to be able to live in 3 different states and capture the new adventures which beckon us in each new “sent spot”. As soon as we arrived home, we had phone calls, a neighbor came by and several texted to check on us to see if we had made it home ok.

That is far more valuable than living by what we have always considered the best Mexican Food this side of the border. Will I ever return to Corpus to eat at Kikos, probably not, but I have the memories and the constant challenge of trying to duplicate their enchiladas ( I think I almost have it). Will I ever be able to live by any of the other grandchildren? I have no clue. But what I do know is that wherever I am, I want to finish strong. I want to be used by God to fulfill His purpose for leaving me here. Dallas will always have such a special place in our hearts, but even more special is the fact that we know that He has brought us to the place where He has placed us and we know that He is a great God….not only is He faithful, but we have a Whataburger 20 minutes away and am having a ball trying out all the different Mexican food places here. One of our favorite houses which we hated leaving in Texas has now become an “ex” as we have a new favorite house, here.

We continue to learn that “ex”citement can come with a new found joy of knowing that we are in the place for this season of our lives. We can now add precious friends who we already love and care about to our grateful lists of blessings.  Yes, we have lots of ex’s in Texas and California, but we look forward to the days ahead when we have a whole new lists of special memories and places which move us forward to a greater faith and a greater desire to live our lives for His purpose!

 

 

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Different View of Valentines

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Isn’t it great to read the different ways people celebrate Valentines? I truly enjoy scrolling through FB and seeing the restaurants where couples are celebrating the special day. The flowers that grace the different tables, as  we imagine the smell of the roses that sweethearts have brought home.  Boxes full of candy that are ripped apart as we promise ourselves “only 1 piece a day” that are emptied 3 days later. The cards that adorn the mantles of our homes are simple but meaningful ways to express the words that somehow are so hard to say sometimes, but then, finding just the perfect card, we hope that our loved ones are able to read between the poetic lines of love that talented writers are best able to express. Yes, all these are great way to celebrate a day set apart for showing special people just what we feel about them.

This year, having lived in a new city and new community less than a year, I began to think about all my past Valentines days. I remembered the years which I wondered about what I might receive. Would I have some of the beautiful roses, or a box of candy? Would I be able to sit and read a card over and over, all the while thinking about the person who thought enough about me to actually send a card. As I thought back, it dawned on me that most of the past years, I made it all about me.  Yes, of course, I bought for kids or grandkids and my sweet husband, but in the back of my mind, all the time I was picking out little tokens of love for family, my mind seemed to drift towards wondering what I might receive.

This season of life allows us to have time to sit and ponder. Ponder things which might need to change; think about ways in which we can enrich the lives of others before thinking just about ourselves. So I began. I was going to do something totally different this year. Making up pretty little bags with a bar of lavender soap, a tea bag and a little Godiva chocolate, I made up 20 little bags and tied them up with a red ribbon. When I ran out of the chocolate, I baked a few red velvet tea cakes and substituted those for the candy.

Yesterday morning, handing out the Valentine bags to women around our table at Bible Study, you would have thought I was handing them a $100.  The smiles that came to their faces was such a delight to me that I was the one who felt so blessed. In the afternoon, I came home and jumped on the golf cart. Going around in our neighborhood, I ended up delivering about 10 more little Valentine goodie bags. When I arrived home, Randy met me at the door and said, “well, welcome home, I was beginning to wonder if you had fallen and couldn’t get up.” After I assured him that even if I had fallen, I was NOT OLD and I COULD GET UP! I had been gone over 2 hours and had the pleasure of visiting with 9 ladies. Everyone had invited me in and two of the women and I had amazing conversations regarding what the Lord had been doing in their lives. It was one of the best afternoons I had spent in a long time. Just living in a place where you are invited in and people take the time to sit and visit was such a huge blessing to me.

It is 75 degrees again today. The sun is shinning and we ended up riding up to the club house and had lunch with some friends around the pool. A few ladies stopped me and thanked me again for the wonderful little surprise that was dropped off to them yesterday.

It has been about 24 hours since my little Valentine deliveries and I am still on a high from just the sweet conversations, the smiles that reflected from their faces and it has shown me that Valentines can be a whole lot more than just a box of candy or a dozen roses.

It is a time of reflections of how blessed we are when our health allows us to go jump on a golf cart and ride around dropping off little unexpected gifts. It is a day of realizing that we can get out of what we might be expecting from others and begin too reach out and be a blessing to those who might have just lost a spouse, or is new to a neighborhood. It is a day to allow others to see us for who we are…people with struggles, maybe just like theirs. Next Valentines cannot come fast enough. My desire is that I will not wait until Feb to reach out to others, but to look for the opportunities as they come to be a encourager, a light and point others to the Lord praying that “they may know Him by our love.”.

 

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Sausage,Spinach & Sweet Potato Soup

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IT is a beautiful day here in Arizona and we are preparing to leave for a party where there will be a tremendous amount of food to consume during Super Bowl. To allow our clothes to be a little loose so we won’t have to unzip our pants during the party, we ate soup for several dinners this week, hoping to loose a pound of two. This was one of the soups which I had found in a Taste of Home magazine and decided to try. I can testify that this recipe will stay in my stack of “favs” for a long time. Not only was it simple, but it was delicious.

Because we live in an area which does not have an immediately supply of black eye peas, I substituted Am’s Organic Lentil Vegetable soup. Before you get excited and think, “oh my gosh, she has finally done it, she has realized that if she wants to live past 70, she had better get with the program and go organic and quit having chocolate cream pie for dessert every night.” No, it was just the only bean soup I could find on the shelf that wasn’t black beans, pork and bean or pinto bean soup. So don’t get excited and start sending me packets of organic veggies to plant. Just not going to happen besides, I already have my chocolate cream pie piled high with whipped cream ready for dessert tonight.

Ingredients:

2 links of sweet Italian sausage, taken out of casing

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1/2 medium green or red bell pepper, seeded

1 small can of tomato sauce or the regular size can of diced tomatoes

1 can (15 1/2 oz) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained (( substitute Amy’s and did not drain them, but used the whole can, juice and all)

2 cans reduced sodium beef broth (here once again, I used 2 beef bouillon cubes and 2 cups water because I didn’t have any beef broth in the house)

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/2 package cheese tortellini

Garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and a about 1 teas Italian Seasoning to taste.

Add the Italian sausage to a big Dutch oven which has been sprayed with Pam and crumble and cook until no longer pink. Add the rest of the ingredients except the spinach. I added more water while soup was cooking to give it more broth. Cook for about 2-3 hours over low heat until sweet potato and other vegetables are tender. The last 30 minutes of cooking, add the chopped spinach and the cheese tortellini . Cover and cook until spinach is wilted and tender and tortellini is done ( it floats when it is done)

Serve with hot crust Italian garlic bread.

appetizers · Daily Thoughts · Dips · Uncategorized

Trudicita Makes Salsa

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Going to the local farmer’s market on Monday got me in the mood to be daring and make my own salsa. For some reason, that is one of those things that I always meant to do,but never did. I guess because there was always a plethora of Tex-Mex restaurants close by, I opted for spending time baking. But Monday afternoon, I looked up different recipes and ended up doing a version of a recipe the Pioneer Woman posted.

We fried up some homemake flour tortillas and ate our weight in salsa. So today, I used up the remaining cilantro, jalapeño and tomillo and made more. Am thinking of giving up my Hey Ya’ll Paula Deen apron for a “Salsa Lot of Garlic” one. Had such fun making it and got Randy outside exploring how to use his new smoker he got for Christmas. We had ribs and salsa for dinner.

Ingredients

1 Tomatillo, cut in chunks

3 cloves of garlic

1 small yellow onion

1 bunch of cilantro

1/2 small jalapeño, cut and seeded

1 regular can of Rotel Tomatoes with green chiles, juice and all

2 fresh tomatoes

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1/8 cup of lime juice

1 teas of sugar

Cut all veggies into chunks. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mixture is the consistency you want. I pulsed mine about 4-5 times. Season to your liking according to how hot you want it and how salty you want it.