More Then Enough Chocolate Cake

The first time I made this was for James' birthday. We loved it so much we decided to make it for Glens Birthday as well. It was a hit again! Especially for Glen. We gave him a huge piece and he ate it all! I was surprised because he is only one! Enjoy. For all those who have asked for the recipe here it is.
(This recipe is from the Dave Ramsey website)

Cake Ingredients

2 cups sugar
½ cup shortening
4 eggs (at room temperature)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups of buttermilk

Icing Ingredients

½ cup butter (softened to room temperature)
1 3-oz package of cream cheese (soften to room temperature)
½ teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of whole milk
2 squares unsweetened chocolate (1 oz. each) melted and cooled

To Prepare Cake:

Preheat oven to 325. Spray and flour two 9-inch cake pans. (For easy cake release, I always line the bottom of my pans with parchment paper, sprayed and floured.)

Cream sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add melted, cooled chocolate.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

Add dried ingredients to the wet batter, alternating with buttermilk until combined. Divide batter evenly between the pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans, remove and cool completely.

To Prepare Icing:

Combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add powered sugar slowly, beating on low speed. Stir in one tablespoon of milk and melted chocolate. Beat until fluffy. Add additional tablespoon of milk if needed.

Jo's Tips: I add a chopped up candy bar on top to give it an extra something. I used Skore for Gens cake and chocolate chips for James. I am going to use Snickers next time!

Split Pea Soup

This is a very easy and yummy food storage meal. I grew up eating split pea soup. I remember the first time I had it. Mom made it for dinner and I didn't want to try it because it was PEA soup! I hate peas and I couldn't believe they were trying to feed it to me. They knew how I loathed that ugly green vegetable! My dad coaxed me into eating it by telling me it didn't taste like peas and you know what? It didn't taste like peas! It has been a favorite soup of mine ever since!

Ingredients

1 lb. split peas (washed and sorted*)
1/2 pk frozen bacon
1/ onion (diced)
2 stalks of celery (diced)
2 carrots(diced)
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
8 cups chicken broth
crock pot

Directions

1. In a frying pan add bacon, sliced into little pieces.
2. Add about 2 Tbsp olive oil to braise the veggies.
3. fry bacon until cooked, using medium heat.
4. Add chopped vegies ( not the garlic and bay leaf)
5. Cook until you have a slightly brown color.
6. Put the peas in your crock pot
7. Add chicken broth, veggie mix, bay leaf, and garlic to the crock pot.
8. turn on the crock pot to low for 8 hours.
9. enjoy yummy soup

Jo's tips: *You need to sort the split peas from any small pebbles that might be hiding in your peas. (it happens). You can also add a dollop of sour cream to the soup. It makes it taste creamier and is so good. If you don't have chicken broth you can add bullion cubes to water. I like lots of salt so I add some to my bowl!

It has been crazy at my house since Christmas. First the car broke right after thanksgiving, then I was sick for the three weeks before christmas, the week in between christmas and new years we gutted the bathroom in order to lay tile, which we also did, then the car broke again. And in the middle of it all the batteries died in my camera. I Have new batteries now and have calmed down just enough to start cooking again! yeah. There is a catch.....We are living on our food storage right now because we spent all our money on cars and bathrooms and doctor trips! Ok enough about me lets talk about food!
The first time I had a grilled peanut butter and jelly was when I was in kindergarten! My dad was in charge of getting me lunch. Usually mom only made regular pb&j but that day I had it grilled (dads are so cool) with a large glass of milk! It was the best lunch a five year old ever had!

I ate a whole lot of these when I was pregnant, for some reason I just craved them. So pick your favorite jelly and have yourself a grilled pb&j sandwich! they are soooooo good!