The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever.

I made two of these for our town's flea market this weekend, one with nuts and one without. So delish!

It comes from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup Buttermilk
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• _____
• FOR FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• 1-3/4 stick Butter
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 6 Tablespoons Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18x13 sheet cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Slow Cooker Lentil and Pasta Stew

This soup was so delicious. I served it with some Pillsbury french bread. Comes from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup cubed peeled potatoes
• 3/4 cup sliced fresh carrots
• 1 celery rib, sliced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 5 cups beef broth
• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 1 cup canned Hunt's® Diced Tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup uncooked ditalini or other small pasta(I used mini pinwheels)
• Shredded Romano cheese

Directions

• Brown kielbasa in oil and butter in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Cook and stir for 3 minutes over medium heat. Transfer to a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the broth, lentils, tomatoes, bay leaf, pepper and salt.
• Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until lentils are tender. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Stir pasta into slow cooker. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle servings with cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

This dish was absolutely yummy! I served it on a bed of white rice and had cut up fresh pineapple with it. It comes from Cooking Classy.

Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp orange marmalade
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cold water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
• Cooked long grain white rice, for serving
• Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
• Directions
  • Place chicken in a slow cooker, set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk together soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, light-brown sugar, honey, orange marmalade, ginger, garlic and pepper. Pour mixture over chicken in slow cooker, cover with lid and cook on low heat 4 - 5 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Strain sauce from slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer into a medium saucepan. In a small mixing bowl whisk together 1 1/2 Tbsp cold water and cornstarch. Pour cornstarch mixture into liquid in saucepan and heat mixture over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to gently boil. Allow mixture to gently boil about 20 seconds until thickened. Return chicken to slow cooker and pour teriyaki sauce from saucepan over chicken. Toss mixture gently to evenly coat. Serve warm over cooked rice garnished with optional sesame seeds and serve with diced fresh pineapple if desired.
  • Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen