The Most Delicious Go-To Cake Recipe

November 2, 2015November 3, 2015 RefreshHer12 Comments

Everyone needs a cake that’s easy to throw together when you need a fabulous dessert, right?! It’s also a blessing if the ingredients are things that are easy to keep in the fridge or pantry “just in case!” I have found that recipe, friends, and if you like German Chocolate Cake, you’ll be so glad to have stumbled across this fabulous and easy recipe! A sweet friend at church made this for my husband and me when we visited their home, and I fell in love with this cake at first bite! I used to spend hours assembling a three layer German Chocolate cake because it was so delicious that it was worth it, but honestly, this is every bit as delicious, but a thousand times easier! It all starts with a cake mix…

Upside Down German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
Betty Crocker German Chocolate Cake Box Mix – Super Moist
3 eggs
1 1/4 water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut flakes
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (softened)
1 stick butter (softened)
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 9×13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cover bottom of baking dish with coconut flakes & chopped pecans. Mix cake mix with eggs, water, & oil (per box instructions) and pour over the coconut/pecan mixture.

In a separate bowl combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, & vanilla. Using a mixer, mix ingredients thoroughly until powdered sugar is completely dissolved. Using a rubber spatula, add cream cheese mixture to the top of the cake mix. The cream cheese mixture will sink down into the cake mix as you add it in.

Bake for 40 minutes. Slice cake into individual servings & serve upside down.

This is the cream cheese mixture that sinks down into the cake and makes it moist and wonderful!

It’s not beautiful when it comes out of the oven, but remember the top will become the bottom when you flip it over on each serving plate.

I didn’t get a great picture of the finished cake, because we were so excited about diving into it, but I promise you, this is out.of.this.world delicious!

What’s your Go-To cake recipe? If you don’t have one, I hope you’ll put this on your list to try!

With love from my country kitchen,

8E63C63AC0BC189BF1C68B03C74DBB5F

Uncategorized

Autumn’s Splendor

October 30, 2015November 3, 2015 RefreshHer3 Comments

I’m not really writing a post today; instead I’m showcasing the best of the recent displays of Fall in my area. This kind of beauty, like winter’s glittering snowfall or springtime’s blossoms, won’t last for long. We need to take notice of it while we can. All too soon the trees will be as bare as the store shelves during the threat of a winter storm. So, here are some of my recent photos of Autumn’s Dazzle:

So how about if we put our phones down this weekend, step outdoors, and take a walk or a drive to the country and give autumn the attention it deserves? It won’t last forever!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy fall?

Stay refreshed,

8E63C63AC0BC189BF1C68B03C74DBB5F

P.S. I’ll be posting my fall pictures on my Instagram account. You can follow them there. Denisec_refreshher

Marriage

How To Make it To Your 70th Anniversary

October 28, 2015November 3, 2015 RefreshHer6 Comments

We had the unique and blessed privilege as a church to honor a dear couple on their 70th anniversary! Yesterday, October 27th was Rod and Hope Carter’s 70th anniversary celebration. On Sunday night we gathered as a church to recognize them and give them the honor due a couple who makes it to this milestone that is reached by a very small number of couples.

To live long enough to be married 70 years is remarkable, but living 70 years together is even more unusual! In a day when commitment is as flippant as a teen age girl’s crush on the neighbor boy, it’s a blessing to witness two people who got married and were determined to keep their vows, “Til death do us part.” I asked Hope the advice she’d give to young couples getting together today and her answer was,

“Well, there’s a lot of give and take you have to do. Learn that! Oh, and get in a good church! We learned so much there! Where would we be without the Lord?!”

Here’s my interpretation of “Give and Take:”

Give love. Take on Christ’s image.

Give forgiveness. Take the high road.

Give kindness. Take humility.

Give service. Take the back seat.

Give a soft answer. Take biblical advice.

Give your time. Take the treasured memories.

Are you willing to give and take in your marriage so that you can make it to 70 years? Get in a biblical church where you’ll learn to apply God’s Word to your marriage. Then you’ll also have an example to give, and the blessing to take from it!

Lovingly,

8E63C63AC0BC189BF1C68B03C74DBB5F

Christian love

Do You Despise Your Mother?!

October 27, 2015November 3, 2015 RefreshHer3 Comments

Sarcastic, disrespectful children – it’s a bit shocking to hear, isn’t it? Ugly words get hurled, like mud balls on the playground creating much more disaster than a load of laundry. But who are the children? Who are their parents? I’m not referring to teens and their 40-somethings mom and dad. I’m talking about grown adults who are hurling the words and attitudes at their elderly parents.

Perhaps it started when the parents got sick and needed special help from their children. Maybe it began when one of the parents died, leaving just one – alone, struggling, hurting and needy. It cuts into the world and time of a busy adult already struggling with other issues of their own children, marriage and jobs. This creates pressures and sometimes also causes wrong responses and attitudes towards the people we love and should care for the most.

Our loving God, who knows what happens in families, put a Scripture in Proverbs to remind us to guard our hearts, and to treat our aging parents with love, respect and care.

Why would a child have the temptation to “despise their mother when she is old?” She may:

Be in pain and be “short” with her responses
Be low in finances and be very frugal, to the point that you’d be tempted to shake your head
Be worried about health issues and be discouraged
Be lonely and need your company more often
Be sick and need your care
Be forgetful and need your helpful reminders of things, appointments, places and belongings
Be hard of hearing and need you to repeat yourself more than once

All of the above mentioned reasons could very well test a person’s patience, but let’s face it, when we were young children at her feet, did we not test her patience? Did she not give us extra attention when we needed it? Why then would we despise her for her needs?

It’s no mistake that the Lord, the Giver of our parents, placed this Scripture in His Word because He knew there would be a temptation for some to “despise” their mom at a time when she may need her children’s understanding and love the most. Don’t allow the changes that have come to your parents in their latter years to build resentment towards them. Love them they way that you would want to be treated. After all, you will indeed reap what you sow.

Lovingly,

8E63C63AC0BC189BF1C68B03C74DBB5F

Uncategorized

A New Twist On Chili

October 26, 2015November 3, 2015 RefreshHer6 Comments

I ventured away from my favorite Cinncinati chili recipe last week and tried one with ground turkey, rather than ground beef. I was amazed at how delicious this was! This recipe also replaces the beans with corn – a nice swap out in my book! I served it with avocado, sour cream and tortilla chips, and they were the perfect accompaniment! Turkey makes it much more healthy by reducing the fat, but you could really fool people in your family with this perfect blend of tomatoes, spices and meat! They’ll never suspect they’re eating healthier!

I found the recipe on My Fitness Pal’s recipe site. This is super easy to throw into the crock pot, so you can have a hearty supper ready when you get home! Here’s the recipe:

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Ingredients

1 lb 99% Lean Ground Turkey
1 teaspoon Oil
1 medium Onion, minced
1 medium red Bell Pepper, diced fine
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen Corn kernels
10 oz can Mild Diced Tomatoes
8 oz small can plain Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup low sodium Chicken Broth
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher Salt

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the turkey, season with salt and cook, breaking up with a spoon until turkey browns and is no longer pink; place into the slow cooker.

Add the oil to the skillet and sauté the onion, garlic and bell pepper over medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes. Spoon over turkey into the slow cooker and stir in corn and tomatoes, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, paprika and salt, mix until well blended. Pour chicken broth into the crock pot and add the bay leaf.

Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours or LOW 6 hours. Serve with desired toppings.

When leftovers look like this, no one will complain!

Hope you’ll give this recipe (and ground turkey) a try!

With love from my country kitchen,

8E63C63AC0BC189BF1C68B03C74DBB5F