American Flag Cake

Ingredients

• 3 (10.25 ounce) packages white cake mix
• 9 egg whites
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 3/4 cups whole milk
• 2 tablespoons clear vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 tablespoon blue food coloring
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 10 cups fluffy white frosting
• 1 tablespoon white chocolate chips, or as needed
• 2 tablespoons white sugar, or as needed
• 1 4-inch round paper or cardboard stencil 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and line 4 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
2. Combine white cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Beat for 30 seconds using an electric mixer on low speed. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes. The batter will still be slightly lumpy.
3. To make the red cakes, measure half the batter into a separate bowl and whisk in red food coloring. Evenly transfer the red batter into 2 of the 8-inch prepared cake pans; smooth tops of batter with a spatula. Transfer half of the remaining uncolored batter into a 3rd prepared cake pan; smooth top as before. This will be the white cake portion.
4. Add blue food coloring to the remaining uncolored batter in the large mixing bowl; fold 1 cup white chocolate chips into blue batter until combined. Transfer batter to remaining prepared 8-inch cake pan; smooth top of batter with a spatula.
5. Bake all 4 cakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from oven and place onto cooling racks until cooled completely.
6. Run a knife around edge of each cooled cake. Invert cakes, remove pans, and peel off parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to trim tops of cakes flat and even.
7. Cut both of the red cake layers and the white cake layer in half horizontally. You will have 4 thin red cake layers and 2 thin white cake layers.
8. Place a 4-inch round stencil on top of 1 thin red cake layer; cut out a 4-inch red cake round. Repeat, placing stencil on 1 thin white cake layer to make 1 4-inch white cake round. Center the 4-inch round stencil on the blue cake; cut out and remove center portion covered by the stencil to make a blue cake ring.
9. To assemble the cake, you will need 2 thin 8-inch red cake layers, 1 thin 8-inch white cake layer, 1 4-inch thin red cake circle, 1 4-inch thin white cake circle, and 1 blue 8-inch cake ring. Reserve the leftover thin red cake layer and other cake pieces for making crumbs for decorating.
10. To assemble cake, place 1 8-inch thin red cake layer on a cake pan and frost the top generously with white frosting. Place the thin 8-inch white cake layer on top of the red one, and frost the top. Place remaining 8-inch thin red cake layer atop the white one. Frost the red layer.
11. Place the blue ring cake on top of the 2nd red cake layer and carefully frost the inside of the blue cake ring. Gently fit the 4-inch white cake layer into the blue cake ring. Frost the top of the 4-inch white center. Place the 4-inch red cake layer on top of the white one. Gently press small cake circles flush with the top of the blue ring.
12. Frost the entire outside of the cake generously with the remaining frosting.
13. Crumble red and blue pieces of leftover cake into 2 separate bowls. Score lines into the top of the cake's frosting with a kitchen knife to make a flag design on top of the cake. It should have a 2-inch square at the upper left for blue field and white stars, and 7 thick horizontal stripes about 1 inch wide.
14. Fill the square field at the upper left with blue crumbs and press 1 tablespoon white chocolate chips upside-down into the blue crumbs to make 'stars.' Fill the bottom stripe and every other stripe with red crumbs to make red stripes. Sprinkle white sugar generously into the white stripes to make them stand out.
15. To serve, cut cake into wedges. The inside of the cake will reveal its layers of red and white stripes and blue field with white chocolate chip stars in every slice.

 Source: http://allrecipes.com

 

Slow Cooker Pork Ramen

 
Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3 equal pieces
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (if including the optional browning step)
• 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 leek, halved lengthwise and coarsely chopped (white and green parts)
• 1/4 pound cremini or button mushrooms, brushed clean and coarsely chopped
• Low-sodium soy sauce, for seasoning
• Sesame and/or chile oil, for seasoning
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh ramen noodles
• 8 large eggs (optional)
• About 4 green onions, finely chopped (white and pale green parts)

Instructions 
 
To cook:

1. Season the pork with salt.
2. This step and the next are optional: Put a flameproof slow cooker insert on the stovetop over medium-high heat, then add the oil and warm until hot. (Or, use a frying pan for this step). Working in batches if necessary to avoid crowding, add the pork pieces and sear them on the first side without moving them until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the pieces and sear on the second side until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the insert and return the insert to medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion and sear, without stirring, until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and 1 cup of the broth and deglaze the insert, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the insert bottom, then let simmer for 1 minute.
4. If you have included the browning step, transfer the insert to the slow cooker, add the leek, mushrooms, and the remaining 7 cups of broth, and stir to combine. If you are starting here, combine the pork, yellow onion, garlic, ginger, leek, mushrooms, and broth in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on the low-heat setting for 8 hours. The pork should be very tender and the broth should be fragrant.

To assemble:

1. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Using 2 forks, break the pork into bite-size chunks, removing and discarding any large pieces of fat. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard the solids. Using a large spoon, skim off and discard any fat from the surface of the broth. Return the pork and broth to the slow cooker and season to taste with soy sauce and sesame and/or chile oil. Cover and cook on the low-heat setting for about 30 minutes to warm through.
2. Cook the ramen noodles according to the package directions. If you want to top each bowl of ramen with an egg, put the eggs into boiling water and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water, let cool until they can be handled, and peel them.

To serve:

1. Divide the noodles evenly among individual bowls. Ladle the broth and pork over the noodles, dividing them evenly, then sprinkle with the green onions. If desired, top each bowl with a halved soft-boiled egg and serve right away.

Source: Chowhound

11 15-Minute Lunches From MyFitnessPal

Homemade Beef & Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil  
• 1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak or beef top round steak, 3/4-inch thick (about 1 steak), cut into thin strips  
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Tomato Soup  
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce  
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar  
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder  
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper  
• 3 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets, cut into 1-inch pieces  
• 1 cup long grain white rice, prepared according to package directions (about 3 cups)  

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the beef and stir-fry until well browned.
2. Stir the soup, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder and red pepper, if desired, in the skillet and heat to a boil.  Stir in the broccoli and cook until it's tender-crisp.  Serve the beef mixture over the rice. 

Source: Campbells Kitchen

Waikiki-Style Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 2/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper

Directions 
 

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Thoroughly mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, milk, egg, and salt together in a bowl. Roll the mixture into balls and arrange onto a baking sheet.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are browned on the bottom, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a slow cooker.
4. Stir the cornstarch and brown sugar together in the bottom of a saucepan and place over low heat. Add the reserved pineapple juice and vinegar; stir until smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 full minute before removing from heat; pour over the meatballs in the slow cooker.
5. Add the pineapple chunks and green bell pepper to the slow cooker.
6. Cook the mixture in the slow cooker on Low until the flavors are thoroughly combined, 3 to 4 hours.

Source: http://allrecipes.com