Yesterday my son turned 8 years old! So my boyfriend and I wanted to surprise him with a special evening. We took him out to dinner at a local place called Bogey Macaws in York PA.

Let me just say that if you live in the area you must go to Bogey's! The food was amazing and so was the service that we recieved. I had never been there before and was not sure what to expect. I was able to make reservations the day before and we were sat as soon as we arrived. After going over the 4 page menu and ordering our food I sent my son and our friend's daughter into the arcade to have some fun. The arcade was far enough away from the dining room that we didnt' hear it at all, and it was big enough that the kids were not bored at all. It was refreshing in a way because so many arcades are loud and obnoxious! The kids had a blast. Once the food came we all sat down to eat.
The next surprise I had in store for him was a special birthday cake. One of our all time favorite movies is Despicable Me! We just love the minions hehe and my son loves Oreos. So I spent all day while he was in school baking and decorating the cake. The finished product was a 10 inch round 4 layer Cookies n Cream cake with Cookies n Cream frosting for the minion and a Deep Chocolate cake with Cookies n Cream frosting for the minion's birthday cake. Both of the cakes were covered with my homemade Marshmallow Fondant. And while I didn't have time to do exactly what I wanted (yet again) I was able to finish it on time and make it look great. So good in fact that patrons and employees at Bogey Macaws would stop to look at and admire my cake. A few of them even walked away with my business card.  

The cake in the picture above is what I was aiming for. But as I said I did not have enough time to do all of the details that I would have liked. So the product below is what I accomplished.

This is what was left of the cake after everyone had a piece.

Okay, so years ago before I saw the light of cooking from scratch and healthy eating I used to buy box mixes for both baking and dinners. Sad, I know. But I have had a few pretty delicious things like that. One of which I continue to make today, only now I make it from scratch and not a box. It was called Taco Bake, which I still call it. 

What is Taco Bake you ask? It’s fairly simple. First you must gather your ingredients. A minimum of one pound ground beef, I prefer two pounds, velveeta or any cheese that you prefer, soft tortilla shells and salsa if desired. First step is to cook the ground beef. Once the ground beef is cooked the whole way through you season it with taco seasoning, which you can find in almost any grocery store with the taco ingredients. After the meat is cooked and seasoned you can mix the salsa in if desired. From this point on it is simply a matter of layering everything.  

You start with a flour tortilla on the bottom of an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish. Next you scoop some of your taco meat on top and finally finish that layer off with a few slices of cheese. Repeat the layers until you run out of taco meat. 

Once finished layering bake the Taco Bake at 400 degree for 20 to 30 minutes. Time to enjoy! Top with sour cream and lettuce or eat it just like it is. The best part about this dish is that you can enjoy it however you like just as you would a taco.