Chocolate and Orzo

I've been asked about a couple of recipes and decided to begin the recipe week with these requested. They don't actually go together but I guess you can argue that chocolate can go with anything. Or at least I always argue that point. I'm not sure how many servings I have of chocolate in a day but it's way more than the suggested amount. Although, I will say that I do alter recipes to reduce the sugar intake (like the cake below) since diabetes run in the family. Hubby and I had a taste test with the cake full of fat/sugar and the reduced sugar/fat and neither one of us could tell the difference. It's so rich that it's impossible to tell the difference. I would challenge anyone to the yummy test.

Okay, so the 2 recipes are Easy Chocolate Chip Pound Cake and yesterday's Asparagus and Chicken Orzo. I 1st got the cake recipe from my mother-in-law and fell in love. You can also find it here. The Chicken orzo recipe is one that I took from a couple of different recipes and created the one from yesterday.

Asparagus Orzo:

Ingredients-

2 cups asparagus (cut in 1 inch lengths)

1 red pepper (or tomato per your liking - mom) diced

1 cup orzo pasta

1/2 cup green onions

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

shredded parmesan cheese to top of for taste

Prepare orzo as directed on box (normally 6-8 minutes) Drain. In pan saute onions, asparagus and pepper in the butter until tender. Combine the orzo, salt, pepper and cheese. Serve warm.

Chicken - Turn oven to 325 degrees. Place chicken in pan with chicken broth covering the bottom of the pan (Keeps the chicken from drying out) Bake for 1 hour or until it's not pink in the middle. (This is from my papa!)

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake:

Ingredients-

1 package of yellow cake mix (I use the reduced sugar pillsbury)

1 (3.9 ounce) package of instant chocolate pudding mix (also use the no sugar added)

8oz sour cream (yes, I use fat free)

3/4 cup of water

3/4 cup of veggie oil

3 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix cake mix and the next 5 ingredients for 2 minutes. Add vanilla. Add chocolate chips and stir. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until toothpick is clean. If you want to get fancy, sprinkle confectioner's sugar before serving.