Delectable Edibles

Cookies and Cream Cookies

2012-01-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

These are one of my absolute favorite cookies. They are quick to put together and even quicker to get devoured! Every time I make them, they don't last long- especially with my brother-in-law around who practically inhales them.

This recipe is pretty much the same as the pudding cookie recipe we have on here, but this particular one I got from Sweet Treats and More. It is so yummy, but I did reduce the amount of chocolate chips- it was too chocolatey the first time I made it with 2 cups of chips and the candy bars. Now I make them with 1 cup of choco chips and they are much better and not quite as rich.

Enjoy!

What you'll need:
1 c. butter, room temp
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1 (4.2 oz) pkg. Oreo pudding mix
2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 Hershey's Cookies N Cream candy bars broken into small pieces
1 c. milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Mix your flour and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars until combined, then add the Oreo pudding mix and mix well.

Add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour and soda. Fold in the chocolate pieces and chocolate chips.

Place spoonfuls of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Don't overcook them- they are much better a tiny bit under-done.

These are sooooo good. Enjoy!

Lime Sheetcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-11-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

So, this may very well be my new favorite cake. In the entire world. I think I may love it even more than lemon cheesecake and I really love lemon cheesecake. I LOVE this cake. It is incredibly moist and just bursting with lime flavor. But not in an overpowering way. It's just right. I wanted to eat the whole darn cake.

I found the recipe via Pinterest and her original frosting was a white chocolate frosting. But after ruining two batches of white chocolate (seriously!?) I decided to ditch the white chocolate and use my favorite cream cheese frosting instead. And I'm so glad I did! I like white chocolate but it often makes things too sweet for my taste and this frosting was the perfect accompaniment to this most perfect cake. Another bonus... it's just a doctored cake mix! Meaning no fail! And I've never tried baking a cake mix in a sheet cake pan (I figured it wasn't enough batter... I'm a little slow sometimes) but it's great in a sheet pan. It bakes in almost less than half the time and makes twice as much. It's great for when you're making cake for a crowd.

My husband asked if he could take the rest of it to work and then he offered to charge people for it. Seriously, guys. Go make this cake NOW.

Source: Adapted from Lauren's Latest
Feeds: 32 (although you could easily double that by cutting the pieces smaller)
1 Serving: 253 Calories

Cake:
18.25 oz. box French Vanilla Cake Mix
1 sm. instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
zest from 2-3 limes (depending on the size of your limes)
Juice from 2-3 limes

Lime Syrup:
1/2 cup Limeade concentrate, defrosted
1/3 + cup powdered sugar

Frosting:
10 oz. cream cheese, softened (NOT TOO SOFT!)
1 cup butter, softened (again, NOT TOO SOFT!)
1 lb. powdered sugar
pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease/spray a sheet pan. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix on low for about 30 seconds. Continue to mix on medium for about 2 minutes, until well mixed.

3. Pour into the sheet cake pan and bake for 15-23 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back when lightly touched. Set aside to cool for about 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, combine the syrup ingredients and whisk until incorporated and there are no lumps. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the now slightly cooled cake. Using a pastry brush, brush the syrup over the top of the cake, being sure to cover every square inch of the cake! I let it sit for a few minutes and then brushed it several more times. I ended up brushing it about 3 times. You'll have leftover lime syrup. Set the cake aside.

5. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter. Mix until well incorporated. (Sidenote: I find frosting tricky. You have to mix it long enough to mix it well, but if you mix cream cheese too long, it starts to break down and you'll get runny frosting. Same thing will happen if your cream cheese or butter are too soft. When you touch the butter, it should leave a slight indentation on top, but your finger shouldn't be able to sink in.) Add the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and lime juice and continue to mix until well incorporated.

6. Using a long, offset spatula, frost your cake. How much frosting you use is up to you. I actually found that I only used about 2/3 of the frosting, but I haven't found a great way to halve the frosting recipe. Anyways, frost the cake and store it in the fridge. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Potato Skillet

2011-10-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

I'm just a little bit addicted to Pinterest at the moment (no, it doesn't take all my time...just most it). The good thing about it though, is that I've tried so many different recipes that I've found on there. I'm actually quite proud of myself for trying new things- it's not like me to try something until after Emily tries it and promises it's edible.

This recipe is one of the ones I found on there. And I even found it on a new food blog to follow! This was not only good, but pretty easy. I have made a few changes though to make it even simpler.

So here you go- enjoy this cheesy, potato-y, chicken-y goodness. Oh and if that wasn't enough- it also has bacon in it! Anything is good with bacon.

As a funny side note- while eating this, my daughter informed me, "I wuuuv bacon!" I've raised her right. :)

Recipe Source: Here

What you'll need:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (or 3-4 c. frozen, diced hashbrowns)
4-6 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 T. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 c. shredded cheese
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Cajun seasoning

Directions:
If peeling and dicing your potatoes- cut them up and boil them until soft. (If using hash browns, wait to add them until later.)

Cook your bacon in a large frying pan (or if you'd prefer, you can bake it as well- bake at 400 F for 17 minutes). Once crispy, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, crumble it.

Remove most of the grease from the pan and add your cubed chicken. Season with garlic salt, pepper and cajun seasoning. Heat until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside with bacon.

If using hash browns, add your hash browns to the pan and heat until almost cooked through. Add your green pepper and onion. If necessary, add some extra oil to saute it. Cook until heated through.

If you boiled your potatoes, add them here once the green pepper and onion have been cooked through.

Once warmed, add your chicken and bacon back in and mix to combine.

Top with 2 c. shredded cheese and wait for the cheese to melt.

Serve warm.

This is really good and with the hash browns- it makes the recipe much faster and you have one less pot to clean.

Enjoy!

Peach Crisp with a Maple Cream Sauce

2011-10-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of fresh peaches that needed to be used and I searched and searched the web for a yummy recipe to make something warm and peachy. Everything was cobbler. I didn't want a cobbler. So I gave up and went to my Pioneer Woman cookbook to see if she had anything in there. And Voila! She did not disappoint!

The only problem was that it called for maple syrup- the real maple syrup. I really, really don't like maple syrup. So I almost gave up and kept looking, but I decided to try it anyways. I even went out and bought the real maple syrup stuff- you know the expensive stuff that is like NINE BUCKS A BOTTLE! Ya, ridiculous. But...it was worth it. Mmmm, was it ever! Oh- and I even got to use my new pastry blender- very exciting indeed (now I can tell my hubby that it isn't a useless kitchen tool taking up space!)

What you'll need:

5 to 6 whole fresh peaches
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I always use a bit more...I heart cinnamon)
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
1 stick butter
1/2 whole lemon
7 T. real maple syrup, divided (not just regular syrup, remember- the expensive stuff!)
1-1/2 c. whipping cream
3 T. light corn syrup

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt using a fancy-schmany pastry blender (or if you aren't cool like that and your husband also gives you guff about useless kitchen tools, use a fork). Cut the butter into small pieces first and gradually blend into the flour mixture.

Peel and slice your peaches into a bowl. Add the zest from half of a lemon. Squeeze the juice from that half and stir in with the peaches and the zest. Add 2 T. maple syrup to the peaches and stir well.

Pour your peach mixture into a small pan (8x8 or so) and cover evenly with the crumb topping. Cover with foil and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crisp and brown on top.

Then, just let it sit while you smell it's goodness. This stuff smells heavenly. I almost didn't want to wait for the maple cream sauce to cool and just about at the entire thing without it!

But if you can wait that long- here are the directions for the Maple Cream Sauce:

Pour your whipping cream into a saucepan. Add 5 T. maple syrup, 3 T corn syrup and stir over moderate heat until thickened and reduced by about one-third (about 15 minutes).

Well, if you are like me, your sauce will have reduced by one-third, not because you cooked it long enough, but because you cooked it hot enough that it boiled all over your stove! Whoops! That was NOT fun to clean up. So, don't be like me, and pay attention to this sauce and don't let it boil all over your stove and create a giant, sticky mess.

Refrigerate your mixture until cold and thick and then drizzle on your warm, peachy goodness. Then devour, but don't forget to share.

Peanut Butter Toffee Cheesecake Brownies

2011-09-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

So, I was cleaning out my bookcase a couple weeks ago and this recipe fell out of one of my books. My mom had clipped it from a newspaper for me several years ago, thinking that I would probably love to try it. Peanut butter, cream cheese, and brownies? Yeah, she knows me pretty well! Anyways, I had tucked it away and forgotten all about it but once I found it, I wasn't going to risk losing it again. I decided to make them immediately.

They were, of course, delicious, but with those ingredients, how could they not be? What makes them so great, is that you start with a simple brownie mix as your base and then just dress it up with a delicious peanut butter cream cheese topping. I could have eaten the cream cheese filling with a spoon it was so good.

Recipe Source: Unknown Newspaper article
Yield: 9x13 pan (about 20 generous brownies)

1 (19.5 oz) package fudge brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup milk chocolate baking chips
3 Tbsp. whipping cream
3-4 Skor bars (or about 1 1/2 cups of chopped chocolate covered toffee bits... you can buy them in a bag)

1. Heat oven to 350. Lightly coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs about 50 strokes, until well combined. Spread batter into greased pan.

3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese on medium until nice and fluffy. Add milk and peanut butter; beat until smooth. Now do your very best to spoon the mixture over the brownie batter in the pan. I'm not gonna lie... it's not easy. I was not able to spread it evenly AT ALL. Just do your best and try to get it to cover the majority of the brownie base. It's OK that it's uneven. We cover it with chocolate later!

4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until cheesecake layer is set and the edges are light golden brown. I inserted a toothpick all the way down to my brownie layer and had to bake it a little longer so the brownies were a bit more down. Cool for at least 30 minutes and then refrigerate it for another 30-40 minutes.

5. In a small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and cream uncovered 40 to 60 seconds or until melted; Stir until smooth. Spread over cooled cream cheese layer. Again it won't be perfectly smooth because your peanut butter layer probably wasn't smooth. That's OK because we're still going to top it with toffee bits!

6. Roughly chop the Skor bars (Or just grab your toffee bits) and sprinkle over the melted chocolate. Cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

2011-09-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

OK, so these may just be one of my new favorite cookies. They are delicious! I made them for my husband and he liked them so much that he asked if he could take the leftovers to work. He NEVER does that! It was the nicest and best compliment!

They're soft and chewy with the perfect texture... they remind me a lot of a sugar cookie recipe I've tried with cream cheese but these are far less work and oh so good. The cream cheese is really pretty subtle and you can eat all the cookie dough you want (without any guilt) because there's no eggs! Plus, now that I've got the cream cheese cookie base down, I can't wait to try them again with lemon zest and lemon extract for a lemon cheesecake cookie. But these Oreo ones sure are good!

Recipe Source: Collecting the Moments
Yield: The recipe says 1 1/2 dozen, but I doubled it and got 4 1/2 dozen, so it must depend on how big you scoop them.

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used salted with no problem)
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup mini chocolate chips (I didn't have minis so I used regular sized, but I don't think they need any at all)
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (Don't skip the parchment paper of your bottoms may burn more) and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and well-combined.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix until the ingredients are well-combined. (I mixed my batter for awhile here and my dough got really nice and fluffy... that may be why I was able to get so many cookies from the recipe.) Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

4. Place the Oreo cookie crumbs in a small bowl. Scoop the cookies into about 1½ to 2″ balls (the dough will be very soft but it's not nearly as sticky as I expected and the crumbs hold everything together) and then roll in the cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed. It's very hard to tell if the edges are golden, so I looked for a "puffed" cookie that had started to "crackle." Once there were some good cracks along the top, I knew they were done. Don't overbake!

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Glass Block Jell-o

2011-09-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is the coolest looking jell-o ever! I love it! And not only does it look super cool, it tastes pretty darn good too!

Emily introduced me to this recipe a while back and I just kept forgetting to post it. Once I made it, everyone said they'd heard of it before, but his particular recipe is from Our Best Bites. I'm going to make it again and figured I best post it before I forget where I got the recipe from.

Here's what you'll need:
4 3-oz. packages assorted Jello (in coordinating colors)

2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
Spray 4 small food storage containers (like Tupperware/Gladware/Rubbermaid) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Bring 5+ cups of water to a boil. Combine 1 c. boiling water with 1 package of Jello, stirring until dissolved. Place the dissolved Jello in one of the prepared containers. Repeat with the remaining packages of Jello. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferable overnight.

When the Jello has set, bring another 1 1/2 c. of water to a boil. While the water is heating, sprinkle 2 packets of unflavored gelatin over 1/2 c. of cold water. Allow to stand for about 4 minutes. When the water is boiling, pour 1 1/2 c. boiling water over the dissolved gelatin and stir to combine. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Allow to come to room temperature.

Lightly spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully cut the colored Jello into cubes and gently toss to combine in the 9×13″ pan. Pour the cooled milk mixture over the colored Jello and, if necessary, rearrange some of the colored Jello to make sure it is evenly distributed and not sticking out of the white mixture too far.

Place the 9×13″ pan in the refrigerator and chill overnight. Cut into squares, rectangles, or various shapes with cookie cutters and serve.

Summer Strawberry Pie

2011-08-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

I purchased a Taste of Home pie booklet a little while ago because every pie in there looked absolutely delicious! I've now had that booklet for about 3 months and still haven't tried anything. Story of my life- see yummy cooking magazines, buy them, and then never try anything in them because I'm too lazy to cook. Well not today, my friend!

I finally looked through it, picked a recipe and even bought all the ingredients...and then...get this...I actually made it before all my ingredients rotted in the fridge!! WOHOO!

This pie was not only really yummy, but really easy too. And it even looks pretty! It doesn't get any better than that. It's the perfect combination of a bit sweet (the gelatin mixture) and tart (with the strawberries).

Oh, and be sure to read the recipe correctly and buy enough strawberries for 4 cups, not 4 pounds. We'll be eating strawberries for a while now...

What you'll need:

1 unbaked pastry shell (9 in.)
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. water
1 pkg. strawberry gelatin (3 oz.)
4 c. sliced strawberries

Directions:
Unroll your pastry shell in a round pie dish. Cover with two layers of foil and bake at 450 for 8 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.

Arrange strawberries in your cooked pastry shell. Pour the cooled gelatin mixture over the strawberries and allow to cool in fridge until set.

Slice and enjoy with some whipped cream...or if you are my daughter, just eat the whipped cream by the handful. :)

Waffles of Insane Greatness

2011-08-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

They are called this because, 1- they are incredibly good and 2-that's what everyone else calls them in the blogosphere. But let me just tell you...they are mmm, mmm good. These are my hubby's absolute favorite waffles in the world. They are crispy on the outside and fluffy goodness on the inside. They are pretty easy to put together, but just know- they do have to sit for 30 minutes before you can cook them. So plan accordingly. Oh, and they only make 5 waffles, so if you need more than that, be sure to double the recipe.

Here's what you'll need:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. sugar
½ cup milk
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¾ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the milk, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla. *Note* If you don't have buttermilk, a little lemon juice mixed with milk will work- just be sure that you let the two sit together for a few minutes to make it buttermilk.

Combine the flour mixture and the liquid mixture until just combined (there may still be a few lumps) and let sit for 30 minutes.

Pour into your waffle maker, wait until they are golden brown and enjoy!

German Keks Kuchen

2011-08-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

At long last, here it is, the thing you have been waiting for ever since we left Germany...
The highlight of every German birthday party, the classig Keks Kuchen, or Cookie Cake. The problems in producing it over here were 2 of the main ingredients, the Palmin, and the Cookies. I finally found both. The Palmin is a very hard coconut oil, and using the coconut oil we can get here and making one alteration to the recipe takes care of that problem. The cookies were quite another story. I found these at Honk's and bought 3 packages. But that is not a reliable source, since they buy bulk items and you get the luck of the draw. So if you can't find these, use anything like them, or in a pinch, use clubcrackers and leave out the pinch of salt. It should work.

(One issue of this recipe however is, that it contains raw eggs, three of them in fact, so, if that is a problem, this cake is not for you. Otherwise, generations of Germans have enjoyed it, and it hasn't killed me... so far) So, here is the Recipe:

German Cookie Cake Ingredients

About 54 tea biscuits

7 oz (200gr) coconut oil, melted and cooled

14 T (200gr) sugar
3 T Cocoa
3 T Nesquick chocolate drink powder
1 cup ganache (about 1/3c heavy cream with 1c semisweet chocolate chips, melted together in the microwave (2min) and stirred until smooth, slightly cooled)
a pinch of salt (leave that out if you are using club crackers)
3 eggs

Directions:

Prepare ganache in the microwave, melt the coconut oil on low on the stove.

Cream the eggs and the sugar until light and creamy. Add the cocoa , salt and Nesquick. Slowly pour the melted coconut oil into mixture, in a fine stream, while beating, then add the ganache in the same way.

Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Have the plastic wrap piece big enough to have some hang over the sides. Now spread some of the chocolate filling in the bottom, covering it well (this will be the top of your cake, so don't be stingy, you don't want to have cookies poking thru). 3-4 T of the filling should do.

Next layer in the cookies. Cut them to fit.

Alternate filling and cookies, making sure you cover the entire layer each time.

The next layer would be cookies

Your last layer should be cookies.

Now fold the plastic wrap over the cookies and refrigerate over night. To get the cake out of the pan , if it doesn't come willingly, dip the pan briefly in hot water. Invert it onto a long serving platter, peel the plastic wrap off and smooth the chocolate to cover any cookies that might poke out. I had made way too much ganache, and melted my leftovers and used that to cover any unruely cookies.

The cake tastes best if you let it sit a day or so, because then the cookies get a bit softer. But who can possibly resist this and not cut into it right away?

Oh my goodness! I am 8 again! If I close my eyes, I am back in my mom's kitchen, reliving a cherished moment of my childhood.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

2011-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this recipe for over a year now. It's one of my very favorite things to eat and I usually have to fight my husband for any since he loves it just as much. The presentation is beautiful, it's delicious, refreshing, and something a little unique. I first saw it on allrecipes several years ago, but I've since seen several versions of it all over the internet so maybe it's not all that unique. It makes a great appetizer or dessert, plus my family loves to snack on the chips plain. I also think the fruit salsa would be great on ice cream. Next time you're looking for something special to bring to a function, give this a try. You won't regret it. It's yummy and delightful! (Scroll down for the recipe for the Cinnamon Chips, too)

As far as an actual "recipe" goes, there is lots of room to play. I'll post what I "usually" use in mine, but feel free to substitute whatever fruit is in season or what you have on hand. I usually try to incorporate as many colors as possible, but once you add any berries, it all turns red anyways, so I guess that's not as important. I always use apples and I always use strawberries. Everything else I use is based on what's available and what's on sale at the grocery store! Also, the added sugar can vary from batch to batch depending on how sweet your fruit is and what fruit you add.

Fruit Salsa
Serves 10-12

2 apples, diced (Sometimes I peel them, sometimes I don't... it's a personal preference)
1 lb. strawberries, diced
1-2 peaches, peeled, and diced
2-3 kiwis, diced
8 oz. blackberries (or raspberries or blueberries, etc.)
1-3 Tbsp. white sugar (add 1/2 Tbsp. at a time, so it doesn't get too sweet)
2-3 Tbsp. Jelly or runny Jam
Juice from 1/2 a lime

Other fruit that works well: Mangoes, Pineapple, Oranges, Plums, etc. Simply substitute one of these for one of the amounts up above.

Not much by way of instructions here. Simply chop your fruit as finely as you like... I prefer mine diced pretty finely to get more of a salsa consistency but I've seen it chopped in large pieces, too. Once the fruit has been diced, toss it together gently.

Add lime juice, sugar and jelly at the end to achive desired sweetness and consistency. Keep in mind that the sugar will draw out the juices from the fruit making it juicier and runnier, so the longer it sits, the runnier it will get. Keep that in mind when deciding how much jelly to add.

Also, if color is a concern, then remember to add your berries last, right before serving. They'll stain all the other fruit and make everything appear simply red. The lime juice, however, will keep your fruit from browning.

Cinnamon Chips

Cinnamon Sugar (Mixture of 3/4 cup white sugar and 4 Tbsp. Cinnamon)
Butter or Cooking Spray
Flour Tortillas (I usually use about 6-8 large tortillas or at least 10 of the mini sized tortillas)
Pastry Brush

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with tin foil.

2. Brush one side of a tortilla with softened/melted butter or simply spray with cooking spray.

3. Liberally sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

4. Cut into triangles using a pizza cutter.

4. Place on cookie sheet and bake until crisp, about 8-10 minutes. You'll know they're done once the edges start to curl slightly and they're lightly browned. They will continue to crisp up once they're removed from the oven.

Pepper Encrusted Salmon

2011-08-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

This continues to be one of my favorite ways to prepare salmon. It's simple, quick, and full of flavor. The ground pepper does tend to give it some kick, so if you have eaters sensitive to spicy food, you may want to cut back on the amount of pepper you use. In my house, I don't really care so much about the feelings' of my spicy eaters, so I coat the salmon in ground pepper!

This is best on the grill, so the pepper coating creates a bit of a "crust." I usually just use my counter top grill, but it also works great on an outdoor grill. However, make sure to grease your grill grates because fish does tend to stick and makes a mess to get off.

4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tablespoons lemon juice
24 ounces salmon
1/2 tablespoon pepper or have a peppermill handy
4 tablespoons olive oil

1. Combine soy sauce, crushed garlic cloves, and lemon juice in a plastic bag. Add skinned salmon and marinate, refrigerated, for about 30 minutes.

2. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels and coat salmon, both sides, with ground pepper--you will use a lot of pepper, but don't worry! I just cover both sides liberally with freshly ground pepper.

3. Grill the salmon, turning once about halfway. Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. It doesn't take long, so watch carefully that you don't overcook it, or you'll end up with tough fish. Serve with some fresh lemon wedges.

Sopapilla Chessecake Squares

2011-08-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

Emily told me that she made these awhile ago, but I thought they sounded kinda weird, so didn't even considering trying them. Then she planned to make them at our family reunion a few weeks ago and I still thought she was weird (especially since she accidentally bought garlic crescent rolls...)
But then I tried them.
Ooooh, these are so dang good!! Let's just say I was very pleasantly surprised by how delicious they were and quickly tried to eat as many as I could before the rest of my family tried to! The crispy cinnamon-sugar layer on top is simple divine and the cheesecake part is so good! And the best part about them? They couldn't be easier to make!

What you need:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter - 1/3 cup butter, softened or melted

Preheat the oven to 350.

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Unroll one can of crescent rolls and press all the edges together so that you have a large 9x13 rectangle. Lay it in the bottom of the 9x13 pan.

Mix the cream cheese, 1 c. sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Spread evenly over your bottom layer of cresent rolls.

Unroll your next crescent roll package and do the same as before, and lay on top of your cream cheese mixture.

Melt your butter and spread evenly over the top crescent roll layer. Use enough butter to cover the top generously but I try not to let it pool too much.

In a small bowl. combine the 3/4 c. sugar and cinnamon. This might seem like a lot of cinnamon-sugar, but it's so yummy on top. Sprinkle it very generously over the butter (you may not use all of it.... but use it generously) and bake it for 30-35 minutes (until the top is golden brown).

Let cool completely and cut into squares. They actually taste better once they've been refrigerated for a while.

These are sooooooo good! Enjoy!

Austrian Yoghurt Creme

2011-07-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

This is a dessert we enjoyed when we visited with Aunt Rosi in Salzburg. I tried it for the first time today, and yes indeed, it was worth getting the recipe.

For 4 very large or 8 smaller servings you will need:

250 gr (a little more than 1cup) plain yoghurt
100 gr (1/2 cup) sugar
1 package gelatine
200gr (about 1 cup) of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup liquid ( I used berry juice)
1/2 t vanilla

Beat the cream until stiff, add the vanilla. Mix the sugar with the yoghurt. In a small pot sprinkle the gelatine over the liquid. Once the gelatine has absorbed most of the liquid, heat it gently until it dissolves, let it cool a few minutes and then add to the yoghurt in a small stream with the beaters running. When it is well mixed in, lift in the whipped cream with a wire wisk.

Pour into 4-8 dessert bowls and chill for a few hours until firm.

Serve with Naked juice (I loved it with the Mango one) poured over, or try a berry topping, by pureeing different kinds of berries with a little sugar in the blender.

Take a big bite, close your eyes and feel yourself transported to Salzburg.

Bibi

Homemade White Bread

2011-06-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I were talking yesterday about childhood memories. Both of us mentioned that our Moms would make homemade bread and that that was a really fond memory for both of us. We each loved coming home from school to the smell of freshly baked bread. After sharing this with each other, Topher looked at me expectantly. "So, do you ever want to make homemade

bread?" Ha! And here I had thought we were just reminiscing. Nope. He was trying to hint to me that I wasn't fulfilling my wifely duties of baking him fresh bread! So. This morning, I decided to remind him that I'm good for something. :) So I looked online and found this recipe that had some pretty good reviews. I had been so nervous about making homemade bread. "It's homemade! And it's bread! That means it uses yeast! " But, I soon realized I was worried for no reason. The recipe I used ended up being easy to put together and tasted great. I hope your

results are positive too!

Ingredients

2 pkg. Yeast

2 C. warm water

1/3 C. sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 C. melted butter

6 1/2- 7 C. flour

Directions

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in the warm water. Add the sugar, salt, eggs, butter and 3 cups of flour. Beat this until smooth. Stir

in enough remaining flour (for me this was 3 1/2 more cups) to form a soft dough. You don't want the dough to be too sticky, or too tough. If it is sticking all over your fingers, add more flour. If there's a little bit of stick, that's just fine.

Now put the dough on a floured countertop. Begin to knead it. Really just pushing, punching, massaging, and folding it over itself. Knead for about 6-8 minutes, adding flour as you go to make it less sticky, and eventually getting the soft, smooth feel of a baby's bottom. :)

Grease a large bowl, place the dough inside, cover with a dish towel and place somewhere

warm to rise. I like to turn on the surface light on my microwave. You know, that light that shines on your stovetop from the bottom of your microwave? That warms the inside bottom of your microwave just enough to make it a warm place for happy rising to happen. :)

Let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour. It just needs to double in size.

Once that has happened, punch it down, and separate it into two equal parts. Grease the bottom and sides of 2 loaf pans with butter, crisco or Pam, then cover and let rise for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until a very light golden brown. When it's done, remove it from the loaf pans and let it cool on a cooling rack. Take a stick of butter and slick the top of the loaves with it, that will give it a nice sheen and that's what Topher's mom always did and it made him happy. :)

Eat with butter and jam, turkey and cheese, or tomatoes

basil and mozzarella! We tried all of the above and they all tasted great!

Blueberry Muffins

2011-06-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

My little girl and I went blueberry picking the other day and came home with a couple pounds of big, fresh blueberries. I decided I wanted to make blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes and a chicken salad with blueberries. As of this morning I can check off the muffins! I had wanted to make my sister's Lemon Blueberry Muffins, but I didn't have all the necessary ingredients. So I found this one on Taste of Home and was really happy with it. It wasn't as "light and fluffy" as I usually love my muffins to be, but it was still a darn good muffin. Throw in the fact that it was

easy, and tasted as good if not better than a muffin mix, and the recipe

definitely gets my vote.

Ingredients

Batter

1/2 C. butter, softened

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 C. milk

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. grated lemon peel

2 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Dash of Salt

2 C. fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze

1 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. butter melted

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each

addition. Toss in your milk, lemon juice and lemon peel, mix well. Co

mbine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and add into liquid mixture. Fold in the berries.

Put into paper muffin cups and bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes.

For the Glaze:

Combine all the ingredients! Beat well. :)
Once your muffins are out of the oven, remove them to a cooling rack. I put the glaze in a little ziploc bag, cut off a tiny corner and drizzled it over the muffins that way, but I'm sure you could just use a spoon and drizzle it that way as well. I just found the baggy worked great for me because the glaze isn't very runny and I didn't want clumps of glaze on the muffins.

Blueberry Pancakes with Berry Sauce

2011-06-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

I have never really thought I was a fan of blueberries. They were fine in a mix of frozen berries, but just plain blueberry didn't ever do much for me. Well, my Mom told me that there is a huge difference between freshly picked blueberries and store bought blueberries. I thought that was ridiculous and didn't give it much credence. However, this last week I went blueberry picking with my little girl and yesterday we made our Blueberry muffins and today, I made us blueberry pancakes. Can I just say I rescind all former thoughts or comments about not liking blueberries?! They are so so good! There really is a difference in fresh blueberries. They are more sweet and plump and when you cook them, my goodness something beautiful happens.

So this pancake recipe was one I found on Taste of Home and the pancake itself was a really good one, but then pair it with this Berry Sauce and these pancakes were awesome!

Ingredients

Berry sauce

1/2 C. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1 C. Cold Water

3 C. Berries - I used blueberries and Strawberries, but I'm sure any combination of berries would be really yummy

Pancakes

2 C. Flour

1/4 C. Sugar

4 tsp. Baking powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs

1 1/2 C. Milk

1 C. Sour Cream

1/3 C. Butter, melted

1 heaping cup of fresh, or frozen blueberries

This recipe will make about 15-20 pancakes. I halved it, which was interesting with the amts. like 1/4 c. sugar. But, I didn't need 15-20 pancakes, so I halved it and got 7. Perfect for my little family of 3. However, I didn't halve the amount of berries in either the sauce or the pancakes. I used about 2/3 of what the recipe called for the berries.

Sauce Directions

In a medium saucepan stir together the cornstarch and sugar, add in the cold water, bring to a boil and stir constantly. Stir in the berries and continuing stirring constantly, the mixture will thicken after a couple minutes. Turn the heat down and stir for a few more minutes, then remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Pancake Directions

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine the eggs, milk, sour cream and butter in a separate bowl. Then mix the moist ingredients in with the dry ingredients and fold in the berries.

Heat griddle to medium heat, grease with Pam or Butter and cook until bubbles form, then flip over.

Top your pancakes with a square of butter and berry sauce, sit down to eat your dainty one pancake, then scold yourself for going back for seconds, and then thirds. Enjoy!

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

2011-06-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

1 (12-ounce) box uncooked jumbo pasta shells (you'll need every last one of them)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

2 cups fresh chopped spinach

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese)

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened (1 was plenty for me)

1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 cups)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (26oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce (this was just enough. If you like it saucier use more)

1. Cook shells according to package directions. Be sure to cook them to al dente or even slightly less than al dente. Drain them and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x13 baking dishes.

3. In a large bowl, combine chicken and all the rest of the ingredients except mozzarella and spaghetti sauce. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into shells.

4. Spread half of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. If you are freezing one of the 9x13 prepared pans, freeze it after this step. Include a baggy of the remaining mozzarella for when you cook it.

5. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Thin Mint Cupcakes

2011-05-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

I had heard of these somewhere and got it in my head that I had to make a batch for St. Patrick's Day. So, I did. And they were yummy. I tried a couple of different methods and found that some things just didn't matter (like trying to make a truffle that went into the batter... waste of time) and somethings that just didn't work (like putting a cookie in the bottom of my cupcake wrappers.) So, I adjusted and these were delicious! So yummy and minty and the chocolate cupcake is seriously easy and moist, and yummy. I loved that it wasn't a super dense cupcake and that it was "one bowl!" Seriously, so easy. They were just as easy as any boxed mix. Oh, and in the interest of honesty... I didn't have any Thin Mints... so I used the E.L. Fudge Grasshopper cookies. I don't think anyone noticed the difference.

The cupcake starts with a chocolate base, that I added a slight hint of peppermint to, and some mint cookie crumbs. There's also a hidden cookie inside the cupcake, which is entirely optional. (I put my cookies at the bottom of my cupcake wrappers, but the cookies stuck horribly to the wrapper... so bad that we had to cut them out. I think it would work if you sprayed the inside of your cupcake wrappers with some baking spray. Otherwise, hide the cookie further up in the cupcake.) The cupcake is then topped with a thin layer of mint ganache and topped with a light and fluffy mint buttercream. The whole thing was delicious.

Chocolate Cupcake:
Recipe Source: Martha Stewart
Makes 18-24 Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil (I just used regular old vegetable oil)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make a "mint" version, you'll also need:

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
about 1 cup of Thin Mint/Mint Cookie crumbs (I threw half a package of E.L. Fudge Grasshopper cookies into the blender, turned them into crumbs, and added that to my chocolate cupcake batter)
about 24 Thin Mints/Mint Cookies (optional... for inside the cupcakes)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; If you want to add a cookie to the bottom of your cupcakes, lightly spray the paper liners with cooking spray; set aside.

2. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add cookie crumbs as well, if using.

3. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and peppermint extract, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

4. Drop 1 cookie into the bottom of each cupcake liner. (This cookie layer is entirely optional. Feel free to omit the cookie and simply fill your muffin cups about 2/3 full.) Cover the cookie, by filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full.

5. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Mint Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup of Creme de Menthe morsels (Andes morsels or the Mint/Chocolate mix from Nestle all would work)
1 Tbsp. Heavy Cream

Melt the mint/chocolate morsels in the microwave. Once they're melted, stir in the heavy cream and mix until well blended. Set aside to cool slightly.

Mint Buttercream
Recipe Source: Adapted from My Recipes
Makes 3 Cups

Note: This is a great buttercream base. Just increase the vanilla to 1 tsp. and omit the peppermint extract. Also, turn it into a chocolate buttercream by adding 1 cup (6 oz.) of melted semi-sweet or dark chocolate morsels. Add it when you beat the butter and cream cheese.

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
16 oz. powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (I used less than this... add it slowly to eye the consistency)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until combined and fluffy.

2. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until combined.

3. Increase speed to medium and gradually add milk and extracts. Beat until smooth.

To assemble cupcakes:

Make the cupcakes as stated, adding the peppermint extract and cookie crumbs to the batter. Add the cookie if desired. Bake according to the directions and cool.

Once the mint ganache has cooled slightly, spread a thin layer on top of each cooled cupcake.

Pipe the mint buttercream on top of the cooled ganache and embellish as desired. Enjoy!

Perfect Sandwich Rolls

2011-05-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

For me, there is something incredibly rewarding and validating when a yeast recipe works for me. I think I'm the most excited by rolls that look and taste beautiful. Part of it is the fact that I find yeast tricky, and I've had rolls fail more often than not. But the real truth is that I simply love bread. Mmmmm, bread. Rolls, breads, breadsticks, muffins, danishes... I think it's the reason you'd never guess that I run. I can inhale one of those bread baskets they put in front of you in a restaurant in mere seconds.

These rolls are awesome. I ate three as soon as they came out of the oven. They are the perfect shape and texture for rolls and were perfect for French Dip and pulled pork sandwiches. Plus, they were easy. As easy as yeast gets, at least. They were only complicated for me because I decided to triple the recipe and it turns out my Kitchenaid just wasn't up for the challenge. And yet they still turned out beautifully!

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Makes: about 1 dozen rolls (according to her site, but I got about 15)

1 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 tablespoon instant yeast (or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast)
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, give or take a few tablespoons

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl by hand, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour (if you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, let the yeast proof in the warm water and sugar for about 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly before adding the oil, salt and flour).

2. Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Judge the dough not by the amount of flour called for in the recipe but in how the dough feels . The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

3. Knead the dough in the stand mixer or by hand until it is very smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer or 8-10 minutes by hand. Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (plan on about an hour.)

4. Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form the dough into round balls. Place the rolls on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet about an inch or two apart. Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap taking care not to pin the plastic wrap under the baking sheet or else the rolls will flatten while rising. Let the plastic wrap gently hang over the sides of the pan to fully cover the rolls but not press them down. Let the rolls rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Frosty

2011-05-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to pretend that this is low calorie. Not even remotely. BUT, that being said, it is super filling and I find that when I eat it for breakfast, I'm not hungry again for hours. And that can be a good thing. Because then I eat fewer calories throughout the day. Think of this as a meal replacement shake. Or two meal replacement shake! Oh, and you should also know that it is delicious. I found the recipe in a runner's magazine and it's my favorite thing to drink after a long run. It's so filling and I feel like the protein is good for me. We can pretend, right?

Source: Laura Scudder
Serves: 2 (Or in my case, 1 really, really tall glass, all for me!)

1/2 cup chocolate soy milk (I use regular) or low fat chocolate milk
4 oz. chocolate whipped yogurt (I used 1/2 a container of Yoplait Chocolate Mousse)
1/3 cup chocolate protein drink (I never use this much... I found that 1/2 a scoop with the enclosed scoop of my protein powder was plenty)
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
ice cubes
cinnamon, for garnish

This is easy folks:
1. Combine everything in the blender and process until smooth and frosty. I usually just add enough ice cubes to get the right consistency... or enough to equal 2 cups.

2. Pour it into two tall cups and garnish with cinnamon, if desired.

Mini Potato Bites

2011-04-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

OK, so this recipe was one of the first recipes I ever posted on here and they continue to be one of my all-time favorite appetizers. But I'm reposting them because I'm afraid they're lost back there at the beginning of the blog and I finally have a picture of them! I've never posted a picture before because they never last long enough to get one. They're usually gone in an instant. But I made them tonight for just me and my boys and insisted on a picture BEFORE they were allowed to touch them. They're quick, easy, delicious and always popular. I love these things.

1-1/2 lb. new (red) potatoes (about 10-15 potatoes--smaller ones work best)
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Sour Cream and Chive Cream Cheese, softened (regular cream cheese will work in a pinch)
2 Tbsp. Sour Cream
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
4 slices Bacon, cooked, crumbled
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh chives
shredded cheese (optional)

1. PLACE potatoes in large saucepan; add enough water to cover. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 15 min. or until potatoes are tender.

2. MEANWHILE, mix cream cheese, sour cream and Parmesan cheese; cover. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. DRAIN potatoes. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half; cut small piece from bottom of each potato half so potato lies flat. Place on serving platter. Top each potato half with 1 tsp. of the cream cheese mixture. (I usually pipe the topping on, as I would frosting, for nicer presentation.) Sprinkle with bacon and chives, and cheese if desired.

I always like to pop mine back in the oven for a couple minutes to warm them up and melt the cheese on top.

Nutella Cupcakes with Triple Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-03-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to try a whole lot of new recipes- I usually let Em try it first and then do it when she says it successful or not. But when I saw these on this blog, I couldn't stop drooling and was determined to try them myself! Not only did they look beautiful, but delicious as well...and better yet... made with NUTELLA! I love Nutella so much. It makes me happy. It makes baby happy too (or at least she kicks a lot when I eat it...)

This was one of the first cupcake recipes I've made from scratch (and despite the fact that I almost ruined them by completely forgetting to add the butter) and they were soooo good! Beware- this recipes makes 3 dozen cucpcakes- so don't make them unless you are really in the mood for nutella cupcakes or you have some friends to give them to.

Here's the recipe and I'm also linking the blog where she details how to do the tripple cream cheese frosting, swirled. She didn't list what size bags she used- but I used 3 12 in. disposable decorating bags and one big 18 in. bag. It worked great!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella, Peanut Butter, and Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Cupcakes:
2/3 cup Nutella
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
5 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract -only necessary if you want your cream cheese frosting to stay white

Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Nutella
1 pound confectioners’ sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
black and brown food coloring, optional

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Almond Butter or Peanut Butter
1 pound confectioners’ sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Cupcakes
Line 3 dozen muffin cups with cupcake liners or grease using non-stick spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.

In medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes, until it is pale and thick. Add in the butter. don't forget the butter...I almost did. It would be sad to ruin 3 dozen cupcakes. ;) Mix until combined. Add in the nutella. Next add the buttermilk. Beat until well incorporated.

Add the flour mixture in 3 increments and beat until smooth. Divide batter into the cupcake tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

For the Frostings
Cream the butter and cream cheese in medium sized bowl. Add the vanilla. Add the nutella or PB. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar as you continue to cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed until fluffy and smooth, adding milk or additional sugar (if needed) to reach desired consistency.

Once you have the three frostings ready, put each in a 12 in. decorating bag (ziplock bags won't work here- believe me- I tried it and it was a ROYAL disaster!) Then take a large 18 in. decorating bag and attach the coupling ring and the tip you'd like to use. Place all three frosting bags inside the large bag and begin piping. For more detailed instructions, see this post.

Seriously- these were sooooo good and I was so pleased with myself that I actually got the frosting to work right. And I love this nutella frosting so much, that I think I will use it again, and again and again...and maybe even just eat it plain. :)

Recipe source: Good Life Eats

PW's Chicken Scallopine

2011-02-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman's site, but never thought it looked that good. I don't know why, but it just didn't. Then when we had our Girl's weekend in St. George, Em insisted on having it and since she was cooking, I wasn't complaining! It was so good!! I don't know what I was thinking! My only complaint was that there wasn't much of a sauce- it was really liquidy and there just wasn't much of it. So I made a few modifications to mine to thicken the sauce and LOVED how it turned out. Of course, it tasted even better on my stinkin' adorable polka-dot dishes on Valentine's Day with my two favorite people in the whole world. :)

Here is the recipe with the few changes I made:

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Scallopine

1 pound Linguine
6 whole Boneless, Skinless, Trimmed Chicken Breasts (smaller ones)
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Flour
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Butter
12 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced Thin
1 1/4 c. chicken broth
Juice of 1 whole Lemon
½ cups Heavy Cream
1 T. Capers
2 t. cornstarch
Chopped Fresh Italian Parsley
Parmesan Cheese, For Topping

Cook Linguine according to package directions.

Start by pounding your chicken breats between two pieces of wax paper until they are pretty thin and a uniform thickness- you don't want to overcook them because some parts are thicker than others.

Once they are pounded flat, sprinkle with Salt and pepper and then dredge in flour.

In a large skillet, combine 4 T. of butter and olive oil in pan. Once hot, add the chicken and cook on both sides until golden brown. Once both sides are finished, put them on a plate and set aside.

Leave your drippings in the pan and add your thinly sliced mushrooms, 1 1/4 c. chicken broth and lemon juice, while scraping the bottom of the pan. Allow these to cook for a minute or so and then add your cream and capers.

This is where I mixed about 1/8 c. of chicken broth with 1-2 t. of cornstarch. Once it was combined, I added it to the mushroom mixture to allow it to thicken. I then added more chicken broth until I got the desired thickness of my sauce.

Season with Salt and Pepper to taste and Voila! You are finished!

This was soooooooooo good!

Delicious Fruit Dip

2011-02-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

Since being pregnant, my diet has gone from bad, to worse. It seems that all I crave now are cookies, brownies and donuts. At least you can't really tell how bad this is since I can cover it up with "I'm pregnant." Well every once in a while, I do get a craving for some fruit. But not just fruit- fruit with some kind of dip or yogurt or something. I am usually too lazy to make a dip, so yogurt suffices.

But now that the munchkin has been rather ill, I don't really want her to eat much other than fruit. So I cut up a bunch of fruit for her and then perused the web for a dip, for me. :)

I found this one on AllRecipes.com and it was good. But once I added a few things, it went from good to really good- Really good as in "having a little fruit with my dip" good. So now I can have some fruit (healthy) and some dip (tasty, but not so healthy) to quench my need for "fluff".

I know it's super lame to only use half of a small instant pudding mix, but that's all it needs. If you use the whole package, you probably need to add more milk.

What you'll need:
half of a 3.4 oz. instant pudding mix - Vanilla, cheesecake, lemon etc.
4. oz. whipped topping
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. milk
3 oz. fruit yogurt- I used raspberry and it was delish
3-4 T. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients until blended well. Served chilled and enjoy!

Perfectly Fluffy Pancakes

2011-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Hubster is always asking me to make pancakes from scratch because he doesn't like how thick and heavy the ones from a mix turn out. He likes McDonald's pancakes- the ones that are fluffy but really flat. Leave it to him to like McDonald's better than homemade. Just to "show him"- I always make them from a mix anyways. Who wants to mix a bunch of ingredients when you could just add water!?

Well, since today was Valentine's Day, I finally gave in. I found a few different recipes on AllRecipes and compared ingredients and just mixed them up a little. Although these aren't the thin pancakes he wanted, they were really good. They weren't overly fluffy, but they were really light and airy. And in honor of Valentine's Day- I even made them heart-shaped. :) And to top it off, I got to use my stinkin' adorable new polka-dot plates! The pancakes tasted much better on the cute plates. ;)

So here ya go!

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. milk
1 egg
1/4 c. oil

The directions say to mix the dry ingredients, then make a well in which you pour the wet ingredients, already mixed together. I didnt' do this- like I said- who wants to mix all these ingredients AND dirty two bowls!? I mixed the dry ingredients and then just added the wet, and they turned out scrumptious. Don't overmix though.

Enjoy! And Happy Valentine's Day!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-12-31T09:32:00.000-08:00

I'm not a huge fan of anything pumpkin, but I do like pumpkin cookies...IF they have chocolate chips in them...lots and lots of chocolate chips. Well, I came across this recipe on MADE. I stalk her blog for crafting stuff, but this past Fall, she decided to do a bunch of posts with Pumpkin recipes. I've been looking for a good pumpkin choco chip cookie recipe for a long time and this one was perfect! It is a little different- seeing as how you don't use eggs (so it's also safe to eat the cookie dough...not sure I'd reccommend it, but you still could...if you wanted to) but very good!

So here it is:

Cookies (makes about 3 dozen cookies)
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. You can either grease your cookie sheets, or be lazy like me, and use parchment paper. :)

2. In medium bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Stir in the pumpkin and vanilla.

3. In separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture.

4. Add your chocolate chips.

5. Drop dough on your cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

NOTE- These cookie will maintain their shape in the oven, so however they look when you drop them on your cookie sheet is how they will look when they come out. This doesn't technically matter since you coat them with the most scrumptious cream cheese frosting...but just so you are aware. :)

Cream Cheese Frosting (makes enough for two batches of cookies)
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
½ cup butter
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Mix together and frost your cookies! Enjoy!
Sorry I forgot to take pics of them frosted- they didn't last long enough. :)

"Goulash" Soup

2010-12-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

So I was in the mood for some Hungarian goulash the other night, but we were having a family "soup" night and so I needed to make a soup version of Goulash... I was just really craving that flavor. I adapted this from an existing goulash recipe and ended up loving it. Plus, it was super easy to throw together and even my kids ate it. It's a perfect fall stew.

1 lb. beef stew chunks (or ground beef)
8 oz. small pasta, such as macaroni, or shells
1 small onion
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 can diced or stewed tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 cans beef broth (or equivalent water with beef bouillon)
3/4 cup cream or half and half
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt to taste (I used about 3/4 tsp.)

1. In a large pot, cook noodles to al dente. Set aside.

2. While the noodles are cooking, in another large stockpot, on high heat, brown the beef and drain any excess fat.

3. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and mushrooms and saute until celery is tender crisp, about 5-6 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, paprika, chili powder and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30-60 minutes. (Or however long you'd like...)

5. Remove from heat and add noodles, cream and sour cream. Adjust spices as necessary.

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

2010-11-15T05:17:00.000-08:00

Here's another one from my Taste of Home "Fall Baking" magazine that was utterly delicious. They were simple to make and I love the combination of oranges, cranberries, and white chocolate. What's not to love? I was a bit underwhelmed after my first taste, but after some refrigeration, these babies were irresistible. I underbaked them just a bit and they firmed up beautifully and deliciously in the fridge. Plus, they make for a gorgeous presentation. I adjusted the recipe just a bit to cut back on the sweetness and they are definitely worth making making again! They tasted like frosted cookie dough! And if the frosting is still too sweet for you, this is a great "blondie" recipe base. Keep in mind... they are blondies, which I always find a bit sweet. This is a very sweet dessert. But delicious!

Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Taste of Home's "Fall Baking" magazine
Serves: 2 1/2 dozen (one 9x13 pan)

3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries (although, I may substitute fresh next time)
6 oz. white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks

Frosting:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. orange extract
3 oz. white chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl; stir in brown sugar and mix well. Allow to cool.

2. Transfer to a larger bowl if necessary and beat in the eggs and vanilla.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a separate small bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture. Fold in cranberries and chopped white chocolate. Batter will be very thick.

4. Spread mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool completely.

5. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange extract and peel in a large bowl. Gradually add the melted chocolate and beat until blended. Smooth over the brownies. (I actually only used about 3/4 of my frosting mixture... it was just too much otherwise.) Sprinkle with remaining dried cranberries.

6. Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a small ziploc baggie, in 30 second intervals in the microwave. Massage bag to smooth out any lumps. Snip a tiny corner off the bag and drizzle chocolate over bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Carmel Apple Muffins

2010-11-08T04:22:00.000-08:00

Fall is upon us and it's time for delicious Fall baking! My sister gave me a most fantastic cooking magazine a couple of weeks ago, Taste of Home's "Fall Baking" and I probably bookmarked over half the recipes because they all look so fantastic. I'm going to have to do a lot of baking in the next couple of months to hit them all.

I started with these muffins because, one, I had everything on hand for them, and two, they looked simple. Muffins tend to be no fuss and low maintenance... I wanted to start with something that had a high probability of working.

These were delicious! Simple, moist, no fuss and the little bites of gooey caramel made these muffins extra special. They'd be perfect as a side for dinner, after dinner treat, brunch treat, or midnight snack... not that I tried all of those options...

Recipe Source: Taste of Home's "Fall Baking" Magazine
Servings: approximately 14 muffins

Muffins:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped, peeled tart apple (I used one large Granny Smith apple... it was more than 1/2 cup, but I wanted more apple chunks)
12 caramels, chopped into large pieces (I simply cut mine into quarters)

Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

2. In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir into the dry ingredients, just until moistened. Do not over mix! Remember, you'll still be stirring it a bit to incorporate the apples and caramels.

3. Fold in the apples and caramels.

4. Fill paper lined or greased muffin cups three-fourths full.

5. Combine the topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter in muffin tins. (This stuff tends to caramelize during the baking process, making it super yummy... but also super messy to clean up. Try not to let too much spill all over your muffin tin.)

6. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

7. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm, so your caramel inside is still nice and gooey!

Rouladen

2010-09-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

We grew up mostly vegetarian and didn't get a whole lot of meat, so we really looked forward to Thanksgiving, Father's Day and my Dad's birthday. Thanksgiving for obvious reasons, but my Dad's Birthday and Father's Day becuase we got to eat Rouladen! My mom is German, and this is one of our favorite german recipes from her. Not sure if it's traditional german or not, but it was traditional in our family. They are so delish (even though they aren't the most beautiful thing you've seen) and I'm glad I finally got to make them with her and write everything down to share.Trust me- these are good!

Be forewarned, this is kind of a messy recipe- you will get your hands dirty (or in my mom's case, if you don't want to smell like pickles and onions, wear gloves - they don't even have to be blue!)

Here's what you'll need:
3-5 lb. Beef Roast, cut in about 1/4 in. thick slices
* a note about the meat: You can get pretty much any kind of beef roast, if the size is right. My grcoery store (WinCO) carries this meat pre-sliced, but if your grocery store doesn't, you can take the roast to the butcher and ask him to slice it for you. Just see the pictures below to see how large you need these slices to be for the rolls to work. Just know that he bigger the roast, the more Rouladen you will get. We used a 5 lb and got 12 Rouladen out of it.*
salt and pepper
spicy mustard
6 dill pickle slices (the long oval ones, cut in half)
6 slices bacon
1 large onion
1/2 c. flour, divided

What to do:
Take your meat slices and lay them all out on your counter top or a large cutting board (if you use your counter, just make sure it's really clean). Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Spread a generous heaping of mustard on them.

Slice up your onions very fine, and lay 4-5 slices on your meat. Cut your pickles in half and place 3 on each meat slice. Cut your bacon into fourths and lay 2 on top of the pickles and onions.

Once you have those spread out on your meat, you are ready to roll them up into nice little bundles. Use 2 toothpicks to secure them closed.

In the meantime, heat up a medium sized frying pan with some oil.

Once your bundles are rolled up, you are going to roll them in flour until they are nicely coated. Then place them in your hot frying pan and brown the outsides.

Once they are all browned, you can either place them in a crock pot, or you can place them in a large pot on your stove. Either one will work, I just feel more comfortable leaving the house with something cooking in a crock pot rather than something cooking on the stove.

Take your pan drippings and pour it in with your bundles. Then cover with water.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 5-6 hours, or cook on low for 6-7 hours.

To make the sauce:

Remove the rouladen from your pot and place in a bowl and keep warm.

Take about 1/4 c. flour and mix with water until you get a thick paste. Once you have the paste, add to the remaining liquid in your pot and use a stick blender to mix it up and remove any lumps you may have.

To warn you- this is a very uniqe, but awesome flavor. I can only compare it to a mustard sauce. When I made these last, the flavor was perfect- I didn't need to add anything. But if your flavor happens to be a bit bland, you can add some pickle juice or mustard once the sauce is complete to get the flavor right.

Serve over a warm bed of noodles- and don't forget to pull the toothpicks out before you eat it!

Thanks to my mother- the lovely blue hand model, and pardon my pictures...the lighting in my mom's kitchen was pretty bad, and I couldn't really take it outside. :)

Sloppy Joe Pasta

2010-09-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

This is one of those recipes where I thought it was good, but my hubby loved it- so it's definitely a success!!

And the nice thing is that it's easy to put together and kinda fun since you get to use little shell noodles. :) It seems all my pasta dishes use penne or egg noddles, so I thought it was fun! I found this one in the Taste of Home magazine as well.

Here's what you'll need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 envelope sloppy joe mix
1 c. water
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 package small shell pasta, cooked and drained
1 c. cottage cheese
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

What to do:
In a large saucepan, cook beef until no longer pink. Drain.

Stir in the sloppy joe mix, water, tomato paste and sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 5-8 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in pasta.

Spoon half into a greased baking dish. Top with cottage cheese and then remaining noodle mixture. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese.

Bake, uncovered at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Chilled Peach Yogurt Soup

2010-09-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

I look forward to making this soup all year long. Anxiously, I wait for August, when peaches are finally ripe and in abundance and I can get a box of them while visiting family in Utah. Sure, they have peaches in Vegas... but they're teeerrible. In 9 year of living in Vegas, I have NEVER had a decent peach. It's really quite sad when you consider they're my favorite fruit.

This little soup is a snap to whip up... takes less than 10 minutes and makes a great appetizer, dessert, breakfast, or in my case today, a light lunch. I simply LOVE this stuff.

Recipe Source: Better Homes and Gardens "70 Favorite Soups and Stews"
Serves: Four 1/2 cup servings

2 cups peeled and sliced peaches (approximately 2 large peaches; you can use frozen, but defrost them first and drain the excess liquid)
3/4 cup peach or apricot nectar (I like to use the Kern's nectar, or I'll simply use leftover peach juice from a jar of canned peaches)
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
8 oz. vanilla yogurt

1. Combine the peaches, nectar, lemon juice and cinnamon in a food processor or blender.

2. In a large bowl, stir about 1/4 cup of the peach mixture into the yogurt. (Reserve just a bit of the yogurt for later, as a garnish.) Combine well and then add the remaining peach mixture, stirring well to combine.

3. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours and garnish with an additional Tbsp. of yogurt.

Beef Penne Pasta

2010-09-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Bug actually made this recipe awhile back and it was really good. She got it from the Taste of Home magazine. I stole the magazine from her and decided I would make it too. Joe really likes it too, which makes it that much better! :) And the best part about it- it's no fuss and pretty quick!

So here you go!
What you'll need:
1 3/4 c. uncooked penne pasta
1 lb. ground beef
1 teaspon minced garlic
1 can tomato puree (15 oz)
1 can beef broth (14 oz)
1 1/2 t. Italian Seasoning
1 t. Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 c. chopped fresh spinach
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

What to do:
Cook your pasta according to box directions.

Meanwhile in a separate pot/pan, cook beef until no longer pink. Add garlic, cook a little longer and drain the grease.

Stir in the tomatoe puree, broth, Italian seasoning, Wooster sauce and S&P. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened.

Add spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes, until your spinach is wilted.

Stir in your drained pasta and sprinkle with cheese.

Serve and enjoy!

Raspberry Lime Cheesecake Squares

2010-09-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

As if there isn't enough citrus and cream cheese on this site, here's one more delicious variation. This was nice because you get the taste of cheesecake without all the hassle. I altered the original recipe just a bit and made mine with fresh raspberries instead of strawberry jam... mainly because that's what I had on hand and also because I don't like jam on my cheesecake. I much prefer the taste of fresh fruit. I loved the combination of the tart raspberry topping with the creamy lime cheesecake. But feel free to substitute strawberries for the raspberries!

Source: slightly adapted from Tasty Kitchen
Feeds: 9

Crust:
1/4 cup butter
1 whole sleeve graham crackers (9 crackers), finely crushed
1/4 cup sugar

Cheesecake:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lime juice
1 tsp. lime zest

Topping:
1 pint raspberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, defrost and drain off the excess liquid)
1/4 cup sugar
splash of lime juice

1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Melt your butter in an 8x8 square baking pan.

2. Mix sugar and graham cracker crumbs together, until combined and add to melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom of your baking pan. (I usually use the bottom of a large glass to press it down firmly... works great!)

3. Bake the crust for 5-8 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool.

4. In a small sauce pan, heat the raspberries and sugar. As they cook, mash the raspberries with your spoon until well mushed. (That sounds like a technical term, right?) Bring to a boil, and continue to boil until the liquid has thickened and cooked down a bit. I usually let mine cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once they've thickened and cooked down a bit, remove from heat and add your splash of lime juice. Then allow it to cool.

Now, if you're a crazy perfectionist like me and time doesn't really matter (heh! who am I kidding...), you can go ahead and strain your raspberry sauce now through a fine mesh sieve. As much as I LOVE raspberries, I don't love millions of tiny raspberry seeds and so I always strain them out. But... it is annoying and time consuming. But so worth it. I recommend it... it'll give you a nicer presentation and a seed free bite! (If you're too lazy to strain your raspberries, I suggest going the strawberry route... then you don't really have to worry about as many seeds, right?)

5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and zest. Beat until well combined. Pour over cooled crust.

6. Spoon cooled raspberry topping over the cream cheese mixture and use a butter knife to create a marbled effect. Chill for at least 6 hours.

Nutella Panna Cotta

2010-09-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

Oh my sweet goodness, I daresay we've managed to make Panna Cotta even better. When it's comes to recipes, I have absolutely no imagination, whatsoever. I am definitely a recipe follower. Which is why it never occurred to me that you can change up your panna cotta, simply by adding different flavors. When I saw this recipe on bell'alimento, my mouth literally dropped... and I started drooling. Nutella and panna cotta? Yum! This recipe is made in the identical manner as this panna cotta... only you add a couple Tbsp. of some delicious Nutella, and suddenly you have a chocolate version that reminds me of chocolate milk. It was so good with some fresh strawberries on top. Now, I can't wait to try the lemon version! Oh, and this may very well be a new favorite site... she has an entire category devoted to Nutella! Now, that's my kind of cooking site...

Recipe Source: adapted from bell'alimento

Serves: 6-8

1/3 c. skim milk

2 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (or you can pretend to cut calories and use half and half... but why?)

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 packet (.25 oz.) unflavored gelatin

3 Tbsp. Nutella, melted for a few seconds in the microwave

1. Pour the milk into a small bow, and sprinkle the gelatin powder on top. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar and set over medium heat. Cook until it nears a full boil, watching carefully (and stirring frequently) as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan.

3. Once the mixture is beginning to boil, add the melted Nutella and and bring the mixture back to a boil.

4. Pour the gelatin mixture into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

5. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pour into six or 7 individual ramekin dishes. (About 1/2 c. in each dish)

6. Cool the ramekins uncovered until they're room temperature. Once they've cooled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.

7. Serve with fresh berries, slightly sweetened with sugar.

Pork Carnitas

2010-09-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the third and final part of our perfect Pork Carnitas! It is super easy, low--maintenance, and has a great smoky (not sweet!) flavor. I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen and my sister and I tweaked it just a bit to enhance the flavor. Sadly, our tweaking resulted in a bit more work and one more dish to clean, but it definitely strengthens the flavor. But even without our little addition, this is still a great pork for tacos, burritos, taco salad, and of course, my beloved carnitas.

Recipe Source: Tasty Kitchen
Serves: 6

3.5 lbs. Pork Shoulder Roast or Pork Butt

1 quart chicken stock

3 Tbsp. tomato paste

4 cloves garlic

1 whole onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 Tbsp. Cumin

1 Tbsp. Oregano

1 Tbsp. Pepper

2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chipotle chili powder

Additional taco garnishments:
shredded lettuce
shredded Monterey Jack cheese or crumbled Queso Fresco
small corn or flour tortillas
Chipotle Ranch Dressing
Corn Salsa

1. In a small bowl, combine the stock, tomato paste, garlic, onion, bay leaf, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and chipotle powder. Stir everything to combine.

2. Place your pork in a large pot or crockpot. Pour your seasoned mixture over the pork. If cooking on the stovetop, bring the pork to a boil, turn down to low and simmer, covered for 3-5 hours, or until the meat easily shreds.

3. If cooking in a crockpot, simply cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until the meat easily shreds.

4. Once the meat is tender and shreds easily, transfer to a cutting board and trim the fat. Then shred or pull into small pieces. Save the liquid. from your pot for later.

5. Preheat your oven to 450°F. Transfer the shredded meat to a large baking dish.

6. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. slightly cooled pork liquid. Stir well, making sure there are no lumps. Set aside.

7. In a small saucepan, bring about 2 cups of reserved pork liquid to a boil. Once it's boiling, stir in the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Boil for 1-2 minutes, or until thickened.

8. Pour this slightly thickened mixture over your shredded pork and stir to combine. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes. (I usually cover the pork for the first 15 minutes and then bake it uncovered for the remainder of the time to get it slightly crispy.)

As an alternative to the thickened mixture, you can just pour a couple cups of reserved pork liquid over the pork before you bake it. I liked how the thicker mixture really coated the meat and I liked the texture and added flavor it gave the meat. However, you can save yourself some time and another dirty dish by just pouring the straight liquid over your meat.

9. If serving in tacos, top the pork with the corn salsa, chipotle dressing, shredded Monterey Jack cheese or queso fresco, and shredded lettuce.

These carnitas are probably in our top 3 favorite recipes of all time so we hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Chipotle Ranch Dressing

2010-09-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

The second part of the perfect pork carnita... the chipotle Ranch dressing!

If you thought the corn salsa was easy... wait till you see this. It doesn't get any easier than this and the resulting dressing is fantastic. I love it over my taco salads, tacos, burritos, and of course, pork carnitas. I usually have a container with this stuff sitting in the back of my fridge for last minute quesadillas and burritos.

1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
mayonnaise and milk as called for on the dressing packet (I definitely prefer a bit more milk to the mayonnaise when I make this... I think it gets too thick going half and half, so I usually use a little less mayo and a bit more milk to get the right texture)
1/2 t. - 1 tsp. chipotle powder
1 lime

1. Prepare dressing according to package directions.

2. Add chipotle powder and some fresh lime juice, according to taste. Go easy at first, as the chipotle and lime will intensify as it sits. I usually start with the 1/2 tsp. of chipotle powder and just a couple squeezes of fresh lime juice. Then I taste it a little later and adjust as necessary.

Corn Salsa

2010-08-30T05:03:00.000-07:00

So, before Cafe Rio showed up in Las Vegas, I had to get my fresh Mexican salad fix elsewhere. (Believe me, it was painful. I had to wait years or drive to Utah to get my fix...) Luckily, my husband stumbled on a fresh Mexican grill, called Zaba's here in town and they were a very good substitute. What I liked about Zaba's was that they had the same idea behind their salads and food, i.e., fresh meat, homemade tortillas, and delicious dressings, but different sauces and accompaniments, giving their food an entirely different flavor. One of my very very favorite things to order there is their pork carnitas tacos. They are the perfect blend of smoky pork (NOT sweet!... I do NOT like sweet pork), cilantro, delicious corn salsa, and an awesome chipotle ranch dressing. I love the tacos so much, that I could easily eat them once a week. So, I decided I needed to re-create them at home. I went searching for bits and pieces of the meal and ended up with an almost perfect substitute for my Zaba's tacos.

The next three posts will have all you need to make your very own Zaba's inspired Pork Carnitas.
And here's part 1 of our perfect pork carnitas meal... the corn salsa.

So, in my quest to recreate my beloved Zaba's carnitas, I had to find a corn salsa. They use this delightful medium corn salsa, that had something weird in that I couldn't quite label. Obviously, I don't eat a lot of jicama because that's what it is... and I didn't recognize it. I loved it, though. It tastes sort of like a cross between an apple and snap pea. I looked high and low for a corn salsa recipe that was similar to the Zaba's variation and I couldn't really find one, so Dacia and I created one ourselves. Granted, there isn't much to it... just throw some veggies together and call it done. But, as simple as it is, it's mighty tasty. It was spectacular with tortilla chips and of course delicious over the carnitas tacos. It's super simple to whip up and a nice change from your typical tomato salsa. I highly recommend this stuff.

2 Cups frozen corn, defrosted, and drained of excess liquid
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup diced jicama
juice from 1 lime
1/2 -1 cup cilantro (you can probably bet which way I lean...)
salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder to taste

1. Throw your corn, onion, and jicama all together in a bowl.

2. Add lime juice and seasonings to taste. And that's it.

Cajun Shrimp

2010-08-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

We love shrimp in our house. Really LOVE it and I'm always looking for yummy variations. I found this on Tasty Kitchen and we loved it so much, I made it twice in one week! And then I made it again for my birthday. Even the kids loved it, despite a slight kick from the Cajun seasoning. This is seriously delicious and super fast and easy to whip up. We paired it with a loaf of Frech bread and used our bread to sop up all the delicious buttery liquid that was in the bottom of the pan. It may not be pretty on my thighs (nothing really is), but it was SO worth it. A perfectly quick, easy, and delicious weeknight meal, made even better in that you can use the shrimp either defrosted or still frozen. Just adjust your baking time accordingly.

Recipe Source: Tasty Kitchen

Serves: 4

1/2 cup butter

2 tsp. garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning

1 tsp. coarse salt (I used Kosher)

1 tsp. black pepper

2 lb. bag of shrimp (the original recipe only calls for 1 1/2 lbs., but I thought that made the dish too salty)

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan and saute the garlic. Add Cajun spices and salt and pepper and stir well.

3. Place shrimp in a baking dish and cover with Cajun butter mixture. Toss to combine and evenly distribute the butter mixture.

4. Bake uncovered for at least 10 minutes, or until shrimp is pink. (Mine typically takes about 15 minutes or even longer if I put my shrimp in frozen--then it takes 20-25 minutes.)

5. Serve with French bread to soak up all the remaining buttery goodness at the bottom of your pan. Yum!

Slider Cupcakes

2010-08-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

I made these for my brother's birthday party this year. He is a big fan of hamburgers and I am a big fan up cupcakes...so we combined the two to make Cupcake Hamburgers!! These were so much fun to put together, I can't even tell you. My mom and I had a blast making these and coming up with ideas for each part. I got ideas off of various different sites and this is what we came up with!

What you'll need:
24 yellow cupcakes
9x13 pan of brownies
bag of shredded coconut
small amount of fondant
red fruit chews (we used laffy taffy, but starbursts would work too)
small amount of frosting
sesame seeds
food coloring
Tooth picks
orange juice

How to put it all together:
Bake your cupcakes accroding to the package directions. Same with the brownies. Cut the cupcakes into thirds- large top, thin middle and then small bottom. You won't need the middle part, which is why to keep it rather thin. We just found that by cutting it into thirds and not using the middile, our cupcakes didn't get too tall and un-eatable. Once they are cut, brush the top with a small amount of orange juice and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Mix a tiny bit of water with about a cup of shredded coconut and enough green food coloring to get a decent shade for your shredded lettuce.

We then used a cup with a decent sized opening to cut out round brownie pieces for the hamburger patties out of the 9x13 pan

Add a small amount of orange food coloring to your fondant and mix until you get a good cheese color. Roll it out thin and cut into squares for the cheese slices.

Heat up your fruit chews for about 15 seconds in the microwave (all of them at the same time or they will turn to jelly). Mix about 1 1/2 fruit chews together into rounded patties for your tomato slices.

Get two bowls of frosting, one red and one yellow for your mustard and ketchup. Put into zip lock baggies and cut the corners spread on top of the tomato to hold the bun down.

Lastly, insert your toothpick for the finishing touch.

The best part about these was that I actually fooled my dad. He was all excited for sliders, and took a bite only to realize this was not a hamburger! He's pretty gullible, but that's pretty impressive!

Oven Ham Sammies

2010-08-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Dang. These were soooo good. Totally simple, quick and absolutely delicious. There probably aren't any redeeming qualities hidden in all the calories, but being fast and easy is redeeming, right? These make a great family friendly dinner, lend themselves well to doubling, and would also work as a yummy appetizer.

Recipe Source: Slightly adapted from Tasty Kitchen
Feeds: 6

Mayonnaise/Miracle Whip
16 oz. sliced deli ham
12 slices Swiss cheese
1 package (12 count) Dinner Rolls (like King Hawaiian Rolls)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 Tbsp. Onion flakes or minced onion
1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
3/4 Tbsp. ground mustard

1. Slice rolls in half and spread each side with mayo.

2. Sandwich sliced ham and cheese in each roll. Place close together in a baking dish.

3. Whisk butter, onion, poppy seeds, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard until well combined. Pour dressing over sandwiches. Sandwiches can be baked immediately, or allow them to sit for several hours or even overnight.

4. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Enjoy the ooey, gooey goodness.

Fresh Berry Crumb Pie

2010-08-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

So I am at my Mum's house for the weekend. My sibling's and I know that usually being at my Mum's house means we get great food. Unless of course her husband has a say, and then its something out of a can and quite boring. However, if we plan out our meals when he's not around, we usually come up with a pretty fabulous menu. As the dessert portion of our menu, my mum decided that she really wanted to use some of her huge amounts of raspberries from her yard. This was the recipe she immediately knew we had to use. She told me about how my Aunt Sheila actually made this years ago, and it has since been one of her favorites.

I don't know if I liked it as much as her or not...I mean, I only had three helpings. All with a heaping scoop of ice cream. ;)

Yeah...you may want to get a tissue now. Wipe that drool off. This cobbler is delicious. So we decided we had to share the recipe!

Here's what you'll need:

Crumb Crust/Topping

1 c. hazelnuts or almonds

2 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Filling

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 pints (about 4-5 cups) fresh berries, (for this one we used raspberries, but blueberries, strawberries or blackberries all work really well too...also Mum says she has used peaches)

Now, the recipe we have says to roast the nuts...but really, who wants to take the time to do that when it tastes great WITHOUT roasting your nuts? :) So, if you happen to have extra time on your hands, and would like to try out the roasting procedure...i'll include the directions to roast the nuts. Just know that it isn't necessary in order to produce a great cobbler.

To Roast Nuts:

Preheat oven to 350. Spread nuts in a medium baking pan, roast. Stir occasionally until toasted, about 10 minutes.

Remove nuts from the oven and turn out onto a cloth towel. Rub off and discard the papery skins.

Be sure to up your temperature to 450 F now for the cobbler!!

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the nuts until finely ground, about 10 seconds or so. We just used a blender and that worked great, but take note that if you process/grind the nuts too long...you'll start to make nut butter.

To prepare the Crust/Topping:

In a large bowl, mix together the nuts, flour, and sugar. Then, using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form.

Using your hands, evenly press half of the crumb crust/topping into the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch tart pan, or just into a 9x13 pan.

To prepare the filling:

In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and the cornstarch. Gently mix in the berries. Spoon the berry mixture into the crust, spreading it out evenly.

Sprinkle the berry mixture evenly with the remaining crumb crust/topping.

Bake until topping is golden and filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

And definitely serve this baby with vanilla ice cream. We happened to have Marionberry Pie icecream and that was pretty delicious with it. :)

Summer Farfalle

2010-07-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Alysia's Summer Farfalle

I adapted this recipe from Pioneer Woman's Farfalle with Zucchini. I sort of took her recipe and just added a bunch of ingredients I thought would add to the flavor. I happen to love it myself. I love the way the flavors of the fresh herbs really pop and I just love Farfalle pasta! Hope you enjoy it as much as me!

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts, cubed
1 zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 yellow squash, sliced and quartered
3/4 pkg. mushrooms, sliced
1 pkg. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 c. heavy cream
3/4 can chicken broth
1-2 tsp. cornstarch
2 c. Parmesan cheese
steak seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste
fresh herbs (For the herbs, I used parsley, oregano and basil, but lemon thyme would also be really good.)
Box of Farfalle noodles, cooked and drained

To prepare chicken:
For this rendition, we used a lemon pepper marinade, oregano and basil. However, you can just stir fry the chicken in oil with salt and pepper as well. The lemon pepper marinade did give it a yummy fresh flavor though.
Cook the chicken completely and set aside.

For Veggies:
Stir fry your zucchini and yellow squash in a bit of oil in the same pan you cooked your chicken.
Do not cook completely, overcooking is no good!! Just coat everything completely in oil and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove the zucchini and squash and set aside with the chicken.

Use wire whisk to scrape off bits from bottom of pan, add a little more oil and saute the mushrooms. Again, don't cook all the way. Remove from heat and add to chicken mix.

Add a bit more oil and saute the onion and garlic. Once onion is translucent, add cherry tomatoes. Toss all to coat evenly in oil.

In a separate small bowl, mix 3/4 can chicken broth and 1-2 tsp. cornstarch or arrowroot. You don't want it thick or heavy, but like a thin sauce consistency. Once this is the right consistency pour it into the onion/garlic/cherry tomato mixture.

Stir this around and then add 1/2 -3/4 c. heavy cream. Stir again. Let thicken for a few minutes. Add seasonings (Steak seasoning, garlic salt etc.) to taste.

Then add your veggies and chicken back in. Stir evenly. If your sauce is not thick enough within another few minutes, add more cream. If it's too heavy/thick, add chicken broth.

To prepare dish:
Get a casserole dish, 2 qt. corning ware dish, or 9x13 pan. Put cooked pasta on the bottom of the dish.
Top with large handfuls of all your fresh, chopped herbs. Spread evenly. Top with Parmesan cheese and then your sauce/veggie mixture. Top with more Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or microwave for 5 minutes.
Eat and enjoy!!

BYU Mint Brownies

2010-06-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Every year, my mom and I try to attend Education Week at the BYU campus in Provo. And every year, she treats me to a BYU mint brownie. I don't want to say they're the reason I go to Education Week.... but, they are good enough to be a factor in my decision! They are mint perfection and I was thrilled to find the link to the actual BYU Dining site with their actual recipe. I mean, how could I go wrong?

And they were indeed, perfection. And the best part, they just got better and better. They lasted over a week in my fridge, as I tried to just take small bites every day, and they were still fantastic a week later.

I had to make two trays, and I decided to experiment with the chocolate topping. I made one batch with the same chocolate ganache topping I use for the peanut butter truffle brownies. Then I did one batch following the recipe and just used regular old chocolate icing from a can. I have to say I liked them best with the icing, but my mom liked them best with the chocolate ganache.

As for the actual brownie, I decided to use a brownie recipe that I was already familiar with and that I know turns out great. I'll post the actual recipe from the BYU site, but I haven't actually tried that one yet. I will next time, though. That's what's so great about these brownies. It's really the filling that makes them, so feel free to experiment with the brownie base and chocolate icing. Heck, you could probably even use a mix for your brownie base! Just watch out, because these brownies are seriously addictive!

Recipe Source: BYU Dining via The Girl Who Ate Everything
Makes a 9x13 tray

Brownies:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mint Layer:
5 Tbsp. butter, softened
dash of salt (or if you're not paying attention like me, use salted butter and omit this)
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring (optional)

Chocolate Topping:
12 oz. chocolate icing (use your own recipe or purchase a container of milk chocolate frosting)
OR
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350° Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Melt butter and mix in the cocoa. Allow to cool.

3. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

4. Fold in nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.

5. To prepare mint layer: In a medium bowl, combine softened butter, corn syrup, salt, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy.

5. Add mint extract and food coloring and combine well. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting. (I used only 2 1/2 Tbsp. to get that consistency.)

6. Spread mint icing over completely cooled brownies. Place brownies in freezer or fridge for a little while to stiffen up the icing. It needs to be set before you spread chocolate frosting on.

7. Remove brownies from freezer and carefully spread the chocolate layer over the mint layer. (If you're doing a chocolate ganache topping instead, microwave the butter and chocolate chips in a small microwaveable bowl on high for 30-60 seconds. Continue to heat at 30 second intervals until they are smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Then spread over the chilled mint layer.)

8. They can be stored in the refrigerator (my favorite) or served at room temperature.

Caesar Style Marinated Potato Salad

2010-06-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge potato salad fan. I have a recipe on here that I like fairly well, but I still don't choose potato salad on a whim. Unfortunately, it's easy, and cheap and perfect for summer, so I went looking for another potato salad variation and found this one. It's a completely different flavor than your traditional potato salad and I really liked it. It reminded me a lot of baked potato soup... only in salad form. Plus, it's super easy to put together. The dressing is where the "Caesar style" in the title comes from... but it's not a creamy caesar dressing. It's an oil based dressing with just enough tang. It can be eaten chilled or warm and I definitely prefer it warm. Next time you're looking for something a bit different and have some potatoes on hand, I'd highly recommend this salad. Even my boys ate it! It will definitely be making more appearances in our home.

A couple of tips: Choose the right kind of potatoes. Some potatoes are perfect for mashed potatoes... don't use those for this salad! If you do, they'll turn to mush when you go to stir all your salad ingredients together. If in doubt, use red potatoes... they always hold up well to potato salad. Also, when you cook your potatoes, cook them with salt. One of my biggest complaints with potato salad is that you end up with a flavorful dressing and bland potatoes. I boiled my potatoes for this and added a lot of salt to the water. It'll definitely add to the flavor of your salad.

Recipe Source: Pillsbury Super Salads and Vegetables
Serves: 8 Servings (1/2 cup each)

Dressing:
1/4 cup oil
3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt

Salad:
4 cups cubed, cooked potatoes
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped parsley or 1-2 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into slices or wedges

1. Combine all dressing ingredients and shake or stir well.

2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, bacon, parsley, and green onions.

3. Pour dressing over potato mixture; toss lightly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate to blend flavors.

4. Garnish with egg wedges and either serve it straight from the fridge, or warm slightly.

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

2010-06-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite brownies, and since I just took a new picture of them, I've decided to repost them. They are incredibly rich, simple, and delicious. And since you start with a box, they're no fail. Plus, they look gourmet, so the presentation is beautiful. If you're looking for something fancy and easy.... look no further.

Recipe Source: Betty Crocker
Serves: Makes a 9x13 pan

Brownie Base

1 box (9x13 size) Brownie Mix

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box

Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened (not too soft!)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray or shortening. (For easier cutting, line pan with foil, then grease foil on bottom only of pan.)

2. In medium bowl, prepare brownie mix according to instructions on the box. Spread in pan. Bake 28 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. In medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. The mixture will be very thick. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base. I find the easiest way to do this is to use my hands and pat it down.

4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds; stir until smooth. Carefully spread over filling. Gently score the chocolate layer in vertical rows, from one end of the pan to the other. Then carefully score it between the other ends of the pan, in horizontal rows to create a pretty pattern. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. Store covered in the refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Follow High Altitude directions for 13x9-inch pan on brownie mix box.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

2010-06-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

I really love making cupcakes, although I'm not sure why. I don't really like cake or frosting much, but they just look so pretty when you're finished. I think I just really look forward to decorating them. Even though I don't really like to eat cupcakes/frosting much, these cupcakes are an exception- I really loved eating them. I still had to scrape off most of the frosting because it was too much for me (but so pretty for pictures- and the kids had no complaints about this much frosting), but they were so good!

I found the recipe on Annie's Eats and they are seriously... sooo... good! The cupcake flavor is perfect and with the giant oreo chunks, they are simply scrumptious and taste like big, fluffy Oreos. And the frosting even reminds you of the oreo filling! Mmmmm. They're good. And they were the perfect thing for Father's Day since my Dad loves Oreos.

The best part- they aren't even that hard to make! Me! Making Cupcakes from Scratch! I feel quite accomplished now. ;)

Makes 24 cupcakes

What You'll Need:
For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I quarter them)

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish:
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line two cupcake pans with liners. Place an Oreo in the bottom of each line.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla extract. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

2010-06-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

These were amazing! Oh, I loved them so much... every little part of them. They start with a perfectly tender cupcake that hides a sweet surprise of cookie dough inside. Then they're topped with the most delectable frosting that tastes just like cookie dough. Topped off with the most adorable mini chocolate chip cookie, they couldn't be cuter or tastier.

All cookie dough components are egg free. The frosting was interesting because it included flour... it sounds weird, but it gave the frosting that true cookie dough flavor.

There's a lot of components to these cupcakes, so I definitely suggest making your cookie dough filling and mini chocolate chip cookies in advance. I even made my frosting a day early and then just had to let it warm up a bit before I piped it onto my cupcakes.

For the cookies on top, just use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and bake them into tiny little balls. Be sure to underbake them just a bit so they'll stay nice and soft and chewy once they sit on top of the cupcakes.

Seriously, do not be intimidated by the steps in this recipe. I'm not going to lie... it was a lot of steps, but it was worth every single second. They are DIVINE.

Source: Annie's Eats
Makes 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cookie Dough Filling:
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened slightly
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. milk
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For Decoration:
Mini chocolate chip cookies
Mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total).

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on high speed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture on low speed, alternating with the milk. Mix each addition just until incorporated. Don't over mix during this process.

6. Blend in the vanilla and fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners.

7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the cookie dough filling:
1. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

2. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth.

3. Fold in the chocolate chips, cover with plastic wrap and chill until the mixture firms up, at least an hour. (I made mine the day in advance.)

4. Fill the cupcakes, using the cone method. Cute a cone shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the cookie dough mixture. Keep your chunks large... about 3/4 inch in diameter. Once they've been filled, you can either cut off the tip of each cone shaped portion and put them back on the cupcake, or you can just discard them. You'll cover your hole with frosting.

To make the frosting:
1. Beat together the butter and brown sugar, until creamy.

2. Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Add the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.

3. Frost the cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with a mini chocolate chip cookie if desired.

4. Step back for a moment to admire your gorgeous baking creation and all your hard work. Then dig in. They're so scrumptious!

Taco Chicken

2010-06-07T04:05:00.000-07:00

I tried this chicken about a year ago for dinner group and it was the first time EVER where everyone in dinner group asked me for the recipe. On the surface, the recipe seems really basic and simple. But somehow, the combination of the taco seasonings with the red wine vinegar and lime juice makes wonderful things happen. The chicken is literally bursting with flavor and juiciness. I cannot emphasize enough how much you must try this most basic chicken recipe. It is easy and it is awesome.

Feeds 4-6

Source: Our Best Bites

1 lb. chicken breasts or thighs

A couple of juicy limes

A splash of red wine vinegar

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or coarsely chopped

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1. Juice the limes and combine with a couple splashes of red wine vinegar. Add garlic. Pour over chicken. This will not completely cover the chicken; just turn it occasionally as needed. Marinate for at least 4 hours, no longer than 8.

2. Fire up your grill, broiler, Foreman grill, etc. Combine the salt, chili powder, cumin, and black pepper in a small bowl. Liberally sprinkle the seasoning mixture all over your chicken. (I make this chicken recipe so often, I made an extra large batch of this seasoning blend and keep it in my pantry at all times.)

3. Grill the chicken until done, being sure to flip the chicken over during the grilling process. Allow the meat to rest for several minutes before cutting into it. Serve it in tacos, enchiladas, soup, fajitas, or with rice and beans, or anything else that lights your fancy.

Panna Cotta

2010-06-04T19:15:00.001-07:00

When we were cruising down the Seine River in Paris, we had a fancy French lunch and dessert. The main course was nothing to crow about, but the dessert was heavenly. Sam wasn't overly fond of it, so I ate mine and then his too. Then, when we were in Florence, again, lunch came with the tour. The main course was a bean lasagna... leave it to the Italians to come up with something amazing. And the dessert was another version of the heavenly French treat. I have been wondering ever since what that amazing stuff was. Last night, I thought, that it was somewhat custard-like. So I looked up custard on "all recipes" And this came up, with the description of "a delicious Italian dessert". I had to try it. I fed it to the Topherbugs when they came today, and we unanimously declared it a winner. Now here is your challenge: Make something that tastes as amazing but for less than the 400 calories that this beauty clocks in at a 1/2 cup serving!

Edited 6/26/2010: So, we made this for dessert several nights ago and substituted half and half for all of the cream. I had never tried it with straight cream, but it was DIVINE with the half and half. My mom said she couldn't really tell the difference. So, you could save yourself a couple calories and make it with half and half instead. All I'm going to add is that you must try it... it is so delicious.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. Skim Milk
1 (.25 oz) Envelope Unflavored Gelatin
2 1/2 c. Heavy Cream (Consider substituting in some half and half for some of the cream)
1/2 c. White Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions:
1. Pour milk into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, (and stirring frequently) as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

3. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six or seven individual ramekin dishes. (About 1/2 c. in each dish)

4. Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.

For Topping:

You could do just berries, a chocolate sauce, or canned or fresh fruit, however, my preference for the topping is this:

1 sm. bag frozen mixed berries, thawed
1/4 of a danish dessert (this is like jell-o but doesn't set as stiff as jell-o...and it tastes better, I find mine at WinCo)
1/4 c. juice

Directions:
1. Cook and mash the berries in saucepan, bring to a boil.

2. In a separate bowl, dissolve the danish dessert powder in cold juice.

3. Add to boiling berries and cook 1 min. Cool and spoon over chilled panna cotta

Chicken Salad Sandwich

2010-06-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am a little bit picky about my food (which is odd considering I grew up with my Mother's cooking...). There are certain things I do not like and refuse to eat. For example: I don't like anything fruity on meat. That just seems so gross to me. I know that makes me uncultured, but oh well.

But, I will make a few exceptions. This recipe is one of them.

I've been looking for a good chicken salad recipe for a long time and looked everywhere on-line, asked family etc., but didn't really find anything that seemed right to me. So I just combined a bunch of the ingredients from various recipes and made up my own! And I must say, even with chicken and apple chunks, it's pretty darn good. :)

What you'll need:
3 c. cubed chicken, I used canned, drained chicken here, about 20 oz.
3/4 c. mayo
1 T. mustard
1 stalk celery, diced
3 green onions, sliced small
2 hard boiled eggs, diced
1/2 apple, diced
1/4 c. pickle relish (I used dill sandwich slices and diced them)
1/2 t. parsley
salt
pepper
croissants or sliced bread
lettuce
tomato

Optional:
Almond slices (my hubby doesn't like nuts)
grapes (apples was pushing it for me...more fruit just didn't work for me)
craisins ( I would've put these in, but I didn't have any)

This comes together pretty quick. Drain the chicken and mix with the mayo and mustard. Once combined, add the celery, onions, egg, apple, relish and seasonings. Fold together.

Serve on croissants with lettuce and tomato or just plain. Enjoy!

For those of you who can never remember how to hard boil an egg (like me!): place your eggs in a small pot and cover them with water and turn them to med-high heat. Once they come to a boil, boil them for 6 minutes. Rinse with cold water and peel the shell off.

BLT Chicken Pasta Salad

2010-05-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from my Aunt Linda years ago and now that it's getting hotter, I'm feeling like salad every night. But it's nice to change things up with a different salad on occasion, and I really like this one. It can be eaten warm or cold... I prefer it a bit warm, on a bed of lettuce, but it's just as good cold. It's amazing what the cider vinegar does to the dressing... this salad really makes you think of a BLT Chicken sandwich. Plus, it's super easy and fast to whip up

Serves 6-8
Recipe Source: Aunt Linda

Dressing:
2/3 c mayonnaise
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. BBQ sauce
3 tsp. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. pepper

Salad:
12 oz. cooked, skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut up into bite size pieces
8 oz. bow tie pasta
4-8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 large tomato, chopped (or 1 small package cherry tomatoes)
3 cups lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

1. Cook pasta until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain well.

2.Combine dressing ingredients, whisking well to combine.

3.Combine chicken, crumbled bacon, and pasta together in a large bowl. Add dressing and coat well.

4. Fold in tomatoes and lettuce. In the alternative, layer the lettuce on your plate and top with noodle mixture, and then cherry tomatoes.

Funnel Cakes

2010-05-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

My hubby LOVES funnel cakes. He's been asking me to make them forever, but I've never gotten around to it and haven't found a recipe yet. While I was at Emily's this past week, I saw she had the recipe and we decided to try it! It is soooo simple to make and fun to funnel them into your frying pan and they even taste great. Now that the recipe is up, I'll have to make them again, this time while Joe is around. :)

What you need:
3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups milk (give or take a little)
Powdered sugar for dusting
canola or peanut oil for frying

1. In a large, deep frying pan, heat oil to 350F.

2. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl with a spout.

3. Whisk in eggs, vanilla, and milk. Add as much milk as necessary to achieve a thin, pancake-like batter consistency.

4. Pour your batter into your frying pan in a random pattern, but make sure it's connected in some way so it's easy to flip. Let fry for 30-60 seconds per side. If you don't have a bowl with a spout, pour 1/2 c. of your batter into a funnel (finger over the spout) and then drizzle into your pan.

5. Drain on a paper towel and then generously dust them while still hot with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, etc.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Burgers

2010-05-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

We posted this recipe a while back, but it's good enough, that we decided to repost it with pictures this time! It's an adjusted Rachel Ray recipe that we tried the other night, that everyone found quite tasty...

What you need:
chicken breasts
poultry seasoning, steak seasoning
oil
Swiss cheese
thinly sliced ham slices
hamburger buns (or hard crusty rolls)
lettuce, tomato
mayonnaise
spicy brown mustard

Mix the seasonings with a couple tablespoons of oil; Grill chicken breasts and brush with oil and seasonings mixture.

Once the chicken is done, layer it with one slice Swiss cheese and a ham slice and leave the chicken on the grill long enough to melt the cheese.

Mix mayo and mustard according to your mustard likes (I did 1/3 mustard and 2/3 mayo)--this is what we used for dressing for our burgers that fit the flavors well.

Layer your burgers with tomatoes and lettuce or whatever you desire. Yum!

Stuffed Shrooms!

2010-05-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

I love mushrooms. Any kind, any method, anytime. I mean I really love them. One of my favorite methods, is stuffed mushrooms. I love them so much, I requested them for Mother's Day. I am always tempted by a stuffed mushroom appetizer and Olive Garden has one of my favorites. It's simply cheese stuffed... no sausage, or other stuff and I love the creamy, cheesy filling with the juicy mushroom. I think these stuffed mushrooms are very similar. The filling is simple and easy to prepare, and I love the slight kick from the cayenne pepper. Because it doesn't include anything like sausage, I prefer the filling with a smaller mushroom, so you get a good filling to mushroom ratio. With a larger mushroom, you get a bit too much filling in each bite. These are definitely one of my favorite ways to prepare mushrooms.

Serves: 15-24

Recipe Source: Slightly Adapted from Allrecipes

12 whole fresh mushrooms, medium sized (look for mushrooms with a little bit of stem to chop up for your filling)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1-2 Tbsp.

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

about 1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 - 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. (In the alternative, I put my mushrooms in mini muffin tins to keep them from tipping over. Works perfectly.) Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully twist out the stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems. Set stems aside.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add worcestershire sauce, garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. You do actually have to let them fry for awhile before all the moisture is absorbed. Be patient. Set aside to cool.

3. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. (Or fill a pastry bag with the filling and pipe the filling into each mushroom. It's a little less messy that way.) Dip the bottom and sides of each mushroom cap into the melted butter. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet, or in muffin tins.

4. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and remaining Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle a little bit over each stuffed mushroom.

5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps, and the topping is browned.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

2010-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Em and I were looking for a good dessert to make the other day and she said she'd been wanting to try these for some time, and since I had all the ingredients, it sounded good to me! We got the recipe off Annie's Eats.

And these were soooooooooooooo so so so so so so good. The cupcakes were so divinely good that I just wanted to eat them all before we even got around to doing the frosting (which was a dud, by the way). We had some serious frosting issues. First off, Emily melted the butter, so it was too liquidy. Then we added the vanilla, which was too strong. Then we refrigerated it overnight to thicken it and added the puree, but added too much so it was runny. That is why our cupcakes have swirls instead of nice puffs of frosting on top. Oh well. It still tasted really good, even if it didn't look that pretty.

I will list the frosting recipe with changes I made so that it won't look like the frosting in my picture, but will hopefully be stiff and look nice, not just taste nice. :)

Makes about 24 cupcakes

For the cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

For the lemonade syrup:
1/3 cup lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the frosting:
1 cup fresh strawberries, roughly chopped
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (but not too soft)
18 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature (but not too soft)
2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tsp. lemon juice
couple drops of strawberry extract if you can find it

For garnish:
Fresh strawberries
Lemon slices

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir together with a fork and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Add in the milk and mix until smooth. Add in the remaining flour mixture and mix on low speed until just blended. Fold in the fresh strawberries with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the paper liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the lemonade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lemonade syrup. Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and spread a teasepoon of the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.

To make the frosting, puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Strain the puree through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds, and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and very fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Mix in strawberry puree, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve your desired texture and flavor of frosting. We ended up using all our puree (one of the reasons our frosting was so runny) and still didn't think the frosting had a strong enough strawberry flavor. I'd recommend a couple drops of strawberry extract. Frost cupcakes as desired and garnish with fresh strawberries and lemon slices.

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch Dressing

2010-05-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I found a recipe way back when for the dressing used on Salads from Cafe Rio/Costa Vida. Although it didn't taste the exact same, it was pretty close. But I found it was kinda hit and miss; sometimes it was good and other times it just wasn't. I love their dressing, but I love Bajio's best.

Well, this recipe is the closest I have ever come! We made the salad for dinner tonight and it was so dang good! This dressing had a little bite to it, but it was so good! And even the little munchkin liked it! Now I just need to find a recipe for everything else they put in their salads. I found a super good chicken marinade, but nothing seems to be as juicy as their stuff all is. Oh well. I will perfect this someday!

Here is the dressing recipe that I found on Our Best Bites.

1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1C mayo
1/2 C milk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa
hot sauce

This recipe is pretty tricky...dump it all in the blender and mix until combined. Don't add the hot sauce until you taste how spicy the dressing is. I used a green salsa that was quite spicy, so it didn't need any of the hot sauce.

Once it's combined, give it a few hours in the fridge before using it to allow it to thicken a little bit. Then enjoy over a tasty salad or as a dip.

Asian Grilled Flank Steak Salad

2010-05-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

This was sooooo good. There was a lot of prep work, but it was worth every minute. And once the chopping and marinading is done, it comes together very quickly. The flavor of the flank steak is amazing and combined with the dressing and salad, this was my favorite dinner of the month. At least so far.

I made a few changes... we left out the tomatoes, peanuts, and mint leaves and I added some additional vegetables. I loved the added red pepper and would highly recommend adding it to your salad. I didn't like the basil, and when I make it again, I'll leave it out. I felt like the cilantro added all the flavor I needed.

I knew the kids weren't going to love the dressing, so they ate salad with Ranch dressing, with the steak on the side. Since they ate almost everything at the table, I consider the meal a success and kid approved!

Serves 6-8
Recipe Source: A Bountiful Kitchen

For Marinade and Dressing:

1 flank steak, about 1.5 lbs.

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. peeled, minced, fresh ginger

3 scallions, chopped (white parts only)

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

3 Tbsp. sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup lime juice

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)

Reserve 1/2 of the marinade and add the following:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. honey

For Salad:

1-2 oz. Asian noodles (I used about 1/4 of my package)

1 head Boston/Bibb Lettuce

1 cucumber, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

2 carrots, julienned

1/2 cup sweet onion, thinly sliced (optional)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, or 2 tomatoes, chopped

1/3 cup mint leaves

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup basil, chopped

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

1. Score the flank steaks on both sides, across the grain. It helps the meat absorb the marinade better. Place your meat in a large glass dish, or Ziploc bag.

2. Combine all the marinade ingredients and combine well, ensuring the sugar gets dissolved. Pour almost 1/2 of the marinade over the meat and marinate for 1-2 hours. (I let mine marinate for about 5 hours).

3. Add the honey and oil to the reserved 1/2 of your marinade and whisk together. Refrigerate until ready to use. This will be your salad dressing.

4. Prepare Asian noodles according to package directions. Some noodles only require soaking in cold water. I had to soak my noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Once they had softened, I rinsed them in cold water and set them aside.

5. Combine all your salad ingredients in a large bowl, except for the Asian noodles, and peanuts. Lightly toss all together.

6. On a pre-heated BBQ, grill your flank steak, about 4-6 minutes per side, for medium rare. Flank steak is notoriously tough, so be sure to leave it a little pink. That will keep it more tender. Once it's reached your desired doneness, let it rest for at least 3 minutes before cutting into it. Once you're ready to slice it, slice it against the grain, or perpendicular to the grain. You'll find that if you cut it with the grain, it just shreds and is chewier. To slice easier and stay more tender, be sure to cut it perpendicular to the grain. For more flank steak tips, check this post out.

6. Presentation is up to you. I knew I would have salad left over, so I didn't want to add my dressing, noodles, or steak, for fear the salad would get soggy. Instead, we assembled our salads at the table. I had separate bowls for the dressing, salad, steak, and noodles.

Note: The flank steak only cooks for about 12-15 minutes, max. Because the cooking time is so quick, it also cools quickly. Therefore, you want to serve the salad immediately after your steak is ready.

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

2010-05-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago, I stumbled across a honey lime fruit salad recipe and tried it for Dinner Group. It was really unique and I was curious to try it because it used salt in the dressing. I read through all the reviews and people mentioned they liked the salt, so I tried it. And hated it. I thought the dressing tasted great, and then the whole thing was ruined by the stupid salt. So, I decided I would try it again someday, without the salt. And then I forgot about it, until I saw this post on Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and I was reminded to try it again.

I'm so glad I gave it another chance. It's so good. The combination of the lime and honey is perfection. It smells amazing and adds a nice twist on traditional fruit salad. I made a couple of alterations. I hate canned fruit mixed with fresh fruit in a fruit salad. I realize that it's handy in a pinch, when you're short something, but I don't like to mix my fresh fruit with the acidic and mushy taste of canned fruit. Especially canned pineapple. So I subbed fresh pineapple for her canned stuff.

This is so easy and absolutely delicious. You can play with the amount of lime juice and honey, to get the ratio you like best. I like lots of lime, so I used 2 Tbsp. of lime juice and only 1 Tbsp. of honey. You can also play around with the fruit. Blueberries, bananas, starfruit, etc. would also be great fruit to try in here.

Serves 4-6

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe and Allrecipes

1/2 of a pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks (or sub 1 20 oz. can of canned pineapple, drained if you're desperate)

1 can mandarin oranges, drained well (or sub 1 fresh orange, halved, and chopped into large chunks)

2 kiwis, peeled, and cut into large chunks

1 cup grapes, halved

1 cup strawberries, quartered

zest from 1 lime

1-2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1-2 Tbsp. honey

1 tsp. poppy seeds (optional... but I love the look of the black flecks against the bright fruit)

1. Combine the fruit in a medium to large serving bowl. Toss lightly.

2. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, zest, honey, and poppy seeds. Whisk to combine.

3. Pour the dressing over the fruit and lightly stir to combine. Serve immediately. The strawberries will stain the other fruit and affect the appearance of the salad after awhile, so this salad is best served immediately, if only for aesthetic reasons.

Butterfly Cupcakes

2010-05-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Em and I are on a cupcake kick (well, Emily is always on a cupcake kick...I am just catching on!) We did these cupcakes for Ellie's first birthday party and they were oh-so-beautiful! Not only were they beautiful, but they were really fun to make. We got this out of the Hello Cupcake Book again.

What you'll need:
Candy melts - whichever colors you'd like your butteflies to be.
We used green, yellow, pink, orange and brown.
Wax paper
Toothpicks
White Nonpareils (got these at Michaels)
Chocolate Chips

First, cut your wax paper into pieces (large enough for two wings) so it's easier to move the wings around when you are finished and you don't smear the chocolate all over when you are trying to do the next one.

Make yourself a butterfly wing pattern on paper.

Stick your candy melts (about 1 cup is enough for 8-10 sets of wings) in freezer duty zip lock bags and microwave in 30 second intervals until they are melted through. Massage after each 30 seconds.

Take your chocolate bag and snip a small end off the corner and draw one butterfly wing. Then grab your next color and fill it in. Smooth around to fill the entire space with a toothpick and then pull part of the choclate through your color to get the swirl pattern.

You have to work really fast because the chocolate dries really fast. If you wait too long, you can't pull the color through or sprinkle the nonpareils on top. I would strongly recommend only doing one wing at a time. This sounds tedious and, well, it is. But if you have two people working on it, it won't take ALL night...just most of it. ;)

Once the wings have all dried, peel them off the wax paper and place them on your cupcake, propped up by chocolate chips. And Voila! You are finished and you have some super cute cupcakes that you won't want to eat because they're so cute! No worries though- all the little kids will eat them. They have no problems eating all your hard work. ;)

Em even did a little cake with the butterflies as well- and it turned out so beautiful. Ellie didn't appreciate it much now, but she will in a few years. :)

Italian Pasta Bake

2010-05-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

I tried this recipe out of my Simply One Dish magazine from Pillsbury. I got a subscription to the Pillsbury monthly recipe magazines and am FINALLY getting around to using them!! See, all that money wasn't a waste. ;) Joe and Bade really enjoyed it and it seems relatively healthy! Lots of veggies! Yay!

1 1/2 c. uncooked mostaccioli or penne pasta
1/2 lb. bulk pork Italian sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium stalk celery (I did 4 small ones and it was good)
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small yellow squash
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz.)
1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano (14.5 oz)
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained (4.5 oz.)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350 F. Spray 8 in. square pan (I used a round corning ware dish). Cook and drain noodles according to package directions.

In skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium-high heat, stirring occassionally until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender. Drain. Stir in celery, zucchini, squash, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and mushrooms. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cook 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pasta. Pour into baking dish. Cover and bake 15 minutes.

Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 5-10 more minutes until casserole is bubbly and cheese is melted.

I've made this a few times now and it is super yummy. The second time, I had a lot of spaghetti sauce on hand, so I used a jar of that instead of the two cans of tomatoes. It tasted just as good and was a good way for me to use some of my food storage. :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie Bites

2010-04-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Remember truffles and cake balls? Are you ready for the next truffle style delectable? Don't hate me, but truth be told, as much fun as cake balls and cake pops are to make, I don't love the flavor. They have a slightly soggy and mushy taste to me that I sometimes can't get past. Granted, I also don't love cake, so there's a point against them already. But my family loves them, and everyone I've ever brought them to loved them as well, and they are fun to make, so I make them. But, back when I first made cake balls, my mom questioned what other concoctions we could dip in chocolate. At the time, she suggested brownies, and I sort of brushed it off, thinking they'd be too messy to work with.

Fast forward a couple months later, and I stumbled across these little brownie bites. And let me tell you, I love them. They taste just like brownies...and I never have a complaint with a brownie. And surprisingly, they were less messy than truffles and cake balls. There's so much oil in the brownie batter, that your hands stay greased and they don't leave a lot of residue. (That sounds gross, doesn't it?) Taste great and less messy... these are a keeper!

Recipe Source: Picky Palate

Makes about 25-30 brownie balls

1 box brownie mix (9x13 size)

eggs, oil, and water called for on brownie box

2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips (or other dipping chocolate)

1/4 cup Peanut butter

1. Make brownies according to package instructions. Underbake them by just a few minutes, so they're really soft... not runny or gooey. Just really soft.

2. Allow them to cool completely. Once they're cooled, using a cookie scoop, scoop sections of brownie and roll them into balls, slightly smaller than 1 inch.

3. Place on a wax paper covered baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until completely chilled. I left mine in the freezer overnight.

4. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, or in the oven, whatever your preferred method is for melting chocolate. Once it's completely melted, stir in the peanut butter.

5. Dip brownie balls into chocolate/peanut butter mixture, covering completely. The best way I've found to do this, is by using two spoons, and rolling the ball back and forth between the two spoons, allowing the excess to drip off.

6. Place dipped brownie ball on a wax covered cookie sheet and allow to cool completely. Embellish as you please, with sprinkles, drizzled chocolate, nuts, etc. and enjoy!

Flower Cookie Pots

2010-04-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

I remember watching my mom make these over 20 years ago and finding them simply charming. I thought she was the most creative lady around. (I still do... I wish I had an ounce of her artistic talent.) I love the presentation of these little flower pots and they are the easiest thing around. My 5 and 7 year olds helped me make all the flower stems. And I let them help me. That's how easy they are. Plus they're cheap! The clay pots are usually under a dollar, wooden skewers are cheap, and the cookies can be cheap. Plus, one package of cookies will make several flower pots.

I love to bring these in the Spring as visiting teaching treats. There are far fancier cookie bouquets out there, but I love how easy these are. Plus, you can easily spruce these up with different cookies, or more variety of cookies, bigger gumdrops in the middle, etc. Or you could paint your flower pots or modge podge them. Or you can paint your skewers. Or your could add leaves. The possibilities are endless and they're super fun.

Supplies needed:

Terra cotta clay pots, in whatever size you wish (I buy these at Michaels, Jo-Ann's, Wal-Mart, or even Lowe's)

Wooden skewers

Cookies with a whole in the center (I've always used Keebler's Fudge Stripes, but I found those beautiful Nabisco Iced Lemon Shortbread cookies that are my new favorite. I'm sure there are lots of other options, too. Samoa's, come to mind...)

Gumdrops in a variety of sizes and colors (or other bright candies... Dots, etc.)

Dried Beans (for weight and stability)

Styrofoam (in lieu of beans... your choice. I actually used both)

Filler, such as dried Spanish Moss (I bought a bag of this at my local craft store)

Paint, Mod Podge, or other embellishing supplies

Ribbon (to tie around the clay pot)

Assembly:

1. Prepare your flower pot first. I actually prefer them plain, but I painted a couple this time for fun and more color. I painted the pots and then once they had started to dry, I wiped them down with a wet rag, to give them more of an unfinished look.

2. Prepare your skewers. I've always just used them plain, but this time I decided to paint them green first. I kind of liked how the stems were green, but be careful not to paint the tips of your skewers, or you may not want to eat the candies that have been skewered on top. Just paint them about 2 inches from the tip. Or save yourself some time and don't paint them at all.

3. Decide how you want to stabilize the cookie stems. In the past, I've always just filled my pot with dried beans. It works, but the skewers tend to move around a lot. I happened to have some 4 inch Styrofoam balls lying around that fit perfectly into my clay pots. I put them in the bottom and then covered the balls with dried beans, about 1.5 inches from the top of the pot. I liked how sturdy the Styrofoam made everything, but again, you don't need it.

4. Assemble your flowers! Gum drops get skewered on first, upside down. Then cookie (or two--we did a couple double cookies... that's what happens when my kids help.) Then a gumdrop on top of your cookie to hold it in place. And it's done.
5. Arrange your cookie stems in the pot, breaking the skewers off at different lengths, to create more height and shape to your flowers.

6. Top the pot with dried moss, tie a ribbon around the clay pot and you're done. So simple and so cute!

Cheesy Chicken Penne

2010-04-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

This was a great pasta dish we made a couple weeks ago. It came together pretty easily and made a TON. I didn't even have to double it for Dinner Group. Because it makes so much, it's a great freezer meal, or dish to bring in to someone. Plus, I like good pasta "bases" that I can add different vegetables to, and still get a great dish. For instance, I added a whole bag of fresh spinach and I think artichokes or asparagus would be great additions as well.

Recipe Source: Our Best Bites

Serves: A lot! (at least 10)

6 Tbsp. butter

Salt and Pepper

1 lb. Penne

1 tsp. olive oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 8 oz. each

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour

6 garlic cloves, finely minced

6 cups milk (whole milk, half and half... use whatever suits you here. The higher the fat content, the thicker and creamier the sauce)

10 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced

1 1/2 cups provolone or Italian cheese blend

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 shallow 2 quart baking dishes.

2. In a large pot, bring a pot of water to boil and cook Penne just 3 minutes short of al dente. Drain and set aside.

3. While the pasta is cooking, add some olive oil to a large, separate saucepan. Salt and pepper your chicken and add to saucepan. Cook until cooked through and set aside. Once it's cooled, halve your chicken breasts horizontally, and then slice them into strips.

4. Now add the mushrooms and any other desired vegetables to that same saucepan, and saute them just short of being done. Add a little olive oil if necessary. Set them aside once you've sauteed them for a few minutes.

5. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. (I just used the same pot I used for my pasta. I'm all about getting as few dishes dirty as possible.) Add flour and garlic, whisking for about a minute. Cooking the flour for a few minutes helps get rid of the "floury" taste. While whisking, gradually add milk, and bring to a simmer. Keep whisking the sauce as it begins to thicken, about a minute.

6. Add your vegetables and sun-dried tomatoes and cook for another couple minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the Provolone and 1/2 cup of the grated Parmesan. Add the chicken and pasta and season with salt and pepper. I found it needed a LOT of salt and pepper at this point.

7. Divide the pasta evenly between your baking dishes and top with remaining Parmesan cheese. (If you're planning on freezing one pan, don't top it with the Parmesan cheese. Instead, put it in a small baggie and freeze it with the Penne.)

8. Bake uncovered, until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

April Fool's Cupcakes-- Mock Spaghetti and Meatballs

2010-04-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is the other fake-out cupcake we decided to make for April Fool's Day. I've already shared the mock TV dinner cupcakes. I thought this spaghetti and meatballs platter turned out pretty fun, as well. It was far simpler to put together than it looks and I have to admit, the meatballs looked so realistic, it was almost gross! The added bonus of this recipe was that the cupcakes tasted so good with the extra strawberry jam. They looked and tasted great!

Recipe Source: Hello, Cupcake!

Serves10

Supplies needed:

10 vanilla cupcakes, baked in white liners

1 can vanilla frosting

1/2 tsp. cocoa powder

3 drops yellow food coloring

11 Ferrero Rocher chocolates, unwrapped

3/4 cup strawberry preserves (preferably the low sugar kind... it has a better, brighter red color)

2 Tbsp. grated white chocolate, plus a chunk of white chocolate for garnishing, if desired

1. Tint the vanilla frosting with the cocoa powder and yellow food coloring. You're going for a pale yellow, almost cream color. I actually added just a touch more cocoa powder for mine

2. Frost the cupcakes and arrange on a platter so they're touching.

3. Spoon the remaining frosting into a freezer duty Ziploc bag and snip off a small corner from the bag. Be sure to snip a very small opening. I found this to be the trickiest part of the whole cupcake. Somehow, I didn't snip my corner off just right and my noodles ended up being just a tad "flat." They looked more like Ramen noodles. Be sure to snip a nice clean, small corner, about 1/8 inch.

4. Pipe the frosting over the cupcakes, piling it slightly higher in the center of the platter, creating a mound of noodles. Be sure to allow some to hang over the edges. This part was really fun. The messier you pipe and the more you pipe, the better it looks. You want to cover as much of the cupcake surface as possible.

5. Place the chocolates in a small bowl and coat with some of the strawberry jam. Spoon some of the preserves onto the cupcakes. Then top each cupcake with a strawberry jam coated chocolate. It's cute if you leave one "meatball" to fall on the plate. Then spoon any remaining preserves over the chocolates and cupcakes.

6. Sprinkle the entire platter with the grated white chocolate. If you want, place a small chunk of white chocolate on a separate plate and serve it alongside the "spaghetti and meatballs" along with a cheese grater.

Potato Leek Soup

2010-04-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

This was our meat free meal for the week and it was a hit! My 5 year old finished his first bowl in 4 minutes flat, asked for another bowl, which he finished in 6 minutes, and then informed me that he wanted it for lunch the next day. My children NEVER ask for leftovers. I'm usually the only person in my family who will eat them and as such, they typically last at least a week or until they have to be thrown away.

This soup was inexpensive, hearty, and relatively quick to put together. Cleaning the leeks takes a little longer than cleaning, say a cucumber, but aside from that, it's pretty fast. The leek flavor is pretty subtle. If you didn't know there was leek in it, it mostly tastes like cream of potato soup. But if you know it's there, it lends a nice subtle flavor that I really love. The only complaint I had was from my husband who said he wished it weren't quite as creamy. I did blend it pretty well with my immersion blender. But that's easily remedied by not blending it as much, or setting some aside before you blend it up. Either way you like it, it's good soup.

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes
Feeds 6

3 leeks, cut in half, and thinly sliced (only use the white and light green parts of the leek; cleaning instructions here)
1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. butter (or olive oil)
4 cups diced potatoes
1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
1-2 cups cream (I only used 1 1/2 cups and I used milk to cut down on the calories. The more milk you use, the more potato and leek flavor you'll lose)
Salt
Pepper
Thyme (optional)

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan and add leeks and onion. Saute until tender and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add some salt and pepper.

2. Add the potatoes and continue to saute, for a couple minutes.

3. Add the chicken stock and season with more salt and pepper.

4. Bring to a boil, and simmer, until the potatoes are tender.

5. Remove from heat, and using an immersion blender, blend soup until it's creamy or has reached your desired consistency. Alternately, set aside 1-2 cups of soup and blend the rest. Then add the reserved chunky soup back in.

6. Return to heat, and with heat on low, stir in cream and thyme. Add any additional salt and pepper to taste.

April Fool's Cupcakes-- Mock TV Dinner

2010-04-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

I mentioned that I've been searching for excuses to make cupcakes from my "Hello Cupcake" book and April Fool's Day lent itself the perfect opportunity. I had family in town, a dessert to make for Dinner Group and and willing helper in my brother. Only problem was that we couldn't decide which "fake out" cupcakes to make. So, the logical solution was to make two! We had so much fun putting these together and I was delighted with how they turned out. Often times, things simply aren't as cute as they are in a book or pictures... but I thought ours turned out just as cute. They were easy to make and the final product made them even more worth doing. I love how they turned out! I'll post the mock "spaghetti" cupcakes later this week.

TV Dinner Cupcakes
Serves 6

Supplies Needed:

1 aluminum muffin tray, with 6 spots
6 cupcakes, baked in foil liners
white frosting (at least 1 container)
green food coloring
3-4 Orange fruit chews (Starbursts, Tootsie Fruit Rolls), cut into 1/4 inch cubes
Green hard candies, such as Runts or Skittles (I liked the Runts best)
1/4 cup white melting chocolate
1 c crushed cornflakes
3 plain donut holes
1 Yellow Fruit Chew (Starburst, Toosie Fruit Rolls, Laffy Taffy), cut into a 1 inch cube
Caramel Sauce, slightly warmed for easier pouring
2-3 Tbsp. Chocolate frosting
Colored Sprinkles or Jimmies

For the Vegetables:

1. Tint about 2-3 Tbsp. of the white frosting bright green and frost 1 cupcake with the green frosting. Arrange cut up orange fruit chews and green hard candies on top, to look like peas and carrots.
For the Mashed Potatoes:

1. Frost 1 cupcake with white frosting, mounding slightly on top, and making a small well on top with a spoon.

2. Drop the yellow Starburst at an angle in the well, and pour heated caramel sauce over the frosting and Starburst, allowing it to drip down the sides, to look like gravy.

For the Dessert Cupcake:

1. Frost or Pipe chocolate frosting on top of one cupcake. Sprinkle with colored sprinkles or jimmies.

For the Chicken Legs:

1. Draw yourself a bone template. (I'll try to get my template up at some point. In the meantime, draw a long, skinny rectangle. Then place a heart on top of it, and a small triangle and the bottom. That should give you your basic shape.) Place it on a cookie sheet and cover with a piece of wax paper. Melt the white chocolate wafers in a small freezer duty Ziploc bag. Microwave in 20-30 second intervals, massaging the bag after each time. Repeat the process until the chocolate is completely smooth.

2. Press the air out of the bag, seal it, and snip a small corner form the bag, making yourself a piping bag. Pipe the bone outline onto the wax paper. Fill in the outline with the chocolate and tap the pan lightly to smooth the top of the chocolate. Repeat and make at least 3 bones, although I recommend making more, in case you break one. Refrigerate bones, until firm.

3. Lightly frost 3 cupcakes with white frosting.

4. Frost the donut holes with white frosting and place on top of the cupcakes. Now using the white frosting, frost around the donut holes to make smooth, rounded surface that tapers slightly at the top. (It's hard to describe... but you want to use the frosting to give the cupcake with donut hole on top the look of a chicken drumstick.)

5. Pour crushed cornflakes into a shallow bowl. Press donut topped cupcakes into the cornflakes, covering completely. Do this carefully. As I turned my cupcake sideways, my donut hole started to slide off. You may have to sprinkle the cornflakes over the top of the cupcake and lightly press it into the frosting with your hands. Place the cupcakes in the aluminum tray.

6. With a very sharp knife, make a slit along the top of the donut hole. It needs to be deep enough and wide enough for the chocolate bone to slide into at least 1/2 an inch. Carefully insert the chocolate bones into the slit you've made. I found this to be the trickiest part of the all the cupcakes. Once I slid in the chocolate, my cupcake started to collapse a bit. I had to use some extra cornflakes to hide the damage. But it worked!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

2010-04-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, my goodness, these are sooooo good. I made them for Dinner Group tonight and simply loved them. They have a rich, creamy, almost pudding like chocolate filling, surrounded by tender peanut butter cake, that is still gooey, and not too peanut-buttery. They were super rich and but, oh, so good. And you can't beat how easy they are to prepare. It only took me 15 minutes to put them together. These were so good, that I had to instantly give 3/4 of the pan away. Or I would have finished them by myself.

Recipe Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Cake:
1 pkg. Yellow Cake Mix
1 stick melted butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs

Filling:
1 12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 8 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp. butter

1. Preheat oven to 325°F, and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Combine melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs. Mix until combined.

3. Add in cake mix and stir until incorporated. It will be a stiff, almost crumbly mixture. But it should still be moist.

4. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture and press the reminder into the bottom of the 9x13 pan.

5. In a medium saucepan, melt chocolate, condensed milk and butter over medium heat, and stir until smooth.

6. Spread chocolate mixture over the crumb mixture. (It will be a very thick chocolate layer.) Crumble the reserved crumb mixture over the chocolate.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Rotel, Sausage and Cream Cheese Dip

2010-04-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

There's no way to sugarcoat it... this stuff does not look appetizing. It doesn't matter how you photograph it, what light you use, or how much parsley you use to garnish it with. But don't let the pictures fool you. It's good. Real good. Super simple, super fast, and super tasty makes this a great appetizer or dip. It packs a little kick, and somehow the combination of tomato and cream cheese is oh, so tasty. It's also the perfect snack for those Sundays when I don't really feel like cooking. Not that that ever happens...

Recipe Source: A Year of Slow Cooking

8 oz. cream cheese

1 can tomatoes and green chilies (like Rotel tomatoes), drained

16 oz. cooked, and well crumbled breakfast sausage (I've made this twice and we definitely liked it better with the sausage broken up really well)

1. Brown the sausage on the stove and drain. If it's too chunky, put it in the food processor to break it up a bit more.

2. Place your cream cheese in the bottom of the crock pot.

3. Add the cooked sausage and top it all with the drained tomatoes.

4. Cook on high for 45 minutes or low for 90 minutes. Stir well and serve with tortilla chips.

(I imagine you could do this without the slow cooker. Just soften your cream cheese in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Then add the tomatoes and sausage and microwave again, until completely warmed.)

Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake

2010-04-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

I saw the picture of these that was so beautiful and tantalizing that I wanted to eat them Right.Now. Something about the bright yellow cake with tiny black specks, and bright white frosting really appealed to me. Plus, I wanted something quick and simple for brunch one morning. So I threw these together in a matter of minutes and they were delicious. Using a cake mix as the base makes these so simple, so fast, no fail, and a definite crowd pleaser.

One little note--I thought I had almond extract and had put everything together when I realized that my bottle of almond extract was in fact, another bottle of lemon extract. Whoops. So I substituted lemon instant pudding for the vanilla instant pudding and 1 tsp. of lemon extract for the almond extract and ended up with lemon poppy seed cake, instead of an almond version. It was delicious, but I'm anxious to make it again with the almond extract. I love the combination of poppy seed and almond extract. But I also love a cake that lends itself easily to substitutions.

Makes 1 Bundt Cake
Recipe Source: A Bountiful Kitchen

Cake
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp. almond extract
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1 small package of instant vanilla pudding
1 package lemon cake mix

Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar
Juice from 1-2 lemons (about 1/4 cup)
zest from lemons
dash of salt (I omitted this and just used salted butter)
2 Tbsp. melted butter

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Grease (and flour) your bundt cake pan.

2. Combine all the wet ingredients, including eggs, oil, almond extract, and water, and mix until well blended.

3. Add your dry ingredients, including the poppy seeds, cake mix, and pudding mix. Beat at low for about 30 seconds and then at medium speed for about 3 minutes.

4. Pour into the bundt cake and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

5. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then invert it onto a cake platter. Allow to cool completely and then frost.

5. While your cake is cooling, combine the frosting ingredients with a mixer. It will be thick. It's not an icing... it's definitely a frosting consistency and you'll have to actually frost the cake with it... it's not pourable. If you want to thin it out a bit, use a little milk.

Hee hee... while spell checking this, blogger found that I had typed "poopy" in place of "poppy." It made me giggle. Thank goodness for spell check.

Pudding Frosting

2010-03-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where I originally found this recipe, but there's a version of it on Allrecipes now. I first used it for my son's 2nd birthday, when I wanted a frosting that didn't taste like frosting. I'm sure my 2 year old would have been fine with regular frosting, but who says his birthday cake was just for him?

I love this stuff. It's light and fluffy, not overly sweet, and tastes divine. When on cupcakes, it tastes like pudding topped cupcakes. What's not to love? It's easy, simple, sturdy enough for piping (although not perfectly smooth... you'll get some bubbles, as evidenced by the pictures), and you can pick your flavor. Any pudding flavor will work, although I always use chocolate. It's my favorite on yellow cake mixes.

1 cup cold milk

1 pkg. (4 serving size) Instant pudding and pie filling

1/4 powdered sugar (optional... I only use this about half the time... haven't been able to tell the difference yet)

1 (8 oz.) tub cool whip, thawed

1. Pour milk into medium bowl. Add pudding mix and sugar, if using. Beat with a wire whisk 2 minutes. Gently stir in whipped topping.

2. Spread onto cake immediately. (This is important... you can't make this frosting ahead of time... once you've mixed it up, you need to pipe or spread it immediately and then refrigerate your cake or dessert. It will not spread well, if at all, if you wait.)

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

2010-03-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Ooooooh. These are good! Soooo good. I found them on Our Best Bites and made a few adjustments and they were soooo good!! And I was so proud of myself for actually making something from scratch (as opposed to what I usually do, which is find a recipe that uses a cake mix). They were pretty easy (as easy as it gets without a cake mix, that is), and sooooo good. Did I mention these are sooo good yet? Cause they are. Really. Really. Good. Yum. I'm drooling.

Okay, on to the recipe now. Oh, by the way, these are good. Mmmmm.

Cookies:

1 c. butter flavored Crisco ( I only had regular, so that's what I used and they were still good. Really. good.)
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
3 eggs
3 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

Filling:
1 c. nutella (her recipe calls for PB, but that was just too much PB for my liking)
1/2 c. real butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla
5-6 T. milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars together until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add in vanilla, and eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to dough. Mix to combine. The dough will be very soft- that's normal!

Roll into balls, place on cookie sheet (no need to grease it). You can squish them with a fork it you want to get the criss-cross pattern, but I found they looked prettier without it.

Bake them for about 6-7 minutes. You want them to stay soft, so don't let them get brown. Remove them from pan and cool on a cooling rack.

To make the filling, whip the nutella and butter together until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Then add milk one T at a time. You may not need it all. You want the filling to be on the thick side, it should just have enough milk in it to make it easily spreadable.

I put the filling in a zip-lock bag with the edge cut off to make filling easy. Place filling on one cookie and sandwich another on top. This makes a LOT of frosting...just so you know.

These cookies were sooooo good. And the frosting was pretty dang good too. Dad and Karen kept just sneaking the frosting and wanted to lick the bowl clean when I was finished (ya, did I mention I didn't use half the frosting...?)

Spaghetti with Artichokes and Tomato Cream Sauce

2010-03-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

We've decided to try meat-free Mondays in our house. Jared and I feel like we're eating too much meat. I should have a pile of great vegetarian recipes from my childhood and I do have the Fit for Life Cookbook, but... most of those recipes aren't super appealing to my kids. I'm not so sure we'll be using tofu anytime soon. Sadly, I'm afraid meat-free won't necessarily translate to healthier... just cheaper. But, that works, too.

Perfect recipe to start us off... Pioneer Woman, of course! I knew she wouldn't lead me astray and that I'd be able to convince the family to play along, with a recipe from her. And she did not disappoint. This stuff was delicious and super fast. From start to dinner on the table, it only took me 30 minutes. I love 30 minute meals! And believe it or not, my finicky eaters cleaned their plates. Granted, they emptied most of the tomatoes and mushrooms off their plates before they started, but that's just a minor detail. Besides, it meant more mushrooms for me! (The mushrooms were my addition... makes the meal just a bit "meatier.") This stuff is fantastic!

Recipe source: Pioneer Woman
Serves: 6

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Butter
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 can artichoke hearts (14.5 oz., quartered or whole), drained, NOT marinated
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced or quartered
1 cup heavy cream (I substituted evaporated milk without any problems; my sauce thickened just fine)
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth (more as needed)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional... I added it.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. thin spaghetti
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. fresh herbs, chopped (chives, basil, parsley, etc.)

1. Cook spaghetti until al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. Melt olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Stir occasionally and cook for 8-10 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream/milk and broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat until heated through.

5. Place drained pasta in a large bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Pour sauce over that and toss slightly to mix everything together. Top with fresh herbs. Add a tiny bit of reserved pasta juice or more chicken broth if the sauce seems to thick.

Whole Grain Pancake Mix

2010-03-26T10:30:00.001-07:00

I've had these twice at Emily's now and they are really good. They are REALLY filling since they are whole grain and also really healthy. I know- what a thought! Healthy food for breakfast!! Emily's boys even eat these and so did Ellie (well, that's not saying much- she eats anything...she's a good eater...like her momma...) These just make a mix and you can refrigerate or freeze it to use whenever you want to whip some up. They are also really good with this syrup.

Anywho. These are fabulous and from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Whole Wheat Pancake Mix
*Makes 10 cups of dry mix

3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats (I made the mistake of using old-fashioned oats, which is OK... but they get very chewy)
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup vegetable oil

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand).

2. With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (I had to add additional oil).

3. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer. (I keep mine in he fridge. It lasted a good two months.)

To make the pancakes, you'll need:

1 cup mix
1 cup buttermilk (a good substitute is 1 cup milk with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar; or you can use a combination of plain yogurt and milk; but, if you buy buttermilk, you can freeze it indefinitely for later use)
1 egg

1. Whisk together the mix, buttermilk, and egg. The mixture may seem thin at first but the oats will soak up the milk as it stands while the griddle preheats. (The first time I made these, they did thicken up after standing awhile. However, every time since then, my mixture has stayed a bit runny and I had to add additional mix. You want to have a thick, but pourable batter.)

2. Heat a griddle and drop the batter onto it. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don’t break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side.

Buttermilk Syrup (Magleby's)

2010-03-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

I came across this recipe about a month ago. It's supposed to be a copycat Magleby's syrup (a restaurant in Provo, UT), but I've never eaten at Magleby's, so I wouldn't know. All I know, is that it's really good and really simple. I don't really like maple syrup (but my boys do) and when I ran out a couple weeks ago, this came in handy. Most of my boys LOVED it and didn't even miss their beloved maple syrup. Plus, it's extra tasty on these whole wheat pancakes.

Keep reading after the recipe for another variation to make this more of a caramel sauce...

1/2 c. real butter
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 t. light corn syrup (optional... I've done it with and without and have yet to see the difference)
3/4 c. buttermilk (substitute 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 TBSP. lemon juice or vinegar, or half milk and half plain yogurt)
1 t. baking soda
2 t. vanilla

1. Add butter, sugar, corn syrup, and buttermilk to a large saucepan. (You'll think you can use a small saucepan, since there aren't many ingredients, but you're wrong! Once it cooks, it WILL cook over. Trust me on this.) Bring mixture to a boil, and boil for about 1 minute.

2. After it's boiled for a minute, remove from heat, and add baking soda and vanilla and stir well. Once you add the baking soda, it'll get white and foamy and bubble up huge. My boys love it.

3. Serve it hot and refrigerate any unused portion. You can eat the foamy stuff on top... it tastes just as good, but it's not as aesthetically pleasing. But eventually, the foam disappears.

OK, now for another variation. On another favorite food blog, Our Best Bites, they have this recipe, but there were a couple changes they made to turn this into a caramel sauce. Yum, right?

So, using the original recipe, add:

2 Tbsp. corn syrup

Then, during the cooking process, you'll add everything to the pot, including the baking soda and vanilla. Bring it all to a boil, and boil for 8-9 minutes, stirring constantly, until you have a delicious, caramel consistency. Great for ice cream!

Roasted Asparagus

2010-03-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

We love asparagus in this house. And when I roast it using this method, I can even convince my finicky little boys to eat it. Somehow, the roasting intensifies the flavor and makes them even yummier. I apologize to reverting to the language of a five year old, here, but it's the simple truth. Roasting= yummier. I love that it's simple ingredients and relatively simple and quick to throw together. Plus, if I line my baking sheet with enough foil, I can even same myself the clean up time of one extra dish... always a plus in this house. I "heart" anything that can be done with foil versus a pot.

The original recipe (which I found on Allrecipes) calls for mushrooms and asparagus... I do it with and without, depending on what I have available. Leaving out the mushrooms and rosemary will still leave you absolutely delicious asparagus. But when I do have mushrooms on hand.... mmmm... they get so deliciously fat and plump, it just makes me giddy. Granted, I'm the kind of girl who gets giddy about plump mushrooms, so bear that in mind.

You can really do what you want with this. It's the roasting and kosher salt that makes them so delicious. I've done it without the rosemary and sometimes I add a bit of shredded Parmesan cheese... which is absolutely delicious. But the beauty of the recipe is that you can alter it to your tastes and really just eyeball everything.

Serves 6

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed (rather than cut the ends, I usually just break the stem near the bottom... it'll usually break off at the point where the asparagus starts to get "strawy"... yes, that's a word)

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, quartered or halved (optional)

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced (optional)

about 2 Tbsp. olive oil (just eyeball this amount)

kosher salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. If you're lazy like me, double line a large baking sheet with foil. If you don't like you're food cooking on aluminum and aren't as lazy, just grab a large a baking sheet and spray it lightly with cooking spray.

3. Combine the asparagus and mushrooms in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and then season with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Toss well. (Honestly speaking... seeing as how I hate dirtying pots and pans... I usually do this all on the baking sheet... saves me another item to clean up!)

4. Spread the asparagus and mushrooms out in an even layer on your baking sheet.

5. Roast in your pre-heated oven, until tender, about 14-17 minutes.

Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Chowder

2010-03-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Crock Pot Goodness! Oooh, this was soooo good! I've tried a few new recipes lately, but none of them have been "blog" worthy (since we decided we could only post good recipes...I know...lame!) ;) I found this recipes on THIS site and thought it looked good and I thought I had all the ingredients on hand (thought, being the operative word here). I was so set on making this dish that I didn't care that I didn't have all the ingredients I thought I did have and therefore had to go to the store after her first nap and then before her 2 o'clock nap and before it would be too late to start a crock pot cooking (said all in one breath!). Anywho. It was worth it.

Emily insists that we made this at Dad's a few years ago and that it wasn't good...but I don't recollect this.... Oh well.

Mmmmm...it was so good. I made a few adjustments to make it taste more "enchilada-y."

Here ya go!

Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Chowder

Makes 6 servings

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn (I did 2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Pepperjack cheese (4 ounces)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
4 chicken breasts

4-5 T. taco seasoning ( I did this to taste...however much you want)

In a 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker, combine drained beans, drained tomatoes, corn, onion, and bell pepper. In a large bowl, whisk together enchilada sauce and soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over ingredients in cooker and mix.

Cover; cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.

I boiled my four frozen chicken breasts with about 3 T. taco seasoning for 15-20 minutes. Then I chopped it up and added it to the crock pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking. It was soooo good and tender and very flavorful. Mmmm.

I also added about 1/4 cup taco seasoning and some salt and pepper to the soup to give it a little more punch- it hit the spot perfectly!

Stir in shredded cheeses. Can be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips and more cheese! Yum!

Spring Cupcakes (Bumblebees and Flowers)

2010-03-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

I mentioned I needed some special cupcakes for RS and decided to try my hand at the piped chocolate decorations again. Except this time, I got a bit more ambitious. I decided I wanted bumblebees. After perusing some sites, I finally found a bumblebee design I liked and drew it out. Once I started them and realized they were going to be a bit of a headache, I made some flowers, too (a la Bakerella). They were much simpler. I made the bumblebee antennae too thin at first and they kept breaking off. Once I made them thicker, over half of them still broke, so that was frustrating. Plus, I was out of freezer duty ziploc bags, and the thin ones I was using instead kept splitting. With decent bags, the bees probably wouldn't have been as big a pain.

Once it came time to actually assemble the cupcakes, I decided I wanted strawberries, too. So I topped them several different ways. I couldn't pick a favorite... I liked them all! Which one do you guys prefer?

I used the strawberry cupcake recipe here and topped them with lemon cream, found here.

Other stuff I used:

white, yellow, and dark chocolate melting chocolates

Wax paper (for piping the chocolate)

strawberries

Pretty simple and short list, but they sure turned out fun!