Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I found this recipe in anticipation of March 1 which is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, but we did not get them made.  We had some time this afternoon so I got things started and then my first born came in to help me finish the baking process.  We didn’t follow the recipe I found online exactly so I will just post what we did as I know it worked.  I would imagine that you have these ingredients already so don’t wait….get up and get baking, you will be glad you did.

PB & C Cupcakes (Peanut Butter and Chocolate)

Preheat oven to 375º

Line Muffin tin with paper cups (we did 12 large and then 21 small)

In a large bowl combine and then mix on high speed until creamy

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Gradually add, mixing until light and fluffy:

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Add to the peanut butter mixture with the mixer running

• 2 eggs (add one at a time)

In a separate bowl combine:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Keeping the mixer running, add the dry mixture to the batter a little at a time alternating with the milk until incorporated

• 3/4 cup milk

Now distribute the mixture amongst the paper muffin cups.  For large cupcakes, fill 1/4 of the cup, place an unwrapped, upside down Hershey Kiss in the cup then fill to the 1/2 way point to allow for expansion while baking.  For small cupcakes fill 1/2 full using chocolate sprinkles rather than a Hershey Kiss.  (I used a Pampered Chef Rotary Grater that I’ve had for years).

We baked the large cupcakes for 18 minutes (bake until firm or a toothpick comes out clean….but don’t hit the melted chocolate when you check!)

The small cupcakes took about 9 minutes in our oven.

We removed them from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack.  Then we frosted with a bit of marshmallow creme and sprinkled more chocolate shavings on top.  YUM.

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Mexican Fiesta Night

It is no secret that I love Mexican food.  When I lived in an area where I could throw a rock and hit a Tex-Mex restaurant, I never prepared it at home….we just enjoyed a night out.  BUT now I live in the land of Pizza Places so Tex-Mex is hard to find.  Tonight was Friday and nothing says “Welcome to the Weekend” better than a nice plate of Mexican food.  So I’m going to share with you a recipe for Cheese Enchiladas that I have compiled over the last year from a variety of sources into my own recipe.  PLUS I have a Mexican rice and an easy sopaipillas recipe to share with you.  The other item on our plates came from Trader Joe’s Freezer section—Roasted Corn other times we have had canned refried beans.

Now you too can have your own Mexican Fiesta Night.

Cheese Enchiladas

First prepare the enchilada sauce.

In a skillet, heat for 1 to 2 minutes (I whisk it together in the skillet for the time frame)

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Whisk into the skillet mixture:

• 2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian)

Add and continue to whisk:

• 1 small can of tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• dash of cayenne pepper (several dashes if you like to kick up the heat)

Let simmer for 5 to 6 minutes before you start to make the enchiladas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread sauce in the bottom of your glass baking dishes.  I use a 9 x 12 pan for the enchiladas that will have onions and an 8 x 8 pan for those that will not have the pleasure of onions joining them.

Now you need:

• 10-14 corn tortillas
• 2 1/2- 3 cups of shredded cheese (I often use a mixture of sharp cheddar and Mexican blend)
• 1 package of queso fresco.  Mine was round and I cut it into strips so that I could lay a strip in a tortilla.

Prepare the Enchiladas:

Place a tortilla down in the sauce and let it get “happy” in the sauce.  It should be covered in sauce to help it become pliable.

Once it has had a good bath in the sauce for about 15 seconds (I’m guessing on that as I didn’t count while doing it I just eyed it.  I hate it though when a recipe doesn’t tell me how long!….sorry)….so once it has had the sauce bath, place a strip of queso fresco and then sprinkle a couple of Tablespoons of shredded cheese down the center of the tortilla.  If you want to add chopped onions at this point go ahead.

Now pick up the tortilla and roll up the sides.

Lay it seam side down in the dish.

Repeat using all the tortillas and almost all of the cheese.

Spread any remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese (crumble the queso fresco at this point).

Sprinkle the onion enchiladas with more onions if you so desire!

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted.

 

Mexican Rice

This dish was given to me by a friend in Texas.  She shared it at her MOPS group and then I shared it with my MOMS group!  My handsome fella loves this one.  I like to start this just before beginning the process on the enchiladas as it takes about 30 minutes for my rice to get to the desired “doneness”.

Heat in skillet (that has a lid because you will need to cover this):

• 3 Tablespoons of oil

Add to skillet and allow to brown for 3 to 4 minutes:

• 1 cup raw rice (I like Uncle Ben’s)

Add to skillet:

• 1 onion, chopped

Mix together and then add to the skillet:  (watch out as when you add this it will steam up)

• 1 small can of tomato sauce and enough water to make 2 cups of liquid (if they don’t shrink the can size that should be a can of tomato sauce (8oz) and then a can of water)

Sprinkle with seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• salt
• pepper (I like to go heavier on the pepper than the salt)

Bring to a boil

Cover and Cook on low for 20 minutes—-do NOT peak, or stir.

If after 20 minutes the liquid is not all absorbed, you can leave the burner on for 3 to 5 more minutes and then check.  If it is getting there but not quite where you would like it then turn the burner off and let it sit on the burner.  (I have an electric stove top so it remains hot for a while after turning the burner off).  Remove from burner once all the water is absorbed.

 

Easy Sopaipillas

These are so yummy to finish off  your Mexican themed meal.  You can make your own dough from scratch and mess with all of that OR you can follow this recipe!

You will need a deep skillet, a deep-fry thermometer (I didn’t realize I had one and after many years I finally opened a wedding gift that I had been moving, in the package from place to place to place all these years!), and tongs.

In the deep skillet heat

• 1/2 inch of vegetable oil  until the deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees.

While the oil is heating up cut into wedges:

• flour tortillas (however many you think you can eat!)

Also prepare you cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle over the top.  I always have this mixed up for cinnamon toast for our breakfast needs.

Working in batches, drop about 3 or 4 tortilla wedges in the hot oil.

Turn them once until bubbly and golden on both sides.

Remove from the oil to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle, generously, with the combined cinnamon/sugar.

Continue frying the tortillas until you have prepared enough for your crew.  Sometimes you may need to let the oil return to 350 between batches….but be careful to not let the oil get too hot—I speak from experience as I had some crispy ones tonight as I got distracted while letting the oil heat up

Now “Ándele! Ándele!” As Speedy Gonzales would always say, and go get these items so you can enjoy a Mexican fiesta in your own casa!

 

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Cupcake Brownies

This recipe has been made twice within the last week at our house….for the residents of our house.  With only 50% of us liking chocolate, that is saying something.  This recipe brings the entire family together.  I have another homemade brownie recipe but my handsome fella does not like it.  He loves this one though!  I got the recipe from our Moms4Moms group that meets at our church.  Our Kitchen Queen shared some recipes in February that we could make for our families and I am glad she did!

Melt in a saucepan over low heat (or in a microwave….but I have only used a saucepan):

• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir as needed to get the above melted and smooth.

Add to the mixture:

• 1 3/4 cup sugar

Mix Well.

Add to the mixture:

• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour

Stir until blended and smooth.

Pour into WELL GREASED cupcake tins, filling 3/4 full.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until done (I stuck a toothpick in to make sure it came out clean)

When done press into the top of each cupcake:

• 1 unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss

I make these in my 12 cupcake silicone pan and then also use a 12 cupcake mini-muffin pan.

I haven’t yet mastered the “easy” way to get them out of the mini-muffin pan but the silicone pan, well greased allows me to just push them right out.  The mini-muffin pan I use a knife around the edges and then a spoon to gently scoop it out.

I made these tonight for our Storm Snacks as we prepare for the Frankenstorm of 2012.

Cupcake Brownies to the right….I made a few more small ones this time as they are so fun to just pop into your mouth!

Enjoy!

(If you would like to see how to make the Halloween Popcorn click here)

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National Candy Corn Day is coming….are you ready?

October 30th is National Candy Corn Day….yep- ya learn something new every day.  I was waiting in line at Acme Grocery to get my final items before heading home to wait out the Frankenstorm, Sandy, and this little tidbit of knowledge was given to me via the monitors they run constantly at their check-out lines.  I do enjoy candy corn and those cute little pumpkins and so in honor of the candy corn, I made this recipe.

Well, not really….I’ve been planning on making this for over a week but didn’t have the Halloween sprinkles until a few days ago!  But the above makes for a much better story- don’tcha think?

Halloween Popcorn

Pop

• 2 bags of microwave popcorn

Put the popped popcorn into a very large bowl (try to not get the un-popped kernels in the bowl) and add to it

• 1 bag of candy corn (I had a larger bag…probably 12 – 16 oz?  not sure now though)

Melt

• 16 ounces of white chocolate almond bark  (I followed the package directions of melting in the microwave.  Zapping it for 30-60 seconds and then stirring before zapping it again until all of it was melted)

Drizzle the melted bark over the popcorn and candy corn—I don’t have a VERY large bowl but two real good sized bowls so I worked between them.  Putting in popcorn/candy corn, drizzling and tossing then adding more popcorn/candy corn and repeating)

Stir to coat each piece of popcorn.

Pour the mixture over wax paper and spread into an even layer.

Sprinkle with Halloween sprinkles and allow to cool for at least 15-30 minutes.

Break into pieces.

Warning….this is crazy sweet!

Enjoy!

 

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Treats to eat! Biscoff Pretzel Bites and Glazed Lemon Cookies

Tomorrow my girls will have the Poetry Cafe during their library time at school.  The “cafe” will have some treats for the students and parents so I asked the librarian if she needed me to contribute to the treats.  I knew the lemon glazed cookies, from Real Simple, would be easy (or should I say real simple–heheehee) to throw together and then I found these other fun treats, Biscoff Pretzel Bites, from Two Peas and Their Pod.

I had never heard of Biscoff Spread, but evidently it is a peanut butter alternative.  It looks a lot like peanut butter yet it has no peanuts in it.  They didn’t have it at my local grocery store but Wal-Mart had it and I believe that Trader Joe’s has something similar called “Speculoos Cookie Butter”.

The pretzel bites were fun to put together.  While the recipe says it takes 10 minutes to prepare, that is a bit misleading.  It takes 10 minutes to whip the filling together, but then you have to roll the dough, make the pretzel sandwich, freeze them, dip them and THEN you have actually prepared them!  Still though- they were easy and got smiley faces from each of my critics.

Here are some pictures from my afternoon baking adventure:

The "sandwiches" are ready for the freezer!

White chocolate and sprinkles---how can it not be good?!!!

Then, since I had some extra white chocolate for dipping and it was almost time for the girls to get home, I decided to try to make these tiny little banana splits for a special snack.  I found the idea on Pinterest and the picture there was way better than mine (no shocker there!).  But the smiles on the faces around the table didn’t care what they looked like—it was just the yummy factor that they cared about.

I cut up the banana, leaving the peel on.  Then carve out some of the banana with a small melon baller.  Peel the banana, dip in melted chocolate/sprinkles, fill the hole with some ice cream, top with whip cream and cherries and enjoy!

Dipped and ready for the ice cream and toppings!

 

I started filling them when I heard the bus on the street...I should have waited a wee bit longer as the girls have to walk just a little from the stop.

 

All smiles after she finished off her treat!

 

 

Then I made the glazed lemon cookies.

Glazed and ready for the cafe!

 

 

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Easy Brownie Shortcake Dessert

Here is a fun little dessert that has to be healthy right since it has fruit on it????

Fruit makes it healthy...right?

Easy Brownie Shortcake

Prepare brownie mix

• prepare as directed on the package
• stir in 1/2 cup sour cream

Spoon into greased and floured 9-inch round pan

Bake for 45 minutes at 350° F.

Cool for 10 minutes

Remove from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Mix  for the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 cup thawed cool whip whipped topping
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cut the brownie horizontally in half.  (Use a long knife and stick it horizontally into the center and slowly cut around the circle).

Stack the bottom layer on the serving plate

Place half of the filling on the bottom layer and smooth out.

Stack the top layer on top of that.

Top with the remaining sour cream mixture and then

• 3 cups of mixed fruit—I used kiwi and strawberries

I kept this in the refrigerator until dinner and then put the leftovers in the fridge too….slowly the leftovers are disappearing throughout the day 

 

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How to Make Angel Food Cake Simply Sublime

My oldest will be 10 tomorrow and we are anxiously awaiting her official “double digits day”.  Since Dad has to work tomorrow evening, we celebrated tonight with her favorite meal: Steak and potatoes.  I realized that I luck out on her birthday as that is also my favorite meal.  She and I also don’t really care for birthday cake.  She prefers angel food cake…and I do to actually—score another win for me!!!

A few years ago I stumbled across a very easy lime syrup that when drizzled over angel food cake it is just so yummy, you will want some more (well, I have to admit the other half of our family would prefer chocolate cake for every celebration).

Since this is a 10th birthday and the birthday girl wanted angel food cake, I was able to come up with a solution that pleased everyone.  I “made” a number ten cake:

The angel food cake pleased the birthday girl and the pound cake pleased her Daddy and little sister.  I had various toppings for the cakes.  One was the sauce that I will give you the recipe for below; the other toppings included:

We had yummy Lemon and Lime Curd which just happened to be on sale this week at our local grocery store so I bought two!  (ya know…who can pick between lemon or lime).  Then we had our favorite whipped topping, some chocolate sauce, and cookies and cream sprinkles.  There was something for everyone.

Simply Sublime Syrup

Mix in a small saucepan:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup water

Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat.

You can then put it in a container and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Before serving you may want to add a little lime zest (about 1 teaspoon) to the syrup…but it isn’t necessary.

Serve up your angel food cake slices with some fresh fruit and drizzle a little syrup over and ….oh, yes… it is sublime.

It will make you smile!

Enjoy!

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National Something on a Stick Day is Coming!

Not too long ago I found this list of all kinds of crazy “National Days”.  I jotted a few down on my calendar that I thought would be fun to celebrate and this next Wednesday, March 28, is one of them: National Something on a Stick Day.

Now, there are all kinds of foods can be served on a stick…but the one that is awaiting plates here at our house is the ever-loved Corn Dog.

I bought a box of our favorite brand yesterday. 

Next I have to figure out what else to serve.  I think we will have vegetable skewers and pretzel sticks as our sides.  Then for dessert I found the perfect thing on pinterest last night:

 

From http://theinspiredcollection.blogspot.com/2011/10/dessert-kabobs.html

Doesn’t that just look yummy?

The author at “The Inspired Collection” Blog says that you need

• Pound Cake (she used Lemon)
• two packages of strawberries
• White chocolate to melt and drizzle over
• Kabob sticks

Cut up the pound cake into squares.

Wash and cut the tops off of the strawberries

Put them on the sticks- alternating cake and strawberries.

Melt the white chocolate, put it in a ziploc and trim the corner to make a”drizzle bag”.  Drizzle it over the cake and berries.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

I can’t wait for next Wednesday!

Leave a comment and let me know what you will be serving for National Something on a Stick Day!

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Crafty Cupid

This is a year of new things for me so why not get all crafty during Valentine’s day as crafty and Becki are usually not found in the same sentence!  Well I didn’t do a TON of crafts but two and then I made lots of Valentine’s day foods for my loves.  The crafts win out this year over the food though.

Let me share what all I did and where I found the ideas:

Craft #1

This Valentine Topiary was very easy to do EXCEPT that my 6 year old burned her finger on the glue gun.  I felt so bad as I had envisioned this activity as a happy time with Mom and daughters sitting around chatting and crafting.  Well, I ended up doing it by myself after H burned her finger and E didn’t ever care to glue the hearts…just eat them.  The styrofoam ball that I purchased was a tad big…but it worked out fine.  I bought a white ball so I didn’t have to mess with covering up the green of the “flower foam” kind of ball.  I found this idea while I was “pinteresting” one day  (that would be actively looking on pinterest one day).  Glue Guns and spatulas was the blog post that has the directions.

Craft #2:

The leftovers

I wish I had remembered to take a picture of all of the hearts in their final form.  Heather and Emily made beautiful crayon hearts and then we (or rather I) sewed them to cardstock with Valentine sayings on them.  These were fun to do, but my fingernails did take a hit with all the scraping of crayon wrappers.  We found that the newer the crayon, the easier the wrapper came off.  My favorite crayons were the ones with the yellows/greens/orange all swirled together.  There are all kinds of pinterest places to find this craft idea but this is the one that I pinned that gave the idea to do this: Crayonhearts

Food idea #1

I found this recipe for 2-ingredient fudge and thought it sounded like something Emily would like to eat.  Then a friend of mine blogged on it and said how easy it really was so I decided to make it for my girls on Valentine’s day.  Since I can’t remember where I originally found the recipe, I will link you to Amy’s blog

Valentine Desserts

 Food Idea #2

The other sweet treat on the platter is a red-velvet cookie.  It is pretty simple to make as you use a boxed mix.  This idea/recipe came from the yummy blog of Two Peas and Their Pod.  Food Idea #3 came from them too.

Food Idea #3

This Chocolate Dutch Baby was very easy to whip up the morning of Valentine’s Day and while it baked I threw some cheese filled smokies on the stove and grabbed the extra four heart-shaped muffins that I made for H’s first grade class (they only needed 18 and I sent 20 so really sending 24 would have been WAY too many…right…so it was a good thing to do–see).  It was a fun breakfast even though neither of my little loves enjoyed the Chocolate Dutch Baby—my handsome fella loved it though

Food Idea #4

This one came from Jen Myers at our Moms4Moms group that meets at Faith Community Church.  This one was the only one that my kids really loved.  It was quite simple.  Get the canned breadsticks from the store.  Stretch each one out about 12 inches and then shape into a heart.  Brush it with raw egg and sprinkle with your favorite topping.  For H we had kosher salt, for E we had cinnamon sugar, Brad and I had Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese and then there were a few plain ones.  I also made pink homemade applesauce for our dinner—another recipe from Jen.  I’ve made it before and it was a hit then too.

So our day was all about food and I was in the kitchen for most of the day EXCEPT when my handsome fella called home to tell me he was coming home early from work to take me out to lunch!  That was a fun little treat.  We ate at Qdoba and for a kiss in front of the cashier they gave us our second entree free!!

Here are some more pictures from our day:

The traditional Valentine's Day hunt ended with these treats for the girls.

 

Brad and H go through her cards from school.

 

This is where I was most of the day!

 

 

 

 

 

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Warm Lemon Cake on a Cold Winter’s Night

My handsome fella said that he sure has enjoyed the meals this week.  I will have to agree that we have eaten pretty well this week.  Monday we had Salisbury steak. The recipe I used is the same one that I cooked for Brad years ago for the very first dinner I ever prepared for him—but that is a story for another day.  Tuesday we had Taco Soup.  I was pleased that while I chopped the onions for the soup, I also cut a few more for Wednesday dinner and Friday night’s too!  Since I had the cutting board out I got the celery chopped for Wednesday’s dinner so all my vegetables were ready to go.

After getting the girls in bed on Tuesday night, I made my way back to the kitchen to prepare Wednesday night’s dinner: Homestyle Chicken and Dressing.  It is a favorite of each member of my family.  It was easy to get together especially since I had a pan of cornbread frozen in the freezer.  (Of course I had to defrost it first…but that was simple enough- I just took it out of the freezer on Tuesday afternoon and by the evening it was ready to crumble up).

Wednesday morning I dumped everything in the crockpot and dotted it with a stick of butter (how can you go wrong with a stick of butter?!!!) and headed out for Moms4Moms at Faith Community Church.  I figured since dinner was already cooking that I had time in the afternoon to prepare dessert.  (Not our regular, pull out the Oreo bag dessert!)

Here is what we made

This was after my crew had dessert; think lemon-filled doughnut and you have the idea!!

Warm Lemon Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare as directed on package:

• 1 yellow cake mix (regular box mix) (mine called for 3 eggs, water and oil)

Pour the cake mix into a greased 13×9 baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl mix in this order:

• 2 cups, cold milk
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 packages of Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling (4-serving size each)
• 1/3 cup sugar

Beat with a wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended.

Pour over batter.

Place your baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any sauce that might bubble over the sides of the dish as the dessert bakes (You don’t want to have to clean the oven later!)

Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with:

• 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar

Serve

Store the leftovers (if you have any) in the refrigerator.

I got this recipe about four years ago on the Kraftfoods.com site.  It says it makes 16 servings.

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