Mia's Banana Split Cupcakes

This morning I made some cupcakes that I hope resemble a banana split for Mia, since she wanted a banana flavored cake. As I was assembling the ingredients I noticed the bananas were gone... so just pretend there's a slice of banana next to the cherry in the final picture, ok?

Here's the ingredients. Sprinkles, whipped cream, cherries, cupcake mix, banana extract, strawberry ice cream topping and chocolate icing.

I baked the cupcakes according to the directions on the package, except I added a liberal dose of the banana extract to the batter.

When they were finished, I used a baby spoon to dig out the center of the cupcakes.

Then using the same spoon, I filled the hole with the strawberry ice cream topping.

Next, I sealed in the topping with a layer of chocolate frosting.

Finally, I topped them with whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry (and an invisible banana slice). What do you think?

Biscuit Pizzas!

Chef Dylan and I made little pizzas out of some random stuff we had in our fridge tonight. First, we assembled our ingredients.

We used refrigerated Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits- the kind in the thwap tube, Babybel cheese, Hormel Mini Turkey Pepperoni, and some leftover jarred spaghetti sauce for the pizzas. Dylan apparently works best in the kitchen with an empty bottle hanging out of his mouth.

First I rolled out the biscuits to make them flat. I used wax paper and some non-stick cooking spray so that they wouldn't stick to everything.

Then I put them in a muffin tin that I'd already sprayed with the non-stick spray (so overkill, but whatever). Since there are only 8 biscuits in the tube, not all of the muffin spots were filled.

Then Dylan helped me unwrap the Babybel cheese.

Next we popped one into each of the biscuits. They fit perfectly!

And finally we sprinkled a handful of the mini pepperoni on top. We put it in the oven for 15 minutes at about 350.

Dylan said they smelled delicious!

When the timer went off, I was greeted with perfectly browned biscuits and bubbling cheese... drool.

While I warmed up a bit of spaghetti sauce, I popped a few out of the tin. They came right out, probably thanks to all the non-stick spray.

The insides are filled with cheesy goodness...

Cream Cheese Frosting

I decided to make cupcakes to bring to the barbecue yesterday- and thought I'd use some food coloring and make them red, white and blue. But because I made a butter cake and not a white cake, the white was kind of yellow. And because I didn't put a ton of food coloring in, the red was more pink and the blue was more turquoise.

I baked a dozen cupcakes, and with the rest of the batter, I made a half cake. Despite the color being off, it all tasted great. I think the best part was the icing. Want my secret recipe?

Cream Cheese Frosting

(What is the difference between frosting and icing anyway? I always use the terms interchangeably.)

1- 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
½ stick butter, softened
1- 1lb box powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Mix it all up and you'll be in heaven. Dip strawberries directly into it. Frost your cupcakes, cakes, muffins and pumpkin bread with it. You won't regret it. And you'll never go back to the canned stuff.

Chicken, Cream Cheese & Spinach Rolls

I read about this recipe on Shop With Me Mama's blog the other day and decided I needed to try it. I have this issue with following directions though, so I'm going to give you all my modified version of her recipe. I hope you all enjoy it!

First, I put an 8 oz block of cream cheese in a bowl to soften. Then I diced half of an onion, and sauteed it in a bit of butter, until it started to brown. I like my onions cooked. At the same time, I put a package of spinach (no sauce or anything) in the microwave to cook.


I used a 6 oz package of the precooked chicken breast strips that you can find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, instead of cooking them myself. I just diced them up smaller. I am very anti raw chicken. I hate touching it.


I threw the diced chicken on top of the cream cheese, along with the onions and spinach and mixed it all up.


I decided, hey, some shredded cheese and garlic would be good in this... and added them both. I didn't measure. More mixing followed.


After that, I spread the mixture on to crescent rolls- you know, the kind in the thwap tubes. Only the first one I think I put too much in. After that, I used a tablespoon instead of the mixing spoon to fill it and it worked much better.



See? The first one is very fat. I was afraid it would leak all over the place, but I didn't bother to fix it.


I had a bunch of leftover filling. I probably should have bought two or maybe even three of the tubes of crescent rolls. No problem though, since it was just the girls and I eating tonight- I just put the rest of the filling in the fridge for another day.


See how much was left? I cooked them at 350° for 15 minutes. They came out of the oven perfectly golden brown.


And let me tell you, they tasted amazing. Definitely a recipe to keep! Even the girls ate them, with no complaints- despite the spinach (they usually protest green foods) and onions.

So quick ingredient recap for your shopping list:

• 8oz block of cream cheese
• 6oz cooked chicken breast
• Frozen package of spinach
• ½ of an onion, diced & sauteed
  
• 4oz shredded cheese
• Sprinkle of garlic salt
• 2 or 3 tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls

Let me know if you try this, and if you experiment with any other ingredients- and how they come out!

Chicken & Broccoli Braid

For those who asked about my photo the other day on my 365 blog...


What I make is kind of a spin off of a Pampered Chef recipe. If you want the original, click here.

Here's what I do- in a big bowl, I put cooked chicken, a blob of mayo, a bunch of shredded cheese, cooked veggies, and whatever spices I feel like that day. On the day I took that picture, I didn't even use broccoli, I used cauliflower, carrots, and snow peas. I also used the garlic flavored crescent rolls and southwest seasoning. Then I made a ring out of two tubes of crescent rolls and folded it all up and baked it at 350° for 25 minutes.

I never use the almonds or peppers. And I always put way more cheese than it says. Actually way more with all of the filling ingredients. Also, as you can tell, I didn't braid it because I grabbed my round stone instead of the rectangle one. Instead, I made a ring, like the Pampered Chef Taco Ring recipe- which is another favorite in this house. I modify that too, of course.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Have you ever had Black Bottom Cupcakes? I haven't had these in years- I don't think I've ever made them for Aaron. They are amazing. I am not sure what made me think about them, but once I started, I couldn't get them out of my head. I dug through my box of recipes and finally found it written on the back of a receipt dated 1996. I sent Aaron to the store for the one ingredient we needed- cream cheese- and got to work.

It's a really simple recipe. You just throw all the cake ingredients in the mixer, and then spoon into the muffin tin. Then you don't even need to clean the mixer before you put the filling stuff in. Aaron showed up with my block of cream cheese right as I was about ready for it- perfect timing. I always add way more chocolate chips than the recipe says too. I mean, how can you have too much chocolate?

Right now I'm impatiently waiting the 20 minutes they take to bake. My house is starting to smell chocolaty. It's delightful. There's nothing better than the smell of something delicious baking in your house, don't you agree?

After you get the filling made, you just spoon big blobs of it on top of the cake batter. I think I may have overfilled these, I guess we'll see when they come out of the oven. The only downfall to this recipe is it doesn't make nearly enough cupcakes. I should probably double it when I make it.

Black Bottom Cupcakes
Cake:
1 ½ c flour
1 c sugar
¼ c cocoa powder
½ t salt
1 t baking soda
1 c water
½ c oil
1 t vanilla
1 Tb vinegar

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
½ c sugar
1 egg
6 oz chocolate chips

Bake for 20 mins at 350°

And this is what it looks like when you try to take it out of the paper before it's even remotely cool enough to eat. The chocolate chips are all melty and good... yum.


Let me edit this to add a picture of what they look like if you wait until they cool off to eat them- it's much more appetizing LOL

Rainbow Cake

My take on this cake:
(Except I didn't use two boxes, followed the directions instead of the soda thing... and only used four colors LOL
Oh and put it in a bundt pan and used canned frosting)

I used a bundt pan and strawberry frosting

I also didn't do a whole rainbow, just pink, purple, green and orange.

Soup!

My friend Steph gave me a recipe for potato soup- but I think I'm going to kick it up a notch.
Right now I have onions, potatoes, green beans and ham simmering in some chicken stock... with various herbs and spices.
Once the potatoes are cooked, you're supposed to add cream... well I think I will add cheese as well. I still have a bunch of different kinds :)

Grandma Amanda's Ham Soup:
chop up some potatoes-bite size. put in stock pot. chop up 1/2 onion, add to stock pot. toss in about 2-3 c. cubed ham. 4 chicken bullion cubes. 1 large can green beans.summer savory, 2 bay leaves, some basil, bring to boil, then simmer till potatoes are tender. Add 1 c. cream just before serving. (you don't want it to curdle!!)

Apple Pie a la Easy

Apples (10), brown sugar (I don't know how much exactly, about two hand fulls, I suppose), a half a cup of flour, some cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.
Peel and core the apples, throw is all that other stuff mentioned above and mix it all up well. We used a pie crust from Wal-Mart. Cook it at 425 degrees for 50 minutes and presto!! You've got an apple pie.