Chocolate Cupcakes with Carmel Frosting!

This recipe is compliments of my friend Stephanie! Now I'm not a big chocolate fan, nor do I really care for carmel, but this puppies were AMAZINAG! Try them!!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup water
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

CARAMEL ICING:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup milk
2 to 2-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring the cocoa, water, oil and butter to a boil. Gradually add to dry ingredients and mix well. Combine the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; gradually add to batter and mix well (batter will be very thin).
Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For icing, in a heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium. Do not stir. Cook for 3-6 minutes or until bubbles form in center of mixture and syrup turns amber. Remove from the heat; transfer to a small bowl. Cool to room temperature. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Yield: 2 dozen.

Breakfast Tartlets

Sooo, about 3 years ago, my mother-in-law showed me a delicious recipe on the back of a tube of cresent rolls. This morning as I ravenously searched for a breakfast to make for myself (my child doesn't eat eggs and my husband doesn't eat breakfast) I stumbled upon some crumbled turkey bacon, sausage, egg-beaters and low and behold, a tube of seamless cresent roll dough! Eureka!

Ingredients;

1 tube of seamless cresent roll dough

1 small container of egg beaters OR 3 eggs beaten

bacon AND/OR sausage, cooked and crumbled

shredded cheese

pepper to taste

Optional ingredients;

green onions

green/red peppers

ham

onions

crushed red pepper

Instructions;

1. To crumble my coooked bacon and sausage, I actually put it in my mini blender.... way faster that trying to chop everything up really small! Go ahead and chop up whatever optional ingredients you intend to use as well. Make sure you chop it all really small and try to get the pieces roughly the same size.... I know, easier said than done... but it will help everything cook evenly.

2. Next you're going to liberally spray a muffin tin with Pam, or any non-stick cooking spray. Now, you can use a small muffin tin or a regular size. If you use a small one you can use these as delicious appetizers or for a brunch. The larger ones are great for when you're just cooking a hearty breakfast for your family! Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees while you're at it!

3. Next, open and unroll your dough. If you cant get the seamless kind, go ahead and buy the regular cresent roll dough, roll it out in one big piece, and using your fingers, gently pinch together the seams. If you're using the large muffin tin, you're going to want to use a pizza roller to cut the dough into 8 eaqual squares. If you're using the smaller muffin tin you'll want to 32 smaller squares, or whatever size/number will fit your tin.

4. Once you've got your squares, gently press them into the muffin tin holes. In each little dough cup, add your dry ingredients (bacon, sausage, cheese, veggies, etc.). Go ahead and add your spices at this point as well.

5. Next, using the egg beaters straight out of the container, pour a bit of egg mixture into each muffin hole. You want enough to just reach the top of your ingredients. If you're using regular eggs, beat them together in a bowl with a little cream or milk. Using a large spoon to spoon the mixutre over the eggs.

6. IMPORTANT STEP - Now you're going to bake these for 15-25 minutes. You're going to have to watch them starting at the 10 minutes point for the small tin and the 15 minute point for the large tin. If you'll notice in my picture, my dough is a bit well done.... I wasn't watching! You're looking for the dough to turn that perfect golden color. When it does, take out a piece of tin foil and lay it gently over the top of the muffin tin. Finish cooking the muffins for the remainder of the time. The tartlets are done when you stick a knife or toothpick in the middle tin and it comes out clean. For my larger tin tartlets, it took 25 minutes. You just need to make sure the eggs are set!

Enjoy! And be creative!

Caprese Kabobs

One of my absolute favorite dishes to eat is a good Caprese salad. For those of you that may not know, a Caprese salad consists of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette and basil. Those are the basic ingredients and depending where you are, there are quite a few variations. My favorite variation has been adding avocado, which I discovered on a visit to my friend Sara's place in San Diego!

These Caprese Kabobs came about due to a need for finger food to bring to a party. This is so quick and easy to make and truly a big hit!!

Ingredients;

2 containers of Ciliegine Mozzarella or 1 log of mozzarella (I like the Bel Gioioso brand.)

2 containers of grape or cherry tomatoes

fresh basil leaves

2-4 cloves of garlic

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinaigrette

ground pepper and coarse salt to taste

fancy or colored toothpicks

Instructions;

1. Put the oil into a small bowl. Mince the garlic and add it to the oil. The longer you can let the garlic sit in the oil, the better. Try for at least 45 minutes!

2. Drain and dry your mozzarella. I just pat it with paper towels. Then salt and pepper the mozzarella to your preference. I'm not a huge salt fan but like this cheese to be well salted. Taste as you go to get it just right.

3. Wash and pat dry your tomatoes. Rinse the basil and tear it into small pieces roughly the size of the cheese or tomatoes. If you don't have access to fresh basil, skip this step and sprinkle your finished product with dried basil once it's been plated.... the fresh really does give it something special though!

4. To make the kabobs, add one piece of mozzarella, a basil leaf and a tomato to each toothpick. Set them on whatever plate/platter you'll use for serving. Do this until you run out of tomatoes or cheese, whichever happens first!

5. Once you have the kabobs plated, spoon your oil evenly over the top of the kabobs... I prefer not to get the garlic chucks all over the kabobs but if you're into garlic, go for it! At this point I typically add a bit more salt and pepper.

6. You can refrigerate this until you're ready to serve it, I do prefer to give it about 30 minutes to come to room temperature thought. Serve with a small bowl of vinaigrette for dipping or if you really want to go crazy spoon some over the top of the kabobs.

Enjoy!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman and thought that there was a chance I could fulfill my husbands request to try to figure out the recipe for Rattlesnake Pasta from our favorite restaurant, J. Alexanders. Check out the original recipe here!

Here's a list of the ingredients... it's missing a few things... olive oil, cream and shredded Parmesan.



Ingredients;

pasta (I used Bertoli Fettuccine)
3 chicken breasts thinly sliced
Cajun seasoning (or white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic and onion powder)
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 red pepper chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 tomato thinly sliced
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
1 cup of cream
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of white wine
cayenne pepper
black pepper
parsley

Instructions;

1. In a large skillet heat 1 T. of butter and 1 T. olive oil. Thoroughly coat the chicken in Cajun seasoning. Add chicken to hot pan in a single layer. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. Brown it the best you can while cooking it for the shortest amount of time. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside. (Cook your pasta according to directions.)

2. Add an additional 1 T. of butter and 1 T. olive oil to the pan. Keep it on high heat. Add the peppers, onion, garlic and some additional Cajun seasoning. Cook for about 2 minutes. If you'd like add the tomatoes and cook an additional 30 seconds... I ended up not adding the tomatoes because I remembered my husband hates cooked tomatoes... oh well! Remove the veggies from the pan and add them to the cooked chicken.

3. Keep the pan on high eat and add the chicken broth and wine. Cook for 3-5 minutes and be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as the sauce boils. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cream, stirring constantly. As it thickens, add about 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan, black pepper, cayenne pepper(and salt if you choose) to taste.

4. Once the Parmesan has fully incorporated, add the chicken and vegetables. Be sure to add the juice that has accumulated from the chicken and veggies. Stir until sauce bubbles and everything is hot.

5. Toss the sauce, veggie and chicken mixture with the pasta. Top with parsley and Parmesan and serve!

Enjoy! And look for a new recipe soon!

Pizza Pockets

This recipe was inspired by a recipe I saw at Tasty Kitchen. That recipe used homemade dough and some different ingredients... not quite my thing. This way, it's so simple you can whip it up for a weekend lunch!

Ingredients

1 tube of thin crust Pilsbury Pizza Dough

1/2 cup of pizza sauce

fresh mozzarella balls (Ciliegine)

shredded paremesan

2 T. butter, melted

garlic powder or garlic salt

Optional Ingredients; pepperoni, green peppers, ham, pineapple, any pizza topping!

**Ingredient Comments; This is a forgiving recipe! I used fresh mozzarella because we love it and always have it around. Shredded mozzarella or even mozzarella slices would work just as well. Same goes for the pizza sauce. We like the Contadina squeezable because it's easy to use and keeps well. If you don't have it available you can even use pasta sauce! And as far as toppings go, I'm not too adventurous. My husband likes pepperoni but my little guy and I are just cheese fans. I think you can really go wild here. How fun would little Hawaiian Pizza Pockets be (pineapple and ham, yum!)? Add whatever floats your boat!

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400/425 degrees, or whatever your dough requires. You're also going to want to use a little flour on your work surface so the dough doesn't stick.

2. Roll out the dough, dust it with a little flour on top as well, and be sure to stretch it out (use a rolling pin if necessary) so that's it's roughly uniform in thickness.

3. Use a pizza dough cutter to cut the dough in 8 sections. (See picture below.)


4. Top each piece of dough with the two cheeses, sauce and any toppings you may want to use. Go easy on the sauce so you don't have any explosions during cooking, you can always serve some sauce on the side for dipping.

5. You have a few options when it comes to closing up the pockets... I tried the pyramid method and the envelope method. (I totally made said methods up, I'm just calling it as I see it. Refer to the picture below.) However you close them up, be sure to pinch the seams so they seal tight. You'll also notice that you can make a small open-faced personal pizza as well. This was to satisfy my two year old who refuses to eat anything he can't see.

6. This last step is optional but I think gives it a little something extra. Melt 2 T. of butter and mix in some garlic or garlic salt. Using a pastry brush (or a spoon), coat each dough pocket with the mixture.

7. Bake according to the dough directions, however, I did find it necessary to go about 4 minutes longer than recommended. Just be sure to keep an eye on things while they're cooking!

And that's it!! Enjoy!

Monkey Balls

This is my take on the ever popular morning treat, Monkey Bread.

1 can of Pilsbury Grand Butter Tastin' Biscuits
2/3 cup of sugar
2 T. of cinnamon
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your muffin tins well with Pam or cooking spray.

2. In a size bowl mix the cinnamon and 2/3 cup of white sugar.

3. Cut each bisuit in 4. Roll dough pieces in cinnamon sugar mix. (Get your kiddos involved, my two-year old loves to do this part for me!)

4. In a small sauce pan melt butter and stir in 1/2 cup of brown sugar... dont let it bubble.

5. After the pieces are coated put 2-3 pieces of dough into each muffin tin.

6. Spoon the butter/sugar mixture over each 'cup of dough' in the muffin tin. I usually do like 1 to 1 1/2 T. in each cup.

7. Use the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture to sprinkle some over the top of the dough before you throw it all in the oven.

8. Cook the biscuits according to the directions on the package! (I think it's 350 degrees for 14-17 minutes). Careful the sugar part is REALLY hot when it comes out! And be sure to take them out of the muffin tin while they're still warm!

This is one of our favorite morning treats and it's so easy to make! They even reheat well! Please note that if you don't have access to Pilsbury biscuits I'm sure you can substitute any other type of raw dough... just be sure to adjust the cooking temperature and times to suit your dough!

Enjoy!

Super-tons (a 'healthy' alternative)

I will admit that when I first made these I did not fry them in the canola oil, afterall I have to at least TRY to be healthy. So I will offer you an alternative to frying them...

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. After forming your wont-tons, spray a cookie sheet with Pam (or any non-stick cooking spray).

3. Place the wont-tons on the cookie sheet, flat side down.

4. Put the sheet in the oven for 7 minutes, then flip the won-tons over and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

The won-tons baked are very good (and much healthier to boot). I will admit, however, that frying gives them such a perfect, crunchy and delicate outer crust.... it's hard to resist!