Cupcake Fun

I love to save myself time and work by using store-bought box mixes for things. 

You can make them "semi-homeade" by adding flavored extract to the mix and by topping them with creative little touches!

I made these strawberry cupcakes with white icing and different colored sprinkles. 

I think it's more fun to eat treats that are pretty!

Pesto Pasta

I really love pesto, and there are so many different ways you make it. 

This one is angel hair pasta with a basil and cilantro pesto sauce:

-a handful of basil leaves (about 10 leaves)

-one small bunch of cilantro, discard stems

-about 1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil

-one clove of garlic (or two small cloves)

-about 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1.  Put all ingredients, except the oil, in a food processor.

2.  Turn on processor, and slowly add in the oil until it is the consistency that you want.

That's it!  You can make pesto with any kinds of herbs you want.  I have done a mint pesto before, and it is really good- a little spicy!  Traditionally, you add pine nuts as well, but I left them out. 

Chicken Pasta Salad

I love a good pasta salad!  I especially love that you can make them so many different ways.  This is one of my go-to recipes:

-1 lb. bowtie pasta

-about 1 cup of roughly diced/shredded rotisserie chicken breast

-1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and cut in half

-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced and cut in half

-1 bundle of small asparagus (just cut the top pieces)

-about 1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated or diced into small pieces)

-a few basil leaves, chopped

-balsamic vinegar, enough to coat (about 1/2 cup?)

-good olive oil, enough to coat (about 1/2 cup?)

-salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Cook pasta al dente.  Drain and coat with a little bit of oil so it doesn't stick together.  Put pasta in a large bowl.

2.  Wash and cut all the vegetables.  Add to the pasta. 

3.  Prepare the chicken- you can cut it with a knife or pull it apart with your fingers. Add to the pasta.

4.  Chop basil and add to pasta.

5.  Toss pasta with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Sometimes I just use an Italian dressing or a roasted red pepper Italian dressing too.

6.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Chicken Chili

Everybody makes their chili differently.  This is my favorite way:

-diced chicken breast (I like to use rotisserie chicken)

-1 yellow onion, diced

-1 red bell pepper, diced

-2 cloves of garlic, diced

-1 can petite diced tomatoes

-1 can chili beans

-1 can white corn, drained

-about 1-2 cup(s) of spaghetti sauce (I like Hunt's Four Cheese)

-about 1 cup of chicken broth (give or take)

-about 1-2 tsps of cumin

-about 1-2 tblsps of chili powder

(or you just use a packet of chili powder mix, like McCormick's)

-a few splashes of hot sauce

-red pepper flakes (to taste)

You can make this in a crock pot or a dutch oven/large pot on the stove:

1.  Coat the bottom of the pot with 2 tblsp of olive oil.

2.  Sautee the onions, red pepper and garlic for about five minutes.

3.  Add the chicken, tomatoes, corn, beans, tomato sauce, broth and stir

4.  Add the spices, hot sauce and chili flakes and stir.

5.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low for at least an hour (in crockpot, set on high for a few hours)

6.  Serve topped with cheese and with chips

I make this chili a lot!  I love to eat it as leftovers because it's always better the next day.  By the third day, if there is any leftover, I try to get creative with it and put it over fries or spaghetti.  I love to eat this, though, because it's actually really healthy for you and because you can change it anyway you want to.  Sometimes I substitute black beans or add yellow/orange peppers.  Sometimes I make it with ground beef or turkey, but chicken is my favorite.

Angel Food Cake with Berries and Cream

Take an angel food cake and cut of the top with a serrated knife. 

Then dig a tunnel in the bottom of the cake (hollow it out).

Then fill the space with whipped cream (I actually prefer cool whip), some fresh berries (your choice, but I definitely recommend strawberries and some fresh mint), the pieces of the cake that you took out and a little bit of flavored extract (your choice).

Then put the top back on and frost with the rest of the whipped cream/cool whip.

Decorate with the rest of the berries and refrigerate until serving.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I made this yesterday.  I love to make white chocolate cheesecake.  Usually I would put some raspberry sauce over the top too, (and I really like chocolate crust with it), but I used the ingredients that I had.

Easy Flatbread

I love making this flatbread to go along with any dish.  I just take a can of pizza dough and roll it out onto a cookie sheet.  Then I top it with olive oil, garlic, whatever herb I feel like (rosemary, Italian seasoning, etc.) and parmesan cheese.  You could even work ingredients directly into the dough if you want, like red onion and herbs.  Then I bake it according to the directions.  It's great!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups

This recipe is from a Nestle Tollhouse dessert cookbook I have (it has such yummy stuff in it!). I love it cuz it's "no-bake" and pretty simple. I used a mini-cheesecake springfoam pan to do these last night, but you can do them in a square/rectangle pan and just cut bars.

Ingredients:

• 
  
  2 cups peanut butter, divided
  
  
  
• 
  
  3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
  
  
  
• 
  
  2 cups powdered sugar, divided
  
  
  
• 
  
  3 cups graham cracker crumbs
  
  
  
• 
  
  2 cups (1 package) Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet choc. chips
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  Directions:
  
  
  
• 
  
  GREASE 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
  
  
  
• 
  
  BEAT 1 1/4 cups peanut butter and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar.
  
  
  
• 
  
  With hands or wooden spoon, work in remaining 1 cup powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup morsels.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Press evenly into prepared baking pan.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Smooth top with spatula.
  
  
  
• 
  
  MELT remaining 3/4 cup peanut butter and remaining 1 1/2 cups morsels in medium, heavy-duty saucepan over lowest possible heat, stirring constantly, until smooth.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Spread over graham cracker crust in pan.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until chocolate is firm.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Cut into bars.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Store in covered container in refrigerator.
  
  
  

*Halloween Cake*

This is the cake I made for Halloween. Kate helped me decorate it with the sugar candies. What would be more appropriate for Halloween than a delicious Devil's Food Cake?!?! I added orange extract to the mix to give it a little special flavor. Then I used orange food coloring to make the frosting, and used the Betty Crocker Cupcake Icing to trim it.

*Lemon Coconut Cake*

I made this cake last night. It is so yummy! You can do it as homeade, or semi-homeade, as you like! I didn't have coconut (which I realized after I had started!), so I just decorated the top with sprinkles.

What you need:

-1 box lemon cake mix (or you can use yellow or white, and add lemon curd, lemon extract and other stuff to make it lemony) (or you could do it all from scratch!)

-3 eggs

-1/3 cup veg. oil

-1 and 1/4 cup water

-about 1 tsp. coconut extract

-the zest of 1 lemon

-lemon curd (optional)

-lemon extract (optional)

-frosting of your choice (I used plain white)

-coconut shreds for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, water, coconut extract, and lemon zest (you could add lemon curd/lemon zest if you like, for extra flavor)

3. Pour into cake pan (I used a bundt cake pan) and bake according to directions
4. Let cool completely

5. You can make any kind of frosting/icing you want. To make it extra special, you can add either lemon or coconut extract to it for flavor. Frost cake.

6. Decorate with coconut shreds (or any other topping)

Enjoy!

*Pumpkin Cupcakes*

These little pumpkin cupcakes are so cute and festive for Halloween!

To make, you can use mini-bundt pan molds, or any small mold you have (I did these with a flower bundt mold that I have). You could also just use regular cupcake pans if you want.

-1 package of white cake mix

-3 eggs

-1 and 1/4 cup water

-1/3 cup veg. oil

-orange food coloring (or red and yellow to mix)

green food coloring (or blue and yellow to mix)

-white frosting

-green licorice (they have mini green sour sticks), or any green or brown candy you can use as the stem

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 350
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Mix cake according to directions on box
   
   
   
3. 
   
   use food coloring to dye the cake mix orange
   
   
   
4. 
   
   pour into pan/mold
   
   
   
5. 
   
   Bake according to directions
   
   
   
6. 
   
   let cool
   
   
   
7. 
   
   mix food coloring in frosting to make green
   
   
   
8. 
   
   frost the cupcakes with the green frosting to make it look like leaves on top
   
   
   
9. 
   
   put the "stem" in the middle
   
   
   

Enjoy!

*Crack*

This is a recipe that everyone always asks for anytime I make it. It is so good... hence the name "crack"!!! And it is so easy to make...

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 350
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Line a greased cookie sheet with foil.
   
   
   
3. 
   
   Line the sheet with Saltine crackers (it takes about 1 to 1 and 1/2 sleeves)
   
   
   
4. 
   
   Mix 2/3 cup brown sugar with 2 sticks of butter in a saucepan til mixed well.
   
   
   
5. 
   
   Pour sugar over the crackers.
   
   
   
6. 
   
   Bake for 5 minutes.
   
   
   
7. 
   
   Make sure the crackers are lined up and even (you might have to adjust them with a fork). Let cool.
   
   
   
8. 
   
   Melt chocolate chips (semi-sweet is best). You can do this by using a double boiler (chocolate in a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water- don't let the water touch the bowl, thoguh!) or you can nuke them in the microwave for a minute and a time, stirring til melted.
   
   
   
9. 
   
   Once crackers are completely cooled, spread chocolate over with spatula.
   
   
   
10. 
    
    Add any toppings you want (slivered almonds, white choc. chips/shavings, etc.)
    
    
    
11. 
    
    Cool overnight in fridge (or at least a few hours).
    
    
    
12. 
    
    Break apart with your hands and enjoy!
    
    
    

This really takes little time and is a sure hit with everyone!!! Make it special for any occasion by putting different toppings on (crushed candy canes during Christmas, orange sprinkles for Halloween, etc.)

*Cowboy Caviar*

This is such an easy, great recipe that you can whip up for company, or just to have in the fridge for snacking. I have been making so much of it lately! The best thing about recipes like this is that you can add or take out any ingredients you want to make it just the way you like. This is how I like it:

-about 5 medium-sized avocados, peeled and diced

-about 1/2 a red onion, peeled and diced

-1 red pepper, diced

-1 tblsp. chopped garlic

-1 can corn (I like the white corn), rinsed and drained

-1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained

-a good helping of chopped cilantro

-the juice of one or two limes (you can even add in some lime zest)

-salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together and you have the bet dip ever! :)

Like I said, you can make substitutions, add anything you like or leave anything you don't like out. It's so great that way! Personally, I like everything to be diced pretty small for this dip.