Sweetness

I made these cupcakes for a Relief Society dinner and loved how moist they were. We were given the recipe and the ingredients, and all I had to do was make them. Luckily there were a few leftover to bring home!

Cream Cheese Cupcakes (Black Bottom Cupcakes)

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
(Mix cake as directed on package)

Fill lined muffin tins with the cake batter.

Mix:
1 egg
1 8 oz. cream cheese softened
6 oz. chocolate chips
1/3 cup sugar
dash of salt

Drop this mixture into cake batter that is already in the muffin tins. Bake as directed on the cake mix package.



M and M sugar Cookies
(Jamie Cooks it up!)

These just looked good last Friday, and it was our "Sweets" day so I whipped them up. I halved the recipe, and they still turned out so sweet and chewy. This is the whole recipe below.

1 Cup butter softened
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Cups Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 medium bag of M&M's (12 oz.)

1. In a standard mixer, or with hand held beaters cream the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, or until fluffy.
2. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for 2 more minutes.
3. In a separate small mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture until well combines.
4. Pour your M&M's and mix just until combined. Don't mix too long or you'll crush the M&M's.
5. Form into round balls (about 2 inches in size) and lay onto cookie sheets.
6. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until you see the cookies just starting to crack. Take them out and let them finish cooking on the hot sheet for about 5 minutes.
7. Remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack to finish cooling.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

We JUST got done eating our pizza, and it really was quite excellent. This will be my go-to pizza recipe from here on out. We've decided that if/when we eat things with flour in it, it has to be whole wheat flour. This recipe has both white and wheat, but it's definitely a bit healthier than regular old crust. For any of you who know the husband and his family, you know how VITAL pizza is in their homes. I was nervous for him to have this, but even HE loved it and said we should make it again.

For our toppings we had cheese, turkey pepperoni, fresh garlic, red peppers, and white onions. So delish, and we even have some left over for tomorrow!!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
(A Daily Dose of Dieting)

Ingredients

* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.


****I didn't use her method of forming the pizza crust. I just put it on a greased cookie sheet and molded it with my hands.

A shout out and chicken enchildas!

A shout goes out to simplifysupper.com. It's monthly dinner recipes with grocery lists to match what you're making. I don't ever use the grocery list maker, but I do use their calendars for dinner ideas. The only thing I plan out each week is our dinners, so it's a great help.

We love chicken enchiladas at our house, but the only recipe I have calls for two cans of cream of chicken soup. Don't get me wrong, they are amazing, but I'm trying to choose the better, healthier options for meals....not necessarily the BEST, but better. I got this recipe from simplifysupper.com but added a few things.

Chicken Enchiladas

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
1 can mild enchilada sauce
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 package flour or wheat tortillas
1 can black beans drained
1/4 cup diced red pepper

Mix all ingredients reserving about ¼ can of enchilada sauce. Spoon mixture onto edge of tortilla and fold together, folding one end into middle. Place side by side in baking dish. Pour reserved sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with more shredded cheese if desired. Bake at 350 about 25 minutes.

The husband mentioned that diced green chilies would be good, and I agreed. So would olives. Hope you enjoy!! I know we sure did.

On the side we had sweet, white corn on the cob and red grapes.

A Hearty Welcome!

Hey!! Welcome. I've always wanted to publish my own recipe book, but that would mean I'd have to come up with my own, unique recipes. I don't see that happening anytime soon, so this is second best, right? I really do LOVE to cook (huge thanks to mom and dad) and try new recipes. My husband is SUCH a good sport and thankfully NOT a picky eater. He's also very grateful that I enjoy cooking and baking so much!!!

Until further notice, the pictures you see (or don't see) are not the actual pictures of what I made. We just ordered a new camera to replace the broken one.

All the items posted are things we have actually eaten and enjoyed! Please leave comments and requests!! I'm always up for finding and trying something new!!!

Erin

Banana Oat Cookies

Don't know what to do with only 1 or 2 over ripe bananas? A few weeks ago the husband requested that I use up the bananas, but I didn't have enough for bread. I found this recipes on allrecipes.com and decided to try it out. They turned out amazingly well and taste exactly like banana bread. I've made these twice already and everyone I've shared them with love them too!! I left out the walnuts though!!!

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup shortening
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
* 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in shortening until almost no lumps remain. Stir in the egg and bananas; mix well. Finally, stir in the oats and walnuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are browned. Remove from pans immediately to cool on wire racks.

Bluberry Oat Muffins

This is from allrecipes.com. I didn't have any OJ concentrate it called for, so I used a small squirt of honey. I also didn't do the cinnamon and sugar on top. They were very moist and the hubby approved! We will definitely be making these one again soon.

* 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
* 1/2 cup orange juice
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup fresh blueberries
* 2 teaspoons white sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan. In a small bowl, mix the oats and orange juice together. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Thoroughly blend in the oil and egg. Stir in the oat mixture, and fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Mix 2 teaspoons sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the tops of the muffins.
4. Bake 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Ham and Cheese Melts

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated biscuits (any variety)
8 slices American cheese
8 oz thinly sliced deli ham
1 egg
1 teaspoon water
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Press 4 biscuits into 5-inch rounds on ungreased large cookie sheet. Top each with 2 slices cheese and 2 ounces ham.
2. Press remaining 4 biscuits into 6-inch rounds; place over ham. Press edges with fork to seal. Beat egg and water with fork; brush over biscuits.
3. Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cut each in half. Serve warm.


I used turkey, cheddar cheese, and chopped green peppers. Jason says I can add this to "the list." In other words, he really really liked them. You could really add anything you had on hand and I'm sure they'd still taste great!! We had them with Broccoli Cheese Rice and some sliced pears.

Raspberry Blackberry Smoothie

* 1 small banana
* 1/2 cup blackberries
* 1 cup fresh raspberries
* 1 (6 ounce) container vanilla yogurt
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 4 ice cubes

Directions

1. Place banana, blackberries, raspberries, yogurt, honey, and ice cubes into a blender. Blend until smooth.

Simple Soupy Sloppy Joes

1 lb. ground hamburger
1 can chicken gumbo soup
1/4 diced onion
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds

Brown the hamburger and onions until done. Add rest of ingredient and heat through.
I just played around with the measurements, so they're probably not exactly on.

Jason discovered that using hot dogs buns was WAY less messy than a regular hamburger bun. We had our sloppy joes with baked potato fries.