Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

by penji1

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

So awhile ago I got a Babycakes cake pop maker for a really good price from Kohls, it was originally around $40 and I got it on sale for about $8 I think.  I haven’t ever tried it out so yesterday afternoon I decided to give it a whirl since I figured I could sit down while making them with my injured ankle and all.  I decided to give donut holes a go instead of cake pops and they came out beautiful and delicious as you can see, and oh so easy too!  The recipe comes from C’s Sweet Designs and was perfect!  I saw another idea on Pinterest for making cinnamon roll balls with cinnamon roll dough so I need to try that and, of course, cake pops.  I’ll keep you posted!

topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cinnamon

donut holes:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tablespoon lemon extract (I left this out, just wanted the vanilla flavor)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1  Fill a bowl or paper sack with topping ingredients and combine.  (I used my Alison’s Pantry Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast Sugar.)

2  Cream together butter and sugar.

3  Add eggs and mix thoroughly.

4  Add vanilla, milk and lemon extract.

5  Slowly fold in flour and baking soda, do not overmix.

6  Pour batter into squeeze bottle or ziploc bag with corner cut off.  (I used my Pampered Chef mini scoop.)

7  Squeeze or scoop batter to fill bottom of well heated and greased cake pop machine.

8  Cook according to machine’s directions, about 4 minutes for mine.

9  While piping hot, dump into cinnamon sugar mixture and toss to coat.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake

by penji1

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake

The blog has been quiet for the past couple of weeks and not because I’ve been working but because I fell down the stairs like a complete idiot and hurt my ankle, not broken but sprained and torn ligaments and it feels like it’s taking forever to heal although it’s only been 2 weeks and the dr said it would take 6, bummer.  So I haven’t been up much, let alone in the kitchen but now I’m starting to get up and around more so hopefully I’ll be able to get in the kitchen and whip up some yummies.  I did make this cake for a family dinner a week ago but just didn’t get to the computer to post it.  It’s from Betty Crocker and was easy and yummy, more like a pudding cake than a lava cake but tasty all the same.

cake:

1 triple fudge chocolate fudge cake mix

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs

topping:

1 box (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix

2 cups milk

1 (12 oz) bag milk chocolate chips (I used semisweet)

1  Spray 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.  Beat cake ingredients as directed on cake mix box and pour into slow cooker.

2  Beat pudding mix and milk with whisk as directed on pudding box.  Pour into slow cooker over cake batter.  Do not mix.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over top.

3  Cover and cook on low 2 1/2 – 3 hours or until cake is set and pudding is beginning to bubble out of cake.

Sausage and Cabbage Soup

by penji1

Sausage and Cabbage Soup

Delicious dinner last night, recipe inspiration from “Everyday Maven”.  Hearty and warming, perfect for winter.  I simplified the recipe and am just going to give you my version here, you can click the link for the original recipe.

1 (13 oz) package Butterball everyday hardwood smoked turkey sausage (or similar sausage), halved lengthwise and sliced

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 head green cabbage, cored and shredded

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 (14.5 oz each) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

3 (14.5 oz each) cans chicken broth

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for about 6 hours.

Loaded Candy Hearts

by penji1

Loaded Candy Hearts

I saw this idea on Pinterest but apparently didn’t pin it and now I can’t find it again so I can’t give credit where credit is due, so sorry!  Easy, yummy and cute, right?

1 silicone heart shaped mold (I found one at Walmart with 24 cavities)

candy melts, your choice color (I used a bag each of red, pink and white with red sprinkles in it and those 3 bags gave me a total of 50 hearts)

sprinkles, etc also your choice (you can see from the picture what I used – white pearl/bead sprinkles in a variety of sizes, chocolate and white jimmies, also Valentine themed sprinkles with hearts, X’s and O’s)

Valentine colored M&M’s

Melt the candy melts according to package directions.  Spoon M&M’s and various sprinkles into each heart cavity in your pan.  Carefully spoon the melted candy over the sprinkles, etc.  I put the silicone tray on a cookie sheet to make it easier to move around.  Tap the tray when full carefully on the counter 1 – 2 times only, any more and the chocolate will cover all your sprinkles.  Place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until set.  Remove carefully from mold and repeat with remaining chocolate.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Michelangelo Cupcakes

by penji1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Michelangelo Cupcakes

In addition to the mini Spider-Man cake, Eli also requested Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cupcakes, but only the orange one, who is Michelangelo.  These were a lot of fun to make!  Eli’s birthday celebration was on Friday so on Wednesday I made the TMNT cupcake toppers so that they would have time to dry.  I cut out 3″ rounds from Wilton green fondant then colored some white Wilton fondant orange using red and yellow dye (discovered at the last minute that I didn’t have any orange dye!), cut out the same size rounds in orange and then cut them into strips for the bandanas and placed them on the green rounds when both were still soft so no need for any water or anything to get them to stick together.  I let them sit on parchment covered cookie sheets in my kitchen which is the warmest room in the house during the winter so that they would dry.  On Friday they were pretty much dry so I attached the candy eyeballs with a bit of frosting then let them sit so that those would dry.  I baked some funfetti cupcakes in those cute chevron liners from Pick Your Plum, frosted them with my favorite Basic Buttercream Icing with a #2A tip in a flat pattern not a peaked one like you would normally do and then pressed a TMNT cupcake topper onto each cupcake.  So cute!  Here is a pic of the cake and cupcakes together ready to go to the birthday boy:

Spider-Man mini cake and TMNT Michelangelo cupcakes

Mini Spider-Man Fondant Birthday Cake

by penji1

Mini Spider-Man 4th Birthday Cake

Cute little Spider-Man mini cake for our friend Eli’s 4th birthday.  It’s a 6″ round single layer vanilla cake made from the “White Almond Sour Cream Cake” recipe, covered in our favorite “Basic Buttercream Icing”, covered in red Wilton fondant (their new fondant is pretty easy to work with) and then finished with spiderwebs made from Duff’s brand black fondant.  The topper is actually a candle from Zurchers.  Came out pretty cute.  Happy Birthday Eli!

Mini Butterscotch Cream Pies

by penji1

Mini Butterscotch Cream Pies

Another contribution to the neighborhood party last week.  These were delic and easy to make and were oh so cute!  The recipe comes from “Lauren’s Latest”.  I think next time I’ll try chocolate.

crust:

1 whole pie crust recipe, enough for 9″ shell (I just bought the premade ones that you can find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, next to the premade cookie dough)

filling:

1/3 cup butterscotch chips

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon sugar

(I was thinking you could use pudding mix here to make it even easier)

cream:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

(I used Cool Whip to make is easier)

garnish:

24 butterscotch chips

1  Preheat oven to 375.  Roll out pie crust (and let sit according to package directions if using premade).  Using a small round or fluted cookie cutter, cut out 24 (2 1/2 – 3″) circles.  Press dough into mini muffin tins (I used my Pampered Chef tart shaper) and bake for about 8 minutes or unit edges are lightly golden.  Let cool.

2  Melt butterscotch chips in microwave at 30 second intervals until smooth.  Blend cream cheese with mixer then beat in melted chips and mix until smooth with no lumps.  Stir in vanilla and sugar.  Spoon about 1 teaspoon of filling into each shell and refrigerate.

3  Whip together all ingredients for cream until stiff peaks form.  Spoon cream into piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip (I used my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator.  If you don’t have any of these, just put the cream into a ziploc bag, snip off the corner and pipe away!)  Swirl cream over top of filling and place a chip on top for garnish.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mexican Buffalo Chicken Dip

by penji1

Mexican Buffalo Chicken Dip

Made this easy and, according to Bob, yummy dip for a neighborhood party the other night.  The recipe comes from “Damn Delicious”.  It must have been yummy because when I went to pick up my dishes, it was almost totally gone, there was just a tiny scoop left for Bob to try and I even doubled the recipe to a 9 x 13″ pan.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise in half (I skipped the olive oil and used 2 cans of chicken to make my life easier!)

salt and pepper

1 cup Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper

1 (16 oz) can black refried beans

4 oz cream cheese, cubed

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

(I skipped the sour cream, avocado and cilantro and topped mine with 3 chopped tomatoes and 1 bunch chopped green onions)

1  Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly coat 8 x 8″ baking dish with cooking spray (or 9 x 13″ if you are doubling).

2  Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Put chicken in skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, 3 – 4 minutes per side.  Let cool before shredding and combing with Frank’s RedHot.  (Or use 1 – 2 cans of chicken, drain, flake with fork and stir in Frank’s.)

3  Reheat refried beans according to package directions.  Spread beans in even layer on bottom of baking dish.  Without stirring, top with cubes of cream cheese.  Spread chicken mixture over top and sprinkle with cheese.

4  Bake until bubbly, 15 – 18 minutes.

5  Garnish as desired.

The Best Chicken Soup Ever

by penji1

The Best Chicken Soup Ever

I don’t know if this is the best chicken soup ever since I’m pretty sure I haven’t tasted all of the chicken soups but that’s what the “Budget Savvy Diva” calls it so that’s what I’ll call it even though I deviated from her recipe quite a bit.

30 ounces chicken broth (I only ended up using one 14.5 oz can)

2 pounds of chicken, cooked (I used 2 cans of Costco chicken and did not drain them)

15 oz black bean, drained and rinsed (I used 2 cans of black beans)

10 oz of diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and did not drain them)

1 can of corn, drained (I used 2 cans and did not drain them)

(I added 1 large onion, chopped)

1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley (I used 1 teaspoon dried)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

(I also added 1 clove of garlic)

In large stock pot, add all ingredients, cover, set to low/medium and cook for 40 minutes.

(I put everything in the crock pot, set the temperature to high and cooked for about 5 hours.)

Butterfinger Blondies

by penji1

Butterscotch Blondies

Some treats to go with dinner for my friend Julie and her family.  I’m not gonna lie, I saved a couple for us and they were delicious!  The recipe comes from “Six Sisters’ Stuff”.  Bob loves Butterfingers so he loved these too!

blondies:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups coarsely chopped Butterfinger bars (approx 16 Fun Size bars)

Butterfinger buttercream:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

2 1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped Butterfinger bars (approx 4 Fun Size bars)

1  For blondies, Preheat oven to 350.

2  Cream butter and sugars.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated.

3  Add dry ingredients until just combined.

4  Stir in chopped Butterfingers.

5  Spread batter in 9 x 13″ baking dish and bake for 25 minutes until center is just set.

6  Remove from oven and cool completely.

7  For frosting, cream butter and shortening together until smooth.

8  Add in powdered sugar on low speed then turn up to medium and mix until smooth.

9  Stir chopped Butterfingers into frosting and frost bars or frost bars then sprinkle Butterfingers on top.

(I had some leftover buttercream icing from the wedding cakes in the fridge so I used that which is similar to this recipe but without the shortening which I’m not crazy about.  You can find the recipe for my buttercream icing here.)