5 Chocolate Cupcakes

Thats right, a recipe for just 5 perfect, homemade, chocolate cupcakes!!! This is for you Brianna, my fellow preggo!!! =D I saw a few recipes online for 2 cupcakes, but the recipes I tried were all gag worthy! I mean it was such a cute idea, I just knew I'd have to perfect it so that they were more enjoyable. In my attempts to perfect a "2" cupcake recipe, my own recipe turned into a "5" cupcake recipe! lol. The more the merrier right!?

 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 C. Cake Flour

1/4 C. Sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. Hershey's Dark Cocoa

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Baking Powder

1/8 tsp. (2 pinches) Salt

1 Egg White

2 Tbs. Softened Butter

2 Tbs. Water

2 Tbs. Oil

1/4 tsp. Vanilla

Chocolate Chips/ Minis

 

 

 

 Directions;

1. Whisk together all the dry ingredients.

2. Add in the wet ingredients and whisk again.

3. Pour into 5 cupcake molds and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. (These cupcakes can easily be overbaked resulting in a dry cupcake. Be very careful and check on them often. I've noticed that even 1 minute can make a difference and that they can continue baking in their pan even after you pull it out of the oven.)

4. After I've pulled them out of the oven, I wait a few minutes and then put them in a ziplock bag. In my mind I feel like this helps the cupcakes stay moist. I usually leave them in until they are completley cooled or I'm ready to frost and eat them!!!

 

Frosting:

2 Tbs. Melted Butter

3 Tbs. Cocoa

1/4 tsp. Vanilla

1/4 C. + 2 Tbs. Powdered Sugar

1-2 tsp. Milk

 

Directions: Mix all the ingredients together and frost once the cupcakes have cooled.

 

 

You may be wondering if you can substitute All Purpose Flour for the Cake Flour, NO, you can't. Sorry it has to be Cake Flour and the picture below explains why. The taste and texture are very off and the cupcake sinks. It is all too sad.

 

Inspiration for my recipe came from the blog, Manhattan Craft Room.

 

Necklace Dress Onesie Makeover

I saw these adorable ideas on Pinterest, of course!,  and although I'm not the most experienced of sewers, I thought I'd give them a whirl! It was sooo much faster than I thought it would be, even with 2 kids and a very needy puppy! =D

I thought the original tutorials were quite informative so I'll just share their links!

Necklace

Idea from: Tutus and Teaparties
 Tip: Do the necklace part first! Let it dry and iron it, then add the ruffles!!! My necklace job was far from perfect, but from a distance you can't tell, right!?

Ruffly Dress

Idea from: Sugar Baby Boutique
For the ruffly dress, measure across the onesie (mine was a newborn size and 6 inches across) and multiply by 4 1/2. (I multiplied by 3 and clearly its not ruffly enough!)

I bought the headband that came with 2 small matching flower clips at Wal Mart for $3. They were very "meh" so I added the bling!!! And now it's WOW! lol The flowers are Hot Pink, but, my lighting is terrible and it looks red/ oange in the pics! Sorry! I guess ya'll will have to see it in person!

"Chubby Chicken"

Okay, the original name is "Crockpot Chicken and Rice" but that doesn't hold a candle next to the name my friend calls this recipe, "Chubby Chicken!" lol. I was looking for crockpot recipes and stumbled upon this little gem from StickAForkInIt. I loved it so much I decided to share it with you! At first I thought all the ingredients sounded really weird together, but BOY was it DELICIOUS! I beg you to give this a try, you won't be diasppointed! =D

Ingredients:

2-4 Medium Sized Chicken Breasts
1 Pkg. Cream Cheese
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Pkg. Dried Italian Dressing Seasoning (Like the homemade salad dressing packets.)
Rice (I used 1 Cup Jasmine Rice and it was plenty!

Directions:

1. In a crock pot add cream cheese, chicken soup, and italian seasoning packet. Cook on high for 30 minutes.

2.Add in your fresh or FROZEN chicken breasts.

3. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. Stir about once every hour.

4. When you're ready to eat, cook the rice.

5. Layer rice, chicken and sauce!!!

Seriously, the chicken was SO tender, that when I tried to cut it into strips, all it wanted to do was shred! Probably my new favorite crock pot recipe!!!

French Bread Pizza/ Pizza Bread

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile! I've been super busy but hopefully I can win back your love with a few recipes I've had up my sleeves!!
For "my" French Bread Pizza, I combined a recipe my mom gave me, with the idea I've seen on pinterest to use French Bread as a pizza dough/ base! This recipe is different in the fact that it doesn't use pizza sauce! However you can dip these pieces in some store bought pizza sauce if you wish! We don't but it has crossed my mind! (For my mom's original recipe you buy frozen bread loaves, let thaw, let rise, roll out and spread the cheese mixture and toppings all over, roll up and bake until golden brown! She calls it "Pizza Bread!")
My husband and I love this super easy recipe and we often eat it as a meal. I've thought about using it as an appetizer or as finger food at a party!

Ingredients:

1 Loaf of French Bread (Mine was about 12 inches long.)
1 Egg
1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
1 C. Mozzarella Cheese
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/4 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Parsely
Plus your favorite pizza toppings!!! (For me it's just plain ol' Pineapple! Darren loves "the works" but I didn't have time to buy and prep all the veggies and meats for him, so he settled for a Pepperoni and Pineapple!)

Directions:

1. Mix together the egg, parmesan, mozzarella, pepper, garlic salt, oregano and parsley.

2. Cut the french bread in half and spread the cheese mixture evenly over both sides.

3. Add your toppings!!!!

4. Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes. You want the cheese to be melted and the bread to be toasted!

5. Cut into slices and EAT!

 

This picture makes my mouth DROOL! I love melty cheese!!!

Out of the oven!

The best pizza topping!!!

Eat hot and enjoy!!!

 

I hope ya'll enjoy this recipe! My mom has made it for us since we were kids and I love all the memories this meal/ snack brings up for me! =D