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

Chinese Lettuce Wraps

(sorry for the camera phone photos! Our camera was lost but I'll get better ones uploaded as soon as we get a new camera!)

I am so lucky to share the joy of cooking and baking with my oh so sweet Mother In Law! She has given me several recipes. Some that she has collected and others that she came up with herself! This is one such masterpiece that she invented! Of all the recipes she has given me, I must admit this is my most favorite! I usually make it as an appetizer but I'll admit I've made it as a snack before too!
p.s. I secretly LOVE these WAY more than P.F. Changs version!

Chicken Filling:

2 Chicken Breasts (size medium- large)
1 Can of Water Chestnuts (small can)
4-6 Tbs. Iron Chef's General Tso Sauce (see pic below)

1 Head of Lettuce

Spicy Chinese Sauce:

2 Tbs. Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp. Hot/ Spicy Chinese Mustard
1 tsp. Chinese Chili Sauce (my family calls it "Rooster Sauce". lol)
*I have pictures of all of these below for a visual verification! And you can find all of those ingredients at Wal Mart in the Chinese section.*

Directions:

 1. Cut up your raw chicken breasts into 1 centimeter sized cubes. Also cut up your water chestnuts into slightly smaller sized cubes. (Really the size and ratio of chicken to water chestnuts is up to you!)

 2. Put the chicken and water chestnuts in a frying pan and drizzle with Iron Chef's General Tso Sauce. You just want enough to cover the chicken, about 4-6 Tbs. There really isnt a specific amount, but if you're in doubt add a little more.(Usually when I list a specific brand it's important. =D)

3. Cook the chicken and water chestnut mixture until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside.

4. To make the Spicy Chinese Sauce, add the Soy Sauce, Rooster Sauce and Spicy Mustard together and mix well. (Hopefullt his picture will clarify what I'm talking about!)

If you decide the Spicy Chinese Sauce needs more of a punch, just add a little more Rooster Sauce! And leave some out if its too spicy!

5. Tear pieces of lettuce of of the head of lettuce. Ideally you want the pieces to be ABOUT 3x5 but it usually tears off in askewed sizes and shapes. =D

6. Assemble!!! Add chicken mixture to the middle of a lettuce piece, then  add as much Spicy Chinese Sauce as you wish, roll up and DEVOUR! =D

 Just a tip, go easy on the Spicy Chinese Sauce, it may be hotter than you think and you can always add more if you need to! It has taken people off guard before! A little goes a looooooong way!

Triple Chocolate Cookies/ Crinkle Cookies

I hope ya'll have missed me! I cant believe its been so long since I posted here. July was a BUSY month for us and on top of that, we lost our camera on our last vacation trip and I apologize for the sad pictures I took from my phone. Hopefully we can replace our camera soon since Im terrible at taking pictures anyways and using a camera phone doesnt help! lol. Thanks for bearing with me!

These cookies are soooo good, I was only able to get 1 picture before they were all eaten! (Sadly it was just a picture of the cookie dough, so I'll leave it out. But, dont worry I'll make them again and upload a good picture soon! I just wanted to share this recipe ASAP!) My good friend claims them to be her ALL time favorite dessert! And my brother in law claims they're his favorite cookie. Seriously these are yum! The other great part is you can use the same cookie dough to make 2 different cookies! Shazam!

Ingredients:

1 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 C. White Sugar
1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
4 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
*For Triple  Chocolate Cookies: 1 C. White Chocolate Chips and 1 C. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips. (or more!)*
*For Crinkle Cookies: 1 C. Powdered Sugar*

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix together Cocoa, Sugar and Oil.
2. Beat in the Eggs 1 at a time, then stir in the Vanilla.
3. In a seperate bowl whisk together the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt. Then mix into the cocoa mixture to form a dough. *For Triple Chocolate Cookies: stir in the white and semi sweet chocolate chips.*
4. The dough will be sticky, so you must place the dough in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up.
5. Roll the dough into balls, place them on a cookie sheet and flatten them a little bit. *For Crinkle Cookies: After rolling the dough into a ball, roll it around in the powdered sugar and then place on a cookie sheet.*
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.


I found  this recipe on Allrecipes.com  a few years ago!

Cake Batter Mousse

***I apologize in advance for ANY diets this DELICIOUS dessert will ruin!***

With the whole "Cake Batter Craze" goin on,  I decided to make up a recipe that is not something you'd easily find on pinterest! ;D If you were unaware, mousse is a type of dessert that closely resembles pudding, but has a lighter and fluffier texture! Heaven!  It is used in Trifle recipes, as fillings in cakes, eaten with ice cream, eaten by itself (my fave way to eat mousse), or you can get crazy and  top it with whipped cream!

(This is dedicated to you Alyssa, my fellow Cake Batter lover! I hope this recipe doesn't ruin our friendship!) lol.

This is TOTALLY the "Cake Batter Lover's" dream! It tastes exactly like the stuff but has a whipped, pudding like texture! I really wish I had some Hersheys Chocolate Syrup to drizzle over top to get the Yellow Cake and Chocolate Frosting taste! I ate mine plain in a bowl, yum!, and Darren choose to eat his with chocolate ice cream! I didn't expect him to like it because he HATES the cake batter taste, but surprisngly he LOVED it!

Just LOOK at that big bowl of heavenly deliciousness! 

Ingredients:

1 Packet of Dream Whip (found in the baking isle!)
1/2 C. Cold Milk
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1 Pkg. Instant Vanilla pudding
1 1/2 C. Cold Milk
1/2- 3/4 C. Yellow Cake Mix (how much you put in depends on your taste preference! the more you add, the stronger the cake batter taste and the sweeter it will be! Of course I used 3/4 cups!)

In a mixer add the packet of Dream Whip, 1/2 cup Cold Milk and 1/2 tsp. Vanilla. Mix on slow until combined and then on high for 4 minutes or until sitff peaks form. Set aside.

In a seperate bowl whisk together the Vanilla Pudding and Cake Mix with a whisk. Add in 1 1/2 C. Milk and whisk by hand for 2 minutes. Mix the Pudding mixture in with the Dream Whip mixture and VOILA! Let set in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

 And be prepared because I may have another Cake Batter Recipe up my sleeve!

*Does this recipe look familar? I got the inspiration for this recipe from the Mousse recipe right of the Dream Whip box!*