Roasted Potatoes

I may have mentioned before that I haven't met a potato I didn't like. This was no exception.

I modified the recipe from McCormick's website.

I didn't have any of the seasoning's they suggested, so I improvised.
I also didn't add onion like they suggest. 

Here's what I did: 

• Preheat oven to 425 and spray a baking pan w/cooking spray. (I used a 9x13 Glass Pyrex.)
• Cut six red potatoes into bite-size cubes and put them into a gallon sized zip lock. 
• Dump the following ingredients into the bag w/the potatoes:
•  3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1.5 teaspoons Garlic Powder 
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• Sprinkle in some pepper. (I use McCormick's Peppercorn Medley.)

• Shake it all up until the potatoes are nicely coated and dump it into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until golden to your liking. Stir occasionally. (I stirred about every 10-15 minutes.)

Throw it together with some chicken and asparagus and you have a le gourmet meal!

Basil Chicken Orzo Soup

Looking for a healthy, easy, comfort soup? Look no further. This recipe that came from "gimme some oven" is scrumpdilicious! I made some slight modifications.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 3 cubes of Dorot frozen garlic.)
• 8 cups good-quality chicken stock or broth
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (I used 3 cubes of Dorot frozen basil.)
• 1 cup dried orzo pasta

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large cooking pot over medium-high heat.
• Add carrots, celery and garlic then stir for 60 seconds. 
• Stir in chicken stock, chicken, and bay leaves. 
• Let simmer for an hour (or 30 minutes if you're rushed). 
• Bring soup back to a boil.
• Add basil and orzo - cooking according to package directions. 

Yum! I have made it twice now and it's a dish K and I both like. 

It's a bit on the salty side as is so be sure to taste test before you add any salt! 

Also, if you have leftovers, be forewarned that the Orzo seems to soak up all the broth making it less soupy. K eats it as is, but I add a little water to mine before heating it up and it's fine. 

P.S. This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly!

6 Points Per Serving: 

Calories:  259

Carbs:  32

Fat:  3

Protien:  23

Crescent Pizza Rolls

These guys were ... interesting. At the same time, they had potential.

K first saw this recipe on Facebook. When I went to make them, of course I couldn't find the recipe of Facebook again and I knew Pinterest would have it. They did. I didn't find one that linked back to a particular blog so I don't really know who the proper credit should go to.

The recipe on Facebook was for a large family. There are only two of us, so I scaled it down quite a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 can Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits
• Pepperoni Slices
• Jack cheese
• Cheddar cheese
• 1 beaten egg
• Parmesan, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder
• Pizza Sauce

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425*F
• Cut 10 smallish pieces of each cheese
• Flatten biscuit
• Put a couple pepperoni, the cheese, and a couple more pepperoni
• Fold biscuit around pepperoni and cheese
• Place face down in a 9x9 pyrex dish (I'm sure a pan would work, but I would spray it first)
• Repeat 9 more times
• Once they're all in the baking dish, lightly brush them with the egg
• Sprinkle with Parmesan, Italian Seasoning, and Garlic Powder
• Bake for 18-20 minutes
• Use pizza sauce for dipping

Sooo, these were Oh-Kay. I'm not sure I was a huge fan of the Italian Seasoning. If I were to do these again, I wouldn't use it. I also would have used mozzarella cheese. (I used what I had on hand.) I also think we had the buttery buttermilk biscuits which I think gave it a weird sweet kind of flavoring.

At the same time, I think these had potential. With the small changes I mentioned above and maybe using other ingredients like olives, or Hawaiian style ingredients, they could be better. I might make them again if my nieces or nephews were in town, but I doubt I will make the for K and me again.

Loaded Potato Slices

I never met a potato I didn't like and these were no exception.

Ingredients:

• Potato 
• Shredded cheese
• Bacon
• Green Onions
• Butter
• Olive oil

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Rub the outside of the potato with a little olive oil
• Slice potatoes (try and get them all the same thickness - about 1/4 inch thick.)
• Brush both sides with melted butter
• Bake in for 30-40 minutes - flipping once (I did 40 minutes, 20 on each side.)
• Take potatoes out of the oven and add the toppings.
• Throw back in the oven for another 3 minutes or until cheese is melted

This recipe was modified from keyingredient.

I like options, so I served them with both sour cream and ranch dressing. The ranch dressing was definitely my preference. I threw in a little broccoli for a side so it felt more healthy than it really was.

The only thing I'd do different next time is spray the cookie sheet w/cooking spray because when I went to go flip the taters, they kind of stuck.

I LOVED these. I asked K what she thought and her response was, "They're ok... they're... different." Different?! They were delicious. I'm not sure where here taste buds grew up, but this is coming from a person that doesn't really like bacon. Who doesn't like bacon!!! LOL

S'Mores Krispies

I made these a while ago and the were life changing! I didn't take pics the first time because I was in my blogging slump, so now that I am trying to get back into the groove, of course I had to make them again just so I could blog about them!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (10 oz) Mini Marshmallows
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips + 1 for topping
• 1 box (12 0z) Golden Grahams Cereal
• 6 Tbsp Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

In a 9x9 inch baking pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large non-stick pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add in marshmallows and stir together with butter until marshmallows have melted and become creamy. Stir in vanilla extract.

Fold in grahams cereal until all marshmallows and grahams are evenly mixed together. Mix in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Spread treats into sprayed baking pan. Press into pan and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top of the treats, lightly press into top of treats to make sure they stick.

Place into fridge for 10 minutes to cool.

Slice into bars and serve. Devour.

Seriously, you guys... I don't really care for real s'mores over the campfire, but I freaking loved these!!

Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I heart salty sweet combos. The other day, I grabbed a bag of chocolate chips at the store with the intention of making just chocolate chip cookies. Then I thought, I have pinned numerous versions of chocolate chip cookie recipes... Maybe I will try one of those instead. I came across this pretzel one and just so happened to have bought pretzels that day so thought I would give them a try. 

I got the original recipe from "Sugar Cooking". I modified my recipe a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cup milk chocolate chips (or an entire bag)
• 1/2 cup pretzel pieces (I used butter pretzels and forgot to measure)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough - leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

I'm still not really sure how I feel about these cookies. They aren't amazing. I guess they're OK if you're looking to change up the standard chocolate chip cookie. And it's definitely better than putting nuts in your cookies. With that said, I'm not likely to make these again, but don't feel like I wasted my time giving them a try.

Oven Bacon

Oops! Apparently I let this blog post without actually posting anything. Ha! Well, here's the content:

I LOVE bacon. Grew up loving bacon. I don't think anyone made bacon as perfect and delicious as my Dad made bacon!

As an adult, I have often longed for bacon, but have been to uuuhhh scared to make it. I always remember my Dad swearing when the bacon would pop and hot grease would splash on him. Not only that, but the weird disposal process of the bacon grease afterwards is just gross. Therefore, those two hang ups always prevented me from attempting to make bacon.

And then there was Pinterest. Pinterest told me I could make bacon in the oven. No hot grease splashing me and an easy clean up? I'm in!!

I tried this version first. Pretty simple - line baking sheet with foil - put bacon in oven and turn oven on to 400 (do not preheat) - bake for 16-20 minutes.
I checked it at 16 minutes and didn't think it was crispy enough so I put it in for another two. This is what happened:

Uuuhh - that's a little more crispy than I like. Thankfully, I had only used half the package of bacon so I had another batch to try this with. I searched Pinterest for a different "recipe" and found one on "Dinner by Pinterest".

I knew right away I would like this one better because it told me to flip the bacon half way through cooking it. Don't ask me why that made me feel better, but it did.

Again, really easy: Preheat oven to 350 - Lay bacon of a foil lined baking sheet - Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes (turning half way through) until desired crispiness achieved.

Muuuuuch better!!! It wasn't as good as my Dad's bacon was, but it was good enough! As a result, I made my first ever BLT!

It was freaking delicious! Although, next time I would definitely add more bacon and not toast the bread. I love the toasted bread, but it always tears up the roof of my mouth. Someone told me to try putting both pieces of bread in the same toaster slot so it only toasts one side of the bread. Pretty clever. I might give that a try next time.

Orange Crush Cupcakes

Don't judge my cupcake decorating skills! (Or lack of skills!) I usually make K do the decorating portion, but for some reason, I did these on my own. As long as they taste good, who cares what they look like, right? Part of the issue is I see on TV the people that bake cupcakes for a living use an ice cream scoop to measure the amount of batter for each cupcake. I try this trick, but my ice cream scoop must be bigger than the ones they use because my cupcakes always overflow!

I got the recipe from "i heart nap time". She called the cupcakes Orange Cream Cupcakes... which, to me meant they were going to taste like an orange creamsicle. It didn't. But I imagine it could with a few changes. Also - you should really go check out the pics of her cupcakes. WAY cuter than my little disasters!

Ingredients:

• 1 16.5 oz white cake mix
• 1 3.4 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
• 6 Tbsp orange jello powder save 1 Tbsp for frosting I bought two of the larger boxes of jello thinking that one might not be enough and I would be super agro if I was in the middle of making the cupcakes and had to go back to the store for more jello. One was plenty.
• 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup orange soda room temperature
• 1 8 oz cube of cream cheese softened
• 1 cube (1/2 cup) salted butter softened
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

• Pre heat oven to 350. 
• Combine cake mix, vanilla pudding and 5 Tbsp of jello in a large bowl. 
• Beat in egg whites, vegetable oil and orange soda. 
• Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Place batter in cupcake liners and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 
• Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool. 

Frosting:

• Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. 
• With a mixer beat until smooth.
• Add jello, orange extract and powdered sugar. 
• Mix until fluffy.
• Frost cupcakes, top with a cute gummy orange candy, and enjoy! 

My opinion: They were good, but not great. I think the orange cream cheese frosting was too much.It would have been much better with a vanilla frosting - giving it more of the orange creamsicle taste I was hoping for. If I were to make them again, I would definitely change the frosting.

The Nieces

Luckily, I made these right before we had family come into town for 4th of July and they were more than happy to help us eat them. My one niece devoured hers and then raved about how good it was. A little while later, I was talking about the cream cheese frosting and all of a sudden she was saying she didn't really like the frosting that much. Apparently, she doesn't like cream cheese frosting. Kids. SMH... LOL I was the exact same way when I was her age. 

 

Honey Chicken

This is a dish I have actually made a couple times before, but it had been a while. A while as in, I think this was one of the first recipes I tried out from Pinterest.

The original recipe came from "MMM...CAFE". She offers a crock pot and an oven version on her website. I have always done the oven version so that is what I am sharing with you here.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound chicken (of your choice) A pound works just fine.
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp chopped onion (or 1/2 Tbsp onion flakes)
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes I skip this part.

Directions:

• Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper
• Place in 8x8 dish
• Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

I served mine over brown rice with a side of Edamame, which is like crack for me. It's a good mix of savory and sweet and good for leftovers.

Note: I didn't get this recipe from a Fibro cookbook, but I am tagging it as a Fibro recipe because it has a lot of the same ingredients that most of the Fibro recipes use. 

Chicken N Broccoli Stir Fry

I'm not sure I have shared with you that K has Fibromyalgia. It's a crappy disease to have and one of the things that is supposed to help it is the things you eat. K recently had a pretty gnarly flare up so we have been trying to do things a little different. This recipe is one of those things. I got it out of a book called, "The Fibromyalgia Cookbook." Clever name, I know.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cut into strips
• 1 head broccoli - cut into bite size pieces
• 2 carrots - cut into strips
• 1 large onion - cut into large slices
• 1  teaspoon sesame oil (optional because I didn't use it.)

Directions:

• Combine the soy sauce, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of chicken broth in a medium bowl. Add chicken to the broth mixture. I let this kind of marinate while I cut my veggies.
• Cook the chicken in a large nonstick skillet with the broth mixture for 5 minutes.
• Remove chicken with slotted spoon, leaving the liquid in the skillet.
• Add the broccoli, carrots, onion, and remaining broth. Cover and cook for 4 minutes.
• Add the chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle with oil and serve.

I served mine over brown rice. The flavor was good, but I would have liked more sauce and the sauce to coat the chicken and veggies more. The only other thing I would do different is more broccoli! Otherwise it was a tasty dish, and healthy!

 

Ravioli Bake

I got this recipe from a pin on Pinterest, of course. It comes from Tasty Kitchen.

This recipe is - by far - the most delicious easy recipe I have come across!!

Ingredients

• 1 bag (25 Oz. Bag) Frozen Ravioli
• 1 jar (26 Oz. Jar) Marinara Sauce (I used a 24oz and it was fine, but you can supplement the two missing ounces with tomato sauce if you wish.)
• 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese, For Sprinkling

   

Directions

• Heat oven to 400°F. Spray bottom and sides of a 9×13 rectangular baking dish with cooking spray.  
• Spread 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce in baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce; top with half of the remaining pasta sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in the center. 
• Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.   
   

 For having such limited ingredients, it really was good! And not having to boil the ravioli first is an added bonus! Yum, people. Just yum.

Comfort Food Casserole

I have actually made this dish several times, but was nervous to blog it before now. Why would I be nervous to blog something? Well, because this dish is delicious. K loves it, I love it, the sister-in-law even loves it. But you see, there's this one ingredient in it that I thought if K found out about it, she wouldn't eat it anymore. LOL Assuming she reads my blog, I didn't want to share the recipe. I finally had to come clean the other day because she offered to make the dish. I wasn't about to turn down an offer for her to cook, so I came clean. We wont mention that she never got around to cooking it. Haha!

I got the recipe from Food.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cups idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and cut into cubes when cool, approx. 1 lb
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 lb Velveeta cheese, diced <~ This is the ingredient I didn't want K to find out about. LOL
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 lb skinless smoked sausage (Eckrich is my favorite brand)
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika <~ I skip this part.

Directions:

1. Cut skinless smoked sausage in half, lengthwise, and then chop into 1/2 inch "half moon" cuts. Cook in a frying pan for about 15 minutes, turning frequently to SLIGHTLY brown.
2. Meanwhile, put cooked & diced potatoes in 2 quart casserole. Add cooked meat and give it a gentle 
3. Mix all remaining ingredients (except for shredded cheddar cheese & the paprika) in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, melted and smooth. (Use a whisk and stir constantly.).
4. Pour white/cheese sauce over potatoes and meat. Sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top, and then sprinkle paprika evenly over the top.
5. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35-45 minutes (watch, until golden brown on top).

NOTE: You can substitute: 1/2 lb. hot dogs, sliced into 1/2-inch slices OR 1/2 lb. ham diced into 1/2-inch dices OR 12 oz. can of Spam diced into 1/2-inch dices, instead of the smoked sausage.

Healthy? Not so much. Delicious? Abso-freaking-lutely! Good as leftovers and freezes well if you're into that sort of thing. 

Chicken N Dumplin Soup

I absolutely LOVE Chicken N Dumplins. Our friends makes some that are to die for simply because they remind me of home. I don't really know why they remind me of home because I am not sure that I really recall my mom ever making them, but I guess they remind me of home in that they're just good ol' comfort food.

Anywho, K doesn't really like Chicken N Dumplins - she says because there's no veggies. So when I saw this recipe that had veggies in it, I thought I would give it a try.

There was no real adventure in this cooking. It went off without a hitch. Shocking, I know.

I am not really sure how this "soup" differs from the real other than the veggies, but the "soup" was surprisingly delish. (I am often surprised when something I make turns out good. LOL - will that ever go away?) And it was filling!

I was super skeptical with the biscuits... I didn't think they were going to be cooked right, but if I have learned one thing in cooking, it is to trust the process. So, I did and it paid off!

My only complaint? It's not as good as left overs. (Which I also think about real Chicken N Dumplins.) And if there's a next time, I would rather do a fresh veggie medley than used canned.

Chicken and Dumplin’ Soup
10 3⁄4-oz. can cream of chicken soup
4 c. chicken broth
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I poached mine)
2 (15-oz.) cans mixed vegetables
12-oz. tube refrigerated biscuits, quartered (I halved the quarters and still cut them down when I was eating it)
Optional: pepper to taste

Combine soup and broth in a 6-quart stockpot; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking until smooth. Stir in chicken and vegetables; bring to a boil. 
Drop biscuit quarters into soup; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Let soup sit 10 minutes before serving.
Sprinkle each serving with pepper, if desired. Serves 6 to 8.

Recipe compliments of this blog.

Waffle Adventure

As you may or may not know, I got K a waffle iron for Christmas. I have been experimenting with waffle recipes - and by experimenting, I mean throwing a little cinnamon in or adding a little vanilla extract to the recipe on the side of the Bisquick box.

I found a couple different pins on Pinterest and when I pinned this pin claiming to be "The Best Waffles", my friend responded telling me that a recipe called "A Great Make-the-Morning-of Waffle" from Orangette blog were the best.

I am hesitant to make a waffle (or a pancake) with a recipe that doesn't use Bisquick because it is often my excuse to get out of having to make them. "Sorry, love, we're fresh out of Bisquick... How about and egg sandwich?" LOL

Anywho, I was feeling chipper and rather generous this morning so I thought, what they heck... why not? I check the cupboard for ingredients and we have everything except Corn Starch. Off to the store I go.

I get home and this is where the adventure begins. I start pulling the ingredients out of the cabinet and putting them on the counter... Sugar - check. Vanilla - check. Baking soda and powder - check, check. Flour - Check. Damnit! Hidden behind the flour was a box of corn starch. I didn't have to go to the store after all. (When I pulled it off the shelf, I discovered it had expired so it wasn't a totally wasted trip.)

I start measuring and throwing the ingredients in the bowl. I get to the buttermilk part, check the date on the carton - expired. Ugh! It's only a couple days past the expiration, maybe its OK. I open it up and sniff it out. *GAG* Definitely ripe smelling and visibly chunky. Gross.

Welp, I hope it works with a whole cup of whole milk instead of the 1/2 cup of buttermilk the recipe called for. :o\

Pour in the last ingredient, and check the recipe to see what's next. Well, obviously, I was to whisk the ingredients together. However, apparently I was supposed to whisk the powdered stuff together first and then whisk again after I added the liquid stuff. *Sigh* Guess I should have read the directions first.

So, I figure I better read the rest of the directions just in case there's any surprises in the rest of the process and low and behold - there was. "Set aside to rest for 30 minutes." What?! Rest? Why does waffle batter need to rest?!

"Well," I say, "How bout a granola bar to hold over your hunger for 30 minutes while the batter rests?!"

I thought I had learned my lesson in reading the recipe/instructions all the way through. Apparently not. Either way, they turned out pretty amazing. I am not a huge waffle fan so I don't know that I am the best candidate to deem them the "best" waffle.

They were most definitely better than the Bisquick waffles. I really liked the crispy quality of them. The recipe doesn't yield much. It made about 3.5 for us which is perfect for just the two of us, but if you want some to freeze or to snack on later, I recommend doubling the batch. Like I said, I am not a huge fan of waffles so I usually only have one. This time, I kind of wanted two.

A Great Make-the-Morning-of Waffle
Adapted slightly from the “Waffle of Insane Greatness” recipe

This waffle works in any kind of waffle maker.

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
1 ½ tsp. sugar
½ cup whole milk
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil, such as canola
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¾ tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Whisk well. Add the milk, buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk to blend well, so that few (if any) lumps remain. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron. Follow your waffle maker’s instruction manual for this, but my guess is that you’ll want to heat it on whatever setting is approximately medium-high. My waffle maker has a heat dial that runs from 1 to 7, and I turned it to 5. There’s no need to grease the waffle maker.

Pour an appropriate amount of batter into your hot waffle maker: this amount will vary from machine to machine, and you should plan to use your first waffle as a test specimen. Cook until golden and crisp.

Yield: depends on the size and configuration of your waffle iron

Glazed Apple Fritter Cupcakes

Oh. My. Delicious!!!!!

I got this recipe from Chasing Some Blue Sky and I'm calling mine cupcakes - she called them muffins. Mine don't look as pretty as hers do (go ahead and click the link so you can see just how different they look!) I am pretty sure they tasted as good, if not better. (My glaze is much thicker - hence the "better".)

Here's how it goes:

For the Apples:
2 large granny smith apples, 1/4 inch dice
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp water

1/3 cup flour

For the Cupcakes:
2 large eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk

For the Glaze:
2 tbsp butter melted
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Line 14 muffin cups with cupcake liners (14? Who has a 14 cup muffin tin?!)
3. In a skillet add apple ingredients except flour (It was at this point I realized I didn't have enough cinnamon and had to run out to the store. It was the most frustrating cinnamon run of my life. Fortunately, there were no casualties.) and cook over medium heat until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour to coat apples (this prevents apples from sinking to bottom of cupcakes)
4. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
5. In a large bowl beat together applesauce, oil, and sugars till smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly  
6. Stir the flour into the batter alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Gently stir in apples until just combined
7. Spoon batter into cups (I used an ice cream scoop), filling the cups, and smooth tops (AKA shake the cupcake pan a little to level them out). Divide batter equally among prepared cupcake cups. Bake until cupcake tops are a pale golden and springy to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. (I checked mine at 15, then added two minutes, then added one minute so I cooked mine for 18 minutes - just in case you failed basic math.)
8. Cool cupcakes in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 10 minutes before glazing. 
9. To make the glaze, In a medium bowl mix together the melted butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth. (I doubled this.)
10. When cupcakes have cooled slightly, dip the muffin top into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. Once hardened, dip a second time and allow to harden before serving. (I didn't do the second dip, the glaze was thick enough with the first dip. Not to mention that if the glaze on the cupcake is going to harden, the glaze left in the bowl is going to harden too - and it did.)

Sometimes when I bake or cook a new recipe, I get scared to taste it. I'm not sure if it's because I am scared of a total failure or if it's that I don't want to be disappointed, but I was struggling with trying them. I took half a dozen to K at work to share with her co-workers and I told her to tell me what they're reactions were. Before I even made it home, I got a text that they were a hit so I went right in the house and did my own taste test.

Holy moly those are good!!!! They might have even topped my pumpkin cupcakes I made for Thanksgiving!

I highly recommend this recipe! It's worth every calorie! 

Better than Pumpkin Pie

And believe me when I tell you I LOVE pumpkin pie! But, I am the only one in my house who does so usually half of the pie gets thrown out and then I overindulge in the left over cool whip. So this year, I decided to try something different... and they were a HIT!

Of course there are hundreds of pumpkin something or other recipes on pinterest, but I picked this one.  The pin led me to Mama B's Blog with the simplest, most delicious cupcake I have ever made.

Ingredients:

• Cake mix of choice (I used a spice cake mix but I imagine any flavor would work. - I wonder if a white cake would pull out the pumpkin flavor more. Hmmm...)
• 1-15 oz can of Pumpkin Puree

Frosting:

• 1 package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup of butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups of powdered sugar

Mix the cake mix and the pumpkin puree in a stand mixer. Fill your muffin tin holders 3/4 of the way full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool completely while making your frosting.

For the frosting: mix all of the ingredients together until fluffy and frost your cooled cupcakes!

 The frosting is key. After baking the first batch (I made two so K could take some to work for her pot luck), of course I needed to taste test the cupcake to make sure it wasn't poisoned. I was actually a little concerned because it wasn't that spectacular. In fact, it seemed kind of bland and left a weird after taste. But I continued on.

Before I even frosted the cupcakes, I "accidentally" got some on my finger so, of course I had to check that for poison too and OH EM GEE! It was so good I about dropped to my knees. (Ok, that's probably a little dramatic, but I have to get the point across that it was good.) My SIL thought it was so good, she wanted just a bowl of frosting, skip the cupcake. I'm telling you - it was good. Did I mention how good it was? ;o)

I scooped the frosting into a piping kit (which my piping skills leave something to be desired as you see in the picture above), and started frosting these little pieces of heaven. I was able to exercise some self control and wait until after we ate our Thanksgiving dinner to test it out and seriously, I don't think I will ever buy another pumpkin pie again in my life! It was ah-mazing!

A few tips -- The cupcake batter comes out unusually thick. I questioned it, but it just made the cupcake a little more dense than the average cupcake, which I think made it better. Some people on Mama B's Blog said they added a little water. I s'pose you could do that, but I don't recommend it - they were perfect without the water.

Like the professional cupcake bakers I watch on TV, I used an ice cream scooper to scoop the batter into the cups. The first batch I made, I did a whole scoop... it was fine, but they came out a little bumpy and more like muffins because they expanded so much when they cooked. After that I did about 3/4 of a scoop and they turned out perfect... I got 28 cupcakes total and probably could have gotten 32 if I would have done smaller scoops for the first batch.

Last, but not least, we stored our cupcakes in the fridge. Partly because I feel weird about leaving cream cheese based food out. I'm not sure what the rule is, but I would hate to cause all my taste testers food poisoning because I left a dairy product out too long. Also, that's typically how we store our cakes. I don't know why, but I think cake tastes better cold. 

I really hope you will partake in this awesome, super simple, delicious treat! I promise, you wont regret it. If your a little skeptical of the pumpkin... or the fact that there's only two ingredients in the cupcakes, fine... don't make the cupcakes that way, but do yourself a favor and make the frosting... slather it on anything.

P.S. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and found yourselves realizing you had more than enough to be thankful for.