Friday, October 1, 2010

Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Puff

I wanted to come up with a yummy cupcake for my son's blessing party, so here it is:

Chocolate Banana Pizazz Cupcakes

Ingredients:
3c sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 c packed light-brown sugar
3 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 c buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla
24 hershey kisses unwrapped
1 can cream cheese frosting
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c powdered cocoa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin tins.  Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Cream butter and  brown sugar with mixer attached with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy (about 5 min).  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
Reduce speed to low.  Mix in vanilla and buttermilk.  Then slowly add the mashed bananas.  Add in dry ingredients in 3 additions.  Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.  Place a hershey kiss in the center of each cupcake, pressing firmly so it sinks to the bottom and is covered by the batter.
Bake cupcakes 20 min or until tester comes out clean.  Let cool in tin on wire racks.
While cooling, mix frosting and peanut butter together.
Frost  cooled cupcakes with the peanut butter frosting.  Sprinkle with the cocoa powder.  (For a lettered effect, get a sticker in the size and font and letter you like and place it on the cupcake before sprinkling powder, then remove sticker and repeat on the rest)

Leave the Panda at the Zoo

While shopping at Costco, and sampling the merchandise, I came across some rather scrumptious orange chicken.  Then, while engrossed in my latest edition of Parent's magazine, I came up with a simply delicious recipe for fried rice.  Top it all off with a spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette and fried wanton crisps, and you have yourself a chinese feast at home!
First, cook the orange chicken according to the oven directions on the box.

Now, for the rice!

Ingredients:
1 packet of boil-in-a-bag rice
1 16oz pkg mixed frozen veggies
1 cup frozen peppers-and-onion  stir-fry veggies
4tsp veg oil, divided
3 eggs
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
lime wedges
3 Tbs stir-fry sauce

Directions:
Cook rice according to instructions on box.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium.  Whisk eggs and add to the skillet.  Cook, stirring occasionally to break up eggs, until set.  Remove from pan.  Add remaining 2 tsp oil to skillen and increase heat to medium-high.  Stir in the frozen veggies; cook for 5 min until tender.
Add stir-fry sauce and crushed red pepper to the skillet.  Stir in rice and heat through.  Turn off heat and mix in the cooked eggs.  Squeeze lime juice over the rice for an added kick of flavor.

Now, throw together a salad, and WHAM, a healthy yummy and, most importantly, EASY dinner in no time!

Got Hamburger and An Hour

So, I went to a ward Potluck a couple of weeks ago and ran across an amazing and simple dinner idea... Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 Box of Pasta (any kind you have on hand, so far I've used angel hair and rigatoni, and they were both great)
1-2lbs of ground hamburger or turkey
1 jar of your favorite red pasta sauce
1 8oz package of cream cheese
8oz of sour cream
3-5 good sized handfuls of shredded cheese, depending on  how much you like cheese (I use a mexican blend, but you can use whatever you have on hand or like, cheddar and mozzarella are always good options)

Directions:
Step One: Heat oven to 400 and boil and drain pasta and fry up meat.
Step Two: mix cooked meat with pasta sauce, set aside.  Soften cream cheese in microwave for 15-20 seconds then combine with sour cream, set aside.
Step Three: In a 9x13 pan, layer half the pasta on the bottom.  Then cover the pasta layer with the cream cheese mixture.  Add the pasta/meat mixture as the third layer.  Cover with the second half of the pasta and top with shredded cheese. 
Step Four: Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted and the edges are browned and crispy.  DELISH!

**Goes great with cheesy garlic biscuits (2c bisquick, 1/2c milk, 1/2c shredded cheddar, 1t garlic salt.. mix and bake at 450 for 8-10min)