Circus Animal Cookie Cupcakes

I had seen these on Pinterest and thought that they were adorable . . . Bronwyn's birthday was coming up so I asked her if she wanted them to bring to school . . .she agreed and I happily made them!  Adorable, fun, and easy.  Where can we go wrong there?!

Circus Animal Cookie Cupcakes

Yield: 20-24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 package funfetti cake mix

1 cup broken up frosted animal cookies

Frosting:

1 cube butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Red food coloring

Sprinkles

Prepare the cake mix according to directions on box.  Fold in cookie pieces and bake according to package directions.

Beat frosting until smooth and fluffy.  Add in vanilla.  Add powdered sugar and milk as needed to make the right consistency.  Frost half of cupcakes.  Add sprinkles immediately.  Mix in a few drops of food coloring to frosting and frost the rest of the cupcakes.  Embellish with frosted animal cookies.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

BBQ Chicken Salad w/ Cilantro Lime Ranch Recipe

We had this for lunch today.  I thought it was quite delicious . . . the sweetness of the barbecue blended with the flavor of the dressing was perfect!  And Rachel said she thought it was the best salad I've made . . . so I guess, success! :) 

BBQ Chicken Salad w/ Cilantro Lime Ranch

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenderloins, thawed

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I used a mixture of regular and honey)

1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped

1-2 avocados, peeled & diced

2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 green onions, chopped

1 - 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Dressing:

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup mayo

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ranch seasoning mix

1/3 cup cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of 1 lime

2 - 3 pinches cayenne pepper

Preheat grill to medium heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Spray grill with Pam and cook chicken, flipping once.  Brush both sides of chicken with barbecue sauce in the last minute or two of grilling.  Transfer chicken to a plate, cover with foil, and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips.

To make the salad, you can either toss all ingredients together in a large bowl or layer individually on 4 - 6 plates.  Serve and top with Cilantro Lime Ranch.

To make dressing, combine all ingredients in a blender and process until cilantro is finely chopped.

Enjoy! 

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad Recipe

A simple and scrumptious salad!

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad

Salad:

1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

2 cups sliced grilled chicken

1/2 green bell pepper

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

2 ripe avocados, diced

tortilla chips (If desired - I don't use them but some of the others do)

Dressing:

1/2 cup mayo

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Prepare all ingredients.  In a very large bowl, combine all ingredients for salad.  Toss together with tongs or large spoon.  Top salad with dressing before eating.

Have a wonderful day!

Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken Recipe

A delicious and simple meal.  Simply throw everything in the crock pot and cook it for several hours, shred the chicken, and it's done.  Then boil some pasta real quick and your supper's ready! 

Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken

2 lbs. chicken - breasts or tenderloins

1/3 cup water

1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing (dry)

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz cream cheese

Place the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.  Pour water over top.  Sprinkle on the Italian dressing.  Add the cream of chicken soup.  Cube the cream cheese and set over top.  Cook for 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.  Shred chicken and serve over bow tie pasta.

And it's as simple as that.  Enjoy!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

The Perfect Salads

I think if I could choose any job I wanted, ever, I know what I would choose.  It would be a fun job.  To me.  I would find pleasure every day in it.  I would make food.  Prepare it.  Dish it out.  Make it pretty.  Serve it.  Food that people could enjoy looking at and eating.  Simple or fancy.  All beautiful.  And delicious.  I can dream.  What is your dream?

Salads.  Yummy.  Refreshing.

A simple side salad of greens and tomatoes.  Using what we had on hand.  In the fridge in individual servings and ready for the next meal.  Perfection.

A salad that is the meal.  A main dish.  Grilled Chicken & Craisin Salad. Greens. Cheese. Craisins. Grilled Chicken.  In the refrigerator.  Ready for lunch tomorrow.  More perfection.  My favorite "Go-To" salad.

Drizzle ranch dressing over the top before I eat it.  Yumm.  Or if you desire . . . Honey Mustard.  Poppy Seed.  Any other dressing to dress up your salad and make it something that makes YOU happy.

Have a wonderful day.  I will enjoy my refreshing salads.  You can, too! 

Tuscan Garlic Chicken Recipe

I made this delicious meal for supper tonight.  The smell when the chicken is cooking is so fragrant!  It's a tasty and yummy pasta dish!

Tuscan Garlic Chicken

6 chicken tenderloins, thawed

1 tablespoon oil

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

for the sauce

1 red pepper, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup cream + 2 teaspoons corn starch

1 cup milk

2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound fettuccine noodles, cooked al dente

Preheat oven to 375 F.  In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, dried basil, oregano, and onion powder.  Dip chicken into bowl and flip to coat completely.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.  When oil is hot, add chicken to pan.  Cook until browned, then flip and cook other side. (1-2 minutes each side).  Place chicken in a shallow pan and bake 10-15 minutes until cooked through.

When chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce.  Saute diced pepper over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes longer until fragrant.  Scrape peppers and garlic out of pan and set aside.  Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan.  When oil is warm, add flower and whisk together.  Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth.  In a small bowl whisk cornstarch into cream until dissolved.  Bring sauce to a boil and add cream mixture.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Stir in milk and spinach.  Add reserved peppers and garlic, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, salt, and pepper.  Simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce is thickened, stirring throughout.  Divide noodles among 6 plates, place chicken on noodles, and top with sauce.  Enjoy!

Have a wonderful day!

Southwest Steak Bowls

I made this for lunch the other day . . . we thought it was quite good!

The recipe can be found here.  The only thing I would change about this is not doing as much rice as it said.  Three of us had this and used all the toppings, but there was too much rice in each of our bowls plus a bunch of rice left in the pot.

This makes a great, fairly simple summertime lunch!

In a Lake of Chocolate Ganache

More of these yummy cupcakes, drowning in a lake of chocolate ganache!

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Strawberry Cream Filling & Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Strawberry Cream Filling & Chocolate Ganache

1 batch chocolate cupcakes (I used Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes)

Strawberry Cream Filling

1 pint whipping cream

powdered sugar

vanilla

1 lb. strawberries*

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cream

2 tablespoons butter, melted

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips**

sugar

*You can use more strawberries . . . this is just how much I had, but I think more would make it even better!

**To make the ganache not so strong/a bit sweeter, you can substitute some of the semi-sweet chocolate chips for white chocolate chips.

With your chocolate cupcakes cooled off, whip up the cream.  Once desired thickness, add desired amount of powdered sugar and vanilla.  Mash up the strawberries (leave them somewhat chunky).  Mix the strawberries with a bit of sugar.  Fold the mashed strawberries into the whipped cream.  Fill the cupcakes with the strawberry cream filling.*

To make the chocolate gnache, place the chocolate chips in a bowl.  Pour melted butter over it.  Place cream in a bowl and microwave for a bout 2 minutes - it needs to be at a simmer.  Immediately pour over chocolate and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit for about 3 minutes and then stir until smooth.  Spoon over each cupcake to cover the top.

Refrigerate cupcakes.

*You can fill your cupcake however you choose.  For these I cut a circle in the top of the cupcake and took the piece of cupcake it.  I filled it with the strawberry cream and then placed it back on top.

Also, you will probably have about half of the strawberry cream filling leftover, but it's delicious to put some more of it over the top of your cupcake!

Have a wonderful day!  Eat some yummy cupcakes! 

Lazy Dazy Cake

 

Lazy Dazy Cake

Mix & Let sit 20 minutes:

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cups boiling water

Meanwhile, beat:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift or Whisk together:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cloves

Add all parts together and beat well.  Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan and bake a 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, make frosting.

Mix together:

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup coconut

1/3 cup chopped nuts

1/4 cup melted butter

3 Tbsp. milk

Pour on top of cake and spread evenly right when it comes out of the oven.  Broil for one minute.

Then let it cool off and enjoy warm or at room temperature!

******

Not really sure why it's called what it's called . . . 

but it's a delicious spice like cake with a coconut sort of frosting.

Tasty & easy to make!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Hot Chocolate

with a dollop of whip cream

Perfect for a rainy, cold fall day.

 

And we must share with little boys who beg to have some, too:)

Pumpkin Scones with Glaze & Spiced Drizzle

 

Pumpkin Scones w/ Glaze & Spiced Drizzle

2 cups flour

7 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 tablespoons cream

1 egg

6 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

Plain Glaze:

1 slightly heaping cup powdered sugar

2-4 tablespoons cream or milk (or combo)

Spiced Drizzle:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2-4 tablespoons cream or milk (or combo)

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

pinch ground ginger

pinch ground cloves

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.  Add cold butter and use a pastry cutter to blend butter in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, cream, and egg.  Add to flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together in a ball.  Turn the dough onto lightly floured surface and gently knead 4 or 5 times to bring the dough together; then flatten int a circle 1" thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 8 wedges.

Place the wedges on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (separately like you would cookies) and bake at 425 degrees for 14-16 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown.  Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

When scones are cool, whisk together the plain glaze ingredients and spoon on to each scone; spread slightly.  Let harden 10 minutes and then whisk together the spiced drizzle ingredients; drizzle on top.  Let harden completely, about 1 hour, before serving.

 

Would you like to hear a funny story?  While these are absolutely delicious, I just realized I forgot to put the baking powder in these! No wonder they seemed so heavy/dense and didn't rise that much like other scones I've made have risen!  Not sure where my brain was this afternoon though!

But these are absolutely delicious!  And probably even more so if you make them correctly.  Next time we'll see how they turn out:)  Yes ~ there will definitely be a next time!!  Yummy, pumpkin-y, spicy fall goodness!  Enjoy!!

And, oh yes, one other thing!  They're just like dessert:)

And have a wonderful day!

Oh my Yum . . .

 Fresh Peaches

Delicious . . . 

. . . to eat fresh

or with ice cream

or with cornflakes for breakfast

or any number of other things!

 

Peeled and cut with sugar in the freezer

for frozen fruit mix.

 

Sliced and Canned to eat throughout the year.

 

But I must say . . .

when comes along that perfect peach with the perfect taste . . .

I much prefer it just peeled, sliced, and eating it fresh,

with nothing added to it.

Yum!!

Best. Thing. Ever.

(Or one of the best, anyways!)

 

Hope someone else is enjoying fresh peaches right about now!

Glazed Cinnamon Scones

 

When I was eating these, I was going over and over in my head whether they were good or not.  I finally decided that although they were good, they weren't like the best thing ever:)

Oooops . . . if you make these, make sure you cook them long enough!!  I thought they were done and took them out of the oven, put the glaze on them, and proceeded to take pictures.  Then I went to put one on my plate and found out the inside was still VERY doughy and gooey!!  Fortunately, I was able to put them back in the oven (even though the glaze was already on) and cook them until they were done.  So it turned out okay . . . but still, just make sure you cook food long enough to start with:)

Glazed Cinnamon Scones recipe is found here.

Snickerdoodle Poppers

 

These were so yummy!!

While they were good with the "cream" pudding in them, I think I actually liked them better without the filling.  I know several of the kids really liked the pudding in them, so I suppose it's personal preference:)

These are made of canned biscuits fried in oil, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and filled with vanilla pudding.

I didn't use the actual biscuits the recipe called for; I just used the kind I had on hand, so I'm sure it would work with most any kind of biscuit.  Also, you don't need NEAR as much cinnamon sugar as it called for . .  not sure how much I actually used though.

While they're probably not something you should be making all the time . . . I still think you should try them:)

The recipe is found here.

 

Have a wonderful day . . . and eat some wonderful food!! :)

A One Dish Dinner: Italian Chicken, Beans, & Potatoes

 

Italian Chicken, Beans, & Potatoes

4 chicken breast tenderloins, cut in half

4-5 potatoes, cubed

1 can green beans

1 package dry italian seasoning

1/2 cup butter, melted

Place the chicken in the center of a 9x13" pan.  Put the beans and potatoes on either side of the chicken.  Sprinkle the italian seasoning over everything.  Drizzle/pour the butter over everything.  Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until potatoes are soft.

 

Yummy!!!  If you are on Pinterest, you may have seen this recipe floating around:)  I did make a couple changes from the original recipe though.  This is a great dinner though . . . it's fairly simple to prepare and of course, it's delicious!! 

Have a wonderful day!

Scones with Devonshire Cream

Yum . . . in a way, they're kind of like a dessert.  For breakfast.  Or supper.  (Or I guess it could be lunch, too!)

We had just picked raspberries, so I decided to try mine with some fresh raspberries.  It was pretty good!

We normally just eat them with jam and the devonshire cream on top of that.  They're good either way!

We had these scones with scrambled eggs.

Scones

In a medium bowl combine:

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Cut in with pastry blender:

6 tablespoons butter

Add all at once:

3/4 cup milk

Stir just until mixture leaves the sides of the bowl.  Then knead 8-10 times on lightly floured surface.  Roll out 1/2" thick circle and cut into 8ths.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet in the circle, with a small amount of space between each piece.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until light brown.

Devonshire Cream

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup whipping cream

4 teaspoons powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Beat cream cheese in a small mixer bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until mixture is smooth.  Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour before serving with scones.

I would definitely recommend you try these!!  (And if you need to eat gluten free, make some plain scones and make the devonshire cream to put on top:)).

Have an amazing day!!