Nutella Swirl Cupcakes

Nutella. One of the many loves in my life. Darn you and all of your calories! Alright so obviously I am a fan of Nutella but it sits in my pantry torturing me and taunting me..you know you'd like to eat me, just pretend I'm not a million calories, I won't tell anyone...haha so I figured that there had to be a way that I could use it without giving myself a diabetic coma. After thinking long and hard I figured why not just incorporate a little into some vanilla cupcakes and whip up a light Nutella Buttercream Frosting? So that's precisely what I did!

I will tell you that I cheated and used a boxed mix for the vanilla cupcakes - I know, FAIL. But they were so easy and scrumptious that I just couldn't resist. Plus the commissary had vanilla cake mix on sale for $0.29/box - so I might have accidentally purchased 5 boxes without really thinking that through oops. So this was a perfect use for a box!

Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 box of vanilla cake mix - any brand - prepared and placed into cupcake pans
Nutella (you probably only need 1/8th of a jar)
5 Toothpicks

Nutella Buttercream Frosting

1/4 stick of salted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar (or more to taste)
1/2 to 1/3 cup whole milk or half-and-half (depending how thick you like your frosting)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large tbsp of Nutella (or more to taste), softened

Directions:
For the cupcakes: Simply prepare the vanilla cupcake mix according to the directions on the box and place into 24 cupcake liners/pans. Try to only fill the cupcake liners/pans 1/2 to 2/3 max! Then, I took 2 of Charli's baby spoons and placed a tiny dollop onto each battered liner. (If you don't have baby spoons just lying around as I suspect most of you wont lol just use a 1/2 of a teaspoon of Nutella for each.) If the Nutella is softened it will be easier to swirl so make sure it's room temperature - in fact if you lightly whip it with a knife before you start it will be much more pliable. Ok, so once you have a tiny dollop in each liner/pan take a toothpick and begin to swirl. This is the fun part and honestly you can't mess it up - there's no right way to do it! So have fun, swirl away lol. (*Also, I say have 5 toothpicks because after a while the Nutella begins to stick to itself and your toothpick will become a glob of Nutella that, well, just won't swirl more as clump lol so feel free to toss the toothpick after a few cupcakes are swirled.) Once the cupcakes are all swirled to your liking you can bake them according to the directions on your cupcake box. After they are done baking, place them on a cooling rack so that they can properly cool and breathe.

Once your cupcakes are cooled you can begin to prepare the frosting. It's really simple. Just combine the frosting ingredients listed above and whisk to your delight. If you find it too tough to whisk just add a little more milk slowly until it matched the consistency you like. You can pipe the frosting on or just spread it on with a knife, either one works. And it is outrageously yummy. I promise!!! Try not to eat 7 of them I dare you!

Pictures:

 Perfection on a plate! (With the Nutella Buttercream Frosting!)

 Pre-swirl...

 Ready to go into the oven - swirls and all...

 YUM! I made a few in the silicone cupcake molds my sissy gave me for Christmas - they were perfect!

 I may have baked too many...

Just as delightful without the Nutella Buttercream Frosting!

Chicken and Dumpling (Crock Pot) Soup

Yet again, I score another recipe from Pinterest! This time it's made in a crock pot. Now let me say I have never owned a crock pot or probably ever eaten anything made in one - they are truly foreign to me. Having said that it seems like the easiest thing to cook with because you are literally doing nothing - the crock pot is doing all the work - so I have a hard time considering this 'cooking'. However, it does yield something delicious at the end of the day and ok fine I didn't technically slave over it all day but I still put the ingredients in the pot right so that counts for something I think. Anyway, back to this recipe, so I love chicken and dumpling soup but just never feel like I have the energy to make this dish from scratch. (I know for a woman who doesn't work I seem to have no free time anymore, go figure.) So finding this recipe was intriguing and looked to be yummy so I went for it. And oh my goodness it was fantastic! Especially because you will have a few extra biscuits left over so you can bake them right up in the oven and serve them with the soup. It's savory and hot and simply fabulous on a cold winter day. I hope you love it as much as we did!!! Let's go...

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts - raw
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (I used 98% fat free but you don't have to)
1 can of chicken broth
1 onion - diced finely
1 can of Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers biscuits

Directions:
It doesn't get any simpler than this. Combine all of the ingredients above (except for the biscuits) into a crock pot set on Low. After about 5 hours, pull the chicken out of the crock pot and shred with 2 forks. It will literally fall apart so I am using the term 'shred' lightly here. Place all of the chicken back into the crock pot and stir to coat. Then, take 4 of the biscuits and using a knife just chop them into about 9 pieces or so. As you can see in my picture, Zachary did not listen when I asked him to chop them into small pieces, I believe he cut them into 4's lol which you can do but you will get rather large 'dumplings'. Place the chopped biscuit pieces into the crock pot and let everything simmer for another 30-45 minutes. The dumplings will absorb that yummy soup flavor and puff up. It is so scrumptious I barely have words. Enjoy!!!

Pictures:

Parmesan Fries

Oh yes, we absolutely went there!!! Alright, so being a carboholic I tend to have potatoes in the house most days but never know what to do with them. Do I mash them yet again, or try to bake them in my microwave, or slice and scallop them? The same old recipes with the same old boring potatoes, that is until I was searching around on Pinterest and I spotted someone had logged a recipe for "Parmesan baked fries". After wiping up all the drool from instant salivation I quickly decided this was a 'must try' and threw it on my bucket list of recipes. Of course you can't have fries without a burger of some sort so I requested the fabulous cooking skills of my husband and 'placed my order'. Literally lol. I said I'd like Parmesan crusted baked french fries and I'm feeling a hamburger with feta and bacon in the middle - can you make that appear. And you know what? About 60 minutes later it DID!!!

Are you hungry yet?? Because I could eat this all over again and its only 9am here lol. No more stalling, let's bake these!!

Ingredients:
5 russet potatoes
1/4 cup Parmesan - freshly shaved
1/4 cup Parmesan - grated in the can
1 tbsp Garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp sea salt


Directions:
Simply rinse and slice the potatoes to the thickness you like your french fries. Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat. Place them on a lined baking sheet and pop them in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn them so that the other side can properly brown up and let them bake for about another 20-30 depending how strong your oven is! They're done when they're golden brown all over and slightly crispy - seriously delicious!! Enjoy them by themselves or with some dipping sauce or with a delicious burger lol!

Pictures:

Cheddar Ale Soup

This was probably one of the most flavorful soups I've ever made, let's just start there. It was literally packed full of flavor - from the celery and onions to the Amber beer and sharp cheddar - my mouth was literally watering from the moment I started to sautee the veggies. It didn't help that I had used the leftover bread from the Egg Boat Recipe I made on Sunday to crisp up as homemade croutons...it smelled like a delightful German Pub in here. Fabulous! Of course, I have once again been inspired by Pinterest but after reading all of the variations of this recipe it kind of just evolved. (Though it is incredibly similar to Williams Sonoma's recipe.)

I will warn you it is extremely difficult to make this recipe without drinking the ale while cooking and with the finished product so...you should probably buy a 6 pack of whatever ale it is that you're using - or at least that is my theory! Alright before we get too drunk, let's cook ...

**Note - don't try to be all calorie conscious on this one and cheat with fat free cheese - you know who you are - it will mess with the texture of the soup. Trust me, I'm one of those gals that said 'whatever - I'm not logging all of those calories' but you know what - that's the only thing I wished that I had done differently on this recipe. So Full Fat Cheese - all the way!!!

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon, chopped into 1” pieces

2 Tbs. margarine

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced (if you must, but I omitted this)

2 celery stalks, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup pale ale (whatever your favorite is)

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce (I omitted this)

2 cups milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Toasted croutons for garnish

Directions:

In a Dutch oven cook the bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once it’s cooled you can dice the bacon up into 1” cubes, if you didn’t do that before cooking.

Discard all but 2 Tbs. of the bacon fat in the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and melt the butter. Add the onion, (carrots –if you must) and celery, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes. (Once the flour is added it will become a thick veggie paste – that’s ok just keep stirring it around so that the flour cooks to a golden brown.) Add the ale and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. It will fizzle and smell incredibly fragrant at this point – just keep stirring and the mixture will settle down a bit. Add the (Worcestershire – if you are using it), milk and broth, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.

Set the pot over medium-low heat and add the cheese by the handful, stirring constantly; do not allow the soup to boil. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Garnish with croutons and the bacon. Serve immediately. (Serves 6.)

Pictures:

Martha's General Tso's Chicken

In an effort to not claim to have found yet another fabulous recipe on Pinterest, I commenced my very own search for a yummy dish. Of course, the moment Martha Stewart's website popped up I knew I'd find something perfect. Martha says that this is the 'lighter' version of things but let me assure you that all the flavor of General Tso's Chicken is intact - and has quite a bit of heat I might add. (Although, that might have a little to do with how Zach secretly tripled the amount of red pepper necessary.) Speaking of Zach, I actually can't take any credit for the cooking of this dish - pretty much all I did was locate it and buy the groceries and then ask my sweet husband to just 'make it happen' while I was busting a move on my treadmill lol. But boy oh boy he did stellar! He even coupled it with my recipe for Egg Fried Rice which was just perfect! (And while we're being honest, if I wasn't on my way out the door to a fitness class at the gym I probably would have sat and ate the entire bowl of General Tso's without even thinking twice!) Besides, it's Martha's recipe - do I even need to praise it, the name says it alone...ok, enough accolades for Martha - let's cook this dish!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 pound snow peas, trimmed and halved crosswise

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated and peeled (optional – we omitted)

3 tablespoons light-brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (we used 1 ½ teaspoons but we like it Spicy!)

2 large egg whites

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add snow peas, garlic, ginger-if you’re using it, sugar, soy sauce, and red-pepper flakes; toss to combine, and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together egg whites, remaining 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken, and toss to coat.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Lift half the chicken from egg-white mixture (shaking off excess), and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining oil and chicken, and set aside (reserve skillet).

Add snow-pea mixture to skillet. Cover; cook until snow peas are tender and sauce has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet (with any juices); toss to coat. Serve with rice.

Pictures: