Mom's best Blueberry Muffins!!!

Happy Leap Day to you all!  And to celebrate I'm giving you another recipe!!! That is: my mom's blueberry muffin recipe! Ohhhh yeah!  They take a little more time than Betty Crocker's box mix, but are sooo tasty.

The Best Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
-1/2 c (1 stick) butter, at room temp
-1 c white sugar
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 1/2 c blueberries
-2 c all-purpose flour
-1/2 c milk
-1 tbsp sugar (can mix with 1/4 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon)

Directions:
-Heat oven to 375
-Grease or line 12 regular muffin cups
-In a medium-sized bowl, beat butter until creamy
-Beat in the sugar until pale & fluffy
-Beat in eggs, one at a time
-Beat in vanilla, baking powder, and salt
-Fold in half the flour with a spatula, then half the milk
-add remaining flour and milk
-fold in blueberries

want a little batter with your blueberries?

-Scoop batter into muffin cups, and sprinkle with sugar (or sugar mixture)

The batter will be a little thick....that's fine!

-Bake 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown
-Let muffins cool at least 30 minutes in the pan before removing (although I don't know if we have ever lasted that long before digging in!)

mmmmm- good stuff!  My  mom also uses raspberries or blackberries or a combo of one or more berries- the recipe would be the same, just add in whatever berries you want instead of or with the blueberries.

Say Happy Birthday with Chocolate Chip Cupcakes!

This past weekend Curt's brother, sister-in-law and nephew were in town on vacay and it was his sister-in-laws birthday.  I had been thinking of what cake to make & was scrolling through pinterest thinking maybe I'd try something new, or try something easy like box cake but with some fun decoration.  I decided instead that I would make one of my favorite cupcakes- chocolate chip- and decorate the cupcakes to look like a bingo board, since she loooooves bingo.  So, here is the recipe, with pics of course :)


Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Ingredients:
~1 package yellow cake mix
~1 (3.4 oz) pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
~1 cup milk
~1 c vegetable oil
~4 eggs
~1 c mini chocolate chips (I usually dump in a little more)

yup...this is it!!!!

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 350
~In mixing bowl, combine cake and pudding mixes, milk, oil, and eggs

super easy-dump it all in!!!

 ----->beat on low speed until moistened, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes

~Stir in chocolate chips

~Pour in lined cupcake pans

~bake 20-30 minutes

~cool & frost cupcakes! 

sorry mom- not homemade frosting, but this is one of my faves!!!

 
Here you can see my attempt at a bingo board- the problem was that I didn't want white frosting on chocolate chip cupcakes, and we couldn't find a white frosting writer (although we didn't try too hard), so I improvised and put a Nilla wafer on top, then used a frosting writer.  Hey, I tried! and they tasted pretty darn good!!!!

More Oreos!!! Cookies 'n cream chip cookies

Another day off....another day in the kitchen (and the grocery store haha)!  And of course, I HAD to try another new recipe that was found off of pinterest- I have a bookmarked folder of pinterest recipes that grows rapidly daily.  After my oreo cheesecakes I had to find something else to make to use up my oreos....oreos are good enough on their own, but hey, might as well add a little adventure!  So I present to you these-

Cookies 'n Cream Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
-2 1/4 c flour
-1 tsp bkg soda
-1 c butter, softened
-1/2 c packed brown sugar
-1/2 c white sugar
-1 (4.2 oz) pkg Oreo pudding mix (Jello brand)
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
~ 1 to 2 cups of white chips (I like a little less...but you can add up to 2 cups)
~15 oreos, chopped

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Cream butter & sugars
-add pudding mix (the dry mix itself-don't make into pudding) & mix until blended
-beat in eggs & vanilla
-In a separate bowl, sift flour & baking soda, and stir into wet ingredients
-stir in white chips & crushed oreos

-Form dough into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet (or on parchment paper)

Bake cookies at 350 for 9-10 minutes
Cool (a little) and EAT!

Friends, you have NO IDEA how much I loved these cookies! I was so surprised!!! When I found the recipe I thought, hmmm these may be good maybe I'll try them at some point- but now, I'm thinking I'm going to have to whip up a second batch so I have a couple to share.  The batter tastes pretty darn good too ;) Enjoy! and enjoy the night because tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!

dessert time-Mini Oreo Cheesecakes!

Last but not least for Fat Tuesday- dessert!!! I made these a couple days ago for a a coworker's birthday- and credit goes to pinterest.  These are def sweet though...but a good spin on oreo desserts!

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes:

Ingredients:
-22 oreos (16 whole, 6 crushed-I used double stuf so I could enjoy the leftovers but I would use normal oreos in the future)
-2-8oz cream cheese (I used neufchatel cheese...1/3 of the fat!)
-1/2 c sugar
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-2 large eggs, slightly beaten
-1/2 c sour cream
-pinch salt

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 275 degrees
-place cupcake liners in cupcake pans, and place 1 whole oreo on the bottom of each (makes 16-18)
-Beat cream cheese, then beat in sugar & vanilla
-pour in beaten eggs (I just whisked them in a bowl with a spoon) adding a little at a time
-Beat in sour cream & salt
-stir in chopped oreos
-pour in the cupcake liners & fill almost to the top
-Bake 22-25 minutes, and allow to cool in pan about 15 minutes.  Refrigerate 4 hours, enjoy one or two, & store in fridge

As I said, using the regular (non-double stuf) oreos would probably be better, and I think these tasted better after a day or two.  An oreo on the bottom is a super easy crust I may use for other cheesecake fillings, but these may also be good with just the chocolate cookie as a crust, no creme. 

Happy Fat Tuesday :)

Twice-baked Potato...casserole! mmm

Wow, another post? Two in one day? I bet you're wondering what's wrong with me! It's fat Tuesday- you gotta get these meals in NOW! haha.

Our next food adventure was the following- Twice-baked potato casserole.  Again, healthy? not really.  Good? yes.  The meal was based on this- we purposely had this set to make and then tried to figure out the main meal.  Again, what's wrong with me? You know in my case it's usually the meal planned around DESSERT, right?

I kinda failed at the step-by-step pictures at this one...and let me say the picture I did get doesn't do it justice.  The smell while making it...and baking it...mmmmmm.

Twice baked Potato Casserole
(adapted from Taste of Homes)

Ingredients:
-Baked potatoes
          ----I used 5 large red potatoes (and by large, they were about the size of a regular/Russet potato), so  you can probably almost use the brown potatoes or a few more red ones.  I washed them & then wrapped in tin foil & baked at 400 degrees for about 40-45 minutes.  I didn't peel the potatoes- and when I started chopping them the skins came off anyways

-salt & pepper to season
-6 slices of bacon, cooked & crumbled (I used 5 slices of thick cut, lower sodium)
-2-3 c (16-24 oz) sour cream (I used the light variety- amount varies as to how creamy you would like the dish)
-2-3 cups of shredded cheese- I used cheddar/Monterrey jack
-green onions

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Chop up baked potatoes into cubes (about an inch in size)
-Cook & crumble bacon, chop up the green onions (I probably had 1/4 cup worth), and mix sour cream with 1 cup of shred cheese
-grease/spray a 13x9 pan
-place 1/2 chopped potatoes in pan, sprinkle with salt & pepper to season
-top with 1/2 of the sour cream mixture, and 1/2 of the bacon & onions, and 1/2 of the remaining cheese
-repeat layers- potatoes, season, sour cream & cheese mix, bacon, onions, and finally the last of the cheese
-bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until the cheeses are melted

I didn't do a good job of spreading the ingredients around- so some bites were a lot more creamy, some were more cheesy, etc.  But overall....so yummy.  This would be great to take to a potluck or picnic too!  I saw a comment on Taste of Homes that someone made it with a crock pot too- they poured all the ingredients in and cooked on low for 2 hours- which I may try at some point too!  Worth the calories, I promise!

Breakfast Pizza...two fab foods combined

Continuing on the breakfast theme, usually breakfasts are left up to Curt...he loves whipping up breakfast as much as I love facebook & pinterest stalking to catch up from the overnight happenings (lol).  We've been trying to get adventurous and try new recipes, so Curt  made up this breakfast pizza using a no-yeast, easy to make pizza crust.  Here is his recipe post :)

Breakfast Pizza

no-yeast, easy pizza crust
(which you could use for any pizza adventures you choose)

Ingredients:
-2 c all-purpose flour
-1 tbsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-2/3 c water
-1 tbsp vegetable/canola oil

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
-add liquid ingredients & stir to incorporate the dry ingredients
-Knead dough 6-8 times on a lightly floured surface
-roll thinly & place on a pizza pan sprayed with cooking spray

pinched the sides to keep them raised some & hold in the toppings

from this point- add your sauce & toppings and bake for 18-20 minutes

to continue to make a breakfast pizza, keep reading!

Ingredients:
-pizza sauce (which I thought was a little weird on breakfast pizza but choose whatever sauce topping you'd                         like- olive oil, alfredo maybe, etc)
-hashbrowns, cooked- we used the frozen ones & just heated them up in the microwave
-peppers/onions (again...our fave Birds Eye frozen veggie combo)
-eggs- scrambled
-bacon- cooked crisp
-cheese!

layer all the ingredients up---

mmm....lots of breakfast junk

Curt then brushed some olive oil on the outside crust to help it brown up nicely

The pizza was cooked for 18-20 minutes, until it was nice and brown
                                                                                     

Now, doesn't that look yummy? -------------->

The best part?

I didn't have to make it! ....and Curt even took pictures of the process- what a great man I have huh? I didn't even have to train him!!!!  Kudos to his parents :)

Red Velvet=love

If you know me, you know my love for red velvet....while I love anything red velvet, nothing can top the red velvet ice cream at Maggie Moos...mmmmm.  When flipping through the TV guide I happened to see red velvet waffles on the Rachael Ray show, so had to check it out.  My aunt makes some really good red velvet waffles, but these are a little easier. 

Red Velvet Waffles

Ingredients:
-1 box red velvet cake mix
-3 eggs
-1 1/3 c water
-about 5 tbsp melted butter
-toppings- I used cool whip

Directions:
-mix cake mix, eggs, water, and butter

-spray waffle iron with cooking spray
 -scoop a little batter onto the iron

  the batter spreads pretty quickly, so you don't need to fill it as full as I did in this picture- def a little overflow














-remove cooked waffle from iron & enjoy :)
-these are a little soft/flimsy- my first one I kept baking longer & it got more crispy, but the flavor distorted a little.  They are def cake-like AND RICH!

I decided to just use cool whip to dip in....but topping ideas I thought of include- nutella, hershey's syrup, fruit, cream cheese glaze/drizzle, etc.

this recipe made 7 waffles on my size waffle iron, so plan accordingly if you have more people to feed. It was only myself enjoying them...so shocker I couldn't finish them ALL, right? lol

Enjoy the rest of your weekend...off to work I go!

Easy & cheesy phillies

The last couple days of my staycation I have been SO lucky- Curt has been a cooking machine! Which naturally I"m ok with, but he was getting annoyed I kept asking "what do you want me to do?"  "how can I help".....hard for me to leave the kitchen alone & relax.

Neither of us are gourmet cooks, for sure...and we like easy. Like our easy cheesy Philly cheesesteak sandwiches Curt whipped up last night- 4 ingredients!! mmm.  I'm in no way claiming these are a copycat of the famous sandwich or anywhere near as juicy & perfect as those in Philly, but for a quick dinner at home- good stuff.

Easy Cheesy Philly

Ingredients-
-Steakums (those beef slices in the frozen food section)
-Bird's eye pepper stir fry (frozen veggie mix of red, yellow, & green peppers & onions)
-Borden singles sensation 3 cheese Italiano cheese slices
-Rotella's Italian hoagies

Directions-
-cook up the steakums- Curt did in a frying pan on the stove- about 1 minute each side
-cook up the pepper/onions- we did stove top, you could easily thaw & cook in the microwave
-toast the hoagie bun
-layer on the steakums, peppers & onions, and place cheese on top
-place back in toaster oven/oven/broiler until cheese melts

--ENJOY!!!

easy to make & work with...and tastes pretty darn good too! the picture doesn't do it justice!

also- the fries...yummmm.  Trader Joe's handsome cut potato fries- baked them & sprinkled with salt & pepper.

TGIF people!!!

I love...desserts!!!!

Here is my pre-Valentine's day Valentine's day dinner dessert recipe I promised you and OF COURSE didn't post it yet.  And yes, I got this recipe from pinterest. And yes, this dessert was SO freaking delish!!!  Honestly, probably the best cookie bar I have ever had! mmmm.

Cake Batter Bars

Ingredients-
-1 1/4 c cake mix (dry)- I used yellow although the recipe called for funfetti
-3/4 c all-purpose flour
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-3/4 c butter, softened
-1 egg
-1 egg yolk
-2 tsp vanilla
-1/2 c white sugar
-1/2 c brown sugar
-sprinkles/decor


Directions-
-Preheat oven to 350 degress
-grease an 8x8 inch pan
-cream white & brown sugar, butter, vanilla, egg, & egg yolk
-gradually mix in cake mix, flour, and baking soda
-stir in sprinkles (the recipe called for 5 teaspoons, I didn't measure just kept adding until it looked fun & colorful)
-spread batter in pan
-bake about 30 minutes
-let cool!!!!

I didn't take all the step-by-step pictures....but here is my finished product!  Before I baked them, I put cookie cutters on the top & sprinkled red sugar into them & then baked.

---They baked weird- just looking at this picture- the outside edges look really hard & crispy, and the middle is soft & sunken in- but the original recipe had comments that it looked not cooked, but don't keep baking it because it supposed to be like that, and overbaking really isn't good........so against what little baking skills I had, I took it out and mmmmmm it definitely is cooked through & tasty.  I thought the outsides would be hard & nasty, but a day later they were delish as well.

Hope you love the dessert, and that you get to share it with people you love :)

Pre-Valentine's Day Valentine's Dinner

I LOVE YOU ALL! First and foremost, and thank you for loving ME enough to click on this link & read my attempts at cooking or just read me rambling on about nothing or look at my photography skills (or just scan over my sarcasm too, that works).

Since my man & I are having a mini staycation/5-day weekend home, I decided to surprise him with dinner last Thursday, since I was off & he wasn't.  I hit up the dollar store & bought cheesy decor. Drove down to the airport & shoved a balloon bouquet in his car and a little present- a card saying "I love you" and a fork wrapped up saying "you'll need this later" (hey, I'm a pharmacy student for a reason!).  At home, I decorated the apartment door, and then strung up a banner inside of the door.  I got pictures printed off at Walmart of him & Jethro & I and trimmed them into heart shapes.  I then taped them to streamers & taped the streamers onto my fan to hang down as decoration.  Covered the table, made a heart bouquet, and bought cheap plastic heart plates & bowls. 

AND there was food, of course! I tried to cook a nice & easy meal (as presented below), and then lit candles, dimmed the lights, set the table, dressed up, and greeted him with a kiss!  And he even ate my cooking! so that was the most successful part of the night, lol.

Here's my little made-up recipe for pasta I threw together-simple but yummy.

Ingredients:
-1 package of Buitoni ravioli (or whichever noodle variety you are feeling like consuming)
-1 jar of traditional Prego sauce
-1 jar of 4-cheese alfredo sauce (I use Classico brand)
-dash of olive oil
-1 bag of frozen peas
-1 green pepper
-1 yellow onion/Vidalia onion
-shredded 6-cheese blend (or Italian blend, or parmesan, or mozzarella...white shredded cheese)
-any spices you may like

Directions:
-Boil ravioli/pasta, drain
-Chop up green pepper & onion into larger chunks
-Throw pepper, onion, and 1/3 bag of peas (or however many you like) and dash of olive oil into pan on the stovetop, saute a minute or two, then add in the full jar of Prego and 1/2-2/3 jar of alfredo sauce

-simmer sauce until heated thoroughly, add in 1 cup of shredded cheese & stir until melted into sauce

-pour sauce into noodles & mix well

-serve that pasta up & indulge! I put some on plates, and garnished with some more cheese because if you know me, you KNOW I love lots of cheese :)

awesome heart plate, right?

Tried to be all romantic and bought a tube of Pillsbury garlic breadsticks then shaped them into hearts & baked- yes, went all out cooking with the home-made stuff, right?  But I gotta say, they tasted pretty good too!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'll update ASAP with the recipe I tried for dessert...so good! gotta keep you in suspense! <3  <3   <3 

Saturdays are for snacking

I figured tomorrow would be a day full of food...so why not start early?  I was craving some apple pie or apple something, so ran out to Walmart before the snow storm so I had something to do- not that I NEEDED more food to shove in my fridge-but made some easy snacks I'm going to share with you now:

Crescent Rolls- 2 ways!


Apple rollers

Ingredients-
-crescent rolls-the refrigerated Pillsbury ones (or cheapo brands)
-apple pie filling
-cinnamon & sugar
-white/vanilla frosting
-melted butter

Directions-
I pretty much experimented, here are the two ways I tried them:
For both-
preheat oven to 375 degrees, I lined a cookie sheet with some tin foil, unroll the crescent rolls, and I chopped the apple pie filling up some- the brand I got came in big slices of apple so I diced them up

type 1: spread a dab of vanilla frosting on the wide end of the crescent roll, put a spoon of apple on, and sprinkle some cinnamon on top, then roll up & place on pan.  spread some melted butter on top & sprinkle a little cinnamon/sugar mix on.

type 2: brush some melted butter on the crescent roll & sprinkle some cinnamon/sugar mix on, put a dab of apple on, then roll up and place on pan.  Brush outside with butter & cover with cinnamon/sugar.

Bake these for about 10 minutes- then you can put some frosting on top so it melts up nice. mmmm these were good! 

I liked the ones with the dab of frosting within the roll, but since it melts they are harder to get off of the pan- but it provided a nice sweetness within the roll.  both were delish though!  def fed my apple craving!












Pizza Rollers

Ingredients:
-crescent rolls (as above)
-pizza sauce
-shredded cheese
-finely grated parmesan cheese
-pizza/italian seasoning-I use McCormick's Sicilian seasoning
-melted butter
-any pizza toppings you'd like (ie pepperoni!!)

Directions:
I made these two ways too, just experimenting
for both:
preheat oven to 375, lined the cookie pan with tin foil, & unroll crescents

type 1:
-put a little sauce on the wide end of the roll, then sprinkle some italian seasoning, and top with cheese & any other pizza toppings.  Roll the crescent up, place on pan.  Brush on a little melted butter & sprinkle the seasoning on top along with the finely grated parmesan cheese (like the powder-looking one)

type 2:
-spread some melted butter on the crescent roll, and sprinkle seasoning on.  Put a handful of cheese on & roll crescent. Place on pan, and brush on butter, and sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, & dip in some pizza sauce!  I think the ones with the sauce inside were better, but both were tasty & a nice snack!

              Make both the pizza & apple ones for lunch w/ dessert- that's what I did :)  Just don't tell my mom I left out my serving of veggies

                                                   (apple ones are left, pizza on the right)

Hey! don't lick that!

Today I attempted a new recipe that I conjured up based on a few other recipes that sounded good....one loosely based from pinterest (yes, I'm addicted)...luckily for me it was edible and pretty darn good!

Bacon & beer cheese macaroni

(it's hard to match that Kraft mac 'n cheese goodness, so this is different enough to be accepted as "good")

Ingredients:
1 box macaroni noodles
-6-8 strips of bacon
-2 tbsp butter
-2 tbsp flour (all-purpose)
-1 cup milk
-1 cup beer (lite would be best- I kept it classy and used Keystone lite)
-about 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
-about 1 cup shredded cojack cheese
-seasonings- pepper, salt, garlic powder, red chili flakes, etc (whatever you like)
-Frenches cheddar fried onions

Directions:

-cook the macaroni noodles (obviously, right?) & drain
-cook the bacon- I do it in the microwave so it gets nice and crispy (although Curt finds it weird?)
-preheat the oven to 350 degrees

-in a large pan, melt the butter, and stir in the flour, milk, and beer on medium heat
            -gradually add the cheese- one handful at a time-and stir until smooth-until all cheese is incorporated
-add in seasoning- I added pepper & onion salt because it is all I had ready!

pour the cheese mixture into the noodles & crumble the bacon into the pot

mix it all up good & pour into a greased 13x9 pan
Bake the macaroni for about 15-20 minutes
----crumble the cheddar onions on top of the macaroni and bake for a couple more minutes

enjoy!

I naturally ate it with some nice garlic toast....love my carbs!  This isn't the healthiest meal, but for an occasional splurge, it's a nice meal!
(ps the "lick that" in the title was not in regards to me licking my fingers while cooking or plate clean after eating....it was just the puppy being nosy!)