Saturday, March 31, 2012

Zesty Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

A few days ago the poppyseeds we ordered noline finally came in the mail, so this morning I decided to incoperate them with some lemon pudding mix thats been sitting in the pantry into breakfast:)

Ingredients
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 tbs of poppyseed
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 package of Jello Lemon Pudding Mix
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Beat the egg, milk, and oil in a large bowl.
  3. Mix flour, pudding, sugar, and baking powder in small bowl.
  4. Pour dry mix into the large bowl and beat well.
  5. Stir in poppyseeds.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes.

    Friday, March 30, 2012

    Easter Cake Pops

    Last night I made some Easter themed cake balls for a party. I used Chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting to make the center, and coated them with melted yellow white chocolate, which I thinned down with a spoon of cristco.

    Tuesday, March 20, 2012

    Fluffy Pancakes

    Today's my sister's birthday, so I made some pancakes for breakfast:)
    Ingredients
    • 3/4 cups milk
    • 1 egg
    • 2 TB white vinegar
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 2 TB sugar
    • 1 c. flour
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    Directions
    1. Mix milk, egg, vinegar, and vanilla in large bowl.
    2. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
    3. Mix dry mix into large bowl.

    Monday, March 19, 2012

    Funfetti Copycat Recipe

    For my sister's birthday tomorrow, she will bring funfetti cupcakes to school. With only one box of the dry mix, the second batch was homemade.
    Ingredients
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 4 TB softened coconut or canola oil
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 1/2 cups flour
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 1 TB rainbow sprinkles
    • 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
    Directions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    2.  Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in small bowl.
    3. Whisk eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla in large bowl.
    4. Add dry mix to large bowl and mix.
    5. Stir in sprinkles.
    6. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

    Sunday, March 18, 2012

    Green Mint Cakepops

    Yesterday I made green cake balls for St. Patrick's day, and to fill them I'm using mint cake:) You can buy lollipop sticks at most craft stores if you want cake pops.
    Cake
    Ingredients
    • 3 cups sugar
    • 1 1/2 stick softened butter (12 TB)
    • 6 eggs
    • 6 tsp mint extract
    •  4 1/2 cups flour
    • 1 1/2 cup milk
    • 10-15 drops of green food coloring
    Directions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Mix sugar, flour, and baking powder in medium sized bowl.
    3. In separate bowl mix eggs, milk, mint extract, and butter.
    4. Mix dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients.
    5. Add food coloring and stir thoroughly.
    6. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
    7. Take out of oven and cut off brown crust of cake.
    8. Mix one batch of cream cheese frosting with the cake.
    9. Roll into small balls.
    10. Place in freezer.
    11. Melt melting chocolate.
    12. Take cake balls out of freezer and dip in chocolate
    13. Freeze for 5 minutes, allowing chocolate to harde

    Cream Cheese Frosting

    Ingredients
    • 8 oz.  softened Cream Cheese
    • 5 tbsp softened butter
    • 2 tsp vanilla
    • 2 cups of powdered sugar
    Directions
    1.  Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
    2. Gradually add powdered sugar to taste.

    Thursday, March 15, 2012

    Grandma Karen's Banana Bread

    Up until today, it's been years since I've eaten fresh banana bread. This recipe is best when bananas turn a brown/black color, as they're softer and easier to mix.

    Ingredients
    Wet-
    • 2 eggs
    • A stick of softened butter
    • 3  bananas
    Dry-
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 2 cups of flour
    • 1/2 cup cloves
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    Optional-
    1/2 cup of chopped nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, or other filler.

    Directions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    2.  Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl
    3. Mash bananas in large bowl.
    4. Mix wet ingredients with banana.
    5. Stir in dry ingredients.
    6. Pour into bread or muffin pan.
    7. Bake for 30-40 minutes if bread, check after 15 if muffins (either way, use the toothpick method)

    Wednesday, March 14, 2012

    Heavenly Hot Chocolate

    Tonight, after a long day, I didn't feel much like cooking. So I decided to make some hot chocolate and share this recipe with you. Creamy, but not too filling, rich, but not clumpy. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

    Ingredients
    1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    3/4 cup sugar
    1/3 cup water
    3 1/2 cups milk
    1 cup mini marshmellows
    Directions
    1. Whisk cocoa, sugar, and water on stove (medium, high) DON'T BOIL
    2. Lower temperature and whisk 2 minutes
    3. Raise temperature to medium and pour milk and marshmallows in.
    4. Stir marshmallows until melted.

    Tuesday, March 13, 2012

    Cheating Doughnuts

    My favorite doughnut recipe! Simple, and as the title implies- there's a shortcut.
    Ingredients:
    •  Oil for frying
    • Powdered sugar (about a cup)
    • 2 tbsp cinnamon
    • Two containers of Grands brand buiscuits
    Directions:
    1. Cut small holes into biscuits.
    2. Fry a few at a time in oil (they will expand).
    3. Mix powdered sugar and cinnamon onto plate.
    4. Flip donuts onto plate and immediately cover with sugar.

    Sunday, March 11, 2012

    Seattle Expedition!

    Today my family and I set out to Seattle on an expedition to taste new foods. Not only is their food a tourist attraction, but there's a musician in every corner.


    We started of at Mee Sum Pastry, where we each had a hombow, sort of a sweet biscuit filled with meat or vegetables. The markets had everything from homemade blackberry honey to pig's head and duck's fat :/. A wide selection of locally-grown fruits and vegetables were sold for steal deals of 35 cents an orange, and smiling faces insisted for the public to try sweet apples and plum slices.


    After walking up an appetite throughout Seattle, we stopped at Beecher's for the World's Best Macaroni. Beecher's Mac & Cheese is unique because their cheese is created on site. I ordered the Mariachi flavored version, the pasta was so creamy it refused to cease slipping off of my fork. Free samples and creameries tempted us every block, but with raging winds and a temperature of forty-six degrees- ice cream just didn't sound that special anymore.



     By the ump-teenth time around, though our curiosity was raging us onward, but we realized that we could walk all day and still have more new eateries to stop by. So we caught the next ferry heading out of Elliot bay, and put impediment on our Seattle expedition.