Chocolate and Strawberry Cupcakes

Nothing says "Valentine's Day" more than chocolate and strawberries, and these cupcakes from Tidy Mom are absolutely to DIE for. I know Melissa especially is a huge fan of chocolate covered strawberries, but everybody needs to try these ASAP!

Ingredients

Chocolate Fudge Cupcake
• 1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter (butter not margarine)
• 1 cup water
Strawberry Whipped Cream (filling)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5-6 T. chopped/processed strawberries
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (from Glorious Treats)
• ½ cup butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
• 1-4 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Chocolate Fudge Cupcake
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix on low until blended, then mix on high for 2 mins.
3. Pour into paper lined cupcake pans.
4. Bake for 20 min.
Strawberry Whipped Cream (filling)
5. Chop strawberries in blender (I used my Magic Bullet) just until they look thick and “liquidy”. I used really large strawberries and it took 4 to make 5-6 Tablespoons.
6. Beat whipping cream, and vanilla until it starts to thicken.
7. Mix in sugar.
8. Fold in strawberries.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting 
9. *Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
10. *Add the cocoa powder( before adding the sugar, so it gets fully incorporated into the butter and cream cheese.)
11. *Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
12. *Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
13. *Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
14. *Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
15. Bake cupcakes and cool completely
16. Cut out a small section in the center of the cupcake (save in bowl)
17. add strawberry whipped cream to the hole
18. replace the tops (just do the best you can – or you could just leave them off)
19. pipe chocolate frosting on top of cupcake with 1M tip.

Caramel popcorn

We tried this from pinterest click here if you want the original recipe.  It was really good and the caramel stayed gooey which is a must for me. This stuff is the BOMB!! Soft Caramel for Popcorn:
1c brown sugar,
1 stick butter,
1c karo syrup,
1 can sweetened condensed milk.
heat everything up until sugar is dissolved and it starts to bubble. This makes a lot of caramel so either half it or make a big big batch of popcorn.

Teriyaki Chicken

 This was found off of pinterest. click here for the original recipe. lakelurecottagekitchen.com.
CROCK POT TERIYAKI CHICKEN
12 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
 3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
 6 tablespoons cider vinegar
 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
 4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 1/2 teaspoons cold water
 Hot cooked long grain rice
Place chicken in a 4 qt. slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking liquid. Place liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into liquid and stir until sauce is thickend. Serve with chicken and rice. Note: I halved the recipe and it still worked fine in my crock pot. It might not need the full 4 hours time. 

Cake batter ice cream

I got an awesome cuisinart ice cream maker recently and so we have been trying out new recipies. This  was found off of pinterest and was a hit with everyone. This is from fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com you can go to the website here.
 Ingredients 
1 cup heavy cream, 
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 cup half and half
2/3 cup cake mix white or yellow
 3/4 cup sugar
 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
 2 tbsp sprinkles (I used nonpareils)
 Directions In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of the heavy cream with the cake mix, sugar, and salt. Heat over medium heat until warmed through. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Combine the milk and half and half, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl with a fine mesh sieve set over the top. When the mixture in the saucepan is warm (not boiling, but almost), slowly pour a small amount into the bowl with the egg yolks to temper them, whisking constantly. Continue pouring the cream mixture in a steady stream, whisking continuously until completely combined. Return the mixture to the saucepan over medium heat. Continue heating, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the mixture thickens slightly coats the back of a wooden spoon. Immediately pour the custard mixture through the mesh sieve into the bowl with the remaining milk mixture and mix to blend. Cover and chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (I chilled it overnight). Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Store in an airtight container in the freezer. Sometimes my homemade ice cream gets a little too hard when it freezes after I churn it. This one didn’t. It stay perfectly soft and scoop able, I was very pleased!

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

I have been trying to test out the recipes that I have pinned on pinterest and here is one that was a hit.



Quick and easy my favorite. This recipe is from Plain Chicken click here.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

• 3-4 cups of cooked chicken (I use a rotisserie chicken) 
• 2 cups chicken broth 
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter 
• 1 cup flour 
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup 

Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter in the microwave and pour into bottom of a 9x13 pan. Shred the chicken and spread it on top of the butter. Whisk together the milk and the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly pour over the chicken. Don't stir. Whisk together chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Pour soup over the flour and milk mixture. Don't stir. Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, or until dumplings are golden brown.

Homemade Granola

I really like granola.  I love it in my yogurt, sometimes with milk, or just plain.  But the brands I tend to like can be EXPENSIVE.  So, I've been looking for a really good granola recipe to make at home.  And I think I found one I'll stick with!

This recipe if from the book Worldwide World Christmas Cookbook, which my sis-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years back.  The recipe was submitted by Jenna Smith from South Carolina.

• 10 C. regular oatmeal
• 2 c. almonds, slivered or sliced (today I used chopped pecans, and they are delicious, too!  Use whatever nut you prefer.)
• 2 c. coconut (note to all you coconut haters: you can't see the coconut in the end or feel it's texture.  It just adds very subtly to the flavor.  Even if you think you don't like coconut, I highly recommend you leave this in.  Katelee hates coconut, but has no idea it's in this granola, which she loves!)
• 2 C. packed brown sugar

 Mix these together in a large bowl.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat:

•  3/4 c. oil
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 3/4 c. honey
• 3/4 c. water
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Heat and stir until the peanut butter is completely melted.  Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.  Spread onto two large cookie sheets.  Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring once during baking.  Let cool.  After it's completely cooled, stir in

•  assorted dried fruit (I really like Craisins.  Other good ideas would be dried apricots, raisins, berries of any kind, etc.)

Serve with milk or yogurt, or even enjoy plain.  Makes about 16 cups. Put in an airtight container, and this would last for several months.

Grandma Kaye's Chewy Brownies (Blackies!)

We were at Grandma Kaye's house last week, and she served us the most delicious brownies!  We made them ourselves tonight for our Family Home Evening treat, and they were still awesome.  I never seem to have a brownie mix on hand, and I love that I can whip these up from ingredients that are always in my pantry/fridge.  This is a recipe that is definitely worth sharing:

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. flour
• 3 HEAPING T. baking cocoa (Grandma likes them more like 'blackies' than 'blondies'  :)
• chocolate chips, if desired (optional)

Mix all the ingredients well.  Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until set.  (I think I had to bake mine for 22 minutes.)

Serve warm or cooled!