Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Here's one of my childhood faves. I requested these instead of cake for just about every birthday. Well, these and permission to eat the batter from an entire cake all by myself :)

Chocolate cake mix (plus the ingredients listed on box)

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Chocolate chips

Mix up cake mix as directed on box. Fill up each lined cupcake mold about 2/3 full. Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla until combined. Mix in as many chocolate chips as desired (about one package is what i use). Drop a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in center of each partially filled cupcake. Bake as directed for cupcakes on cake mix box. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Enjoy hot with a glass of milk! yum!

Chocolate Caramel Toffee Bars

These are some amazing bar cookies courtesy of my good friend Sarah Porter. Sarah is one of the healthiest eaters I know but when she cheats, this is the amazing dessert she makes!

1 yellow cake mix

1/3 c. oil

2 eggs

1 (12 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. white chocolate chips

3 (1.4 oz.) Heath or Skor bars, broken into pieces

1/2 c. butter or margarine

32 caramels, unwrapped

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13" x 9" pan. Combine cake mix, oil and eggs; blend well. Stir in all chips and candy pieces (you can get creative and use other stuff too!). Press half of the mixture into pan and bake for 10 minutes. (It helps to press batter into pan using saran wrap to keep it from sticking to fingers).

Meanwhile combine butter, caramels and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until smooth and melted. Slowly pour caramel mixture over partially baked crust, top with remaining cake mix mixture. Return to oven and bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until brown. Cool 20 minutes in pan. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars. Cool 40 minutes and refrigerate 1 hour. Store in refrigerator, makes 24 bars.

**Try making two batches, one with a yellow cake mix on bottom and a chocolate one on top and the other vice versa. Bon apetit!

GOOD wheat bread!

My favorite food and recipe junkie friend, Heidi, sent me this great bread recipe, I think it's from the Everyday Food Storage blog (which is fabulous, i might add). Seeing how I've never made an edible loaf of wheat bread in my life, i decided to try this recipe only using my brand new fancy dancy wheat grinder. Yes, it's freaking expensive and now I can't buy another kitchen appliance until 2014 but man is it great!! And, guess what? The bread turned out great!! I made it a bit too doughy because I didn't add enough flour (you may have to add more than the recipe says to get a good consistency) but it was still delectable. I can't wait to use my new grinder on some healthy cinnamon rolls! When I unearth my friend's award-winning recipe, I'll post it.

Wheat Bread recipe

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup brown sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever combination white/wheat you like..I use 100% hard white wheat.)
1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat non instant dry milk (if you don’t have this use milk instead of half or all of the water.)
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)

Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.

White Bread

1 1/8 cups warm water
1 3/4 - 2 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tblsp sugar (I use 3 Tbs. of sugar and 1 Tbs. honey, SO GOOD)
3 cups flour
1 Tblsp vital wheat gluten (remember you don’t need as much gluten if you’re not using whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat dry milk (I used Malted Milk Powder, ‘cause I had it! But you can substitute milk for the water up above.)
1 1/2 Tblsp butter/margarine or oil
1/4 cup potato flakes

Add the ingredients in the order listed into a mixer bowl (like a kitchen-aid) with a dough hook attachment and mix on low for 10-12 minutes. Or mix it on the dough cycle in your bread machine.
After all the mixing is complete, if the dough still seems too gooey and you are unable to handle it, add 1 Tblsp flour at a time, and mix after each addition until the dough is manageable with your hands. Let rise until doubled, punch down and roll out into a rectangle, the short end of which should be the length of your bread pan. Roll up the dough, seal the edges and place in a greased loaf pan, let rise in a warm place 45 min -1 hour and bake 375 degrees for 25 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.

Penne with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

My sister made this fabulous pasta tonight and it was great. But then again, can you really ever go wrong with a cream sauce?? We used shell pasta instead of penne because we had it and cooking white wine instead of vodka and it tasted wonderful. Enjoy!

Courtesy Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

1 pound uncooked penne pasta
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vodka
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 (3.5 ounce) links sweet Italian sausage

DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In large skillet, heat oil over moderate heat. Remove casing from sausage and add to skillet. Cook, breaking up the meat, until brown. Add garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring until garlic is golden brown.
Add tomatoes and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Add vodka and cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and add pasta, toss for 1 minute. Stir in fresh parsley and serve!

Easiest Bread EVER!

My latest acquisition in the cookbook department is this one..."Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. First of all, let me point out that if one of the authors is French and the other is Jewish, you know it's gonna be good! This is by far the most fool-proof and simple way to make bread and every time i make it, everyone raves. The basic premise is that you mix the dough (nothing but flour, yeast, salt and water), let it rise, then refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, pulling off a some dough and baking a loaf as desired. That's it. No kneading, proofing, thumping, beating with a stick, etc. It's fantastic and has changed the way i make bread forever...specifically, now i make bread and before i didn't. It's that good.

Toffee Bars

Another no-fail dessert recipe rom the college days. We made these so much, I think the cookbook just naturally fell open to this page every time. Guaranteed to make any break-up or failed mid-term a thing of the past :)
(courtesy an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)

Toffee Bars
Ingredients:
1/2 C butter
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 C flour

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla

1 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 C sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the 1/2 C butter, granulated sugar, and salt with an electric mixer on medium to high speed till combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 15 minutes or till the edges are lightly browned.

2. Meanwhile, in a heavy medium saucepan heat the sweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat till bubbly, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 5 minutes more. (Mixture will thicken and become smooth.) Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Spread over baked layer. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or till golden.

3. For fudge icing*, in a small saucepan melt chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in the powdered sugar and the 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in enough hot water (1 to 2 tablespoons) to make an icing that is easy to pour. Spread the icing evenly over the warm cookie. Immediately cut into bars. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 36 bars.
*Instead of topping these bars with fudge icing, you can sprinkle one 6-oz package (1 cup) semisweet chocolate pieces over the cookie immediately after removing it from the oven. Let pieces stand 2 to 3 minutes or till softened; spread evenly. Cool, then chill for 5 to 10 minutes or until the chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

Rustic Bean Stew with Bacon and Caramelized Onions

This is the first main dish recipe I tried from The Improvistional Cook book. I absolutely LOVED it. Served with crusty toasted french bread, a spinach salad and homemade canned peaches, our table was the picture of health and perfection! Definitely a new fave.

You can use canned beans for this, but I think making them from scratch adds a little something, i mean other than hours of cookin time :) If you're like me and never remember to soak them overnight before cooking, here's a cheat: rinse beans, cover with cool water in saucepan, bring to a boil and then lower heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Then turn off heat and cover, let soak for an hour. Rinse several times and cover with water again, simmer for 1 1/2 to 3 hours (add onion and bay leaf during this part).

4 oz. thick-sliced bacon
1 pound yellow onions, sliced or diced
salt
4 cups cooked, drained darkish beans (such as red beans, Roman, black-eyed peas, etc.)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 c. low sodium cicken broth
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
freshly ground pepper

Cook bacon until crisp, remove bacon from pan, pour off all but about 1 tbs. fat.

Caramelize onions by cooking in bacon fat unil wilted and have released juices, about 5 minutes.
add about 1/2 tsp. salt and saute until onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes longer.

Add beans to pan along with crumbled bacon, bay leaves, broth, vinegar and sugar. Bring to a smmer, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid has reduced considerably and it looks like a stew, about 20 mintes. Adjust seasonsing, pepper generously. I mashed up about half of the beans at the end to make it more like a stew.
Enjoy gourmet eating!