Everyday Food for Busy People
The outside looks like a plain vanilla muffin. But inside there’s a creamy pocket of Nutella hiding.
Can it get any better?
I don’t think so.
Loy says dessert-like muffins should be called “Muffcakes”. I agree completely.
Here’s how you make this magic – and please do go straight to your kitchen to make these. You will love yourself for it! [Read more...]
Isn’t that the prettiest pink cake?
I’m not known for beautiful cakes. They usually turn out lopsided with crumbs in the frosting. So I’m really happy with how this turned out.
The idea is not my own. I saw the Cherry Vanilla Cake on Jam Hands and couldn’t resist trying it. I altered Ali’s recipe in several ways. She used the seeds of a vanilla bean, which sounds scrumptious, but I didn’t have any. I swapped water for milk and butter for oil.
And I decided to frost it with whipped topping. My original plan was to use Cool Whip, but then I remembered a recipe shared a few weeks ago on Ingredient Spotlight for homemade whipped topping. That’s what I decided to try and I’ll share the recipe on on Thursday. [Read more...]
I whipped these muffins up one night to snack on during family game night. We were playing spoons, which usually leads to ice cream for some reason. Then the next morning we have no spoons to stir coffee or eat cereal because they’re all dirty from the game playing, ice cream eating fun the night before.
But on this night, I decided chocolate chip muffins would make a fine snack. I love baking muffins, because it’s so fast and there’s an infinite variety of flavors. Needless to say, these were a hit.
I have some big plans for taking these muffins to a new level that involve cream cheese and chocolate ganache. I’m waiting for a day when I can bake in the afternoon so the photos have some daylight. We’ve had so much rain lately, I may have to settle for a dark day.
Back to the muffin recipe. Here’s what you’ll need. I didn’t grab a photo of the ingredients, but they’re all common items. [Read more...]
This is a fun way to pull kids into the kitchen and share the Easter Story with them in a way that they will remember. The cookies get made in the evening and then sit in the oven overnight. It’s perfect to do the night before Easter, but any evening will work.
Before I get to the instructions, let me share a few helpful hints. [Read more...]
Cornbread muffins are an easy way to round out a meal. I decided to save a few steps by making my own mix.
One note: Don’t leave out the butter when you mix them up. We had company the other day and I served these muffins. Right before we sat down to eat, I discovered the melted butter that was supposed to be in the muffins sitting in the microwave instead.
Please tell me I’m not the only one to have trouble talking and cooking at the same time! I once melted a Tupperware bowl in the oven because I was talking on the phone and not paying attention. I meant to turn the oven on to about 200 degrees and then turn it off again, to rise some bread dough. The key is turning the oven off!
I’d love to hear your stories of distractions that led to cooking disasters! But first, let’s get to the recipe. Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
I’m going to guess that you have everything to make these cookies in your pantry right now. Recipes that satisfy your chocolate cravings quickly and cheaply cannot be underrated.
This recipe was shared by Loy in the comment section of last week’s Ingredient Spotlight: Cocoa. My kids were scavenging in the kitchen for a snack when I saw the recipe. It didn’t take long until we were pulling warm, chocolatey cookies from the oven. Loy’s recipe calls for nuts, but I tossed in some Heath chips instead.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
88 meatballs. That’s a lot of meatballs to stash away in the freezer.
It boggles my mind, but somehow we have managed to eat all 88 meatballs and we didn’t even have company to help. Did I mention it only took us 3 weeks to polish them off? Yikes!
I used them for spaghetti/tortellini meals twice. And I had two recipes to try out that used meatballs. One of them didn’t turn out quite the way I’d hoped the first time, so I tried it again. My kids have revolted now. I don’t think I can feed them another meatball dish for a while.
But, I still think it’s a great idea to have homemade meatballs in the freezer. They taste much better than the store-bought kind and they are better for you too. You can use them for spaghetti, of course. But they’re also good in Sweet and Sour Meatballs over Rice and Meatball Subs.
Before we get to the recipe, I want to remind you about Virtual Freezer Cooking Day on February 19. On that Saturday, I’ll be in my kitchen cooking freezer foods and I’ll be checking in on Facebook frequently to hear what you’re cooking in your kitchens. Here are the details of the event. Be sure to RSVP. There will be prizes and giveaways involved!
Back to today’s recipe: Somehow I failed to take a picture of the finished meatballs. The ingredient photo is at the top of the post.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
If you’re looking for a special dessert for Valentines Day, this is it. Your sweetie will love you for making this!
The raspberry filling dresses up the brownies. Chocolate and raspberry mingle so well together. A scoop of vanilla ice cream with extra raspberry sauce adds decadence.
As a side note, I think I could use some food styling help. I sprinkled cocoa powder on the white plate and set the brownie in the middle. So far, so good. A round scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top of the brownie. And then I warmed the raspberry sauce and spooned it over the top. Instead of drizzling down the ice cream in rivulets, it melted the ice cream and slid off in an un-pretty way.
Oh well. Once we dug our spoons in, it didn’t matter how pretty it looked. It tasted divine!
Here’s what you’ll need to make them: [Read more...]
Craving a pink-pink, sweet, sunshine-y bite of Valentine’s?
Here you go!
I woke up one morning a few weeks ago and the idea for this recipe popped into my mind. I’m not sure why that happens to me sometimes, but it’s a lovely way to wake up. That’s how the idea for S’mores Pie came to me too.
Anyway…I’d seen this post for Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies. It brought to mind the strawberry cake mix that I’d had in my pantry. I decided to combine it with pink lemonade. Flavor blast!
At first bite, the cookies taste almost too sweet and lemonade-y. But then you want another bite and another. Then pass me another cookie please. These are good! Like dropping bites of sunshine right into the middle of winter.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
My ears perked up when I heard someone mention a fried rice dish that involved ham and pineapple. Any recipe that involves cubed ham gets my attention right now, since I have so much in the freezer.
My family likes the ham/pineapple combo in recipes, but I admit that this sounded a little strange. But I was wrong. The fried rice was full of flavor and we licked the platter clean. No leftovers to fight over.
I based the recipe on Vietnam Fried Rice, but I used pineapple juice in addition to the soy sauce to season and flavor the dish. Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
