Monday Morning Mmmm: Brownie Cupcakes

9:35 am ByFiled UnderRecipes & Food

Are you the kind of person who says things like, “Oh, this is just too rich!” or “You know, chocolate’s not my thing. I can take it or leave it,” then you should probably just keep moving on.

I mean, come back tomorrow for a new post, but today? Just keep on clickin’.

Because these cupcakes? They. Are. Full. Of. The. Chocolate. I’m talking a chocolate fudge cupcake with a brownie inside and then topped with rich chocolate frosting.

Mmm-hm. That’s right. And, that’s why I made these puppies with my friend Brittany and then left them all at her house. (All except for the one – and a half – that I ate.) When we finally got to the taste-testing portion of this activity, I tried to get Annalyn to smile a big chocolatey smile for the camera.

Me: “Do you like the cupcake, baby?”
Her: “Yes.”
Me: “Does it make you want to smile?”
Her: “It makes me want to take them all home.”

So, I didn’t get a picture (Clearly,the girl just does not understand the requirements of a blogger’s daughter!), but I couldn’t have asked for a better testimonial than that!

I found this recipe on Kevin & Amanda (she has The Best recipes there!). I altered it a bit by using frosting from a can, because while I’m sure her five-stick-of-butter frosting is ah-maze-ing, I was one part too lazy and two parts two scared to make it myself. (Come. On! Five sticks of butter!? I might have dived straight into that bowl and never come out again!)

This recipe involves several steps, but it’s worth it. Here’s the full recipe:
 

Brownie Batter Cupcakes

Brownie Batter

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup milk
1 box devil’s food cake mix

Mix all ingredients together. Use a small scoop (or heaping tablespoon) to put batter on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and freeze overnight.

Cupcakes

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 large package instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients, stirring in chocolate chips last. Use a large scoop (about 3 tbsp) to drop batter into cupcake liners, filling about two-thirds full. Take the brownie batter balls from the freezer and press one into each cup of cupcake batter. Bake for 22-28 minutes.

I had a little trouble pulling the cupcakes out of the pan, mainly because I didn’t push the brownie batter ball far enough into the cupcake batter. It ended up sitting on top of the cupcake a bit and popped off a few cupcakes when I tried to remove them from the pan. They also ended up shaped pretty funny, and I’m glad Brittany was willing to frost them all.

And speaking of frosting, like I mentioned, I used canned frosting, but you can find the recipe for Amanda’s crazy buttery chocolate frosting here.

By the way, writing this post has made me REALLY regret leaving all the cupcakes at my friends’ house. Not that I’d have any left by now. But I wish I did.

How much do you love chocolate? Do you ever think a food is too rich?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Works for Me Wednesday, I’m Lovin’ It, Sweet Tooth Friday and Foodie Friday.

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Monday Morning Mmmm: Baked Chicken Taquitos

11:20 pm ByFiled UnderRecipes & Food

I suppose it’s possible that if the Chiefs ever made it to the Superbowl, I’d care about the game more. But considering I don’t really care about Chiefs games in general (and, let’s be honest, based on the past 40+ years, this is not a likely scenario), it’s doubtful.

So food and commercials it is.

Last year, I went a little crazy and hosted a Chinese New Year-themed Superbowl party. It was a lot of fun, but I won’t deny that attending a low-key party at someone else’s house this year was way easier!

I took a pot of [award-winning] chili, jalapeno popper dip (we can’t get enough of this; it’s so good!), and mini baked chicken taquitos.

Once again, I found a new recipe to try on Pinterest. (What DID I do before Pinterest?) But after reading through the first taquito recipe I found, I decided to figure out how to bake them instead of fry them. So my recipe is a sorta-kinda combination of Our Best Bites and Mommy, I’m Hungry.

I’m not even sure why I stopped at this recipe in the first place. I don’t normally like taquitos. I suspect it may have been the mention of BACON.

[Dear Weight Watchers leader, Please stop reading now. Come back when I talk about working out.]

But after putting a strangely large amount of thought into this recipe, I decided that MY taquitos were going to be awesome. Mainly because I wasn’t frying them (taquitos always taste more like oil than anything filling to me) and because I was using flour tortillas instead of corn. And because they have bacon.
 

Mini Baked Chicken Taquitos

2 cups shredded chicken
6 slices of bacon, crumbled
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
Dash (or so) of chili powder, cumin and garlic powder
8 large (10-inch) flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut each tortilla into three or four small circles with a cookie cutter (or plastic cup and paring knife, if you don’t happen to have a large round cookie cutter). The original recipe said to cut three circles; I got four out of mine.

Add seasonings to cream cheese, then combine with chicken and bacon (which you should definitely bake in the oven). Spoon about a teaspoon of filling into each tortilla circle and roll up. Secure with a toothpick and place on lightly sprayed baking sheet. Spray the tops of the taquitos with baking spray and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp.

For a dipping sauce, I combined about 1/2 cup light sour cream, 1/4 cup light mayo and some homemade salsa. I’d love to tell you how much salsa, exactly, but it was really a add a little and see how it looks sort of thing.

Because I had to bag up the taquitos shortly after taking them out of the oven, they were a little soggy when we arrived at our friends’ house. So we popped them back in the oven (at 350 degrees) for a few minutes, and they crisped right back up.

I’m happy to say these cute little taquitos were a big hit at our Superbowl party. Adults and kids alike gobbled them up. (Well, kids and husbands gobbled. Wives nibbled daintily, of course.)

What did you eat during the Superbowl?

Psst. Stay tuned for my Top 10 Favorite Commercials from the 2012 Superbowl tomorrow!

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Works for Me Wednesday, I’m Lovin’ It and Foodie Friday.

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Monday Morning Mmmm: Banana Berry Smoothie

10:43 pm ByFiled UnderRecipes & Food

A couple weeks ago my husband took out the trash (yay) before I had the chance to put some spoiled food in the garbage (boo). I mentioned that to Mark, exasperated, and he said, “Oh yeah, I meant to grab that bag of bananas from the freezer. They look disgusting!”

Right. He was referring to the bananas I’d been saving for smoothies. For months.

But those frozen bananas (which are not disgusting, just for the record) weren’t the oldest smoothie component in my freezer. I bought three bags of frozen berries a YEAR AGO. At first I thought I’d eat them with fat-free whipped cream for a healthy yet tasty dessert.

I’m not sure who I thought I was then. Once that dream faded, I decided to keep them for smoothies.

The only glitch in this fruit-freezing plan? I didn’t have a blender.

Thanks to a few returns after Christmas, though, I am now the proud owner of a shiny red blender that looks fabulous in my kitchen. [Yes, I said fabulous.] And last week I put it to use.

First I made some salsa, but after rinsing out an extreme amount of cilantro and a touch too much jalapeno (plus the actual salsa, of course), I got busy figuring out how to turn my bizarre collection of frozen fruit into smoothies.

Once I figured out the ratio of fruit to yogurt to milk that I preferred (and discovered that it’s pert near impossible to take a good picture of a smoothie), I clicked around Pinterest to find that “make smoothie packs for the freezer” pin I’d seen a while back.

How I Make a Banana Berry Smoothie:

  1. Buy a four-pack of low-fat vanilla yogurt. Freeze in ice cube trays (I got about six cubes out of each cup of yogurt.).
  2. Add two cubes of frozen yogurt, 1/2 cup of frozen berries and 1/2 a banana to a zipper baggie.
  3. When you’re ready for a smoothie, dump the contents of the baggie into your blender. Add about 3/4 cup milk (more or less depending on your preferred smoothie consistency) and blend.

I’ve bookmarked, tagged and pinned several smoothie recipes, and it appears I can add all sorts of healthy things like oatmeal, spinach and wheat germ. For now, though, I’m not going to lie. I’m really proud of my new healthy breakfast!

Do you like smoothies? And do you have any mystery food in your freezer like I did?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Works for Me Wednesday, I’m Lovin’ It and Foodie Friday.

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Monday Morning Mmmm: Parmesan Knots

8:19 pm ByFiled UnderRecipes & Food

Remember when I said I was going to start sharing more healthy recipes with you this year? Yeah, I don’t really know what to tell you. I blame Pinterest, but clearly someone else is to blame because time and time again, I tag, pin and otherwise bookmark recipes for appetizers, desserts and breads. Finding a main dish recipe in my collection is darned near impossible!

Granted, I did start a soup board on Pinterest, but I haven’t tried any out yet. I’m the only person in my house who eats soup, so it’s low on the family priority list.

All that to say – surprise! This week’s recipe is for bread!

But it’s gooood bread. And super easy. And kind of looks fancy, so you can pretend to be real gourmet during the week, if you want. (Then again, if your family inhales and/or plays with their dinner like mine does, perhaps “fancy” isn’t what you’re looking for at all. If that’s the case, just focus on the “good” and “easy” part.)

As part of my “it’s a new year, so I’d better start doing all those things I should’ve been doing all along” phase, I’ve been making dinner every single night instead of relying on eating out every few days. I enjoy cooking, but since we’re rushing around more often than not during the week, we usually forgo bread with our meal. With this quick recipe, though, you can add it in pretty easily. If your family is a big fan of the carbs like mine (go figure), I’m sure they’ll thank you!

Parmesan Knots
Source: Real Mom Kitchen

1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (or whatever temperature your biscuits call for). Roll each biscuit into a rope (or, as we called it in our house, a snake), and tie it into a knot. Mix together oil and spices. Dredge each know in oil mixture and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Now that I’ve made these, taken photos, served them to my family and enjoyed one (okay, fine, TWO) myself, I realize that the original recipe said to bake the rolls first, then brush on the oil mixture.

I suspect the rolls might have a slightly different texture that way, but the taste should be the same. And since I thought they tasted like Pizza Hut breadsticks, I say that taste is pretty good! But . . . um, yeah . . . I’ll try baking first and basting second next time. Just to see the difference.

And I know there will be a next time because about 2.3 minutes into dinner (and 2.3 bites into her roll), my daughter asked, “When are you going to make these again, Mommy? Can we make them on Tuesday?”

Do you make bread on weeknights? Or is that something you reserve for the weekends (or “fancy” dinners)?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Works for Me Wednesday, I’m Lovin’ It and Foodie Friday. It will also be linked to Ingredient Spotlight at Eat at Home Cooks.

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Monday Morning Mmmm: White Chicken Enchiladas

9:41 pm ByFiled UnderRecipes & Food

Several months ago I decided to make chicken enchiladas but I fancied them up with lots of veggies and a new recipe. Those enchiladas were pretty good, but for a regular dinner on a regular night, I prefer something a bit simpler.

I have a chicken enchilada recipe that I’ve used several times before, but it does call for cream of something soup. And while I’m not entirely opposed to cream of something soups, I have decided to eat more whole foods this year (and apparently that does not include gloppy soups from a can). So when I found this recipe at Joyful Momma’s Kitchen (via Pinterest), I decided to give it a try (with a few tweaks).

White Chicken Enchiladas

10 flour tortillas
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Garlic powder
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken with chili powder, cumin and garlic. Then mix chicken and one cup of cheese together. Spoon into tortillas, roll up and place in greased 9×13 pan.

Melt butter in a sauce pan, then add flour while stirring often. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat until thick and bubbly. Next, stir in sour cream and chilies and let cook on low to medium heat for a few minutes.

Pour the sauce over enchiladas and top with the other half of the cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes. (If you want to be real fancy, the original recipe recommended broiling the pan for the last few minutes until the cheese is browned. I didn’t bother, but I’m sure that step adds a level of tastiness!)

I was afraid that these enchiladas would be too mild or even boring, which is why I was prepared with extra sour cream and jalapenos. But it turns out the seasoning on the chicken and the cheesy sauce was plenty flavorful. And while my husband didn’t love these (he is basically opposed to all dishes that don’t feature beef, bacon or both), my [sometimes picky] four-year-old said over and over, “Thank you, Mommy! I love this! This is delicious! You’re a great cooker!”

You can’t ask for a better recommendation than that!

I really do think this is my favorite recipe of all for chicken enchiladas, and I’ll definitely be making it again.

Do you like chicken, beef or bacon best? And how do you feel about cream of whatever soups?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green and Foodie Friday.

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