Happy Birthday Mr. H - Fortune Cookie Cupcakes with Almost Homemade Buttercream Frosting!

Okay so we had our monthly Family Home Evening this Monday, and it was our turn to host it (we do this one Monday a month with extended family, and rotate months). Mr. H, his brother and nephew Baby J...all have thier bdays in February. Mr. H had his tonsils out a couple weeks ago - side note: I had no idea how horrible and awful this surgery is!!!!! It's not in and out...they do outpatient...but the patient is OUT for weeks!!!! Anyways so there were some cupcakes for my dear sweet hubby with only frosting since he still can't swallow sprinkles and definitly not fortune cookies!!!

I used box mix for my cupcakes Yippy for Pillsbury being peanut free!!

For the frosting I found this AWESOME recipe for Almost Homemade Buttercream that I will ALWAYS use form now on for my white frosting. I am a chocolate cake, chocolate frosting gal. Dear sweet Mr. H is white-white. I had been using a Paula Deen vanilla recipe but it just wasn't GREAT...it was "good". A couple of my sis-in-laws would go to Safeway to buy their buttercream because it was so good...but this tastes just the same and maybe even better! Plus since my little guy has a peanut allergy I opt NOT to purchase most anything store bought and definitly not from the bakery etc. They all asked for the recipe while we were taste-testing before the cupcakes were even frosted! It doesn't hurt that it's super easy too! I got it from my lovely little cupcake cookbook Hello, Cupcake!

I was also very happy to find mixed colored sprinkles my Cake Mate that were peanut free...bummer about WalMart brands is that most of their items are processed in a facility-bla-bla-bla...come on WalMart!!!!

I bought LaChoy fortune cookies in the asian food aisle, melted about 1/2 C milk chocolate chips with about 1 T shortening and drizzled over cookies, then sprinkled with sprinkles and let sit in fridge till ready to use. So cute! It went with our asian theme...we had Honey Teryaki Chicken (already posted on BLB), Sumi Salad nixed toasted ramen and almonds subbed LaChoy chow mein noodles. Great night!

Fortune Cookie Cupcakes with Almost Homemade Buttercream Frosting

1 (16 oz...I used 13 oz jar and came out great) Marshmallow Fluff

3 sticks butter (3/4 lb), room temperature/softened

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 - 3/4 C powdered sugar

Mix marshmallow fluff with butter till smooth (electric hand mixer is best). Add vanilla and 1/2 C powdered sugar. May need to add 1/4 C or more until desired smooth consistancy. Voila!!! For this sprinkle effect just pour a large amount of sprinkles on a small plate or shallow bowl, tip cupcake on side while frosting hasn't set (immediatly lol) and roll in circle...voila!! If placing items on top also do immediatly before frosting sets. I always do one at a time.

Chocolate Drizzled Fortune Cookies with Sprinkles

24 Homemade or LaChoy brand Fortune cookies (12 come in a box)

1/2 C milk chocolate chips (or other favorite chocolate...yummo with dark I bet)

2 T shortening

Favorite sprinkles (smaller the better for this scenario)

Lay cookies on parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Put chocolate and shortening in microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring until smooth (or use double boiler). Use tongs of a fork, dip in chocolate, then drizzle on top of cookies. Sprinkle with SPRINKLES of course! Let sit in fridge at least 5 minutes before using/serving to allow chocolate to set.

Grandma's Whole Wheat Bread - Food Storage!!

Okay so I was having a really hard time getting my breads and rolls to be SUPER DUPER light and fluffy. They tasted great and were decent in the light/fluffy arena...but just not quite right. The secret to my new found success....the less flour the better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You actually want your dough to be somewhat sticky. So that if you had a bare finger and touched it - it would stick to you, BUT if you have some shortening on your fingers you can easily handle it. I was adding the max amount of flour until my dough LOOKED how I thought it should...no bueno!!

Anyways my wonderful friend Kellen took me to her Grandma's house (now that I have no grandparents...it was soooooooooooooo nice to be with her sweet grandma!!!) for a bread making class. We did everything by hand because that's how she knows how to do it. SO I'm sorry this doesn't come with Kitchenaid directions. One day I will try it on mine and time out about how long to mix, knead for. Till then...it's old school for me lol

Anyways, this is great bread for sacrament meeting (who doesn't love the surprise of homemade bread during sacrament?!), Baby H loves toasted with butter & cinnamon/sugar, also great with grilled cheese...and of course warm out of the oven with butter!!!!!!!!!!!

Whole Wheat Bread - 2 loaves

3 3/4 C warm water

1 1/2 T yeast

1/3 C honey or sugar (honey tastes better)

2 t salt, heaping!!

1/3 C oil

6 C fresh ground whole wheat (you may only use 5!!)

1 1/2 - 3 C white flour

Combine water, sugar, yeast and let set a few minutes. Add oil and salt.

Add about 4 1/2 C whole wheat flour (it's best to fresh grind your hard white wheat from the cannery so you get the most nutrients out of it). Stir vigorously until gluten forms and dough becomes stretchy (when you pull your spoon out from dough it will stretch and then break apart after a few inches of stretch). If it looks to "watery" then go ahead and add 1/2 at a time until you get that perfect mixture of "stretchiness" (I'll have to remember to take a picture of this "stretchiness" lol so you can see it...will make more sense). Rub shortening all over your hands and knead in a cup of white flour. Add a little more flour a little at a time until dough is right consistancy. It should be very soft and again STICKY if you don't have shortening on hands. Shape into round ball, leave in bowl, cover with saran wrap. Let rise about 30-45 minutes or until double in size (BEFORE putting bowl in to rise, I heat my oven to 170 then turn off right when it hits 170...this keeps oven warm and great for rising). Punch down dough and form into two loaves. To form a loaf place on lightly floured surface, grab one end and slowly and gently pull away from you and then roll towards you so that you have a "roll", then on each end gently tuck under. (Again I'll have to take a nice little pic for ya! but in the meantime there are several videos on youtube for shaping a bread loaf). Place shaped loaves in shortening greased pans. Cover with Saran Wrap and let rise again till double about 30-40 minutes. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Original recipe says 325, but I don't think my oven was hot enough at that temp...so I raised it. Yummo enjoy!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

I got this from Sisters Cafe while looking for a good freezer meal. A good friend in my ward just had her baby, and I wanted to take her a meal that they could use whenever! This is a winner when it comes to freezer meals. I really really really loved it! I made a batch for our family as well, and I couldn't stop craving it! It wasn't as big as a hit with Mr. H...but I'm telling ya I loved it! ANDDDDDD Baby H loved it too!!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

2 pkgs reduced sodium Stuffing mix

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 C milk

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 lb sliced deli ham, cut into 1" strips

8 Swiss cheese slices, or 1 C shredded

2 C cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Mexican blend from Costco...yumm)

2 C cooked chicken, ( I used canned chicken from Costco, and pulled apart the chunks a bit after draining...was yummmo!!)

Prepare stuffing mixes according to directions on box. Meanwhile in a bowl, combine soup and milk. Put chicken in a greased 9x13 or 2 8x8's (that's what I did for two small family batches). Sprinkle chicken with pepper. Layer ham, swiss, cheddar, soup mixture, and finally top with stuffing as final layer. At this point you can freeze or bake for 45 minutes at 350. If frozen, thaw in fridge overnight. Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before baking. Cover with foil and bake 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer. If using 8x8 cut baking time to about 30 minutes covered, 5-10 uncovered.

Support the 2010 Walk for Food Allergy in YOUR area!

I am the local chair for our Tempe, Arizona 2010 Walk for Food Allergy, and strongly encourage you to add a badge to the sidebar of your page to help support our cause, and all the other walks across the U.S.

Just right-click and save the picture below to your computer. Go to LAYOUT, click on ADD A GADGET, click on PICTURE. Then you will simply upload the picture you just right-clicked and saved from your computer. Next you will copy & paste this link in the "url" area: http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=2009Walks So that when visitors to your blog click on the picture they are directed to the 2010 Walk for Food Allergy locations across America and can go their specific city/state.

If you find this picture more "attractive" and "better looking" on your blog lol here ya go!

I also highly encourage you to start a walk in your area if there is not one already!! Just go here for more info: http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Potential_Future_Walks

ONE OTHER WAY TO HELP OUT!! It's super easy... if you have a FACEBOOK accout...please become a fan of our local walk by clicking on the right hand badge I have ...see it...top right!!! Ya that's it!

Thanks so much! For those new to my blog, my dear sweet son has a severe life-threatening allergy to peanuts. We are working to help him and others with food allergies. Thank you for your support and love!

Twice Baked Potatoes - BAKING LIKE BETTY FOR REAL!!!!

Okay again...I know my picture is poor quality...but these twice baked potatoes were a hit at Christmas Dinner!! Yes...another post that has taken FOREVER! And on this post I'm really BAKING LIKE BETTY! This recipe came from my Betty Crocker New Cookbook Everything You Need To Know About Cooking (a great little treasure for quick go-to help and recipes).

We had prime rib with au jus (however you spell it!!), caramalized butternut squash (I'm nearly 100% I've already posted that on this blog), twice baked potatoes and banana cream pie for dessert! yummmmmy! Oh and I can't forget... green bean casserole MY FAVORITE!

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 lg baking potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed with fork holes poked in randomly

1/4 to 1/2 c milk

1/4 c butter, softened

1/4 tsp salt

dash of pepper

1 C chedder cheese, shredded

1 T fresh chives, chopped

Bake potatoes wrapped in foil on 375 for just about an hour. You want them to be baked through BUT not too much so that your "skin" or "shell" is so soft and falls apart when cutting and scooping. Remove from oven. Let cool about 30 minutes. Remove foil. Cut in half lengthwise. Scoop outside into large bowl leaving a thin shell. Mash potatoes until no lumps remain. Add milk in small amounts stirring consistantly. Add butter, salt and pepper and mix till light and fluffy. Add more milk to make fluffier...be sure to only do so a little at a time. Stir in cheese and chives. Fill potatoe shells with mashed potato filling. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Heat oven to 400 and bake about 20 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle more cheddar cheese on top. Great with sour cream on the side...I'm also thinking about frying 4 pieces of bacon, breaking into crumbles, and adding to the mashed potato filling...mmmmmmm!

Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie... Finally!!!!

Okay this picture is NOT the best...but you get the idea..it's a pie! lol. I was totally bummed because I meant to make the top all pretty and cute with whip cream and banana slices, but forgot to take the whip cream over to my mom's for Christmas Dinner! Yup that's right this was from Christmas...it's really taken me that long to get on here to post it!

My soon to be Brother-in-law's FAVORITE pie is....BANANA CREAM PIE. So I was a little nervous when he was digging into his because for someone's favorite pie they have probably tried several!!!!!It was a hit...so much in fact that he made sure my sister had the recipe to make again for him at home and he took ALL the leftovers!!!! I LOVE when people LOVE my food so much they want to take it all!!! I love making people happy with food!!!

Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie

1 9" pie crust, baked

3 T cornstarch

1 2/3 c water

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 T butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 medium bananas

lemon juice

whipped cream

In heavy saucepan, dissolve cornstarch in water; stir in sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla. Cool slightly. Slice 2 bananas; dip in lemon juice and drain. Arrange on bottom of prepared crust. Pour filling over bananas; cover. Chill 4 hours or until set.
Spread top with whipped cream. Slice remaining banana; dip in lemon juice, drain and garnish top of pie. Refrigerate leftovers.
Serving Size: 6

Chocolate Sauce!

Alright my sister-in-law made this for us on Christmas Eve....and I have been craving it daily since! Althought tonight was the 1st time I made a batch! This makes plenty so I will have it for the rest of the week lol. This is great just over ice cream, but what is really good: Super thick brownies, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and add crushed toppings such as candy canes and oreo cookies... Oh I love my SIL's way of thinking!!

One thing I did to do watch the calories in this: Made Betty Crocker Low Fat brownies and used FAT FREE evaporated milk. I could have also bought sugar-free ice cream, but just wasn't thinking.

Chocolate Sauce

1 can evaporated milk

3 squares unsweetened chocolate

3 c sugar

1/4 lb butter (one stick)

Put all ingredients in pan and heat on medium until all is melted. Put in blender and whip till smooth. Yummmmy!