Author: dulcedelicious

I wanted to say that Christmas arrived early for me..or Hanukkah…depending on who you are asking.  Kitchen Aid stand mixers were 30% off on Amazon about 1.5 weeks ago which meant …why not get the Pro as it ended up being almost 50% off with other discounts.  I haven’t used it yet but I plan on making something this weekend.  I have seen several recipes I want to try that are either going to be cookies brownies.  I need to push myself back into the cupcake/cake pop arena but I need some solid time to figure out what I am going to make (I can never decide on recipes). 

I haven’t posted in a little while.  The holidays are generally crazy for me with work, not necessarily family but work work work.  I dislike traveling to colder weather, which is what I have to do during the holidays.  I don’t adjust well and then there is always the issue of going to a state where there is no gym and my bed isn’t familiar….sigh.

Oh yeah, and here is a picture of my badly behaved dog on the table after dinner.

 Anyways, back to the important stuff……I have to admit that I am addicted to Starbucks.  I love their Blonde roast however it has way to much caffeine in it and I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin after a 1/4 of a tall sooooooo..I switched back to old faithful; the nonfat Caramel Machiatto or the nonfat Pumpkin Spice Latte (which I just discovered sadly).  There are actually a lot of drinks that I like there but I try to keep my grande under 160 calories because I personally think that it is ridiculous to drink anymore than 200 calories in a coffee drink.  I would also rather eat my calories than drink them which probably isn’t bad but it does require a little work to get my fancy drinks to 160 or below. In addition, I don’t really like to drink anything “skinny” because of the sugar free syrups that I believe to taste pretty gross (they are also not so good for you because they mess with your sugar alcohols which effect metabolism or something…my trainer explained it to me a while ago).

Back to the point of this story; I love Starbucks eventhough they are a big bad corporation and there is a select set of people who “hate on them”. I have a friend who works at Starbucks and says the perks are awesome.  Okay! now the point of my story…..drum roll please…..because my fiance and I are trying to buy a new house I am being forced to save money *Gasp* which means I had to find other means to obtain my caffeinated beverages without using my debit card. Enter…..SHOPKICK.  Shopkick is an app i discovered on facebook about a year ago.  Basically, you download the app for Android or Iphone (I have an Iphone), you make a log in and then you go to any of the stores listed and scan items with your phone. You will receive points for scanning the items and the points add up to gifts.  I have only received Starbucks gift cards however they have a lot of different prized and you can save your points and get vacations and things of that nature.  I can’t save anything, so I basically get a 5-10 $ gift card several times a month.  It’s so amazingly easy, once you accrue points you click on the gift card option and they email you a gift card…DONE…THAT’S IT!!. With that said, I want to note that  I only use this app when I am going into a store for something or if I am dragged into the store by my fiance.  For example; he drags me into best buy, I open the app, I get points for walking in and I scan some stuff while I am there. Target is another establishment that is on the list consistently, you walk in, open the app, get points for walking in and scan some stuff.  Last time I was there I left with over 800 points.  This app is a nice way for me to get a free drink(s) and to utilize my time properly when I am in random stores. Okay so that is done…I felt like I should spread the wealth. 

here is the link to the webiste, but it’s just as easy to download the app

http://www.shopkick.com/

Speaking of neat things…another way to save money (if you have a Kuerig) is to buy the refillable K-cups.  They have them at Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon and I’m sure any other store as well.  So you just dump your favorite coffee into the K-cup and brew, they are about 12-15 $ for 4 refillable cups which (if you do the math) is A LOT cheaper than the $1 per k-cup that you are usually charged for a 12 pack that lasts most people 1 week.

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pesto stuffed chicken

This recipe is awesome and I personally don’t think it is to time consuming, although I know people that would disagree.

2 chicken breasts

mozarella (fresh)

1/2 bag spinach

1/2 container of sliced mushrooms

1 egg

for pesto:

1/2 bag of spinach

1/2 lemon

1/2 cup parmesan

olive oil

pine nuts (optional)

2 cloves of garlic

several basil leaves (optional)

Put the spinach, basil, garlic into the food processor and pulse until combined, add olive oil, garlic and parmesan continue to pulse. Once well combined place to the side

-Sautee Mushrooms and spinach in olive oil for stuffing chicken

For chicken:

-flatten the chicken with a meat tenderizer (I am sure there is an actual tool for this but I don’t own it).

-Rub the Pesto on one side of the chicken

-place spinach and mushroom on flat piece of chicken

-add mozarella in small pieces

roll up the chicken and use a tooth pick to hold close or…..get crazy and don’t use a toothpick and just wing it..thats what I use.

sprinkle a little parmesan on chicken and add egg wash to the outside of the chicken and place in over at 385-400 for about 30 -40 minutes. Keep checking it to ensure it doesn’t get to overdone.  Every oven is different so yours might require less or more time to cook fully.

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Salted Caramel Cupcakes

OMG these were so good….amazing…i didn’t use my own recipe on this and the link is below to the site….They were so amazing….The hardest thing was the caramel sauce which requires a specific temp to make it correctly. I would try this though because these cupcakes were AMAZBALLS.Image

 

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2012/05/23/salted-caramel-cupcakes-recipe/

 

 

Salted Caramel Cupcakes……not my own recipe…so i am going to link this below..I usually do my own recipes but didn’t feel like it.  I had a friend over so we made these..the caramel sauce is the hardest thing to make because of the exact temp it needs to be to taste right. We were super nervous we were going to mess it up….but they were soooo good!!!!

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Cinnamon toast CRACK cupcakes

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These cupcakes are straight up addictive … I almost needed rehab after eating a bite of one…..I also took them to a Halloween party where they were a hit!!! Here’s the recipe ……

I went crazy with the cinnamon toast crunch on these because I wanted a bold flavor….

1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cup flour
2 cups of cinnamon toast crunch
3/4 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Madagascar vanilla
2 eggs ( I did a tad bit less than 2 eggs… So I took the second egg and just left about. 1/4 of it in the shell)
Slightly less than 3/4 cup milk

Frosting
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp Madagascar vanilla
8 oz cream cheese
1-2 cups cinnamon toast crunch

Throw your cinnamon toast crunch into a food processor (well don’t actually throw it……) and pulse until its very fine.

Cream the butter and sugar together, add first egg then mix, add partial second egg and mix. Add vanilla and mix a little.

Add dry Ingredients minus the flour and mix.

Add the flour and milk slowly and mix. I had to play with the milk a little and depending the how much cereal you add you may need more or less milk.

Add the cinnamon toast crunch and mix until well combined. You can add more if you want or slowly add it to gain the acquired taste. Keep in mind I like everything crazy sweet.

Spoon until cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Check the cupcakes and decrease the temp to about 330 and continue baking for approx another ten minutes. Keep in mind cupcakes will keep baking for about 5 min after you remove them from the oven soooo watch them carefully. When I doubt use the toothpick method… I always say better. To not be overlooked.

To make the frosting, mix the shortening, and butter and cream cheese together, then add sugar 1/2
Cup at a time, then add vanilla, then add cereal that has already been ground in the food processor the same way you did for cupcakes.

Pipe on the cupcakes when they are cooled and add 2 pieces of cereal on each for garnishing…..

I like a lot of frosting on my cupcakes, if you don’t like a lot then cut the recipe down.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes with Milanos

I decided to make my first post my favorite cupcake recipe….so far. 

15 cupcakes approx….
1 1/4  cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar (I actually used apple cider because I didn’t have the white with me)
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon red velvet flavoring
1 teaspoon Madagascar Vanilla
Milano cookies for topping
Candy melts for topping
Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4  cup shortening
1.8 cup butter softened
2 teaspoons Madagascar Vanilla
In a bowl mix together the eggs, sugar and butter.  I usually start with the butter and sugar and then add the eggs one by one.  Add the flour and milk to this mixture and mix well.
Mix together the cocoa powder and the red velvet flavoring or food coloring into a pasty like substance..sighhhh usually mine isn’t pasty and its more crumbly).  Now!! Add this combination to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix lightly, then add the baking soda and vinegar and mix again. Add salt and vanilla and lightly mix before spooning into cupcake liners.
For the frosting…..this should be really easy.  The only reason I use shortening is so the frosting holds up when I am transporting the cupcakes otherwise you can just use more butter.
Place the cream cheese, butter (softened) and shortening into a bowl and mix.  Start off slow because your going to have to wrestle a little to get the mixture creamy.  Once this is mixed well and somewhat creamy, slowly add the powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time or it flies all over), then add the vanilla.  You can play around with this…if its to thin put it in the fridge to try to thicken it otherwise leave it out for a little if its to thick or you can add a teaspoon of cream or milk at a time to thin it out.
While you are waiting for the cupcakes to cool….place a couple handfuls of candy melts in the microwave and melt….Stir when you have removed them but be-careful because the bowl will be hot. Take your milanos and dip them in the candy melts then place on wax paper or aluminum foil. Once you have covered all of them (I covered half of each cookie) then place in fridge to harden.
 You will insert these into the cupcakes prior to frosting them
Wait till cupcakes cool and pipe frosting on….