Pumpkin Spice Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting



Delicious Cupcakes

 Not being very good at baking I was very proud of myself that I was able to pull these off! My guests even thought that these cupcakes were store bought! I have to say though it was mostly because of the Frosting tips I bought that make these look so pretty but they were so delicious! The Carmel really does something magical to the cream cheese and takes this dessert to a whole new level! I wanted to make Kenny a cake that tasted like pumpkin pie so I had to make something that was extremely moist and extra delicious especially since my husband is not big on sweets! So this is what I came up with! Hope you enjoy!

Things that you will need:
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
4 large eggs
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree

For Frosting:
1 8oz package of Cream Cheese (room temperature)
1/4 cup Butter (room temperature)
16oz Confectioner's Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Carmel Topping
Candied Pecans

Step 1: Beat the Sugar, vegetable oil and eggs together.

Step 2: Sift Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, Cinnamon, and Ginger into a large bowl.

Step 3: Slowing incorporate your dry mixture to your wet ingredients. I did this in small batches and continued to beat with the egg beaters to make sure all the dry ingredients were well incorporated.

Step 4: Once your dry ingredients are well incorporated stir in 2 cups of pumpkin. The batter will thick but wet at the same time.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Line your cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers and scoop batter into the tins filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

While they are baking you can make your frosting! Place cream cheese, vanilla extract and butter in a large bowl and mix. Once they are well blended start stirring in your sugar very slowly. I continue to taste it as I go just to make sure that the frosting doesn't get too sweet. If you like it super sweet add the entire contents of your bag and don't look back, if not, continue to check the sweetness as you beat in the sugar! When complete place the frosting the fridge.

Once your cupcakes have cooled you can begin to frost and decorate them! I topped my cupcakes with Carmel sauce and candied pecans! I loved this recipe and will make them again! Hope you enjoy!

Crock-Pot Jambalaya

Finished Jambalaya

This was super easy and very tasty! Being a new mom anything that can be thrown together in a crockpot is a plus for me! The thing to remember about Jambalaya is the longer the ingredients hang out together, the complexity and layers of flavor begin to build and make it a totally awesome dish! There is a way to make this dish on the stove and total prep cook time is about 50 minutes so if you don't want to use your crockpot and would rather cook it on the stove let me know and I'll send that recipe your way!

Things you will need:
8oz Andouille Sausage or Polska Kielbasa
8oz Cubed Ham - I used Black Forest Ham
16oz Peeled Deviened Shrimp - I used Frozen Cooked shrimp
3/4 Cup Long Grain Rice
2 Cups Chicken Stock
1 14oz Can Diced Tomatoes undrained
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Dried Basil
2 cloves Garlic Minced
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper - 1/4tsp if you don't it like spicy
1 tsp Black pepper
2 Stalks Celery chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
1/2 Red Bell Pepper chopped

Throw all of this into your crock pot on low for 4hours! Because I used cooked shrimp I didn't add it until the last 5 minutes. Serve it hot with some delicious corn bread and you got yourself a delicious southern meal!

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Stromboli

After taking it out of the Oven

This recipe was good! Comforting for sure and my little man loved it! I suppose it's a good way to sneak broccoli into your children's dinner! He couldn't get enough of the filling! I made this a lot more work than it needed to be. Feel free to buy precooked breast strips for the chicken it would cut the prep time in half if you used that. I thought I had some but didn't so I ended up cubing and cooking Boneless Skinless breast. It just added additional cook time, it's unnecessary unless you want to. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think! I think this is definitely a recipe you could play with and fill with whatever you want! I was even thinking velveta cheese and cubed ham! It honestly taste like a giant Hot Pocket! LOL!! So get creative and play with the recipe.

Things you will need:
Pizza Dough
2 Boneless Skinless Breasts - Cubed into bite size pieces
2 Heads of Broccoli - Chopped and steams removed
2 Garlic Cloves Minced
3 Tbsp Butter Melted
1 Jar Alfredo sauce - If you want to make your own feel free
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese - Grated
Parmesan Cheese

Step One: Rolling out the dough - You can do a traditional calzone with this and just roll it out like a pizza, but I rolled it out in a huge rectangle so I could attempt to braid the dough! LOL! Attempt is the word I'm choosing to use! With the final product you really couldn't tell that it was braided so just the fold over will work just fine! In order to braid it once you have rolled it out into the shape of a rectangle cut slits down each side of the dough length wise, then move to a cookie sheet.

Step Two: Blanch your broccoli and cook your chicken. To blanch broccoli either steam or boil your broccoli for 3 minutes and then place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. You want your broccoli a little undercooked because it's going to continue to cook inside of your dough as well. So once you have imersed your broccoli in the ice water let it hang out for 2-3 minutes and than strain. Cook your chicken in pan over medium heat with a little olive oil. I seasoned my chicken with garlic salt, oregano, and pepper, but this is totally a preference thing so whatever you like on your chicken go ahead and throw it in! Once your chicken a browned and good to go we're ready to move on to step 3.

Step 3: I didn't want to create a layering effect so I put my chicken, broccoli, garlic, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and the Alfredo sauce in a large mixing bowl and mixed together. Once that was all mixed really well I spooned the filling into the center of the dough. I then took the top of the dough and folded it over the filling and then rotated the slits to create a braided effect I folded the bottom as well so there were holes or gaps. Like I said it really didn't show in the presentation and I probably did it wrong so if you want to just fold the dough over and use a fork to press it down go ahead!



Before I placed it in the Oven



Before I placed this in the oven I brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with garlic powder and parmesan cheese. I baked this at 400 for about 35-40 minutes. I wanted to make sure that the bottom of the crust was done. After I baked it I let it stand for 10 minutes prior to slicing so the cheese would set up and it would be easy to cut.



Finished Product

I am not good with Dough or baking so I was pretty proud of the end result! Try this recipe and let me know what you think! 

Mexi-Style Stuffed Chicken Breasts

So I made this dish for a couple of girlfriends and their husbands and it seemed to be a success! It has great New Mexican flavors! I will be making this dish again!!

Things you will need:
1 Block Softened Cream Cheese
4 Large Chicken Breasts
1 Can Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
1 bundle Green Onion - chopped
1 bundle Cilantro - chopped
2 Large Cans Roasted Green Chile - I used Fresh Roasted Green Chile that my husband and father roasted
1 8oz Tub Sour Cream
4 Cups Mexican Style Shredded Cheese
2 Tbsp Butter
5 Cloves of Garlic
9x13 Baking Dish

Preheat the Oven to 400 degrees

Making the Stuffing
In a mixing bowl add Softened Cream Cheese, if your cream cheese is still stiff just put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, you want to be able to stir it easily. Add 1/3 of your chopped Cilantro, 1/2 chopped your chopped green onions, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheese and 1/2 cup of diced roasted green chile. Mix well, add salt & pepper to taste. Once mixed really well put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, this will set up and really incorporate all the flavors!

Making the Sauce for the Chicken
So I'm huge on sauces and any kind of condiment really so of course I had to make sauce for the top of these chicken breasts. Preheat a Medium Skillet over medium heat, add 2 Tbsp Butter, 2 cloves of garlic minced and your sour cream, allow the butter to melt and work it into the sour cream, once that's mixed well pour in half of your enchilada sauce into the sour cream mixture. You want the sauce to be a very light green color, slowly keep adding your green chile sauce and incorporate well. Once that's combined add 1/3 chopped cilantro, and 1/2 cup of Roasted Green Chile, turn the heat to medium low and cook sauce for about 15-20 minutes, the sauce will start to thicken and bubble, stir occasionally so it doesn't stick and the milk doesn't burn.

Stuffing the Chicken
When stuffing chicken you want to make sure that the breast you are using are thick enough to cut a slit into. That's why I go for the large breasts. So, using a fillet knife slice the top of the chicken breast and slowly cut into the center of the breast, you are just trying to make a pocket to place your filling in so try not to puncture through to the other side. Now get out your filling from the fridge and spoon mixture in a small zip lock baggie, cut the corner and pipe the cheese filling into your pocket. When I made this I tried to spoon it into the chicken and it just made a mess of my hands and I really wished that I had done it this way! When you have all your breasts stuffed place them in the 9x13 Baking dish and pour your fantastic green chile sauce over top and top with more shredded cheese. Cover with Tin Foil and let cook for 30 minutes, this will allow the chicken the steam itself in the sauce as well as it's own juices, after 30 minutes remove tinfoil and allow to cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven, let stand for about 5 minutes and serve! I served with Spanish Rice and Black Beans! This dish was so comforting and delicious!