Cake Truffles

I have made lots of chocolate chip pumpkin breads in the past, but this year I found some really cute tin buckets from Target in the $1 section so I wanted to fill them with some goodies. I found this recipe on another Shauna's blog, which was originally adapted from Bakerella's blog (she is crazy talented) and I am SO glad I made these cake truffles.
I have never had such a positive response to my cooking or baking. Ever. I literally had teachers coming to my classroom the entire day and next several days seeing if I had any leftover. I also had a teacher tell me that her day wasn't going very well until she ate one of these truffles. I promise you I am not exaggerating with you, people loved them so much that I started calling them crack truffles instead of cake truffled (yes, I have a weird sense of humor).
Anyway, I will definitely be making these for years to come and I like this recipe because 1. It's easy 2. It looks hard and 3. You can make so many different variations of it.

Here is the recipe from Foodietwoshoes' blog

Cake Truffles

adapted from Good Things Catered, originally from Bakerella

1 box of cake mix (I used red velvet for one batch, and double chocolate for another)
1 can of frosting (I used cream cheese frosting with the red velvet, and chocolate with the chocolate)
1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 bag of dark chocolate morsels
crushed almonds for sprinkling on top

Prepare a 9×13 baking pan and bake your cake according to directions and let cool completely.

Slightly crumble your baked and cooled cake into a large mixer bowl, add the frosting and almond extract, stir to combine completely.

Take small amounts of cake mixture and roll into 1-inch balls, placing onto a parchment or wax paper lined

baking sheet.

When all cake balls are rolled, place baking sheet into fridge overnight (this will form a crust around the edges and make the cake mixture much easier to work with)

In a double boiler, heat the chocolate morsels until they are completely melted and smooth.

Line a backing sheet with parchment or wax paper. For each truffle place a small dollop of the melted chocolate on the paper, place the cake ball on top of the chocolate and then spoon more chocolate over the top of the ball so it drizzles down the sides. Sprinkle crushed almonds over the top. Continue this proce

ss with each cake ball.

When finished, place the pan in the refrigerator until the the chocolate is completely cooled and set. You can then remove them from the paper and serve.

And here are my little cake truffle gifts for my coworkers...

Blueberry Coffee Cake

I recently discovered these new recipe cards at my local Publix. They are not the Publix Apron's Meals, but a different group of individual recipes called "recipes that make cents", and I found them in some racks over in the produce section. I grabbed about 10 of them, excited to try some new things. The first recipe I attempted was for a blueberry-filled coffee cake.

I am in a book club that meets every month and the month of November was my turn to host. We read the book "Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson, which I really enjoyed, and because the main character had brunch with her mother every Sunday, I decided my theme would be brunch! Coincidentally, brunch is my favorite meal ever. Plus, this was a great opportunity for me to try out this new recipe.

It was a definite success. Everyone brought a different brunch item and we stuffed ourselves with deliciousness. Lani (Pleasurecooker blogger) made an amazing breakfast cheesecake that I will be trying to make very soon - check out her blog for some awesome recipes. Another fellow book club member, Kelly, made delicious potato casserole, and she has a great blog as well.

If you like blueberries, you will love this recipe. The bread has a cake-like texture and it's very light and moist. I think it could double as a dessert served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The cinnamon/brown sugar topping is just the right amount of sweetness. And my favorite part - this recipe is so EASY. Enjoy!














Blueberry-Filled Coffee Cake (recipe found at Publix by Try-Foods Intl')
Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen blueberries, thawed)

Cinnamon topping ingredients
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8x8 pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. Then add sugar, oil, and egg and beat together. Stir in orange juice and vanilla to combine.
2. For cinnamon topping - in seperate bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon ingredients for topping. Add oil and stir until crumbly. Set aside.
3. Spread half of the batter into baking pan. Sprinkle with half the blueberries, and half the cinnamon topping. Repeat layers.
4. Bake 35-45 minutes (use toothpick test.. I had to bake for 45 minutes). Let cool before cutting.

Halloween Festivities!

On the night before Halloween this year, we hosted a party at our home and invited several friends and coworkers. We had about 25 people show up and I made some treats for everyone which were gone within about 2 hours. Since the party didn't start until about 8pm, I mostly made finger foods. My dishes were -- crockpot meatballs, mexican dip, brie and raspberry puffs, and pumpkin cream cheese brownies.

Crockpot meatballs

Ingredients
1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce
1 can of cranberry sauce, with berries
1 cup of orange juice
1 bag of frozen meatballs (I buy the Armor brand)

Directions
Pour all ingredients into crockpot (including frozen meatballs - no need to thaw). Mix around and make sure all meatballs are covered. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, and stir a few times every couple of hours if possible.














Mexican Dip

Ingredients
1 can refried beans (I use non-fat)
1 16 oz tub of sour cream (I use low-fat)
2 ripe avocados
1 packet of taco seasoning
2 large tomatoes
1 bag of mexican cheese
1 small can of black olives sliced (optional.. I opted out because most of my friends do not like black olives)

Directions
Mix sour cream with about 1/2 packet of taco seasoning. Mash up avocados with fork in separate bowl. In 8x13 dish, layer ingredients in this order: beans, mashed avocado, sour cream mixture, cheese, and chopped tomatoes.
~For spider web design, I put aside about 2 spoonfulls of sour cream and put it in a small zip lock bag. I cut the corner of the bag with scissors, and then squeezed it out into the spiderweb design.














Brie and Raspberry Puffs

Ingredients
1 can of crescent rolls
Raspberry preserves
Brie cheese

Directions
Rolls out crescent roll dough. It is already cut into triangles, so simple cut each triangle in half to make 2 triangles. Put a very small slice of brie cheese in the middle with a small dallop of the jam. Then take the corners of the pastry dough and fold them over, basically wrapping it like a present. Try to crease edges so that the pastry is sealed. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until puffs are slightly browned.














Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownies
(Adapted from Lowfatcooking website)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 13-16 ounce box Brownie mix
  
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (pure pumpkin, not pie mix)
• 1 egg
• For the topping:
• 4 ounces fat-free tub cream cheese
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I did not use this)
  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Place brownie mix in a large mixing bowl with canned pumpkin and egg. Beat with an electric mixer until batter is smooth. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and pumpkin pie spice until smooth and creamy. Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture on to brownie batter. Swirl with a knife.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. (I had to cook 40 minutes for it to be done with a toothpick test)

Makes 16 brownies.

Per Brownie: Calories 118, Calories from Fat 10, Total Fat 1g (sat 0.2g), Cholesterol 14mg, Sodium 95mg, Carbohydrate 24.9g, Fiber 1g, Protein 2.1g

















Roast Beef Pinwheels

I've seen a lot of variations on this, such as using herb cream cheese and chopped vegetables. I did roast beef pinwheels since I know we had a lot of meat eaters coming. But if meat isn't your thing, this recipe can be adapted with basically any ingredients.

Ingredients
Large tortillas
Sliced deli meat (I used roast beef)
Whipped cream cheese
Boar's head horseradish sauce

Directions
Spread cream cheese and a few drops of horseradish sauce onto tortilla (only a few drops because horseradish is pretty strong). Then spread 1-2 slices of deli meat, and roll up tortilla. Slice rolled up tortilla into small rounds. Secure with a toothpick. You can also make these ahead of time for a party and put them in the fridge, then slice up right before the party.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

School is back in session, and in addition to working for a wedding planning company, I am also a full-time teacher. I switched from middle school to high school this year so my life has changed a lot and everything is new. I am also coaching our high school dance team, which is very time consuming but has been fun and fulfilling so far. This Monday we had a parent performance night where we performed our halftime show with the band for all of our parents. It started off with a pot luck, and the dance team was responsible for bringing desserts. I wanted to make something that was easy to grab at a pot luck (as opposed to having to cut slices and stuff like that) so I found these PB cup cookies on Joy of Baking and decided to give them a try. I mean, how could you go wrong with peanut butter cups and cookies combined?


















From Joy of Baking --

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, 48 miniature muffins tins.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fill each miniature muffin cup with about one tablespoon of batter.

Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges but still soft in the center. (Note: While the cookies are baking remove the foil wraps and paper liners from each peanut butter cup.) Remove the cookies from the oven, and gently press one miniature peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. The peanut butter cup should be even with the top of the batter. Return the cookies to the oven and bake an additional 3 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely (about two hours) on a wire rack before removing the cookies from the pan. These can be stored for several days at room temperature or in the refrigerator, or they can be frozen.

Sources:

Wilson, Dede. A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies. The Harvard Common Press. Boston: 2004.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (160 grams) light brown sugar

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

I own a crock pot and rarely get use out of it except sometimes when I make meatballs during football season. So right before school went back in session, when I was home for a few more long summer days, I decided to utilize my crock pot and make some bbq pulled chicken! It came out SO delicious and it was so easy to make. I'm definitely going to make them again very soon.
The recipe was kind of a compilation of several recipes I found online where I could use things I already had in the house. It seems like the kind of recipe where you could add in whatever you wanted to your liking. Here is what I used:

Ingredients
3 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup ketchup
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used a honey BBQ sauce)
2 tbs of brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 package of Hawaiian rolls or regular sized rolls

Directions
Place all ingredients in crock pot and mix around with spoon. Make sure chicken is covered by the liquid. If not, you can add some more water until chicken is immersed.
Cook on low for 5 1/2 hours
Take chicken out of crock pot and shred/pull apart with 2 forks
Put pulled chicken back in crock pot and re-warm for about 10 minutes
Serve on rolls!

Banana Bread with a little chocolate-y goodness

I had bananas that were very ripe and I only like eating green bananas.. so instead of wasting them I decided to make some banana bread. I had all of the ingredients already because it basically just uses the normal baking staples. I used a Paula Deen recipe and it came out pretty delicious. I added chocolate chips because I think bananas and chocolate are just a match made in heaven. By the way, this recipe makes 2 loaves so it's great for making one for you, and one for a gift!

1. 1 cup butter, softened
2. 1 1/2 cups sugar
3. 4 large eggs
4. 3 cups all-purpose flour
5. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 2 cups ripe, mashed, bananas
8. 1 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these because my husband doesn't like nuts)
   
9. 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
   

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
2. In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring well. Add bananas and pecans, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans, and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

Martha's Chicken Marsala

So this weekend my family came in town to visit and we had a wonderful time. We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday, so we had a lot of extended family and friends over at our house throughout the weekend. As much as I love having company over, and love love love my parents, it is always a little bit of a relief to have the house back to ourselves when everyone leaves. Since my husband was such a good sport about the whole family weekend deal, I decided I wanted to cook him something delicious tonight (well isn't cooking something delicious always my goal...?).

Anyway... one of our absolute favorite restaurants is Bella's in South Tampa. It is a chic and funky Italian restaurant with the best food, and my aunt's best friend owns it so we go often. They have this amazing chicken marsala there so I scoured the web to see if I could find something similar. The chicken marsala I have made in the past had a beef broth base but this one is more creamy, so I found this recipe on MarthaStewart.com and hoped it would come out close to Bella's. Success! It was SO delicious and easy, too! Brett loved it and said it really did taste like Bella's. The fresh sage smelled so good - I love using fresh herbs. I paired this with a side of roasted garlic red potatoes which is also similar to what we get at Bella's. This meal is great, I highly recommend it!
Some of my alterations - I forgot to put salt and pepper on the chicken.. didn't seem to make a difference. Also, I used baby bella mushrooms because they were on sale and I also omitted the shallot. I prefer leaner meat so I used chicken cutlets instead of breasts, which also cuts down on the cook time. The total time for this recipe took about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Creamy Chicken Marsala

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each) (I used cutlets)
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Place flour in a shallow bowl; season generously with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece of chicken in flour, shaking off excess.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until golden on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm (reserve skillet).
3. Add mushrooms, shallot, sage, and 1/4 cup water to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add wine and cream; simmer over medium-high until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in butter; season with salt and pepper.
4. Top chicken with mushroom sauce, and garnish with sage.

Side Dish














Garlic Roasted Red Potatoes

Ingredients
4 red potatoes, sliced
3 tbsps of bottled minced garlic
salt and pepper
3 tbsps olive oil

Directions
Toss sliced potatoes in the garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (I used very little salt). Bake in shallow pan at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are browned.