Berry Cupcakes

This is a recipe I adapted from the Strawberry Cake by the Cake Doctor.

1 french vanilla or yellow cake mix
2 cups mixed berries
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs

Puree mixed berries.  Beat together berries, oil, milk, and egg.  Mix in cake mix.  Bake as three 8-inch rounds, or 30 cupcakes at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Tastes awesome with Cream cheese icing:  1/4 cup butter at room temp, 1 (8oz) package cream cheese at room temp, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla--whip all ingredients together.  Normally I would frost with the cream cheese frosting and top with a fresh berry.

I served mine as Diva cupcakes to represent Rachel Berry on the show Glee.  Since she loves gold stars I frosted mine with vanilla frosting, sprinkled with Wilton's Gold glitter sprinkles and topped with a gold star.

Krystal made the awesome Slushee cup cakes as inspired by here.

Tastes like fall...

Some recipes I have made recently that taste a bit like fall:

Orange-Cran Chicken Salad  (recipe adapted from the Our Best Bites cookbook)

2 cups chopped cooked and cooled chicken breast (2 chicken breasts or 1 can chicken.  I think at Thanksgiving left over turkey would be perfecto for this recipe as well.)
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 chopped green onions
grated orange peel zest (from 1 medium orange )
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup jellied cranberry sauce
1 tsp grainy dijon mustard
juice from 1/2 half orange (i just cut the orange I grated in half and gave 1/2 a big squeeze)
pecans (optional)
rolls

Mix together chicken, celery, green onions, orange zest, and craisins.  In a seperate bowl whisk together mayo, cranberry, mustard, and orange juice.  Pour mayo mixture over chicken mixture and stir to coat.  Refridgerate for at least an hour.  Add chopped pecans if desired and serve sandwiched in rolls. Serves 12 rolls.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe adapted from the 1976 Betty Crocker's Cookbook)

3/4 cup shortening (I know shortening is bad...I'm over it)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips
3 cups rolled oats

Mix together shortening, sugars, egg, water, and vanilla.  Add salt, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves.  Add flour.  Add oats.  Stir in raisins and chocolate chips.  Form into balls and space 1 in apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes on a greased pan.  Allow to sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after baking to set.  Cool on cooling rack.  Makes 30 large cookies  (These cookies are crisp and chewey.  You need the raisins to balance the sugar).

Strawberry Daquiri Bundt Cake

Cake:
1 strawberry cake mix
1/4 cup lime juice and 3/4 cup water OR 1/2 cup limeade and 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs

Mix together ingredients with mixer for 2 minutes.  Grease bundt pan well and bake at 350 degree for 35 minutes until toothpick come out clear.

Strawberries:  slice up 2-3 cups of strawberries and sprinkle with 1-2 Tbsp sugar.  Stir and let sit for an hour while cake cooks and cools.

Lime Glaze: 
1 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp lime juice

Stir together and add more juice or powdered sugar as needed to achieve desired consistency.

Slice up bundt when cool, top with strawberries, and drizzle with glaze. (Note:  This cake has a subtle lime flavor, if you were looking for a more intense lime flavor I would probably change the balance of water and lime in the cake.)

Zucchini Cookies

Camille made some Zucchini cookies....tis the season of the great zucchini.

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini
3 1/2 cups oats
1 cup  of mix in: rasins, or nuts, or chocolate chips and/or butterscotch chips ( I prefer chocolate and butterscotch chips)

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add and beat in eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add grated zucchini, oats, and mix in (ie. chocolate chips).  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Makes a ton of large cookies!

Camping Cassoulet

This is an easy & filling recipe that we have eaten as a family while camping (and at home) for as long as I can remember.

1-2 cups boneless chicken, cut into pieces
1 medium onion or 1/2 of a large onion, chopped into pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp veg. oil
1 large or 2 small cans Busch's baked beans
1/2 lb kielbasa sausage, cut into 1//2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp crushed dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee oil with onion, garlic, and chicken pieces until chicken browned and onion is tender.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Oriental Chicken Salad

Applebee's oriental chicken salad

Dressing:

3 Tbsp Honey
1 1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup mayo
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Whisk all ingredients together until well corporated. 

Salad:
2 cups Romaine lettuce
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup napa cabbage
1 carrot, grated
1 green onion

toasted almonds
chow mein noodles

Coarsly chop romaine lettuce.  Finley chop cabbages.  Grate carrot and slice green onion.  Combine all salad ingredients.  Sprinkle with toasted almonds and chow mein noodles. 

Chicken:  I used Tysons pre-grilled chicken strips.  They are quick, easy, and have good flavor.  Any grilled chicken will work, or to make it more authentic to applebees use breaded chicken strips.

Note:  This recipe and dressing are for a "large dinner salad"... when we made this for a family of 6 eating we decided to multiply the recipe by 4.  We didn't even eat 1/2 of it and we had huge portions.  Instead of mixing in the dressing we added it to our personal plates as desired.  In reality 1 salad could most likely feed 2 people. 

This recipe is so tasty and easy to make.

Homemade Pancakes

I am loving Fiber One's new Buttermilk pancake mix.

I have made them several different ways including,

Blueberry:
1 cup mix
1/2 cup blueberries
1/3 cup water
1 container Brown Cow Blueberry Greek Yogurt

(I liked this way because it packed some extra protein and was more filling.  Had great flavor and made 4 -5 large pancakes which was easily 2 servings.  Each serving is 3 weight-watchers points plus points).

Banana:
1 cup mix
1 smashed over-ripe banana
2/3 cup water

(This made 5 medium sized pancakes that were 2 WW P+ each and I served them with some spray 'I can't believe it's not butter' and  some sugar and nutmeg mix sprinkled on top).

Even plain and made with 1 cup mix and 2/3 cup water they are delicious and only 2 WW P+ each.  Of course you can be creative and mix in whatever sounds tasty or try making the blueberry or banana with a pancake from scratch mix.  Just recognize the balance of yogurt and other wet ingredients may need to be adjusted.

Happy breakfast (lunch or dinner)!! :)