WWE: Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling

adapted from Rachel Farnsworth

makes 3 dozen cupcakes


Chocolate Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Cream Filling

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. 
3. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined.
4. Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, and vanilla.  Beat for two minutes on medium speed until smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to fully incorporate the ingredients.
5. Fill each cupake 2/3 full, a little over a 1/4 cup for each muffin.
6. Bake for 20-22 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Remove from tins and let cool completely.
7. Make the peanut butter cream filling by mixing together the peanut butter, melted butter, and powdered sugar in a bowl  using a hand mixer.  Transfer the filling to a pastry bag with a large open tip.  Insert the tip into the top of each cooled cupcake and squeeze about a tablespoon of filling into it.  Be careful not to inject too much or it may split the cake.
8. Frost each cupcake before serving.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

from allrecipes.com

makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

6 tbsp unsweetened coca powder

6 tbsp butter, softened

5 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in half the sugar mixture with 3 tbsp of milk.  Then beat in the remaining sugar mixture and 2 tbsp of mlik.  Blend in vanilla.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk (if too thick) or more sugar (if too thin).

Printable Recipe

WWE: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Artichoke Hearts and Green Beans

This one went over very well with the family- lots of flavor in the different components and the kids had seconds and thirds of the green beans!  This was another really easy meal to throw together- always my favorite kind.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Artichoke Hearts


Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil
6 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on
3 garlic cloves, minced pressed
1/2 cup dry white wine, or stock
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried ground thyme
15 oz quartered artichoke hearts in water (drained)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. In batches, cook chicken 5-6 minutes per side until golden and crispy.
4. Transfer to chicken to a plate.
5. Add garlic and sauté for a minute or so. Then add wine, broth, and herbs. Bring to a boil.
6. Return the chicken to the skillet, spoon some of the broth over the chicken, and place in the oven. (If your skillet is not oven proof, transfer all to covered oven safe dish.)
7. Cook 20 minutes or until the juices run clear.
8. Remove from oven. Transfer chicken to a platter.
9. Add artichokes to the liquid remaining in the skillet. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 3-4 minutes.
10. Pour artichoke sauce over chicken and serve with rice.

Green Beans


Ingredients

1 pound green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
kosher salt and pepper to taste


Directions

1. Heat olive oil or butter in medium pan over medium high heat.
2. Add beans and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth to the pan.  Cover and let cook until crisp tender and bright green- about 4-5 minutes.
4. Remove cover and add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.  Saute for another minute or two.

  
Printable Recipe

WWE: Chicken Pot Pie

This one is high on the list of Tsai family favorites and a bonus for me is that it's easy to make.  The family is happy, I'm happy, so win-win.  The only bummer now is that I'm going to have to start doubling this recipe in order to have any to pack for the next day's lunches since every bit of it got eaten up in a hurry tonight.

Chicken Pot Pie
serves 4-6

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1 cup green beans, cut into 1/4” pieces
1 cup carrots, cubed 
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
up to 1 cup water (optional)
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
1 1/2 cups frozen cubed hash browns with onions and peppers (or 1 medium potato, ½ an onion and ½ a bell pepper)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, I just found we prefer the dried in this)
1 puff pastry shell
Vegetable cooking spray
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots and green beans, and sauté for about 3-5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle flour over vegetables.
4. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
5. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add up to 1 cup water to reach desired consistency.
6. Stir in chicken, potatoes, salt, pepper, tarragon, and parsley.
7. Spray the bottom of a 9” pie plate. (I used an 8x8 square)
8. Spoon filling into pie plate.
9. Cover with puff pastry.
10. Press pastry lightly along edges and trim off corners. (I folded the edges back in because puff pastry!)
11. In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and water to create a wash for the pastry crust.
12. Lightly brush the top of the pastry with egg wash.
13. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is browned throughout.
14. Let stand for at least 10 minutes to cool.

Printable recipe

WWE: Beef and Broccoli

When only something quick and easy will do...

Beef and Broccoli
serves 4-6


Ingredients

1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup sake (sherry or dry white wine will also do)
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 lb skirt or strip steak, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb broccoli, cut into florets
Jasmine or brown rice


 Directions

1. Combine the oyster sauce, sesame oil, sake, soy sauce, vinegar, and corn starch in a small bowl until it is smooth.
2. Place the sauce and thin-sliced beef in a resealable bag to marinate for about 30 minutes.
3. (At this point start your rice.)
4. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a large skillet over medium high heat. When it begins to shimmer, add ginger, garlic, and broccoli florets.
5. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until broccoli is bright green and crisp tender.
6. Transfer to a serving plate and reserve for later.
7. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and again heat to a shimmer.
8. Cook the beef with the sauce until it is cooked through an the sauce has thickened slightly.
9. Add broccoli back in to the pan and toss to combine.
10. Heat through and serve over rice (I used a combo of Jasmine and brown rice).

Printable Recipe

WWE: Baked Chimichangas

Tonight's dinner ended up being a big hit with all of us, although the kids each ate a different version of the same meal.  We've always done the "one bite" rule with the kids, meaning they've always had to try one bite of something new and if they didn't like it then they didn't have to eat any more of it (for that meal, the same rule applies again the next time).  It's been surprising how many different foods they actually enjoy now and we've been okay with their different food preferences.  At most mealtimes, everyone will find at least something they enjoy eating and we're also okay letting them skip meals here or there.  Lauren is notorious for eating a lot at one meal then skipping the next.  It seems to all even out in the end and no one has starved to death yet!

So like I said, tonight's dinner was a big hit in that everyone enjoyed at least some part of the meal and Phil even commented, "This is pretty good."  Twice!  To know Phil is to know this is HIGH praise coming from a perpetual 7 out of 10 kinda guy.  He's notorious for never giving 10s or 1s on any survey or scale.  Middle of the roader, much?

High praise from Phil means you must try this one!

Baked Chimichangas

serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (for mild, leave in some seeds for extra kick)
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Kosher salt to taste
1/2 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 medium sized flour tortillas
simmered black beans (recipe below)
1 cup monterey jack or other cheese, grated
2 cups lettuce, chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped

Pico de gallo or green salsa

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Cook ground turkey, onion, garlic, and jalapeno over medium high heat until meat is cooked through and onion and jalapeno are tender.
3. Add chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and Rotel tomatoes. Stir to combine and set aside.
4. Combine melted butter and olive oil in a small bowl.
5. Brush the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet with the butter mixture.
6. Lay tortillas on the baking sheet. Place a small amount of simmered beans in the center, top with meat mixture, and a little cheese.
7. Fold in sides and roll. Place seam side down and brush with a little butter mixture.
8. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
9. Bake for 8 minutes, flip, brush with a little butter mixture, and bake for another 4-5 minutes.
10. Plate chimichangas, top with pico de gallo or green salsa, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Simmered Black Beans

Ingredients

14 oz can black beans, drained
2 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 can of Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup chicken broth
Kosher salt to taste

Directions

1. Saute bacon with onion until onion is tender.
2. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer, and let cook for about 20 minutes.

Printable Recipe

WWE: Snickerdoodle Surprises

So one on one time has resulted in a lot of baking for Jonah and I.  Turns out he loves it.  That's no big surprise.  The shocker is so do I.  We're having a lot of fun in the midst of a little extra messiness, a few extra spills, and a little longer to get it done.  I'd say it's worth it, most of the time. 

But, all those yummy treats cannot, must not, be consumed by Just the Six of Us.  Cuz uh, that would not be such a good thing in the end.  So we happily shared- with the kids' school teachers, some of their friends, and their swim teachers.  Not being eaten by just us and also getting to brighten up someone else's day?  Win-win.

I knew these snickerdoodles were in my future the minute I saw them.  Soft and chewy, slightly crisp on the outside, with a surprise chocolatey center.  What's not to love?  Also surprisingly easy to make, which makes it all the better in my book.  The original recipe called for a little more cinnamon than I wanted to use and also only used Rolo chocolates.  I happened to not have quite enough, but did have some extra mini Reese's peanut butter cups and a few pieces of almond toffee chocolate laying around (what can I say except that chocolate fuels me most days. :P) so I made a few experimental cookies.  I also only used barely a few grains of salt on the tops of each unbaked cookie as I like just a hint of saltiness in the sweet rather than a salt blast.  A little goes a long way here.  All in all, I loved the Reese's ones the best.  Mmmm.

So here's the original recipe.

And here's the slightly adapted one:


Snickerdoodle Surprises
makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/4 cup granulated sugar, for cinnamon-sugar topping
3/4 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
Rolo chocolate caramels, mini Reese's peanut butter cups, or your favorite chocolate (enough for one per cookie)
Himalayan pink salt or coarse sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat baking mat. For the cinnamon-sugar mixture, combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter at medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into mixing bowl. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the egg/sugar mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Working a spoonful of dough at a time, flatten dough into a circle, place a single piece of chocolate in the center, and form dough into a ball around the chocolate. Roll dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle a few grains of pink salt on top.

Bake for 7-8 minutes. The cookies should look raw between the cracks and seem underdone.  Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!

Printable recipe

What We're Eating: Sukiyaki

Short and to the point- this is a super easy version of sukiyaki that I initially learned from my mother-in-law and then added a simple dipping sauce to it.  Ponzu sauce, garlic sauce, or other dipping sauces would also be good with this.  Whatever floats your boat, as they say!  :)

Start off with a nice selection of cut up veggies (I used baby bok choy, napa cabbage, spinach, shiitake mushrooms, and cubed firm tofu), thin sliced ribeye (or chicken or whatever meat you prefer), and sliced kamaboko (fish cake).

Cooked right to order at the table on a portable burner (sorry for the wonky photo.  Bah.)

A Tsai family favorite.

Especially when the noodles were thrown in at the end and cooked in the yummy broth.


Easy Sukiyaki
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1-2 cups water
1 lb thinly sliced beef, chicken, or pork
1 package kamaboko (fish cake), sliced
6-8 napa cabbage leaves, cut up
3-4 baby bok choy, cut up
handful of spinach leaves, cut up
1/2 block of firm tofu, cubed
1-2 packages ramen or udon noodles

Sukiyaki Sauce
3/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 cup sake
1 cup mirin
4 Tbsp sugar


Directions
1.   Combine all the ingredients for the sukiyaki sauce in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil until the sugar is dissolved.  Set aside.

2.   Pour the chicken broth and water into a medium pot on the portable burner over medium high heat.  Pour in half of the sukiyaki sauce and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a low simmer.  Pour the remaining sukiyaki sauce into small dipping bowls.  Bring the meat and veggies to the table.

3.   When ready to eat, increase heat to return the broth to boiling, add in a few pieces of meat, cook for 2-3 minutes until no longer pink and remove from the pot into bowls.  Add in some shiitake mushrooms, tofu, veggies, and cook for a few minutes then add to the bowls.  The shiitake mushrooms take longer to cook than the other veggies will.  Add some broth to the bowls.

4.   Begin eating, dipping meat and veggies in the sauce.  Continue cooking the ingredients a few at a time while everyone is enjoying the sukiyaki.  When everything is about cooked, add in the noodles (but not the little packets) to cook for a few minutes and add to everyone's bowls to eat at the end.  Enjoy!


Printable recipe

What We're Eating: Oatmeal Edition

Well.  The kids started school this week.  And this year, we as a family have decided to try them all (minus Jonah) in school.  And so far, they each have been loving it.  Thank you, Lord.  Which means, for the first time in several years, I actually have just one at home with me during the days.  It's odd.  And delightful.  And weird.  And wonderful.  Oddly delightful while simultaneously being wonderfully weird.

So I'm just getting back into the groove of hanging with a two-year-old and deciding how we want to spend this gift of time we've got together.  I'm excited about it.  Plus, he's going down for two-hour naps before we go to pick the others up from school, so there's that gift, too.

Except for this week, it's been grocery shopping and errand running every day.  But I'm going to try very hard not to let that happen to too many of our days.

I also got to thinking, what with all this time on my hands, that I'd like to start a new section on this blog.  Except I don't know how to add a new section.  So that part will be forthcoming.  And I want to call it something super clever and exciting.  Except all I can think of is "What We're Eating."  And I'd like to take pretty pictures of, you know, what we're eating.  Except I have five (okay six, because I tend to get the grumpiest of all when hungry) clamoring mouths to feed and we ain't got time to wait around for mommy to take pretty food pictures and also it's usually dark by the time dinner rolls out on our table.  So it's mostly going to be pictures from my phone.  Boo.

Wow, the more I talk about it, the more enticing it's becoming, eh?  I'm adding this section to try and compile food pics, ideas, and recipes in one place for those times I'm in a cooking rut or I forget that great meal we had never to be made again because I tend to be forgetful like that, and to simply share what food things have been working for our family.  I'm hoping it becomes something helpful to you, too!

That is, if I don't completely forget about it by next week.  Ha.

So for this first What We're Eating (WWE) installment, I bring you [drumroll please]...

DIY OATMEAL PACKETS!

[insert trumpet fanfare]

I came across this post and decided to throw some together since Phil has been buying oatmeal containers to eat at work in the morning.  I figured it would end up being cheaper and I could throw in some healthy add-ins at the same time.

To start...

The add-ins (just what I had already at home).  Will be getting more stuff to try new combos soon.

Once it's all thrown together... ta da!

Or the baggie version.

Could even make a cute gift idea, maybe?

And here's a handy dandy printable recipe!  But I won't tell you how long it took me to figure out how to do this.  Heh.

thanksgiving.

our thanksgiving this year was once again a simple affair with just our family since phil was post-call the day of and has to work the rest of this weekend.  but i like the low-key time to spend together just the same.

and even though it's just us, i still like to make it a special affair and try to make as much of it from scratch as i can.

adding a new kid every couple years kinda complicates the whole cooking all day thing though.

but i'm happy to report that this year was my best yet with the brined turkey, the creamy mashed potatoes, the cornbread-apple-sausage stuffing, the rich gravy, and the spinach-arugula salad with asian vinaigrette dressing.  even the cranberry sauce was homemade this year and was a hit!  who knew it was so easy and sooo much better than the canned standby?!  (1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice boiled with 1 cup sugar until sugar is all melted.  add in one bag of fresh or frozen cranberries and bring back to boil for 10-12 minutes until cranberries pop.  chill before serving- here's a printable recipe).  even phil had a few servings and he usually avoids the cranberry sauce.  yeah, baby!

gathered 'round the table for our annual really bad thanksgiving family photo.  it's always dark out by the time we eat and i'm always too tired to bother with better lighting and so our tradition has been to get a quick snapshot of ourselves before diving in to the food.  also tradition to go around and share what we're thankful to the Lord for.  and we have so, so much to be thankful for.  God has been so very good to us.

phil hamming it up while carving up the bird.

i believe the taste of turkey has really grown on the kids since last year.  it was enjoyed by all this time around.

this one still liked the stuffing and cranberry sauce the best, though.

and this one was up to her usual antics.

the littlest one took down quite a bit of the feast, too.

as long as he got to pop in what phil calls his "thumb chaser" in between bites.

creating our own family traditions and making great food memories for my loved ones...  that's the stuff i live for.  :)

hope your thanksgiving was wonderful, too!

lemon bars

in honor of our new lemon tree...

(thanks kate for the recipe!)

if you have any other lemon recipes, please do pass them along!  happy friday!  (it's awesome to have fridays actually mean that daddy's off for the weekend.  we sure could get used to this!)

********

Lemon Bars

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions
Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat until combined, then beat in 1 cup of flour till crumbly. Press into the bottom of a 8x8x2 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or just till golden.
Meanwhile combine eggs, the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, lemon peel, lemon juice, and baking powder. Beat for 2 minutes until combined. Pour over hot baked bottom layer.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges and center is set. Cool...sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar, cut into bars.

Printable recipe

jello popcorn balls.

for joyce (and anyone else interested).  from allrecipes.com:


JELL-O Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:

12 cups popped popcorn 1 cup light corn syrup 1/2 cup sugar

1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Brand Gelatin, any flavor 1 1/2 cups PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1.	Place popcorn in large bowl.
2.	Mix syrup and sugar in saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat. Add gelatin; stir until dissolved. Add peanuts.
3.	Pour over popcorn; mix well. Cool about 5 minutes. Shape into 18 balls, each about 3 inches in diameter.

note-- i used two flavors of jello, strawberry and lime, and omitted the nuts.  i'd also recommend eating these immediately after forming them in to balls since they don't keep too long before they go stale (i learned this the hard way!).  enjoy!  :)

printable recipe