You want some honey, honey?

Awhile back i made some Honey Lime Chicken and forgot to post the pictures/recipe. I get distracted. :))

Ingredients
1 lime juiced
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 handful of cilantro (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 (6-8) oz chicken breast
1 teaspoon coarse salt and pepper

Mix the lime juice, honey, cumin, cilantro, and olive oil in a bowl. Sprinkle your chicken breast with your salt and pepper and then coat with the lime honey mixture. Pan fry in a large skillet over the stove. Eat.

Pumpkin.Cupcakes.

I was traveling to Alabama this year for thanksgiving and i wanted to bring something to the meal that was easy and transportable. I originally was going to make a pumpkin roll but i figured it would be a heaping mound of crumbs by the time i reached my destination. I was still stuck on my pumpkin theme and when i saw a recipe for pumpkin bars i thought Hey, Why not pumpkin cupcakes? And there it was, I did not expect these to be as good as they were. I didn't have a single one left and the best part is people that don't even like pumpkin will be gobbling these up. They're moist and delicious. I've already been asked to make more for Christmas.

Ingredients for the Cake Batter
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
15 oz. canned pumpkin (Libbys was great)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Cupcake Liners

Ingredients for the Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small package of pecan pieces.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin with an electric mixer until smooth. Then add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix again until smooth. Spread into lined cupcake pans. I used two pans and still had some extra batter left over. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.

For the icing mix the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until it comes out smooth. Then add the sugar and vanilla and mix. Spread on cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle a few pecan pieces on top for decoration.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

We had our annual thanksgiving lunch at work this past week and i signed up for mashed potatoes even though i wasn't going to be in town this year. Every year it seems like i have plain, boring, mashed potatoes and i wanted to try something different this year to spice things up. I'm an avid Paula Deen Recipe follower and when i saw the loaded mashed potatoes recipe i just HAD to try it. They turned out lovely. Unfortuately i didn't take a picture, so you'll have to take my word for it. :) I of course modified the recipe like usual so here ya go...

Ingredients
1 head of garlic
1 large package of bacon (i used turkey but you can use regular)
1 (15 oz) container of sour cream
1 (12 oz) bag of  shredded cheddar cheese
1 Box of Family Size Hungry Jack Instant Mashed Potatoes
(Milk, butter, and salt according to the box)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the head off your garlic, wrap in aluminum foil, and roast for 30-45 minutes.
Prepare your instant mashed potatoes. I made 24 servings, but you could definitely cut down the size to 12-18 servings. Add your sour cream and the majority of your cheese to the potatoes. I left a little cheese out to sprinkle on the top but that's up to you. Stir well. Once your bacon is fried you can chop it up and add to the potatoes. Stir again. Then, when your garlic is nice and roasted chop up and add. Sprinkle leftover cheese on top. Goodbye boring mashed potatoes!!

my mexican kick...

i'm an avid fan of mexican food so i thought my next dish to try would be chicken empanadas. i saw the recipe on foodnetwork and it looked delicious! It is definitely a dish you should prep for unless you have four free hours to make it in one day. I tweeked the recipe a bit so i will post the edited version. :)

You Will Need:
3 cups chopped chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store)
1 8 oz. package of kraft mexican shredded cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1 half of a jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
1 tbspn cumin
1 1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn pepper
2 (15 oz) refrigerated pie crusts
water


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Start off by mixing your chicken and your next eight ingredients. It should be a thick consistency but not too thick.

Then roll out your pie crust and cut out circles with a 3 in. cookie cutter. Repeat with your remaining pie crusts. I only used three pie crusts but i wound up throwing away some left over mixture. It's up to you to decide. You can always freeze any extra mixture. After you have cut out your rounds place one heaping teaspoon in the center of your round.

After you have done that gently fold over your round and seal closed with a fork. It makes quite a bit of empanadas so i wound up using two sheet pans.

Bake in the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!

put a little guac in your guacamole

So about a year ago i had this legend... wait for it... ARY guacamole at a friends house. First of all if you didn't know im obsessed with mexican food and guacamole tends to be a favorite of mine. I just had to have the recipe. It's extremely simple and literally takes no time what so ever, and it's freaking delicious. What more could you ask for? Anyways since i'm making it for a girl's night out i thought i would post the recipe and directions. Why not right?

You will need:

6 avocados

1 red onion

2 large tomatoes

1 lime

1 package of spicy guacamole seasoning

1 package of mild guacamole seasoning


First, begin by slicing your avocados in half and scooping them out into a large bowl. If you've never worked with avocado, the trick is to take a large spoon and just scoop them out. Save four of the cores of your avocados and set aside for later. Take a potato masher and have at it. I like it not completely smooth but a little chunky. Go ahead and stir in your packets of guacamole seasoning.
Next, chop your tomatoes. I generally go by look but for an exact measurement I wind up using about 1 and a half tomatoes. I'm not a huge fan of onion so I generally only chop up half of it. If you really like onion feel free to use the entire onion. Stir them both into your dip.
Lastly, add the juice from the entire lime and stir well. Add the cores you saved into your dip. They will let the guacamole retain it's green color and not turn brown. ENJOY. :)

"And I was like Baby, baby, baby ooh..."

During this summer i babysat or "nannied" five lovely children. You probably think i'm insane. Don't worry, i'm pretty sure I am. :) Only Kidding, i love my kiddos. HOWEVER, there are some very trying and stressful days. I have a thirteen year old sister, so as you can imagine the amount of teeny-bopper music is endless. (wow, i feel old calling it that, if you remember NSYNC, i was their biggest fan) Justin Bieber, if any of you have heard about is the next teen superstar. Before you judge me you should know his music is quite catchy and can be put to good use. During days when every child is upset and cranky and whatever other mood you can possibly imagine i've discovered the song "Baby" immediately cheers everyone up. I played the song today and thought i would post about it because the kids are just well... adorable. 

Wrap me in a bolt of lightning...

I was recently given an AWESOME freezer stencil shirt with a stylish pair of raybans on it. I love the shirt and instantly felt it was necessary to make one! As it turns out about two months ago i purchased The Carnival of Madness concert tickets. (Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, 10 Years, Chevelle, and Sevendust) Shinedown happens to be one of my favorite bands and as i never have anything to wear as it is, I decided why not make a cool shirt with song lyrics from my favorite song? "Call Me" is by far my favorite song. (sample it on itunes if you're curious) and so i went with the first two lines "Wrap me in a bolt of lightning, send me on my way still smiling". I am in fact an avid user of the website picnik so i typed in my lyrics and chose a pretty cool font. 

My friend Jen also thought it would be a cool idea to put a lightning bolt behind the words. Once again, i printed it off of picnik. :) After printing everything out, we traced it onto freezer paper.

Then the real fun began... NOT. You take an X-acto knife and cut out all the tiny letters. If i had thought about this better i probably would have chosen an easier font. After everything is cut out you simply iron on the paper and paint away. Luckily, i had Jen to help.

After painting let dry for 4 hours. and VOILA! Here's my finished product.

The Beginning

Bear with me, i'm very new to the whole blog scene. I wanted somewhere special to document my cooking adventures and well... anything else interesting that happens. Stay Tuned!