Cupcakes!!

I volunteered to host a bake sale at work in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. It is October and breast cancer is all the rage this time of year. So for a good cause, as you know baking is not my thing, I put on my best game face and took a challenge. With the help of the box mix I was successful! Remember my last baking venture?

Yea... Not my best work. Well this time around I made pretty, delicious cupcakes! And I have proof.

I made all kinds of goodies for this bake sale. I baked for hours! Hard labor I know... Here's what I created!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cake:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Make according to box directions. Spoon into paper cupcake holders and sprinkle on the peanut butter chips. Bake according to box.

Frosting:

1/2 stick of butter

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

splash of milk if needed to insure proper consistency 

Cream butter, cream cheese and peanut butter together. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add milk if necessary, if frosting is too thick. 

See! Pretty! 

My other creation was just a plain ol' chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I put red food coloring in the frosting to make it pink!! 

They're ta-ta-tastic cupcakes!

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

I love my mom's hashbrown casserole. I can never make it quite like her but mine is pretty tasty. It has all the components of a great casserole: sour cream & cheese!!!! Lots of cheese!
It's great for breakfast... lunch... dinner. Yes, dinner. I have altered the recipe some to make it dinner friendly. It's a little more savory, equally delish.
To make this you will need:

• 1 bag diced potatoes. (I like the kind with peppers and onions. Or you can get the shredded kind. Whatever you like)
• 2 cans Campbell's Chedder Cheese soup
• 12 oz. sour cream. 
• 1 cup shredded chedder cheese, divided.
• salt & pepper. 

Break up the hashbrowns and pour them into a large mixing bowl. Stir in sour cream and chedder cheese soup and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. You probably won't need to add much salt.

YUM!

If it doesn't look this creamy feel free to add more sour cream.

Put it in a glass casserole dish. Cover it with the rest of the shredded cheese.

Put it in the oven.

I made two small ones. But feel free to make one large one. It's yummy no matter what you put it in.

Bake at 350 degrees until it's bubbly and the cheese is melty and golden. About 20 minutes. But just use your eye. If it's bubbly and golden, it's done!

And it will look like this:

Café Rio Pork

  I got this recipe off a friends blog and please let me tell you, it is SO GOOD!!!


Café Rio Pork
3 lbs pork roast (butt or shoulder)
1 c dark brown sugar
1c worcestershire sauce
1t dried oregano
1t powdered ginger
1t salt
1t chili powder
1t garlic powder
2T dried minced onions

  

   In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients.

Wisk in worchestershire sauce

.

 

Put the pork in the crock pot and cover with mixture.

Put the lid on and set your timer! 

Now being me, I didn't have 3 pounds of pork lying around. I had 6. So I doubled the recipe. And it turned out great! If you do have 3 pounds of pork then cook it for about 8 hours. I left it in the crock pot for 10 hours over night. I kept it in the crock pot while I was at work and when I came home it was cool and ready to shred! It looked like this:

YUM! 

Good pork when prepared for shredding should fall apart in your hands when you go to shred it. 

I hardly did any work here. It was so tender! I strained some of the mixture it cooked in.

Put the pork back in the crock pot & prepare 1 cup of dark brown sugar

Add the brown sugar to the pork along with: the strained mixture and 1 can of red enchilada sauce

I cooked that on low for about on hour.

End result:

The closest this pig will ever get to heaven! 

Instant Gratification...Delayed

Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.

-Brian Adams, Author

If there's one thing I don't like to do, it's wait. And how I love to cook! The two don't go hand in hand and one thing I've learned about cooking is you have to be patient. You have to put love and time into what you're making. But I hate it! Especially when I'm making something for the first time. I don't want to sit around and wait. I want to make it and it be done and then I want to eat it!

Fortunately, if I ate so hastily I would probably acquire some food borne illness. Not desirable. And the meal would not be as it was meant to be. 

So the moral of the story is: when it comes to cooking, instant gratification is not always the best gratification. After all, delicious things come to those who wait...

Patience is the greatest of all virtues.

Cato the Elder, Roman orator & politician (234 BC - 149 BC)

*Quotations courtesy of http://www.quotationspage.com  

Parmesan Chicken w/ Spaghetti

Rachael Ray made Parmesan Crusted Chicken on 30 Minute Meals one day and it looked soo good! So I made it. Now it's one of my go-to meals when I don't know what I want for dinner. My mom is a fan, especially when I pair it with oven roasted rosemary veggies. Tonight, I stuck with spaghetti.

First things first. You need:

1 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
Mix together in a pie plate.

Coat chicken with cheese. I like chicken tenders or thin sliced chicken. 

Add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil to a skillet and heat up over medium heat. 

While that's heating up start on the spaghetti. 

When the oil is hot add the chicken! 

When the chicken is done put it aside on a plate. Don't put a paper towel on the plate to absorb some of the oil. The chicken could stick to the paper towel and that would not be tasty.  Do however, sprinkle with a little more cheese! There is noooo such thing as too much cheese! 

Heat up some marinara sauce or your favorite pasta sauce in a sauce pan. Drain pasta and plate. Add sauce. Add chicken. And more cheese!!!! Outcome should look like...

Most yummy!