Peanut Butter Frosting

I made chocolate cupcakes with this peanut butter frosting recipe...and OH MY GOODNESS! I am sad to say that my diet suffered (big time) because I ate so many of the cupcakes! I don't really remember where I got this recipe from, it's one that I've had for awhile in my recipe box...I did google "peanut butter frosting" and it seems that this is a pretty general "base" recipe. In any case, it is GOOD!




Peanut Butter Frosting
Will frost about 36 cupcakes


1/2 Cup Softened Butter
1 Cup Peanut Butter
3 Tablespoons Milk
2 Cups Powder Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla


If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, use it...the frosting will be much more "fluffier".

Cream together the Butter and Peanut Butter until mixed thoroughly. Add in the Milk, Vanilla and Powder Sugar. Mix on Medium once all of the ingredients are incorporated. (ie: don't turn the Kitchen Aid on high speed until the powder sugar is no longer powder...you will have a huge mess if you do!) Put frosting in a pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

In the summer, especially when it hits 100+ which it was today, I try to use the crockpot to make dinner so I don't need to turn on the oven. I grabbed this little seasoning packet by McCormick while grocery shopping yesterday. I had most of the ingredients on hand at home, but had I bought them it probably would have been about $5.00. I was very pleased with how this meal turned out. Bonus: the house smelled yummy all day while it was cooking, and I didn't do much except throw everything in the crockpot! I served mine over whole wheat pasta. (Tip: you can buy whole wheat pasta at Trader Joe's for about $1.25)






Slow Cookers Italian Herb Chicken

Makes 8 servings.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH


INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken parts, skin removed (I used about 10-12 "chicken tenders")
1 package (8 ounces) mushrooms, halved or sliced
1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers Italian Herb Chicken Seasoning
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste


DIRECTIONS
1. Place chicken and mushrooms in slow cooker.
2. Mix Seasoning, tomatoes and tomato paste until blended. Pour over chicken and mushrooms. Cover. I added one cup of water to the mixture. It was really thick, and I didn't want the chicken to burn in the crock pot. I'm glad I didn't, because it turned out perfect!
3. Cook 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. I cooked mine on high for 7 hours, and then let it thicken up for an hour since I added water. Remove chicken and vegetables to serving platter. Stir sauce before serving. Serve over hot cooked pasta, if desired.



NUTRITION INFORMATION
per serving
Calories: 271
Fat: 11 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Cholesterol: 77 mg
Sodium: 648 mg
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 27 g

Banana Bread

I had some over-ripe bananas sitting on my counter, so I decided to make some banana bread. I wanted to use my mom's recipe but couldn't find it, so I googled and came up with this recipe from Simply Recipes ...it turned out REALLY good! Almost as good as my mom's!

Banana Bread

Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (I used about 5 medium sized bananas)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla (I add 1 tsp of vanilla to every recipe, so I used 2 instead of 1)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

I set my timer at 45 minutes for bake time. I didn't want it to over bake, and I'm glad I took it out at 45 minutes...it turned out beautiful! It was very moist. I also removed from the pan 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven, and then cooled it on a wire rack...I didn't want the outside to get crispy in a hot pan. Enjoy!

Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza

This is what I'm making for dinner tonight! We made a pork roast in the crock pot last night, so I'm using the left overs. The recipe calls for some interesting ingredients, so I might be making a few tweaks here and there. I'll let you know how it turns out!


Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza
Recipe from Foodnetwork.com


Ingredients
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Yellow cornmeal, for sprinkling the baking sheet
1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough, recipe follows
2 1/2 cups Pulled Pork
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
6 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese


Directions
In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, yellow mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, salt, red and black peppers. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Allow sauce to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.


Place a pizza stone on the lowest rack of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F.
Sprinkle about 2 to 3 tablespoons of yellow cornmeal on a baker's peel or baking sheet. Place the rolled out pizza dough on the prepared baker's peel or baking sheet.


Spoon 1 cup of the cooled barbecue sauce over the pizza dough, leaving about 3/4-inch of dough uncovered around the edge. Spread the pulled pork over the sauce, then top with the onion slices and chopped bell pepper. Spread the cheeses evenly over the top. Using a quick flick of the wrist, slide the prepared pizza onto the hot pizza stone and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and golden and cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with remaining barbecue sauce, if desired.


Basic Pizza Dough
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt


In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, honey, and 1 tablespoon oil, stirring to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.


Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until the dough is smooth but still slightly sticky. You may not need all of the flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes.


Oil a large mixing bowl with remaining olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place, free from drafts until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.


Punch dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 15-inch circle.
Yield: dough for 1 (15-inch) pizza

Lettuce Wraps

Here's another recipe I can't take credit for. I got it from my friend, Shawn. They are really good, and so easy to make! I'm sure I'll be making these a lot this summer. The perfect meal when it's hot outside! They're also low carb...and high protein.

Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4

1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce
1 Bag of Broccoli ColeSlaw
2 Tablespoons of Sesame Seeds
1/2 Jar of "Litehouse- Toasted Sesame Ginger Dressing, Sauce, & Marinade"
1 Rotisserie Chicken (from the grocery store)

Take the meat off of the rotisserie chicken, and break into small pieces with your hands. (This part is kind of messy, but it's faster with your fingers). Mix Broccoli Slaw, Dressing, Chicken, and Sesame Seeds in a large bowl. Spoon into a leaf of lettuce, and roll lettuce up, like a burrito. Eat immediately.

Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff

I kind of made this recipe up last night for dinner, and I was so happy with how it turned out! M says "it passed the taste test for sure".

Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff
Recipe will make around 6 servings

10 Chicken Tenders
1 Packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 Can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken & Mushroom Soup
1 "Can" of White Wine
6 Servings of Wild Rice

Put Chicken in crockpot, sprinkle Onion Soup Mix on top. Spread Cream of Chicken and Mushroom Soup on top. Fill empty soup can with White Wine, pour over chicken mixture.

Set crockpot on "high" for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. After 4 hours, turn to low for 1.5 hour. If you won't be home, leave on "low" all day (for at least 6-8 hours until chicken is cooked and tender). Chicken should be VERY tender, and you should be able to easily tear it apart, and shred it.

Spoon on top of cooked Wild Rice, and serve.

Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken

One of my best friends, and former roommate gave me this recipe. Rachel used to make it ALL the time when we lived together...and it is one of my absolute FAVORITE meals!!!


Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Olive Oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 carrot, sliced diagonally into 1/4 inch pieces
1 (10 oz.) package frozen broccoli florets, thawed
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz. angel hair pasta
2/3 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat; add chicken. Cook, stirring, until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

2. Heat remaining oil in same skillet. Begin heating water for pasta. Add carrot to skillet, cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add broccoli and garlic to skillet; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes longer.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions (be careful not to overcook - angel hair pasta cooks fast). While pasta is cooking, add chicken broth, basil and Parmesan to skillet. Stir to combine. Return chicken to skillet. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes.

4. Drain pasta. Place in a large serving bowl. Top with chicken and vegetable mixture. Serve immediately.
Serves 4