Brownie Batter Cupcakes

I made these for Cory's class for his 8th birthday.  (Yes, that's right, my Cory is turning EIGHT!)  The kids LOVED them. 
I almost forgot to add the toungues, so here the frog is without it.

• 1 (19.5 oz) package brownie mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (18.5 oz) package white cake mix
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 3 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line 48 muffin cups with paper liners
2. Whisk together the brownie mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 1/4 cup water in a abowl.  Stir just until fully incorporated, about 50 strokes; allow to chill in refridgerator.
3. Mix the cake mix, 2 TBS canola oil, 1 1/3 cup water, and 3 egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined.  Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Spoon the chilled brownie batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full.  Spoon the cake batter over the brownie batter, until muffin cups are each 2/3 full. 
5. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

For the frog decorations, I used my creamy white frosting recipe, with green food coloring.  For the eyes, I used green lifesavers, and brown m&m's.  For the mouth: licorice rope, for the toungue: fruit by the foot.  Then I did a dab of white frosting for the nose.  Cute eh?  Before you are too in awe of my creative ability, I totally copied someone else online.  :)

Creamy White Frosting

This is a very good white frosting recipe.  I use it for cinnamon rolls (I add nuts), cupcakes (I add food coloring and/or a little bit of kool aide), or cakes.  After using homemade frosting, I can't go back to store bought frosting. 

• 1/2 cup butter flavored shorening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (or you can use lemon or orange extract)
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 to 4 TBS milk

1. Beat shorening, vanilla, and extract with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Slopwly add half of the powdered sugar, beating well.  Add 2 TBS milk.  Gradually beat in remaining powdered sugar and enough remaining milk to reach spreading consistency.  This frosts the tops and sides of two 8 or 9 inch cake layers.

Here's my chocolate frosting recipe.

Fajitas

This was totally delicious this evening.  I'd never really made fajitas before (there was a feeble attempt once upon a time, but I'd rather not mention that particular incident).  I found a recipe on allrecipies.com and was quite impressed. 

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1-2 lbs meat, thinly sliced (I used round steak, but you could use chicken, shrimp, whatever you'd like)
• peppers (I used one green and one red), thinly sliced
• 1/2 a sweet onion, thinly sliced
• tortiallas
• sour cream

1. Combine lime juice through black pepper in a large plastic bag.  Add cut meat and allow to marinate in the refridgerator for 2-24 hours. 

The rest I'm actually pretty fuzzy on, I'm not sure how fajitas are supposed to be made.  I just heated a pan and dumped everything in it - meat, marinade, peppers and onions, but it was too much juice, so I drained it into a bowl, and let the meat cook the rest of the way.  I drizzled the juice over the meat once it was on the plate. 

Does anyone know how fajitas are supposed to be cooked??  Either way, these tasted amazing.

Orange Cream Fruit Salad

This is new dish I tried this Thanksgiving, and I will definately be making it again.  Yummy!  I thought it might be a little boring with mostly canned fruit, but I was way wrong. 

• 1 (3.5 oz) package vanilla pudding mix
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
• 1 (15 oz) can sliced peaches, drained
• 1 (11 oz) can mandarin orange segments
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 apple, peeled and cored

1. In medium bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, and orange juice concentrate.  Mix with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes.  Mix in sour cream.
2. In large salad bowl, mix together fruit.  Gently mix in orange dressing.  Cover and refridgerate 2 hours.

Broccoli Salad

This side dish is a Thanksgiving tradition in our house, the whole family loves it! 

• 10 slices bacon
• 1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup mayo
• 3 TBS white wine vinegar
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 cup sunflower seeds (I omitted because I didn't have them on hand, but I bet it would be awesome)

1. Cook and crumble bacon, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine broccoli, red onion, and raisins.  In seperate small bowl combine mayo, vinegar, and sugar.  Pour mayo mixture over the broccoli and stir to evenly distribute.  Refridgerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Before serving, toss in crumbled bacon and sunflower seeds.

Jalapeno Poppers

John grilled these last night.  Oh so yummy.  I could so easily get fat off these.  :)  The recipe says to deep fry them, but I chose to skip the outer breading and then grill them.  I really could have gotten a better picture, but I simply didn't have time, but this should give ya an idea.

• 12 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 TBS bacon bits
• 12 oz jalapeno peppers, seeded and halved
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 quarts oil for frying

1. In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and bacon bits.  Spoon the mixture into the jalepeno halves.
2. Pour the milk and flour into two seperate bowls.  Dip the jalapenos into the milk first, then the flour, making sure they are completely coated.  Allow them to dry for about ten minutes.
3. Dip the jalapenos in milk again, followed by the bread crumbs.  Allow them to dry, then repeat. 
4. In a medium skillet, heat the oil to 365.  Deep fry the jalepenos for 2-3 minutes each, or until golden brown.  Remove and let drain on a paper towel. 

***Now, here's what I did:
Instead of halving the jalapenos, I sliced them lengthwise and spooned the cream cheese mixture into them, and then wrapped them in foil and grilled them for a couple minutes.  Then, removed them from the foil and grilled them for a couple more minutes, until the outsides looked done.  I didn't use the bread crumbs/flour/milk at all.  I skewered them with a toothpick so they would stay closed.  They had a delicious kick to them!

Fruit Crisp

I got this recipe from a friend of mine.  It's really yummy and sooooo very easy.  Our friends made it for us a few weeks ago and the hubbs kept asking me to get the recipe to make at home.  It is so awesome served warm with ice cream!

• filling (this is where you can get creative, you can peel and cut about 5 apples, or if you're in a pinch for time, take the easy way out and use either 2 cans of peaches, or use 2 cans of pie filling)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter, softened or melted

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease an 8x8" pan.
2. Pour filling of your choice into prepared pan.  In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients until mixed well.  Pour over fruit filling, making sure it is distributed evenly.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until apples are soft and top is golden.