Cupcake fix (Micki)

So I had to make cupcakes for my daughter for a fundraiser at church. I am still recovering from a field trip yesterday and didn't want to go to the store to get anything. So I had most of the supplies and two yellow cake mixes. How boring. So I wanted to spice things up a bit so to speak and used peanut butter instead of the regular butter in the Golden Butter cake mix. They turned out yummy!! Kind of a weird after taste but good. I think I should have reduced cook time a bit because they are a little dry. But we topped them off with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

Then on the second batch I beat the batter too much because my butter was a little hard (used regular butter this time so I could have 2 different flavors) and my cupcakes fell. :( I so didn't want to make another batch......
So I improvised with extra frosting in the center. lol Hope everyone likes frosting. My daughter loves basketball so thats why we made basketballs. Nothing better than a little (or a lot) of homemade buttercream frosting.....right Ter? (She hates frosting, how does anyone hate frosting?)

The best part is I made her clean up. :)

Guest Day Thursday: Hot Lunch Tip

We are so excited to have be able to share a great tip with you today (I know, don't faint, we have posted something 2 days in a row, but today's was pretty much a cheat since all we had to do was copy and paste. Hey! What do ya know it's even Thursday today, so I guess we can still call it Guest Day Thursday, hehehe). While blogstalking Teri ran onto this tip and thought it was such a great idea, she asked Don immediately if he would share it with you! He agreed, and so enjoy his great tip for homemade "hot" lunches!

Hi, I'm Don Carey, a full-time software engineer, part-time author, and over-time husband and father. I want to thank the 2 Sisters for inviting me to be a guest on this blog. I'm excited to share our handy little trick for sending hot lunches from home to school and work.

Both of our girls have food allergies, so when our oldest started kindergarten nearly eight years ago, we thought it would be best to send lunches from home. Not wanting to go the soggy sandwich on stale bread route, we came up with a system for sending hot lunches, and it has served us well.

The first thing I do in the morning is boil water in the teapot. Today's lunch menu is tortellini soup, so I also started some water in a second pot.

Once the water in the teapot boils, I pour it into our trusty little thermoses - one for each of the girls. There's usually one for me, too - no need to make lunch twice. But today I decided to pass on the tortellini soup in favor of left-over pizza in the fridge. Yum!

While the boiling water heats the thermoses, I make breakfast and heat lunch - either on the stove, or in our handy little toaster oven. This is also when I nag the sleepyheads.

Yum! Tortellini!

Now mix in the soup.

I empty the water and fill the thermoses with hot food. We usually try to plan our dinners so there are leftovers to use in lunches. Soup, stew, chili, and pasta dishes all work great. We've had mixed results with nuggets and burritos - they stay warm, but tend to get soggy.

Casseroles all work very well. Except for tuna casserole, which is never good. Ick! Yuck! Blech!

I then pack the thermos in an insulated lunch box with the sides, snacks, utensils, and a bottle of water. Today's menu includes goldfish, grapes, a granola bar, and bunny-shaped sugar cookies, just in case you were wondering.

All in 30 minutes or less. My only fear with this method is that one day I'll accidentally forget to fill the thermoses and send my children to school with nothing but hot water for lunch. But so far, so good.

My youngest still asks for hot lunch at school once in a while as a treat, but the 7th grader insists I pack her lunch every day so she doesn't have to wait in the long cafeteria lines. And she insists the food is better, too.

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Homemade Twix (Teri)

I found this yummy recipe on one of our followers blogs and HAD to make it. Click here to go to that original post (and see how much prettier hers are).

Homemade Twix Bars

Crust:
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter; room temp
Caramel:
1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
4 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 c. sweetened condensed milk
Crumble crust ingredients together. Pack into 13x9 inch pan that has been sprayed, lined with foil and sprayed again. Bake on 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Combine caramel ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly as it burns easily. Remove from heat. Stir with spoon slowly until it shows signs of thickening. Pour over crust and let cool a little.
Top layer:

Melt approximately 2 c. chocolate chips with 2 tbsp. shortening over low heat or in the microwave. Pour over caramel layer and spread carefully. (I didn’t have quite enough chocolate chips, so I just sprinkled them on the caramel and let them melt then spread them out with a spatula) Chill. Cut into bars.

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake (Teri)

My hubby decided he wanted to make this for our Super Bowl Feast. It was delicious. There were two definite plusses for me: 1-hubby made it, not me; 2- it was made in the crock pot! How cool is that!?! Who knew you could bake in a crock pot, certainly not me. Doesn’t it look yummy? It was! All that pudding goodness in the middle!

The recipe is from Crock-Pot Recipe Collection.

1 pkg (6 serving size) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix

3 cups milk

1 package (about 18 oz) chocolate fudge cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix

Crushed peppermint candies (optional)

Whipped topping or ice cream (optional – but ice cream is recommended by me anyway)

1-Coat 4 1/2 quart Crock-Pot slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place pudding mix in Crock-Pot slow cooker. Whisk in milk.

2-Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Carefully pour cake mix into Crock-Pot slow cooker. Do not stir. Cover; cook on High 1 to 1 1/2 hours our until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (note: don’t stick it all the way down or you will just get pudding).

3-Spoon into cup or onto plate; serve warm with crushed peppermint candies and whipped topping or ice cream if desired. Tip: let cool at least 5 minutes before removing from Crock-Pot slow cooker.

(just fyi I don’t have a Crock-Pot brand slow cooker, I just copied the recipe verbatim, so take it for what it’s worth)

What's Cookin Wednesday: Mini Meatloaves a healthier alternative (Micki)

I make these tasty little treats for myself when my family has meatloaf.
Ingredients:
A little over 2.5 lbs of 97/3% lean hamburger
12 grissini breadsticks crushed
salt
pepper
minced garlic
dehydrated onions

First: Place all ingredients in mixing bowl
Second: Mix together with hands

Roll into muffin sized balls and bake at 375-400 for about 45 mins:

Combine together with a nice salad and a sliced apple for a tasty dinner

Total calories for the entire meal is about 325 plus dressing. It's very yummy and filling too!!
The meatloaf ball is about 200 calories.

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: A Crumby Dessert (Teri)

When my brother-in-law and his wife came down for dinner for my hubby’s birthday this weekend, she made these cake bon bons, and they were to die for good! The original recipe is from Betty Crocker, we changed it a tiny bit. Here’s the recipe step by step as I made them with my kids. If you don’t want the complete pictorial, scroll to the bottom of this post and see the Valentine’s version that my kids and I made!

Bake a yellow cake according to package directions and let cool for 15 min (you could use chocolate, but these are really rich as it is). Then crumble. This is why my hubby calls this a "crumby" dessert.

Stir in a full container of chocolate frosting.

Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours until able to form into balls (we used a small scoop to make ours, they were a little large, but we got more than that recipe said we would, so go figure).

Freeze for half an hour, Melt chocolate chips in a microwave until they are melted enough to dip bon bons into (we used the equivalent to a bag of chocolate chips, although we did part of ours dark chocolate and part milk chocolate). This is where we deviated from the recipe, it called for candy coating, which I guess is essentially white chocolate and regular chocolate, although I’m not sure. Dip bon bons in melted chocolate and touch to favorite toppings. After all are dipped, return to fridge until chocolate is set. Serve!

Tip: Did you know you could toast coconut in the microwave in under 2 minutes? I didn’t, but I found directions online. Put it on a plate spread out, cook in 15 to 30 second intervals stirring in between. I started out with two 30 second intervals and then two 15 second intervals and ended up with gorgeous toasted coconut. When it first comes out of the microwave it will still seem soft and wet, but as it cools it becomes that chewy nutty texture of toasted coconut. This was all of our favorite topping on the bon bons!

I thought these would make great Valentine treats for teachers or sweethearts or whoever. You could package them up in sweet little boxes.

If you look really closely at the pink and white ones, you will see they are micro hearts. Cute huh!

What's Cookin' Wednesday: Ice Cream Pie Yum!!

This is a recipe our mom made growing up. Until recently we hadn't really made it, but have rediscovered how delicious and easy it is!!

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup white corn syrup

2 cups honey nut corn flakes (we can only find plain honey corn flakes now)

1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened

Chocolate ice cream topping

Chopped nuts

Melt peanut butter and corn syrup together and mix into corn flakes. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased 9" pie plate. Spread ice cream over mixture and freeze. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with chocolate topping and nuts over slices. If making a 9"x13" pan double the recipe.

Hints and tips from us: I made the double batch and used half chocolate ice cream and half vanilla and the chocolate was a huge hit. So you can use whatever kind of ice cream you want to. I also served mine with butterscotch, chocolate, and carmel. Yum!! Loved it with slivered almonds!! For the ice cream soften it for about 10 or 15 minutes and put it in a bowl and make sure you can stir it. Then stir it and spread over crust.

Jumped the gun

I jumped the gun for tomorrows post....sorry if anyone got a preview. lol That's usually Teris job, but I guess it was my turn.

Tadpole Tuesday: Fishbowl Cupcakes (Teri)

Micki gave me the best cupcake book ever, it’s called Hello, Cupcake. The cupcakes are absolutely darling. A while back, we had some friends who’s fish died, so we decided to take them some cupcakes (okay, I was looking for an excuse to make cute cupcakes). This is what my daughter and I managed to create. Aren’t they darling. They aren’t exactly the same as the book, but they were a lot of fun to make all the same. There are a ton of others that I want to try, but none that I have been brave enough to do yet.

What's Cookin Wednesday: Cookie Day

Every year with My (Micki's) sister-in-laws and my mother in law we make tons and tons of cookies to give away and eat. We each bring a kind and we make like 3 kinds. This year Sabrina and I had a miscommunication and brought the same kind. So we had a ton of ginger molasses cookies. lol We also had rice crispie treats, and Teris darling daughter made a no bake cookie, and we had muddy buddy mix and sugar cookies. Then we made Texas sheet cake, Neiman Marcus cookies, peanut blossoms, and Shannon made kalua cake. It is always so much fun!! Teri got a couple of hours before we were done but wouldn't let me take her picture because she had gone to sleep in the car with wet hair and it was craaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzyyyyyyyy!!! I would love to share the recipe for Neiman Marcus cookies which supposedly some lady paid a few hundred dollars for by accident and so she shared it with everyone she knew. They are so delicious!!! The batch makes a ton so we usually make it half at a time to fit in the mixer better.

Neiman Marcus Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups butter
2 tsp soda
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure before blending into fine powder)
1 8 oz herseys bar (we use the symphony bar with the toffee and almonds)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
24 oz chocolate chips
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
3 cups chopped nuts (we use slivered almonds and chop them a little bit more)

Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add chocolate chips, herseys bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

Micki doing dishes

Sabrina just finished mixing cookies

Shannon volunteered for the awful job of grating chocolate

Laurel and Trish mixing away :)

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: White Chicken Chili (Teri)

Edited: Sorry this is posted so late, we were in Vegas this week, and weren’t able to finish it.

I have a fabulous group of book club friends who have supplied me with a ton of delicious recipes, and they have granted me permission to share them with you (thanks girls!). This is a great cold weather recipe. I know we have shared a few soup type recipes already, but the are so versatile for cold weather.

White Bean Chicken Chile

(Thanks Angie & congrats!!!)

6 cans Great Northern Beans

2 small onions

4 cans chicken broth (or bullion to make a scant 8 cups)

1/2 tsp chopped garlic

2 cans diced green chilies

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

24 oz. sour cream

3-4 cooked and cubed chicken breasts

Throw all the ingredients into a crock pot except he sour cream and cook all day. 8-10 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high, or until you eat it. Add the sour cream the last hour.

Angie’s note: This makes enough to feed an army. I usually only make half for our family and have plenty of leftovers. It’s great for a freezer meal. Just don’t freeze the sour cream.

Teri’s note: I didn’t have cooked chicken, so I threw it in with everything except the beans and cooked it on high for the morning. At lunch I took it out and chopped it and turned it down and added the beans. It was plenty cooked and had great flavor. I don’t love the flavor of green chilies so much, so I dumped them in a strainer and rinsed them, they still gave good flavor without being overwhelming, if you love green chilies just dump them in.

I decided that this week while I was posting my recipe, I would post my first tablescape and join Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Here is my table. I have small children, and wanted to make the table kid friendly, so I used my everyday dishes instead of my china. I will list all my patterns, etc. at the end of this post.

This is a view of the whole table (with my too bright sunshine yellow walls….if I haven’t mentioned it, I rent, so some things I have not yet invested in to change, however we will be repainting).

My beautiful cupcake tier that my friend made for me for Christmas was my centerpiece.

Here’s the rundown:

Dishes by Corelle called Callaway (inherited from my Grandma)

goblets pattern called Lonchamps

Salt & Pepper shakers by Gibson called Holly Celebration (part of my Christmas dishes)

Water carafe purchased at a garage sale for 25¢

All ornaments purchased at Dollar Tree

Cupcake tier made for me by a friend (thanks!!!)

tea light holders on clearance last year at Pier One I think

tea lights Ikea

napkin rings (square acrylic risers under tea light holders) purchased as a wedding gift at Mervyn’s

Tablecloth on clearance at Walmart last year

We are participating:

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Laurel’s Most Famous Chili

This recipe was given to Micki's mother in law by and old Italian man who worked with her at the school district when her sons were little.

2-15 ounce cans pinto beans in chili sauce (I use the ranch beans with jalapenos and take the jalapenos out so the sauce is spicy)
1-15 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes or diced tomatoes
1-15 ounce can tomato sauce
1-6 ounce can tomato paste
1/4 T cumin powder
1 T chili powder
1 T salt
1 T pepper
1 T sugar
1/2 T garlic powder

Chop 1 large onion and brown with 1 pound hamburger. Drain off grease and mix with top ingredients. I throw it all in the crock pot and set on low for a few hours. That way it seasons well and the onions are soft (my husband doesn't like crunchy onions).

*Edited to add: Teri's family doesn't like it as spicy or salty, so she uses the chili beans in mild sauce and cuts the salt and pepper down to 1 tsp.

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Janet’s Creamy Vege Soup

Okay, I’ll admit, I don’t really like veges. I try, I really do, but I don’t really like them. This vege soup is soooooooooooooo good though. It has yummy veges and cheese, what’s not to like? Okay, so maybe not the best way to get the veges in, but give a girl some credit for trying. Without further adieu, here is my friend Janet’s Creamy Vegetable Soup

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup butter

1 quart half and half

8 slices American cheese (Kraft is the best, it gives the soup the best flavor)

1 tsp salt and pepper

1 tsp sugar

1/2 onion diced finely

2 cups sliced carrots

2 cups sliced celery

3 cups diced red potatoes

3 chicken bouillon cubes

Place all vegetable in large saucepan with water just barely above the vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the bouillon cubes while simmering veges. In a separate pan, combine flour and melted butter to make a roux. Slowly add the half and half until well blended. Add the cheese slices, salt, pepper and sugar and stir until cheese melts and all it well combined. Add cheese mixture to vegetables when they are soft. Serves 6-8.

Edited: I got so excited about making this soup when I posted the recipe last night, that I couldn't even wait to make it for dinner, so I made it for lunch. I even took a pretty picture of it. Here are some changes I made:

decreased celery to 1 1/2 cups

increased flour to 1 cup

used fingerling potatoes (so occasionally we got a yummy purple potato)

added 2 cups of sliced mushrooms to the veges while cooking

added 4 oz. cream cheese at the same time I added the American cheese

Let us know if you try it and what you think.

Oops, I got so excited about making the soup, that I published it instead of setting it to post tomorrow. Enjoy a few hours early!!!

Mystery Monday: Inexpensive Gift Ideas

In an effort to make the holidays more affordable, I am sure that you are looking for inexpensive gift ideas just as we are. Here are some fun ideas that are easy and don’t cost much. These are great for neighbors, teachers, the lady down the street who helps you by watering your flower beds, whatever.

Recently I had to do some thank you gifts for some community people who came and helped out at the kids school. I had a budget of $20 to do 10 gifts. I didn’t want to do a small plant or something like that, as they ranged in age from college kids to retirees. I came up with this simple idea, it was about $28, so they were just shy of $3 each. You could do them for a little less if you changed what you put in them. I bought a variety pack of Ghiridelli chocolate squares to fancy them up and then I bought decorative pens and packs of peanuts from the dollar store. I bought the “takeout” containers from Michael’s using a 40% off coupon, and the ribbon was on sale for 1/2 price. I then printed a small thank you note on a shipping label to seal them with.

Another easy and inexpensive idea is the old standby jar gifts

Here is one of our favorite recipes to use as a jar gift:

Sandcastle Brownies:

1/3 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup flaked coconut

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Additional ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a one quart glass container, layer the first seven ingredients in order listed, packing well between each layer. Cover and store in a cool dry place up to six months. Yield: 1 batch

To prepare brownies: In a bowl, combine eggs, oil, vanilla and brownie mix; mix well. Spread into a greased 8 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: about two dozen.

*This recipe is from Quick Cooking Collector’s Edition

For more inexpensive gift ideas head over to Just a Girl

What’s Cooking Wednesday Bonus: Mom’s Oatmeal Cake

Since we fell down on the job yesterday and didn't get a post written, you get a bonus today, an extra recipe. This recipe is one our mom makes (Teri loves it because it's a cake WITHOUT frosting). It's super simple but stays moist for a long time.

OATMEAL CAKE

1 ¾ c. boiling water
1 ¾ c. unsifted flour
1 c. uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. packed brown sugar ½ tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cocoa
½ c. butter
1-12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
2 xl (or 3 med) eggs
¾ c. chopped nuts

Pour boiling water over oatmeal and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Add sugars and butter, stir until butter melts. Add eggs and mix well. Sift together flour, salt, soda, and cocoa. Add to sugar mixture. Mix well. Add about ½ of the chocolate chips and stir to blend. Pour into a greased 9” x 13” pain. Sprinkle nuts and the rest of the chocolate chips on top of batter. Bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

Leave us a comment if you try it and let us know what you think. If you have any great cake recipes, leave us a link in the comments as well!!!

Also participating in Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum

What’s Cooking Wednesday: Teri’s Baked Potato Soup

Fall is such a great time to have soup, and this is a easy and yummy one that feeds a crowd, so it's great for a potluck or party (you could cut it down to suit, but I never have).

Baked Potato Soup

Approx. 5-6 lbs red potatoes, most of skin removed, diced in 1” pieces

2 green onions, chopped fine

1/2 of a small onion

12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 clove garlic minced

8 cups water

10 chicken bullion cubes

8 oz. Neufchatel cheese

3 cups cheddar jack cheese

½ cup half and half

Sour cream

Note: this fills a 6 quart crock pot about 2/3 full. Add all ingredients except cheeses. Cook on low about 4-5 hours until potatoes are soft. Remove about 6 cups of soup and blend in blender and return to pot, or use immersion blender to blend gently in pot. Note: you can leave the bacon out and use it as garnish if you like.

On stovetop:

Melt together cheeses and half and half over med-low heat. Add this to your soup after blending and cook about ½ to 1 hour more. Garnish with sour cream and a sprinkling of green onions and shredded cheese.

Super yummy!!! Let me know if you try it, or if you have any good soup recipes, leave a link in the comments.

What's Cookin' Wednesday: Micki's kitchen

Okay, Whatever Goes Wednesday, has officially changed. We aren't apprently creative enough (aka, we don't have enough time), to fill every day with projects. Wednesdays will now be known as What's Cookin' Wenesday, and we will share some of our favorite recipes with you....hopefully you will tell us where we can find some of your favorites.

Since it is fall and getting colder in a lot of places. I decided to post one of my favorite soup recipes. It's my mother in laws potato soup and it's soooooooooooooooo yummy!!!

In bottom of stock pot melt 1 cube butter and cook one large diced yellow onion until soft, do not brown. Then add enough diced potatoes to fill stock pot 3/4 full. Cover potatoes with chicken broth and add a little extra bullion for extra flavor. Cook until potatoes are soft. Then use immersion blender or hand mixer to mix ingredients and puree potatoes. Then add enough warmed half and half to make it the consistency you want it to be and enjoy. It's great topped with shredded cheddar and served with fresh french bread!!!

Linked to these great parties:

Foodie Friday @ Deisgns by Gollum and

Whatever Goes Wednesday

For Whatever Goes Wednesday I (Micki) decided to give you one of my favorite dessert recipes, Better Than Anything Cake. :)


Ingredients:


1 butter recipe chocolate cake mix (and the ingredients to bake as directed on box)


1 can sweetened condensed milk


1 jar carmel ice cream topping


1 small container of cool whip (or pint of heavy cream, vanilla and powdered sugar to make your own, that's how I like to make it)


3 to 4 heath bars





Directions:


Bake cake as directed in 9x13 pan. Right when cake comes out of oven poke holes all over top (and I mean a lot of holes) with a fork. Pour sweetened condensed milk and carmel ice cream topping right on top of hot cake. Put in fridge overnight. When ready to serve top with cool whip (or homemade whipped cream) and put heath bars in food processor until they are small chunks and sprinkle generously on top. So delicious and easy to make!!

Teri here....Micki has made this for me....fabulous on the lips and the hips!!! I can't wait for you guys to see what is in store tomorrow...it's beautiful!