Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

i found the most beautiful raspberry's at the grocery last night, and picked up a lemon, and figured i'm game for anything with this combo! after some research of what i could make that i actually had ingredients for, i came up with these little babies! i had to improvise a few things.

This is what they looked like before i frosted with lemony frosting. i pureed 1/3 of my raspberries and added a bit of sugar to the mix, and spooned a teaspoon of it into the middle each cupcake.

cupcake:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half (or you can use milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and extracts; add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients. pour into cupcake papers. (my batch made 32)
- puree some raspberries with a little sugar or you can always use raspberry jam. spoon in 1/2 teaspoon (or more) of raspberry puree into middle of cupcake.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

lemon frosting:

6-8 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

- In a mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and peel.

Spinach Smoothies

My friend Kristin in my Huntington Beach ward taught us how to make spinach smoothies for our relief society activity last week. please don't be scared of the name or the color. because i definitely was and was skeptical to even taste it (come on! i grew up in the south where it's not uncommon to have an entire stick of butter in 1 dish/1 plate)--but i promise you will like it, and the taste of spinach is totally disguised!! it reminds me of my favorite smoothie at Smoothie King growing up called the "Light and fluffy"- taste like orange, banana and strawberry. yum!!

the best part about it is... you get your veggies for the day! i'm not the greatest when it comes to eating greens, so this is a great way to get your greens for the day (along with fruits for the day)

Most of the ingredients I got from Costco--which is great to have in bulk, since I try to have this {almost} once a day {for breakfast or even sometimes dinner}.

* large bag of frozen strawberries
* large jug of OJ
* large container of fresh baby spinach
* large bunch of ripe bananas- that i peel and put in a large freezer bag, and take one out at a time for smoothie
* large container of vanilla yogurt

Step 1: fill blender to 1 cup line with Orange Juice and add 2 handfuls of {baby} spinach. blend/grind/etc until spinach is completing blended into OJ.


Step 2: Add 1 frozen ripe banana (frozen because its more frothy than a regular ripe banana). blend until mixed well.


Step 3: Add the yummy stuff!!! 5 frozen strawberries, and 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt. And blend until smooth.


Side note: when you mix RED (strawberries) PLUS GREEN (spinach smoothie) the resulting color is not so appetizing...SOOOOO...Jeremy's wonderful Christmas present to me this year really came in handy.

Jeremy knows I love drinking from Styrofoam cups with lids and straws, and usually save these cups from different places we go and re-use at home. He calls them my "sippy cups".
So thus he thought it would be a good idea to get me my own personal stash of Styrofoam cups, lids and straws. We have a huge stack of these cups now standing as tall as me in our kitchen. Really truly, one of the best presents I've ever received.

Stuffing Chicken

This is Jeremy's most favorite meal that his mom made growing up, and it has also become one of my faves too! And it's a great meal for when you have company over or need to bring a meal to someone. We usually serve it with Cashew-Rice Pilaf, which I've already posted the recipe to here.

4 boneless chicken breasts halves
4-6 slices of swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken-mushroom soup
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup (or more!) of Stove Top stuffing mix
3-4 Tablespoons melted butter

1) Place chicken in 13x9" pan.
2) Top each breast with a slice of Swiss cheese.
3) Mix together the soup and chicken stock. Pour over chicken.
4) Then Sprinkle Stove Top stuffing Mix and drizzle with melted butter.
5) Bake, uncovered, for 50 minutes in a 350 degrees oven.

Served with Cashew-Rice Pilaf. And in a perfect world, I would have served with a veggie like grilled or steamed asparagus or something like that.

I'm guessing the reason I haven't posted this recipe yet, is because it's hard to get a pretty picture, because its very monochromatic. I debated whether to put up a picture, because it's not the best, but i hate recipes without pictures. so i'm putting it up anyways. :)

Mom's spaghetti

I was craving my mom's spaghetti for a few months, and finally after all these years asked her for the recipe. My mom doesn't have any recipe's written down, so i knew she'd have to write it down while trying to think what she does. she's amazing in the kitchen, can just throw stuff together, and i don't think i've ever seen her measure anything. so i knew making this would be a challenge, because her directions didn't include exact amounts, just a little bit o' this, and a little bit o' that. but i wrote down my notes along the way of specifics, and now i'm not afraid to make this every again because it turned out excellent. Jeremy is my taste tester, and when he is raving about something, i know it must be good.



Ingredients:
2 lbs. sirloin ground meat
1 onion chopped
3 or so celery stalks chopped
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
lots of chopped garlic ( i used 4 heaping teaspoons of chopped garlic from a jar)
salt/pepper
2 tsp worsheshire sauce
1 tiny can of tomato paste (6 oz)
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (about 15oz)
1 reg can of tomato sauce (28 oz)
2 T brown sugar
lots of chopped fresh parsley
about 1/2 T dried basil
sprinkle of a little bit of oregano
and spaghetti noodles of course! (i sometimes like to use angel hair noodles)









6) Stir Good, and let simmer for an hour or more. And its always better the next day!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

the last time i made stuffed bell peppers was a couple years ago. i wasn't impressed with the recipe i used the first time, hence, no blog post about it. it was a version with tomato sauce. so this time, i turned to Emeril Lagasse, for a Nawlins style stuffed bell pepper. this time around, A+. really good, clean flavors including the "trinity": chopped onion, celery, bell pepper.
I changed a few things from Emeril's recipe, because i had ground beef rather than sausage.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (I used organic)
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped celery
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups cook long-grain rice
1/4 cup chopped green onions, green part only
4 medium bell peppers, top cut open, seeds removed
4 tablespoons dried fine bread crumbs
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan Reggiano
Cajun seasonings

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large skillet, over medium heat, brown the sausage, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, peppers, and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add the rice and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the green onions and parsley. Season the bell peppers with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the bell peppers. In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs and cheese. Season with Tony Chachere and mix well. Sprinkle the crust over each pepper. Place the peppers in a pan, and bake for 30 minutes, or until the tops are crusty and brown. Serve hot

Did you know?
The holy trinity of cuisine refers specifically to the use originated from the Cajun and Creole cuisines of Louisiana where chopped celery, bell peppers, and onions are the staple base for much of the cooking.

But, something new that I Iearned on Wikipedia tonight is trinities of other ethnic cuisines... such as:

French: celery, onion and carrots
Indian: garlic, ginger and onion
Chinese: garlic, ginger and chili peppers
Greek: lemon juice, olive oil and oregano
Italian: tomato, garlic and basil
Thai: galangal, kaffir lime and lemon grass

Loaded Spinach Salad

We had the BEST salad ever at the Baltzer's house on Saturday. it was love at first bite. I called Amber Baltzer to see what kind of dressing she used. the dressing might as well be candy, it is sweet and savory.





Here's the recipe. and yes, it is VERY WORTH IT and easy to make the dressing yourself. and yes, this is the BEST salad i've had in a very long time!!

dressing:
- 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/3 c. cider vinegar

salad ingredients:
- spinach
- sliced mushrooms
- avocado
- tomato
- boiled eggs
- crumbled bacon

(I've also used cucumber instead of bacon.)

Grilled Salmon with Lime Butter Sauce

I went back to the Fish Co I blogged about here and got a beautiful piece of Wild Salmon.
So I went online to find an equally beautiful recipe for this fine fish. :)
I found a whole menu on the epicurious (gourmet magazine online recipe site).
> Link to Grilled Salmon with Lime Butter Sauce

> Link to Lime Butter Sauce

> Grilled Tri-color Peppers

> Rice with Pine Nuts and Cilantro (I used 1 bunch of cilantro rather than 3 cups. and I even poured some of the leftover butter sauce on top of the rice)