Peanut Butter Banana Chip Muffins

 
     I know Its been too long since I have posted. Things have been crazy around here. The cooking, the pictures, and the "testing the food" is never a problem. Its the turning the computer on, uploading pictures and in my case Internet access. As you can tell these pictures were intended for valentines day. It is now almost March. Anyways, these muffins will be good all year, no matter what holiday is around the corner! They are quick, easy and use only one bowl! Cheers for less dishes!

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Melted Butter
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Beaten Egg
3 Mashed Ripe Bananas
1/4 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter Chips

  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

  Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Now ditch the whisk and get out a good ole fashioned wooden spoon. Add all the wet ingredients and the chips. Mix until just combined. Its fine if the batter is a little lumpy but make sure to not over mix the batter. Line a muffin tin with liners of your choice. Fill them 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and they are golden brown. Enjoy and try not to let your dogs get a hold of these. Of course the last 6 came up missing in my home, but what did appear was a guilty face on a certain great danes face...Happy Belated Valentines Day!

 

Mmmmm...Peanut Butter, I wonder who licked the spoon?

Creamy BLT Pasta

This is so easy, creamy and delicious, filled with smokey bacon, and tender spinach. It's quick, easy and cheap and can be thrown together in no time at all. 

Creamy BLT Pasta: 

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup fresh diced tomatoes 

2 cups baby spinach

4 strips crumbled crispy bacon

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

2tbs vodka 

2 tbs olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

  Sautée all the spinach except for a 1/2 cup, in the olive oil and seasonings, on medium heat until the spinach is tender but not cooked through. Add everything else and bring to a low boil. Take off the heat and add the remaing spinach. Stir until combined. Pour the sauce over your favorite pasta and serve, maybe will a little extra Parmesan cheese. 

Pumpkin Waffles with Cider Butter Syrup

Pumpkin Waffles with Cider Butter Syrup

  Today I said goodbye to fall, for my last pumpkin hoorah of the season, and putting my new waffle iron to use. These waffles are full of all of falls flavors, including the cider syrup they are topped with. The perfect   way to bid goodbye to November and hello to December and all of its peppermint mocha goodness. Dear December, i love you, but spiced fall flavors are my favorite. These literally only took me 10 minutes to whip and get on the plate, 1 bowl, 1 saucepan, and 1 waffle iron also mean very little dishes. Who likes to start there morning washing dishes anyway?

 Waffles

1 cup plus 2 tbs Flour

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 tsp Baking Powder

 1/2 tsp. Salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbs melted butter

 Mix all ingredients together until well mixed. Do not overmix, a few lumps are ok. Heat Waffle iron and spray with non-stick spray.

Syrup

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tbs Corn Starch

1 tbs Corn Syrup

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 cup Apple Cider

4 tbs Butter

Put a saucepan on med-high heat, add the sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon, whisk until combined. Add the cider and whisk until thick and bubbly, take off the heat and stir in the butter until melted and combined. Top the waffles with the warm syrup and if your feeling spunky, maybe some fresh cinnamon whipped cream, as you can see from the photos, i must have been feeling spunky. May i also add, these are the 1st food photos i have taken with my new Nikon D7000 DSLR camera. Not bad for my first tr,y, I'm sure they will improve more with time, but I'm pretty tickled about these for the time being!

Jalapeño Corn Fritters

 My dad's birthday was last week, so on Saturday, naturally, we celebrated. Tons of snacks and party appetizers, of course homemade by me. I don't mind, I love entertaining, and having people over. Last year I made cornbread stuffed jalapeños, they were good. So good that for these I deconstructed them and made them into something better. 

3 cups sweet whole kernel corn

1/3 cup chopped fresh jalapeños 

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

2 tbs sugar

Splash of milk

Salt 

Pepper

Cayenne pepper 

Garlic powder 

 Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and fold together until combined. Season with a pinch, or a little more if you like the heat, of the dried spices.  Heat an iron skillet on med-high heat with about a 1/4 inch layer of vegtable oil. Drop the fritter dough in small drops and let cook on one side for about a minute, until it can be flipped without falling apart. Cook on opposite side until golden brown. I let mine drain on a paper towel, then slapped them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes to cook thoroughly and keep warm while making a sauce. I used my favorite Cilantro Crema sauce and added a little kick, here is the link to the recipe for the sauce. 

http://www.lifeneedssprinkles.blogspot.com/2013/08/citrus-chicken-tacos-with-cilantro-crema.html?m=1

 For the kick I added a jalapeño to the food processor to turn up the heat a little bit. These fritters were gone in a matter of minutes, a big hit. I also think they could be made ahead of time, be kept frozen, then pop them in to oven before serving to warm and crisp them up. 

Parmesan Pepper Pasta

 One weekend day, it's noon and we are starving for lunch, not wanting to leave the house to go out for lunch, or shopping to restock our very empty fridge, and pantry. Anthony says "I'll take care of it" He whips up this dreamy pasta with bannana pepper rings, it was good. So good I think I made it for lunch twice the next week. I amped it up a bit and added fresh parmesan, and a blackened chicken breast, and BAM it's a quick, cheap, easy, delicious meal. Although I fully credit this meal to Anthony it was his inspiration that lead me to this pasta dish. 

Fettuccini noodles (or whatever you have on hand will work) 

Chicken Breasts ( I pan seared mine with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika) 

3 tbs butter

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder 

1/4 cup chopped banana pepper rings

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

 Cook the noodles until right past al dente in salted water. Strain and return to  the pot with all the ingredients. I added more banana rings and cheese. Toss until butter is melted and everything is combined. Top a few slices of chicken and...dinner is served, or lunch, or a snack, or breakfast. This stuff is so good, and it's so cheap and easy anyone could do it. Anthony lived off of something similar through his college days. Enjoy! 

Cinnamon Spice Candy Corn Sugar Bites

 This week I am prepping for a Halloween package to send all they way to Cali, for my dearest sista friend who is In the navy. Living in a barrack where she can't bake or cook anything, I know these baked treats will be very appreciated! Love ya Kara! 

  I saw these candy corn frosted cookies on Pinterest one day, and since I haven't messed much with cookie decorating, I thought, I think I can make these easier! I took a regular sugar cookie recipe and added a few of my favorite fall inspired flavors for a kick on a classic sugar cookie. These are so easy I'm sure any of you can give it a try. 

1 cup soft salted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup cookie butter

( south Florida friends, I know this is hard to find around here, use biscoff spread, or maybe even peanut butter instead)

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbs cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp ginger 

Yellow food color

Red food color

1/2 cup mixed cinnamon and sugar 

 Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Spoon in the cookie butter and mix until combined. Sift together the dry ingredients into the wet and mix on low until a dough forms. 

  Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap, press 1/3 of the uncolored dough into the pan. Now dye the rest of the dough yellow. Press 1/3 of the yellow dough over the uncolored dough. Now add a little red to the leftover yellow, that will make orange. Press the orange over the yellow. 

 Cover with plastic wrap and cool in fridge for atleast 4 hours, or up to overnight. 

  Remove the dough slab by pulling up on the sides of plastic wrap. Slice off the outer edge to begin cutting the triangles. 

 Ready to make some candy corn? Cut the dough into about 1/2 inch strips.

 

Now lay flat on your cutting board and cut into triangles. This is the method I used: 

One cut, two cut, three cut....

  A little tedious, but once you get the hang of the motion, time will pass quickly. Place the little candy corns on an ungreased baking sheet, bake at 350 for 8 to 12 minutes. Keep a close eye, these little jewels can burn quick and easy. No one likes a burnt candy corn. Remove from oven and gently toss in a pile of cinnamon sugar. The sugar sticks better when the cookies are warm. 

WARNING: cookies are delicious, and bite size. Side effects: sugar coma, addiction. ENJOY! 

Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

      Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks room temperature butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup blueberry compote (see below) 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream  

Blueberry compote:

2 cups fresh blueberry a

1/4 cup sugar 

2 tbs cornstarch

 Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the blueberry are popping and turn into a thick smooth compote. 

  For the cupcakes, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the eggs, one at a time, until fully combined. Sift together the dry ingredients, add alternately with the milk, and the sour cream. Mix until combined. Add the compote and mix until just combined evenly throughout the batter. Preheat an oven to 350, line cupcake tins with liners and evenly distribute the batter. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Chessecake Filling

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup granulated sugar 

2 cups fresh whipped cream

 Whip the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Put the filling, in a piping bag with a filler tip attachment. That was easy! 

To fill the cupcakes, let them cool then poke the filler tip in the middle of the cupcake and squeeze for a few seconds until the cupcake is filled. Don't overfill or the cupcake will crack in half. 

Blueberry Cream Cheese Buttercream: 

4 oz cream cheese

1 stick room tempature butter

1/2 cup cooled blueberry compote

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbs heavy cream

 Whip the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and whip until light and fluffy. 

 Frost the filled cupcakes with the buttercream. I then topped mine with an extra swirl of blueberry compote. Beware, these are rich and cheesecakey and may put you into some sort of a coma! Enjoy!