Strawberry Cupcakes w/ Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

My baby girl is turning one next week and we're having a Rubber Ducky themed party. I bought a 3D Ducky cake mold made by Wilton (pictures to follow) and decided to serve cupcakes to the guests so she can dig into this ducky cake.

I came across some raving reviews of Paula Deen's Strawberry Cake and thought they'd be a yummy change from boring old white cupcakes.

I did a test run of them (I strongly believe in test runs) and DH's immediate response was a moan followed by "you're going to make me fat."

Here is the original recipe:

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix

1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin

1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed

4 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed

1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract

7 cups confectioners' sugar

Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

I'm not usually into eating batter, but this stuff is too good to resist.

She got a preview.

New Obsessions

http://www.craftynest.com/

http://enchantresses3.blogspot.com/

Check them out!

Spinach Stuffed Shells

12 dried jumbo shell macaroni
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend (8 oz), divided
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 26-32 oz jar pasta sauce

Cook shells according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350.
For filling, in a medium bowl stir together spinach, eggs 1 1/2 cups Italian cheese blend and the ricotta cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Spoon generous 2 rounded tablespoon of filling into each jumbo shell. Arrange shells in a 2 quart square baking dish. Pour pasta sauce over shells.
Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven about 40 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining Italian cheese blend and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Make-ahead directions. Prepare as written above but do not bake. Cover with plastic wrap , then foil. Chill for up to 24 hours. To bake, remove plastic wrap and replace foil. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 50 - 55 minutes or until heated through.

Homemade Laundry Soap

My friend makes this and loves it so I decided to give it a try.

You only need 3 ingredients to make laundry soap; a soap of some sort (Zote or Fels Naptha), washing soda, and borax.
The Ingredients:

THE SOAP: The most common soap to use is Fels Naptha. It is an old fashin type soap that you can find in the laundry isle. You can also use Zote. Wal-mart does not carry these. I found mine at Smith's. I bought Zote, is cost just over $1.

WASHING SODA: This is not to be confused with baking soda. They are not the same thing. Washing soda is sodium bicarbonate or soda ash. The brand to look for is Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. You can find it in the laundry isle. Again, I couldn't find this at Wal-mart, but I did find it at Smiths. Under $4.

BORAX: Borax is a laundry whitener and deodorizer. The brand to look for is 20 Mule Team. It comes in a 76 oz. box. This is available at Wal-mart in the laundry isle. I didn't look for it at Smith's but I would guess that they carry it. Under $5.

Here is the recipe:
1/3 bar of Fles Naptha or Zote
1/2 cup Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax Powder

-You will need a 5 gallon bucket. You can purchase 5 gallon buckets from bakeries for a dollar or two. Also, you can buy buckets at Lowes for under $3.


Mark soap so you know where the 1/3 mark is. Grate the soap and put it in a saucepan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until soap melts.
Melting the soap:

Add washing soda and the borax and stir until dissolved.
Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Add soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups (22 cups) of water and stir. Let the soap sit for 24 hours and it will gel. You only need 1/2 cup per load.
Finished product (before letting it sit for 24 hours):


-The finished soap will be a watery gel that looks like egg drop soup.
-The soap is low sudsing. So if you don't see suds, it's okay.
-Optional: If you want your soap to have a scent, you can add 1/2 oz of essential oil or fragrance of your chioce. Popular scents to use are orange or lemon essential oil.

This makes 34+ cups of soap. That is 68+ loads of laundy. You have enough Zote to make this two more times, enough borax to make this 18 more times and enough Washing soda to make this 13 more times.

So if you do the math you can do hundreds of loads of laundry for under $10.

Cinnamon Butter

DH and I love love love love love Texas Roadhouse! For those of you who have had the pleasure of dining there, you know that one of the great perks is the rolls and cinnamon butter they give you as you are seated.

I've been looking for their recipes for their rolls and butter. I've tried some and been very disappointed. I've yet to find an accurate recipe for the rolls but I found the cinnamon butter recipe!

It's so easy and SO good!

Cinnamon Butter:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1/2 teaspoon corn syrup
3/4 to 1 tsp cinnamon (to taste)

Place all ingredient in a food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate.

I had rolls from Costco so I heated them up then rubbed butter on the top.

Honey Mustard Curry Chicken

DH and I love curry. Not hot Indian curry, just the plain 'ole curry powder you get in the spice section at the store.
I found this recipe a few months ago and forgot about until now.
We got home late tonight and DH was really hungry. I had some chicken thawed so I decided to make this and cook some rice in the rice cooker.

Honey Mustard Curry Chicken:
1 C. Honey or Corn Syrup
1/2 C. Mustard
2 tsp. Curry Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 Cube melted butter
10-20 chicken pieces (thighs or tenderloins work best)

Directions: Place chicken in a baking pan; mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over the chicken. Cover with foil. You can uncover the last 15 minutes if you want less sauce. Bake 1 hour at 375.
Serve over rice.

I halved the recipe and used 2 chicken breasts, cut up, instead of thighs. I also think that this would be great with tofu but DH can't stand the stuff.

Pesto Chicken Puffs

DH went nuts over this super easy dish. I found it on recipezaar.com

2 sheets half-pound rectangular frozen puff pastry, thawed
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tomatoes, diced
3 Tbsp. prepared basil pesto
3/4 cup grated mozzarella chesse
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350.
Roll out pastry on slightly floured surface.
Cut each sheet in half so you have 2 fat rectangles rather than 2 long skinny rectangles.
Dice chicken into 1/2 inch cubes.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the chicken and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove from the heat.
Add pesto and tomato to chicken and mix.
Spoon equal amounts of chicken mixture onto each pastry, covering half the sheet but leaving space at the edge to seal.
Top chicken mixture with grated mozzarella.
Beat the egg. Brush egg around the inside edge of each pasty then fold the pastry over to seal. Crimp with a fork to reinforce the seal.
Brush the top of the pastry with egg.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pastry in golden.
Serve.