Butterscotch Pudding

My family and I always go out to lunch after church almost every Sunday. Recently, we went to the local California Pizza Kitchen and my sister had ordered their Salted Caramel pudding. It was so rich and decadent and it got me thinking of trying to make a homemade version. I figured that the pudding was nothing more than a butterscotch pudding, so off I went in search of a good butterscotch pudding and it lead me to this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, the Brown Eyed Baker.

If you've ever made caramel before, you know how tricky it can be with watching the temperature of the sugar as you cook it. This recipe is almost the same concept. Its tricky, but its quite simple. Once done, I placed the pudding in individual mini mason jars, topped them with my homemade salted caramel sauce and sprinkled a little Fleur de Sal to top it off. It was just as rich and decadent as the pudding we had at CPK. I think this was sister-approved.

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/4 cup whole milk, divided
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. vanilla extract
caramel sauce to top
Fleur de Sal (optional)

1)  Bring butter, sugars, water, corn syrup, lemon juice, and salt to a boil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally until sugars and butter melt. Continue boiling until temperature reaches 240 deg F using a candy thermometer, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

2)  Immediately lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer with a steady stream of bubbles, stirring frequently until temperature reaches 300 deg F with the candy thermometer, about 12-16 minutes longer. The color should resemble dark peanut butter and has a burn smell.

3) Remove from heat and carefully add 1/4 cup of the heavy cream. Swirl to incorporate (the mixture will bubble and steam). Allow the bubbles to subside then whisk vigorously, scraping down the sides of the pot until mixture is completely smooth, about 30 seconds.

4)  Return pan to medium heat and gradually whisk in the remaining heavy cream until smooth. Whisk in 2 cups of the milk until smooth, making sure to scrape the sides of the pan to remove the remaining bits of caramel.

5) Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of milk in the microwave for 45 seconds (it should be simmering). In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch until smooth. Slowly whisk in  the heated milk into egg mixture until smooth. Set aside.

6)  Increase heat of the pot to medium-high heat and bring to a rapid boil, whisking constantly. Once mixture begins to boil rapidly and beginning to climb to the top of the pan, immediately pour into the yolk mixture in a single motion (do not add gradually). Whisk thoroughly for 10-15 seconds (it will thicken after a few seconds). Pour pudding through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in vanilla extract.

7)  Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent it from forming a film on top. Refrigerate until cold and set, about 3 hours. Whisk until smooth before serving. Top with caramel sauce sprinkled with Fleur de Sal.

Pecan Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

Last year, I was asked if  I made pumpkin cheesecakes. Cheescakes were not really a specialty of mine. And I didn't really eat cheesecakes too often, so I said I didn't. But I promised to try to make it this year. Well, I'm always good on my word, so I made it a mission of mine to look for theee best Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe and I think I've found it from I am Baker. This is her version of the Cheesecake Factory's Pumpkin Cheesecake. However, I decided to switch it up and make a ginger snap and pecan crust, which I think took this recipe over the top.

Baking a cheesecake is pretty tricky. Bake it too long and you'll end up with cracks in the middle of your cheesecake. So I searched for different tricks on how to bake it and I toyed with different baking methods using straight baking and water-bath baking. Although I really liked the texture and appearance of the cheesecake after water-bath baking, I often ended up with a soggy crust due to the water seeping into the springform baking pan. Straight baking made the outer edges of the cheesecake look darker, but they always came out consistent. So its all in your preference. There is also a lot of cooling time for cheesecake. Properly cooling it will help prevent the cracks from forming.

There is a lot of work and effort into baking a cheesecake but there is no doubt that it will be delicious. The caramel sauce totally makes this cheesecake decadent. This definitely made me a pumpkin cheesecake lover. But only MY pumpkin cheesecake. lol. Hubby took one bite and I had him in the palm of my hand. He was definitely proud of this dessert of mine. I had him take some to work and I immediately had some people order for their Thanksgiving celebrations. This will definitely be made frequently in our household.

Crust
32 pieces of ginger snap cookies
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted

1) Finely crush cookies in a food processor. Mix in butter, sugar and chopped pecans.

2) Generously grease a 9-inch springform pan or spray with a non-stick cooking spray. This is important to make sure your cheesecake releases nicely from the pan. Press the cookie mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.

Cheesecake
3 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
prepared whipped cream
caramel sauce

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

2) In an electric stand mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined.

3) Add pumpkin, eggs and pumpkin pie spice and continue beating until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

4) Pour filling into prepared pan.

5) Place in the oven (or place on a roasting pan filled with water and place in the oven). Bake for 50-55 minutes. The center should still be jiggly after baking time.

6) Turn the oven off (and remove from the roasting pan if you are water-bath baking). Allow the cheesecake to cool inside the oven with the oven door slightly ajar. This will cool the oven down and allow the cheesecake to cool slowly, which will help prevent the cheesecake from cracking. This may take a couple of hours.

7) Once the oven has cooled down, remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to completely cool at room temperature.

8) Once the cheesecake has cooled to room temperature, refrigerate overnight. Top with prepared whipped cream and drizzle caramel sauce.

S'mores Pudding Pops

Guess what I found out today was......its S'mores day! Happy S'mores day everyone! I guess they make an occasion out of everything. But what a delicious way to celebrate an occasion. Funny thing is, without knowing what today is, I somehow chose today to experiment on this recipe. Well, its not really a recipe. I just threw stuff together to make a frozen treat out of my older daughter's favorite dessert - S'mores. And it came out yummy. It was such a huge hit with my girls, that I'm almost out of it. Luckily, I managed to wrestle some away from them to take a quick picture for this blog.

prepared boxed or chocolate pudding
crushed graham crackers
mini marshmallows

1) Using popsicle molds or small paper cups, place a small amount of graham cracker crumbs at the bottom of your mold. Place a few marshmallows on top of the graham crackers. Pour or spoon a small amount of pudding on top of the marshmallows. Gently tap the mold to ensure the pudding coats the marshmallows. Doing so will ensure the popsicle will freeze in one piece. Repeat layering.

2) Top the chocolate pudding with some more graham crackers. Place the popsicle stick and freeze overnight.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

There's a new recipe that I'm going to be testing in a while which requires chocolate pudding. Rather than using the boxed pudding mix that the recipe calls for, and being the do-it-yourself er that I am, I decided to modify my original Vanilla pudding recipe and make my own chocolate pudding. There's nothing better than homemade chocolate pudding. You can totally taste the difference between the boxed stuff and homemade. Yum!

3/4 cup sugar

4 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup heavy cream

2 1/2 cups milk

3 egg yolks

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 

1) In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa powder. Whisk in cream, milk and egg yolks. Whisk thoroughly to dissolve the cocoa powder (it may take a while). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes, or until mixture has thickened.

2) Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract. Strain through a sieve to remove any lumps. Place plastic wrap directly on the pudding to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate.

Pioneer Woman's Spaghetti Sauce

Everyone who knows me in real life knows I love anything that's related to spaghetti. In fact, I've made a whole bunch of spaghetti recipes on this blog, some of them sauces, that I like to make large batches of that I freeze as a make-ahead meal. Just freeze the portioned sauce and thaw it in the microwave for a quick, homemade meal. I even like to bottle some of the sauces and give them to my brother and co workers. From Pasta Bolognese, to Tomato Basil Marinara  Sauce, to Spaghetti al Amatriciana. I love all my spaghetti recipes. Despite all the spaghetti recipes I have on here, though, I actually don't have a spaghetti sauce recipe. What a shame. My mother-in-law actually makes a kick a$$ spaghetti sauce, but she hasn't quite given me the recipe for it yet. So I decided to do a search on Pinterest for my own spaghetti sauce recipe and this one from The Pioneer Woman (one of my faves) has come up quite frequently on Pinterest. This sauce is quite comparable to mother-in-law's. It makes a huge batch of meaty goodness. Perfect to freeze as a make-ahead-meal.

5 lbs. ground beef

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 large onions, diced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

1 (14 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 jar of store-bought marinara sauce (I used my marinara sauce)

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

4 bay leaves

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

8 basil leaves, chopped (or more if you like basil)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan, more for garnish

1) In a large pot over medium heat, add ground beef and cook until browned. Remove meat from the pot and set aside. Discard grease and add olive oil. 

2) Once oil is heated, add onions and cook for about a minute. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute or so.

3) Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and marinara sauce. Stir to combine. Then add sugar, salt, oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper (if using), and bay leaves. Stir in cooked ground beef. Cover and allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add water or beef broth if it needs more liquid.

4) After 1 hour, stir in parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve over your favorite pasta or spaghetti. Freeze unused sauce for up to 6 months.

Ree Drummond's Meaty Lasagna

So I lied. I promised to post some of the make-ahead meals I've made last month to stock up for the upcoming arrival of my 2nd baby. Well, let's just say that it got quite busy around the house and I got quite lazy. I returned to work after being put on bed rest for 2 weeks and I've lost all my energy to do anything else. However, I still  managed to make a few dishes that I've stocked up in the freezer, including this new recipe from The Pioneer Woman, which she featured on the Food Network one day.

I've been on a search for a great lasagna recipe for quite some time. I really wanted a hearty and meaty lasagna. With this recipe, I think I found what I'm looking for. The recipe was quite easy to make. I doubled the recipe so that I can make multiple small trays to freeze. I baked one of the frozen trays today and it was just as yummy and comforting as when I originally made it last month. My search for a great lasagna has ended.

1 Tbsp. oil
2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. breakfast sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
10 oz lasagna noodles
1 lb. shredded mozzarella
10-12 fresh basil leaves, cut chiffonade
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten

1) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute ground beef, sausage, and garlic until brown. Drain off the excess fat. Add tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, salt, and black pepper to taste. Stir together well. Simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add half of the fresh basil and half of the chopped parsley. Stir well.

2) Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions until al dente. Drain noodles and lay them flat on aluminum foil to keep its shape.

3) Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

4) In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, and the remaining basil and parsley.

5) To assemble the lasagna, spread about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture on the bottom of a deep, rectangular baking dish. Lay 4 lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping each other. Evenly spread about half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese over the ricotta cheese. Spoon about 1/3 of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese. Repeat process ending with the meat sauce, then topped with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.

6) Bake until hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

** To freeze, tightly seal the assembled, unbaked lasagna with plastic wrap. Cover with foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake in a preheated 375 deg oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Baked Sweet & Spicy Buffalo Wings

I've finally found some more time to start updating this blog. Because, frankly, I have no choice nowadays but to work on the computer. You see, I've been put on a 2-week bed rest, which started yesterday. Doctor's orders. If I want me and this baby to be healthy, I have to follow those orders. So in preparation for these next 2 weeks, I was working my butt off in the kitchen, despite it being difficult, to prepare some more make-ahead meals to feed us while I'm incapacitated. I've already made a few dishes from old recipes on this blog, and found a couple of new recipes that I will feature here in the next couple of weeks. I figured blogging would help with the boredom of being on bed rest.

Anyway, before I blog about the make-ahead meals, I had a strange craving from some sweet and spicy buffalo wings in honor of Super Bowl Sunday the other day. Now, everyone knows I'm not much of a sports person. I'll occasionally follow basketball, sometimes baseball (if one of my nephews are playing). Not so much football. But I love the celebration of food that comes with the Super Bowl.

I was watching a show called Homemade in America with Sunny Anderson on the Food Network about a month ago. They were featuring buffalo wings by "Dirty Steve." He made his original wing sauce and also his Carolina Gold Wing sauce, which I gathered was a little more sweet. I like my buffalo wings to be more on the sweet side, rather than the spicy side. So this recipe caught my attention and figured now would be a perfect time to make some wings. The original recipe makes a huge batch of wing sauce, so I've somewhat cut the recipe to a quarter and modified it to what I had on hand and the result were these yummy, sweet and slightly spicy wings that were so finger-lickin' good. The best part of these wings is that they're baked rather than fried. So its a little lighter than your average buffalo wings. I will definitely be making these again.

24 pieces of chicken wings and drummettes 

salt & pepper to taste

garlic powder

onion powder

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Carolina-style BBQ sauce, or any favorite sweet BBQ sauce

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg F.

2) Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Dredge in the flour. Place chicken pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.

3) While chicken is baking, combine BBQ sauce, butter, hot sauce, brown sugar and black pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.

4) Once chicken is done baking, place in the bowl of sauce and toss to coat. Serve immediately with blue cheese dressing.

Key Lime Pie

Welcome back to me! I know, I know. Where have I been, right? MIA for 2 months and no explanation whatsoever. Shame on me. Well, I have a very good reason as to why I've been gone for so long. First, we just got back from our trip to Hawaii for one of my cousins' wedding. But more importantly, the main reason I haven't been on this blog was because I haven't been able to stand being in the kitchen due to morning sickness. You got it right, folks. Hubby and I are expecting our 2nd child, due in early May. It was a pleasant surprise and hubby, my daughter and I are so excited.

My last blog post was of this recipe for Taiwanese Spaghetti. Then that same Labor Day weekend, we found out that I was expecting. How appropriate that it was "Labor" Day. lol. But since then, I've been hit with the worst case of morning sickness ever. I experienced morning sickness with my daughter 5 years ago that lasted 7 months. But it wasn't as bad as this pregnancy. I'm nauseous all day long. I throw up almost all day long. So many smells trigger my nausea. Especially the kitchen. Which totally kills me. Because we all know how much time I spend in the kitchen. So I haven't been cooking much in these past 2 months and have avoided the kitchen like the plague. Sometimes, I can muster up some energy and cook a real simple dish. Like some sort of Fried Rice. Holding my breath the entire time I'm in the kitchen.

I worry, sometimes, that because I throw up so much, I may not be getting in enough nutrients for the baby. I haven't gained much weight, but I haven't lost weight either. My doctor says that not gaining weight is okay, as long as I don't lose weight. Everyone tells me not to worry because the morning sickness will be gone after my first trimester. That's what everyone told me with my last pregnancy, and it lasted 7 months. They also say every pregnancy is different. I guess only time will tell. I just hope it somehow subsides soon. Because I really miss my kitchen.

I've noticed that the only things I can make in the kitchen are desserts. Because the ingredients don't emit odors like onions and garlic do. Our lime tree has been growing tons of limes and hubby wanted me to start using them up. So I was thinking Key Lime Pie. I've always loved the Key Lime Pie at California Pizza Kitchen, so I did a quick search which lead me to this recipe from the Examiner. The ingredients and recipe was quite simple and the pie tasted tart and sweet. To offset the sweetness, I topped the pie with some homemade whipped cream and it came out really good. A great recipe to break my funk.

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling
4 large egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice (regular or key limes)
2 tsp. lime zest

Topping
1 cup heavy whipping cream
5 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

2) First make the crust: In a large bowl, combine graham cracker crust, sugar and melted butter. Stir until well coated. Press crust onto a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 9-10 minutes, just before crust begins to brown. Allow to cool.

3) For the filling: Beat egg yolks over medium-high speed until they begin to thicken and turn to light yellow, about 5-7 minutes. Stop mixer and add condensed milk. Continue beating over low speed and add lime juice. Slowly add lime zest and continue beating until well incorporated. Pour filling into prepared crust and bake for 11-13 minutes until set. Allow to cool completely before topping with whipped cream.

4) For the topping: With a whisk attachment, beat heavy whipping cream over high speed until soft peaks form. Continue beating at high speed while slowly adding confectioner's sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Top on to prepared pie.

King's Hawaiian Chocolate Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

I've never had bread pudding before. It is one of those so-called comfort foods that never used to appeal to me. I hated mushy bread whenever I ate a sandwich, so why would I eat mushy bread as a dessert? The mere thought of that mushy texture in mouth used to make me cringe. Then I saw a show on the Food Network that was featuring food trucks. This was a time before the food truck craze went rampant. They featured a bread pudding truck that served chocolate bread pudding. And it actually looked really good. But I didn't want to try making it myself for fear that I would only cringe at eating mushy bread and it wouldn't be worth the effort to make.

I recently came across the King's Hawaiian website. I skimmed through the recipes and found their recipe for Chocolate Bread Pudding and it was calling out to me. I figured that maybe I never liked bread pudding because it wasn't prepared right. So I thought maybe I should finally face my fear of this dessert. It was quite simple to make. The bread pudding truck that I saw on the Food Network served their bread pudding with some sort of vanilla sauce. So I paired this with this vanilla sauce from My Recipes and it came out really well. It didn't even seem like mushy bread, but more of a custardy dessert that I really enjoyed. Hubby enjoyed this dessert a little too much because he had 2 servings in one sitting. Word of caution, however: this dessert uses a lot of heavy cream, so it isn't diet friendly. Therefore eat with caution. But enjoy this classic dessert warm.

2 1/2 cups Half & Half
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
6 cups lightly packed cubed King's Hawaiian bread (rolls, loaf or whatever you have)

1) Heat half & half in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble at the edges. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips. Mix until completely melted and incorporated. Cool slightly.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Temper the eggs by slowly whisking in 1 cup of the chocolate mixture until well incorporated. Whisk in the remaining chocolate mixture. Pour custard mixture over cubed bread and slowly stir until bread is well coated. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3) Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Lightly apply a non-stick spray on a 8x8 baking dish, or six 6-oz custard cups.

4) Place cups or baking dish on a baking sheet. Spoon soaked bread. Bake for 45-50 minutes for the baking dish, or 35-40 minute for the baking cups, until knife inserted in center comes out nearly clean.
Serve warm with chocolate or vanilla sauce.

Vanilla sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1) In a saucepan, whisk together sugars, flour, nutmeg, egg and cream until well incorporated. Add butter and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened, about 10-12 minutes.

2) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Corn Dogs

The kind of hot dog I used to eat when I was a kid was of the frozen variety that my parents would buy from Costco. I always thought that a corn dog was a corn dog, so there weren't any variations to it. As I got older, I began noticing that there were quite a few different varieties. There's the honey corn dog which uses a chicken type of hot dog with honey in the batter. There's corn dog made of beef franks. There's even vegetarian corn dogs. Go figure. I've learned that I tend to like the ones made out of beef franks. And then I came to learn of freshly made corn dogs at Disneyland and I became a corn dog connoisseur.

Because I've mostly known corn dogs of the frozen variety, I never really considered making it from scratch. Until I came across this recipe at Shine from Yahoo. I decided to give it a try. With so much anticipation, I was a little disappointed with the way it turned out. I may have done something wrong with the deep-frying or my technique may have been off, but the dough on the corn dog was thin and therefore the whole thing turned out pretty greasy. The flavor was dead on, but I didn't really like eating a stick of oil. I may have to tweak it a bit more, but I'm going to keep this recipe.

8 hot dogs
Popsicle sticks or wooden chopsticks
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. all purpose flour, divided
8 cups vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk, well shaken

1) Grill hot dogs over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked. Cool slightly. Insert wooden stick into hot dogs. Place 3 tablespoon in a plate. Roll hot dogs in the flour and shake off excess flour. Set aside.

2) In a deep, heavy pot, place about 3 inches of oil and heat to 350 deg F over medium-high heat.

3) In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in buttermilk until well incorporated.

4) Transfer some of the batter into a tall glass, filling almost to the top. Dip hot dogs, one at a time into glass with batter to coat. Deep fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Drain on a paper towel. Return oil to 350 deg F and continue cooking the rest of the hot dogs and refill glass with batter between batches.

Waffles

During the weekday, our meal at breakfast is often not spent together. My breakfast usually consist of either some sort of cereal or oatmeal that I often just eat on the desk in my office. I leave the house earlier than hubby because I drop the little munchkin off at my parents, who in turn feed her breakfast before they drop her off at school. Because weekday mornings are always so rushed, weekend breakfast is usually something special that I like to make so we can sit down and eat together as a family and enjoy a nice, slow day off.

The only other time I've ever made waffles was when I made these Carrot Cake Waffles. My daughter likes to eat things plain with no surprises like shredded carrots in her waffles. So she wants her waffles plain. So I did a search among the blogs I frequently visit and found these awesome waffles from Annie's Eats. Known as Waffles of Insane Greatness (or WIG), this recipe has apparently travelled all over the blogosphere for its awesome goodness. And I can definitely attest to its awesomeness. And so can the little munchkin, who ate all of hers up. She said I make the best waffles ♥

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together milk, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla extract. Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until incorporated and a few lumps remain. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

3) Preheat waffle iron. Fill waffle wells and cook according to manufacturer's instructions. Cook until crisp and golden. Serve immediately.

Copycat Disney French Toast

I've been on a hiatus the past week or so because I went back on my Fat Flush Diet, which lasted a week. So there obviously hasn't been any cooking or baking. If you followed me in 2010, the Fat Flush Diet consist of no salt, no sugar, no flavor! But it cleanses your body of toxins. This time around, however, it was easier to plan for our meals. All I did was grill/pan sear a lot of fish. Because fish tended to have natural flavoring in it. That diet was so hard, but so worth it. I lost about 5 pounds, where 2-3 pounds were probably water retention. So I'm sure I'll get that back once I get my body back to consuming the salt. So, I probably lost a solid 2-3 pounds. A good weight to kick start a diet. I had been calorie counting for about a month or so and I just couldn't shed any weight. So this will help me continue with the calorie counting.

To celebrate the newer me, I wanted to finally make a good breakfast for us today. During this week-long diet, all I did was look for new recipes. I saved up so many, so I'm going to be consistently making new recipes in the next month or so. One of those is a copycat recipe for
Disney's French Toast that I found on food. com. I first had this yummy breakfast a few years ago when my brother-in-law and his family invited us to stay with them during a trip to Disneyland. They brought us along for breakfast at one of their character breakfast. I had some of their french toast and its all I look for when we have breakfast at Disneyland. I'm so glad to have found this recipe because it was delicious. You don't even need to use any syrup because its already sweetened with cinnamon sugar. Hubby and my daughter were thoroughly pleased with this supped up classic breakfast. I modified the recipe and used regular sandwich bread and cut the recipe in half. But you can use Texas loaf as the recipe calls for if you would like larger french toast.

8 slices white or wheat bread
1 egg
1 1/4 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
oil for frying

Cinnamon Sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp. sugar

1) In a large bowl, whisk all the batter ingredients together, except the bread, until thoroughly combined and smooth.

2) In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

3) Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet or griddle. Dip bread in batter and fry on both sides until golden brown.

4) Pat french toast on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Coat in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and serve warm.

Sno-Ball Cake

Happy birthday my wonderful hubby!

Since my birthday, I had been picking my brain trying to figure out what kind of cake I could make for his birthday. Hubby recently informed me that when he was a kid, the only kind of cake he would get (or even ask for) for his birthday was a Hostess Sno-Ball. You know those bright pink marshmallow, chocolate cake treats? Now, I've had my fair share of Sno-Balls during my youth. However, I found it a little strange to be celebrating with a store-bought, vacuum-packed little snack treat.

Then, I had a crazy idea. A while ago, I made some homemade Hostess Cupcakes, right? Why not make homemade Sno-Balls??? Hubby would totally love that! And since its his birthday, I decided to make it into a cake. I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe and the marshmallow fluff from my recent Fluffernutter Cupcakes and assemble to look like a Hostess Sno-Ball. I had some leftover batter, so I used it to make cupcakes/individual versions as well.  And the result was a yummy, moist chocolaty, marshmallow-y treat reminiscent of our youth. Hubby took his first bite and he immediately said it brought him back to the 1st grade.

1 recipe for chocolate cake
prepared marshmallow fluff
shredded coconut
red food color

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour an oven-safe bowl of desired size. Set aside.

2) Prepare cake according to directions. Pour batter into prepared bowl about three-quarters full. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the cake is set and toothpick test comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the bowl for about 10 minutes. Remove cake from bowl and invert on a cooling rack to cool completely.

3) Using a serrated knife or cake leveler, carefully slice a thin layer off the flat side of the cake. Set aside. Create a large hole by hollowing out the center of the flat side of the remaining cake. Fill the hole with a good amount of marshmallow fluff. Replace the thin layer of cake back on the cake.

4) Invert the cake on a platter, flat side down. Cover the rounded part of the cake with globs of marshmallow fluff and smooth out.

5) Place a good amount of shredded coconut and a few drops of food color in a food processor. Pulse the processor until the color of the coconut has turned bright pink and you've reached the desired consistency of the coconut. Press pink coconut on top and all over the surface of the frosted cake. Serve.

Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Do y'all know what today means? Its a reason to celebrate and bake cupcakes. Yup, its my thirty-something birthday. And every year when my birthday comes around (or any one's birthday, for that matter), I always like to bake something. Especially a cake or cupcakes. This year, I actually wanted to try out two new cupcake recipes.

Have you ever had a fluffernutter sandwich? If not, you are totally missing out. I have to admit that I didn't learn of this kid favorite until I became an adult. Its a simple sandwich of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Simple, but oh so yummy. I came across this recipe for Fluffernutter Cupcakes from the Novice Chef a while ago that I had saved up for a special day. And today is as special as it gets, dontcha think?

The cupcake is a dense peanut-buttery goodness, paired with a light and airy marshmallow frosting that any peanut butter lover would enjoy. So as I celebrate my thirty-something birthday today surrounded by those I love most, why not have yourself a Fluffernutter Cupcake to celebrate with me :) And tomorrow, I shall continue with my cupcake celebration with another recipe.

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups milk
Chocolate Hazelnut spread for the filling

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.

2)  In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat together brown sugar, oil, and peanut butter over medium speed until light and fluffy.   Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla extract.

3) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add dry mixture into batter, alternating with the milk. Scoop batter into prepared liners about three-quarters full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick test comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes before cooling completely in a cooling rack.

4) Make a cone-shaped hole on the top of each cupcake. Pipe in chocolate hazelnut spread in the hole. Set aside.

Marshmallow Frosting
8 large egg whites
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a bowl set over a saucepan with simmering water (double boiler). Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and the egg white mixture is warm to the touch, about 3-4 minutes.

2) Transfer egg white mixture in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on low speed, and then gradually increasing to high speed until stiff, glossy peaks forms, about 5-7 minutes. Add vanilla extract and continue beating until well incorporated. Immediately frost prepared cupcakes.

Ham Sandwich Casserole

I recently discovered that King's Hawaiian had a website full of recipes using their beloved sweet rolls. As I searched through all the yummy recipes, I found this interesting casserole for Mini Baked Ham Sandwiches. It was so easy and so tasty. Its an alternative recipe for a plain 'ol ham and cheese sandwich. I'm definitely going back to website for more tasty recipes.

1 (12 pack) King's Hawaiian Original Rolls
1 lb. deli ham, shaved
1 lb. Swiss cheese, sliced
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. prepared mustard (preferably Dijon)
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. dried minced onion (or onion powder)
poppy seed for garnish

1) In a small saucepan, melt butter. Mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and onion. Set aside.

2) Slice entire pack of rolls horizontally in half, keeping all the rolls in tact. Place bottom half of rolls (cut side up) in a 9x13 inch pan. Arrange deli ham and cheese on top of rolls. Cover with the top half of the rolls.

3) Drizzle butter mixture on top of rolls. Refrigerate overnight.

4) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Bake casserole for 15-20 minutes. Separate rolls and serve.

Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding

The reason I made Homemade Vanilla Pudding the other day was because I wanted to use it on this banana pudding recipe I found from the Food Network from Paula Deen that I've bookmarked for a long time. I've never really had banana pudding until about a few months ago when I decided to pick some up at one of the cupcake shops at the mall. One taste of the banana pudding and I was hooked. I had one of my co workers have a taste of it and he asked me if I was sure I wasn't from the South, because I always had Southern desserts for him to try out. I'm not from the South but I am a huge fan of Southern food (do Red Velvet Cupcakes come to mind?). So whenever I see banana pudding on a menu at a restaurant, I always wanted to give it a try. Honestly, I always thought that banana pudding was just a pudding with banana flavoring. Boy was I wrong!

This recipe was pretty easy, if you take the labor out of making vanilla pudding from scratch. You could definitely use a boxed mix as the original recipe calls for. But you know me and making it from scratch. And I definitely think making it from scratch makes a big difference. The original recipe makes a huge 9x13 dessert, but you can easily cut the recipe in half if you don't want to make too much of it. You can also use any type of shortbread cookie, like Lorna Doone, because the Chessmen cookies can be pretty expensive. The end result is this creamy and comforting dessert. The dessert is even better the next day because it gives the cookies a chance to soften from the vanilla pudding. I can't stop eating it!

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies (or any shortbread cookies)
6-8 bananas, sliced
2 cups prepared vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping

1) Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan with a layer of cookies. Top the cookies with sliced bananas. Set aside.

2) In a bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and condensed milk and mix until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping. Stir in prepared vanilla pudding until well incorporated.

3) Pour mixture over cookies and bananas. Arrange the remaining cookies on top of the creamed mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Homemade Vanilla Pudding

There is a dessert that I've bookmarked for a long time that I've been dying to try out. It consists of boxed vanilla pudding. But ya'll know me and making things from scratch. So I decided to find a good recipe for a homemade vanilla pudding to use for that recipe and found this one from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

This is so easy to make. And I've seen homemade gift ideas using ingredients for vanilla pudding that I'm now considering giving away as Christmas gifts this year. Because this was really delicious and so comforting that everyone should really try. You can serve this warm or cold. Eat it plain or topped with your favorite fruit. I ate mine with fresh blueberries and it was such a refreshing dessert. I can't wait to add this to my next dessert......to be continued.......

3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla pod)

1) In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, salt and cornstarch. Whisk in cream, milk and egg yolks. (If using a vanilla pod, split in half and scrape off all the seeds. Place seeds and the pod in mixture). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes, or until mixture has thickened.

2) Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla extract (if not using vanilla pod). Whisk until butter is melted. Strain through a sieve to remove any lumps. Serve warm or cold. For storage, place plastic wrap directly on the pudding to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate.

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

I was watching The Best Thing I ever made on the Food Network a few days ago and Adam Gertler made a Reuben Dog. Oh-Em-Gee did it look good. Unfortunately, making the hot dog looked pretty complicated. But I so wanted to eat something like that. It consisted of a pastrami flavored hot dog, topped with Gruyere cheese, thousand island dressing, and coleslaw. Doesn't that sound yummy?

For dinner the other day, I wanted to somehow recreate that yummy dog. So I picked up a few links of Bratwursts and Gruyere cheese at a local German deli, made my own coleslaw, and then decided to make Thousand Island Dressing from scratch modifying this recipe from cooks.com. Man-oh-man. I'm not sure what Adam's Reuben Dog tasted like, but this is one of the best dogs I've ever had. So delish! The thousand island dressing really tied everything together. yummy!

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 sweet pickle relish
1 hard boiled egg

1) In a medium bowl, add mayonnaise, ketchup and relish. Grate hard boiled egg through a sieve over the the mixture. Stir until well combined. Chill before use.

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars

This recipe came up on my Facebook feed from Betty Crocker. My daughter had been wanting to bake with some mini marshmallows we bought at the grocery store. I first wanted to incorporate them into brownies and make S'mores brownies. But when this recipe for S'mores bars appeared, I thought to make this first.

This recipe could not be any easier. The ingredients and assembly is real simple. The result is this warm, gooey, and messy treat. I should warn you that you should cool the pan for at least 30 minutes for the chocolate to firm up a little bit for a cleaner and easier way to cut into bars. Otherwise you'll end up with a gooey mess. But hey, isn't s'mores supposed to be messy?

1 pouch sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter, melted
3 cups chocolate chips
4 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F.

2) In a large bowl, combine cookie mix and graham cracker crumbs. Stir in melted butter until fully incorporated and dough forms. Press dough on a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until set.

3) Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top of crust. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.

4) Set oven to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly on top of melted chocolate. Broil for 20-30 seconds  until marshmallows are toasted (Watch closely. Marshmallows will brown quickly). Cool for 10-30 minutes for the chocolate and marshmallow to firm a bit. Then cut into bars. Serve warm. Store remaining bars in an airtight container.

Snickerdoodle

"I'm Debbie Dooley. How ya doooen?"

If you're like me and my daughter, you'll know that that line came from the Disney show,  Good Luck Charlie.  My daughter will even recite that whole scene to a T for you. That line came out of an episode where the mom, Amy Duncan, was imitating her neighbor, Debbie Dooley, while making Snickerdoodles. My daughter and I (and secretly, so does hubby) love that show. But I don't think I've ever had a snickerdoodle before.

On our way home from a trip to Palm Springs this weekend, my daughter asked if we could bake cookies. First she asked for Chocolate Chip Cookies, then she asked for sugar cookies. But I kind of wanted to try out a new cookie recipe. So I agreed with sugar cookies. With a twist. Why not make a Snickerdoodle like Debbie Dooley did?

A quick search to my go-to blogs lead me to this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. Snickerdoodle is a supped-up version of a sugar cookie with a cinnamon flavor. And it is delicious, especially right out of the oven. Its also a great cookie to use for ice cream sandwiches. Soft and chewy, just the way I like my cookies. Mmmmmm!!!!

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. sugar

1) Line baking sheets with parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3) Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add in the flour mixture, beating on low speed just until the flour is blended. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

4) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.

5) Using a small ice cream/cookie scoop, scoop chilled dough and roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture to coat. Place on cookie sheet, spacing the dough balls about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. (Chill cookie dough and baking sheets between batches). Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer on a cooling rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.