Oreo Cupcakes

I have been wanting to make these Oreo cupcakes for awhile, and finally got around to it. They were a little time consuming to make, but they're so yummy!



For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I quarter them)

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish:
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves(I didn't use these, just sprinkled the crushed Oreos over top)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla extract. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.
Source: Annie's Eats



Oh, and here is my little kitchen fail for the day...I accidentally had the mixer on high when I added the powdered sugar to the frosting. This is the mess that resulted:



Oops!

You Need This!

If you have a KitchenAid, that is. I got the BeaterBlade as a Birthday present and tried it out today. It looks like this:



It does exactly what it says it will! I was making a cake mix, and did not have to stop my mixer to scrape the bowl at all! I'm seriously excited about it because that was the one thing I hated doing when using my stand mixer. If you have any doubts, I switched my camera to video mode and caught a few seconds of it in action.

Sizzlin' Chicken Tacos

Seriously, I don't know what is up with all the mexican food lately. Anyway, these tacos were actually a recipe I saw in a Betty Crocker calendar I got in the mail. These are some pretty tasty tacos, and super easy to throw together!




Sizzlin' Chicken Tacos

2 cups cooked chicken strips
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 Old El Paso® Stand 'N Stuff™ taco shells (from 4.7-oz box)
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 cup barbecue baked beans (from 16-oz can)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz)
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

1.Heat oven to 400°F. In small bowl, toss chicken strips with cumin and paprika to coat. In 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish, stand taco shells side by side.
2.Fill each shell evenly with seasoned chicken. Divide pepper strips evenly over chicken. Top each with 1/4 cup baked beans and 1/4 cup cheese. Sprinkle with bacon.
3.Bake 8 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted. If desired, garnish with grape tomatoes

Source: Betty Crocker

Mexican Casserole

Obviously, I have a thing for Mexican food lately! I made this casserole for dinner tonight and it was a big hit. The only thing I did differently was that I didn't know what ranch style beans were, so I used re-fried beans. It actually turned out awesome and I personally will continue to make it that way in the future.



Source: Sing For Your Supper

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 10-12 ounce bag tortilla chips, crushed
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 package taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water
sour cream and salsa for serving

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and drain off fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, onion, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through.

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly.
Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and salsa.

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Friday was my Birthday and we celebrated by going out to dinner. He also got me these beauatiful flowers.





Pretty sweet, huh?

Progress!

We got the Wii Fit Plus just about a week ago. It motivated me to do the daily weigh in and try to stay on track. I checked in 6 of the 7 days, and did anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half of Wii Fit. I also hit the treadmill 1 of the 7 days. I think my goal for next week is going to be the treadmill at least 4 days and continue at least 30-45 minutes of Wii Fit each day.

Here is a screen shot of the BMI graph for Justin and I, for the past week(doesn't show our BMI's, just our progress).




I lost a total of 5 lbs! Excited to see what next week brings. :)

Chicken Enchiladas

We had these for dinner last night, and they were awesome! I was a little worried they would come out tasting too ranchy, but I probably wouldn't have guessed that was what was in them if I didn't know. I actually liked that they weren't soaked in enchilada sauce like the other recipe I use.



Chicken Enchiladas
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 cup Ranch salad dressing
Flour tortillas
Salsa to taste
Shredded cheese(I used a mixture of fiesta blend and sharp cheddar because it is what I had)

Cook chicken breasts(I tossed mine in the oven, but cook any way you want) and shred chicken after it has cooled a bit.

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix half of the ranch and sour cream. In a smaller bowl, mix the other half of the ranch and sour cream. Add the shredded chicken to the large bowl and mix well. Spread about a tablespoon of the plain mixture over the tortilla to cover evenly. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla, and then as much salsa and cheese as you would like. Roll up tortilla, and place seam side down in prepared baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes. I made 8 large enchiladas but the recipe says you should be able to make 10-15.

I also sprinkled a little salsa and cheese on top before I baked them because we prefer it that way.

Source: Annie's Eats