Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Here is a quick cupcake post that was fun to make and fun to eat.  Your kids, big and small (and the adult ones too) will have a hard time resisting these cream-filled cupcakes.  Actually, my husband couldn't keep his hands off them.  I found out (by the open container) that he had one at 9:00am this morning.  He tried to blame it on one of my daughters but he was caught and he had to confess. 

These treats were made from a boxed mix of devil's food cake and containers of whipped fluffy white frosting.  Even though I do like to bake from scratch, I have no problem using boxed mixes from time to time.  And as much as my family loved these cupcakes, they don't mind either. 

I found this recipe on the recipe site, Tablespoon.com.

Click here for the Dreamy Cream-Filled Cupcakes recipe.  

I filled the cupcake centers with frosting by using the round end of a wooden spoon and inserting halfway into the cupcakes to make a hole.  My daughter, Marissa, poked the holes for me.  I then put the frosting in a storage bag, clipped the corner and while holding the bag, I put the corner into the holes and squeezed the frosting into the cupcakes until the frosting came out of the hole.  You'll be frosting over this part so don't worry how it looks at this point.  Frost the tops and sprinkle with mini-chocolate chips. 

The taste reminds me of Ho Ho's and Swiss Rolls.  They would be perfect for a birthday party or bake sale.  Or a perfect way to end your day or in my husband's case, start your day!       

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  I did use cupcake liners when making the cupcakes.  There's no worry about sticking and who doesn't like peeling off the cupcake liner before taking a big bite.

Lemon Chicken

This lemon chicken is very, very, very, very good!  It was a huge hit with the entire family and I can't always say that with every meal.  The chicken roasted perfectly, was very moist and had a great lemon flavor.  I used a whole chicken with cut up pieces because we like the white and dark meat.  But use your favorite chicken pieces.  This lemon chicken was seriously so good and I will be making this over and over again.

I found this recipe on the blog, Simply Recipes.  

Click here for the Lemon Chicken recipe. 

Note:  The only change I made was to double the marinade.  I used half to marinate the chicken and put aside the other half for basting the chicken.  I felt there was not enough marinade to cover the chicken and baste so I doubled it and it was enough to do both.  

I paired the lemon chicken with Charred Vegetable Rice.  It made for happy plates and happy faces.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  This chicken marinates for 2 hours.  Even though it's an easy meal to prepare, make sure you leave time for the chicken to marinate because that's what gives it the wonderful lemon flavor you want in lemon chicken.

Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake

If you are watching your diet or your amount of sweets, you may not want to continue on this page.  But I hope you stay.  Why?  Beacause I want to share this fantastic cheesecake with you.  A little piece won't hurt.  (I promise) 

I made this cheesecake for Easter Sunday.  I have only made a few cheesecakes in my lifetime.  I love cheesecake and they are really easy to make.  I don't know why I haven't made more.  It's probably a good thing because as we all know cheesecake is on the fattening side.  But I did use reduced fat cream cheese and reduced fat whipped topping.  Cut calories and fat where you can.  

I have to say I was impressed with myself.  The cheesecake came out perfectly.  The crust is a vanilla wafer crust, then you have the cream cheese filling and then you have a cream cheese/whipped cream layer for the topping.  We were enjoying this cheesecake all week.  

Cheescakes always look like a special dessert.  This would be perfect for Mother's Day or if you had friends over for dinner.  Come up with a special occasion to make this dessert.  Oh heck, who needs a special occasion, just do it.  It will make you and those eating it very happy!

Click here for the Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake on Kraftrecipes.com

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  If you want to make cheesecakes, you have to have a Springform pan.  They are easily found in any major retailer like Walmart and Target.  I bought a 3 piece Wilton set similar to this one at Walmart years ago and they work just fine.  Also, cheesecakes use several packages of cream cheese.  My grocery store often has cream cheese on sale 5 for $5.00.  That's when I stock up.  So, with the right pan and your main ingredient (cream cheese) on hand, there's no excuse and you'll be ready to make a homemade cheesecake.

Sherried Pineapple Pork Tenderloin - 5 Ingredients or Less from Cooking Light

I have been so busy lately.  Between my girls school and sports activities, my part-time job, keeping up with household chores, spring cleaning and errands, it leaves little time for anything else.  Also, I can't forget about one of my favorite things to do.....cook and bake.  That takes time too!  Are you as busy as I am?  I know you are. 

Well, maybe this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club can help you.  Our menu is based on the theme, 5 Ingredients or Less.  I'm all about quick and easy meals, especially during the week when there are so many things going on.  You can make great tasting food with a few ingredients.

My selection was the main dish which was Sherried Pineapple Pork Tenderloin.  It was very flavorful and simple to prepare.  We ended up grilling our pork loin and making the sauce in a saucepan on the stove.

Click here for the Pork Loin recipe on Myrecipes.com.

I also made a grilled pineapple salsa to go with the pork.  This was in the March 2010 Cooking Light Magazine.  It was with another recipe for pork chops and I thought it would go perfectly with my Sherried Pineapple Pork Tenderloin.  The salsa was excellent and it was only 4 ingredients.  It would go so well with other dishes like chicken, fish or shrimp.

Click here for the Grilled Pineapple Salsa recipe on Myrecipes.com. 
Note:  just follow the directions for the pineapple salsa and remove the directions for the pork chops

What did all the other busy ladies in the Supper Club bring?  Here's the rest of the menu with links to their recipes and photos.

Shelby from The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch - Chili Lime Shrimp

Aggie from Aggie's Kitchen - Spinach with Chili Oil

Jamie (me) from Mom's Cooking Club - Sherried Pinapple Pork Tenderloin

Val from More Than Burnt Toast - Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

Helene from La Cuisine d'Helene - could not join us this month

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  If you are looking for more 5-ingredient recipes, check out the Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Cookbook.  It has 250 5-ingredient recipes to help you get a meal together fast for those busy times or anytime.     

Blueberry-Almond Granola featuring Beveri Flaxseed

One of my goals for 2010 was to try new ingredients that I have never had or cooked with before.  Flaxseed is one of those ingredients.  So, when I was contacted by Deirdre from beveri to sample their flaxseed products, I was excited for the opportunity.  The company is also offering my readers a sample of their beveri Organic Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled variety.  See the widget on my left sidebar to request your sample.

Here is a very good article on the WebMD website about the benefits of flaxseed. 

For my first recipe using flaxseed, I chose to make a Blueberry-Almond granola.  I added 1 tablespoon of the Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled with Blueberries to the oats and almond mixture before baking in the oven.  I am hooked on granola baked from scratch.  It was so easy and it tasted so good.  I put the granola in my vanilla yogurt, my husband added it to his cereal and one of my daughters liked taking it to school for lunch and a snack.  It made it even more special knowing that we were getting the added benefit of flaxseed.

I found the granola recipe in the Eveyday Food magazine.  Click here for a printable version of the recipe.  Remember to add 1-2 tablespoons of flaxseed to the granola before baking.  You can also change it up by adding different dried fruits like dried cranberries, cherries or raisins.      

beveri Flaxseed comes in a variety of combinations such as: 

Organic Golden Flaxseed Whole

 Organic Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled

 Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled with Cranberries  

Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled with Blueberries

Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled with Mixed Berries 

Photo courtesy of beveri Flaxseed website:
http://www.beverinutrition.com/

Here are some great tips on the beveri website for easy ways to add Flaxseed to your food and daily life.

Store your beveri Organic Golden Flaxseed next to the granola, cereal, or oatmeal in your cupboard to remind you to sprinkle a tablespoon (or 2 tbsp if you prefer to get an efficacious dose in one serving) on it in the mornings.

You can use beveri Organic Golden Flaxseed to replace eggs in recipes. Combine 1 tbsp of beveri Organic Golden Fine Milled Flaxseed with 3 tbsp of water to replace 1 egg in a recipe. 

Stir 1 tbsp of beveri Organic Golden Fine Milled Flaxseed into a yogurt for a tasty, filling mid-afternoon snack.

Mix 2 tbsp of beveri Organic Golden Flaxseed into low fat cottage cheese and spread on crackers for quick filling lunchtime snack.

Make salads more interesting (and filling) by sprinkling a mixture of 1 tbsp of beveri Organic Golden Fine Milled Flaxseed and 1 tbsp of beveri Organic Whole Golden Flaxseed on top, to give a geat “nutty” flavor.

Kids love cookies! Add 2 tbsp of beveri Organic Golden Fine Milled Flaxseed to the cookie dough and sprinkle some beveri Organic Golden Whole Flaxseed on top of cookies before baking to add some extra crunch!

Disclosure:  I was sent a bag of each flaxseed listed above courtesy of beveri Flaxseed.  They are also offering a free sample of their Organic Golden Flaxseed Fine Milled to my readers. (see widget on left hand sidebar) 

Homemade granola - Crunchy & Toasted

Once slightly cooled, mix in dried blueberries

Store in plastic container.  Ready to munch on any time of day.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  I will be sharing other recipes in the near future using beveri Flaxseed as I continue to add flaxseed to our diets.  Thank you very much beveri!     

Baby Mixed Greens with Pear, Pecans and Feta

Fruit in salad.  What an awesome thing!  I'm always trying to find new ways to make salad and change it up for my family.  The same salad would get boring.  And who wants to eat boring food.  Well, this salad is exciting!  The honey and orange juice in the dressing go pefectly with the pears, the pecans, the feta, the dried cranberries and the mixed greens.

I found this recipe in the 2009 Costco Wholesale Club cookbook.  I don't have a Costco where I live (wish I did) and my sister Paula gets this free cookbook for me every year during the Christmas holiday season.  I'm making this salad again this weekend.  It's great all year round but perfect for the Spring season right now.

Baby Mixed Greens with Pear, Pecans and Feta

Recipe by Kingsburg Orchards in the 2009 Costco Cookbook

(printable recipe)

4 servings

Ingredients

For the Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons orange juice

3 tablespoons finely copped pecans

2 tablespoons honey

salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the Salad:

6 cups baby mixed greens (I used baby romaine but use any of your favorite lettuce)

1 apple pear, halved, cored and sliced into thin wedges (I used a Bartlett pear)

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries

1/3 cup feta cheese

Preparation

To prepare the dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, orange juice, pecans, honey, salt and pepper to taste in a salad bowl.  Mix well until blended. 

Add greens and toss to coat with the dressing.  (if you don't want to dress your entire salad, make the dressing in a small bowl and drizzle over each individual salad plate)

Divide the salad on individual plates.  Top with the pear slices.  Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries and feta.

          

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  To increase your daily serving of fruits and vegetables, try adding fruit to your salad.  It tastes wonderful, it's healthy and a different way for your family to eat fruit.  Now, that's an awesome thing!

Happy Easter, Passover and Spring everyone!