Recipe to Reality: Chocolate Chip Muffins for Sandy

Happy Saturday sweethearts! Today I'm here to share some delicious chocolate chip muffins from mybakingaddiction.com that I made this morning!

If you have been watching the news lately, you will know that the storm of the century is on it's way.....and some of it's most powerful winds and rains will be hitting in our area. I decided to make these muffins as a peace offering for Sandy, hehe.  I don't think that these will disappoint-they are light, sweet, chocolatey, and the perfect golden color.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, melted and COOLED (preferably unsalted, but I used salted and there wasn't an overpowering salty taste)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and either line or grease a 12-muffin pan.
2) Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.
3) Whisk the butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. 
4) Create a well, or hole in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Stir just to combine.
5) Fold in your chocolate chips.
6) Transfer the batter into the muffin liners, and bake for 17-20 minutes. 
7) Take your muffins out of the oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Notice how "cooled" is in all caps in the ingredients list above-at first, I didn't let the melted butter cool off enough before mixing it with the eggs, milk, and vanilla, and ended up with a lumpy, curdled mess. ): Even the second time I put the wet ingredients together, I ended up with some lumps in the mixture, and I let my butter cool off for at least 7 minutes! 2 of those in the fridge! So, I have no idea what that was all about. However, the muffins ended up coming out great after 18 minutes baking in the oven. All bumps in the road aside, the muffins were easy and definitely a recipe I'd create again!

Stay Sweet and safe,


                                                                Candee

Recipe to Reality: Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Happy Friday Sweethearts! Today I'm going to share a recipe I found through BethanysLife on YouTube, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate! This was inspired by Starbucks' annual line of fall drinks, salted caramel mochas, hot chocolates, etc. Ever since my aunt recommended the drink to me last winter, it has been my favorite thing to get at Starbucks(when I'm there....which is about every three months or so). I love the mingling flavors of salty and sweet, and since those two flavors are the foundation of many of our posts on Savory and Sweethearts, I thought this Recipe to Reality would be more than appropriate.

First, start off by making your hot chocolate. You can get fancy and break out your saucepan and make it yourself, or just use a mix like I did. On a side note, I'll take this opportunity to share my fool-proof hot chocolate combination:
1. Hot Chocolate mix-two tablespoons should do the trick, or follow the directions on your packet
2. Add milk, and some vanilla coffee creamer- I think this brings out the chocolate flavor a little more, similar to how you put vanilla extract in chocolate cookies.

Okay, back to the recipe! Add your whipped cream....it takes practice to get it looking "professional", but jut try holding the can at an angle on its side and bringing it around the mug. Next, drizzle your carmel sauce artistically, and sprinkle with some granulated sugar.
Now you've reached the most important part-your sea salt. All I have to say is-tread lightly. A little goes a long way since sea salt packs quite a punch. Make sure that you are strategically placing the topping in various places on the whipped cream, in an effort to avoid getting an overwhelming amount of salt
in one sip.

And you're done! This takes almost no time to make, and once you've made it twice you won't even need to refer to the recipe! Although I admit it tastes very little like the Starbucks version, it is still an amazing fall/winter drink that I highly recommend you try!

Stay sweet, and happy fall!

Recipe to Reality: Hearty Meatball Stew

There's nothing I love more than fall for a number of reasons.

1) Cooler weather! This means I can start pulling out my sweaters, scarves, and leggings!

2) Pumpkin everything! Need I say more?

3) Soups and Stews galore!

Although my husband is not the biggest soup/stew fan, I find it very comforting to make one pot meals that taste great the day of and even better the day after.

This week I decided to make Giada DeLaurentiis' Hearty Meatball Stew, which I have made once before, but this time I made my own meatballs from scratch for the first time and they came out delicious!

Here's What You'll Need! (Adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis' Hearty Meatball Stew)

For Meatballs:

• 1 slice of potato bread, torn into pieces
• 1 lb ground meatloaf mix (beef, pork, & veal)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs. chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

For Stew:

• 1 tbs. flour
• 4 tbs. olive oil
• 1 small red onion sliced, about 1 cup
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasonings
• 2 small red potatoes, cut into pieces
• 1 cup frozen green beans, cut into 1-inch long pieces
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (I used the one with garlic, basil, and oregano)
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine

Put it All Together!

1) Put the torn bread and 3 tbs. of the water into a big bowl and use a spoon to mash the bread to a thick paste. Add your ground meat, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, and use your hands to thoroughly combine ingredients. Form the meat mixture into about 14-16 meatballs and store on tin foil until ready to use them.

2) Sprinkle the meatballs with flour, and roll them around to try and coat as much as possible.

3) Heat a medium-sized pot over medium heat for one minute. Then add 2 tbs. of olive oil to your pot.

4) Drop the meatballs into the pot trying to space them a little bit apart.Cook for two minutes until the bottoms and browned, and then rotate the meatballs cooking for another 2 minutes. Continue until all sides are browned and you can't see any more pink. Then remove meatballs from pot and reserve on a plate.

5) Heat another 2 tbs. in the pot and add the onions, peppers, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. Cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Deglaze with white wine. 

6) Then add potatoes, beans, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and chicken broth. Return meatballs to the stew and bring the stew up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until meatballs are cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. 

I decided to serve my stew in a sourdough bread bowl from Panera instead of over rice, but feel free to be creative with your serving style!

A perfect dish for the incoming autumn weather!

Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Chicken Cacciatore

Did you know that the word "cacciatore" means "hunter" in Italian?

I didn't! 

Let's just say I embraced my hunting instincts and cooked up some boneless skinless chicken thighs for the first time this past weekend!

Let's add on-the-bone chicken to the list of foods I don't eat...so I was up to trying the boneless thighs, but wasn't used to so much cleaning! They have much more fat than the breasts.

This is a classic dish my grandma used to make, but I didn't use grandma's recipe! Instead I got this recipe  from the February 2012 edition of Food & Wine Magazine.

Time: 45 minutes
4 servings

Here's What You'll Need!

2 tbs. olive oil
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
Salt
Pepper
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. rosemary
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 tbs. tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

Put It All Together! 

1) Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet.

2) I wasn't completely sure about the chicken being cut into "2-inch pieces" so I cut mine into strips and seasoned with salt and pepper. Add to the skillet over high heat for about 4 minutes on each side until browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet and transfer to a plate.

3) Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, rosemary, and spices to the skillet. Also season with salt and pepper. Cook until veggies are soft and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and allow to reduce by half before adding tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.

4) Return the chicken to the skillet and bring to a boil.

5) Cover the skillet containing the chicken and tomato sauce partially and simmer over low heat for about 15. At this point the chicken should be cooked through and sauce should be thicker.

 Serve over rice and enjoy!!

After this experience I will certainly try chicken thighs again! The meat was juicy, the sauce tangy and flavorful. My husband took one bite of this and looked over at me with a gracious "Mmmmmmm!"

Hope everyone had a great back to school week!

Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Rigatoni with Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Italian Sausage

I am a huge butternut squash fan.

I'm also a die-hard pasta lover.

I know that it's only September, and I could have waited a little longer to jump into winter squashes, but since my Curried Chicken and Vegetable Pan Roast, featuring butternut squash went over so well with my husband, I decided to continue to change his opinion on this sweet, buttery, squash!

This recipe comes from the February 2012 edition of Food & Wine Magazine. It's a recipe from Emeril Lagasse, but I improvised a bit while cooking.

Here's What You'll Need:

2 butternut squashes -- peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tbs. of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Allspice
About 20 whole sage leaves
3 tbs. unsalted butter
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1/4 cup of white wine
1 lb. rigatoni
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Put it All Together!

1) Preheat your over to 400 degrees and break down your squash. As I mentioned in my  Curried Chicken and Vegetable Pan Roast post, I like to buy the pre-cut butternut squash cubes to bypass the hassle, but alas, the supermarket was out. I used this video by GoodHousekeepingMag via YouTube to help me effectively break down the squash.

2) Put the squash cubes on a foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbs. of the olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and allspice, bake for 30 minutes until tender when pierced with a fork.

3) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the 3 tbs. of butter and add the whole sage leaves for about 2 minutes, turning once, until crispy. Remove the leaves and store on a plate, remove the butter and save in a bowl for later.

4) In the same skillet, add the last tbs. of oil, and the sausage over medium high heat. Break up the sausage as best you can with a wooden spoon while it's cooking until the meat is no longer pink-about 8 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of white wine and let simmer for a few minutes. 

5) Boil a large pot of water for the pasta. Add salt once the water comes to a boil. Cook the rigatoni until al dente, about 14 minutes. Reserve one cup of the cooking water before draining the rest of the pasta.

6) Return the pasta to the empty pot and add the sausage and melted butter while gradually stirring in the cup of reserved starchy water. Next add the squash and 1/4 cup of Parm. Garnish with more cheese and the crispy sage leaves!

We really found this to be a light pasta dish despite the rich flavors of the sausage and squash. 

We have two tupperwares in the fridge for leftovers and can't wait!


Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

YUM

   I pinned these as soon as I saw them because my husband's absolute favorite flavor is peanut butter! I just didn't know I'd be making them so soon!

   We are working on closing on a house, and to make a long story short, I was sitting with our loan officer at the bank this afternoon, when I was told that my husband was missing important paperwork needed to move our application forward. Of course, he was at work.

   When I called my husband about it, he said that the woman who is in charge of those materials was out of the office today. We were both disappointed because we were looking forward to moving forward with the process. Ultimately, a few minutes later he called back with great news that another co-worker got him the materials he needed right then and there! My husband responded with, "You better make John cookies!"

   So, I did.

   I went right to the supermarket and picked up a few ingredients needed for these incredibly delicious cookies.

Looks like a  lot, but I had most of this in the cabinet!

   I found these on BruCrewLife bake. eat. repeat. 

   The first thing I did was to combine my dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, vanilla pudding mix, and a pinch of salt. 

   Next I creamed the butter with the peanut butter (I used chunky) and both the white and brown sugar. When I took my brown sugar out of the cabinet, I noticed immediately that it was hard as a rock. I found these useful tips on how to soften brown sugar from About.com . They suggested a few methods, but I decided to put the box of brown sugar in the microwave along with a small bowl with water in it for intervals of 30 seconds. The idea is that that water gets evaporated and the sugar absorbs it, loosening it. It worked!

Combining Dry Ingredients

   After that, I added both eggs, the vanilla, and honey. After all of that was thoroughly combined, I gently folded in a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a cup of Reese's Pieces. I decided to leave out the banana chips and baked them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Creamed Butter and Sugars

   They came out absolutely PERFECT. These are probably the first cookies that I've ever made from scratch all by myself, and I am super proud of them!

   They are moist, bursting with peanut butter flavor, and each chocolate morsel is sweet and luscious.

Folded in Goodies

   I am encouraging my husband to bring the majority of these cookies to work tomorrow, but he's sitting with the plate and a glass of milk right now...

    Hope there's some left over for you, John!

Stay Sweet,
Jasmine

Ready to go to work tomorrow!

Recipe to Reality: Breakfast Muffins

   These aren't your typical muffins! These are delicious, easy, and adorable muffins that wrap up all your favorite breakfast foods!

Bacon, Egg, Cheese, what more do you need?

  My husband and I had one of our best friends over so I wanted to make him something unique for breakfast! When I saw these interesting muffins from YummyMummyClub, I knew these were what I was looking for!

   The ingredients are very simple: 1 can of Pillsbury biscuits, 6-7 strips of bacon cut into chunks, 4 eggs scrambled, and about 3-4 slices of American cheese.

   You will also need a greased muffin tin, and a roller of some sort.

   First, I started by frying my bacon strips on about medium flame until crispy.

   Then, I scrambled 4 eggs (with a splash of milk for fluffiness) in a bit of the bacon grease with a dash of salt and pepper.

   Once you have the bacon and eggs cooked, you are ready to assemble! I used Pillsbury Grands Homestyle Reduced Fat biscuits, but you can use any kind you'd like. I don't own a rolling pin to roll out my biscuit dough with, so my genius friend "Cup of Joe" suggested to use the side of a ceramic bowl to roll out the dough. Totally worked!

   Once you have your biscuit rolled out, you scoop a bit of scrambled eggs into the middle, add 3-4 pieces of the chopped bacon, and top with 1/2 a slice of American cheese. Feel free to substitute your favorite cheese!

Egg

Egg w/ Bacon

Egg w/Bacon & Cheese

   Next comes the fun part! Stretch the biscuit around your filling and pinch the sides to make a completely sealed biscuit full of breakfasty goodness!

   Place the biscuits seam side down into your muffin tin and brush with an eggwash (an egg whisked with some water). The eggwash will make the tops of your muffins brown and give them a little flavor. It also helps keep the salt and pepper from falling off the biscuit while baking. 

Artistic Placement!

   Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes and they are ready for breakfast! We used a little ketchup as a dipping sauce, but hot sauce would have paired nicely as well. These would be great as an on-the-go meal as well.

   As I was making these, I couldn't help but think about all the other possibilities there are for these biscuit muffins! Here are some I'd like to try - tomato sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni for pizza bites, apples, butter, and cinnamon for apple pie bites, and my friend Cup of Joe's suggestion - Nutella, fluff, and banana!

YUM!

   A combination of a short prep time, virtually no cleanup, and the fun involved pinching these yummy muffins together lead me to believe I will be experimenting with these biscuit muffins in the near future!

They look like perfect little pillows!

Stay Savory,
Jasmine

Recipe to Reality: Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

This will satisfy your Tex-Mex craving!

   We've been living together for about 2 years now, I have cooked dinner for at least three nights a week since that time, and I still make it a point to glance at my husband's face after his first bite of a meal I've made. Am I fishing for compliments? ABSOLUTELY! I completely thrive on positive reinforcement (must be the teacher in me...)

   After my husband took a bite of this meal, he didn't say anything. I asked him what he thought and he said, "I think there's too much pepper. The ratio of pepper to filling is off." Dumbfounded, I responded with, "They are stuffed peppers!"

   Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal, but veggies are my favorite food group. The roasted bell pepper that served as a tasty vessel for my delicious meaty filling was one of the best parts of my meal!

   The recipe I used as a guide came from Simply Love Food. The only detail that I changed was I opted to substitute bulgur wheat for the white rice suggested in the recipe. My mother-in-law actually introduced me to bulgur wheat, and for those of you not familiar with it, it's a quick cooking form of whole wheat. For some more information on bulgur wheat, check out this article from Sunnyland Mills. Ultimately, it's healthier than white rice, and while my husband would never voluntarily eat bulgur wheat, within this recipe it really acts as more of a binder and you can hardly taste it. Normally, it has a nutty taste, and has a bite similar to brown rice. It pairs great with dried cranberries and fresh herbs (which is how my mother-in-law makes it). 

   I would probably rate this meal at a medium difficulty due to the number of steps required. By the end, I had three things going on at once.

Halved & Seeded

   First I had to cut the peppers in half and seed them. I tried to clean out the ribs as much as possible since I needed all that room to stuff my filling into.

Halfway Roasted

   I rubbed a bit of olive oil over the peppers and roasted them at 400 degrees in a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish for about 20 minutes. While they were roasting, I made the bulgur wheat following directions I found here at Livestrong.

Bulgur after all water is absorbed

   So now picture peppers in a 400 degree oven, bulgur wheat working on the stovetop, and a third burner working on medium for my filling...and no A/C in the kitchen. Good thing I just got a cute, short, haircut!

   In a skillet I cooked down a large yellow onion for about 2 minutes until translucent, then added the ground turkey. Once the turkey was browned, I threw in a packet of taco seasoning with 3/4 cup of water and let the mixture cook down. Then I added about 3/4 of a cup of frozen corn, and the can of drained and rinsed black beans and let all the flavors mingle.

Filling Minus Salsa & Bulgur

Finally, I added the jar of mango-peach salsa (YUM!) and all the cooked bulgur wheat for my finished stuffing! 

   By this time, the peppers were ready to come out. I was a bit pressed for time, so I didn't wait for the peppers to cool so that I could handle them. Instead, I just stuffed them using a wooden spoon inside the pan I roasted them in. I put them back into the oven for 15 minutes, pulled them out to add a little Mexican seasoned shredded cheese on top and stuck them back in for 5 minutes to let the cheese melt.

Sauna Time!

When I finally pulled them out, I added a pinch of chopped cilantro on top and we're ready to eat!

Yum!

 I found the filling to be extremely tasty! The grounded turkey was hearty while still being lean, the corn gave some sweet notes, the cilantro a bit of freshness, and the pepper itself was extremely tender. I was happy with the bulgur because although I love it on its own, I cleverly placed some whole grain into my hubby's diet tonight!

I should warn you that we had 2 peppers left over, and a TON of filling... which is why I'm planning on making Southwestern Bulgur Quesadillas next week! ^_~

Hope you enjoy this!!

Stay Savory,

Jasmine

Recipe to Reality: Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Banana Pudding Poke Cake!

    
   Some of you may be reading this title saying, "Poke cake?! What the heck is a poke cake?!" If this sounds familiar, don't worry, I thought the same thing. I found this recipe at The Country Cook's website. It's a great recipe for beginning bakers because it's Semi-Homemade, as Sandra Lee from the Food Network would say!

All set!

  The great thing about this cake is that the techniques are very simple, it tastes delicious (when does cake from a box not taste delicious?) and can have lots of different combinations. I decided to use "Rainbow Chip" cake mix, mostly because I already had a box of it in my pantry, but you can use your favorite cake mix for this recipe. After much deliberation, I decided to use Banana Cream pudding after getting advice from Twitter user @ThurmanPoat and my husband (whose opinion counts for a lot around here ^_^).


   I used a 9 x 13 pan courtesy of my aunt, Pattycake, because the kitchen in my apartment is too small for all my newlywed gifts :( . I followed the directions for the cake mix using the traditional water, eggs, and oil and let it bake for 28 minutes when the top was golden brown. Let the cake cool for just a few minutes before you begin poking holes into it.

This is where it gets its name from!

    Yes, POKE! Where do you think it got its name from? ;) I used the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all the way through the cake to the bottom of the pan. The only trouble I had with this was that some of the cake got stuck to the handle and then came out when I removed it so there were little crumbles of cake on top. It didn't change the way it tasted, but didn't make for a very pretty picture.

   While the cake is cooling, make the pudding according to the directions. Make sure you are using the instant pudding. I added milk to the pudding and whisked it for about 2 minutes, then let it sit for 2 minutes to solidify a bit. You don't want the pudding to completely solidify because you want to pour it over your cake, but you don't want it to be completely liquidy either.

Full of Holes!

   Next, pour the pudding over the cake and use a spatula or spoon to make sure the pudding gets into all of those holes that you poked! Put that into the refrigerator to set up for a few hours.

Pourable Pudding!

Using my Pink Spatula ;)

   Once the pudding is set, add a layer of Cool Whip. I used the Light Cool Whip, but you can use any kind.

Looking good!

   Finally, add some crushed Nilla Wafers to the top right before you serve it to add some texture to the cake. If you add them too early, they will absorb the moisture from the Cool Whip and will get soggy. 

Ready to Serve!

   My new mother-in-law had a party this weekend to welcome my husband and I home from our honeymoon and I decided to make this cake for it. All of my husband's family loved the cake! It was moist, the pudding was delicious, and the whole thing came together perfectly. I couldn't take too much credit, considering it is semi-homemade, but I didn't mind getting compliments, either!

Deeeeeelicious!