Katy's Kitchen

If at first you don't succeed…order pizza!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Posted on | October 6, 2011 | No Comments

It’s fall, ya’ll! This is my absolute favorite time of year. I really want to decorate my front porch with pumpkins and fall garlands, but as soon as we got mostly moved in, my house became a construction zone. I can’t decorate until it’s done, so I thought I would do some fall baking instead. These cupcakes are a great way to celebrate the impending cooler weather, but I love to make pumpkin muffins and bread any time of year. I saw this recipe for pumpkin cupcakes on Annie’s Eats, and thought it would be a great recipe to try. I loved these cupcakes and will definitely make them again. I topped them with my favorite cream cheese frosting and they were superb. The cake was very moist and light, with just the right amount of spice. Jason and the kids couldn’t stay out of them. These are perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or anytime! The recipe makes about 3 dozen cupcakes, so if you want less, you can halve the recipe.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 2/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. canola or vegetable oil
4 lg. eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full.  Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans and let cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting and top with a light dusting of cinnamon, if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar
2 to 3 Tbsp. cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and powdered  sugar. Beat again until light and fluffy. Mix in cream to attain the desired consistency.

Cupcake Source: adapted from Annie’s Eats, frosting is Katy’s Kitchen original

Category: Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts

I promise, I am still here…

Posted on | August 3, 2011 | No Comments

We are in the process of moving. It is absolutely no fun. I’m amazed at how much time it takes to get all the stuff out of one house and into another. Needless to say, it’s been a while since I have been able to find all my dishes, pots and pans and other cooking paraphernalia. There is no food in my fridge, so we’ve been surviving on a diet of corn dogs, cereal and fast food. (Please don’t call child protective services. I don’t think the kids mind that much.) :) We are getting close to being settled again, and last night I made a glorious home-cooked meal of spaghetti (absolutely nothing about it was homemade but man, it was delicious because it wasn’t from a drive-through.) I promise, I am going to go to the grocery store and start cooking again very soon. I have some new recipes in mind to try, so I will have something for all of you before you know it! Thanks for hanging in there with me in my absence. See you soon!

Category: Uncategorized

Meal Planning: What I Do

Posted on | June 30, 2011 | 1 Comment

I have been doing my best lately to plan our meals and cook more because we have been eating out A LOT and it’s starting to really add up (in dollars and pounds on my waist-line). I’m becoming a firm believer. It does take some time for planning, but it saves so much time and money in the long run. If you plan your meals well, you can do a lot of the prep work when you cook your meals earlier in the week because you can double up on ingredients that you will be cooking anyway (browning meat or dicing onions, for example). For example, on Sunday night, I roasted two chickens. We had one chicken along with the macaroni and cheese for dinner. I used the meat from the other chicken to make chicken salad for the week’s lunches and put the rest of the meat in the fridge for a casserole on Tuesday. On Monday night, I made meatballs, a  relatively time-consuming meal. Most of that time was hands-off time waiting for them to cook in the oven. I needed hamburger meat for the meatballs, so I thawed extra and browned it while I was waiting on them to finish baking. I stuck that browned meat in the fridge to use for quick and easy burritos later in the week. We had steamed broccoli with the meatballs, so I made extra and used it along with Sunday night’s leftover chicken to also assemble Tuesday night’s casserole. Yes, I was in the kitchen for a while, but on Tuesday, I came home and popped my casserole in the oven and was able to play with the kids while it baked. About 10 minutes before it was done, I threw a loaf of ready-made garlic bread in the oven and we had dinner! We also had Sunday’s leftover macaroni and cheese on Monday and Tuesday.  Last night, I didn’t have to cook at all, because we had lots of leftovers in the fridge. We’ve also had plenty of leftovers to pack in our lunches.

After that long-winded explanation, in a nutshell, efficient meal planning can really make a big difference in how much time you save and in your budget. It usually costs a minimum of about $25 for our family of four to drive through the fast food joint and pick up an unhealthy dinner. If we go to a sit-down place, we’re looking at close to double that amount. In addition, Jason usually spends about $7 per day eating lunch in the cafeteria at work and I spend at least that picking something up in the drive through at lunch as well. Can you see the huge savings yet? When I know what I’m going to make, I don’t spend time staring in my fridge and pantry every night wondering what we’re having for dinner. I know what we’re having, and most of the work is already done. It’s really a huge stress-relief for me too. I find that it’s easiest for me to plan for one week at a time, so I sit down for 30 minutes or so on Sunday afternoon and plan, and then I do my shopping that evening so we’re all set for the work week.

Meal planning takes some practice to avoid over epending on grocery items that don’t get used and go bad. I’ve found that if I plan too many meals in a week, we also have more leftovers than we can eat and I end up throwing out food. With practice, though, you can learn to use leftovers from one meal in another or double up on cooking meat or prepping vegetables for use later in the week. You can also make side-dishes that reheat well and have them again or use them as ingredients for pasta or casseroles. I would plan a leftover night or two in the week, and if you like to go out to eat, you could plan to do that one day a week too. If there is one day of the week that is especially busy for your family, you could plan an eating out night or a leftover night for that day.

There are some great resources and tools out there to help you with your planning. Katie at Good Life (eats) has a great article on the subject HERE.  I personally use the Plan to Eat website for my meal planning which I think it the greatest thing since sliced bread. There’s a button with a link to the site on my right side-bar. You can sign up for a 30 day trial membership for free and see if you like it if you prefer doing things digitally. If you’re more  of a pencil to paper type person, I found some great menu planning notebooks in Miss Modern Belle’s shop HERE on Etsy. Good luck!

Category: Uncategorized

Fig Newton Fruit Thins

Posted on | June 8, 2011 | 4 Comments

I love Fig Newtons. I think it’s something about the texture of the soft cookie with the gooey sweet yumminess inside. My favorite part is the little fig seeds in the cookie. The folks at Nabisco recently sent me their new Fig Newton Fruit Thins to try, and I have to admit, I was skeptical about whether or not I would like them as much as the original. For some reason, i expected them to be soft, but they’re not. It’s a thin, crispy cookie with little bits of real fruit baked in. I got the fig and honey version. They taste a little bit like a graham cracker with a hint of the orinal Fig Newton mixed in and they have 8 grams of whole grains per serving. I feel  a little bit better about my kids eating these for a snack than a regular cookie, and they absolutely love them. The bag is already almost empty. The cookies come in 4 flavors: fig and honey, cranberry citrus oat, blueberry brown sugar, and chocolate rasberry. You should pick up a bag next time you’re at the store and give them a try!

Photo Source: Nabisco

Category: Uncategorized

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta

Posted on | June 5, 2011 | 2 Comments

I love to make pasta. I used to think that it would be so difficult, but it really isn’t. If you can make gravy, you can make delicious creamy pasta sauce. This pasta has a creamy alfredo-like sauce and is so good. I usually save these types of recipes for special occasions, because they are anything but fat free, but they are totally worth it for a splurge. This recipe is delicious the day you make it, but I think it has an even deeper flavor the next day. It reheats really well. You can also use this basic sauce and add whatever veggies or meats you’d like to make several new combinations. Enjoy!

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta

1 1/2 c. of cooked diced or shredded chicken breast (I like to use Rotisserie)
1 c. bacon, diced
3 c. steamed broccoli
1 box linguini pasta
Sauce:
1 c. milk
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. whipping cream
2 c. Italian blend shredded cheese (Parmesan, Romano, Asiago)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
*Can add more seasoning to your taste
a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

Fry bacon until crispy, place on paper towels and set aside.  Chop or shred the chicken breasts. In the same pan that you fried the bacon in, over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter.  Add 2 tablespoons flour, seasonings, and sugar and whisk together with the butter until bubbly.  Continue whisking, and slowly add the milk, cream and the chicken broth.  Whisk constantly while adding liquid, to avoid lumps in the sauce. Keep whisking until the sauce has thickened.  Turn heat to low, and add the grated cheese.  Once melted and mixed thorougly, turn your heat to the lowest temperature.  Add the bacon, broccoli, and chicken pieces to your sauce.  Mix well and simmer covered over very low heat.  Prepare your pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss the pasta with the sauce. Serve topped with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.

*If the sauce gets too thick before you are ready to serve it, add more milk, cream or chicken broth. This also warms up nicely the next day.  Just heat in a skillet, but don’t let the sauce boil. This is actually better the second day, after the flavors have had time to meld.

Source: Adapted from Get Off Your Butt and Bake

Category: Chicken, Main Dishes, Pasta
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