Katy's Kitchen

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Katy — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:19:18 +0000

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

I promise, I am still here…

Katy — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:50:11 +0000

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!

Meal Planning: What I Do

Katy — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:59:06 +0000

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!

Fig Newton Fruit Thins

Katy — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:28:23 +0000

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

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta

Katy — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:30:21 +0000

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

Heath Bar Crunch Cake

Katy — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:17:48 +0000

Mother’s Day has come and gone, but it’s never too late to honor the woman or special person in your life with chocolate! Do you need something that looks fancy but is super easy to put together? This cake is sure to impress, but doesn’t take much effort to put together. Images of the Rice Krispie Treat commercial where the mom comes out of the kitchen acting like she’s exhausted with flour on her face come to mind. Everyone loves chocolate, so make this cake for your next special event, or if you just want to treat yourself. It’s heavenly.

Heath Bar Crunch Cake

1 box Devil’s Food Cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare

Crushed Heath bars or a bag of chocolate-covered Heath bits
Mousse:

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

1 Tbsp. cold water

2 Tbsp. boiling water (just heat it in a small bowl in your microwave)

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 c. whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla
Ganache:

8 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate

8 oz. heavy cream

Bake cake according to instructions on the box in 2 8″ round pans. Allow to cool and set aside. In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water and allow to stand for about 1 minute. While gelatin is softening, bring 2 Tbsp. water to a boil in the microwave. Whisk into the softened gelatin and allow to cool slightly. In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, whipping cream, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until medium-stiff peaks form. Mix in gelatin mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prepare ganache by combining chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes and stir. Heat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until chocolate is fully melted and can be whisked and incorporated into the cream. Be sure and scrape the sides and bottom to make sure you don’t find any globby bits of chocolate when you start working with it. Ganache will thicken as it cools. If it gets too thick before you assemble the cake, just re-warm it until it reaches desired consistency.

With a serrated knife, carefully slice the domes off of each cake layer off so the layers are level. Place one layer on the serving plate and spread about 1/2 of the chocolate mousse over the cake. Sprinkle with Heath bits. Place second layer on top of Heath bits. Spoon ganache over the top layer, allowing it to drip down the sides. Sprinkle with additional Heath bits and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Source: Our Best Bites

Beer Bread

Katy — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:32:00 +0000

The New Belgium Brewing Company asked me to post about one of my favorite beer recipes and gave me a stipend to buy one of their beers to use in my recipe. I knew exactly which recipe I would choose…beer bread. I typically use Shiner Bock in this recipe, because it works really well with dark beer. New Belgium Brewing Company produces Sunshine Wheat, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Ale, Trippel Ale, 1554 Black Ale, and the original Fat Tire Amber Ale. I’d heard of Fat Tire and knew that it was a very popular beer, so I chose to try it in my recipe. You can use anything you have on hand. This bread is fabulous and so easy to make with only 4 ingredients. It’s moist and a little bit more dense than regular bread, almost like a combination of bread and cake. Yum! This bread goes great with anything, so it’s definitely a great recipe to add to your recipe box.

Beer Bread

3 c. self-rising flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 bottle beer ( I used Fat Tire Amber Ale, but you can use any dark beer)
3 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and beer and mix well. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven and brush with the melted butter. Return pan to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until done.

Chicken Salad

Katy — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 04:04:31 +0000

I’m sorry I’ve not been around much lately. We are have been running to meet ourselves. We will soon (hopefully) be building a new house and have been working hard to get our current place ready to put on the market. I’ve been cleaning out closets and cabinets, boxing up things we don’t need and magic-erasing baseboards. Blech. I’ve not had time to do much cooking in the process. One thing that is nice to do when you know you’re going to be very busy is to make a recipe that you can eat for several days. This is one of those recipes that I whipped up to keep in the fridge for those days that I didn’t have time to cook, or couldn’t get to the kitchen for all the boxes, which has happened more often than not in the last couple of weeks.

I love chicken salad, but I don’t always order it in restaurants, because I’ve found that I’m typically disappointed when I do. It is always either too bland, too dry, or too mayonnaise-y (not a word, but you know what I mean.) I absolutely love the Waldorf chicken salad at Atlanta Bread Company because of the dried cranberries and nuts that they use. The other day I ran across Annie’s chicken salad recipe and was inspired to use it along with my favorite chicken salad recipe from The Pastry Queen as inspiration to create my own version. If I do say so myself, my new version is really, really delicious. I usually use a store-bought rotisserie chicken for my chicken salad, and this time the one I bought was really small so I added a couple more chicken breasts. You can use left-over baked chicken, rotisserie chicken, or just boil or bake some chicken breasts.

Chicken Salad

4 c. cooked chicken or 1 large rotisserie chicken, finely chopped or shredded (I use garlic/herb rotiserrie chicken)
1/8 c. finely chopped white onion
1/8 c. finely chopped red onion
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, finely chopped
1 c. pecans
1 c. dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 c. fresh parsley, finely minced
1/2 to 3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. whipping cream
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

Arrange pecans on a cookie sheet in a single layer and toast in the oven at 350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes, or until golden and aromatic. Cool and then finely chop. Mix together the chopped chicken, apple, onions, celery, parsley, pecans and mayonnaise. Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into the chicken salad mixture. Add red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until all is incorporated well. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving in order to allow the flavors to meld. Serve in lettuce cups or on whole wheat bread or rolls.

*I usually chop the apple, onions, celery, parsley, and the cranberries all at one time with a food processor. If the chicken salad is not as moist as you would like, add a little bit more mayonnaise and/or drizzle in a little bit more whipping cream.

Source: Inspired by Annie’s Eats and The Pastry Queen

Jalapeno Poppers

Katy — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 04:28:38 +0000

I was asked to submit my favorite recipe that includes bacon for a chance to win the Denny’s/Foodbuzz BACONALIA challenge, and I knew exactly which recipe would be perfect for the challenge. I had to participate, because really, who doesn’t love bacon? I have posted this recipe before, but now that the weather is warming up and barbecue season is quickly approaching, it’s worth mentioning again. We cooked out burgers for the first time this last weekend, and this is always a big deal in our house because it means that winter is over and it’s time to start a new season of having friends over and cooking out on the patio. Good times. These make an appearance at just about every cookout we have because they are amazing. I could eat a dozen by myself (though I try not to let anyone see me do it.) No matter how many of these you make, you will never make enough. You will be shocked at how fast they disappear. These are downright sinful, but oh, so good. Even my three year old inhales them. Everyone who eats them raves about them. Try them next time you have a barbecue and you’ll see what all the fuss is about. You could make these on the grill if you want, but I prefer making them in the oven because the nice and crispy bacon puts these over the top.

Jason’s Jalapeno Poppers

2 dozen jalapenos
2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese
1 pkg. hot breakfast sausage
1 pkg. sliced bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Seed jalapenos and remove the tops. Slice each jalapeno lengthwise in half. Brown sausage and drain. Stir in cream cheese until smooth. Stuff jalapenos with cream cheese mixture and place halves on a broiler pan. Slice bacon into thirds and top each jalapeno with a slice of bacon. Bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack in the oven. Increase heat to broil and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until bacon is crisp.

Beef Week Recipe #4: Italian Beef

Katy — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:26:38 +0000

I know beef week lasted a little longer than a week, but this recipe was worth waiting for. It’s basically just a kicked up pot roast recipe with an Italian twist that is super easy to put together in the crock pot. My family devoured this. The kids had two helpings and ate it without any sauce at all, which rarely happens. I served it with homemade macaroni and cheese and steamed vegetables. My husband loved it and had it left-over the next day on a toasted hoagie roll topped with melted mozzarella cheese. This beef has a spectacular flavor…it’s a recipe that should definitely be saved in your recipe box. It will be one that you will want to make again and again. You can use any type of roast for this, but I used chuck arm roast. Arm roast has very little fat so it is easy to trim and shred and the juice has very little residual fat in it after cooking the roast. I returned the roast to the juices after I shredded it to keep it nice and moist and to take advantage of the wonderful spices it cooked in.

Thanks again to the Texas Beef Council for sponsoring beef week and for providing me with a stipend to purchase delicious lean cuts of beef. For more information on cooking with lean beef, you can visit their website or check out this PDF with information on the fat content of various cuts of beef. Next time you’re planning a healthy meal, consider lean cuts of beef as a great alternative to chicken or other lean meats.

Italian Beef

1 2-lb. roast
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 pkg. dried onion soup mix
2 c. water

Mix soup mix and spices into water. Place beef in the crock pot and cover with the water/spice mixture. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Remove roast from crock pot, remove fat and shred, and return to cooking juices. Serve alone or on a toasted roll topped with melted mozzarella cheese.