Lasagna Cupcakes

As if there weren't enough recipes out there for lasagna cupcakes... But here it goes. I've wanted to make these for a really long time, but I could not find wonton wrappers at the grocery store to save my life. They're in the produce section. Next to the bagged salads and fancy salad dressings. Who knew? My friend, Allie, actually. I was really pleased with how these turned out. They tasted good, and I managed to make them look just as cute as all the pictures I've drooled over for months.

Lasagna Cupcakes 
1 lb. ground beef, cooked
1 c. marinara/spaghetti sauce
4 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
3/4 c. mozzarella/parmesan cheese, shredded
A dash or two of italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Liberally spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Take one wonton wrapper and gently press it down into the center of each muffin cup.  Press a small amount (about a tablespoon) of ricotta cheese into each cup. Then layer on a small amount of ground beef and marinara. Take another wonton wrapper and facing the opposite direction, gently press it on top of your ricotta/meat/sauce.  I didn't understand what the recipe meant when I first read "opposite direction," but basically it means if you're looking down at the muffin cup, put the first wonton in like a square. For the next one, put it in like a diamond. Yes? The wonton wrappers will stick out over the top - press the edges down flat against the pan. It makes removing them easier.

Layer on more ricotta, meat, and marinara. Finish each cup with a generous amount of shredded and cheese and a sprinkling of Italian seasoning. Bake for 15 minutes or until your outer wonton looks golden and crispy. To remove them, I'd suggest running a knife around the edge to separate the wonton from the crispy, melted cheese. Be careful not to puncture it - the bottom ones are soft.

I threw these together after work in about 30 minutes total. Granted, I planned ahead and cooked extra ground beef on Sunday evening when I made the most adorable miniature stout pies, so I didn't have to bother with cooking the meat. I was also really surprised how well they held up once removed from the muffin pan. You can literally eat these like a cupcake. No fork necessary - just pick it up and bite into it. 

Finished product

Cheesy, crispy, amazing

Yum.

honey mustard chicken with sweet potatoes

I love, love, love this dish. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods and honey mustard is my dipping sauce of choice whenever I break down and get McNuggets for dinner a snack. And this just so happens to combine the two. As if this cake needed any icing, the thyme combined with the sweetness of the potatoes and honey mustard is just incredible.  Blackbird Gastropub in Norman serves carrots with their pot roast that I am madly in love with, but I couldn't figure out what spice they used to make them taste so delicious. As I was making this dish tonight, I realized it's thyme. New favorite spice; I'll be looking for some more recipes that call for it!

My sous chef. 

Ingredients: chicken breasts, carrots, sweet potatoes, onion, honey, dijon mustard, and butter (not pictured).

Roughly chop your carrots.

And your onions - I quartered it and then halved the quarters.

Then roughly chop up your sweet potatoes. 

Throw your veggies in a big bowl.

And your chicken breasts on top.

Melt butter in the microwave and add in the dijon mustard and honey.

Whisk it all together so it looks like this!

Pour 1/2 of the honey mustard in the bowl, sprinkle in some thyme, and give it a good stir. 

Throw it all in your cast iron dutch oven. It doesn't have to be cast iron. But cast iron cookware is the coolest, in my humble opinion.

This picture serves no purpose other than to show how great a cast iron dutch oven looks. I have some of my great grandmother's cast iron cookware - a divided johnny bread skillet and a muffin pan. They get extra hot, and you never wash them so they impart great flavor in everything you put in them.

Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Take it out and baste it with 1/2 the remaining sauce. Roast for another 15 minutes. Then take it out and baste it with the sauce you have left. Roast for a final 15 minutes.

The delicious final product.

Honey Mustard Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

Recipe adapted from Cookin in Sens

2 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts

5 large carrots, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 large sweet potatoes, chopped

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp. thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place carrots, onion, sweet potatoes and chicken breasts in a large bowl.  Whisk together melted butter, honey, and dijon mustard. Pour half the honey mustard over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle in some thyme. (I didn't actually measure how much I put in, but I'd guess its about 1 tbsp.) Toss your chicken and vegetables so they're well coated.  Put everything in a large dutch oven, and put it in the oven for 30 minutes. Take it out and baste the chicken with 1/2 the remaining honey mustard, then put it in for another 15 minutes. Take it out again and baste the chicken with all the remaining sauce and bake for a final 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

The original recipe called for 6 bone-in chicken thighs. Chance doesn't like chicken thighs, so I subbed breasts in; they worked out just fine. The recipe also called for two onions. I replaced one of the onions with carrots instead. Next time I make this, I'd like to use parsnips. They're similar in texture to carrots, but they're a bit sweeter. I think they'd mesh a little better.  I'd also like to try this recipe out with agave instead of honey and coconut oil instead of butter. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

I kicked Chance out of the house last night for some much needed girl time with a good friend. We drank girly cocktails and baked some seriously amazing cupcakes. They're the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter and have a Reese's peanut butter cup baked right into the center.  I was too busy chatting to take pictures as I baked, so a photo of the finished product will have to suffice. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes (Slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction)


For the cake:
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
1 package Reese's miniatures, frozen

For the peanut butter buttercream frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1.5 lbs. confectioner's sugar
7 tbsp. heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a cupcake tin with paper liners. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, canola oil, eggs, and coffee mixture. Beat on medium speed for about three minutes or until well combined.

Divide the batter in the muffin tin evenly, filling each cup 1/2 full. Press one Reese's miniature into the center of each cup; the batter shouldn't cover the top of the candy.  Bake the cupcakes for 18-22 minutes. The cupcakes will have a small well in their centers - that's fine since you'll cover them with frosting. Set the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and peanut butter together on medium speed until well combined and fluffy. Turn the mixer down to low and gradually add in confectioner's sugar until fully blended. Keeping the mixer on low speed, add in the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency (I used 7 tablespoons).  Finally, turn your mixer on high speed for about a minute until the frosting gets light and fluffy.  Spoon, pipe, or dollop the frosting on top of each cupcake and top with some chopped up Reese's.

I subbed light sour cream for the regular to cut out some of the calories. And I realize that's pretty ridiculous considering the amount of butter and cream in the frosting. I opted out of adding vanilla to the frosting because I wanted it to taste reaalllly peanut buttery, and I also cut the amount of confectioner's sugar from 2 to 1.5lbs. My go-to chocolate cake recipe also calls for sour cream and pudding mix; don't skip out on the sour cream, as weird as it sounds. It makes the cake stay really moist. And I probably could have used a recipe that was entirely from scratch instead of using packaged devil's food cake mix, but these things took a solid two and a half hours to bake anyways so I was happy to save the extra time. 

*****If you're not baking these for a party, work event, etc... then absolutely cut the recipe in half. The recipe as listed above made about 40 cupcakes. Even sending some home with my friend and taking some to work this week, I still have way too many cupcakes for a two person household. Chance might disagree with me. He's had four in 24 hours and claims they're the best cupcakes he's ever had. 

Turkey Loaf

I don't care what anyone says, meatloaf is an American classic, and it's delicious if it's done right. I think most people associate meatloaf with a school cafeteria. For me, I think of my mom's cooking. We had it pretty frequently because my little sisters loved it, and they were obnoxiously picky eaters. That said, the idea of a meat "loaf" is a little gross. I'd be open to an alternative name.

The ingredients: ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, egg whites, milk, ketchup, dijon mustard, and worcestershire - which I forgot to include in the picture. Oops. 

Dice the onion. Sauté it with the garlic in a little olive oil until the onions are tender. 

Put them in bowl and set aside to cool down. 

Separate the egg whites from the yokes. 

In the bowl of onions, add the ground turkey and bread crumbs. 

Then add in the ketchup, worcestershire, egg whites, milk, salt, and pepper. 

Mash it all up with your CLEAN hands until its well combined. But don't mash it up too much or it won't hold its "loaf" shape. It's not glamorous, but it's tasty.

I got distracted watching Wheel of Fortune and forgot to take a picture of it pre-oven, but you'll put in a square baking dish or a loaf pan if you have one. Take your ketchup-dijon mix and spread it over the top. Bake at 350 for an hour, and use your handy meat thermometer to make sure its at 160 degrees before serving.  

Yum.

 Turkey Loaf


1.25 lbs. ground turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, pressed
3/4 cup bread crumbs (Panko is preferable)
1/3 cup skim milk
2 egg whites
1 tbsp. worcestershire
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your baking dish/loaf pan. Sauté diced onion and pressed garlic in 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat for a few minutes until the onion is tender.  Put in a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool. Separate your egg whites. Once the onions have cooled down enough to touch, add your ground turkey and bread crumbs to the bowl. Then add in the egg whites, milk, worcestershire, 1/4 cup ketchup, salt, and black pepper. Dig in and mix all the ingredients together with your hands until they're well combined. Put the meat mixture into your baking dish or loaf pan and squish it in evenly so it touches all the edges of the pan.  Take the remaining 1/4 cup ketchup and dijon mustard and mix together. Spread over the top of your loaf. Bake in the oven for about an hour or until it reaches 160 degrees. I made a little extra of the ketchup-dijon sauce to serve over the top.

I slightly adapted this recipe from Good Housekeeping's "Healthy Makeover Meatloaf." I opted out of celery because I refuse to buy an entire bag of celery to only use three stalks of it. I also opted to use Panko bread crumbs instead of piecing apart whole wheat bread. I'm partial to Panko - I use them in meatballs, breadings, etc... I also used about 1.25 lbs. ground turkey instead of the recommended 2 lbs because that would be a very large meatloaf for two people to consume. According to Good Housekeeping's recipe, the turkey loaf yields 8 servings at 230 calories per serving. Not too shabby! 

Spinach Dip

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  The Super Bowl is a great excuse for me to make lots of party/finger foods that are impractical for a household of two. I love cooking dinner for Chance and myself, but it's nice to have other people as taste testers once in awhile. For our little get together, I made Sante Fe Chicken Pinwheels, "Slutty" Brownies, and my Aunt Erina's spinach dip.  The first two recipes are via Pinterest, and they were delicious. I highly recommend.

The ingredients: cream cheese, swiss cheese, miracle whip, green onions, and spinach. 

Thaw and cook the spinach according to the directions. Once its cooked, put it on a few layers of paper towels to drain the extra liquid.

Wrap the spinach up in the paper towels and squeeze out the extra liquid. Repeat 4-6 times until all the water is drained out.

In a large mixing bowl, combine spinach, cream cheese, swiss, green onions, and miracle whip. 

Mix ingredients well. I tossed some black pepper and garlic salt in for good measure.

Put the dip in a small baking dish and bake in the oven at 400-425 degrees until bubbly and golden brown on top. I was really excited to make this dip in my pretty baking dish. My aunt bought me it as part of a set for Christmas before she passed away this December. 

I forgot to take a picture of the dip right out of the oven - but everyone seemed to like it. And as you can see, someone decided to bring a 20 piece chicken nugget from Burger King for their food contribution. Lovely.

Aunt Erina's Spinach Dip

8 oz. 1/3 fat free cream cheese, softened

1 cup swiss cheese, grated

1 small cup Light Miracle Whip

1 package frozen spinach

3 tbsp. green onions

Garlic salt & black pepper

Preheat oven to 400-425 degrees. Grease or spray non-stick spray in a baking dish. Cook the spinach according to the box directions. I microwaved mine for 5 minutes. Put cooked spinach in a few layers of paper towels, wrap up the spinach, and squeeze out the excess water. Repeat this process 4-6 times until almost no water drains out when you squeeze it. In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach, cream cheese, swiss, Miracle Whip, green onions, and garlic salt and pepper. Mix it well and put in your baking dish. Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown. 

The original version of this calls for regular cream cheese and whole mayo. I used lower fat cream cheese just to save calories, and I used Miracle Whip because I thought I had mayo in my fridge but apparently, I did not. The Miracle Whip actually gave the dip a nice tang, and I think I'll sub it in from now on. Some artichokes and horseradish would be great in this too. My aunt also makes a casserole version of this dip that includes eggs and toasted pine nuts. It is absolutely heavenly. I'll try and make that soon.  

White Bean Gnocchi

For my first recipe, I made white bean gnocchi. Gnocchi is basically a potato-based dumpling. I almost never make pasta these days, but gnocchi is an old favorite. And this recipe is much lighter than the typical dish because a large majority of it is made up of beans. I balked at first when I thought of beans with gnocchi. Gnocchi makes me think of a nice Italian meal and red wine, and beans make me think of hobo stew and cornbread. But with the spinach, tomatoes, onions, and garlic, you hardly notice the beans at all.

The ingredients.

I pulsated the spinach in a food processor for a few seconds at a
time to make sure it didn't get too small.

Thinly slice the onion.

Rinse the white beans in cold water.

Heat some olive oil over medium heat in the skillet, and sauté
the gnocchi for about six minutes. Put the gnocchi in a bowl and
set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet and add the onions.
Cook for a few minutes until brown and softened.

Add the garlic. I used my garlic press. It changed
my life. I will never mince garlic by hand again.

Add 1/2 cup water to the onions and garlic, cover, and let simmer
until the water has evaporated, the onions are translucent and
your kitchen smells like garlicky goodness. 

 

It should look something like this. ^^

Add the chopped spinach and sauté until it wilts.

Add the beans, diced tomatoes, and a generous amount of
black pepper.

Mix all the ingredients together and let it simmer for
a few minutes. 

Add the gnocchi back in the skillet.

Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and stir in until melted.

End product: colorful, hearty, healthy dinner.

White Bean Gnocchi (Recipe adapted from EatingWell)

1 tbsp., plus 1 tsp. olive oil - divided

16 oz. gnocchi (found next to the pasta)

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup water

2 cups chopped spinach

1 15 oz. can Italian diced tomatoes

1 15 oz. can white beans, rinsed

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the gnocchi and sauté for 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Put the gnocchi in a bowl and set aside. Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet and add the onions, sautéing for two minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and garlic then cover and simmer until the water has evaporated and the onions are translucent (about 4-5 minutes). 

Add the spinach to the skillet and cook until it starts to wilt. Add the beans, diced tomatoes, and black pepper. Mix ingredients together and bring to a simmer. Add the gnocchi back into the mixture and stir to combine. Finally, sprinkle the cheese on top and and let melt. 

I changed the original recipe which used chard. I don't like the way that word sounds, and I couldn't find it at the store. Spinach works great. I also decreased the amount of cheese just to cut back on calories. The original recipe made 6 servings with 325 calories per serving. 6 servings would mean some pretty pathetic sized portions, even for me. So I decided it made 4 servings, meaning each serving was around 600 calories with my changes to the recipe.