Spiced Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

My friend Heather posted a picture of her spiced cupcakes on facebook and I thought of you all.  She was kind enough to share the recipe with us.    These would be really cute as a dessert for Thanksgiving.

Spiced Cake:

• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put cupcake liners in cupcake pans. In a small mixing bowl whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground ginger. Cream the butter, sugar and salt in an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately. Bake approximately 18 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean). Let cool completely.

In the meantime take 24 caramel candies ( the ones you can buy in a bag for a dollar) and pinch one end, and forming into a pie shape. Set aside.

Buttercream icing:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup shortening
• Pinch salt ( I like popcorn salter.. it is finer and dissolves easier)
• 6 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Beat the butter, shortening and salt together until creamy with an electric mixer. Add half the confectioners’ sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Combine the vanilla extract and heavy cream. Gradually beat in the remaining confectioners’ sugar alternating with the cream mixture until it is all incorporated and the frosting is light and fluffy.

Buy some premade fondant if you aren’t used to working with it . . . it is much easier! You can purchase it at any craft store or Walmart.

Roll the fondant out, use confectioners sugar to keep it from sticking. Place the caramels on the fondant and cut to size. Pinch the fondant onto the candy.

Ice the cupcakes, place the caramels onto them pushing down slightly. Then just add a “dollop” of buttercream to the top to complete the pumpkin pie look.

Thanks Heather for sharing!

images (c) Heather Waldron

Chicken Enchilada Chili Recipe

If you’re like me, then several of your recipes are simply inspirations from things you have read or from other recipes. Such is the case with this chicken enchilada chili. Last week, I was visiting 5 Dollar Dinners and came across Erin’s recipe for this dish. It sounded good and definitely worth trying. I decided to modify it according to my family’s taste. Also, my husband and I enjoy having leftover chili and soups to use for lunches so I wanted to make the recipe go further.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of homemade or store bought beef broth (.25, super double coupon sale)
• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste  (.39)
• 3 tbsp of taco seasoning  (.15, on sale plus coupon)
• 1 tbsp of chili powder (.05)
• 1/2 diced onion (.10)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (.10)
• 1 15 oz can of red kidney beans, drained (.69)
• 2 15 oz cans of black beans, drained (1.38)
• 1 12 can of tomatoes with green chilies (.35, one sale and used .50 coupon)
• 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes (.55, stockpile price)
• 3-4 cups of cooked and shredded chicken from the freezer (.50, on sale for .19/lb)

Optional Toppings:

• sour cream (.75)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (.20, buy 1 get 1 free plus coupon)
• tortilla chips (1.00)

Instructions:

1. In a large 5 quart pot, wisk together the beef broth, tomato paste, and about 6 oz (one tomato paste can) of water.  Add diced onions and minced garlic.  Stir in taco seasoning and chili powder.
2. Add 2 cans of black beans, 1 can of kidney beans, 1 can tomatoes with green chilies, and 1 can of crushed tomatoes (I just put my diced tomatoes in the food processor).  Stir and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
3. Add cooked chicken. Cover, and simmer for 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until warm throughout.
4. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Other thoughts:

The total cost of this dish was around $6.50, but we ate it for a few days which helped us to save money on work lunches.  This dish made about 9-10 bowls of chili.
When I make this dish again, I will probably add one can of drained corn.
You can use less chicken. I made ours with a lot of chicken and it was so good.
When I make this recipe again, I hope to freeze some into lunch portions.
We enjoyed this recipe and it will definitely go in my recipe book to use during these upcoming months.

Sundried Tomato and Basil Baked Pasta

Chef Scott Liebfried has just completed his tenth recipe video for Bumble Bee Foods.  This recipe is for sundried tomato and basil baked pasta and it sounds delicious.  I hope you enjoy it!

In case you’re interested, you can check out the Bumble Bee Foods party from BlogHer.

Today’s Freezer Cooking: Chicken Stew

Every now and then I like to do some batch cooking.  I try to use things that I have found on sale and with coupons.  This past week, Harris Teeter had chicken fryers on sale for $.57/lb. 

I decided to try the chicken stew after seeing the recipe on Southern Plate this week.  It reminded me of the Brunswick stew the women’s ministry at church would make for their winter fundraiser.  I would purchase extra quarts of the stew and freeze them.  I remember how good they tasted on a cold winter day. 

Tonight I gave the stew a try and it was yummy and filling.  I had a bowl for supper tonight and froze the rest for future lunches and dinners.  I also froze the remaining chicken broth to use for later use.  I feel a lot of satisfaction from batch cooking because I know it is saving our family time and money, plus it’s usually healthier foods.  If we’ve had a long day and I don’t feel like cooking, I know that I can come home and grab something from the freezer.  This avoids expensive and unhealthy meals from the drive-thru.  I made this pot of chicken stew for about $5.  

Do you enjoy batch cooking?  What are your favorite freezer meals?

Amazingly Delicious Carrot Cake

I was trying to think of a name for this post. Just plain ‘ole “Carrot Cake” doesn’t do it justice. This cake is delicious. I first made the cake when I was a teenager and living at home with my parents. Since that time, this recipe has been passed around to different family members and was also submitted by my mom to her church’s cookbook. Unbelievably, I had to copy the recipe from the church cookbook. I guess that’s what I get for not getting the recipe sooner.

And just because I feel like storytelling right now, I’ll continue with why this cake was made this month. This is one of those cakes that I save for special occasions. This month I celebrated a birthday. On my birthday, I tend to get a bit depressed; not because of my age, but because I feel lonely. We have no family that live in the same area as us, so I miss my family. This year I decided to avoid a crappy day and so I invited some family to come for the weekend. I got a firepit for my birthday and so we celebrated all day long with burritos, egg rolls, Asian chicken lettuce wraps, S’mores, and carrot cake. Because on you’re birthday, you’re not supposed to count calories!

~~~~~~~~~

Amazing Delicious Carrot Cake

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup chopped nuts (preferably pecans)
• 1 small can crushed pineapple

Mix oil, sugar, and eggs together. Add dry ingredients to mixture and blend. Add carrots, pineapple, and nuts. Mix well. Pour into greased 9×13 cake pan or use 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Bake at 325F for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool and ice.

Icing for Carrot Cake (Yes, I said we’re not counting calories!)

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 lb confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped nuts (preferably pecans)

Mix all icing ingredients together and spread over cake.

This cake must be refrigerated.

*I have found that the 9×13 cake is heavy and so I leave it in the pan and icing it that way. Otherwise, it is difficult to get it out of the pan.

Do you have a favorite carrot cake recipe?

Recipe source unknown.

Breakfast Casserole Recipe (from leftovers)

An inexpensive breakfast item that I enjoy is grits.  They’re easy to make, very inexpensive, and filling.  Since grits are so inexpensive, it is one of the breakfast items I occasionally make for the youth group.  The problem is, sometimes they eat up all of the grits and sometimes there is half of a pot left over.

One day I had made a pot of grits for the youth and for some reason that day, half of the grits were left.  I decided not to let the grits go to waste.  I figured I should be able to do something with them.  I came home and created a breakfast casserole using grits, scrambled eggs, and sausage gravy.

Last week, I had some grits, sausage, and scrambled eggs left over and decided to make another breakfast casserole.  This time I had just a small amount left of each, so I made it in this small oven-safe Pyrex glass bowl.

By the way, my kids really like this dish!  

Since this is made with leftovers, there is no exact amount of ingredients. 

Breakfast Casserole

• prepared grits
• scrambled eggs
• breakfast meat, optional (cooked and diced sausage, bacon, or ham)
• sausage gravy or white gravy
• shredded cheese, optional

Spray your dish with cooking spray. Layer the ingredients as shown above and bake at 350F until hot. 

Here is a recipe for sausage gravy.  I needed much less so I just used 1 cup of milk and 1-2 tablespoons of flour.

What is your favorite recipe to make with leftovers?

image (c) Karen Weideman

Pasta Free Lasagna Recipe

From time to time, it may seem as though The Thrifty Mommy is crossing over into homemaking but honestly, I believe it all goes hand in hand.  One of the ways I save the most money is on my grocery bill.  Cooking delicious meals at home is just one of the things that contributes to a low food budget.

Believe it or not, my husband does not enjoy pasta dishes.  Every now and then I need some pasta and so I will make spaghetti or something like that for the kids and myself.  Finally, I decided to make a no pasta lasagna for my husband.  There are many different ways to do this and many other ingredients that you can add, but here’s what I did:

These are in order, with the bottom layer listed first.

spaghetti sauce with meat (I included a lot of meat to his liking.)

fresh steamed spinach (or you can use thawed frozen spinach)

cottage cheese mixed with 2 eggs and minced garlic

shredded cheddar cheese

parmesan cheese

crushed red pepper

steamed cabbage

spaghetti sauce

shredded mozarella cheese

My husband does not like a traditional marinara sauce, so I bought the Bertolli Vodka sauce.  You can find it in most grocery stores.  I made a small lasagna for him and a regular lasagna for the kids and myself.  lol  I always make enough lasagna to freeze a little for lunches.

Feel free to change this recipe around.  You can use ground turkey instead of ground beef, you can use low fat cheese, or you can add some ground sausage or pepperoni slices.  There are so many ways to change this recipe to make it suitable for the Atkins diet, South Beach, etc.

I baked these on 350F until it was hot and bubbly (about 45 minutes).  Let me know if you have any questions.  Enjoy!

Bumble Bee Foods BlogHer Party

As I have mentioned before, I am a representative for Bumble Bee Foods.  This year for BlogHer, Bumble Bee Foods threw a party for other bloggers.  

Chef Scott Leibfried was at the party to fix up some of his super easy recipes using Bumble Bee products.  At the party, he made three of his recipes.  They were so delicious!

Here are some of the members of the Bee Squad at the party with Chef Scott. It looks as though there is also a party guest in the picture.

Chef Scott is preparing the Asian Tuna Wraps.  These were sooo good!  It reminded me of an old favorite Asian Bistro I used to frequent. 

Here are the Asian Tuna Wraps that Chef Scott made. Sorry for the very poor picture quality.  It was a spur-of-the-moment picture and I did not set my camera correctly.  You can see a better picture by clicking on the actual recipe.

This is Chef Scott and me.  He was very friendly and easy to talk to.  He answered people’s questions and entertained us all with his delicious recipes.

Before leaving the party, I had Chef Scott sign my Lands’ End tote bag that we were given at the party.  In case you are wondering what it says, it’s “Cook Well”.

You can find more recipes at the Bumble Bee Foods website.

Picture 1 is used by permission of Elizabeth at Table 4 Five. All other photos belong to me.
Disclaimer: Bumble Bee Foods sponsored my trip to BlogHer.

Classic Tuna Casserole Recipe

I have never made tuna casserole before but I have been wanting to.  Thankfully, this time Chef Scott has given us the recipe. 

Note: Bumble Bee is sending me to the Blogher conference this week. I’ll get to meet Chef Scott at the party and taste some of his yummy recipes!  I’ll be sure to update you later on the event.

Enjoy the recipe!

Tuna Wrap Sandwich Recipe

Here is another yummy recipe Bumble Bee Foods recipe from Chef Scott. I hope you enjoy it!

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