3 Kings Cake (With Recipe)

We enjoyed a nice 3 Kings Day Celebration (a day late) with the Delgado's and I attempted my first King Cake.  It turned out yummy!!! The plate was cleaned pretty quickly which made me happy. So I thought I would share the recipe.

I used the following ingredients

2 Tubes of Buttery Flaky Crescent Rolls (but any kind will do)
Butter Spray
Cinnamon Sugar (1/4 cup to 1 Tbsp Ratio)
1/2 can of Sugar Free Apple Pie Filling
1 8 oz package of 1/3 fat Cream Cheese Softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Microwavable Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pull out your pizza pan. Grab 2 cans ofbutter flavored crescent rolls. Unroll all the triangles and place large end towards the outside, like making one of those Pampered Chef crescent roll rings. Spray with butter spray, forming a pretty circle. Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar. Mix softened cream cheese vanilla & 1/4 cup of sugar together till well combined.  Spoon mixture about halfway towards center in a ring, then spoon pie filling on top of cream cheese filling. (If you have a plastic baby or nut to insert you can do so here.) Roll the large ends of the triangles over your filling making an oval of dough. Spritz with more butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. You should have a large ring of dough. You don’t want a perfect circle, but more of an oval shape. Bake until golden brown all over. 17-20 min.

I cheated when it came to icing and used 1/2 bottle of microwavable glaze from the cake isle.  A traditional New Orleans Style king Cake is topped with icing and then colored sugar.  I moved mine to the platter b/4 adding the glaze.  Moving to the platter is tricky, it took 2 spatulas and tipping the pizza pan to get it on the plate for me.





 

Doughnut Muffins

So I have gotten in the habit of turning on Food TV when I get home from work so tonight I was watching THE BEST FOOD I EVER ATE and someone mentioned

"Doughnut Muffins"

So I went searching and The Mama Foodie had already beat me too finding the perfect receipe so I used hers and made these YUMMY muffins. Now the disclaimer is that they really are the consistency of a doughnut not a muffin. They are super yummy but do take a bit of work.

So here are my pictures...


OH and it was my first time getting to use this! ;) I love this Kitchenaid Mixer... such a great blessing!



Finally all mixed!~


Final Product

Adapted from Doughnut Muffins by Kathleen Stewart/ Fine Cooking 42 pp.54-55

For the muffins:

12 oz. (24 Tbs.) unsalted butter, warmed to room temperature
1-3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 lb. 11 oz. (6 cups) all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1-2/3 cups milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
For dipping:

4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter; more as needed
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon

Instructions: (written for standard sized muffin pan)

To make the muffins

Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. In a stand mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the milk and buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix a quarter of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then mix in a third of the milk mixture. Continue mixing in the remaining dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dry. Mix until well combined and smooth, but don’t overmix. Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin. Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about 1/2 cup. (A #16 ice-cream scoop gives you the perfect amount.) Bake the muffins until firm to the touch, 30 to 35 min.

To finish

Melt the butter for the dipping mixture. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, dip them into or brush them all over with the melted butter, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.

So they are done and I am going to turn off the BCS Game and head to bed. :) Sleep well everyone... and if I you want some muffins and are in the area we have PLENTY!

Another Recipe for Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Chicken tenders are marinated in hot sauce and then baked, rather than fried, in this low-fat version. Cool off these spicy chicken chunks by dunking them in a low-fat ranch dressing.Ingredients:

.3tablespoons Louisiana-style hot sauce
.1/2teaspoon paprika
.1/4teaspoon ground red pepper
.1 pound chicken tenders
.1/2cup fat-free ranch dressing
.1/4cup reduced-fat sour cream
.2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
.1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices



Preparation:
1.Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine hot sauce, paprika and ground red pepper in small bowl; brush on all surfaces of chicken. Place chicken in greased 11X7-inch baking dish. Cover; marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

2.Bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

3.Combine ranch dressing and sour cream in small serving bowl. Serve dip with chicken and bell pepper.

Yummy Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

Been kinda sick so I decided to make some homemade soup... this is a recipe full of fresh veggies. Chopping the onions helped to clear my sinuses and the soup was yummy.
I don't usually like peas but since these were put in after the soup stopped cooking they didn't have a chance to get mushy.


2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 leeks (light green and white parts only) finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup long-grain brown rice, uncooked
8 cups low sodium chicken broth (or more, if you'd like)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas

Put the chicken breasts in a big pot and cover them with water. Add a tablespoon of salt, bring to a boil, cover, and let cook for 30-40 minutes. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and allow it to cool, then shred it with a fork.

Chop the veggies while the chicken is cooking.

Dump the water from the pot you used to boil the chicken. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in that pot, over medium heat, and add the chopped onion, leeks, and garlic. Cook until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Then add the celery, carrots, and half of the thyme. Cook for another minute or two, then toss in the uncooked brown rice and stir until well combined. Add the broth and shredded chicken, then cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

When the rice is cooked, remove the soup from the heat, and stir in the frozen peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 4-6 servings

Valentines Day Cake

So I took this....



And a couple of sweet helpers....




And we made this...



And when you cut into it this is what you see....



I got the receipe here from MckMama... It really wasn't difficult it took a little time and the people at worked loved it... I did too it was OH SO YUMMY!!!!

Okay Brittney I can see one of these in your future! :) A lot of people said it would make a great Easter Cake!

Zax Sauce!!!

Okay so I saw an article on Zaxby's and it included the Zax Sauce Recipe... not what I thought it was.

*** This recipe was published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution Zaxby's co-founder Tony Townley took a look, saying the recipe was about half-right. Try it to see what you think!

The comments on it said it was almost perfect, I thought especially Megan & Lisa would like to have it!

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix together the mayo, ketchup, and garlic powder, blending well. Add Worcestershire sauce and blend well. Cover the surface of sauce with lots of black pepper until just coated. Blend well. Repeat process covering surface with black pepper and stir until blended well. Refrigerate for at least two hours prior to use to allow the flavors to mingle.

OOEY GOOEY Carmel Pie

Megan asked and I got curious so here it is!


OOEY GOOEY Carmel Pie
(Just like at O'Charley's)


INGREDIENTS
2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk (you can use the low-fat kind too)
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
mini chocolate chips and nuts (optional)


DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, place the cans of sweetened condensed milk with the label taken off, in the pot and cover with water. Cook on high until water comes to a boil, then turn on medium/high for 2 hours, adding water to keep the can covered (you must keep it completely submerged in water for the consistency to be perfect).
Carefully open can and pour into pie shell. Cool pie in refrigerator. When completely cooled, top with frozen whipped topping and nuts and chips. Serve.

Easy & Yummy!

lite CHICKEN SPAGHETTI WITH VELVEETA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INGREDIENTS
4 boneless chicken breast
10oz 2% Velveeta
3/4 can Rotel
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 package whole grain spaghetti
low fat milk

TO TASTE
salt
pepper
garlic


Lay Chicken in Microwave safe glass dish, cover with water. Cook chicken 10 minutes flip and microwave for 5 more minutes or until cooked completely. Drain broth into a bowl and reserve.

Boil spaghetti according to package directions.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Combine: chicken, spaghetti, Cream of Mushroom, Rotel (not the whole can), salt, pepper, garlic.

Melt Velveeta in microwave. Stir in milk, just enough to make it as creamy as desired.

Combine Velveeta with remaining ingredients, season to taste and serve.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out with the lower fat Velveeta & milk or if the pasta would change the taste but it was EXCELLENT... I made it tonight for the teens I am hanging out with while their parents are out of town and they both liked it.

Easy & Yummy!