Lemon-Cream Cheese Cupcakes

This is what they are supposed to look like...(from Kraftfoods.com)


This is what mine look like...


And then I dressed them up with a strawberry slice...definitely tasty...

Lemon-Cream Cheese Cupcakes (from Kraftfoods.com)

1 pkg (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 pkg (4-seving size) Jell-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup water
4 eggs whites
2 Tbsp. oil
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1 pkg (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, egg whites and oil in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 min. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined 2 1/2 inch muffin cups.

Bake 21-24 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min., remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, beat sugar, cream cheese, butter and juice with electric mixer on low speed until well blended.

Frost cupcakes.

**DELICIOUS!**

These are the first cupcakes I have EVER made and they turned out so tasty!

Things I learned:
1. When making desserts like this have a game plan on how to get rid of them. (I am not a huge dessert eater...luckily I live with roommates or after a couple of days I would have thrown them away.) I only ate 2 and 1 bite.
2. I am not a very good recipe follower, which is why I tend to cook and not bake. It is okay to get the measurements a bit off when cooking.
3. I don't have any good bowls for baking and mixing.

Variations that would be tasty:
*Use the cake as the shortcake in "Strawberry Shortcake", yummm...
*Use the frosting as a fruit dip. One of my roommates finished the extra frosting by dipping fresh strawberry's in them.

Spinach Feta Roulade

1 Large Skirt or Flank Steak
2 - 3 cups uncooked baby Spinach
1 - 1 1/2 cups Feta
Butcher's Twine
BBQ
Patience

Lay the steak out flat and if it is more than 1/4 inch thick slice through leaving 1/2 in before cutting it completely in half. Pound to tenderize. Layer the spinach on the steak only covering 2/3's. Add the Feta to the top of the spinach still leaving 2/3 of the steak uncovered. Now here is where the patience comes in...starting with the side of the steak with spinach and feta, roll the steak as tightly as you can. Tie with butcher's twine tightly. (if you need to know how to do this...Google it.) Cook on low heat on the BBQ until steak is cooked like you like it. Remove the butcher's twine slice and enjoy!

I got a BBQ for Christmas and LOVE it! The above picture is of the Roulade I actually cooked! I am so proud...although it cooked longer than I liked, it was still pretty tasty. Also, I did a horrible job tying it with butcher's twine...I am definitely going to need to practice.

Chicken Enchilada's

I am making Chicken Enchilada's for dinner tonight, it is a family recipe...just not my family recipe. So tasty, so simple...

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 small can Green Chilies
1 can Refried Beans
16 oz Sour Cream (original recipe says 8oz, but it isn't enough)
3-4 chicken breasts cooked and cubed (I boil my chicken)
Tortillas
Cheese

Add can of refried beans to meat and mix together. In a separate bowl mix soup, chilies and sour cream together. Coat bottom of pan with soup mix (thin layer so the tortillas don't stick to the pan). Set 1/4 of soup mixture aside. Roll Tortillas with meat and soup mixture along with grated cheese and put in pan. Top the rolled tortillas with the soup mixtures set aside earlier and cheese. You can also top with green onions. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes...and enjoy!

Side note: Refried beans are optional, if not using them, replace with a can of cream of chicken soup. It is tasty both ways, one is just creamier.

LARB the recipe

Sauce:
2/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup fish sauce
1 TBS sugar
2 tsp Thai roasted chili paste in oil or chili-garlic sauce

Mix together set aside.

3/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs ground chicken (beef, pork, or turkey)
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
3/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 TBS minced fresh lemongrass
1 TBS thinly sliced Thai chilies or Serrano chilies
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh spearmint leaves

Bring broth to simmer in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken. Simmer until cooked through, breaking up meat with spoon, about 8 minutes. Add green onions and next 3 ingredients. Stir until vegetables are tender and most of liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sauce, cilantro and mint.

Spoon into lettuces leaves, serve. (Boston or Romaine).

This is one of many recipes I found for LARB. It came from www.epicurious.com. It was very delicious! However, not as sweet as the one from Thai Siam.

Okay, so for anyone who has watched me cook or cooked with me knows that I am not very good at following recipes. I like to change the recipe just a bit and sometimes I just am not paying attention. So, this is what I did. I used turkey burger. I also did not put any Thai or Serrano chilies in it (good thing because it had enough spice without them). I put 1.5 TBL of sugar...it just needed to be a titch sweeter. I also served it over rice and then spooned it into romaine lettuces leaves. If you can't handle even a little spice, I would only use 1 tsp of chili sauce in the sauce recipe. You could also substitute the sugar for splenda. This recipe serves 6, so if you are like me...you will have leftovers for days, will be giving some away, and freezing some for later! Anybody want some LARB???

Helpful hints: buy the lemongrass, cilantro, spearmint, Thai chili or garlic chili sauce, and fish sauce at an Asian food market. It will be great quality and 1/2 to 1/3 the price of a regular store. In fact while you are the Asian market check out their spice aisle, a lot of times you can get spices you use everyday a lot cheaper, same goes for herbs and vegetables.