I found this great neat recipe for Cupcake Bites/Pops @ Bakerella. After I found it I just needed a reason to make them. Morgan came home after her Bible study last Monday at told me she had to bring snacks. Well, I was so excited, I am not sure she was, but I was, because that meant now I had a reason to try my hand at these neat little cupcakes.
I did not use chocolate bark, instead I used chocolate, because I had plenty of it. Unfortunately this did not work so well, next time for sure I will try the bark. I think the chocolate doesn't set up as well as teh bark would have. Also, my cake was very moist and I think it posed a problem in the long run.
However, this was my first attempt at them and I usually learn from my mistakes. I also have an idea to use buckeye filling (peanut butter & powdered sugar) in them next time.
These were the best of the bunch. The others turned out not so pretty, perfectly edible but not pretty!
Hopefully the next batch will be much improved!

This is my homemade potpie. The crust is not homemade, but it is very easy to make if you have a little extra time.
This is how I put it together:
2-Rolled Pie Shells (1 pkg)
2 bone-in chicken breast
5 small potatoes (Approx 2 Cups)
1 can green beans
1 cup carrots
1 cup corn
1 cup peas
3-4 Tbl Corn Starch

Boil your chicken in approx. 6 cups water. Add either fresh or dried onions and garlic(your preference on amount), while it's boiling.
Peel & dice carrots & potatoes. In two different saucepans boil your carrots and potatoes till fork tender.
After your chicken is cooked take it off the bone. I use latex gloves to handle the hot chicken. Then dice your chicken. By this time your carrots and potatoes should be done. Drain them and add them in a large mixing to your diced chicken. add your other vegetables.
Now in a saucepan take approx. 3 cups of your chicken broth and bring to a boil. Take your corn starch and add water to it until it makes a white liquid. Not pasty, you want it not too runny and not too thick. Add this to your broth, this will thicken your broth. From here you can add more or less of either depending on how much you will need. Cook until thickened.
Add this to your chicken and veggies. Mix well.
Place your pie shells into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, cut off extra crust use on top. If you want more crust you will need to buy another package or make more.
Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until bubbling in center.

This is a great recipe to use leftover veggies or stockpiled veggies.

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I have never made homemade egg rolls, but when I saw the eggs roll wrappers at Scott's this week for .99 I thought I would give them a try. We ate Stir fry with these and it was a very good meal!!!
This is what I did to make them.

First I shredded 1/2 a head of cabbage and 1/2 a bag of mini carrots. If you don't have a food processor you can chop this up really fine.
Then I added 1/2 bag of bean spouts to the above mix along with 2 tsp ginger and then I threw in some dried onion, approx. 2 Tbs.

Next I cooked the chicken (you can use pork or shrimp) in the wok. At this point I used 3 chicken breast cut up in about 1 inch squares. We cook our meat with honey, stir fry sauce, and soy sauce. After the meat is cooked most of the way, take enough out for your egg rolls use the rest in your stir fry. You shouldn't need more than one breast of chicken for this mix. Cut this chicken up in small pieces and then mix it into the cabbage mix.

Then fill the center of your egg wraps with the mix. Not too full or they rip (like I did with some of mine, they still fry okay). It shows on the back of the package of egg rolls how to wrap them up.




Now your ready to deep fry them. We have a fry daddy and I set mine just under 375.

If you are making stir fry with this you can use all the extra veggies in it. Add them after you take out your meat for you eggs rolls then by the time you have filled the rolls and cooked some of them your stir fry should be done.
Timing on things like this is hard to estimate, so if you add your veggies to your stir fry (if they are fresh) then it should work out right.

I did not fry all of mine before dinner. I fried just enough for dinner then fried the rest. I put them in the freezer for lunches. If you do this put them in the refrigerator while your eating. I noticed the longer they sat out the more they puffed up when they were fried.

HINT: Have several paper towels ready to drain off the oil. It gets in the little crevices. As you can see in my pictures they release a lot of oil sitting there.

We went away Thursday and got back today. While we were gone I came across a great Apple Butter recipe. I am not crazy about Apple Butter but John absolutely loves it. I thought this is a great time with all the apples in season to make some.

Ingredients:
6 -7 pounds tart apples unpeeled and quartered
3 Cups Water
3-1/2 Cups Sugar (can be adjusted)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)

(I will probably also add nutmeg even though the recipe does not call for it.)

Directions:

In a 6-8 quart pot bring apples and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the apples are tender. Press cooked apples through a colander or food mill. Discard peels.

Return pureed apples to the pot. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, until the consistency is very thick and the color is dark brown, about 8 hours. Freeze in containers.

Yield: 4-6 Cups

I can't wait to try this one out!

I went to a friends house for a Pamper Chef party the other night and this is one of the things we made. They are very good! I decided to make them for my Nephews housewarming party on Sunday.

Sorry for the arrangement of this but I am just re-typing what is on the recipe. It does not list the ingredients separately.

1. Combine 1 pkg corn muffin mix, 3/4C sour cream, and 1C grated cheddar cheese.
2. add 1/4C flour and 1Tbsp Chipotle Rub
3. place in mini muffin pan and Bake at 350 for 14-16 mins.
4. Meanwhile dice 1 small red bell pepper and thinly slice 1-2 green onions
5. cook peppers over med heat until they begin to soften and then add 1 1/2 C diced cooked chicken and add 1Tbsp Chipotle rub. Cook this over med heat for 2-3 mins
6. Combine chicken mixture with 1/4C sour cream
7. When muffins are done, immediately press tops inward (they suggest using the mini tart shaper)to form cups.
8. Cool in pan for 3 Mins
9. Remove cups and divide chicken among the cups
10. Tops with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro

ENJOY!!