Whole Wheat Banana-Chocolate Muffins with Pecans

This is my first recipe using the GORGEOUS raspberry ice Kitchen Aide stand mixer that my auntie bought me. I will definitely post a picture of the stand mixer later, but you can see it here.

I woke up in the mood for muffins. After a quick Google search I found this recipe at Epicurious. It's a 1999 Bon Appetit recipe. I modified it slightly by adding whole wheat flour, using a few less chocolate chips, and adding pecans. After looking at the pictures, I probably could have added a few more chocolate chips, although the muffin I munched fresh from the oven had just enough.



1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
2/3 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1/4 c milk
1 egg
1 c mashed bananas
1/2 c chocolate chips (original recipe calls for 3/4)
1/2 c pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, mixing thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add dry mixture to wet, adding milk, as well. Add mashed bananas, mixing well.

Stir in chips and nuts.

Pour into prepared muffin pan, about 3/4ths full. This is a particularly dense batter, so it took about 40 minutes to bake. The muffins are done when a tooth pick comes out clean.

Makes 12 regular muffins

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #11

This is probably going to be my last posting for My Pink Stamper's National Scrapbook Day challenges. I made it all the way to 11 (doing 10 out of 12), but I think I'm out of time. I really enjoyed completing all of these challenges even though the product seemed a bit rushed at time. However, for nearly every challenge (except for this one, the mother's day challenge, and the layout), I made at least two cards for each challenge, which has helped me rebuild my stash and improve upon the first design. For example, on the glam, glitz, and glitter challenge, for my second one, I left out the glitter. Frankly, I like the second card a lot better. However, if not for the challenge, I would not have gone looking for an image that I could glam up. Being under a time crunch (each challenge was supposed to be done in an hour), also helped me keep the cards simple (mostly just a Cricut diecut, ribbon, and a stamp), but nonetheless fun. I'm not sure when I'll be able to set an entire day/weekend aside, but I will try to incorporate more challenges into my papercrafting. Anyway, the eleventh challenge was to make a project using pink, green, and black. I used the American Alphabet cartridge, My Pink Stamper Sweetest Cupcakes stamp set, the Sew Easy, and ribbon from my stash. The hot pink paper is from Papertrey Ink. Here's my card:





Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a great week!

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #10

The tenth My Pink Stamper NSD challenge is to make a layout or a card with a pet in it. I used the American Alphabet cartridge that came pre-installed with my Cricut Expression 2. The sample images have funky colors and I just followed along with that. I used a Stampin Up scallop punch, the My Pink Stamper Fabulous Phrases stamp set, pattern paper from the Crate Paper Toy Box collection, and misc twine and other paper. Here's my card:

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #9

The ninth My Pink Stamper challenge is to use glitz, glam, and glitter in your project. I have been dying to make a card with boots every since Robyn an a number of other bloggers I follow were talking about the Texas Stampede back in March. This boot is from the American Alphabet Cricut cartridge. I used gold stickles for the glitter/glam element, and Papertrey Ink cardstock and ribbon. The sentiment is from the My Pink Stamper Sweetest Cupcake stamp set. Here's my card:

Sunday Supper Series #16 - Ham, Asparagus, and Shallots Crustless Quiche

For no particular reason, I skipped last week's Sunday Supper. I had pictures and recipes to post, but didn't have the urge. Anyway, today's recipe is a super simple item for brunch. I baked a ham last week, taking advantage of the post-Easter sales and had a ton of leftovers. Ham seems to go well in breakfast times, even for those who are not fans of the ham and potatoes dinner. I modified recipes found at Finding Joy in My Kitchen and Simply Recipes. I went a little light on the cheese and perhaps too heavy on the milk, but it turned out just fine. Definitely a yummy dish that I will make again.



3 eggs + 2 egg whites
1/2 c skim milk
1/2 c 2% milk
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c cubed cooked ham
1/2 lb asparagus, cut into 1" pieces and steamed
2 large shallots, thinly sliced, about 1/2 a cup
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute shallots in olive oil until softened and beginning to brown. Steam asparagus as you cook your shallots. (I use those awesome steam bags made by Ziploc or Glad.) Toss shallots and asparagus is a little salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, beat eggs and then add milk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, about 1/2 tsp each.

In a 9" pie pan that has been spritzed with cooking spray, toss together asparagus, ham, and shallots. Mix in cheese. Pour in egg/milk mixture and level out the top.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until set.

Serves 4.

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #8

Happy Mother's Day to all the hardworking moms out there! I hope your kids and husbands are pampering you today, as you deserve it!

Here's my entry for My Pink Stamper's National Scrapbook Day Challenge #8, which was to make a summer-themed project. The lighting, which had been sketchy all day yesterday due to the rain, became terrible last night and I was too lazy to haul out my Ottlite. Thus, I had to wait until morning to take half-way decent pictures. This card was made using the Pack Your Bags Cricut cartridge, which has a variety of summer-themed travel cuts. I hope to do a number of mini-albums using this cart, but they haven't happened yet. These shorts were quite time-consuming as each colored flower is individually placed and some of the pieces are quite small. However, with the help of my trusty Cutterbee tweezers, I was okay. Ribbon and cardstock are from my stash. I used Distress Ink "brushed courduroy" around the edges. The sentiment is actually from My Pink Stamper's More Punny-licious stamp sets, but I realized that I definitely want to look for some summer and travel-themed sentiments. Here's my card:





Here's the inside:

Head back over to My Pink Stamper to see more National Scrapbook Day Challenges!

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #7

Well, I took a longer break for lunch than I intended. I haven't had a nap yet, but I'm thinking about it. Challenge #7 was to make a scrapbook page. This is actually my very first full-size layout using my Cricut. It's definitely a little basic, but not a bad first effort. I used the Life's a Party cartridge for the shaped page and Sesame Street Seasons for the photo and journal mat. To dress it up a bit, I used some Glossy Accents on the balloons. The paper is from the Basic Gray "Life of the Party" collection. Here's my layout:











Thanks for visiting. Head over to My Pink Stamper to play along or for more inspiration.

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #6

Okay, it looks like I'm skipping another challenge, #5 which is to make a 3D item. I actually have a number of 3D projects planned, including the Travel Tales Suitcase Mini Album designed by Kathy at Paper Phenomenon. However, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to make that could be made in an hour. I know, for my last post, I posted a card that I made before today, but it was something that I had never posted on my blog so I believe it was okay to enter it. Challenge #6 is to incorporate a tag in your project. I know what a tag is, but I'm not entirely sure what form it can take in a project. Thus, while I think the scallop that I used to mat the necktie is a "tag," I put the sentiment on a little tag just in case. I'm making several of this design of a Father's Day card to send to Operation Write Home. The deadline to submit Father's Day cards is May 21, so if I make a bunch this weekend and next, I should make the deadline. For this car, I used Cricut Essentials and Wrap it Up, My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments stamp set, American Crafts eyelets, twine from Papertrey Ink and misc paper from my stash. Here's my card:





Thanks for visiting. Head back over to My Pink Stamper to play along!

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #4

I'm skipping the third challenge at My Pink Stamper's blog because I'm behind and wasn't took inspired by it. However, if you're following along, click here to see what it is. The fourth My Pink Stamper challenge is to make something for Mother's Day. This is the card I made for my husband's mother. She just got it in the mail today, so it's okay to post it. I used the Echo Park "For the Record" paper collection, the Wrap it Up Cricut Cartridge, My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments Stamp set, and misc other goodies from my stash. Here is my card (sorry for the bad lighting):



The inside is super simple, using a Martha Stewart Punch called "Botanical Scallops."

Thanks for visiting. Head back over to My Pink Stamper's blog to follow along!

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge #2

The second National Scrapbook Day Challenge at My Pink Stamper is "make a card or scrapbook page using kraft cardstock." I used that Sesame Street Friends cartridge to make an Oscar the Grouch card. He's my husband's favorite. This was my first time using this cart and boy is it a pain! All the intricate details meant about an hour's worth of punching out little chads of paper. However, he turned out pretty cute. I used My Pink Stamper Punny-licious stamp set and other goodies from my stash. Here's my card:







Head back over to My Pink Stamper's blog to follow along!

My Pink Stamper NSD Challenge # 1

The first National Scrapbook Day Challenge at My Pink Stamper is "anything cupcake." I'm only about a solid hour behind in posting, but seeing as woke up at 530am, Hawaiian time, and it started at 10am Central, I don't think it's too bad. I used my NEW Cricut Expression 2, the American Alphabet cartridge, a new Darice embossing folder, DCWV paper from the "Summer Dreams" collection, the My Pink Stamper Sweetest Cupcakes stamp set, and misc ribbon and paper. Here's my card:









Head back to My Pink Stamper to follow along!

It's National Scrapbook Day!

Although this is technically the second one I've celebrated, I was a baby scrapbooker last year and all I did was marvel over all the spiffy events on the web and the neat projects I saw. Robyn is having an all-day event at My Pink Stamper.com which started at 10am CST. I just finished my first project and will have it up shortly. Other events going on include Laura at Following the Paper Trail who is participating in a Ustream blog hop, the Creaking Keepsakes Magazine blog celebration. Also, the Greeting Farm is having a weekend-long challenge.

Check back for more later! Have a wonderful, scrappin Saturday!

Martha Stewart Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've been on a red velvet kick of late. (See the layer cake I made a couple months ago here). Thus, when realized that I needed a treat for a birthday in my office in a hurry, this red velvet cupcake recipe by Martha Stewart fit the bill. I lightened it up a bit using apple sauce, but otherwise followed this recipe.



Cupcake Ingredients
2.5 cups cake flour, sifted
2 TBS cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1.5 c sugar
1 c apple sauce
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 c buttermilk
3/4 to 1 oz red food coloring (I poured until the desired color was achieved but used < 1 oz)
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp white vinegar

Cupcake Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using buttermilk substitute (1 cup milk + 1 TBS vinegar), make it now and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil, and apple sauce until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in food coloring and vanilla.

Mix flour and milk into sugar mixture, alternating flour, milk, flour, milk, flour whisking well after each addition.

Stir vinegar and baking soda together. Be prepared for it to foam. Quickly add to batter.

Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4ths full. Bake 20 minutes until springy and cooked through.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 24 regular cupcakes.

Frosting

1 c butter, softened
12 oz cream cheese (I used light)
1 lb confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, then vanilla. Mix until smooth.

It is not entirely necessary to refrigerate this frosting, but it may speed things up a bit.



Aren't they pretty?

Look what came from the wonderful folks in little brown shorts (aka UPS)?

My new Cricut Expression E2!!! I ordered Monday night at 5pm HST and it arrived by the end of the day on Thursday. I'm officially a HSN fan for at least the next five minutes as I was not charged for express shipping, only standard shipping, which I attributed to being in Hawaii (and thus not special enough to get free shipping). Before the end of the official launch on Tuesday (and even well before the E2 sold out, I think around dinner time EST on Tuesday), I had received the shipping notice that my new E2 was on the way!


Here it is out of the brown shipping box. Look for more pictures to come tomorrow morning. If you can believe it, all I've done so far is take it out of the box to look at the FOUR new pre-installed cartridges.


Here the mini image sheet. For whatever reason, I'm having trouble grabbing image sheets for the other cartridges. The Cricut Decal cartridge has a whole line of Cricut bugs which are unbelievably cute and will definitely be making an appearance in vinyl very soon. The Just a Note cartridge was designed by Cosmo Cricket (a maker of yummy paper collections and other popular scrapbooking products), and has some neat tri-fold cards on it.

Thank you so much, Maryann!

Sunday Supper Series #15 - Chicken Fried Rice

Fried rice seems like such a decadent treat, but depending upon whether it's a side dish or main dish, how much fat and salt you use, it may be a fairly nutritional meal. I tend to make it to use up leftover brown rice, meat, and/or veggies. As you will see, the recipe is super simple--mix it all up in a pan with soy sauce, pepper, some sort of fat, and an egg or two to bind it all together. How simple?



.5 - 1 lb uncooked skinless chicken breast or thighs, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 c cooked rice (I use brown, but white will do)
1.5 c broccoli, chopped
~1/4 c soy sauce, divided
Fresh ground pepper
1 egg
olive oil
1 tbs butter, if desired (alternatively a splash of chicken broth)

In a large skillet with a high rim, saute carrots and onions in olive oil until they begin to soften. If using uncooked meat, push veggies off to the side and cook chicken sprinkled with a tablespoon or two of soy sauce in the center of the pan, adding the minced garlic, and stirring the mix together when the chicken is browned on one side.**

When the meat is cooked, add broccoli or other uncooked veggie and stir mixtures together until veggie begins to soften. Sprinkle with pepper.



Pour cooked rice on top of meat and veggie mixture and liberally season with another couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. (My rule of thumb for making fried rice is to use a little more soy sauce than I would put on white rice that I would eat as a side dish. If you are unfamiliar with soy sauce, start with 2 teaspoons at the first step and 1 tablespoon at the second step. You can always add more at the table.) Add butter or splash of chicken broth and mix together.

Add egg, slightly beaten to rice mixture, mixing well to coat. Cook on medium for another 5-10 minutes until egg is done. (I like a little crust on the bottom of my fried rice.)

Serves 3-4



**Notes:
If you are using cooked meat and veggies, saute onions and carrots until softened and beginning to brown. Add garlic in last minute of cooking. Add cooked meat and veggies, season with a tablespoon of soy sauce, and cook a few minutes until heated through. Then proceed to follow the rice and egg steps.

Happy Easter Bunny Cards

Good morning, everyone! Happy Easter!

If you're still wondering what to serve for Easter dinner or what to do with all those ham leftovers, hop over to my food blog for some ideas.

Despite my best of intentions, I ran out of time and made a whopping two Easter cards this year. I did mail them on Thursday, so since the federal government no longer observes Good Friday, there's a decent chance that they made their way to their destinations. I used the Create a Critter bunny that is just too cute. I considered, and actually cut out, bunnies from the Doodlecharms cartridge because they look a little like the popular marshmallow bunnies, but when it came to assembling the card, they just didn't work. Featured in the first card is the Martha Stewart Garden Trellis punch, which took awhile to get to me after I ordered it nearly a month ago, but it's perfect for those garden cards, so I highly recommend it.

Here's the cards:




Materials
Create a Critter (bunny)
Simply Charmed (eggs)
Doodlecharms (basket)
MyMindsEye Stella & Rose Gertie (pattern paper)
Stampin Up (cardstock for base, colored and white is scraps)
Papertrey Ink (twine)
Misc ribbon (I think it's from a local store in HI)
Distress Ink - Antique Linen
Martha Stewart Garden Trellis Punch
Sizzix embossing folderc (Diamond & Tropical Paisley set)
My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments Stamps (Happy Easter)
Basic Gray Easter stamps (inside stamps shown below)

Some closeups and insides

Lamb and Ham Recipes from the Archives

Happy Easter, everyone! I will post the Sunday Supper Series a little later in the day today. Since I'm traveling to see my husband, I will not be cooking this Easter. However, I wanted share a few recipes from the archives that you might want to make this year or next. I absolutely love lamb, and eat it in variety of ways. As for ham, I get a craving for it as a main dish about once or twice a year, which is quite the improvement from when I was younger, but it works great in sandwiches and other dishes with the leftovers.

"Traditional" Easter dinner dishes
Leg of Lamb with Herbs and Mustard
Mustard-Sugar Glazed Ham

Fun lamb dishes for anytimee
Slowcooker Lamb with Dried Plums
Lamb Tagine
Braised Lamb with Tomato Reduction
Irish Lamb Stew (from Eating Well)

What to do with all that leftover ham
Garlic Alfredo Ham and Veggies
Ham and Spinach Pasta

Pecan-Cherry Granola Bars

A couple of months ago, I was thrilled to share this recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Granola Bars as a suitable alternative to spending lots of dollars a week on store-bought granola bars for my husband to snack on that had goodness knows what sort of preservatives in them. That recipe is modified from one posted at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. Many batches later, I've added cranberries, cherries, raisins, pecans, and almonds, but you could add just about any sort of fruit and nuts (or chocolate chips), as well as wheat germ to up the nutritional ante. Here's my latest rendition, which was a hit at work this week:



Ingredients
1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
2 TBS honey
2 TBS corn syrup
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
2 c oatmeal (I use quick oats, but regular would work)
1/4 c wheat germ (can omit and use more oatmeal instead)
1/2 c nuts of choice
1/2 c dried fruit of choice

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and honey over medium heat. Stir in oats, fruit, nuts, and salt.

Spread evenly into an 8" square pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 22-25 minutes until golden brown. (Note: I use a ceramic dish. A metal pan might brown faster, so check at 20 min).

Cool on wire rack in pan for 10 minutes before cutting. (I then leave in the pan to cool completely, but you could pop out on wire rack. It is, however, necessary to cut before completely cooled).

Makes 12-16 bars.

TGF Flirty Anya Thank You Card

Happy Sunday, everyone! I wanted to share this card before I put it in the mail this week. I love this little lady from the Greeting Farm. The weekend I organized all my Greeting Farm stamps (see that post here), I knew that I wanted to make cards with the Flirty Anya stamp. She's so bright and cheerful. I was also super excited to use my new Sew Easy from We R Memory Keepers which I hope to use often. I ordered it back in January from an Ebay dealer when all my normal online sources were out of stock. Now I understand that its back in stock at most places, so I might have to look into getting more accessories for it. Basically, it allows you to do stitching without a sewing machine and without worrying about evenly spacing your hand stitches. Very neat. Anyway, have a great Sunday and here's my card:





Materials
The Greeting Farm - Flirty Anya
Copic markers
Paperytrey Ink cardstock and ribbon
DCWV Summer Designs matstack
Cake Basics Cricut cart for the scalloping
Stampin Up - So Happy For You stamp collection
bling and twine from my stash

Sunday Supper Series # 14 - Slowcooker Shoyu Chicken

Hi everyone. Today's dish is an awesome recipe for shoyu chicken that can be made in the slowcooker. This dish whips up with minimal effort, cooks quickly, and yields a tasty result. Hmmm, cooks quickly, you say? I thought the point of a slowcooker was so you could set it in the morning and have dinner waiting in the evening. Well, it doesn't work that way because chicken cooks far too quickly (this dish is done in 4 hours). However, it's perfect for that weekend dinner where you don't roll out of bed until noon, have a bunch of errands and other things to do during the day, and still want a home-cooked meal waiting for you that evening with minimal effort.

I found this recipe posted on a few blogs, including Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and Full Bellies, Happy Kids as Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken. I renamed it for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't do the second step that makes the chicken "sticky" and entails putting the cooked chicken under the broiler with a sauce that I didn't make. Second, if you grew up in Hawaii and I served you this dish, you would immediately call it Shoyu Chicken. ("shoyu" = soy sauce). This dish reheats very nicely, as well. As you can see from the picture, I turned it into a box lunch for work. Enjoy!



Ingredients
1.5 - 2 lbs chicken pieces
1/4 c brown sugar
2 TBS soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground ginger

Directions
Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Turn chicken a few times to coat. Cook on low for 4 hours, until chicken is cooked through.

So long as you don't cook it too much longer than necessary to cook the chicken, it will stay in one piece when you remove it from the slow cooker.