Applesauce Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've had half a jar of applesauce in the fridge for forever, and I finally decided to use it to make these!

I was taking photos at like 11pm... my apologies for the awful photos!

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients (Muffins):
2 cups flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups applesauce (mine was cinnamon applesauce)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Ingredients (Frosting):
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350. Line 18 muffin cups with liners, or grease the pans (I'd recommend greasing the pans... muffins have a tendency to get stuck to liners).
2) Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together into a medium bowl. Set aside.
3) Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together 1 stick butter, 1 cup white sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mix for about 3 minutes, or until smooth.
4) Mix in eggs, one at a time.
5) On low speed, add in the applesauce, and then the flour mixture.
6) Stir in nuts by hand.
7) Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.
8) Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
9) For the frosting - Using an electric mixer, mix the frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth. Spread on the cooled muffins.

Makes about 18 muffins.
Store muffins in the fridge in airtight containers.

They're pretty good w/o the frosting as well.

But so moist and delicious with the frosting!

Bacon Cheddar Chive Muffins

We just got back to Houston last night after five lovely days in Washington D.C. and Williamsburg, Virginia! It was so, so nice to take a little trip, and we had a blast, but now I'm utterly exhausted! Haha.

The last few days of blog posts have actually been pre-scheduled... I'm not quite dedicated enough to blog while on vacation! :o) I answered some of your questions about the wedding newspaper announcement in the comments section on that post, so feel free to take another look if you had a question for me!

I have so much to tell y'all about the trip, but it's going to have to wait until I have a few spare seconds to get all the photos uploaded and such! While I'm catching up on life, laundry, and law school for the next couple days, I thought I'd share some more yummy recipes...

This one is for bacon cheddar chive muffins, and they're so delicious! Before we left for DC I was eating a couple every morning for breakfast, and then eating a few later in the day just because I'd been thinking about them all day. Hehe.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon (or if you're like me, 8 slices or so with all the fatty bits picked off)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp dried chives (or 8 tsp chopped fresh chives)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c milk
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400.
2) Cook the bacon in a skillet. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
3) Lightly grease a 12-muffin pan (If you use paper liners, and they end up a little stuck to the muffins, so I'd recommend going without liners).
4) Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, cheese, chives, crumbled bacon).
5) Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl (egg, milk, soup, vegetable oil).
6) Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture just until moistened (don't overmix!). Spoon batter into the prepared muffni pan.
7) Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Batter!

All ready for the oven!

Ta-da!

Yummm! :)

Margarita Mac and Cheese

Ever since we ate at the Jus' Mac restaurant, I've been itching to try some grown-up mac n' cheese of my own. I love margarita pizza, so I figured margarita mac and cheese must be good too. I was right!

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
8 oz macaroni or similar pasta (I used rotini)
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (plus extra for garnishing before serving!)
2-3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp flour
2 cups milk

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. Cook macaroni as directed on the package. While macaroni is cooking, prepare the sauce.
2) Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant.
3) Whisk in flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth and bubbly.
4) Remove from heat and stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Let boil for one minute. Stir and set aside.
5) Drain pasta and mix it with the drained tomatoes. Place half in the bottom of an ungreased 2.5 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp salt, about 1/8 tsp pepper, half the basil, and half the cheese.
6) Add the other half of the pasta-tomato mixture. Sprinkle with another 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper, plus the rest of the basil and cheese.
7) Pour the sauce over the macaroni.
8) Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake 15 more minutes.
9) Add fresh basil on top before serving.

Enjoy!

Crock-Pot Spinach Lasagna

This recipe is almost too easy. It's kind of amazing how easy it is. I mean... you just dump a bunch of ingredients in the crock pot, and in a few hours it magically turns into lasagna. Ah-mazing. Plus, it only takes a few hours so I can stick it in the Crock-Pot when I get home from law school and have it ready for a late dinner!

Recipe adapted from Real Simple magazine.

Ingredients:
2 10-oz packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup ricotta
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 cups marinara sauce
6 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles (NOT the no-boil kind)
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella

Directions:
1) Mix together the spinach, ricotta, and 1/2 cup of the parmesan.
2) In a second bowl, mix the marinara sauce with 1/2 cup water.
3) Spread 3/4 cup of the marinara mixture in the bottom of a slow-cooker. Top with 2 noodles (breaking them to fit), 3/4 cup of the marinara mixture, half the spinach mixture, and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Repeat.
4) Finish off with the remaining noodles, then the remaining marinara mixture, then the remaining cheeses (mozzarella and parmesan).
5) Cover and cook on high until the noodles are tender, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Marinara Mixture

Spinach Mixture

I left mine in for a little too long (4ish hours), so it ended up a little crispy on the edges, but it was still delicious! Plus, my crazy husband actually enjoys crispy over-cooked cheese on Italian dishes. Weird, right?

Yum!

Chicken & Swiss Pockets

Puff pastry is my new favorite. Seriously, I'm in love. I can't get enough of the golden brown flakiness! Plus, it makes things look super impressive!

Recipe very loosely adapted from Real Simple magazine

Ingredients:
1 package frozen puff pastry
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 cups chopped/shredded cooked chicken (about two chicken breasts, or just use a rotisserie chicken!)
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 egg

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 400.
2) Thaw the puff pastries on the counter according to package directions. Use a pizza cutter to slice each one in half, and stretch them out a little.
3) Mix the chicken, peas, cheese, and basil in a bowl.
4) Place 1/4 of the chicken mixture into the center of each puff pastry.
5) Fold the sides of the pastry over and pinch the seams shut.
6) Mix the egg with 1 tbsp water, and brush the egg wash over the tops of your pastries.
7) Bake for 25-35 minutes (on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray), or until the tops are golden brown and the pastry is cooked through.

This is my chicken. I just seasoned three frozen chicken breasts and stuck them in the oven @ 350 for 45 minutes.

This is the seasoning I used. I have no idea what's in it, but it's delicious! Jeff got it from a business convention, oddly enough. Most companies give away stress balls and pens, but this one gives away a spice blend!

Puff pastries thawing on the counter...

Cutting it in half...

Look! Frappuccino basil! I had only ever seen basil sold in little pouches before this, but I'm a big fan of the cup!

Plus, the leaves were HUGE!

Here's the chicken mixture pre-mixing.

See how I stretched the puff pastry out a little? 

Yumm! I've found it works better to bake them seam-side up... it may not look as pretty, but it prevents the cheese from oozing out as much.

St. Patty's Day Yummies!

First of all, today is the last day to enter the giveaway, so don't be late! There aren't that many people so far, so you've got a good chance of winning!!

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I thought I'd share a few fun recipes to bring out your Irish spirit. Did you know I'm half-Irish? I am. For a long time Jeff though he was half-Irish too, but about a year ago he mentioned it in front of his parents and they were like umm...Jeff...we're not Irish...at all. I have no idea why he thought he was, but he's not. But we pretend like he is because I like the idea of having half-Irish babies someday.

(source)

Anyway, here are some great recipes for lots of green food! Pull out your shamrock-shaped spatula and get going! Or, if you're not crazy like me and don't have a shamrock-shaped spatula, a regular one will do just fine. :)

"Green Velvet" Whoopie Pies

Green Candied Popcorn

Chocolate Stout Cake

Bailey's Irish Coffee

Easy Irish Soda Bread

Ice Cream Jello

Green Mac n' Cheese

Irish Mint Trifle

I haven't actually tried any of these other than the Irish coffee and the soda bread (although I have done candied popcorn in red & green for Christmas, so I guess that counts too!), so let me know if you make one!

Stuffed Pasta Shells

This is one of the first "big girl" recipes that I conquered in college. The recipe came from an old sorority cookbook, and I love it!

Ingredients:

1 package mild breakfast sausage
1 jar mushrooms (4 oz)
Seasoning (I use an Italian seasoning blend which contains basil, oregano, rosemary, and some other stuff)
Spaghetti sauce (1 jar)
grated parmesan cheese
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (10 oz)
1 24oz carton cottage cheese
1 box jumbo pasta shells
8 oz mozzarella or Italian Blend cheese

Directions:

1) Brown sausage and drain.
2) Mix in spinach, mushrooms, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, and seasoning with the sausage.
3) Cook pasta shells according to package directions (minimum time), then drain and rinse.
4) Stuff shells with the sausage mixture (get your hands dirty!) and place in a greased 9x13 pan.
5) Pour spaghetti sauce over shells, making sure all surfaces are covered.
6) Sprinkle mozzarella or Italian blend cheese on top.
7) Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes, and then bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

I don't have pictures of the next bit b/c my hands were dirty, but just uncurl the shells, stuff 'em, and place them in the dish!

All done!

Mmmm, shells! 

Enjoy!