Aggies Do It Better

Snack-cake inspired cupcakes. I won't say I exactly invented these, for a quick search of the internet would prove otherwise. Nonetheless, they are INSANE. I used a new recipe from Marthastewart.com, and they tasted more like brownies than cupcakes. And let's not forget... it's what inside that counts. Drumroll....these are my first ever "filled" cupcakes. I think I may never not fill a cupcake again. The filling is a buttery-marshmallowy-cream.

This weekend I tackled one of the more time-consuming recipes: the Enchiladas. Holy bazillion steps. Cook the meat, make the sauce, fry the tortillas, dip the tortillas in the sauce, assemble, bake. Much different than my own enchilada recipe, and it has beef in it (first for me, I usually use chicken). This is definitely not something I could manage during the week with the banshees running around. Looks just like the picture, that's a good sign right? Yum. They were pretty good, but at the end of the day, I still prefer chicken. Bygones. I also made these to go with. I halved the recipe, since I knew I would be the only one eating these. My hubs has gotten A TON better about trying new things, but this kind of thing is a no-go for him. I'm the only one in the house that likes spicy things. I mean, I put Frank's or Tabasco on ever.y.thing. I think #2 will be my partner in crime when he gets older. The recipe calls for basting them in BBQ sauce after wrapping in bacon, and...

Ah, Meatloaf. We meet again. This was the meal I was in the middle of when my oven exploded on me two weeks ago. (No, really, sparks came up and over the food from the heating element.) So, I was anxious to conquer this. It was really good, albeit not exactly low in calories. I'm pretty sure the Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes at Cracker barrel are a healthier choice (no really, I looked it up.) Nevertheless, yum! The meatloaf has parsely and parmesean cheese in it. With bacon on top. And the potatoes have...butter. Lots of butter. mmmmmm. Paula Deen would be proud! Nerd alert: I typed up all the recipes in this book in a list into Word, so I could have it in these posts and cross them off. But I can't figure out how to a) do the "strike through" text, and b) I'm copying and pasting the text since I can't save it as a jpeg and when I paste it here the highlighting I'm using doesn't show up, and the format is all wonky. Help! (ps. I have word 2003 if that ...

Yesterday I made these "breakfast" muffins...although, they are so sweet I'm sure it would be frowned upon if I gave them to my boys for breakfast with nothing else except milk. Hypothetically. I took a few pics of the process, but making muffins/cupcakes is pretty straightforward, isn't it? This just shows that the recipe indicated it would make 12 muffins, but I came out with 16. Maybe because I used my ice-cream scooper? I A-L-W-A-Y-S use it so they come out nice and even and all the same size and shape. Type A and all that. I took a pic of this because I'm not really sure what was happening in that middle row there...never seen that before! They are pretty basic plain muffins (there's a little nutmeg in them) and then while they are still warm you roll them in melted butter (2 sticks!) and cinnamon sugar. Hello, Lover. verdict: they were awesome. However, next time (these will be in heavy rotation I'm sure) I think I will make them in mini muffin pans,...

This weekend I completed my 2nd half-marathon. In 3.5 months. Who am I ??? Seriously, yall, this is someone who N-E-V-E-R planned on running more than a 5k. Like, that was me last summer. I took the plunge and signed up for a 10k, then a year later another one, and that was it. Maybe it got in my head I could do these because I'm thinking....TENk...that's almost 13 miles... when, uh, NO, 10 is 6ish miles, it's not even the same thing! But here I am! And...deep breath...I'm thinking of doing another one. In 6 weeks. The Country Music Marathon and Half is pretty much the biggest race of the year here. I did this one because I just didn't want to wait that long. After that, though, I might have to take the summer off from the LONG distances because I don't do that well in the heat. Here is me before the race. It started and finished at the stadium where the Titans play. All smiles! And, since it's the weekend before St. Patty's Day, I had to green it up, y...

These don't need much of an intro: Dark chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache and Bailey's Irish creme Buttercream. There are lots of these type of cupcakes making the rounds right now, so when I got asked to make some this week for a birthday I thought they'd be perfect!

Hope everyone had a great Mardi Gras! Here is my first King cake I've ever made, it's from my Paula Deen Celebrates Book. It turned out huge, and took all day long to make-easily the most complicated bread recipe I've ever made. Next time I will make 2 cakes out of this. And, not forget to add the melted butter on the inside before adding the cinnamon sugar and rolling it up. doh! It still turned out ok, even though I don't have anything to compare it to. Here is the Shrimp Etouffee I made, also from the Paula Deen book. (the Mardi Gras chapter! I love it...it's all holiday menus.) I've never made anything like this before either, and I did have to alter the recipe at the beginning a little bit because the flour:butter ratio for the roux you start with left it a little runny so I had to add more flour. And I added a whole lot more Tabasco than it said...and I could have added more!

Tonite I made Red Beans and Rice, yall! I started out with dry beans, and I started soaking them yesterday, just like the book says, and damned if it still didn't take twice as long as the recipe said to cook until the beans were soft. This is why I never use dry beans!!! ugh. What a beating. But in the end? Still pretty good! Along with them I made the PW Buttermilk Biscuits. I kind of had to make do a little, because I am still lacking some necessary kitchen equipment. You start out with the flour/baking soda etc. mixture, and then are supposed to "cut in" the butter and shortening with a pastry cutter (which I don't have) or 2 knives (um, yeah, not happening..) Anyhoo...I usually use my trusty food processor for this part. Except, it has gone to meet it's maker. And by maker, I mean the dumpster. It was a cheapo-brand that I was lucky enough to get 7 years out of, and now I'm saving up for the BIG DADDY that I really want. Still waiting. So, I just used my ...

Last week I FINALLY got The Pioneer Woman's cookbook! I've been wanting it for a while. I am planning on cooking my way through it, but only a few a week, or else all the progress my husband and I have made watching our calories since the beginning of the year will be negated!! I'm not trying to be original, I'm sure many have done this already. I just think it will be fun! (disclaimer: I'm typing this blog from my phone, as a text, i'll try email next, and the pics are from there too. I hope it works, because this is the easiest way for me to get blogs up quickly as I progress along in this project!) (2nd disclaimer: I went and changed this to a draft so I could edit the format on the computer because it didn't put the pics and text where I wanted. TEXT BLOG = FAIL. But, at least I got the text and pics up on here with a lot less time, just had to edit a little, so we'll see.) Here we go! I also am using my cast iron skillet for the first time. She ment...