Category Archives: Recipes

Delicious recipes for the whole family!

Hot Flash Cupcakes!

January 22, 2016Recipes, Uncategorized50 year old birthday's gift, buttercream frosting, chili frosting, chocolate cupcake, cupcakes, fire cupcakes, hot flash, hot flashes, hunger games, recipeWelcome to my blog!

These cupcakes are on fire!!

Hot Flash Cupcakes prove that menopause doesn’t have to be all bad! Rich dark chocolate cupcakes combined with spicy buttercream frosting makes for a cupcake anyone would love! Add some fire and you have the perfect gift for your hot flashing friends!

To prepare these fabulous Hot Flash Cupcakes, you need a dark chocolate cupcake recipe and luckily for you, I have one! This recipe makes one dozen rich wonderful cupcakes that stand up well to the spicy buttercream that tops this fun and flashy dessert!

As always, a printable recipe can be found at the bottom of the page!

Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

1 Stick of Butter at Room Temperature
3/4 Cup of Sugar
1 Large Egg at Room Temperature
1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Buttermilk at Room Temperature
1/2 Cup Hot Water

Gather all the ingredients!

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl. Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat well, add the egg and vanilla and beat well.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and beat until just combined, Add ½ of the buttermilk, beat until just combined. Repeat with 1/3 of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Finish with the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. At a slow speed, beat ½ cup hot water into the batter until just combined.

Prepare the cupcake tin with 12 paper cups and distribute the batter evenly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

Don’t they look incredible – they taste yummy too!

Now for the frosting!

Spicy Buttercream Frosting Recipe!

2 Sticks of Butter at Room Temperature
3 Cups of Powdered Sugar
2 Teaspoons of Cream
1 Teaspoons of Vanilla
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Chipotle Chili Powder
1/4 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Combine all spices into a small bowl.
For those of you who like it extra hot, you can up the cayenne pepper to 1/2 teaspoon!
In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. At low speed, add the powdered sugar and cream, varying the amounts until the desired consistency is achieved.

Sift the spices into the frosting, add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Time to turn that spicy frosting into Fire!

We all know that the hottest part of the flame is yellow, therefore you need to try to make your frosting yellow as it will be the center or hottest part of the flame! The added spice mixture makes this challenging because it lends a brownish hue to the frosting. Just go ahead and throw in some yellow food coloring and mix well. No need for perfection. You will be adding orange and red to the tips of the flames and it will all turn out fabulously. Now it’s time to frost! Fill your pastry bag and frost using whatever tip you want. Try to form peaks like flames of a fire!

To finish your flames, add red and orange food coloring to a small amount of frosting. Gently mix the color in the frosting while trying to keep the colors mostly separate!

Making Fire with Frosting! — Hot Flash Cupcakes!

Using a fork, pick up a small amount of the colored frosting and streak it through the piped frosting of each cupcake. Try to make it look like fire by lifting and separating the buttercream into flames!

Hot Flash Cupcakes will bring a smile to all your Hot Flashing friends!

For all you Hunger Games fans, these would work well at your next Hunger Games party!

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Spicy Chicken Dip Recipe

June 1, 2015Recipeschicken, chicken dip, chicken spread, cream cheese, crostini, diy, green chili, jalapeños, recipeWelcome to my blog!

This Chicken Dip Recipe is made spicy by adding jalapeños and it is wonderful. My favorite way to eat the dip is on crostini, but it also makes a great sandwich spread.

So many options – dip at a party, sandwich spread for your family or something you whip up at the last minute to impress your friends!

If you want to turn down the temperature, this recipe can be prepared with the wonderful flavor of mild green chilis instead of the jalapeños!

Spicy Chicken Spread Recipe — Spicy Chicken Dip on Crostini!

The original recipe came from a friend of mine and it contained a lot more cream cheese than chicken so I changed it so it’s more about spicy chicken made creamy with less cream cheese!

Spicy Chicken Spread
1 lb of cooked chicken – shredded
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup chicken broth
1 – 4 oz can mild green chili’s – drained
1 – 4 oz can diced jalapenos – drained (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

I always use the entire can of green chilis and only a tablespoon or two of the jalapeños. The jalapenos have a wonderful flavor that I love, but adding the entire can makes it too spicy for me! For those in my family that can’t seem to get enough spice, I keep the left over diced jalapeños as a condiment!

Combine all the ingredients together, stir well and heat in a covered crock pot for at least an hour. Stir occasionally while cooking.

The result is a creamy delicious chicken spread that everyone will love!

When I am in a hurry, I microwave all the ingredients for a few minutes in a bowl and then pour them into the crock pot. This speeds things up, but don’t skip the crock pot all together. Allowing the chicken mixture to simmer in the crock pot adds something special to the recipe!

The truly brave can top the chicken dip with fresh jalapeños!

Enjoy!

Make your own Almond Butter!

March 23, 2015Recipesalmond, almond butter, coconut oil, diy, honey, nut butter, nutribullet, peanut allergy, peanut freeWelcome to my blog!

I am so excited by my latest discovery – How to make Almond Butter!

Our house is a peanut free zone therefore, NO Peanut Butter! I love peanut butter so to compensate for its loss I have tried every type of nut butter I can find. My favorite is almond butter, but even that can be disappointing!

I don’t know how many times I have opened a new jar of almond butter only to find it was beginning to go rancid. The use by date says it should be good, but the flavor says something else.

So good bye commercially prepared almond butter! These days I am making my own!

To prepare the almond butter, I use my newest love – the NUTRiBULLET! I love how easy it is to use and clean.
Oh yeah – it makes great smoothies too, but that is for another post!

The almonds I purchase are from Blue Diamond! They are peanut-free and so far these are the only peanut free nuts I have found! Thank you Blue Diamond!

Almond Butter Recipe
1/2 cup almonds (I use Blue Diamonds Whole Natural Almonds – they are raw!)
3/4 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp honey
Dash of salt

Let’s get started!

Grease a frying pan with a small amount of coconut oil and warm over medium heat. Toss in the almonds and stir gently until the almonds become fragrant and begin to toast!

Remove the almonds from the pan and cool until just warm.

If your almonds cool completely, warm them in the pan again. Warm almonds is the key to making almond butter quickly. You do not want to burn out your blending device so make sure the almonds are warm. Also, be sure that the blending appliance you use is powerful enough to grind almonds!

I toss my warm almonds into my NUTRiBULLET! After blending for 10-20 seconds, I shake the bullet so all the almond pieces drop down to the blade area and blend again for 15-20 seconds. After 5-6 blending cycles, I end up with almond butter.

As you can see in the above photo, the paste appears a bit dry. The butter can be used as is, but to improve the flavor and add smoothness, add the coconut oil, honey and a little salt!

Blend again and it will result in a smooth and delicious almond butter! Store the almond butter in the refrigerator!

Notice that I only prepare 1/2 cup of almond butter at a time. Why? Because I am a pig and there is always the fear that I will eat all of it in one sitting! – Don’t laugh – it has happened! For me, it is best to keep it at 1/2 cup!

The other reason to prepare small amounts – Nuts will go rancid faster after heating and grinding. Small amounts alleviate the fear of this delicious butter going rancid before you have time to gobble it up!

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Pancake Recipe

March 5, 2015Recipesbreakfast, buckwheat, cloves cinnamon, diy, ginger, gingerbread, gingerbread pancakes, gluten free, gluten-free pancake, molasses, pancakes, recipe, whipped creamWelcome to my blog!

I love gingerbread and what could be better than starting the day with rich, moist, wonderful pancakes! These Gingerbread pancakes can be prepared gluten-free and are full of molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and the special ingredient – buckwheat! Top them with luscious whipped cream and everyone will be coming back for more of these hearty and delicious pancakes!

I was challenged to make this recipe from my sister who is very good at varying her diet. I tend to get stuck in a rut with cooking so I was up for the challenge.

This recipe includes two ingredients you may not commonly use – Molasses and Buckwheat!

Molasses is an excellent sugar to use when baking and blackstrap molasses is the healthiest because it contains the least amount of sugar and the highest concentration of vitamins and minerals. Who knew sugars could be healthy, but don’t go crazy with it as it is still a sugar!

Buckwheat is gluten-free and is very good for you! I have to admit, until now I have never been a fan of the flavor of buckwheat. In this recipe though, the buckwheat seems to enhance the dark richness of the molasses!
Buckwheat – you have a new fan!

For more information on buckwheat, here is a wonderful link to check out!
The World’s Healthiest Foods

Now on to the recipe!

Gingerbread Pancake Recipe
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (melted)
1 Cup Buttermilk
1/2 Cup Molasses
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Cup Pancake Mix (I use Pamelas’s Gluten-free Baking and Pancake Mix)
1/3 Cup Buckwheat
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Whipped Cream for a delicious topping!

Using a whisk, blend the eggs, oil, buttermilk, molasses and vanilla.

Mix all the dry ingredients together!

Blend the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just mixed! A few lumps are fine!

Lightly oil a griddle and heat over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto your pan. The pancake will begin to form bubbles. When the bubbles on your pancake begin to pop and the edges look dry, flip the pancake and cook until browned.

My favorite topping for gingerbread is whipped cream, but the pancakes would also be delicious topped with apple sauce!

If you wish to use maple syrup on your gingerbread pancakes, skip the brown sugar in the recipe. I added the brown sugar because I knew I would be topping my fabulous pancakes with whipped cream! Yummy!

Here is a printable copy of the recipe!

Enjoy!

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Egg Soufflé Recipe

February 9, 2015Recipes, Uncategorizedbreakfast, diy, egg recipe, egg souffle, eggs, puff pastry, recipeWelcome to my blog!

Here is a delicious, elegant and beautiful breakfast to prepare for company or for those you love the most – your family! If you can make scrambled eggs you can prepare these wonderful soufflés!

What do you need?
1/2 small onion – diced
1 small green pepper – diced
1 jalapeno – diced (optional)
9 eggs
4 sliced cooked bacon – crumbled
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 sheet of puffed pastry
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray.

On a floured surface, roll out the puffed pastry sheet until it is a 12″ X 16″ rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pastry into 12 – 4″ squares.

Line each of the holes of your muffin tin with one of the pastry squares

Sauté the onion, green pepper and optional jalapeno in a small frying pan coated in oil until the onions become translucent. (Coconut oil is my favorite!)

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs and add the sautéd peppers and onions. Season with salt and pepper.

Using a large spoon, distribute the egg mixture evenly to the pastry lined muffin tin.

Top each of the soufflés with the shredded cheese and bacon.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the soufflés have puffed and the pastry is golden brown.

Doesn’t that look delicious!
I’m getting hungry!

Enjoy!

Here is a printable recipe for you!

[gmc_recipe 2201]

Peanut Butter Popcorn!

February 5, 2015Recipes, Uncategorizedalmond butter, coconut oil, diy, healthy, nutritious, nutritious treat, peanut allergy, peanut butter, popcorn, powdered sugar, treat, white chocolateWelcome to my blog!

I love popcorn, but popcorn drenched in a peanut butter glaze and drizzled with chocolate creates such a decadent, crunchy snack that you should be prepared to make a second batch! The peanut butter glaze is very simple to prepare and uses just two ingredients. For those who want a healthier option, I have included that as well. Both recipes are delicious!

Because we have a peanut butter allergy in our household, I have used almond butter instead of peanut butter. Luckily, this recipe will work with any kind of nut butter!

What do you need?
12 cups of Popcorn
1/4 cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
1/4 cup White Chocolate
4 oz Chocolate ( milk or dark) for drizzling

Into a small microwavable bowl, mix the peanut butter and white chocolate. Microwave 30-60 seconds or until the peanut butter is warm. Remove from the microwave and stir until the white chocolate has melted and the two ingredients are combined.

Peanut Butter Popcorn!

After spreading out your popcorn in a shallow pan, drizzle with the peanut butter glaze!

You can toss the popcorn gently with a spoon to help distribute the glaze!

Melt 4 oz of the chocolate of your choice and drizzle it over the peanut butter glazed popcorn.

Allow the glaze and chocolate to cool and enjoy!

Now for the Healthier Peanut Butter Popcorn Recipe!

This healthier recipe is just as tasty as the first, but it does not set up as well. If you are hoping to keep your peanut butter popcorn around for a day or two, I would suggest using the first option. If you are like me and the popcorn disappears in less than 30 minutes, then this is a great option for you!

Place 1/4 cup of peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a small microwaveable bowl. Heat for 30-60 seconds. Remove from the microwave and mix together until the coconut oil has melted and the two are combined. If you would like to sweeten the glaze, add up to 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Drizzle your peanut butter glaze over the popcorn and finish it off with a chocolate drizzle. Allow your popcorn to cool and enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Garnish for Cakes and Cookies!

February 2, 2015Cupcake Garnishes, Recipes, Uncategorizedanniversary, cake, chocolate, cookie, cupcake, Cupcake garnish, garnish, valentine, valentine's day, weddings, white chocolateWelcome to my blog!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! This year I want you to make all your Valentine treats special with an easy white chocolate garnish! I have even included a printable template of hearts to use as a guide in making these charming garnishes.

I have a feeling that your Valentines are going to feel very special this year!

What do you need?
Melted white chocolate
Pink or Red gel food coloring
A frosting decorating bag (The number one round tip works well!)

Melt white chocolate and blend in a gel food color of your choice. I used the Magenta gel food color from Wilton. The number one round decorating tip, shown here, works well for piping chocolate!

But before you start piping, print a Valentine Garnish Template! The template includes a variety of hearts and the letters – I and U. Cover the template with a piece of wax paper and you are ready to begin piping your chocolate, using the template as a guide!

In no time at all you will have lots of wonderful garnishes to use on all your Valentine’s Day treats: cupcakes, frosted cookies, cakes, candies… Below I have used the Valentine’s Day garnishes on my Mini-Chocolate Cakes filled with Almond Paste!

These little cakes are sure to please any Valentine! Just click on the link for the recipe – Mini-Chocolate Cakes filled with Almond Paste!

For what other events could you use these cute & tasty garnishes? How about weddings, anniversaries, engagements or any occasion where love is in the air!

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Mini-Chocolate Cakes Filled with Almond Paste!

January 21, 2015Recipes, Uncategorizedalmond paste, cake, chocolate, chocolate cakes, chocolate coating, diy, marzipan, mini-cakes, valentinesWelcome to my blog!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, these Mini-Chocolate Cakes filled with Almond Paste are delightful! I prepared them by baking cake batter in a mini-muffin tin along with almond paste and then covering them in a luscious layer of chocolate!

Your Valentines would love to receive these as their Valentine’s Day treat!

Mini-Chocolate Cakes Filled with Almond Paste

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
Dash salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup hot water
8 oz Almond Paste sliced into 1 tsp pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare mini-muffin tins by spraying with cooking spray. This recipe will make 30-36 mini-cakes!

Step One – Sift together dry ingredients

Mini-Chocolate Cakes filled with Almond Paste!

Step Two – Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until fluffy.

Step Three – Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Slowly add the hot water to the batter and beat until mixed well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until just combined.

Mini-Chocolate Cakes filled with Almond Paste!

Place 1/2 tablespoon or so of batter into each mini-muffin well. The goal is to have enough batter to cover the bottom on the muffin well. Into the batter, press 1 tsp of Almond Paste!

If you have never used Almond Paste before, it is wonderfully tasty stuff! You can find it in the baking aisle of your grocery store. It is sold in tubes and cans and is very easy to work with. For this recipe, slice the almond paste into 1 teaspoon pieces that will fit on top of the batter in the muffin tin!

You will most likely have a little extra Almond Paste left over after preparing this recipe. I recommend eating it quickly before the kids see it! It is that good!

Mini-Chocolate Cakes filled with Almond Paste!

Top the almond paste with 1 tsp of batter. Don’t worry if it doesn’t spread out evenly, it will in the oven!

Bake for 9-12 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Do not over bake!

After the mini-cakes have cooled in the pan for at least 5 minutes, carefully remove and allow to cool upside down!

After the mini-cakes have completely cooled. Drench in your favorite dipping chocolate!

Allow to cool & enjoy!

Here is a printable recipe!

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Creamy Rich Hot Chocolate

December 31, 2014Creamy Rich Hot Chocolate, Recipeschocolate, diy, drink, evaporated milk, Hot Chocolate, milk, recipeWelcome to my blog!

“This is sooo good” – my son’s comment after taking a sip of this wonderful hot chocolate!
My daughter describes it as “creamy, delicious and chocolatey!”

This recipe truly makes a heavenly, rich hot chocolate that is so easy to prepare!

Hot Chocolate

A printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this post!

Ingredients
1/4 cup Cocoa – I use Dutch Processed!
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 cup water
12 oz Evaporated Milk
6 oz Milk
1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla
Dash of Salt

hotChoc

If you do not have Dutch Processed Cocoa – no worries! Any cocoa will work, but you may want to add an additional tablespoon of sugar with any other cocoa! If you can get your hands on the Dutch Processed – it is worth it!

Combine the water, sugar and cocoa powder in a medium sauce pan.

hotChoc2

Bring the contents to a simmer for 3 minutes, whisking constantly.

hotchoc3

Whisk in the milk and the evaporated milk. Heat thoroughly then remove from heat, add the vanilla and a dash of salt! Enjoy!

Delicious Hot Chocolate

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Chicken Taquito Recipe

December 11, 2014Chicken Taquito Recipe, Recipesappetizer, chicken, chicken taquito, diy, gluten free, main dish, recipe, taquitoWelcome to my blog!

These taquitos are absolutely delicious! Recently, I made them for a party and now everyone wants the recipe – so here it is!

A printable recipe may be found at the bottom of the post!

Chicken Taquitos

40 Corn tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (A little over a pound of chicken)
2 tsp taco seasoning – I use the Taco Seasoning recipe from allrecipes.com
1 small can of roasted green chilis or roasted jalapeños
3/4 cup prepared salsa
1 can refried beans (16oz)
2 cups shredded Cheddar and/or Jack cheeses ( I use 1 cup of each!)

Season the shredded chicken with the taco seasoning. Puree or finely chop the green chilis or jalapeños and add them to the chicken along with the refried beans, salsa and shredded cheese. Mix well.

Top each corn tortilla with 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll tightly. I keep them covered with a wet paper towel until I’m ready to fry them to prevent cracking. Warming the tortillas in the microwave for a few seconds will also help prevent them from cracking.

taquito2 — Preparing the Chicken Taquitos

taquito1 — Chicken Taquitos ready for frying!

Fry the taquitos in 1 inch of oil until golden brown. This is a little tricky – I use my grilling tongs and carefully place the taquito into the oil with the open fold down. I hold the taquito in place for a couple of seconds to prevent it from unrolling. Once it’s browned, I roll over the taquito and fry the opposite side.

When golden brown, remove the taquitos from the oil and drain on paper towels.

taquito4 — Drain the taquitos on paper towels!

Enjoy immediately or freeze them for later! I like to serve the taquitos with salsa and greek yogurt – my healthy substitute for sour cream! Enjoy!

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Renee Loves DIY

The only thing better than creating something beautiful is to share it with others!

Category Archives: Recipes

Hot Flash Cupcakes!

Spicy Chicken Dip Recipe

Make your own Almond Butter!

Gingerbread Pancake Recipe

Egg Soufflé Recipe

Peanut Butter Popcorn!

Mini-Chocolate Cakes Filled with Almond Paste!

Creamy Rich Hot Chocolate

Chicken Taquito Recipe