Tuesday Treats: Twinkie Cupcakes with Strawberries

My husband told me that instead of a great meal this Valentine's day he wanted me to just focus on dessert and make whatever for dinner. Of course I didn't listen to him, but that's another story.

I decided to make Twinkie Cupcakes, a recipe he saw me looking at a couple of weeks ago. I also decided to serve it with frozen sliced and sweetened strawberries. It worked out perfectly! It was a wonderful dessert and I highly suggest making these delicious cupcakes! However, I suggest doubling the amount of filling it suggests making if you want to have enough to fill all the cupcakes... or at least I ran out just over halfway through... maybe I like too much filling ;).

Menu: Feb 7-13

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day yesterday. At least a little better than mine. I wasn't feeling so great yesterday morning, some type of stomach bug. It let up later so I could at least enjoy dinner!Then my little sister went to the ER last night and was admitted to the hospital, she's doing okay and should be home soon. She was mainly admitted for observation because her heart started racing and they couldn't get it calmed down. Let's just say it was a little more lively than I would have liked!

That said, I would have had time to post this menu yesterday, except I decided to spend my time making these instead:

Well, not just making them... Hubby and I also ate this for our Valentine's Dessert. They were delicious, I'll be posting about it later today.

Here's our menu:

Monday: Leftover Veggie Lasagna (Recipe will be posted this Thursday!)

Tuesday: Five Cheese Stuffed Shells

 Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Frozen Pizza

 

Friday: Cuban Seasoned Pork Chops, Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Chips and Guacamole

Saturday: Chicken Fryer (bought from store), Garlic Toast, Spring Veggie Mix (Frozen Steamable Pkg.)

Sunday: Pan fried pork chops, salad and Butter Parmesan Herb Angel Hair pasta

 Vote for the recipe you want to see next Thursday!

Foodless Friday: Heart Box

 As I said in Tuesday's Post, I made chocolates again this year. Actually I'm still in the process of making them - I have the ganache made and in my freezer as I used all my chocolate to make the ganache. However, once I get them made, I will be giving some away some to friends/neighbors. I wanted to make the presentation a little more special so I decided to make a heart box. The photos below are of my rough draft (made with paper I did not have any attachment to and has lines, etc on it. The finished product is at the end, of course I still need to add the chocolates once I get them dipped in chocolate!

Just as a warning, I'm not that great at describing crafting projects, so look at the pictures if you are confused!

 You'll need 4 hearts cut out of paper. You'll also need 4 strips of paper 1-1/2" thick (you'll need the strips long enough to fit around half of the heart).  Flip 1/4" of each paper strip and cut to the fold line. Make each cut 1/8" to 1/4" apart - this will help get the strip around the heart. At either end of two of the strips, make a flap to attach the two strips together. Use a glue stick and press down the strip of paper. Be sure to leave about a 1/8-1/4" lip on the outside (or you can glue another heart onto the top that is larger). Glue the flap to the other side of paper.

 You'll need make two hearts - one for the bottom and one for the top.

 Now for getting the inside to look great - simply place one of the cut out hearts into the inside of the heart - simply glue it down.

 Of course it definitely looks better when it is completed and using better colors...

Here is the view inside the top and bottom of the heart.

 Won't this look wonderful full of chocolates.

 

Decorate any way you wish - I am going to make it using patterned strips next time.

Fill with chocolates.

Spinach Chicken Alfredo Pizza

I was making our menu idea a few weeks back and I asked Hubby if there was anything he was wanting for dinners. This is something I do every time I make a menu, why, mainly because:

A.) don't like to come up with everthing we're going to eat 
B.) want Hubby to be able to tell me what he is craving, or wants to try
C.) I hate coming up with menu items for every day so Hubby now knows he NEEDS to give me suggestions...
D.) It gives more of a variety to the menu.
E.) I dislike coming up with each menu item, I may have mentioned that though.
How do you come up with your dinner menus?

He said he would love me to make a new pizza flavor. (He didn't mean make one up, just one I've never made.) I'd been wanting to try a Chicken Alfredo Pizza, we also had some spinach that needed used, so I came up with the Spinach Chicken Alfredo Pizza.We loved it and it will definitely be one I make again!

Spinach Chicken Alfredo Pizza

 First, you'll need a recipe for pizza crust. Oh, and yes this crust is suppose to be green! I used the spinach variation found at the bottom of the crust recipe (this would be a great crust for St. Patrick's Day!)

You'll also need Alfredo sauce, just omit the pasta.

 Spread on about 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated.

 Next, layer with chicken. I pan-fried 2 chicken breasts seasoned with garlic powder and onion powder and they turned out great!

 Next, add a layer of spinach. It shrinks as it cooks, so don't be shy!

 Then top with grated mozzarella cheese. Add as much or as little as you like...

 you know us, we added quite a bit.

 Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to turn brown.

 Cut and serve.

 This is an absolutely delicious pizza, plus has some really delicious spinach in it! It is a great way to get picky eaters to eat their veggies (my toddler ate it and he isn't a vegetable fan, but he is a bread fan).

 Enjoy!

Tuesday Treats: Valentine's Goodies

I can't believe it's almost Valentine's day! I don't have a new recipe, but I compiled a list of desserts that would be great for Valentine's day.  I know I'll be making the Honey Truffles this week (I'll probably be trying a new variation - if it works, I'll be adding it to the list)!

Easy Death by Chocolate Cake - If you wanted to make this into a heart - follow instructions found here.

  Fruit and Cream Wafers - These look better if the chocolate is grated over the cream and strawberries.

  Honey Truffles (Variations include: Pecan Cheesecake, Cheesecake, Lemon, Peanut Butter & Jam, Cinnamon Spice, Pumpkin Pie)

  Triple Chocolate Cheesecake - Perfect for any chocolate lover!

Menu: Jan 31-Feb 6

Writing Feb 6 might seem so ordinary to some people, but not for me. My youngest brother would have turned 22 yesterday. He passed away in 1999, a short 12 days after he turned 10. He died of pneumonia (due to health problems, he had pneumonia about 5 times per year.) It is hard to believe it has been 12 years...

This is the wreath I made to put next to his grave. There was a piece in the center that said something about sunshine. We all miss him, but are happy he doesn't have to suffer anymore. I'm sure we all have dates that as we write they bring memories to the forefront of our minds.

On to our menu: 

Monday: Broccoli, Cheddar Soup

Tuesday: Leftover soup

Wednesday: Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches*

Thursday: Chicken with orange rice and Almond Orange Broccoli (The rice is not pictured due to my rice cooker dying... basically it burned the bottom but didn't cook all the rice.)

Friday: Baked Potatoes with Broccoli & Cheese

Saturday: Spinach Pancakes with Fresh Salsa

Sunday: Veggie Lasagna

Vote for which recipe you want to see next Thursday! Spinach Chicken Alfredo Pizza won this weeks recipe slot and will be posted on Thursday.

*No recipe for this one, as it was just a simple grilled ham and cheese sandwich... However, I must say that in order to make a good one, do the following:
Slice of bread
Cheese slices (cover bread)
Slices of Deli Ham
Cheese slices (cover ham)
Slice of bread
Another trick is cooking them on medium-low so the cheese gets all melted and gooey before the bread turns black. I really like these, they are a great comfort food.

Foodless Friday: Recipe Index

While my husband is not quite finished with his thesis, I will be coming back from my minimal posting. I am not going to be back to my complete posting schedule, nor will anything but my menu posts and the poll winner recipe post be consistent, but I will be posting a bit more than I have been.

The real reason I'm writing today is to let you all know that I now have working Recipe Indexes. You can find them on the right side of this blog. (Under the ad and under the blog links will be links for the Photo Directory.) I have three different Indexes:

Dinner Recipes
Dessert Recipes  and
Breakfast / Snack Recipes

I will be adding a Side Dishes index as well (hopefully by the end of the month.)