Coconut Lemon filled Cupcakes

Looking for a unique flavored cupcake that is the perfect combination of sweet and tart?? Well, what baked good goes better than lemon and coconut?! This is the Martha Stewart Vanilla Cupcake recipe. But instead of all vanilla, I did half vanilla extract and half coconut extract. The lemon filling is a lemon curd from the Miette cookbook. And I made a cream of coconut buttercream. Ok here it is...

Cupcake Ingredients: 

Makes 24

3 cups of flour 

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt 

12 T room temp butter 

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat over to 350

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Than extracts 

Add flour mixture and milk. Alternating till everything is mixed well. 

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full

Back for 18 minutes

Let cool on cooling rack

Once cooled scoop out inside so it can be filled with the lemon curd. 

Lemon Curd Ingredients: 

Makes 2 cups

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons) 

7 egg yolks 

1/2 cup cubed butter at room temp

In a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water whisk sugar, lemon juice and yolks. 

Whisk until the mix thickens and is at least 172 degrees F

Transfer to a separate bowl and let cool for 20 minutes

Add butter and whisk until smooth and becomes even thicker 

Refrigerate until completely cool and has a pudding texture

Use a pastry bag to fill each cupcake 

Coconut Buttercream Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter room temp

1/2 cup vegetable shortening room temp 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

2 cups of powder sugar 

2 T milk 

2 T cream of coconut (or more or less depending on your taste preference) 

Beat butter and shortening until creamed

Add vanilla and 1 T cream or coconut 

Slowly add sugar 1/2 cup at a time

Lastly beat in milk and remaining T cream of coconut

Hot Pockets

This recipe is the easiest thing ever!!! And it's so versatile. I think it is a perfect after school snack or add a salad and it becomes a full meal. I made broccoli, cheddar and ham, but the options are limitless. For more ideas, You can try:

Pizza: mozzarella, pepperoni and marinera 

Black bean, salsa and cheese dipped in sour cream 

Bacon, jalapeño and cream cheese 

Sausage, bell peppers, pepper jack 

It can be whatever you want! I used the wheat artisan Pilsbury pizza dough. I cut it into 6 pieces, stuffed them and sealed them with a fork by pinching the seams. 

Bake at 400 for 12 minutes

 

Broccoli Bow-Tie Grape Salad

I'm not usually a huge fan of raw broccoli, but this salad is SO delicious. Makes a great side dish or mix in some meat and make it your main entree. Tonight we ate it with garlic chicken sausage. Yum!!! You can add bacon to it too if you want. 

Ingredients:

12-16 oz of broccoli

1/3 diced red onion

2 cups red grapes halved

1/2 a box of cooked bow tie pasta 

1/4 cup toasted almonds or pecans 

Preheat oven to 350

Bake nuts on a cookie sheet for 4 minutes

Mix all the remaining ingredients into the yogurt mix. 

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 

Creamy Chicken & Broccoli

My Mom used to make broccoli and chicken casserole all the time. It was delicious! This isn't her recipe, but it's a similar idea. I recently have been adding cream cheese to a lot of my dishes. It's so creamy and full of flavor. It also keeps it simple. You can pick your crunchy topping too. You can use bread crumbs, ritz crackers, I choose cheese it's! 😊

Ingredients: 

1 huge broccoli floret

8 oz plain cream cheese

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1-2 cups shredded chicken 

1/2 cup or less Parmesan cheese

Crushed crackers to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350

Boil broccoli till soft, then drain water

Whisk milk, cream cheese and garlic salt on medium high, till creamy. 

Pour over broccoli, mix in chicken

Oil a 8x8 baking dish and pour broccoli mix into baking dish

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and cracker crumbs on top

Bake about 12-15 minutes

Note:

Double the recipe and use a 9x13 dish to feed more

Feta Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Whenever we make burgers we always use lean ground turkey because its better for you. I know some people don't think they taste as yummy, but if you add a little extra special flare it will be awesome! I always add garlic and worctershire sauce to my raw meat and then make my patties. We stuffed the patties with feta cheese. Sometimes we use blue cheese and jalapeños. Get creative with the veggies and condiments too! Make aioli sauce or use different flavored hummus. Here's what I used for ths exact burger....

Ground lean turkey

Feta

Arugula 

Caramelized onion 

Roasted red bell pepper 

Red pepper hummus

Pesto

Toasted wheat bun

Moist Chocolate Cake

I'm baking a cake for my friends son's 1st birthday. We decided to go with a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and a white whipped cream frosting. Chocolate, because it's a easy crowd pleaser and whipped cream frosting because its perfect for kids who are going to smash it and eat with their little hands. Also in my opinion, buttercream is too sweet. This is the perfect frosting if you want it tame the sugar down. Something exciting about this cake (well, I think it's exciting...) is that I used organic virgin coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. You can substitute coconut oil easily and you don't need to worry about GMO's or processed food in your cake. Also, coconut smells and tastes way better! 

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup coco powder

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup hot black coffee

Preheat oven to 350

Butter and dust 9" pans with flour 

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl

Whisk wet ingredients together, but do not add the coffee yet. (Might get clumpy b/c the coconut oil is cooling. That's ok, it will melt again when you add the hot coffee) 

Slowly add dry ingredients 1 cup at a time. Alternating pouring some coffee into the mix. 

Once all ingredients are mixed together and you've scrapped the bowl with a spatula, transfer evenly into baking rounds. 

Bake for 35-40 

Place on cooling rack in the pans before removing cake. Wait until it is an ok temperature for you to hold the pan. Doing this too early can break the cake. 

Once totally cooled level the cakes with a cake level. You can get these at Michaels

Rim the cake with chocolate frosting and fill with a chocolate layer (I used store bought) 

Place 2nd cake layer on top. 

Place in fridge. You want the cake to be cold before adding the whipped cream frosting so it doesn't melt. 

To make the whipped cream frosting you want to use a chilled bowl. I put my bowl in the freezer for about 5 minutes before making. 

Ingredients: 

3 cups of heavy whipping cream 

5-6 T sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Whisk cream for a few minutes on medium-high until it starts to thicken

Slow speed and add sugar, continue mixing till soft peaks form

Add vanilla and keep mixing till stuff peaks form

Carefully spread a thick layer on your cake. 

Don't press too hard or you'll pull up chocolate crumbs into your frosting

Now you have a beautiful, delicious, black & white, moist chocolate cake! Now eat up!!

Honey Chipotle Turkey Meatballs

More meatballs!! I love how healthy meatballs are and how many different ways you can make them. This recipe was based off a Martha Stewart recipe I found on Pinterest. I added more ingredients to the meatballs to make sure they weren't going to be so dense. I also added extra honey to tame the spiciness a little. You can give or take a little depending on how much spice you would like. 

Ingredients:

1lb ground lean turkey

1/2 diced yellow onion

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

2T Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

3 T olive oil 

S&P to taste

1T chipotle chilies in adobo sauce 

3T honey

3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375

Mix turkey, onion, bread crumbs, egg, mustard, and seasonings. 

Scoop meatballs and brown on the stove top in heated olive oil. 

Transfer to baking dish and cook for 15 more minutes. 

Mix chipotle chilies, honey and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl. I used my food processor to purée the chillies. 

Pour into the stove top pan used for browning the meatballs. 

Transfer meatballs back into pan with sauce to coat each meatball. 

Serve with steamed veggies. You can add rice or quinoa too if you would like. 

I hope you like them! 

Cilantro Lime Quinoa:

1/4 diced cilantro 

1-2 juiced limes

Salt to taste