Fluffy Balls of Heaven

I absolutely adore donuts, and especially eating them on lazy Saturday mornings.  If the Saturday is lazy enough, I even love making my own donuts.  I'm usually too vain to drive to the bakery in pj's with messy hair and bad breath, too hungry to wait till I get myself cleaned up, and I haven't yet mastered the art of convincing my husband to go out and buy them for me on Saturdays, so making them myself is about the only way I'm going to get them.

Well, I guess I could buy them the day before, but I always manage to convince myself that I don't need them when I'm at the store.  Somehow my self control seems to disappear on Saturdays and my desire for donuts blooms into full blown necessity - especially on lazy Saturdays, which don't happen too often around here. It seems like there's always a million chores and errands begging for attention on the typical Saturday, so donut making is a luxury I rarely indulge. This Saturday, however, blossomed chore-free and full of promise, mainly because I had Good Friday off and got all those pesky chores done already.

Thanks to Pinterest, I have plenty of tasty donut recipes to choose from, and so far every one I've tried has turned out great.  I haven't tried making any yeast donuts yet, mainly because I don't want to wait for them to rise, but there are lots of good quick donut recipes out there. Because this is one of those rare lazy Saturdays and my belly is full and happy, I'm giving you a bonus and posting three tried and true donut recipes that whip up in no time and taste divine. Plus, they all make donut hole sized goodies, which I never feel quite as guilty about popping into my mouth.

Apple Fritters
1 heaping cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1 – 2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup milk + plus more if needed
1 – 1 1/2 cups chopped apple
oil for frying
milk and powdered sugar glaze for dipping (About 1 cup pwd. sugar + 1 Tbs milk or more) 


Mix all dry ingredients together; slowly add the wet ingredients minus the apple. Carefully mix until well combined but not overly beat, gently fold in apple pieces. The batter should be the consistency of a light cake mix.

 Once the oil is ready (when a test drop of dough floats to the top of the oil, a drop of water sizzles, or a piece of white bread browns in 60 seconds) then using a cookie scooper or soup spoon, place a 4-5 balls of dough into the oil. Be careful not to overcrowd and watch carefully for the underside to turn golden brown, then gently flip over and continue frying until done. I cooked mine about 35 seconds per side, but they were the size of golf balls – adjust cooking times based on size of fritters and temperature of your oil, ideally around 365° F. It is always a good idea to test one to ensure it comes out like you are expecting.  Let cool on paper towels then glaze.

 Pumpkin Poppers
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

For Coating:
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbs cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350F and spray mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine flour, baking powder ,salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk until combined.

In another bowl, mix oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk.  Pour in flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Fill mini muffin tins until almost full and bake 10-12 minutes.

Melt butter in small bowl.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate small bowl.  After poppers cool for a few minutes, LIGHTLY coat them in butter and roll them in the sugar mixture.

 15 Minute Donuts
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbs melted butter
2 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Granulated sugar, cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar, for coating


Preheat oil to 360 over medium heat in a 10 inch non-stick fry-pan or deep fryer. 

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. 

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together milk, buttermilk, sugar and melted butter.

Using a fork, stir in dry ingredients and mix just until combined (think of making biscuit dough, you just want to incorporate the ingredients).

Measure out tablespoonfuls of dough, and, using OILED hands(trust me on this), gently roll into a ball (gently rolling to keep them fluffy, think of rolling something really fragile. Again this is like a biscuit dough you don't want to overwork it). Gently place dough ball into oil and fry until golden brown on bottom then flip and cook reverse side until golden brown. Carefully remove and drain onto a paper towel lined plate. Roll in sugar.

A Penne For Your Thoughts

My name is Paula and I am a pasta-holic.  And a cheese-aholic.  And a spaghetti sauce-aholic.  So yeah, this recipe pretty much does it for me on every level.  I thought about saving this for Sunday, since the kid is not a fan of Italian sausage and I knew that ground beef would just not be quite as good in here, but instead I hid the sausage wrapper and kept calling it "meat" and she never knew the difference.  Score one for the sneaky chef. = )  The Philadelphia Cooking Creme was a little hard to find (read: they didn't have it at Wal-Mart so I had to make a special trip to Food Lion) but it is what makes this different than plain ole pasta and tomato sauce, so don't try to do without it.  The creaminess it adds makes this taste like it came from an Italian restaurant and not a jar.  I can only imagine how good this would be with homemade spaghetti sauce instead of Ragu, but, yeah, that's not gonna happen any time soon, so meanwhile I'll just stick with the store-bought stuff and fancy it up a little with my new-found friend in the cheese aisle.

Creamy Baked Penne
link to original recipe
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 20 min
Serves 6

1/2 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup diced green peppers
1 jar(24 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 tub(10 oz) Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme, divided
1 cup shredded Mozzarella, divided
3 cups cooked penne pasta

Heat oven to 350°F.

Brown meat with vegetables in large nonstick skillet. 

Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme and 1/2 cup mozzarella; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted. Add pasta; mix lightly. 

Spoon into 2-qt. casserole; top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover. 

Bake 20 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 15 min.

604 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Philly Cheese-Stuffed

Sundays are my favorite days to make dinner. Not because it's a lazy weekend evening and I have plenty of time to prepare something lavish.  In fact, I usually procrastinate till Allen and I are both already starving before I head to the kitchen, because Sunday afternoons just go way too fast.  Sundays are my favorite because they are the one day of the week when I can make all the "nasty grown-up food" that Rachel wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. The youth group at my church meets on Sunday nights, and they generously feed my child all the junk food she desires, so I am free to experiment with the plethora of ingredients not deemed edible by a 13 year old palate.  Disgusting things like onions, and green peppers, and beef.

Add provolone cheese to that list and you have the makings of one of my favorite meals- Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. Soft buns slathered with mayo and piled high with salty beef and tender veggies, then covered with melty cheese - YUMMMM.  I am an adventurous chef, however, and I would usually rather try something new than make something I've made before, even an old favorite.  So when I saw this recipe for Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers, I was sold.  The original recipe is from a low-carb blog, and since carbs are pretty much my favorite food, I was a little worried I might miss the fluffy white deliciousness the bun normally provides, so I served this up with some fresh-baked dinner rolls just in case.  I was pleased to discover, though, that these tasty little cups were great all by themselves.  They didn't even need mayo!

I made one minor change to the original recipe (mostly out of laziness.)  I didn't caramelize the onions, merely sauteed then for a few minutes, and I thought they were just fine that way.  In fact, this version of Philly cheesesteak was so yummy, now I'm dreaming of all kinds of cheesesteak variations.....casseroles, quesadillas, egg rolls.....Maybe next Sunday. = ) 

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
link to original recipe
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 15 min
Serves 2

8 oz thinly sliced beef, chopped
8 slices provolone cheese
2 green peppers, halved and seeds removed
1 medium onion, diced
6 oz fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs oil
Salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 400*.
In a skillet, saute mushrooms, onions and garlic in oil over medium heat till tender and nicely browned.  Add beef and cook a few more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, line inside of peppers with a slice of cheese.  Fill each pepper with meat mixture till nearly overflowing, then top with another slice of cheese.

Bake at 400* for 15 minutes or till cheese is golden brown.

675 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
 

Keep Calm and Leprechaun

I told my 13-year-old daughter that I wanted her to help me make some cupcakes today. In a foul mood and not wishing to have her Saturday disturbed, she said in that special tone reserved for use by teenage girls, "Why are you making cupcakes?"

Blank stare from me. "Uh, do you really need a reason to make cupcakes?"

In my opinion, no, you do not need any special reason to make cupcakes. You make them cause they're CUPCAKES, for heaven's sake and just about everything seems a little better when there are cupcakes involved! That being said, it actually is a special occasion--the day before St. Patty's Day, and my mother-in-law and brother-in-law are bringing over corned beef and cabbage for dinner. While I greatly appreciate the sentiment, I'm not really a big fan of corned beef or cabbage, so I figured I could at least contribute some dessert and in doing so, assure myself that I will not go hungry for lack of tasty offerings at tonight's dinner table.

Normally, mint is my go-to flavor for St. Patty's Day, but I already made mint chocolate chip cookies and creme de menthe brownies this month, so I decided to look for something else that was green and sweet. You wouldn't think that would be that hard with all the green foods there are out there, but surprisingly most green things are vegetables, and broccoli cupcakes with spinach sprinkles just didn't sound too appetizing. These Key Lime Cupcakes, however, were a perfect find. What luck. = )

The original recipe included a cream cheese frosting, but I prefer buttercream, so I found a different frosting recipe that is divinely lime-y. I've included this recipe, but you can click on the link for the original if you want the cream cheese frosting recipe.

Key Lime Cupcakes
link to original recipe
Prep time: 30 min  Bake time: 20 min
Serves 20

1 ¾ cups cake flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 stick cool, unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 ½ Tbs key lime juice
1 Tbs key lime zest
1 drop green food coloring paste
¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)



Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt three times, set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low until it’s softened a bit. Add the sugar and increase the speed to medium. Beat until fluffy, about four minutes. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lime juice, zest, and food coloring and beat until mixed. (The mixture will look curdled.)

Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix on low until just combined. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool completely and frost.

Key Lime Buttercream Frosting
 link to original recipe

• 1/2 cup butter, softened 
• 1 1/2 tsp Key lime zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt 
• 1 (16-oz) package powdered sugar
• 3 Tbs Key lime juice
• 1 to 2 Tbs milk 

Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with Key lime juice, 1 Tbsp. at a time, and 1 Tbsp. milk, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat in up to 1 Tbsp. additional milk for desired consistency. 

Chinese Fake-Out Bourbon Chicken

Whenever I convince my husband to take me out for dinner, he always suggests the same thing: Chinese food. I guess that's because it's so hard to duplicate authentic Chinese flavors at home. I try every stirfry recipe I come across, but none of them are quite as tasty as restaurant-style Chinese (at least, the American version).

My hopes were a little higher when I ran across this recipe, though, because bourbon chicken doesn't have that typical Chinese flavor. I'm not really sure if it even IS Chinese because I read that it's named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans, so it's probably more like Creole or even French food, but hey, they serve it at Panda Express, so it's Chinese to me! Anyway, I gave it a try and it was super yummy--and surprisingly similar to what I get at the restaurant. The hubs suggested I add some peanuts and green onions to it next time for a little crunch, but otherwise it was great and I'll definitely make it again sometime, especially since they recently closed our local Panda Express.

Bourbon Chicken
Total time: 30 min
Serves 6

2 lbs chicken thighs, cubed 
1 Tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove; crushed
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup bourbon (or apple juice)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 Tbs cornstarch
3 cups cooked rice (if desired)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove chicken. Add garlic to pan and cook till fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add remaining ingredients to pan, except cornstarch. Heat over medium heat until well blended and dissolved then bring to a boil.

Add chicken and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes uncovered. Stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 3 tablespoons cold water then add to pan. Cook sauce until thickened. Serve over hot rice, if desired. 

407 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!