Red Velvet Cupcakes

My friend Paulette confessed to me recently that she loves cupcakes.  Tonight for our life group I decided to make my Red Velvet Cupcakes.  They are as good as those from a fancy cupcake store but ridiculously easy to make.

1 Box Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix
1 package (3.9oz) Jello Chocolate instant pudding
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
1 16 oz package of powdered sugar
1 cup of cool whip

Prepare the cake mix according to directions.  Stir pudding mix into the batter at the end.  Spoon into paper lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 until done.  16 minutes worked in my oven.
Meanwhile, cream together the cream cheese and the butter.  Add Powdered sugar a little at the time until you add the whole box. Stir until smooth and then fold in the 1 cup of cool whip.  Let the cupcakes cool completely.  Inject some of the icing into the center of each cupcake, then use the remaining icing to ice the cupcakes.  You can shave white chocolate on top or sprinkle with pecan pieces.

White Enchiladas

10 white tortillas
2 cups of cooked and shredded chicken
2 cups Monterrey jack cheese
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
4 ounce can of diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam.  Mix chicken and 1 cup of the cheese.  At this point I added diced onions, because I love onions.  Divide the chicken mixture between the 10 tortillas and roll up and lay them in the pan seam side down.  In a sauce pan melt the butter then add the flour.  Cook for about a minute.  Add the broth and whisk until it's smooth. Cook over medium heat until it's thick and bubbly. Don't let it come to a boil.  Remove from heat. Add the sour cream and the green chilies.  I love the Tame Jalapenos.  You add what suits you.  Pour this over the enchiladas and top with the rest of the cheese.  Bake for 22 minutes.  Remove from oven and switch to broil.  Broil for 3 minutes or until the cheese is slightly brown.  

FYI...if you want to make this SUPER easy make these changes.  Buy Curlies pulled chicken without sauce.  Use 1 can cream of chicken souped thinned with 1/2 cup chicken broth (instead of cooking the butter, flour, chicken broth sauce)  still add the cup of sour cream and the chilies.

Peanut butter fudge

Found this recipe today and went straight to the kitchen to try it.  It was unbelievably easy and so good.

1 Cup creamy peanut butter
2 sticks of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 box of confectioners sugar

Melt butter and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add the vanilla.  Add the box of confectioners sugar and stir until blended.  Quickly press into a 8x8 or 9x9 buttered pan.  Chill until firm then cut into squares.

French Coconut Pie

This is my Mama's recipe and she was the BEST cook.

1 1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup angel flake coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked frozen shell

Cream sugar and butter together.  Add Buttermilk.  Beat eggs slightly and add.  Stir in vanilla. Add coconut and then pour into unbaked pie shell.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 300 and cook until golden brown and firm to touch in the center.  About 35-40 minutes.

Shish Kabob

Tried something new tonight and it was so delicious.  You know I love those nice pork loins they have at Kroger that go on sale often for $1.99 a pound.  Found another use for them tonight.
I cut the pork loin into about 2" pieces.  Then I wrapped each piece with bacon.  I put them on the skewer with zucchini, onion and the little potatoes.  I sprayed the vegetables with Pam and seasoned them with salt and pepper.  I didn't season the meat.  The bacon did that for me.  I cooked it on a low to medium heat so the bacon wouldn't burn and the pork loin would have time to cook.  I checked the pork loin with a meat thermometer to know when it was ready.  As always I let the meat rest about 5 minutes before serving so I wouldn't loose any juices.  All I needed to go with this was bread.  Next time I will try it with different veggies, maybe some mushroom. 

Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

I found myself with a left over pack of hamburger buns after a cookout and remembered a pecan pie bread pudding that my friend Paulette made at supper club one night.  You can use any kind of bread but the left buns actually worked great.   Serve it warm with a dollop of Cool Whip.  If you've never tried the extra creamy Cool Whip, you must.  It taste more like freshly made whipped cream.

8 cups of bite size bread pieces.
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups of light corn syrup
1/3 cup of packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of  unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon of maple or vanilla extract (I used vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter, decrease the salt)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup of pecans, chopped

Tear the bread into bite size pieces and place in a baking pan that has been well sprayed with Pam.  I used the equivalent of a 8x8 or 9x9 pan.  The pack of 8 hamburger buns worked perfect.
Melt the butter and drizzle over the bread.  In a large bowl whisk the eggs then add the corn syrup, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, salt and maple OR vanilla extract (your choice).  Stir in the pecans then pour over the bread pieces.  Use a spatula to push the mixture into the bread pieces.  The recipe called for 375 for 45 minutes.  I baked mine on 350 and decided to remove it after about 30 minutes or so.  You know your oven.  Remove it when it reaches the brownness you desire.

Lemon Cookies (my version )

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add vanilla and egg and stir till blended.  Add lemon juice and salt and stir till blended.  Add the flour about a half cup at the time and stir each time until the flour is creamed in before adding the next half cup, the repeat with last half cup.  Put the powdered sugar in a bowl.  Scoop a rounded teaspoon full out and drop it over in the powdered sugar.  Roll it around in the powdered sugar till it kinda forms a ball. Put on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam. Continue until all the dough is used.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.  Let the cool on the pan a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  They are good warm but I thought even better the next day.  They become very crunch when they get cool.