{cookies and cream cupcakes}

Happy Wednesday!

I am starting to get into birthday party planning mode, since both my son and my daughter have birthdays coming up in the next month or so.  While brainstorming about cakes and desserts, I remembered these divine cookies and cream cupcakes that I shared on my family blog forever ago.  I am sharing them here as well because they are SO delicious they deserve a second post (and also because every time I make these someone asks for the recipe, so I can send them here now to find it in all of its glory!)

I of course found this on Pinterest and first made them about a year or so ago...initially I was worried the cupcakes wouldn't turn out because the batter was a little runny, but after baking they looked (and tasted) great.  The frosting...oh the frosting...I had to double the recipe just to ice all of the cupcakes, but man every ounce of that frosting is totally worth making.  It is creamy fluffy Oreo-y goodness...and on top of these moist chocolate cookie cupcakes, it is not for the faint of calories :) but totally worth it on your cheat days!

I will definitely be making these again, and if I ever need to schmooze Aaron I know I could totally win him over with a mint version.  If you missed the link above for the recipe, I typed out the recipe below as well.

Thanks to Chef in Training for sharing this wonderful recipe for all of us to enjoy!

COOKIES AND CREAM CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES 

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa sifted
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 14 Double Stuffed Oreos finely crushed

COOKIES AND CREAM FROSTING 

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese softened
• 2 Tbsp. butter softened
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 package Dream Whip (this can be found in the baking aisle of the grocery store) dry 
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 6 Double Stuffed Oreos finely crushed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the sifted cocoa powder to a medium sized bowl and pour in the cup of hot liquid. Whisk until completely dissolved.
2. Next add the buttermilk to cool down the mixture, then add the sugar and whisk until all is combined.
3. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla and mix again.
4. In a small bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk this into the wet mixture until you no longer see any lumps.
5. Stir in heavy cream until evenly mixed in.
6. Lastly, stir in finely crushed Oreos.
7. Pour into cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until done. Let cool and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
8. For Frosting: Beat softened cream cheese and butter until smooth and blended. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well incorporated. Add Dream Whip and mix well. Add the powdered sugar and beat well. Lastly, add in the crushed Oreos and beat until well incorporated.
9. Let frosting chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
10. Once both cupcakes and frosting has chilled in fridge for at least 30 minutes, pipe frosting on top of cupcakes and enjoy! Store any left over in fridge. 

{valentine's day sweets}

Earlier today I made some Valentine's Day treats to share at a Valentine's party for some little girls I work with at my church.  These cupid's floats and peanut butter "love blossom" cookies were both big hits.  They were super easy to put together too, so if you need some last minute ideas for your kiddos, a party, or just for your sweet tooth, keep reading!

I found the idea for the cupid's float on Pinterest, and it's SO easy!  All you need is cherry 7up soda pop, vanilla ice cream, and red licorice for the straw.  The licorice was great for the age group I was working with, but if you aren't a fan of licorice you can definitely find some cute paper straws to use instead.  

The peanut butter blossom cookies (I called them "peanut butter love blossom" cookies because instead of the typical Hershey's kiss I used a Dove chocolate heart) I just made with a peanut butter cookie mix and followed their directions on the box.  The Dove Chocolates are on sale at Target right now (and on the Target Cartwheel app too!) and I know this because I just went back there today and bought some more, haha!  I'm a sucker for chocolate.  

xo, Sara

{avocado bacon egg rolls}

Super Bowl Sunday is tomorrow, are you ready!?! 

This year one of my resolutions was to actually try the recipes that I pin on Pinterest.  One that I've had pinned for a while were these avocado bacon egg rolls.  Whenever we go out to eat and avocado egg rolls are on the menu, I always order them.  I LOVE them!  But after having made these, I think I won't have to go to a restaurant to enjoy these.  They are so easy to make, so I thought I'd share the recipe here in time for tomorrow.  We are for sure going to be making these for Super Bowl snacks, and if you're looking for something to make for the big game, these are definitely worth a try!

Thanks to Home Cooking Memories for this recipe!

Ingredients

• Oil
• 2 large avocados; perfectly ripe, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• ½ lime
• Salt
• 6-7 slices pepperjack cheese
• 12-14 bacon slices, cooked
• 12-14 egg roll wrappers
• 1 tablespoon flour
• Water

Instructions

Heat about 2" of oil to 350 degrees F in a large frying pan.

Place avocado slices on a plate or large bowl. Drizzle with lime and then sprinkle with salt as desired. 

Place flour in a small bowl and add water to make into a watery/thin paste.

Place one egg roll wrapper on your work surface, with one corner pointing towards you, forming a diamond on your surface. Lay ½ of a slice of cheese in the middle. Lay 1 slice of avocado on top of cheese, and then one slice of bacon, broken in half. Finish with another slice of avocado (as seen in the pictures below).  

Fold the part of the wrapper pointing towards you over the stack of avocado, etc. Fold the left and right points over the middle and roll up egg roll nearly all the way, taking care to fold tightly with no openings for ingredients to fall or leak out. With finger tip, dab a bit of the flour mixture on the remaining corner at the top and then seal this corner onto the egg roll to close it.

Repeat steps with remaining ingredients. Carefully place a few egg rolls into hot oil and cook until golden brown, turning them over once during the frying. Remove from oil and allow to drain and cool on a place lined with paper towels or napkins. Serve whole or cut in half at an angle with dip of your choice (if you wish).  We have eaten these with ranch dressing and also a bacon ranch dressing and it was tasty.  We do want to try other sauces with them, I'm sure anything would be great!

{just juice it}

Happy Monday!

It's the first Monday of the New Year…have you stuck with your resolutions so far?  I hope so!  I have been wanting to pull out our juicer for a while now, so I figured it would be a great time to share some of my favorite juice recipes!

My husband Aaron and I have done juice cleanses before and while they worked for us in the short run, they don't really give you healthy or lasting results.  But we still make juice every now and then because it's a great and easy way for us to get some fresh fruits and veggies in our diet, and our little ones like the taste so they will drink it too.  We tend to stick with juices that use fresh produce that's in season and on sale at the store.  This helps make the cost of making our own fresh juice a lot cheaper than buying the individual juices at the store, and saves me money so that I can spend that money elsewhere, like on a new swimsuit for spring!

We have a few favorite juice combinations that we tend to stick to.  All of them are really tasty (and even toddler approved!).  The juice I made that's featured in these photos is the "Mean Green" juice.

For the Mean Green juice, we use six kale leaves, four granny smith apples, one stalk of celery, and one cucumber.  You can also add some fresh ginger to it as well if you prefer (we don't so we omit it).  You can add more or less of an ingredient to your liking, but I may add that the celery adds a lot of salt to your juice, so we only prefer one stalk while others may prefer more, and you can also add half a lemon to it if you'd like as well.  We haven't added it and we haven't missed it.

Some other juicing tips:

1. There is a lot of froth that can be created by the juice, so if you don't have a juicer that comes with a juice pitcher that keeps the froth out when you pour, drinking your juice with a straw will help you avoid most of the froth that ends up on top.  

2.  You need to drink the juice shortly after making it.  If you let the juice sit, it will separate.  You can always shake it to mix it back together, but it's still probably best to drink it fresh.  

My toughest food critic :) and if he is smiling while drinking it (and will ask for a second cupful), you know it's good. 

This picture above describes most of my days haha! Taking care of these two littles is my most important job and my greatest joy.  This little man, green juice stache and all, makes my heart soar (no matter how many of his spills I have to clean up every day).  

Below are some other juices that we've made that have been big hits.  These amounts are for about two servings of juice max, so if you're making juice for more than that (like us) you may have to double the amounts:

Orange Machine

one grapefruit

one orange

two carrots

one orange pepper

Red Velvet

three carrots

two granny smith apples

one orange

1/4 beet

Oh Kale No

1-2 handfuls of kale

2 carrots

1/2 cucumber

2 apples

1/2 lemon

2-3 sprigs parsley (optional)

If you try these juices, tell me what you think of them in the comments!  If you have any other juice recipes that you highly recommend I would love to hear them!

xo, Sara