Meatloaf cupcakes

Last month was my sister-in-law's birthday. I told her that I was going to make her some meatloaf cupcakes for her birthday, and she was definitely agreeable. I had pinned a meatloaf cupcake pin, and I was dying to try it. A couple of days before her birthday, I went to check the recipe, but the pin just led to a picture. That annoys me so much on pinterest. I want to click on the photo and get to a recipe! Well, I decided I could do this myself, despite having only made meatloaf once or twice many many years ago. I started looking through my other pins and found 2 that I could combine: Parmesan meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes.

I did not make the meatloaf gluten-free, as the recipe suggests, and I used dried Italian seasoning that I had on hand instead of the basil, thyme, and oregano (all three were in the Italian seasoning). Other than that, I followed the recipe as it is, and instead of a loaf pan, I used cupcake pans. The mashed potatoes were more of a free-hand recipe since I've made mashed potatoes by hand so many times. I basically followed the recipe but there was no measuring. I'm pretty sure I almost doubled the amount of Parmesan in the mashed potatoes because I love it so much. When the meatloaf cupcakes were done baking, I just dumped a big spoonful of mashed potatoes on top. I didn't bother trying to pipe the mashed potatoes or make them pretty, I just wanted them to be delicious.

And boy, were they! My dad doesn't like meatloaf at all, and he was raving about them. I will definitely be making these again.

Here are some photos:

Meatloaf:

With mashed potato "icing":

Photo Tile Coasters

I have been pinning a lot of photo tile coaster DIYs on pinterest lately. I really wanted to make some so I was getting inspiration. Then my friend Colleen blogged about the ones she made for her MIL for Mother's Day. Her instructions were simple and I decided to make some. I thought I would make some for my mother with photos of my children on them. She doesn't use coasters that much but she loves the photo calendars that I make her for Christmas so I thought why not.

The original post of Colleen's instructions can be found here on her blog. I also recommend following her blog because she posts lots of great things, including a weekly writing challenge that can sometimes be fun, sometimes difficult.

Anyway, I followed her directions almost word for word. The only change I made was I used premade cork coasters instead of cutting adhesive backed cork into the shape. A six pack of the 4x4 coasters cost less than 2 dollars, the only thing is that you have to glue them on to the back of the tile. I used Elmer's Glue-All, which is stronger than the school glue they make. I'm not sure how well the glue will hold up, but I can always glue them on more securely with a stronger or more waterproof glue later, if need be.

The most difficult part of this whole project was getting the photos. There is nowhere in town that prints out 4x4 photos, and I waited to the last minute to do this project, so I could not order online. I printed the photos out on regular paper first, but the quality was not great. I then printed them out on photo paper, but because my ink was starting to run out, the photos did not all turn out. I ended up using 3 photos printed on regular paper and 3 photos printed on photo paper. The photos printed on regular paper seemed to wrinkle a bit more, although one of the photos printed on photo paper had a huge air bubble under it also. I talked to the photo guy at Walgreen's and he said that I could make the photo 4x4 and then have them print it 4x6, and trim of the extra space. I may do that next time because the photos nearly sent me into a rage. Lol!

Anyway, they didn't turn out too bad for a first attempt. I am going to make these again, and maybe do some with art from comic books. I will post that on here if I do.

Here is the finished product:

The photos printed on the photo paper are (from left to right, top to bottom) the 1st, 3rd, and 5th. The others were printed on regular paper.

"Stained Glass" Candle Holders

My mom & I went to a craft get together and decided to make these "stained glass" candle holders that mom found on pinterest. They were very cute on the website and looked easy enough to make. Basically you just use a shaped hole punch to make tissue paper shapes and then Mod Podge them onto a glass candle holder. Easy, right? No! These were a pain in the ass. The tissue paper did not want to cut all the way with the hole punch. We finally figured out that if you put a regular piece of paper under the tissue paper it was a bit easier to cut, but still far from perfect. It took about 2 hours for us each to make one. They turned out pretty cool, but I probably won't be making another one.

I will not post the step by step instructions, if you want those the website is here.

Here is a photo of tissue paper flowers and the dollar store glass candle holder I used:

Here are photos of the finished product:

And here is a photo with a candle inside:

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

I love chicken pot pie. My children hate it. That means that I never get to make it at home. I went to a cousin's baby shower and decided to make these mini chicken pot pies for my contribution. I was worried that they would fail, but they were easy to make and very delicious. Several people told me that they were very good. I will be making them again whenever I'm doing a party or get together, when there will be people around to appreciate them (dumb kids).

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cooked chicken breasts diced
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup frozen mixed veggies
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon of  dried thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 (10 oz) cans Pillsbury biscuits

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen veggies, cheese, herbs and spices.
3. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin and place the Pillsbury biscuits into each cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides.
4. Evenly spoon the pot pie mixture into each biscuit cup. Slide into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check at the 12 minute mark.
5. Let rest for about 3 minutes. 

Here is what mine looked like: 

Before  

After

 Original recipe found here: 

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes

Shrimp Stuffed Potatoes

I ran across this recipe on pinterest and had to try it. Shrimp stuffed baked potatoes? Sounds absolutely amazing! I made these one night for me and the kids. It wasn't too much work, and they turned out perfect. They were good, but I think I'd make them next time without the shrimp. I know that's just a twice baked potato with cheese, but I'm totally okay with that.

Here is the recipe:

Servings: 6 servings

Prep Time: 45 min
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 min
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
8 ounce cheese, cheddar
1 lb sauteed shrimp, peeled
8 tablespoon butter
vegetable oil, for coating
6   large Idaho potatoes
paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by washing potatoes, drying them, and gently pricking them with a fork on the sides.  Coat each potato with vegetable oil, place on foil covered pan, and bake for approximately 1 hour.

Place the butter in a large bowl.  Remove the potatoes from the oven and slice the top third off of each potato.  Gently scoop out the potato and place in the bowl.  Using a mixer on high, mix the potatoes, butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper.  Fold in the shrimp and cheese into the mixture.  Gently stuff the mixture back into the potato shells, making sure not to break them.  Pile the mixture as high as you can on top of the potato shells.  Sprinkle each potato with cheese and paprika for color.  Bake in the oven for approximately 20 to 30 minutes until browned on top.

Here is what my potatoes looked like (excuse the crappy photography job): 

Original recipe found here: 

Paula Deen Shrimp Stuffed Potatoes

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry pie. Yummy!

My sister-in-law, Amber, loves strawberry cake and pie. I saw this one on pinterest and decided to make it for her. It was very easy to make and it turned out delicious.

Original recipe found here:

Strawberry Pie

Here is what mine looked like:

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

I grew up eating pineapple upside down cake that my mom made. It was one of my favorites growing up, and the only time I will eat warm pineapple. I found a recipe on pinterest that was cupcake sized versions and knew I had to try them. 

Here is where I found the original recipe:
http://www.bigmamashomekitchen.com/2010/10/mini-pineapple-upside-down-cakes.html
I omitted the cherries and did not use a mixer. I fell like it's just as easy to mix by hand as it is to get the mixer out of the cabinet.
Here is the recipe:


Cake Ingredients:
2 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
4 tbsp pineapple juice
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt


Topping:
1/4 cup butter 
2/3 C brown sugar
1-can pineapple tidbits


Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray your muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.  

In a mixing bowl, add eggs, white sugar, and pineapple juice.  Beat for 2 minutes.  
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients and turn mixer back on for 2 minutes.  


In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.  Stir on low heat for one minute.


Spoon a layer of the warm brown sugar mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin, then spoon some pineapple tidbits on top.  Pour cake mixture over to fill muffin tin 3/4 of the way full.  

Bake regular cakes for 20 minutes.  The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.


Remove from the oven.  Let cool in pan for 3 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of each cake to help loosen in case it sticks a little.  Place a wire cooling rack on top, and quickly flip over on top of sheet tray to catch extra drippings.


Here is what mine looked like: 

These turned out well. They looked so damn good when I took them out of the oven and flipped them onto the rack. I was really hoping they tasted as good as they looked. Guess what? They did! Not quite as good as the version my mom makes, but close enough and easy enough that I will definitely make these more often. And I love that they are individually portioned. Perfect! 

Stuffed Pizza Cupcakes

Another recipe I found on pinterest. The blog I found this on has great step-by-step photos, so I am not going to include any here. These were very easy to make, but very messy. Also, pretty darn delicious!

I'm pretty sure I'll be making these again.


Here is the recipe:


Ingredients
1 pkg Store-Bought Pizza Dough
1/2 Jar Pizza Sauce
1 c. Mini Pepperonis, Divided
1/2 c. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
6 Mozzarella String Cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces

Instructions
1. Preheat oven according to pizza dough's directions.
2. Begin by rolling out the pizza dough flat. Spread the pizza sauce over the dough, leaving 1 inch around the edges.
Sprinkle with 1/2 c. mini pepperonis. Cut the dough in half.
3. Lay 4-5 pieces of string cheese across the dough, adding more as you roll. Do this with both of the pizza doughs.
4. Cut into 1 inch pieces and place in a greased muffin pan with the swirled side up.
5. Bake according to your pizza dough's directions checking after about 12 minutes. When tops begin to brown,
remove from oven.
6. Use a knife to separate from the pan and cool.

Spinach Parmesan Quinoa

So about a month ago, the lovely Colleen post this recipe to her blog. It looked really good, and I've never tried quinoa, so I really wanted to give it a try. The only problem is that quinoa is really expensive and since I don't know if I like it, I didn't want to spend $8 for a huge box of it. So this recipe just sat in the back of my head for a while. Then, I was at The Fresh Market the other day to pick up some gummi peaches (I can't stop eating them. Okay, I can, but they are really good and I keep going back to get more.) and as I was getting in line to check out, I saw that they had a bag of quinoa on sale for $3. Definitely a better price! So I picked up a bag, and decided to make it tonight. I was really excited to try this. I let it sit in a covered bowl for about 15 minutes while I made some cheesy Texas toast to go alongside. The quinoa was very mushy looking, so I was a little worried. I tasted it and it was terrible. I don't know if I just hate quinoa, or if I did something wrong. I'm leaning towards did something wrong, because I'm not a very good cook. I let the kids taste it and they hated it too. I threw it out and made sandwiches for the kids and I ate 3 pieces of Texas toast. Sigh.

Here is the photo of the finished product:

I don't know if you can tell, but it's a big pile of mush. Yuck!

And if you don't follow Colleen's blog, you should. It's great. Right now she is doing a writing challenge that is interesting and very...challenging.

http://collwrites.com/

Mexican Stuffed Shells

I tried another new recipe. This is one of the first recipes that I pinned on pinterest. Decided it was finally time to give it a try. My children love Mexican food, but they were very apprehensive about this recipe. I think they were just being difficult. I was a little apprehensive because it involved cream cheese (which I hate the taste of), but thankfully you could not taste it.

Here is where I found the recipe:
http://www.thewaytohisheartblog.com/mexican-stuffed-shells/


Here is a photo of the finished product:

I thought this recipe tasted very good. When I asked the kids what they thought, they said it was okay. But they had seconds so I'm pretty sure they liked it. I may have to make this again.