Chicken Parmesan Bundles

This was such a good meal but my camera was set wrong and the main item is blurry but everything around it was focused. I did not catch it until we ate all of the food. I think the blurry picture still gives you the idea of how yummy this was!

It was so simple to make. I used to be intimated by the pictures of stuffed chicken but once I started to try more recipes I found how simple it is and can't believe I can actually make it look good and taste good.

The flavor of this chicken was incredible! The kids are not really crazy for chicken Parmesan but rolling up the chicken with cheeses and spinach did the trick. I would not have thought about using cream cheese but it made the spinach and mozzarella mixture extra creamy. They ate it up! I served it on a bed of spaghetti with a salad and garlic bread.

I got this recipe out of the Kraft Food and Family cookbook. Click here for recipe. They also have a video on making the bundles and a couple of pictures that people uploaded. If my picture was clear I would have uploaded it. I think it is better than the uploaded pictures. Oh well, next time!

This was a pretty quick meal to prep and cook. It took about an hour.

Enjoy!

Buckeye Cupcakes

If you need a really quick way to make a cupcake for a football tailgate, these are the ones. They are not a typical cupcake with just frosting on top. They have a surprise in the middle! We are from Columbus Ohio, so you can see how these are appropriate for football season.

We really enjoyed these cupcakes. They are rich with all of the peanut butter and fudge. I used ice cream fudge topping around the peanut butter ball but I think the next time I will use a ganache or a fudge frosting because it will hold up better inside the cake. The ice cream topping just soaked into the cake....which was not bad either.

Ingredients:
Chocolate cake mix
1 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Fudge ice cream topping or fudge frosting
Canned chocolate frosting
2 Tbsp peanut butter


Make the cupcakes according to package. Take a small knife and cut a plug out of the top of each cupcake.

Mix 1 cup peanut butter, 1/4 butter and 1 1/2 cups of powder sugar until you get a crumbly mixture. Form into a 1 1/4 inch ball (like the size of a small walnut or a buckeye). Insert a ball into each cupcake. The balls may be larger than the hole you cut, the cake gives as you shove the ball into the center.

If I were going to make a change, here is where I would make it.

To help make these feel more like a buckeye, I added hot fudge on top of the peanut butter ball. In retrospect, I think ganache or fudge frosting would have been better but I was going for quick and easy preparation. Place the plug back on top of the cupcake.

I used 1 1/2 containers of already prepared chocolate fudge frosting to save time. I mixed in about 2 Tbsp of peanut butter. I filled a decorating bag and used a 1M tip to swirl on the icing.

We added colorful jimmies to the top of one for decor and that did not work. It looked a little silly and since we were going after the buckeye feel, we used the crumbly left-over peanut butter filling as a perfect topping.

We cut one open to make sure we did not skimp on the peanut butter filling. I think we did a good job. The amount ended up being perfect and the cupcakes were delicious.

Enjoy!

Salt and Pepper Popcorn - Product Review

Since I enjoy salt and pepper potato chips, I decided to give Orville Redenbacher's Salt and Pepper Popcorn a try. I have to say that the "Butter", "Movie Theater", or "Kettle Corn" varieties have always been a favorite but I am trying to move toward a healthier snack and since this is whole grain and natural with 120 calories for each mini bag, it seems like a good choice. I found that the pepper gives this popcorn a little kick so you do not miss all of the butter. It is not over powering but just the right amount of pepper. I found this flavor to be just as addicting of all of my favorites. I am still a fan of the butter varieties but I will include the salt and pepper option into my popcorn stash.

Orange Sunflowers

I have to do a quick post about these flowers. They are about 6 feet tall and the heads are small so the plant does not fall over like the regular big yellow Sunflowers. There are around 7-10 heads on each plant and the color is absolutely beautiful. We may have a backyard full next year....if I can figure out what my husband bought! He said they are Russian Sunflowers. When I google that....it seems most sunflowers are called "Russian". I am going to try to save the seeds, wish me luck!

Nineteen

Lauren's birthday fell on Labor Day this year. This was the weekend she was moving into her college housing so I did not think she would be home, but she made it!! I went to Dairy Queen and picked up a cake so we were able to do a small celebration. The Dairy Queen cake has been a pretty popular request over the years. Chelsea started it way back when and the only time we veer away from the ice cream cake is when we get a fresh strawberry cake from Golden Delight Bakery.

This is her college room. She worked all summer to save her money to buy the furniture! I only pitched in a little as a birthday present. I am proud that she did not waste her money and she bought some nice furniture that she will have for a long time. (There is a cute little nightstand on the other side of the bed.)

Happy Birthday Lauren!