Showing posts with label peanut free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanut free. Show all posts

Friday, October 18, 2013

Easy 5 Ingredient Rice Pilaf





Yesterday was an amazing day! I was able to go to the gym,and  wear out the baby at the kids club they have at that the gym.  When I picked her up from the kids club a little boy who was about 3 years old was singing this lovely tune "Shots, Shots, Shots", to the tune of the Aristocats DVD that they had put in for the kids!!!!  If you were there you would be on the floor laughing just as I was! kids say the most hilarious things. They are especially great at repeating exactly, what you don't want them to say also lol!.  So I arrived home and to my surprise the baby took a looong 2 1/2 hour nap for me YAY!!!!! score for mom. I was able to clean up a bit and start dinner before the afternoon crowd came home. 

Later that day I  did the afternoon pick up and I noticed I had a sicky on my hands when I went to pick up my daughter from pre-school.  My daughter hops in the car and said to me "Jordan (my son) got me sick!" We all started laughing and on our way home we went.  I have a great time in the afternoon pick ups!.  My best friend and I do a carpool daily.  She takes the morning shift, because I am not a morning person by any means and then I take the afternoon shift. So in the afternoon I have 5 kids in the car telling me about their day and what they did the day before. My girlfriends daughter who is 9 just cracks me up! she tells me these mishaps that happen when they go out, and it always seems to be when they are with there dad! I'll get into details with that another day, but take it from me the afternoon drive home is literally the highlight of my day! 


I was in the mood for rice last night with dinner but I really wanted to make something more than just plain ol' rice I wanted a little something extra so I thought I would do a super simple rice pilaf that you can put together in a flash! I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did! 
From my kitchen to your's Happy Eating! 

Adapted from: www.foodnetwork.com

What You Need:

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts

1 cup long-grain white rice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

How To:

Bring the broth and water to a boil in saucepan over medium heat.
 Reduce the heat to low and keep hot .In another saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.
 Add the scallions and cook for about3 minutes. Stir in the rice, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook for another 2 minutes.
 Pour in the hot broth mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and 
cover the saucepan. Cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.










Sunday, October 13, 2013

Caramel Apple Cupcakes (A sweet Fall Treat!)








So I'm going to tell you guys that I have a HUGE! sweet tooth! however; I'm not really into baking so much, but during the holidays and fall I feel so inspired to do so.  I want to be able to make memories with the family and let the kids get messy, and have them addicted to everything pumpkin and apple at this time of the year like I am.  So of course around this time I break out the flour and sugar and get to it!  Today my parents came over for dinner and I thought it would be a really nice idea to bake these cupcakes and have them decorate with us, and that we did!  We actually had a blast and sugar is always a great bribery tool to have the kids eat their dinner also!   So here they are my caramel apple cupcakes! I'm sure you all will love them just as much as we did!  from my kitchen to yours! Happy Eating! 

The fam decorating the cupcakes...what's my baby doing? "look mom no hands!" lol! 




Adapted from: www.yourcupofcake.com

What You Need:  
Apple Cake:
1 box white cake mix
2 tsp. cinnamon or apple pie spice
3 eggs
¼ C. butter, melted and cooled
¼ C applesauce
1 C. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ C. peeled and chopped apple
This recipe makes about 20-24 cupcakes
Caramel Buttercream: 
1 C. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. caramel sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 C. powdered sugar

How To:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift cake mix and cinnamon in to a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, butter, applesauce, milk and vanilla extract together.
4. Stir in cake mix until smooth.
5. Stir in chopped apples.
6. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 17-22 minutes of until an inserted knife comes out clean.
7. Butter cream: Beat butter for 1 minute. Add caramel and vanilla extract and continue to beat. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
8. Pipe butter cream onto cooled cupcakes and top with melted caramel.

Tip:  Let the cupcakes completely cool before you add the frosting otherwise the frosting will melt 
off the cupcakes.