My Mom's Lemon Cupcakes

My Mom's Lemon Cupcakes

1 Yello Cake Mix

4 eggs

3/4 c. water

1 (3 oz.) package of Lemon Jello

3/4 c. vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together.  Follow directions on cake mix box for oven temperature and bake time.  I threw out my box accidentally.  I set my oven for 350 degrees and baked my cupcakes for about 18 minutes.

Frosting (make while cupcakes are baking)

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 tbs. melted butter

juice from 2 lemons to thin frosting down

Mix butter and sugar together first.  Add lemon juice a little at a time to thin down mixture.  It should have a nice pouring consistency and be on the tart side.  Make sure your frosting is nice and smooth or you will end up with powdered sugar lumps on top of your cupcakes.  Just look at my picture above.  It doesn't taste bad but might look a little prettier without the white lumps.  :)

When cupcakes are removed from the oven and still hot, take a fork and poke holes into cupcakes.  You will pour the frosting into these holes.  I poked and poured at the same time so I could use the fork to hold open my holes a bit.  If you have icing left over, feel free to pour directly on top.  

Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup

Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup

Ingredients

4 c. chicken broth

4 c. potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/4 c. onion, minced

1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks

Directions

Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices.  Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender.  Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening.  Reduce to low heat.  Add cream cheese.  Heat, stirring frequently, until cheese melts.

Thank you Kathi for this yummy recipe!!!

My tidbits:

I don't think I smashed enough potatoes because my soup didn't thicken up.  To solve this, I could up more potato cubes in the microwave, added some of the soup juice, and then mashed the potatoes.  I added that mixture into my soup and it thicken up nicely.  Be sure to give the cream cheese time to melt.  Don't worry if it looks chunky.  Just keep stirring and make sure you have the heat up just right.  We served it with bread and bacon bits.  You could also top it with cheese, chives, or just about anything you like.  

I fed three adults and had enough leftover to feed four adults again the next day.  That's what I love about soups-the gift that keeps on giving.  I'm going to try freezing my leftovers.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff (taken from Food.com Rachel Ray)

I adjusted some of the ingredients...check back at food.com for the original

1 1/2 pounds of beef tenderloin fillet (I used 2 pounds)

Salt and pepper

3 tbs. butter, divided

2 tbs. all-purpose flour

2 cups of beef consomme, available on soup aisle

2 tsps. Dijon style mustard (I might have used 2 tbs.)

1/4 c. sour cream

1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 small onion, sliced 

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms (my addition)

1/3 cup coarsely chopped cornichons (sweet gherkins-I left this off)

1 pound extra wide noodles, cooked to package directions

chopped parsley leaves, garnish (I left this off)

Slice meat into 1/2"-thick by 2" long very thin strips and season with salt and pepper.  Set in freezer.  

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Melt 2 tbs. butter and cook with flour 1 minutes.  Whisk in consommme.  Thicken 1 minute. Stir in mustard and sour cream, thicken 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and season sauce with salt and peper.

Heat a second skillet over high heat.  Add 1 tbs. oil and 1 tbs. butter, then add the meat  and onion.  cook over high heat until brown on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total.  Then add the chopped cornichons and stir to combine.

Arrange meat on a bed of egg noodles and top  with stroganoff sauce and parsley.  

My tidbits:

I was running out of space on my stove top so I poured my sauce into a separate container and cook my meat, onions, and mushrooms in the pan I used for the sauce.  For serving purposes, I combined the sauce and meat mixture into one bowl.  Be sure to drain the meat before combining with stroganoff sauce.  And yes, I added mushrooms because I love mushrooms and I think every stroganoff I have ever had has had mushrooms.  My sauce didn't thicken up to well so I added a little cornstarch.  Just remember that it is always easy to add but not so easy to take out.  Cliff and the missionaries loved it.  I had enough left over for Cliff to take to work for lunch.  It was rather easy to make also.

Fresh Lemonade

Fresh Lemonade

taken from Food.com - Barefoot Contessa

1 cup Fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sugar to taste (I use 1 cup of sugar)

1 cup of crushed ice

4 cups of water

Put all ingredients in blender and blend.  Yummy!  A bit on the tart side so serving on ice will probably water it down a bit if you don't like to pucker.

Pumpkin Bread

I found this recipe using Google.  It was submitted by Laurie Bennett.  Any additions to her recipe by myself, my mom, or friend Rachel will have a star by them.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

15 ounces of pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup of water

3 cups of white sugar*(I used 2 c. white sugar and 3/4 c. brown sugar)

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder*(Mom said to add this-made the bread pretty)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon*(Mom said to add more than the recipe called for 1  1/2 tsp.)

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves(this is the ingredient I omitted and Rachel won!)

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice*(Rachel's other secret weapon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour (3) 7x3 loaf pans.  I just used Pam.  Mix together wet ingredients.  Mix together dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir.  Pour into pans.  Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Yummy recipe that gets better the next day so it is best to bake it a day ahead.  It stays moist as long as it is kept covered.

Chicken Burrito Filling

This recipe is so yummy!  My friend Holly passed it my way-Thank you Holly!!!   I made it for dinner today and will definitely make it again.  Super easy.

Chicken Burrito Filling

Layer in Crock pot:

10 Frozen chicken tenders (I used three frozen chicken breasts)

1 cup of chicken broth

1 cup of chunky salsa

1 can corn, drained (or frozen corn)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 package of taco seasoning

Cook on low 4-5 hours, until chicken is done.  I shredded the chicken in the crock pot, mixed it all up, and then served it up with shredded cheese in a tortilla (I use the tortillas that you cook from Costco).  Top with sour cream or other yummy toppings.  

Holly's other suggestions: Serve with tortilla chips or on top of mixed salad greens with crushed chips, green onions, and Mexican style rice.

This had to be one of the easiest meals I have ever made and I had all the ingredients on hand.  I might even add a little rice to the mixture next time.  I had about half left after dinner (we are only a family of 3) so I will be freezing the mixture to break out again for dinner.  Love it!

Garlic Cheese Bread

I don't have a picture because we ate it all!  Basically, I had a loaf of sourdough bread and was thinking about making French Bread pizza.  Well, we ordered pizza instead but while we were waiting I made us an appetizer....like we needed more carbs with our dinner!

1 Loaf of Sourdough bread cut in half

Spread butter over halves

Sprinkle with garlic salt

Sprinkle with Kraft Parmesan cheese

Sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese

Put under broiler.  Watch carefully until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.  I sliced my loaves again into smaller pieces for easy dipping.  Serve with spaghetti sauce for dipping.  Yummy!