Let's Make Whoopie

These are so good! I have been wanting to make a whoopie pie of some sort ever since the book Whoopie Pies has been released... ok ever since I saw it in a store... Im pretty sure its new, at least newish... but maybe It's just new to me. I havent bought it and I couldnt find it at my library. So if any of my friends have it Id love to borrow it!

This is my version of a super duper whoopie pie. They are awesome! I cant believe how great they turned out! All I did was tweak one of my favorite cookie recipes and used the leftover cream cheese frosting from the cinnamon buns I made last week and voila... yet another reason why Im still carrying around so much baby weight (and my baby is 1 year old!)


Here is how its done!

Mint Brownie Whoopie Pies

Mix together;
3/4 cup Cocoa
3/4 cup margarine, melted
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

In a separate bowl mix together;
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup mint chocolate chips
(for this recipe I used Andes mint chips... mand I wish I could get them in canada, but for now I have my mom ship them to me from texas)

Add this mixture to the cocoa mixture and combine.
Chill dough for 1 hour. Roll dough into balls and roll balls into icing sugar. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 minutes

Allow the cookies to cool.
Then just assemble the whoopie pies;
Frost the bottom of one cookie with the cream cheese frosting (see my cinnamon bun post for the recipe) and then gently press a second cookie to make a sandwich. This process has to be done super carefully as these are really soft cookies.

I need to find a different hobby... how will I ever lose weight making things like these everyday.... I love being in my kitchen!

Good Eats

This week is a try to use whats in the house week. I will still go Safeway but I wanted to use mostly what I had on had. So this weeks menu is nothing to get excited about;
Monday - Pasta bake
Tuesday - Chicken cesears
Wednesday - Borritos
Thursday - Im going to Kooza! But Ill make chipotle Glazed Chicken Wings for me and my Bestest buddy Stef (since she and her man are baby sitting for me!)
Friday - Florida Shrimp
Saturday - The Elders are over... lets make Parmesan Chicken
Sunday - The traditional Leftovers!
Kinda boring I know... but I am planning on making Mint Chip Brownie Whoopie Pies tomorrow... Ill let you know how that goes!
  Also today is Grandparents day! Did you know that?? I didnt know that in time so non of the grandparents in my life got anything special... wawawa... Guess Im not that great after all! But here is an online shout out to my awesome Grandparents! Grandma Shelva-- you are a saint; Grandpa Ray - I couldnt ask for a cooler person to be named after; Grandpa Ron - You will always be Rocky to me! Grandma Ollie - You are one sweet step grandma! Granpa Mike - Put down that camera!; and last but not least Grandma Ellen- You know how to rock it you Crazy Lady! And of course a huge hug to the grandparents of my boys! They love you so so much!

My Favorite Shrimp

All you mom's out there... is it just me or have you also ever just wanted a day off??? Dont get me wrong I love being a mom but sometimes I just want to have a whine/time out/diaper free day. Today was one of those days where I sat longing for some space. But I got over it!
  So tonight was out ward Chili cook off.. so I didnt cook dinner which makes me sad since I was really looking forward to my Pasta bake... oh well there is always next week! The recipe I have to share with you tonight is one of my childhood favorites. I always thought it was a special occassion when my mom would make this. I LOVE IT!

Florida Shrimp

1/3 cup lemon Juice

1/3 cup Orange Juice

1/3 cup Ketchup

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp dry mustard

1 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce

1/4 cup Honey

1 cup Veg Oil

1/4 tsp Paprika

1 1/2 lbs Shrimp, peeled and deveined)

Mix everything together in a plastic bag. Let Shrimp Marinade for at least 1 hour. Heat a small amount of oil in a fry pan and pour contents of the bag into pan and fry until shrimp is cooked.

Now Im kind of craving this shrimp... Ill have to see if I can fit it in to my Menu next week!

Vietnamese Sammies

Before I share a tastey treat with you tonight I have to share my proud mom moment. My oldest little man Jaxon started preschool today. He was so excited! He has been wanting to go to school all summer. So it was no surprise when we dropped him off and he ran off with out a hug and no looking back. Then when we picked him up he was just has happy... he cant wait to go back! YAY!

Now... onto the food. Tonight's dinner was vietnamese Steak Sammies. I was planning on using the left over steak from the bulgogi in this meal too but I ate it all.... thats what it gets for being so yummy! So I had to make more steak. Here is the marinade I used;

Lime Marinade
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp ginger
1 tsp red pepper flakes

now to assemble the sammies;
Cook the meat to desired doneness (hmmm is that even a word). Once cooked thinly slice the meat
While the meat is cooking chop up two scallions thinly and grate 2 carrots. Mix them together in a bowl. Make up the following sauce;

1 lg garlic clove, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp water

Put half the sauce on the veggies and mix.

Toast a hero bun and put carrots mixture and steak slices in. Top with extra sauce and ENJOY!
(Ok yes I know I didnt use Hero Rolls... this is what I had in my kitchen so thats what I used!)

Cinnamon Buns... yummy!

I love cinnamon buns. They are wonderful! I was thrilled when I found this recipe. Its for a bread machine! Its really yummy! I had some time this evening so I made some up so I could have them for breakfast. Jaxon is eating one right now as a bedtime snack. he says "They taste like heritage Park!" So if I make cinnamon buns that taste like something from the Heritage park bakery then Im happy!


1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
4 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast.

Put all ingredients in yoru bread machine, according to manufacturers recommendations. Select Dough setting and press start!
After cycle is done removed from machine and place on a lightly floured surface. Let rise for 10 minutes
mean while make up cinnamon Sugar

Cinnamon Sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon

Roll dough into a 16x21 rectangle. Spread evenly with butter and spinkle with Cinnamon Sugar.
Roll into a log and cut into 12 sections.
Place in a greased pan and let rise for 30 minutes
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

You will notice that mine dont have frosting... dont worry Im not insane... I just like the frosting to be fresh and since I wont eat them until tomorrow Ill make the frosting then

Frosting

1 pkg Cream Cheese (3 Oz), softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix together until smooth!

SOOO GOOD!

Bulgogi

I am an huge Asian food fan. I cant get enough of those flavors. I am always in the mood for it. Chinese, veitnamese, Korean, Thai (is that considered asian??), Japanese its all wonderful! Despite my love of Asian food there is a dish I hadnt tried... Bulgogi... until tonight. Im sold. I have to say its the best Bulgogi I have ever tasted! I will say that the original recipe came from Great Food Fast, but I have made some minor changes (still keeping the integrity of the dish, but making it my own take on it.)

Beef Bulgogi

1 1/2 lbs rib eye steak

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp Sesame oil

1 Tbsp Crushed red Pepper Flakes ( i like things spicy!)

4 Tbsp brown sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp Garlic (powder or minced)

2 Tbsp ginger

2 Medium Red onions sliced

1 green pepper sliced

1) Slice meat into thin strips (if you freeze your meat for 20- 30 minutes its alot easier to cut!)

2) In a small bowl whisk together Soy Sauce, Sesame oil, pepper flakes, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. In a second bowl mix together the onion and the green pepper. Pour half the marinade over the veggies. Toss the steak with the remaining marinade and let stand for 20 minutes

3) Heat some oil in a pan (I always use Extra virgin Olive Oil) over med-high heat. Add the onions and green pepper. cook until softened... about 5-8 minutes depending on how thick you sliced them. Transfer to a plate.

4) Add more oil and increase the temp to high. Add your meat and cook to desired doneness... I dont like much red so it takes a little while for me to get there.Once cooked add the veggies back in to the pan and heat through, takes about 1 minute.

This Dish is traditionally served wrapped in a lettuce leaf... but I had it over rice instead. So here is a tip... mine was still pretty saucy... if you are doing a lettuce wrap dish it up using a slotted spoon then drizzle yoru desired amount of sauce on it... that way its not really slimy in the lettuce. But I loved having the extra sauce since I had a plain rice with it.

This was a perfect end to a fun day. We were stuck in the house because of the rain... jaxon is like me and doesnt like being cold or wet (Owen would do outside in a 50 below blizzard!) So we had a jammie day... which means I FINALLY got my house cleaned and I even did some crafts... I worked on chelseas baby book, made a couple cards, finished up a page for the family scrapbook and of course worked on felt food. I even got to read! So crafty people keep watching the blog because in a day or two Ill be posting some cute projects!

Another Post for you today

Bonus! You get two posts today. Arent you just so excited?!?!? I thought Id do a quick book review for you today too, in case the recipe I posted didnt excited you enough.
  Recently I have been reading alot of teen books. But I thought It was about time for me to read a grown up book again. I read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It was Fantastic. At first I thought it would be confusing because it bounces between three different times (the late 1800s-early 1900s, 1975ish and modern day.) But it was always clear as to which time you were in. There was one big mystery to solve; Who is Nell? but there was also several little mysteries to solve along the way too. In fact it was those little mysteries that held my interest most.
   It was really well written too. The Characters were well developed. I loved the Spunk that Eliza had. The scenery was so well described that I was actually enticed to  and longed to be there.
  There was a bit of a love story for Cassandra which I could have done with out but it was a minor side note most of the time so I survived it.
  Eliza, Nell and Cassandra all accompany you on a journey to self discovery. Do you think if you found out that your parents werent really your parents that it would change who you are... or thought you are?? That was the underlying question in this book. My thoughts??? It wouldnt change me at all. Maybe its because my sister is adopted, but I know that she is who she is because she is this family and that we are her family. In my eyes its who raised you and was there through out your life that makes family, not what DNA you have.
  All and all I think its a great book and people should read it!.