Mini Soda Cupcakes

These are the easiest cupcakes. You can make them much cuter than my batch if you use a decorator icing and pipe the frosting on. Rainbow Chip happens to be my husbands favorite and it doesn't pipe very well. These require only 3 ingredients and there's no raw eggs so the batter is safe to eat. And you can make them vegan if you use a different frosting. Off the top of my head, I know that Wilton Decorating Icing is vegan.


Ingredients:
1 box any flavor cake mix
1 can soda
1 jar icing

1. Mix the cake mix and soda together. Whisk until there are no lumps. Pour batter into cake or cupcake pan. If you're using a cake pan, be sure to grease the bottom and sides. To fill the cupcake tins without a mess, pour the batter into a gallon size zip lock bag and cut a tiny whole in the corner. Squeeze the bag to fill each one 2/3 full.

2. Bake according to package directions.
3. Let cool completely and frost.

Paper Flowers

These are from Martha Stewart. 


You'll need several pieces of 5" squares. My sister in law wrapped our Christmas presents in this paper and it was too cute not to re-use. 

Fold each square in half both ways and then diagonally both ways so that you end up with 4 creases. 

Fold 2 of the corners in so you have a square. I'm not totally sure how to explain this so here's a picture for you. 

Place the template on the square so the corner is lined up with the folded corner of your paper. Trace.

Cut along the line you drew.

Unfold the paper.

Bunch the center together until you like the way your flower looks. 

Poke some wire through the bottom to hold it in place.

Wrap the ends of the wire around a branch. Luckily my neighbor trimmed his trees and left the branches on our side of the fence. 

Cut leaves out of a different paper and attach those the same way. 

Baked Tortilla Chips

These are a lot better for you than fried tortilla chips and I think they taste better. Instead of throwing out slightly stale tortillas, I used them to make these delicious chips. Just brush some olive oil onto both sides of tortillas then stack them up and cut them into triangles. Arrange them onto baking sheets and sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until they're a golden color. Next time I'm going to spray lime juice on them with this awesome Misto my mom got me for Christmas. 

Pancakes

Pancakes can be tricky. I like mine thin. Almost like crepes. If you use real milk instead of soy milk, they'll turn out thicker. The first pancake never turns out right so don't judge how the rest will turn out after your first one. 

Ingredients:
1-1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1-1 1/4 cups plain or vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Butter for pan


1. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and Cinnamon if using. In a larger bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. It's okay if there are a few lumps. Over-mixing will make your pancakes tough.


2. Butter pan and heat over medium heat for a couple minutes. (You can also use oil) Pour batter onto skillet and cook about 4 minutes or until golden on the bottom and bubbly on top. Turn pancake and cook until bottom is brown. Butter or oil the pan between pancakes if necessary.


Tips and variations:


I like my pancakes to all be the same size so I pour the batter into a 1/3 cup measuring cup first and then pour it onto the pan in a circular motion to make it more even.


If your pancakes are cooking too fast, turn down your stove. If it's too hot, you'll end up with pancakes that are too browned on the outside but not cooked all the way through.


I made this batch of pancakes with frozen berries. Fresh taste better but frozen is what I already had. Just fold the berries in at the very end before you pour the batter onto the pan.


I also like to make peanut butter banana pancakes. They're best if you warm the peanut butter up a little bit so  it's kind of runny. After you put the batter in your measuring cup, spoon about a tablespoon of peanut butter in and swirl it around. After you pour the batter onto the pan, add a few slices of banana.

Fried Raviolis

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 package frozen raviolis, cooked according to package directions
1 cup (approx.) olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Marinara sauce for dipping

1. In a small bowl whisk together the milk and egg. In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and seasonings. Dip each ravioli in the milk and egg and then the breadcrumbs. Both sides of the ravioli should be covered in the breadcrumbs. 

2. Pour oil into a large, heavy bottomed pan. It should be deep enough for the raviolis to be covered. The amount of oil you use will depend on how big the pan is. Heat over medium heat. It should be hot enough for a small amount of breadcrumbs to sizzle and turn brown.

3. Put a few raviolis into the oil at a time and fry them until golden, about 1 minute on each side. Place on paper towels to drain some of the grease. 

4. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately with marinara sauce. 

Tempeh Sausage

This came from Vegan with a Vengeance. It's great on pizza or mixed in with pasta or rice or vegetables. Or by itself. 

Ingredients (I never actually measure):

1 package tempeh

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

Crumble the tempeh in a small pan and add water to almost cover it. Simmer over medium-high heat until more of the water is absorbed, 12-15 minutes. Drain and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. 

Sugar Cookie Icing

This is the first time I've made this icing. It was a little runny but I think it would be fine if you just added a tiny bit more powdered sugar. I made it a day in advance and left it in Tupperware containers and it didn't harden until it was on the cookies. 

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

food coloring (optional)

1. Stir sugar and milk together until mixture is smooth.

2. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla until icing is smooth and glossy. Add food coloring. 

3. Ice cookies!

My co-workers and I made these ones. 

Cheesy Jalapeño Rolls

Ingredients:

 One bag of Trader Joe's pizza dough- or your favorite pizza dough

1/2 stick melted butter

1 cup (approx.) shredded cheese (I used cheddar and Monterey jack)

1 jalapeño, thinly sliced with no seeds

1. Allow your dough to rise until it's doubled in size. (This is Trader Joe's Garlic and Herb)

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll your dough out into a rectangle.

3. Spread melted butter over the entire surface. Top with cheese and jalapeños. 

4. Roll the dough up long ways. You can use a knife to slice it into 1/2 inch sections but I've found it's easier to wrap a string around it and pull the ends in opposite directions. 

5. Place the rolls in an ungreased casserole dish. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 20 minutes. 

6. Uncover and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. 

Black Bean and Tomato Rice

I made this for the first time tonight. It's one of my favorites now. It takes hardly any time and I usually have all the ingredients already. 

Ingredients:
1 red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup instant rice


1. Cook onion in oil in large skillet until soft but not brown, 3-4 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, oregano, and garlic salt. Bring to a boil. Add rice and bring mixture back to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover.
2. Let simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

Cinnamon Sugar Bagel Chips

Don't eat these before you workout. It hurts. 

Slice up stale cinnamon raisin bagels. I bought mine today and couldn't wait until they were stale so I put them in the oven at 350 for about 3 minutes. 

Put the bagels on a cookie sheet. Try to use similar sized slices so you don't end up with some burned. 

Brush melted butter over the top, then sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. More is better in this case. I forgot to take a picture of this part. 

Bake the bagels at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until they look like this:

Blocks

I'm making these for Christmas gifts. You can be as creative as you want with them. Michael's sells plain wooden blocks but they're 99 cents a piece. Instead, I went to Lowe's and bought the wood and had my dad cut them. I bought 2 pieces that were 6 feet each and it was $11.00. 

Materials: 

Wooden blocks, any size (I used 1 1/2 inch square)

Paper (scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, magazine pages, anything really)

Scissors

Paper cutter (Optional but very helpful)

Mod Podge

Paintbrush

Pen/pencil

Decide what you want your blocks to look like. The simplest way is to make 4 sides with the same paper. To do this, measure or trace a side of your block. Cut your paper into strips that are the same width as the block and 4 times the length, You will also need to cut squares for the top and bottom. 

Wrap a strip around a block and crease the corners a little bit. 

Paint mod podge around the sides of the block and wrap the paper around. Be sure to smooth the paper down as you go so you don't end up with bubbles or wrinkles.

Use scissors or a razor blade to trim the paper so it doesn't hang over the side of the block.

Paint Mod Podge over the top of the paper. Let dry. 

Take a nap with your cat.

Once the sides have dried, glue the tops on and paint Mod Podge over those. Let dry.

Repeat with the bottoms.

And you're done!

Veggie Burgers

I got this one from Betty Crocker. These are so easy and so delicious. You can also substitute the vegetables if you don't like these ones. The flavor is pretty mild though and you can't really taste any specific veggies. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked rice (instant rice works)
1/2 cup broccoli florets
2 oz fresh mushrooms
1/2 small red bell pepper, cut up
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 large egg
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 slice red onion
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
Vegetable oil or cooking spray
4 hamburger buns
Toppings (cheddar cheese, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.)


1. Using a food processor, pulse together broccoli, mushrooms, and bell pepper until finely chopped. Stir vegetables and rice together in medium bowl. 

2. Add beans, egg, garlic, onion, and seasoning salt to food processor. Process until smooth. Stir bean mixture and bread crumbs into vegetable mixture.

3. Shape mixture into 1/2 inch thick patties using about 1/2 for each one. 

4. Spray skillet with cooking spray or heat oil over medium high heat. Cook each patty 8-10 minutes, turning once, until brown and crisp. Serve on buns with toppings. 

I toasted my buns. And I melted cheese on top of the patties. 

Flipping the patties can be a little tricky. They tend to crumble a little bit but you can just put them back together on the bun and it won't matter. I made a second batch to freeze. I used black beans instead of garbanzo beans on the second batch and those ones were even harder to keep together.