Thin Mint Cupcakes

Chocolate and mint are such a great combination. Peppermint patties = awesome. Mint Hot Chocolate = delicious. Thin Mints = wonderful. See, you can't go wrong. And these cupcakes are here to prove it.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Mint Buttercream

For the cake:
3/4 cup flour (heaping)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp mint extract
1 cup boiling hot chocolate (we used mint flavored)

For the frosting:
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter (just softened)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream (or milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp mint extract (add more or less depending on how strong you want the minty flavor)
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa

4 Thin Mints or Grasshopper Cookies (for crumbling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper baking liners. Do not attempt to bake straight in pan, this cake will stick.

Sift together dry ingredients in electric mixer. In separate bowl, combine wet ingredients EXCEPT hot cocoa. Slowly stir wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Add boiling hot cocoa slowly until batter is uniform and very runny. Don't worry, it will bake just fine. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. Do not overfill, they will make a mess in the oven.

Bake for 35 to 40 min until toothpick inserted comes out dry. Remove from pans and let cool on cooling rack.

For frosting: combine shortening and butter in electric mixer and whip until light and fully. Alternate adding milk and sugar until frosting is fluffy and slightly stiff. Add cocoa, vanilla and mint extract. Mix thoroughly. Spoon into pastry bag and frost cooled cupcakes. Crumble cookies until they are a rough powder and sprinkle on top.

Enjoy!

Happy Pie Day!

At work yesterday I was looking up some January and February Holidays to celebrate. Sometimes it is fun to celebrate those little holidays that no one know about. Like that January is National Soup Month. That is why I was posting all those soup recipes for you.
... Ok fine, I learned about National Soup Month after the fact. But it was still a good idea.

Anyways, I learned in the nick of time that today is National Pie Day! Like an actual pie, not Pi (3.141592653) Day, another day where people often eat pie to celebrate. My husband asked forever ago if I would make Chicken Pot Pie and I never got around to it. Thankfully he is forgiving and this recipe is delicious. 

Extra Flaky Pie Crust 

2 cups sifted cold flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vinegar (to make crust flaky)

2/3 cup butter

6 tablespoons ice water

Sift flour, sugar and salt together.  Grate cold butter (on cheese grater) into flour/salt and add vinegar. I grate the butter so that I don't have to cut it in with a pastry fork. Mix butter and flour together gently with hands until a crumbly mixture has formed. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time while mixing with hands until a ball is formed. Dough should be pliable and hold together but not wet at all. Adding too little water will cause the dough to crack when rolling, and adding to much water will make the dough sticky.  Split in half and roll out both halves on floured surface, then put one half in pie plate.

Chicken Filling

4 oz sour cream (1/2 cup)

1 Tablespoon milk (optional to make it smooth)

½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup cooked veggies ( my mom always used steamed broccoli pieces, and I like to add peas, corn and chopped carrots, just make sure they are not too wet when they go in the bowl)

1-2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped into bite size pieces

A dash of garlic salt and a couple dashes of pepper to taste. 

Mix all ingredients together. Fill crust in the pie plate with filling and then cover with the other pie crust. Pinch sides together to seal. Brush evaporated milk on top of crust before baking for a golden brown crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Black Bean Soup

I love posting recipes because I  try to remember where I got them and what memories are associated with them. A lot of my food memories involve my two best friends who were sisters. I guess we did a lot of eating together. 

This soup recipe is one of their's and reminds me of "staying for dinner" at their house. They always had a fruit salad at dinner, which was awesome because I thought fruit salad was dessert. I still remember their vinyl tablecloth and dishware. I was so sad when they moved my senior year of high school, and so happy when we became roommates in college. I still call and ask them for recipes of dishes I remember having at their house. This is one of my favorites. It is so quick and easy and super tasty. 

Black Bean Soup

Collet Family

1 c salsa 

2 (15 ½ oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can chicken broth

1 t lime juice

2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Sour cream to garnish

Tortilla chips

Heat salsa over medium heat, stirring often, for 5 min. Stir in beans and broth. Boil, then lower and simmer for 15 minutes.

Ladle half of the soup into blender and puree. Return pureed soup to pot. Stir in lime juice & cilantro just before serving. Serve soup warm w/ dollop of sour cream. Eat w/ tortilla chips. Makes 4 servings.

Tortilla Soup

My friend and I had this tradition in high school. We called it Tortilla Soup and Secrets. We would eat tortilla soup from the night before on my bed and talk. And that was all, and it was awesome. 

This soup is awesome. It is tasty and easily adaptable. You can substitute low sodium, or low fat ingredients if you want. Or just enjoy it in it's full fat glory. Don't worry, it's still healthy.

Tortilla Soup
From the kitchen of Fern Woodbury


In a large pot, combine the following:
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
1 can Rotel tomatoes
2 cans (16oz each) whole peeled tomatoes, blended until pureed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Garnish with toppings and enjoy,

Optional Toppings:
Cheese- cheddar, monterrey jack, pepper jack, colby
Sour Cream
Avocado
Tortilla Chips
Salt to taste

Banana Snack Cake

I woke up yesterday and wanted to make some rice pudding with my leftover rice. So I put the rice in the pot and realized I was out of milk. No big deal, I used some evaporated milk. Turns out I was also out of sugar, white and brown, so I used the last of my honey. I decided it was time to go grocery shopping...

Armed with fresh ingredients, I decided to make this delicious snack cake with those bananas that has been sitting on the counter for too long. I accidentally doubled the first two ingredients, so I just had to double the rest. Too bad :)

This recipe is a family favorite and one of the recipes that we would make all the time when we were down in Peru because it is easy and we always had bananas.

Banana Snack Cake

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk (or milk with a tsp of vinegar or lemon juice)
2 bananas- mashed
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup whole oats
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla and bananas.
In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well. Add
chocolate chips and pour into 9x13 greased pan or greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or
until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

College Friendly: Lemon Garlic Tilapia

I was on the phone with my mom the other day and she asked for some easy, healthy recipe ideas for my brother heading back to college. Apparently there are a disproportionate amount of desserts on my blog...  Which sparked an idea for a project! A collection of recipes that have 5 or less ingredients, are budget friendly and healthy. Fun, right?

This is  my first attempt, and here is the breakdown:

Tilapia has low calories, omega 3, vitamin B12 and plenty of potassium. Lemons are immune boosting and have lots of vitamin C. Garlic apparently prevents cancer. So healthy.

Lemons are about 50 cents each, Tiliapia is just over a dollar a fish and garlic is pennies. So cheap.

And easy. Assuming you already have salt and pepper, the only ingredients you need are
1 tilapia fillet
1 lemon
2 tsps of minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
2 Tbsps of olive oil
1 Tbsp dried parsley

Here is what you do. Line a pan with tinfoil (to make clean up easier).

Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon into the pan, drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 Tbsp parsley and a dash of salt and pepper.

Lay tilapia in the pan and add remaining lemon, olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. If you want to you can add some lemon zest or lemon slices.

Broil at 400 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes.

Serve with rice and vegetables.