"Healthier" Fettuccine Alfredo Sauce

Recipe from: flouronmyface.com

If you saw our "A" date post from last week, you'll know we made Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner! This is the recipe we used, which seemed to have a little less fattening stuff than a lot of recipes :p We'll use a little bit less salt next time, but otherwise it was wonderful! 

Ingredients: 

- 1 (1 lb) box of Fettuccine noodles, cooked

- 4 Tablespoons butter

- 3 Tablespoons flour

- 1 teaspoon salt (I think we'll use 1/2 teaspoon next time)

- 1/2 teaspoon pepper

- 2 cups milk

- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1. In a medium sized pot, heat butter, salt, and pepper over a medium heat.

2. Once butter has melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth.

3. Slowly pour in the milk in and whisk.

4. Turn heat up a little bit, to medium-high.

5. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. (Add more cheese if the taste isn't strong enough for you)

6. Continue whisking about 5-7 minutes until sauce has thickened. 

    Sauce will continue to thicken a bit as it cools 

We dished out the pasta, and then added our own sauce, but you could also mix the pasta and sauce together and then dish it out like that. We also served with these easy dinner rolls!

Who Doesn't Love Chocolate?

While you're probably reading this, we are on a plane to Atlanta. From there we head to Miami! We'll meet up with my mom, step-dad, little sister, little brother and his girlfriend. My mom and step-dad are taking all of us on a cruise! So starting tomorrow, that's where we'll be! Anyway, last weekend we had a date night (more on that next week!) and made some chocolate covered apples. Nothing too crazy, I just thought I'd show how we save a lot of money by making our own.
I also use Hershey's hugs as my chocolate. It's by far my favorite! And so so easy :)

Directions: 
1. Unwrap hugs.. this is the most time consuming part.. but totally worth it ;)
2. To melt the hugs, I use a measuring cup, just because it's microwave safe.
    I start with 30 seconds, then move the hugs around a little bit with a fork.
    After that, I do 15-20 second intervals, using a fork to stir it each time.
    I do this until the chocolate is all the way melted, it usually only takes me 3 times in
    the microwave total.
3. Slice your apples to whatever size you want! (T did this while I unwrapped the hugs :p ) 
4. Line cookie sheet with wax paper
5. Dip your apples in the chocolate and place them on the cookie sheet with wax paper.
6. Place cookie sheet in fridge to chill for about 20 minutes.
7. ENJOY! :) because after all, who doesn't love chocolate? 

Easy Dinner Rolls

Recipe from: thebakerupstairs.com

This weekend we had a little date night, (more on that next week) and I thought it would be the perfect time to try this recipe out. I've never made any kind of bread from scratch, so I thought these would be a good place to start. We're trying to eat more "real" foods, and the rolls we usually eat are the ones that are from the frozen food aisle, so that was our motivation in learning to make these beauties. And let me tell ya, these are super easy! I can't wait to make them again :) 

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups hot water

- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast

- 2 Tablespoons sugar

- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 3 1/2 cups - 4 cups flour

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl, mix together water, yeast, and sugar

2. Let stand until frothy (about 5 minutes)

3. Add the oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix until well combined

4. Stir the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough starts to pull away from the bowl and isn't sticky anymore.

5. Continue to knead the dough until elastic

6. Place dough into a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth

7. Let rise until dough is doubled in size (about an hour)

8. Punch down dough

9. Lay dough on floured surface.

10. Preheat oven to 375

11. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray

12. Divide dough into 12 equal sized pieces 

13. Divide those 12 pieces into 2 equal sized pieces

14. Shape each piece into a ball, and add two balls into each well in the muffin tin

15. Bake 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown

Chocolate Strawberry Dip!

Ingredients: 
- 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 (8 oz) package of cool whip
- 1 Hershey's candy bar, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
   I bought an XL candy bar, and that was more than enough for inside the dip, and on top
- 1/2 cup strawberries, chopped

For the optional topping: 
- 3 pieces of Hershey's chocolate bar, chopped
- 1/8 cup strawberries, chopped 


To Do:
1. Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together.
2. Gradually add in Cool Whip.
3. Add in strawberries.
4. Gently stir in chocolate pieces.
5. Top with strawberries and chocolate pieces.
6. Chill before serving.

We served ours with graham crackers and pretzels! I thought it was a little too cream cheesy, so next time I think I'll add 3/4 (6 oz) of the package instead of the whole thing! But it was still good :) I also had bigger pieces on top of the dip, than I did inside.

Recipe from: What's Cooking Love

Super Bowl Series: Cupcake Recap!

Obviously, this morning I am very happy! We are huge Ravens fans, so it was pretty exciting! I love making cupcakes, and I love trying new ways to decorate them! So here's what our cupcakes for Super Bowl looked like :)

I used white cake mix, and store bought frosting for these :p I was just too lazy! But I did make the chocolate cupcakes from scratch, and this is the only recipe we use! It's amazing, and they stay moist for a very long time. Just looove them! ;) 

Chocolate Cupcakes: 

- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (sifted)

- 2 cups sugar

- 2 1/2 cups flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup hot water

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 2 eggs

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Line cupcake tins and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. In a small bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. Sift cocoa into a medium size bowl. Pour in the cup of hot water, and whisk until completely dissolved.

4. Add buttermilk, then add sugar, and whisk until combined.

5. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix again.

6. Take flour mixture and whisk until wet mixture. 

7. Stir in heavy cream until evenly mixed in. 

8. Pour batter into cupcake tins, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

9. Let cupcakes cool completely. 

10. Chill in fridge for around 20 minutes. Then frost.

I also did two DIY projects for the Super Bowl! The football utensil jars and the penalty flag center piece. Both are pictured in the top picture and are super easy for any kind of football party! :) 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal M&M Cookies

Honestly, I'm really excited to share this with you guys!! My two favorite cookies are whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip, and M&M... so I was thinking, why not combine the two?! So that is what I did! I also used Valentine's Day M&Ms because Valentine's Day is a couple weeks away! :)

Ingredients

- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 2 large eggs

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 cups whole wheat flour

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2 cups old-fashioned oats

- 1 (12.6 oz) bag M&Ms

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line cookie sheets and set aside. I have 3 cookie sheets, and I'm pretty sure I used each one twice.

3. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the butters and sugars together. 

4. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. 

5. Slowly add whole wheat flour and beat until well combined.

6. Add in baking soda, baking powder, and salt, beating until well combined.

7. Add in oats and mix until well combined. I actually use a spatula to do this, because it's too much work for my little hand mixer!

8. Fold in the M&Ms.

9. Scoop cookie dough on cookie sheet.

10. Bake 10-12 minutes. 

Mini Valentine's Day Heart Funfetti Cakes

You will need:

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 cup butter

- 1 cup sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 Tablespoon 

- 1/3 cup milk

- 1/4 cup sprinkles 

(plus more for the sprinkles on the frosting)

I honestly don't even remember where I got these mini cake pans from, but they were cute, so I bought them! Typical right? Well I figured with Valentine's Day coming up, it was the perfect time to use them! 

They didn't turn out quite as "hearty" as I had hoped once they were frosted..but they tasted yummy! 

So here's what I did: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Beat sugar and butter on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes.

4. Lower speed, and add eggs, one at a time. Scrape bowl as needed.

5. Add vanilla, and mix until well combined. 

6. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add half of the flour/baking powder mixture. Mix.

7. Pour in milk, mix.

8. Add other half of the flour/baking powder mixture. Mix until well combined. 

9. Fold in sprinkles with a spatula.

10. Fill mini cake tins with batter. (As you'll see in my pictures, I filled them about 2/3 full, it was way too much, and next time I'll only be filling it about 1/3-1/2 full)

11. Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (Like I said, I filled mine way too full, so they took awhile.. checking with a toothpick is just always the way to go, every oven is different!)

12. Allow them to cool for a few minutes, and remove cake from pan.

13. Allow to cool completely, and frost the cakes! 

14. Top with sprinkles! 

Homemade {Almost} Oreos!

For the cookies you will need:

- 1 cup unsalted butter

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

- 2 cups all purpose flour 

- 3/4 dutch process cocoa powder (I used Hershey's unsweeted cocoa powder, and they turned out fine. I do think next time I'll look for Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa powder though!)

- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1 teaspoon salt 

(not pictured: cookie cutters approx. 2" in diameter)

For the filling you'll need:

- 1/2 cup butter

- 2 Tablespoons half and half

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

- pinch of salt

- 3 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

(not pictured: piping bag and large round tip) 

Start with the cookies:

1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. 

2. Combine butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well incorporated.

4. Gradually add in the dry mixture, beating on a low speed. Continue to mix on low speed.

5. Divide the dough in half, and shape into two disks.

6. Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. 

7. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

8. When the cookie dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

9. Take the first disk of dough out of the fridge and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

10. Roll the dough to 1/8" - 1/4" inch thick. (The thinner the dough, the crunchier the cookie will be)

11. Use a cookie cutter  to cut out the cookies and transfer to cookie sheet.

12. Bake for 12 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack and let cookies cool completely.

While cookies are cooling, prepare the filling

13. Combine butter, half and half, vanilla, and salt. Beat until well combined. 

14. Slowly add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time. (It will be a little bit stiffer than cupcake frosting)

15. Transfer filling into a piping bag with a large round tip. 

16. Pipe filling onto half the cookies, then top with the other cookies, making oreo-like cookies! 

These cookies were really good! They didn't taste quite like oreos, but they were definitely yummy! We also used food coloring to make our filling purple, Go Ravens! ;) 

Recipe from: My Kitchen Addiction Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies

Instagram: tybabess