Cranberry-vanilla mini bundts

I made fresh cranberry sauce last night for dinner, so I used the left-overs for the mini bundts.

This is what they looked like before the frosting, the cranberries peeking through.


Ingredients
5 ounces frozen cranberries
6 tablespoons cranberry juice cocktail, divided
1 cup plus 6 tbsp. granulated sugar, divided
Cooking-oil spray
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, divided
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean pod (I just used vanilla)
Preparation
1. Bring cranberries, 3 tbsp. juice, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer mixture, stirring often, until most of berries pop, about 4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 3 tbsp. juice and purée in a food processor. Let cool completely.

2. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat mini Bundt pan with cooking spray.

3. Beat butter, 3 oz. cream cheese, and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar in a bowl with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down sides; add eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on medium until blended, scraping down bowl as needed.

4. Whisk together flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to batter and beat on low speed just until blended.

5. Fill each Bundt cup with 2 tbsp. batter. Dot each with 1/2 tbsp. cranberry sauce, then dollop 1 tbsp. batter on top of sauce, leaving some of it exposed. With a toothpick, swirl sauce and batter together.

6. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in thickest part comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes from pan, using a small spatula if necessary to loosen them. Trim cake edges if you like.

7. Beat remaining 2 oz. cream cheese in a bowl with a mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar. Slit vanilla bean pod lengthwise and gently scrape out seeds with a small spoon into cream cheese mixture. Add 5 tsp. water and beat until smooth and creamy. Drizzle over slightly warm cakes.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- Grilled pork chops, green beans, baked potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce

Tuesday- Chicken Marsala and homemade bread

Wednesday- Buttermilk pancakes and sausage

Thursday- Chicken stir fry with mushrooms and bok choy

Friday- Out to eat

Saturday- Little missie's b-day!
Little drummettes, macaroni salad, hot dogs in cresents, chips and guacamole and cranberry salsa and veggie tray.

Makes and Bakes:
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, perssimon cookies, cupcakes and birthday cake (all pink of course).

Thanksgiving in Shaver

Goodies from Santa!

Little missie would not sit on Santa's lap so dad had to hold her.

Snowman and cousins, what fun!

Little man and a giant icicle.

It was great having snow this time of year. The kids had a blast and we had fun watching them and playing with them. I wish it would snow every Thanksgiving, gets you more in the holiday spirit! We have lots to be thankful for this year!

Another great giveaway

Go HERE for this great giveaway! She is lucky enough to provide one reader with a $100 Visa Gift Card, courtesy of BlogHer. Winner will be chosen at random on December 15th. Hurry over and share your favorite chocolate recipe!

Operation Christmas Child/Shoebox

Having fun while giving.

They decorated their boxes with stickers and cut-outs. They both drew pictures on the bottom of the box and little man wrote Merry Christmas on his.

They were so proud of themselves. The ladies at the drop off for operation shoebox loved the idea that the kids decorated the boxes themselves.

With Christmas approaching and with myself doing the 30-day giving challenge, I have been thinking about how I can get my kids involved in giving at such an early age. I want them to know that because we have a lot and enough money to buy what we need, it is our responsibility to help those that are in need. I was listening to KLOVE and a woman was saying that she has 4 kids and every year their kids fill a shoebox for a child that is the same age and sex as they are. The parents had promised their kids a month back that for an early Christmas gift they would take them to a movie, but with money being tight they told their kids that either they could go to the movie, which meant that they would not have enough money for the shoebox gifts. The kids hands down voted to do operation shoebox instead of seeing a movie. This is what I want to instill into my family, a spirit of giving.

Last night I wrapped the shoeboxes in a paper bag for the boy and white construction paper for the girl. Little man and little missie got to decorate the boxes and they helped pick out a couple of items at Target as well. I told little missie that this is going to a little girl that needs pencils and coloring books. Little man even picked out one of his small monster trucks and put it in the box for the little boy receiving the shoebox and he wrote a note to the little boy. I hope they look forward to this every year. They were very proud of their boxes and showed Daddy when he got home and grandma and pop this morning.

Gummy Lump Giveaway

Do you want to win this kitchen? I love it! Go HERE if you would like to win this from Gummy Lump! Hurry over, the contest ends 12/2/10.


Melissa & Doug's Kitchen includes a sturdy stove top, roomy refrigerator, fancy freezer, a see-through oven with working knobs, a microwave and a spacious sink. Sizeable storage, beautiful detailing and bright, colorful graphics, all for an exceptional price.


Enjoy the Melissa & Doug Kitchen for one child or for several! Kitchen play is wonderful for enhancing social skills because several children have to figure out how to work together.

The Play Kitchen by Melissa & Doug has been one of our best selling kitchens for several years because of it's easy assembly with clear instructions, quality, price, and durability.

Fried Chicken

Tonight I attempted fried chicken for the second or third time in my life. Fried chicken is not one of my favorite foods, but my little man LOVES fried chicken and I thought I would give it a try. It was moist in the inside, but the outside did not have that flaky yummy crust that fried chicken is known for. I think fried chicken is an art, one that you need to learn from someone, not by a recipe.

My father-n-law makes the best fried chicken and little man loves it and my nephews ask for it. The next time he makes it I think I will have to go over to his house and watch him make it. I think this is one meal my son would love me to learn to make(and husband too).

30-Day Giving Challenge

I have been doing the 30-Day Giving Challenge that I recently blogged about. At first I thought it would be hard to come up with things to do or give, but it has been easy and it is nice to think about, "What am I going to do today that will make a difference?" Some days it is not big, like yesterday I ironed my husbands pants that had been sitting in the laundry room for months. I really hate ironing and I ironed without him asking. One day I donated my Pampers points to Toys for Tots and wrote my parents a thank you card for being a great help with the kids. It can be a compliment or just opening doors for others while out on your errands.

It is not too late to start. If you would like more information, go HERE and LIKE them and you will get ideas for giving.

Great Birthday Invitations and Christmas Cards!

UPDATE: I ordered little missies b-day invites with the 50 free photocards I received from Shutterfly (though I only ordered 20 since I am not inviting that many people). Nothing like free birthday invites!

Every year for my kids Birthdays I order their invitations from Shutterfly. They have the cutest invitations and this is where I am planning on ordering my little girls invitations from. Go HERE and check out the cute designs they have! I am going to choose THIS design for her princess themed birthday party, isn't it cute!

And while I am doing Birthday invitations I am going to design and order my Christmas cards too. I love THIS design. I think it would be a great design for our family picture that we are going to be taking in Shaver Lake.

Upload all your favorite photos HERE and design Christmas calendars and books. Make sure you make one for yourself too! I have made many albums for the grandparents as gifts or thank-you little books for being great grandparents.

I know I am going to have a lot of fun making Christmas gifts and Christmas cards this year. Join in on the fun!

If you want to find out how you could get 50 free Shutterfly holiday cards, go HERE to find out how!

Taco Salad Dressing

I made taco salad last night and I tried a new dressing. First I made my own taco seasoning which was much better than the packs. It was not as salty and had a lot more flavor, but the dressing was so good. My mom's friend made this and she passed it on to me.

3/4 cup mayo
3 chipotles in adobo (spicy) so if you like less spicy add less
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp chicken stock
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste

Just mix it up and refrigerate until you are ready to use.

What I put into my taco salad:
Ground turkey with taco seasoning
Avocados
Tomatoes
Crushed up Tostitos
Green onions

Meal Plan Saturday

Saturday- Sicilian Chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

Sunday- Taco Salad with chipotle sauce, ground turkey topped with guacamole and tortilla chips

Monday- Smokey Chicken Calzones with green salad

Tuesday- Fish sandwiches with jalapeno slaw

Wednesday- Left overs

Thursday- Beef stroganoff

Friday- Out to dinner

Asian Meatball Subs

This is not my picture of the subs, it's from The Food Network Magazine where I got the recipe. We ate them too fast before I could get a picture in, they were soooo good!! My hubby said that they definitely go up with his top 10 meals that I make. I liked making these since I could make the meatballs while little missie was napping and little man was at school. All I had to do was cook them and plate them up. I did add sauteed mushrooms with garlic and soy sauce to mine since I love mushrooms with bean sprouts. I also used ground chicken instead of ground pork. Vons was out of the ground pork and they had ground chicken on sale. I would make them either way, whatever meat was on sale. It was the ingredients that you add to the meatballs that made them so tasty. All of the ingredients I keep on hand since I do like to cook Asian food.

Just a note, buy hoisin sauce at Smart and Final, it is so much cheaper than buying a little bottle at the store.

Recipe:
Ingredients
1 slice white sandwich bread
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
5 scallions, white and green parts separated
1 1/4 pounds ground pork
3 large cloves garlic, finely grated
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled ginger (about a 2-inch piece)
1/3 cup water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 to 4 teaspoons Asian chili-garlic sauce
Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup bean sprouts
4 7-inch-long pieces baguette, split open

Directions

1. Tear the sandwich bread into small pieces, then toss with the milk and soy sauce in a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mince the scallion whites. Cut the scallion greens into thin 2-inch-long strands. Put the strands in a bowl of ice water and refrigerate while you make the meatballs.

3. Add the scallion whites, pork, garlic, ginger, water chestnuts, egg, cilantro, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to the bowl with the bread; mix until combined. Gently form into 16 golf ball-size meatballs. Put the meatballs on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 4 hours.

4. Stir the hoisin sauce, mayonnaise, 11/2 tablespoons lime juice, the chili-garlic sauce and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

5. Heat about 1 1/2 inches peanut oil in a large, wide saucepan over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees F. Add the meatballs in batches and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

6. Strain the scallion greens and toss with the bean sprouts, the remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Spread the hoisin mayonnaise on the inside of the baguette pieces, then fill with the meatballs and top with the scallion-sprout mixture.

Photographs by Con Poulos