 Does the thought of a rich, dark chocolate cupcakes stuffed with a creamy chocolate chip filling and topped with a sweet, fluffy buttercream make you jump for joy?
Well, it does me. I love these giant cupcakes. My mom used to make these for us when we were kids. (And I'm pretty sure she still does.)  Who wouldn't like the classic chocolate-vanilla cupcake combination with a hidden surprise inside?  Black Bottom Cupcakes 8 ounces cream cheese 1/3 cup oil 1 cup + 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon +1/8 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vinegar 6 ounces chocolate chips 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 ½ cups flour 1 cup water ¼ cup cocoa
Bake 30 minutes at 350.
Frost with Vanilla Buttercream and decorate with mini chocolate chips.
There you go - simple and delicious.
Ciao!
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 I love to have my kids help me in the kitchen. Courtney is always willing to help (especially if it means homework procrastination.) but it takes a little more encouragement to get Ryan to cook with me.
The trick to getting kids interested in cooking is in the recipe. 1. It has to be an easy recipe that won't take so long to make that kids lose interest. 2. It has to be a something that kids would want to eat - as visually appealing as it is delicious. 3. It has to be a recipe that is very "hands on" - literally.
The truth is, finding good recipes to make with kids can be a challenge. Never fear - I'm got a great one for you.  These strawberry swirl cookies are a perfect treat to make with your kids. It's almost like they are playing with edible play dough.  Having the kids in the kitchen definitely means that the kitchen will be messier, the recipe will take longer to prepare and it probably won't look as pretty as if I had made it by myself, BUT, it also means that there will be more laughs, more science and math lessons and valuable skills learned.  Strawberry Swirl Cookies 1box white cake mix 1/2 c. butter, melted 1 egg Red Dough: 1 /2 small box strawberry jello 1/2 Tbsp water red food coloring jell White Dough: 1/2 Tbsp water 1/4 tsp almond extract Beat together the cake mix, melted butter and eggs.
 Roll a white dough ball and a red dough ball together to make a marble like cookie.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes on a silpat lined cookie sheet.
The cookies will start to crack when they are done. Remove from the oven and let them continue to cook for about 2 minutes on the hot sheet. Remove from the pan and finish cooling on wire rack.  Not a fan of strawberry? Swap the strawberry jello out for another flavor. It would be really fun to make them using different colors to create a kaleidoscope of cookies.
Ciao!
 I have a whole stack of breakfast recipes that are just waiting to me made. I always have the best intentions of baking a great new breakfast recipe at night before I go to bed but unfortunately, when 6 AM rolls around, I lose all sense of enthusiasm and I certainly am not ready to pick up my camera and start snapping pictures of food before 7:00.  So what do I do to compensate for my lack of morning motivation? Bake my breakfast the night before. The only problem is that when I bake breakfast at 9 at night, we EAT breakfast at 9 at night.  I found this idea for Monkey Bread Muffins on Pinterest and I didn't follow the recipe online but I did use it as inspiration for my own version. And yes, I made some extra muffins so we could eat some as a bedtime snack and the rest for breakfast the next day.  Monkey Bread Muffins (Makes 6 jumbo muffins) 3 (7.5 ounce) tubes of refrigerated biscuits 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 stick butter 1/2 cup brown sugar Cut each biscuit in quarters.
Roll each biscuit quarter into a ball and roll in sugar.
 What happens when you combine 2 of Americas favorite foods? Pizza Burgers happen. It's a pizza-hamburger fusion explosion. (Oh yea, I just said that.)
Unfortunately, this recipe didn't go over like I had expected though. Courtney definitely didn't share my excitement over this hamburger fusion. Despite my pizza burger sales pitch, she wasn't on board with the whole pizza and burger-in one concept. Teenagers - what can you do?  Don't let the fact that Courtney wasn't willing to even try the pizza burger, discourage YOU from trying it. Ben and I thought they were delicious. A perfect Friday night meal.  Pizza Burgers 1 pound lean ground beef 1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage 1/4 teaspoon basil 1/4 teaspoon oregano salt and pepper 5 slices provolone cheese 1 cup pizza sauce 5 hamburger buns
Grill.
Add a slice of provolone cheese to each burger.
Add top bun and enjoy.  So for those indecisive eaters who can't seem to decide between hamburgers and pizza - this recipe is for you. Now you can have both - in one meal.
Ciao! Dog Days of Summer  Those of you who follow me on Instagram know that every Monday I post "Mondays with Mia" pictures on my Instagram. I know it's silly but I just can't help myself. It's been a while since I've blogged about Mia and I don't want my blog followers to feel neglected so it is with great excitement that I present to you - "A Day in the Life of ... Mia." Yes, it's true, I followed Mia around with my camera for an entire day and documented her adventures so that I could share them with all of you. (I need to get a life.) A Day in the Life of ... Mia
7:30 Bath Time. :(
9:00 Bed Time  What a life! Wouldn't it be funny if I documented my own day in selfies? (For a girl who hates to have her picture taken - that would be torture.)  While Mia was busy playing and napping all day, I was marinating a flank steak for dinner. I love dinners that I can prep in the morning and then just throw together at dinnertime.
This flank steak is one of those recipes. It doesn't take long at all for this to grill up to perfection and I was able to make some roasted vegetables while it cooked. It was a perfect summertime meal. Marinated Flank Steak 1/2 cup Soy Sauce 1/2 cup Cooking Sherry 3 Tablespoons Honey 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil 2 Tablespoons (heaping) Minced Ginger 3 cloves (to 5 Cloves) Minced Garlic 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 1 whole Flank Steak
Remove flank steak from package and give it a quick rinse. Coat both sides of the meat with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 6 hours.
Remove the steak from the marinade and place on a plate while you heat up the grill. Cook without touching for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes. Rotate the meat about 45 degrees, keeping it on the same side, and cook for another 1 ½ minutes.
Now flip it to the other side. Cook using the same method on the other side, cooking for 1 1/2 minutes, then rotating it and finishing the cooking process. I cook the flank streak to medium rare, which usually takes about 5 to 7 minutes total cooking time. Remove the meat to a cutting board and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing.
When you’re ready, thinly slice the meat against the grain. That means find the directional striations/lines in the meat grain and slice perpendicular to it.  Enjoy!  Ciao!
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