Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I had some sisters on my visiting teaching route this past week that had birthdays. I thought that this would be perfect to surprise them with! I am not a fan of cream cheese frosting - but this one really takes the cake! No pun intended.

Russell and the boys were sad that there weren't more! The recipe comes from TasteTester who lives in Florida.

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

18 oz white cake mix

1 cup water

4 egg whites ( I just used 3 whole eggs)

2 TBSP vegetable oil

3 oz pkg lemon flavor instant pudding and pie filling

2 cups powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 TBSP lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix with water, egg whites (or eggs) and oil. Add dry pudding mix and beat in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tins. TasteTester says her recipe fills 24 muffin tins. I only got 18. But then I did fill the muffin tins rather full.

Bake 21-24 minutes or until cupcakes test done. Cool in pans 10 minutes then remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

Meanwhile; beat powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter and lemon juice with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Frost cupcakes. Add sprinkles if you want too. I like to. It brings the kid out in me.

Southern Caramel Apple Bars

This was super scrumptious and very "fall-ish!" The recipe comes by way of RecipeNut in Rhode Island.
Southern Caramel Apple Bars
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
4 granny smith apples, peeled and very coarsely chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped ( used sliced almonds instead)
24 caramel candies, unwrapped
2 TBSP milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish.
Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl. Melt butter in large saucepan. Remove from heat; stir in brown sugar and sugar with spoon. Add egg and vanilla; stir until well blended. Add flour mixture; mix well. Press into bottom of prepared baking dish; top with apples.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until edges are browned and pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Toast pecans (or almonds if you are me) in medium nonstick skillet over med-high heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly or until fragrant. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Heat caramels and milk in same skillet over med-low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth.
Drizzle caramel sauce over cooled apple bars; sprinkle with nuts. Let stand 30 minutes before cutting into bars.

**Kim - this is for you! No - I didn't forget to put the recipe down. I started adding pictures so if I was using a different computer adding the words wasn't a problem. I only have the pics on my computer and Nephi was using it.

Lemonade Ice Cream

If all the world was lemonade and ice cream...Oh what a wonderful world this would be. :) People are probably thinking all we eat is desserts! Well this past month we've certainly tried some awesome ones thanks to the recipe swap I am part of! This recipe's credit goes to RecipeNut in Rhode Island. So easy, refreshing and I think there is real potential in various flavors to try!

Lemonade Ice Cream
4 cups whipping cream
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
yellow food coloring - optional

Combine all ingredients. Pour mixture into freezer container of 4-5 quart ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions. I let my ice cream ripen overnight. The batter tasted great the first day - but the ice cream was just delicious to no end the next day. I took it to Relief Society for a dinner we had last night and there wasn't any left. Everyone loved it. Especially those with a little sore throat.
Combinations I think would be really tasty....
Orange
Lime
Raspberry
Pineapple

Blueberry Pie

This recipe comes from MrsMM in Massachusetts. She was on my team for the September Aussie/NZ recipe swap. A very tasty pie with lots of yummy blueberries!

Blueberry Pie
2 pie crusts - either buy them or make your own
3 3/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (thaw the frozen berries) (If using fresh - make sure to clean them over)
3/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 TBSP butter
1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss berries with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt until evenly coated. Pour berries into pie crust. Dot with butter. Add top crust. Cut slits to ventilate. Bake for 45 minutes. I like to sprinkle the top crust with water then add cinnamon sugar.

Chicken Quesadillas

Oh my lucky southwestern stars! These quesadillas were such a hit at dinner tonight! I served coleslaw with it and what a perfect side!
Chicken Quesadillas
2 flour tortillas per person
favorite salsa
shredded chicken
sliced or chopped olives
shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For each tortilla - place one on a non-stick cookie sheet OR a sprayed cookie sheet with vegetable oil. Top with salsa (kind of like you would with sauce and pizza), add shredded chicken, olives and cheese. You can sprinkle with parsley if you like or add chopped cilantro. Top with second tortilla. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting. Your fingers will thank you.

Coleslaw
Our neighbor gave us this ginormous cabbage - probably 5-8 lbs. It's huge! I used only a very small portion to make coleslaw tonight.
Shredded cabbage
Sauce:
About 1 cup mayonniase
Dash of white vinegar
1 TBSP sugar - or to taste
1 tsp celery seed
Combine sauce ingredients in bowl. This sauce totally goes by taste of the cook mixing it up. I add the ingredients and taste. If it needs more of something I add it. If I like the way it is - I mix it in with the cabbage and refrigerate until time to eat. It's not complicated and very refreshing on a summer day.

Italian Chicken

I really don't know how "Italian" this chicken is except for the fact it uses Italian dressing. So - I will call it "Italian Chicken." This makes super moist fall apart chicken. That's why we like it.

Italian Chicken
lots of chicken legs or chicken pieces or chicken breasts
oil for browning
1 bottle Italian Salad Dressing

Brown the chicken pieces in oil. Then place in 9x13 baking dish sprayed with vegetable spray. Pour salad dressing over chicken. Cover with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours.

Orange & Strawberry Cream Smoothie

This recipe comes from morgainegeiser in Michigan. This was made for the September 2008 Aussie/NZ recipe swap. I like the fact that we are on teams from all around the world. Lots of variety to be found. :) I like a good smoothie. This one has lots of fruit and flavor.

Orange & Strawberry Cream Smoothie
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup strawberry yogurt (I used a whole little container - it's pretty close)
3/4 cup orange juice
1 cup strawberries
1 banana (morgainegeiser says to slice and freeze) I didn't have time to do to that part - I just threw it in the blender.

Combine all ingredients in the blender. If you like - stick in the freezer for about 15 minutes before drinking.
Man o man! Were these ever good!