addicted and a confession!

ok.

i have to confess.

i didnt do insanity last night.

my legs are so so so sore.

i know.

i know.

i sound like a whiney baby.

(shhhushhhh. i am.)

honestly, i probably could have forced myself to do it but instead princess # 3

and i made

these:

can we all say major addiction.

seriously.

 and if it's bad enough that i didnt do my work out.......

i

ate

two.

yep.

two freaking cuppies.

oink. oink.

(see cupcake liner in back of pic of eaten missing cupcake!)

raw. evidence. yeeeooow.

don't you love how the papers match my countertops?!?

sorry for the flash/glare in this pic (camera phone)...

i was trying to achieve 'tiffany blue'....but i made the buttercream too dark. der.

so, these are chocolate cakes filled with the most delightful vanilla filling.

i wanted to eat the leftover filling with a spoon.

and i may or may not attempted that as well. i mean heck, i am already mooing like a cow

and oinking like piggily wiggily. wth?!?

see recipe below for this amazing sweet treat!

vanilla filling for cupcakes

24 baked/cooled cupcakes.
fyi: i am not too proud to admit this: i use box cake mixes a lot. i typically add a stick of melted butter
and the rest of the ingredients. sometimes an extra egg. sometimes a pack of pudding. i always beat for the full time stated on the box! ! dont cheat!

ok, now on to the good stuff.

6 tbsp. flour. (regular old flour...nothing special)
1 cup milk. (i used skim.....lol. gotta count cals somewhere, right?)
1 cup butter (do not cheat! use the REAL stuff, friends!)
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla.

whisk flour and milk in saucepan until thick. (this tends to happen very quickly!) do not boil. continue stirring. it may get a little clumpy. strain lumps. the hardest part now: allow to cool COMPLETELY! (you are talking to theeeeee world's most impatient gal!) i did put it in the fridge while i whipped up the rest of our goodies!

oh, and note to self. my flour mixture was THICK. T-H-I-C-K. i couldnt even strain. so i thought what the heck......this could be disastrous. well, guess what??! it worked out fine. don't fret or worry. we are going to add good stuff and it will be alright. i pinky swear!

whip together butter and sugar until nice and creamy. ahhhhh. lets all say caaaaaaaaahhhhhhhrrrreeeaaaaammmy!!!!!!!
now add your VERY COOL flour/milk mixture and vanilla!
very important step: whip for 7 minutes! not 5......not 8..........SEVEN! seven full minutes!
ok. i know by now you have tasted it??????? AND?????
AMAZING, right?!?

so, we cut out little holes in our cuppies with a little sharp knife (sorry no pics to prove!) reserve your tops....and fill away. fill like you have never filled before!(we just used a tsp.) you could go all high tech and use a cake decorating bag.......then put your cute lil toppies back on!

frost with your favorite buttercream recipe AND sprinkle with large crunchy pieces of sugar! it looked so sparkly and fun when they were done!

AND....honestly, these were sooooo good. princess # 3 took some to her boyfriends fam and they raved. the boy of mine called his partner @ work and told him he just ate the BEST cupcakes EVER. (thanks honey!) i think he devoured three. (made me look a little less like a big PHAT cow) :o)

now go run to your kitchen and bake some of these up for your

favorite

people in your life!

they will love you forever.

and.

ever.

amen.

love you.

bye.

xoxo

crazy friday but yummy caramel corn!

its friday. yay. i am sure that this is everyone's fav day of the week, right?? let me just say that i am pumped its the weekend. i have no plans.....and thats good....great actually. i love when i can just hang at home and chill.....i have had a horrible work week. i had to travel monday and tuesday, which just adds mass chaos to the work week. it is tiring. boring. not fun. luckily for me, the hubby took both days off work to come with. that was the best part......and yummy sushi / thai food monday night (sorry no pics).....

anywho...i am babbling, as i sometimes do....i have to try and figure how to blog AND work at the same time! i have totally neglected my blog. seeing how i am fairly new to this, it might help if i was a 'regular' poster....i mean how am i going to get new followers, if i never BLOG?? der de der....key component, eh??

the boy is working a 12 hour shift tonight, so it was me and the kitchen. i finally quit working after 12 hours. blah. did i mention in paragraph one how tired of work i am? (dont get me wrong, i am thrilled to even have a good job, as i have said before......) but seriously....12 hours...on a friday.....not cool.

so as i was saying. i have to stop the insanity. i find comfort in baking. cooking. eating. this equates to great for my sanity.....not so great for the diet.....i typically have such great will power...but lately, my friends....um, not so much.....but no fault but my own....what do i do??? bake more. period. one would think i could figure this whole concept out. bake yummies. want to eat yummies. eat yummies. guilt. (i am blonde remember)....apparently i dont get it. ok....so hubs went to work....and i made this:

yes, my friends.....caramel corn. sweet. luscious. golden. pure lust in every bite....(oh, there were two of these trays also).....heaven in my mouth. so in case you want the recipe.....here ya go! oh and did i mention easy peasy. super duper.

caramel corn


1 cup oleo (i used 1/2 butter, 1/2 margarine)

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
6 qts popcorn


Melt oleo; sitr in surgar, corn syrup & Salt. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil w/o stirring 5 min. Remove from heat, sitr in soda & vanilla. Slowly pour over popcorn, mixing well. Put onto 2 shallow pans. Bake 1 hour @ 225 sitrring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven & cool. Break apart. Store in tightly covered containers.

tips: 

i made my popcorn on the stove in two batches. i used my largest soup pot. poured canola oil in bottom and used a little over 1/3 cup of popcorn each time. put lid on. shake pot as popcorn starts to pop.when caramel is done, i had popped corn in two large mixing bowls and divided mixture between both. mix.  i  used two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper to pour popcorn   to bake in oven.  

this is the caramel sauce as it is boiling.....dont stir!!! 5 minutes! be patient! 

this is the easiest treat to make and you can put in bags and tie with curling ribbon and use for parties, treat bags, etc! i LOVE this stuff......oh and did i mention i am NOT getting on the scale tomorrow morning!

xoxo peace and hugs
t