Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

A few weeks ago my sister made vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting for a birthday party for two of her daughters. I love icing, and this was one of the best icing recipes anyone in our family has made (in my opinion at least). Pictured below are the cupcakes she made. She found the recipe here (she used milk). I hope to try this recipe soon!

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Classic American Buttercream frosting. This recipe uses powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk. This is a great recipe for decorating and piping on cupcakes and cake.

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted, ideal texture should be like ice cream)

3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon table salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (use clear vanilla extract if you have it)

Up to 4 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk, 1 tablespoons at a time.

Photos by JoJo

Honey Teriyaki Marinade

It's finally spring and the weather has been beautiful lately. It's made me want to have some of my favorite springtime meals - one of which is kabobs! I took some chicken tenders out of the freezer last night and found a honey teriyaki marinade recipe online to try. I added a little bit of brown sugar to the marinade since I saw it in some other recipes I found, and brown sugar makes everything taste better! This marinade took only a few minutes to make. Mixing it with a small wire whisk works well since honey is thick.

Once they were defrosted, I cut the chicken tenders into fours (1-inch pieces) and marinaded them overnight. I cut up some mushrooms, red peppers, onions and zucchini and refrigerated them overnight so all the prep work was done (next time I will probably marinade the veggies too).

When I got home from work tonight I assembled my kabobs, which consisted of various skewers full of teriyaki chicken, red peppers and pineapple, or chicken and veggies. While the kabobs were grilling, I made some jasmine rice, sauteed the few leftover veggies so they wouldn't go to waste, and boiled the leftover marinade and strained it so it could be poured over the jasmine rice (if desired). This was a delicious meal and very easy to make! I'll definitely be making this marinade again soon.

Honey Teriyaki Marinade

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup honey

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon brown sugar (optional)

4-8 chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken in dish or Ziploc bag. Let chicken marinade for 8 hours or overnight. Cook chicken as desired.

NOTE: Great recipe for chicken kabobs!

Kabobs before going on the grill

Ready to eat!

Photos by JoJo

Ice Cream Pie

Have you ever heard the expression "easy as pie?" Well, this is probably the easiest "pie" you can make. It only has three ingredients and two of them can be altered depending on what you like. I made mine with an Oreo crust and my favorite kind of ice cream, mint chocolate chip. You could also use chocolate-covered mint cookies for the crust (Giant brand is pretty good). Use your favorite kind of cookie and your favorite ice cream to make this pie! I found this recipe here.

The mint chocolate chip ice cream pie is also a great St. Patrick's Day dessert!

Ice Cream Pie

2½ cups Oreo cookies, finely crushed
4 Tablespoons butter, melted

Mint chocolate chip (or your favorite) ice cream, softened

Take ice cream out of freezer. Crush Oreos (using a food processor works well) and combine with melted butter. Press into a 9-inch pie dish. Freeze crust for 25 minutes (or freeze crust overnight).

Fill pie crust with ice cream. Freeze for a few hours or overnight before serving.

Crushed Oreos & ice cream

Crust ready to go in freezer

Photos by JoJo

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Egg Casserole

My sister has made an egg casserole for few family brunches that is so good that I have to share the recipe on here. Although I haven't made it myself yet, it is a relatively simple recipe. You can make different varieties by substituting the ham, bacon, peppers and onions for whatever you prefer (try mushrooms or spinach or just plain cheese if you have picky eaters). This is perfect for breakfast or brunch - you refrigerate it overnight so all you have to do in the morning is put it in the oven!

Egg Casserole

10 slices crustless white or wheat bread, cubed
1 pound grated cheddar cheese
1 pound ham or bacon, cooked and diced (bacon crumbled)
½ green pepper, diced
3 green onion, including tops, diced
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Butter a 13” x 9” pan. Layer bottom of pan with bread cubes, bacon, onion, green pepper, and cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over other layers. Refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes covered with foil, and 30 minutes uncovered.

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Chips Ahoy Dessert

A year or two ago one of my co-workers brought a dessert to a work potluck lunch that everyone loved. I never asked her for the recipe until last week when we were talking about recipes we both found on Pinterest. She said it was really easy to make and only had three ingredients. What?! That's right - chips ahoy cookies, cool whip and milk. It had been a long time since I'd had this dessert, but I was surprised that's all that was in it. I've been wanting to try it out since then and finally had a chance to tonight. I actually found this recipe on a few websites and they were all very vague, so I will add a few details here.

First, make sure you buy Original Chips Ahoy (the crunchy ones, not the soft kind). Second, dip the cookies in milk but don't soak them. I dipped them for about 3 seconds each. Third, I made this in a 9x13" pan and it gave me two layers. Since I just made this to eat at home, that was be fine. If I were taking it somewhere else I'd either make it in a smaller dish or double the recipe so there are more layers. You can add chocolate shavings or crushed up leftover cookies to the top if you want. I added some mini chocolate chips to mine. I got a regular size container of Cool Whip, but maybe I should have gotten the bigger one. I used half of the container for each layer and it was barely enough Cool Whip to coat each layer. If I had homemade cookies I would have used them instead of the Chips Ahoy. If you want to attempt to make this healthier, you can use the Reduced Fat Chips Ahoy and fat-free Cool Whip. Lastly, my co-worker said to freeze it and the recipes I found online said to refrigerate it for a few hours or overnight. It may be a matter of personal preference. I chose to freeze mine so I could eat it sooner! This is probably the simplest recipe you can make and people will love it, so give it a try!

Chips Ahoy Dessert

Bag of Original Chips Ahoy cookies (crunchy, not soft)

Container of Cool Whip (thawed)

Glass of milk for dipping

Mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings (optional)

Dip cookies one at a time in milk for about 3 seconds each (just dip, do not soak them). Layer the bottom of a 9x13” pan with the cookies (it should be half of the bag of cookies). Layer half of the Cool Whip on top of the cookies, and then repeat another layer. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings on top layer of Cool Whip if you wish.

Cover and refrigerate 2-4 hours or overnight, or freeze and let thaw a bit. Cut into squares and serve.

NOTES: This recipe makes two layers in a 9x13” pan. Double the recipe or make in smaller dish for more layers. More cool whip may be needed (regular size container barely coats two layers).

First layer of cookies (I broke some in half so they'd fit)

First layer covered in Cool Whip

Two layers - ready to go in the freezer!

Photos by JoJo

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