POM Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

It's NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE Day!!

Yes, they really do have a food holiday for everyday of the year!

I made a whole bunch of cupcakes for my twin daughters 18th birthday party! Here is just the first one of the four different flavors I made. Of course, complete with all different kinds of frostings. I am so happy to make all the different frostings, so that we were able to taste them all on the same day at the same time. I have really found my favorites now. Watch in the coming weeks as I unveil all of the cupcakes and my NEW favorite frosting recipes.

Here is the first cupcake with POM juice one of my twins favorite juice. The cupcakes were great, moist and chocolate'y but they do not have a POM flavor, but non-the less they were delicious especially with this new A-MAZ-ING White Chocolate frosting, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE.

P.S. And my cupcake decorating skills are getting better and better! :-)
I actually do not have flat cupcakes, anymore! YAHOOO!!!

POM Chocolate Cupcakes
originally found on Lick the Bowl Good

1/4 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water, heated to boiling
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Place a paper baking cup in regular sized muffin tin; set aside. Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a large measuring cup, combine pomegranate juice and boiling water. Add oil, vinegar and vanilla to the pomegranate juice mixture.

Add to the flour mixture all at once to the wet mixture and whisk to combine (batter will be lumpy). Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups (about 3/4 full).

Bake 20-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before topping with the frosting. I used my new White Chocolate Buttercream frosting from Magnolia Bakery in New York City.

This recipe only make about 7 regular cupcakes, so double it if you need more!

WOW, WOW, WOW, this frosting is A-MAZ-ING (I already said that I know, but it really is)! I just love white chocolate and have tried a few other frosting recipes, but none are as good as this one. I found this recipe in my newest cookbook from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, that I bought myself in New York City. We discovered this bakery in New York and of course enjoyed a few cupcakes while we were there.

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, New York City

1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
6 tbsp milk
9 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups sifted powdered sugar

In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the milk carefully and bet until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for 3 more minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and desired consistency.

Freezer Tip: I have tried it and it REALLY works! If you have left over cupcakes, store them in a tupperware-type container with the frosting on them and freeze. When you are ready to serve, defrost them to room temperature and serve. They taste just like they were made that day! What a great way to store homemade left over cupcakes from a birthday party or event.

Frozen Breakfast Burritos: SECRET RECIPE CLUB

Secret Recipe Club

Frozen Breakfast Burritos

It's the Secret Recipe Club reveal. Yep, today I am featuring a recipe from my Secret Blog. This is a monthly party I am involved with and I am also the host for today's Secret Recipe Club - Group B, please click around and visit all the new recipes. I love being the host and look forward to all 70+ bloggers emailing me each month, I have made many new blogging friends and truly enjoy it.

If you'd like more info or care to join us, click on over and read all about the Secret Recipe Club, there may be a little waiting list, but feel free to sign up anyway. We'd love to have you. I also have another challenge that I host here on MOMS CRAZY COOKING called CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE if you are interested in that cooking adventure, you can click on the tab and read about that too.

Here are a list of my past Secret Recipe Club recipes: Raspberry & Nutella Pizza, Cucumber Salad, Bean Roll-Up, Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free) and Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie.

This month I received a blog called Successful Together, written by Angie from Anderson, SC. She loves coupons (me too) and she is a life-time member of Weigh Watchers (way to go Angie).

I came across a few other recipes that I would like to try from Successful Together. Here there are in no particular order: Pina Colada Chicken, Nilla Yogurt Freeze and in searching her blog I even found one of my own recipes that she posted from long ago, Pineapple Crisp Breakfast and lastly I know my daughter would love this sandwich Grilled Hawaiian Ham and Cheese. Click on over to her blog and check out all the great Weight Watcher recipes she shares.

The nice thing about this recipe is you pre-make the burritos and then freeze them for later.

I never even knew you could do this, and I am the QUEEN of freezer foods.

My girls devoured these burritos in just a few days, so I need to make a few more batches soon!

Frozen Breakfast Burritos

adapted by me; originally found at Successful Together 

6 oz Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked & drained
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp Grandma's Salt or any seasoning you like (even pepper will work)
8 large eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 tsp diced jalapenos
3 tbsp Pineapple Salsa
16 flour tortilla, small to medium size

Cook sausage in skillet on medium heat until completely cooked through; drain and set aside.

Whisk the milk, seasoning and eggs together. Cook in a skillet to a scramble on stove top. Just before the eggs are finished add in the cheese, jalapenos and salsa. 

Take your flour tortillas and lay them all out on the counter. Spread the mixture evenly into each tortilla. Wrap up like a burrito, tucking in both ends before rolling and lay onto a cookie sheet to freeze.  Freeze overnight or at least for a few hours and then once they are individually frozen you can store them all together in large zip loc bags.

When you are busy and on the go, take out a frozen burrito and microwave it for one minute and you are ready to go. Healthy breakfast burrito that you put together yourself.

This post is linked up one, two or all of these FABULOUS Linky Parties!

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS #51 (PASTA) and Beef Stroganoff

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #51

The Theme is: Pasta
(Please share with us your favorite Pasta Recipe!)

I LOVE pasta... I think that is an understatement. I have so many pasta recipes on my blog and I have so many more that I make and never post. I have been wanting and wanting to make Homemade Beef Stroganoff. I use to make this years ago (over 15 years ago) and it was a recipe from my father-in-law, well he has passed now and I never wrote down the recipe. I WISH - I WISH - I WISH - that I would have taken the time to write down the recipe, I wasn't much of a cook back then. But tonight I did some experimenting and came up with a very very close version.

If you have any family stroganoff recipes, I would LOVE to read them, please send me a link or write the recipe in the comments below.

This Beef Stroganoff came out great, one of my twins said "I hate Beef Stroganoff and I want to gag when I eat it, but if you make Beef Stroganoff like this, then I will eat it from now on", then she said "Beef Stroganoff has never tasted like this before, because this tastes so good. So, in my book that makes this recipe a keeper!

Beef Stroganoff

recipe made by Tina Hudgens

1 to 3 lbs beef tenderloin, cut into thin strips

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour

4 tbsp butter

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (or leave out if you don't like)

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 can Beef Broth (I think I will use 2 cans next time to make more creamy)

2 to 4 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup sour cream

1 pkg egg noodles

Cut steak into small thin strips. Add salt, garlic salt, paprika and pepper to the flour. Coat all of the beef strips into the flour mixture. Heat butter in a large skillet, add in the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Saute for 4 to 6 minutes. Add in the beef and cook until beef is no longer pink. Add in the Worcestershire, beef broth and tomato paste and simmer for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the package of egg noodle according to directions. When noodles and beef are finished mix all together with 1 cup of sour cream. Serve immediately, goes great with Sinful Bread.

<a href=" http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/search/label/THIS%20WEEKS%20CRAVINGS" target="_blank "><img src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k498/Hudgens6/Buttons/ThisWeeksCravingsButton.jpg" /></a>
Please Grab Our Button !!!

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

October 24 - Halloween Treats & What to do with Left-Over Candy?

October 31 - National "Men Make Dinner" Day

November 7 - HAPPY LINKY-versary to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS (share a cake)

November 14 - Your Best PUMPKIN Recipes

This is a BLOG Party hosted by From My Tiny Kitchen and MOMS CRAZY COOKING. Also we have a NEW blogger join in in with us to host this weekly event her blog is Big Bears Wife, please help me welcome her. If you are a regular link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.
This week's theme is: PASTA
Please only link recipes with our theme!

Asian Slaw Salad (GLUTEN-FREE)

This is such a great EASY salad that you can throw together and take to a pot-luck, serve with some chicken or just eat by itself. We had this salad for the first time at a beach party and it was delicious!

Asian Slaw Salad (GLUTEN-FREE)
from my friend Tara/Michelle

2 bags of cole slaw
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 handful peanuts, chopped
2 small sunflower seeds
1 slivered almonds
1 bottle of Soy Vay Toasted Sesame Dressing

Throw it all together in a bowl and mix it together with the dressing. Serve.

Linking to one, some or all of these Linky Parties! (there are just too many to add into every post) But, I LOVE them all, so they have a SPECIAL LINKY PAGE all their own!

Pepper Jack Grill Cheese with Apples

This years apple picking was a bit of a disappointment. We arrived for our weekend long camping trip ready to pick some apples and to our surprise there was an early freeze and no more apples to pick. BUMMER! We still enjoyed our weekend and we actually did end up finding a small apple farm that had one kind of apples to pick; Winesap Apples. I did purchase alot of apples even though I didn't get to pick them all myself and I have lots of recipes coming up with fresh apples in them! This sandwich was like nothing I have ever had before and I do already have a favorite Grill Cheese sandwich, so to try a new one was hard, but I really wanted to try it with the apples and it did not disappoint. I think I will be making this one just as often.

Pepper Jack Grill Cheese with Apples

originally found on Jana Laurene

Sour Dough Bread

Few Slices of Pepper Jack Cheese

Avocado

Bacon

and Fresh Apple Silces, yes apples makes this sandwich AMAZING!

Butter the outside of your bread, layer your sandwich and grill in a skillet until cheese is melted.