Come On Over, Cupcake!

Come On Over, Cupcake!: "A few weeks ago, the local supermarket put boxes of Pillsbury cake mix on sale, enticing shoppers with a price so low that even I, a girl with an avowed distaste for cakes from a box, couldn’t resist. I snapped up three boxes.

Two disappointing cupcake recipes later, I was ready to go in an entirely new direction with the remaining mix, one for devil’s food cake. I recalled a recipe I’d saved from a long-ago Hungry Girl newsletter for Yum Yum Brownie Muffins, a cupcake concoction that billowed high above the paper cup and yet had less than 200 calories."

(Via Well Fed Network.)

I forgot to mention it in the post that was published: Make sure you refrigerate these if you intend to keep them more than a week. They lasted about that long on the countertop here before going dotty. Two cupcakes were lost.

Next time, I'm going to buy either Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines mix to make this recipe. My mom always has sworn by Duncan Hines, so maybe that's the way to go.

If nothing else, Duncan Hines mix should also work for recipes from the Cupcake Doctor book, unlike Pillsbury mix. Pillsbury mix (as well as Betty Crocker mix) has pudding added, and nearly every recipe in that cookbook specifies mixes without pudding. After forging ahead anyway with two recipes, I ended up with cupcakes with custardy middles, sadly sunken despite a lot of extra baking time.

I might use one less egg were I forced to make them again with pudding cake mix, but frankly, I think the author should have specified how to adjust recipes to accommodate the two types of commercial cake mix. Or accept a sponsorship from Duncan Hines, as they're the only "plain" cake mix in the supermarket. It's also the most expensive of the three big brands, so you can see why it makes me bitter.

However, my issues with the Cupcake Doctor are largely irrelevant here (now that you've read the whole rant . . .). I plan to play around with these low-fat cupcakes to try to create variations with different and stronger flavors. I'll keep you posted.

Meals for the Week: Happy Memorial Day!

Hope your holiday is going great!

Monday
Sloppy joes
Home fries
Salad

Tuesday
Pork chops milanese
Lemon farfalle
Salad

Wednesday
Black bean soup
Bread
Salad

Thursday
Strata
Salad

Friday
Dragon meatloaf
Mashed potatoes
Soup

Saturday
Buffalo chicken salad
Garlic toast

Sunday
Asian-marinated pork chops
Sesame noodles
Salad

Meals for the Week: Breakfast Love

Saturday we had Belgian waffles for dinner (sprinkling chocolate chips directly on the batter on the iron makes for a great treat, incidentally), and tonight we had biscuits and gravy. I have dozens of eggs in the fridge, too, so there's bound to be many breakfast-style meals on our menu.

Scott and I had "breakfast" for all three meals today, actually: cereal for our real breakfast, leftover waffles for lunch, and biscuits and gravy for dinner.

Lest you think we're packing on pounds just before swimsuit season, I made the sausage gravy with a mere half pound of sausage (for the three of us) and skim milk. I'm not nuts, after all.

It's a bit difficult to plan side dishes for breakfast meals. There's potatoes and fruit, of course, but beyond that it gets tricky. I'm open to suggestions.

I'd like to take a moment to direct you to my latest project, if you have an interest in old-fashioned, homestyle cooking: Grancook.com, the web site for the cookbook I'm producing with my in-laws that collects my husband's grandmother's favorite recipes. You can read more about the project there, plus you can sign up to be notified when the cookbook is published if you are interested in purchasing it. We have a blog over on the site, too, with one recipe published so far and more to come.

Monday
Biscuits and gravy
Fruit
Salad

Tuesday
Pork chops and applesauce
Mac and cheese
Slaw

Wednesday
Flat-iron steaks
Edamame and sugar snap peas with garlic pickle
Garlic mashed potatoes
Soup

Thursday
Cheese pizza
Salad

Friday
Macaroni and meat sauce
Rolls
Salad

Saturday
Cornish hens with bacon and onions
Ginger ale carrots
Bread
Salad

Sunday
Kielbasa in a blanket
Corn
Baked beans
Salad

Sandra’s Money Saving Meals

Sandra’s Money Saving Meals: "Sit down, Semi-Homemade haters -- you're in for a shock. Sandra Lee can cook from scratch! OK, not everything Sandra makes on her new show, Sandra's Money Saving Meals, is entirely from fresh, unprocessed ingredients -- it's Sandra Lee, after all -- but she aggressively declares independence from the 70/30 philosophy with ..."

I didn't really expect to like Sandra Lee's new show. Her old one has cheesy charm, but I could probably count on one hand the number of her recipes I've tried. That's not to say they're all wretched, though a few are (cough -- Chinese Chicken Salad). Rather:

1. They often require shortcut ingredients I don't normally stock in my pantry, like meatloaf seasoning packets or cream soups. I'm not entirely opposed to using these, but I feel like they add extra expense while bringing no extra flavor benefit. It's true that you can mimic things like cream of chicken soup by making homemade velouté sauce, but once you start unpacking all those convenience foods you start making a recipe that little resembles the original anyway.

2. She seems to love mushrooms. We don't.

3. One recipe every show is for a cocktail. We enjoy cocktails, but our bar is not nearly well-stocked enough to make Sandra Lee's concoctions. She must have every flavor of vodka under the sun.

I could probably think of more reasons eventually, but number one is the chief reason. Ironically enough, I find many of her recipes too tiring to contemplate because of the sheer number of substitutions I'd have to make.

As an aside, Rachael Ray's recipes have also gotten tiring over the years. Once she broke out of upstate New York, she discovered all sorts of weird or overly gourmet flavor combos, stuff that requires an ingredient list a mile long.

Maybe if you're Rachael you can make a dish requiring 15 ingredients in 30 minutes, but if you're human you're spending half the time digging out said ingredients plus all the bowls and pans to put them in. Even her Express Lane Meals book has astoundingly long ingredient lists; she gets away with it by establishing upfront that you have to maintain a sizable pantry of her faves that you restock weekly. It was the last Rachael Ray book I ever added to my library.

Anyway, Sandra Lee's new show gets away from her shortcut philosophy, so in the first episode at least we got simple recipes that don't require finding raspberry-walnut vinaigrette or canned chow mein vegetables.

While I was ahead of her on most of the money-saving tips (I regularly check the day-old bread rack and always go generic unless I have a huge coupon), a couple did enlighten even me. Most people aren't so well-informed on grocery shopping strategies (like me a few years ago), and they'll benefit from having someone not only give the info but make the case for following through.

Health Incentives May Be Coming to a Workplace Near You

Health Incentives May Be Coming to a Workplace Near You: "Health care reform has been back in vogue since the last presidential election, and Congress is starting to pull together the legislation that could radically change medical coverage in America.

Or not. We all know how it went down last time there was a charge for universal health care. . ."

Here's hoping this time around Congress can pass a real universal health care plan. It's sad we're so far behind the rest of the Western world in recognizing that health care is not a privilege (or, if you prefer a more economically conservative perspective, that an ounce of regular prevention is worth a pound of catastrophic emergency care that we already shoulder the burden for).

Meals for the Week: Hectic Supermarkets

I've been to the supermarket too often in the last week, and I think I'm going to throw tomatoes at the next set of people who park their carts side by side in the aisle to chat. Or who walk right into my path looking aimless. Or who tailgate me through produce.

And while I'm at it, I think I'll go drip dirty water from my tomato plants onto the balcony below that belongs to the smoker currently polluting my window draft.

Monday
Sausage quiche
Strawberries and bananas
Salad

Tuesday
Lemon pepper pork chops
Corn
Biscuits
Pea salad

Wednesday
Orange fried chicken salad with edamame

Thursday
Spaghetti carbonara
Garlic bread
Salad

Friday
Fresh mozzarella and pesto pizza
Salad

Saturday
Waffles and bacon
Pineapple
Toasted English muffins and jam

Sunday
Crunchy Asian-style pasta salad
Soup

Meals for the Week: Holding Pattern

I had to skip the grocery store today, which mostly means I'm rationing salads until I can make it to Costco again. I've been testing out replacing some salads with canned soup lately anyway. It's pretty positive so far: The cost is similar or less than salad, and it's actually a little more filling.

The only problem, as pointed out by my husband, is that the weather is warming and soon soup might seem less appetizing. Still, there's always cold soup.

I haven't done many soup courses up until now because I've been avoiding canned soup. It tends to be mushy and overly salty. Tonight's condensed alphabet soup fell into that category, and I don't see myself getting that one again soon. On the other hand, Andersen's pea soup with bacon was delicious, even when stretched with some extra water. On the downside, it's significantly pricier than condensed soup.

Monday
Macaroni and cheese and ham casserole
Baked beans
Vegetable alphabet soup

Tuesday
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Beef chimichangas
Taco salad

Wednesday
Pizza with banana peppers and onions
Salad

Thursday
Ham and cheese paninis
Chili

Friday
Cheeseburger potatoes
Biscuits
Salad

Saturday
Baked wagon wheels
Bread
Salad

Sunday
Roasted chicken breasts
Baked beans
Bread
Salad

Fit Fare - » Jell-O Offers a Guilt-Free Rice Pudding

Fit Fare - » Jell-O Offers a Guilt-Free Rice Pudding: "I participate in the Kraft First Taste program, getting the opportunity to try new products from the company in exchange for feedback. Of course, I’m sure the idea is also that I’ll share with my hundreds of close personal friends how much I adore Maxwell House coffee or Oscar Mayer sandwiches, but hey, it’s free food — who am I to say no? Besides, there’s always the chance to discover a new favorite.

Anyway, one recent sample might be of interest to Fit Fare readers: Jell-O Sugar-Free Rice Pudding Cups. You may be familiar with the other smooth, 60-calorie flavors in Jell-O’s waistline-friendly line. At 70 calories, the rice pudding cups are a tad richer, as might be expected with their chewy star ingredient, but still light as desserts go."

I've tried Oscar Mayer's newest sandwiches most recently (the ones they stock by the Lunchables, which, incidentally, have much less obnoxious packaging these days). The Tuscan Chicken was all right, though messy to put together with its shredded cheese. Scott wasn't too keen on the steak ciabatta sandwich he tried. I remember I liked the Steakhouse Cheddar mini sub last time I tried these sandwiches. I'd recommend going with that one if you seek these out.

I was supposed to try the Maxwell House coffee, but the coupon arrived one day before the expiration date. I tried to use it anyway, but my local grocer did not stock any non-instant Maxwell House. As I didn't feel like dashing over to another grocery store that day, I got no free coffee sample. Sadness . . .