Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

This is by far one of my favorite types of soup. Whenever I go out to eat at a Thai Restaurant this is the first thing that I order. The creaminess of the coconut milk mixed with the kick of the hot chili sauce makes it perfect for any cool winter night. The chicken can be substituted with shrimp or tofu. I personally like chicken in it. 

Ingredients:

• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 2 T. grated ginger
• 1 stalk lemon grass
• 2 tsp. red curry paste
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 T. fish sauce
• 1 T. light brown sugar
• 3 (13.5 oz) cans coconut milk
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb. chicken
• 2 T. lime juice
• 1/4 cup cilantro (optional)
• Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (optional, to taste)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.
2. Cook and stir in ginger, lemon grass, and curry paste for 1 minute until heated. Note: If you can't find a stalk of lemon grass in the store, use 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon grass paste. Most stores carry it in the produce section.
3. Slowly pour in chicken broth over mixture, stirring continually.
4. Stir in fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Stir in coconut milk and mushrooms; cook until mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. 
6. Add the chicken; cook until no longer translucent about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in lime juice; season with salt; garnish with cilantro; season with sriracha for added heat.

Honey Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Photo Credit: The Cake Blog

Cake Ingredients:

1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla 

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. In a medium bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl mix together wet ingredients: buttermilk, honey, and vanilla. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until well combined. 
5. Add eggs to the butter mixture beating in one at a time and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Gradually add wet and dry ingredients to butter and egg mixture. Alternate between wet and dry, ending with dry. Mix until combined.
7. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. 
8. Bake cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes. 
9. Let cupcakes cool in pan for about 5 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a wire rack.
10. Once cupcakes are completely cool, ice with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting. 

Frosting Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 Tbsp honey
yellow food coloring (optional)
yellow sugar sprinkles 

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together on medium speed. 
2. Gradually add powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
3. Mix in honey.
4. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring to tint the frosting.
5. Place the icing in a piping bag fitted with a round decorating tip and swirl the frosting on top of the cupcake going in a circular motion.
6. Decorate with some yellow sugar sprinkles and enjoy.

Fluffy Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Mix together milk and vinegar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes to sour. (You can substitute milk and vinegar for buttermilk.)
2. Once milk has soured, whisk in melted butter and egg.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Pour wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. If the batter is a little too thick you can add a splash of milk to the batter.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium and spray it with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup spoonfuls of batter onto heated skillet. Cook until bubbles form on the surface and then turn over with a spatula and cook until browned on the other side.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Who doesn't love potato soup? I know that I do, especially when it comes with cheese, bacon, and a sour cream green onion topping. This is the perfect soup for a cold day. It is sure to fill you up!

Photo Credit: Foodie With Family

Soup Ingredients:

• 12 large russet potatoes, cooled
• 1 pound of bacon
• 1 onion, diced
• 6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups of milk, 2% or whole
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 2 cups of shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: mashed potato flakes

Sour Cream Onion Topping:

• 2 cups sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Thoroughly wash the potatoes and dry them with a cloth. Place the potatoes on the middle rack of the oven and bake them for 30-45 minutes. You will be able to tell when they are done when they yield to gentle pressure when you squeeze them. Make sure you use an oven mitt so you don't burn your hand. Allow the potatoes to cool before cutting them.
3. Mix together sour cream (or Greek yogurt), green onions, and salt. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
4. Meanwhile, slice the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook the bacon in a large stock pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon and stir frequently. Once the bacon has become crispy, transfer it to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon. Reserve 6 tablespoons of the bacon drippings in the pot. 
5. Once the baked potatoes have cooled, cut them into quarters and scoop out the inside of the potatoes and put in a large bowl. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until the desired consistency (I like it a little chunky for the soup.) Reserve the potato skins if you want to make loaded potato skins with the left over cheese, bacon, and sour cream/green onion mixture.
6. Finely chop the onion and gently cook in the remaining bacon drippings over medium-low heat until       translucent. 
7. Sprinkle flour evenly over onions and whisk in. 
8. Turn heat up to medium and cook for an additional minute. 
9. Whisk in 4 cups of milk and bring it to a simmer. Simmer gently until soup has thickened and can coat a wooden spoon. 
10. Whisk in 6 cups of chicken broth and stir in mashed up potatoes. With the pot over medium heat, stir frequently to prevent scorching. If the soup is not thick enough, stir in some mashed potato flakes to thicken it. Wait a couple of minutes after you add the flakes before deciding whether or not you need more. 
11. Once at desired consistency, stir in 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
12. Remove from heat and serve immediately with sour cream onion topping, cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions.

Photo Credit: Foodie with Family

Great way to utilize the leftover potato skins. Just add some cheese, bacon, and sour cream and green onion topping. So yummy!!

Photo Credit: Foodie with Family

Source: Foodie with Family

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cake:
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 Cups Milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter

Cinnamon Topping:
1 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
3/4 Cup chopped Pecans, Optional

Glaze:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
3-5 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using an electric or stand mixer, mix together four, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add in milk, vanilla, and eggs once the dry ingredients have been combined.
3. Once combined, slowly stir in 1/2 melted butter.
4. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
5. In a large bowl, combine softened butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and pecans. Once well combined, drop evenly over the cake by the tablespoon. Use a knife to swirl and marble the cinnamon topping into the cake.
6. Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (mine took longer than 30 minutes).
7. Mix together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Whisk the mixture until smooth. Drizzle glaze over warm cake. Serve the cinnamon roll cake warm or at room temperature with a tall glass of milk.

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Andes Mint Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped Andes Mints

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease/flour three 9 inch cake pans. Bring some water to boil and keep it simmering while you mix together the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Once the wet ingredients are combined, add them to the large mixing bowl with the wet ingredients and beat until well combined. 

Add 1 cup of boiling water and carefully stir until it is well combined. Beat for 1 and 1/2 minutes. (The batter will be very runny, don't worry it is supposed to be.) Stir in Andes Mints. Pour cake batter into the 3 prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cakes cool on baking rack. (If preparing the night before, cover the cakes in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator). 

Mint Buttercream Frosting

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 5 to 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• green food coloring
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup milk (may use less)

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, peppermint and green food coloring on low speed in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add milk until you reach the desired consistency. 

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Place chocolate chips in a metal bowl. Heat cream over medium heat in a small saucepan. Keep and eye on it and as soon as it starts to boil remove cream from heat and pour over chocolate chips. Let cream and chocolate chips sit for 1-2 minutes. Stir chocolate mixture until well combined. Stir in vanilla extract. 

Allow chocolate ganache to cool and thicken. Cover ganache and place in refrigerator for a couple of 1-2 hours or until thickened.  

When ready to assemble the cake, frost the entire 3 layers with mint buttercream. Once the cake is frosted, pour chocolate ganache in the center of the cake. Work your way outwards in a circle until the ganache is about 1-inch from the edge of the cake. Lightly spread the ganache from the center of the cake to the edge of the cake. Adding more ganache as necessary, direct the ganache over the edge to create drips down the side of the cake. Top the cake with extra mints. 

Source: Bird on a Cake