Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

These bars are dangerously addictive and really easy to make! They are good straight out of the oven but I prefer them after they have been in chilled in the refrigerator for a while.

Ingredients:

1 can Pilsbury crescent rolls
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar cinnamon mixture
1 pkg cream cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. In a bowl mix together the cream cheese and 1/4 cup of sugar
3. In a pan lay out half of the crescent roll and spread the cream cheese mixture over it and layer with the other half of crescent roll dough
4. pour melted butter over the whole thing and cover with the cinnamon sugar mixture
5. Bake for 25 minutes

1 Minute, 4 Ingredient Molten Chocolate Mug Cake!

So, tonight I was sitting in my apartment studying for class and in need of a break when the craving for chocolate cake hit me which is a rareity as I am not a huge fan of either cake nor chocolate lol So, I stumbled across this amazing recipe which takes maybe 5 minutes to put together and only a minute to cook in the microwave, so needless to say I was back to studying in no time! I added the chocolate chips to make it even better; you can make it without them if you don't have them on hand. I had some mini choc chips in my fridge so I just put them to good use, and I'm sure if you ate it with some yummy vanilla ice cream it would be devine too!

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs choc chips

Directions:

1. Crack the egg into a mug and add in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix it together well.

2. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute, it should be cooked through but still slightly gooey (don't worry if it starts overflowing while it microwaves it will go back down when it cools off a bit). You can add more choc chips or some Hershey's syrup on top, and ice cream if you like and enjoy!

Crazy Crockpot Gumbo with Rice and Red Beans!

I was craving gumbo when I stumbled upon an easy crockpot version in  a cookbook which I tweaked a bit and it turned out marvelous!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
4 fully cooked chicken sausage links sliced
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups cut frozen okra
1 green or red bell pepper
1 small onion
1-1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic

Directions-

1. First add the chicken to the crockpot and then add all the other indgredients in on top

2. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours

3. When ingredients are fully cooked shred the chicken breasts into pieces using a fork and stir all the ingredients together.

4. When the gumbo is almost done cooking cook your rice heat up red beans and corn to go with it.

5. In a bowl first put in some rice and then cover with beans and corn and then finally ladle the gumbo on top!

Lasagna Cupcakes

These mini lasagnas are so cute and a perfect serving size, although I admit to eating more than one of them at a time because they are just so yummy! You can add whatever ingredients you want to this recipe, I just used what I had on hand at the time.

Ingredients:

1 small red onion
3 or 4 chopped mushrooms
1/2 jar or tomato sauce
1 chopped garlic clove
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
I pkg fresh spinach
1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 egg
24 square wonton wrappers
1/2 cup mozzerella cheese
olive oil
butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. In a sauce pan with a tbs. or so of olive oil cook your onions until they start to soften up and then add the italian spices and garlic in with the mushrooms and add in the tomato sauce and let it simmer.

3. In a separate pan cook the spinach in with a bit of olive oil until it cooks down, then let it cool a few minutes

4. In a bowl add ricota cheese and an egg with the cooled off spinach.

5. Get out your muffin pan and grease it with butter then add a wonton wrapper into each muffin cup.

6. fill the wonton wrappers evenly with half of the ricotta mixture on the bottom and half the tomato sauce mixture on top. Then sprinkle with mozzerella cheese.

7. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Lately I've been so ready for the fall season to get here, this Texas heat is icky! So I was inspired to make pumpkin muffins which are my favorite and remind me of the cooler weather, I had some chocolate chips left over from a previous recipe so I added them into the muffin mixture. I also made them a  tad healthier by substituting in a half a cup of oat flour rather than using all bleached white flour, you could also use apple sauce instead of the vegetable oil to make them even healthier but I was out of apple sauce. I could eat these muffins all day long they are so yummy and I'll pretend it's not over 100 degress outside, think cool thoughts. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
8 oz canned pumpkin
3/4 cup vegetable oil (or apple sauce)
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2. Mix the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil together

3. Add all the dry ingredients and mix it all together

4. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour into muffin tins

5. Cook for about 15 minutes or until they look slightly golden on top

Steamed Vegetables with Rice and Fried Shrimp Dumplings!

This is a recipe that is perfect for family dinners because it makes a lot of food, or just or in my case just to make lots of leftovers to eat over the week. This dinner invcludes, steamed vegetables and rice with fried shrimp dumplings, this is one of my favorite meals to make. Sometimes I just add cooked chicken to the steamed vegetables and rice and don't make the dumplings so it takes less time to make, but the dumplings are so yummy and I love shrimp!

Ingredients:

frozen stir fry mixed vegetables

steamed rice

1 pkg cream cheese

12 pre-cooked shrimp

1 pkg wonton wrappers

fresh ginger

soy sauce

1. steam your rice in the rice cooker (I use jasmine rice)

2. to start your dumpling filling add cream cheese and grate the ginger into a bowl, (I like a lot of ginger in mine but out enough for your taste), mix both ingredients together. Then, chop the shrimp into pieces and add it to the cream cheese mixture.

3. Take your wonton wrappers and with the tip of your finger dip it into a bowl of water and smear the water around the edge of the wonton wrapper, put a spoon full of the cream cheese mixture onto the wonton, fold the wonton over as the wonton package shows you.

4. Begin steaming your vegetables in a pan with a little bit of olive oil (I added some extra shrimp to my vegetables as well).

5. Fry the dumplings in a pan with hot oil until they are crispy and golden brown.

6. Add the steamed vegetables to your steamed rice and add soy sauce to taste.  Then, set the dumplings aside or add them in as well and you are done! Yummy!



Frogalicious Cupcakes!!

So, for my little bro's 5th birthday I made him frog cupcakes, they were fun and simple to create and super cute!!! I made the cupcakes a few hrs ahead of time so they were cooled off to ice them and decided to be lazy and bought a can of pre-made frosting.

Supplies:

12 cupcakes
mini M&M's and regular sized M&M's (green and brown)
white frosting
green dye
red licorice

1. I sorted out all the green and brown M&M's first to make it easier.

2. Cut the licorice into thin slices and angling the ends into a mouth shape.

3. Set aside a little of the white frosting and add green dye to the rest of the frosting

4. Frost the cupcakes with the green frosting and then place the eyes on by using the white frosting to stick a green and brown M&M together to create an eye.

5. Next, place the licorice mouth on and the mini M&M's aroud the rest of the space on the cupcake to create little spots on the frogs.

Cinnamon Roll Crazy

So, recently I had a terrible craving for cinnamon rolls and even with the high cost of gas prices recently I simply had to go to the store because I was missing one crucial ingredient: powdered sugar. You simply cannot have cinnamon rolls without icing, no way jose`!!! I go icing crazy with my cinnamon rolls, don't be stingy with it, or butter for that matter! Anyway, so, I got home with my powdered sugar and decided to try a new recipe which turned out amazing but I thought I would be smart and make half a recipe...well, half a recipe made 3 pans of cinnamon rolls, my roommate and I were still eating them a week later lol! I tweaked the original recipe a bit to make it my own, the recipe said to add brewed coffee to the icing as well as milk, but I discovered that if you use one of those bottles of Starbucks Vanilla Cappuccino instead that it tastes much better to me and I already halved the recipe for you! This recipe takes a little bit of time and patience because the dough has to rise so many times but trust me it's so worth it!

Crazy Good Cinnamon Rolls:

   Ingredients:

• 1/2 quart Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast
• 4 cups (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tbs  Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

        Vanilla Cappuccino Icing:

• 1/2 bag Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 bottle Starbucks Vanilla Capuccino

Preparation:

1.Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in package of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute.

2.Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

3.When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

4. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan.

5.Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

6. For the icing, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

      Before and After Icing Photos:

    



What's for dinner?

Pizza Pizza and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!!!!

I loooove pizza and raw cookie dough is pretty amazing in my book, but this recipe doesn't have eggs in it so you don't have to worry about getting salmonella! Yay for that!

This is the bestest pizza recipe ever and of course you can put whatever toppings you want on it but I am a big fan of lots of cheese (especially if it's fresh mozzerella), olives and mushrooms!

The Bestest Pizza Recipe Ever:

Ingredients:

1/2 tbs active dry yeast
1tsp. sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tbs olive oil
1 can tomato sauce
1 clove of garlic
mushrooms
olives
mozzerella cheese

1. To proof yeast, sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water in a small bowl or glass measuring cup; stir until the yeast dissolves. Let the mixture stand until bubbly
   *make sure the water isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast and it won't bubble up

2. Add the yeast mixture to 1 1/2 cups of flour with 2 tbs of olive oil and stir until a smooth dough forms and then knead the dough on a floured surface.

3. Shape the dough into a ball and place into a blowl greased with olive oil, cover it with a towl and let it rise for at least 30 minutes.
   * the dough should almost double in size when its ready.

4. Assemble you topping while you are waiting for the dough to rise, chop your garlic and slice your mushrooms and olives etc. and pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

5. Punch the dough down and knead it a few times to remove air bubbles in the dough; flatten the dough out on a floured surface and begin to roll it out into a circle.

6. Place the dough onto a baking sheet or I use my pizza stone sprinkle the dough with sauce, garlic, cheese and other toppings (I like to add italian seasoning to the sauce for extra flavor) and bake for about 10 minutes or until the crust looks crispy enough for you.

   *When using a pizza stone don't forget to place the stone in the over as you pre-heat the oven so it doesn't crack

7. Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!! (no eggs involved)

Ingredients:

½ cup Butter, Softened

¾ cups Brown Sugar

1 cup All-purpose Flour

2 Tablespoons Milk

1 cup Chocolate Chip

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add flour and mix just until combined.

3. Add milk until blended and fold in chocolate chips.

   *You can use other kinds of chips or cut up candies (Reese’s, M&M’s, mini choc chips, etc.) as well.

4. You can roll the dough into little balls and freeze them or just dig in with a spoon like I do and eat!



Introductions

Hello everyone! I would like to thank you for coming to my blog! I am new to the blogging world but I wanted to share my passion of cooking and baking with all of you. I have been dubbed Little Betty Crocker by my friends, so hence the name of my blog: A Modern Day Betty Crocker. I am a college student who likes to bake and cook in her free time, I love it when people come to me for creative cooking advice so I am hoping that this blog will help to inspire others. I come from a family where everyone cooks and can't remember a time when we were cooking dinner that everyone wasn't in the kitchen helping out with something even at a young age being given the task of setting the table or peeling vegetables, it made me feel so cool and grown up. Maybe I'm just a dork, lol but cooking is something that comes naturally to me and I am so grateful that I was brought up in that kind of family environment and that I learned so much about cooking from my family! Anyway, with that being said, Welcome to A Modern Day Betty Crocker and I hope that through my blog you will become captivated by the creativity of food and be able to share fun memories with your family and friends.