And finally, a weekly menu:

...and some pie. You want a good Peanut Butter pie? This is the one.

I've been cooking away, without telling you what I'm cooking, and feeling the need to share. Here is what we had last week/are having this week:

*Monday: Hogi night. We passed a Subway the other day and Ryder really wanted to go there. He listed all the ingredients he would want on a Subway sandwich, and was quite amazed when I told him we had all those things at home! So tonight we're eating his favorite--"Subway bread" (store-bought sandwich buns), turkey, bacon, pickles, cucumbers, cheese and mustard. ;) I'm adding lots of other veggies like, tomatoes, lettuce, avocados, sprouts, etc. to mine. We also have lots of veggies for a veggie/dip plate & apples with caramel dip.

*Tuesday: Parmesan Squash Wedges & Wild Rice (from Trader Joe's)

*Wednesday: I've never made Pumpkin Soup, and decided now is as good a time as any. Doesn't it sound so cozy and delicious to be eating warm Pumpkin soup for dinner on a chilly night in October?

*Thursday: Leftovers

*Friday: Tonight is the Trunk-or-Treat! I'll be contributing Chili, Cornbread muffins (To be honest, I LOVE the 39 cent Jiffy mix. For sake of time, I'll probably use a few of those), cupcakes (for the cake walk) and THIS pie (If this pie doesn't win, the judges are crazy...)

*Saturday: Burke day! Burke is on an incredibly busy rotation right now. In fact, he's only had 4 days off the entire month. And the days he works, he works ALL DAY LONG. Today we're having our family fall celebration. We'll be carving pumpkins, making doughnuts and decorating caramel apples.

*Sunday: Simple Salmon (broil for 5-10 mins. with a little salt & Pepper) and Loaded Sweet-Potato Skins

I also made some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chicken Chili, "Pizza Pockets", Homemade Macaroni & Cheese and Pretzel m&m Cookies last week while entertaining guests.

Happy Birthday to me!

Thanks to my Mom and Burke I had a DELICIOUS birthday. ;) It involved these cupcakes. If you ever come visit me in Chicago, I'm probably going to FORCE you to visit Molly's cupcake shop. And I'll probably MAKE you sample the Ron Bennington (bottom left cupcake). It made my birthday quite delightful. This may actually be my last birthday involving Molly's. :( So let's turn our focus to what we're eating this week:

*Monday: Leftover Giordano's Pizza...darn. ;)

*Tuesday: We never made this Ziti last week, and the kids have requested it. So we'll try it tonight. We'll also have fresh peaches and salad

*Wednesday: Corn/Black Bean Salad--I can't believe I haven't made this yet this summer! I mix black beans, corn, diced purple or green onion, chopped tomatoes, chopped avocado and chopped cilantro with a little olive oil, lime juice and salt. It is heavenly. We'll have Chicken Quesadillas with ours.

*Thursday: Salmon & Roasted Red potatoes (bought some fresh red potatoes at the farmer's market this week...can't wait to use them!)

*Friday: CAMPING! We're hoping and praying for good weather so we can enjoy our roasted hot dogs (and grilled peppers/onions for me & Burke) and smores.

*Saturday: Leftovers

*Sunday: Chicken Fajitas with Lime Rice and these beans...and some of THIS for dessert (I'll serve it with fresh strawberries & blueberries)

Sorry...

So sorry about the lack of posts. I ended up being in Michigan longer than planned, and now we are heading to Utah for a week. That simply means that my menu for the next 6 days will consist of Cafe Rio. So unfortunately, I don't have a weekly menu to share with you for next week (unless you live in Utah and want to join me at my favorite restaurant--or we could do a picnic!). But I will share with you a recipe I made a few weeks ago when I was asked to bring cupcakes to an event. I combined a couple of Martha's recipes, and came up with these. They were quite delicious. I promise, once I'm back, I will resume my posting (which may include these, this, these or this)...



CHOCOLATE CREAM FILLED CUPCAKES

-1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins (or you can use liners)
-3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for muffin tins (unless you use liners)
-2 c. all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 c. sugar
-3 large eggs, room temperature
-1 c. sour cream, room temperature

-1 1/2 c. marshmallow creme
-1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350*. Butter/line muffin pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, lour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, followed by sour cream, ending with remaining flour mixture; mix just until incorporated.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 mins. Cool in pans, 5 mins.; remove cupcakes and cool, right side up, on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: In a medium bowl, whisk marshmallow creme and butter until smooth. Chill until slightly firm, 15-30 mins. Transfer mixture to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and seal; cut off one corner of the bag to make a 1/8 in. opening.

Using a small melon baller, scoop out center of each cupcake from the bottom (or if cooked in liners, from the top), and reserve (you will use this to plug cupcake after filling). Hollow out each cupcake a bit more, discarding crumbs. Insert tip of plastic bag into each cavity, and squeeze to fill; replace plugs. Using remaining filling in plastic bag, decorate top of cupcakes (or frost on top)

EASY WHITE ICING

-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
-1 pound (3 2/3 c.) confectioners' sugar
-1-2 TBLSP milk (optional)

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth.

Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.

**I also added about 1/2 jar of marshmallow creme to my frosting to make it more fluffy, and to compliment the creme filling of my cupcakes.