Wise Guy Cupcakes

I adore these cupcakes!  They just make me smile.

They were the centerpiece for the graduation party I catered this weekend and everyone thought they were a hoot!  Pun totally intended.  Ha!  The school mascot is a 'Sage' or owl and I couldn't resist making these little guys!

And really, while they're a bit time consuming to put together, they're very easy to make.You'll start with 24 baked and cooled cupcakes.  I made mine Saturday morning and didn't get around to decorating them until Saturday afternoon.

The most tedious task is seperating all the chocolate sandwich cookies.  You'll need to carefully seperate 48 cookies, setting aside the cookie without the cream filling.  If you have trouble with the cream breaking, you can smush it back with your fingers.

Yes, smush is a technical term.

For the noses and eyes I used 24 orange chocolate candies and 48 brown chocolate candies.

Stop counting the candies!  I said STOP!!

To affix the eyes on the cream covered chocolate sandwich cookie, use a tiny dab of frosting.  You only need a little.  Too much and you'll see it spill out from underneath the candy.

After you get all the candies attached, you'll frost the cupcake and carefully place two of the cookies on top.

Then grab one of the orange candies and place it on it's side in the 'V' below the eyes.

Now use your knife or small offset spatula to pull the frosting above the eyes into the shape of little horns.  You can easily manipulate the frosting.  There's not a science to this, just go with it.

One cupcake completed!  23 more to go.

Wise Guy Cupcakes

Ingredients:
24 Chocolate cupakes, baked and cooled
Chocolate frosting.  I cheated and used canned.
48+ Cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies.  Grab a few extras just in case!
48 Brown chocolate candies
24 Orange chocolate candies

Directions:
Carefully separate sandwich cookies, setting aside the wafer without the cream.
Use a small dab of frosting and affix the brown chocolate candies to the top of the cookie halves with the cream.  Set aside.
Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
Place 'eyes' centered on each cupcake.
Take an orange candy and put just below the cookie eye.
Use an offset spatula and pull the frosting to make horns for your owl.

Whooo are you looking at? 

  

Linking up with Delicious Dish Tuesday and Tuesday Tea!

Homemade Apple Pie Larabar

I tasted my first Larabar years ago and thought they were delicious!  Mostly because of the price tag, I never really became a slave to the tasty little snack bar though.  When I first started following the Paleo lifestyle I noticed that several Paleo food bloggers had recipes to create their own... now we're talking!  Save money and get crafty in the kitchen?  Sign me up.

For a while, I was content just making the recipes that I had found on Pinterest.  Then one day Matt came home with a bag of dehydrated apples and I thought I could create an apple pie version of my own!  After a few trial runs, I'm finally satisfied with the final product!

To make these bars you'll need to gather almonds, walnuts, dates, raisins, dried apples, cinnamon, ginger and coconut oil.  I make these in the middle sized Ninja Master Prep Pro bowl, but any food processor should do the trick!

The first step to making these bars is to combine the raisins and dates into the food processor and puree them until they have broken down.  Once you think they've broken down enough, go a couple extra seconds!  This mixture should look like this...

Go ahead and add the apples at this point and break them up a bit too!

Add the almonds and walnuts to the container with the pureed fruit.  Now you'll want to sprinkle in the spices and give it a whirl to combine everything all together!  You'll want to scrape the sides of the food processor as needed.  At this point I stop the blender and melt some coconut oil in the microwave.  To get the ingredients to really come together I have the best luck drizzling the oil in as I have the blender running.  Once you're satisfied, you'll line an 8x8 pan with wax paper and empty the contents into the pan.

Then use your hands and press into the pan, creating a uniform thickness.

Stick the pan in the refrigerator and let the bars cool!  And now you wait.  After a few hours, I generally let them sit undisturbed for about two hours.  Once the bars have had a chance to cool, you can cut them into squares or rectangles.  I generally cut the large square into eighths, but you could do smaller or larger!  Tip: cut in the bars in the pan, rather than lifting the large square out first.  This makes them easier to cut!  I wrap each individual bar in plastic wrap and then store them in a resealable bag in the refrigerator until I'm ready for a snack.

And now I'm officially hungry!

So I make my own Larabars, do you make anything at home because you refuse to buy it at the store?  Let me know, I'm always up for trying something new!

Homemade Apple Pie Larabar
Yields: 8 bars

Ingredients:
1 cup dates, pitted
3 Tablespoons raisins
1 cup dehydrated apples
3/4 cup almonds, unsalted
3/4 cup walnuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
coconut oil

Directions:
Combine dates and raisins in food processor.  Puree until the dried fruits have broken down.  

Add dehydrated apples to the processor and pulse until all three fruits have combined.  You may need to use a spoon to scrape the sides of the bowl to help incorporate the fruits together. 

Now put the almonds, walnuts, and spices into the bowl of the food processor and blend until the nuts have broken down and combined with the fruits.  Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Melt some coconut oil in the microwave and then drizzle the oil into the bowl with the motor running.  Once all the ingredients have been blended together pour the contents into a wax paper lined 8 x 8 pan and press into a flat, uniform thickness bar.

Cool in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Once cool, cut into eight bars and wrap individually in plastic wrap.

Store in refrigerator in a resealable bag.

Linking up with Tuesday Tea and Delicious Dish Tuesday.

Where Your Food Comes From + A Recipe

Did you know that the average American is three generations removed from the farm?  For many people the closest they can trace their family tie to a farm is to go back to their great-grandparents!

Source

My sorority's national philanthropy, Ag In The Classroom, helps educate kids about where their food comes from because there isn't the inherent tie to farming like in the past.  Sad as it is, more kids than I'd like to admit have absolutely no clue that their frozen pizza has any ties to agriculture!  They don't realize that the crust is made from wheat that farmers grow and harvest every year, that the cheese started out as milk from dairy cows or that there is actually a difference between dairy and beef cows!

Check out some of the ag facts below and support farmers! 
- Pork is the number one meat consumed in the world.  American's comsmption declined in the 70's because people started looking for a leaner protein source.  The hogs raised today are less fatty due to improved genetics and feeding.
- The US grows more than 30,000 acres of garlic every year.  This produces more than 500 million pounds of garlic.  Garlic is primarily grown in California, but is also produced in Oregon, Nevada, Washington and New York.
- Potatoes are utilized more for frozen fries than any other product.  Are you surprirsed?

Source

- Each year, US dairy farmers provide enough milk to make more than 1 billion pounds of butter, 7 billions pounds of cheese and 1 billion gallons of ice cream!
- Kale belongs to the same species of the mustard family as collards, cabbage and broccoli.  It is also very high in vitamin A and C!

Unlike the kids I helped teach, I grew up hearing what our crops were raised for and how they fed the world!  I have an appreciation for the food I eat because of how I was raised and for that I'm incredibly thankful.

Bringing awareness to National Ag Week with a recipe only seemed natural to me.  Farmers feed us and without them, well... as romantic as it sounds, you can't survive on love alone!

Slow Cooker Sausage and Kale Stew with Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
Serves 6
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
1 pound sausage, crumbled into small pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
sea salt and pepper
2 large russet potatoes (approx. 1 pound)
1 small bunch kale, stems removed and leaves torn (approx. 7 cups)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions
1.  Combine the sausage, onion, tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, garlic, water, Italian seasoning and 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a 4 or 6 quart slow cooker.  Place the potatoes in the liquid and top with the kale.
2.  Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
3.  Transfer the potatoes to a medium bowl.  Add the milk, oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper to a bowl and mash.
4.  Serve the stew over the top of the mashed potatoes.

Linking up with Tuesday Tea, Delicious Dish Tuesday and Country Fair Blog Party.

Just Grillin' It

I've been out of town for the last 6 days putting on a horse expo and trade show and was exhausted when I got home yesterday.  Thankfully, Matt was game to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we had and opted to break out the charcoal grill for supper!

I pulled out a package of T-bones from the freezer, but was a bit stumped on what we'd have for sides.  Luckily, I found some romaine hearts in the fridge and had Matt buy some sweet potatoes at the store.  Supper, check!

Oh, and there was wine for me and Blue Moon for Matt!

Somebody wanted samples...

The grilled romaine is so yummy and very easy to whip up that it really doesn't need a recipe, but this is the gist:

Grilled Romaine
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 head of romaine, cut lengthwise down the center and washed
olive oil
garlic powder
salt
pepper

Directions:
Drizzle olive oil on all sides of the cut romaine.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Place over indirect heat from your grill.  You'll want to rotate the romaine so you get it nice and wilted on all three sides (the cut side and the two rounded sides...think of it as a triangle), but it shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes per side.

I'm linking up with a these awesome gals (Jenni, Khala, Samantha ,Reneé and Mary) for another spot of Tuesday Tea and a new link up, Delicious Dish Tuesday!