Black-Bottom Cupcakes (Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes)

A few years ago I saw this recipe for Black Bottom Cupcakes in a local magazine and tried it. I loved it but found it just a bit salty for my liking. I haven't tried it since then. It's been a few years now.

This Saturday, my kids wanted me to bake something for them (usually, when it's not to busy I do some baking with my kids).  Naturally, they wanted something sweet and preferably with chocolate. Now I love chocolate but I never fancy anything to overwhelmingly sweet. I looked at my fridge and tried to see what possible ingredients I have available and then I saw half a block of cream cheese that's waiting to be used. Suddenly, the Black-Bottom Cupcakes  or Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes made a flashback and I thought why not re-visit the recipe?

Amazing Green Tea Cake

 

It's March and all the recipes I see so far on the  blogging world are green - could it be be because it's almost spring, or perhaps Lenten season is getting near or it could be the Irish celebration of St. Patrick's Day.... I thought once I see green all over - it's time to experiment and make my Green Tea Cake!

This is my first attempt at making a Green Tea Cake. I have a can of Matcha Green Tea that's been sitting on our cupboard for awhile now and been waiting for me to use it for something, anything.... I thought a Green cake might be nice and so here it is...

Overnight Steel Cut Oats (with Coconut and Cranberries)

Who doesn't like to wake up in the morning to a breakfast that's all set and ready to go? That would be so ideal, right? Well, it's not impossible anymore when you try this amazing Overnight Steel Cut Oats that cook all night in the slow cooker so when you wake up, it's ready for eating. It doesn't take much effort to prepare it either. It takes less than 5 minutes for prep time and then all the work is done in the crock pot...and then 8 hours later, voila --- a yummy oatmeal treat!

Baked Pears in White Wine

I love Red Pears and they were on sale the other day so I grabbed a few to snack on. One of the pears I used for making a smoothie while the other one I gave to my son for his school snack. However, he didn't like it for some reason and asked if he can have an apple instead. I obliged but was a little disappointed that he snubbed the pear. So, anyway, I had a few more pear left-overs than I anticipated so I thought of trying a new recipe with them - sort of a dessert that's truly enjoyable. I have read some recipes that cook pear in red wine but I didn't have any red wine but still had some  white wine in the fridge which did not get fully used up in the chicken stew I made.

Blueberry, Pear and Mango Smoothie

In our family, we try to incorporate a lot of fruits in our diet, after all it's one of the best sources of nutrients particularly the much need anti-oxidants which berries, particularly, blueberries contain! Often, I find that the best way to encourage my kids to have their fruits is through a smoothie so I try whenever fruits are on sale to make a new smoothie once a week. These were the only fruits I had at this time but I thought it's still possible to combine them in a yummy smoothie.