Miss You Cupcakes

The staff around Hobart library is a-changing. We had a retirement, a promotion, and two new additions. For the retirement I made we will miss you cupcakes. She told me I could make what I wanted. That's always fun for me. To make it easy I made vanilla cupcakes and spruced them up, Oreo and Cherry. I'm excited because I think I finally found my butter cream recipe.

For the Oreo cupcakes I was able to use up some crushed Oreo pie crust I had. The cherry cupcakes didn't turn out quite like I wanted them too but they tasted yummy.


For the cupcakes:

Prepare a box of vanilla cake mix according to the package directions.


Cherry Cupcakes
a Lacey creation

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From the cupcake batter above bake 12 cupcakes according to the package directions.

Buttercream Icing
from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

This recipe only frosts 12 cupcakes decoratively, 24 normally.

2 sticks butter, softened
2 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 T corn syrup

In a bowl of a stand mixer place the butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until it just starts to come together, for about a minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Increase to medium low speed and beat for about another minute. At this point it should almost be combined with a little liquid still at the bottom. Increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for another minute. When you butter looks whipped you are ready to add your powdered sugar. Add the 4 cups of powdered sugar and beat on low until the sugar is barely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bow, and increase the speed slowly to medium. Beat for a bout a minute. At this point you want to check the consistency. If the frosting is to thick you want to add a tablespoon or two of corn syrup. Beat for 30 seconds. Thick frosting works good for decorating but not frosting. Once the frosting is at the consistency you want to beat it on medium high for a minute to make the frosting nice and fluffy.

To make it cherry I added a 1/4 cup of cherry pie filling. I think I should have added the filling to the butter first. When it added it last it made the butter separate. It tasted good but it wasn't as pretty as I thought it would be.


Oreo Cupcakes
a Lacey creation

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Using the rest of the cupcake batter add 1/4 cup of crushed Oreos. bake 12 cupcakes according to the package directions.

Oreo Frosting

This recipe only frosts 12 cupcakes decoratively, 24 normally.

2 sticks butter, softened
2 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 T corn syrup

In a bowl of a stand mixer place the butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until it just starts to come together, for about a minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Increase to medium low speed and beat for about another minute. At this point it should almost be combined with a little liquid still at the bottom. Increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for another minute. When you butter looks whipped you are ready to add your powdered sugar. Add the 4 cups of powdered sugar and beat on low until the sugar is barely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bow, and increase the speed slowly to medium. Beat for a bout a minute. At this point you want to check the consistency. If the frosting is to thick you want to add a tablespoon or two of corn syrup. Beat for 30 seconds. Thick frosting works good for decorating but not frosting. Once the frosting is at the consistency you want to beat it on medium high for a minute to make the frosting nice and fluffy.

Add 1/2 cup of crushed Oreo's to the frosting. I used a piping bag with a star tip to frost the cupcakes. Even though the Oreo's were crushed finely they were getting stuck in the tip. I may need a bigger star tip. Top off each cupcake with a mini Oreo.

Chicken Alfredo Egg Rolls

I am having way to much with egg roll wrappers. I decided to throw together a delicious chicken Alfredo filling and put in an egg roll wrapper. I'm not a huge fan of jarred Alfredo sauce but when we were at Sam's Club the day before Super Bowl they had samples and I was able to try Bertolli's and it isn't so bad. Pair it with Tyson's cooked diced chicken and other yummy stuff and you have yourself a 30 minute meal.




Chicken Alfredo Egg Rolls
a Lacey creation

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10 egg rolls, 5 WW points per egg rolls

10 egg rolls
1 jar of Bertolli Alfredo sauce
2/3 cup mozzarella
2 T Parmesan
2 bags Tyson diced chicken

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl mix together the Alfredo sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan, and chicken. Take an egg roll and spread 1/4 cup of the mixture on it. Roll up the egg roll and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the rolls. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

Weekly Weigh In: Week Eight

This week wasn't a great weight in for me. I gained .8. I have nothing to blame but myself. I had pizza twice last week and Don Pablo's plus ice cream. I knew when I went to Don Pablo's I would gain but I really wanted it, so I went with my want. With this weight gain I could give up but I'm not going to. This is a slight set back but I will get it off next week.

Oatmeal Cookies with Coffee Icing

This month at the library we discussed The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. Ms. Allen wove a tale of mystery, romance, and magic. I enjoyed it but the ladies thought it was better suited for a younger crowd. That is probably why I liked it. I'm the youngest in the crowd. In the book there were coffee infused treats and these oatmeal cookies were one of them. I found the recipe on the authors website and she got it from Salad in a Jar.

These cookies are great. They are soft, slightly crisp around the edges, and a little chewy. They have great flavor. I'm not a huge fan of oatmeal cookies and I loved them.

Oatmeal Cookies with Coffee Icing
adapted from Salad in a Jar

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1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups old fashioned oats (the original recipe says to use quick cooking oats but I didn't have any on hand and I think that the old fashioned oats worked out fine)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Whip butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and continue beating until well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Whisk together flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Add to butter mixture. Stir in oats. Drop onto cookie sheet by teaspoonfuls. I used my silicone baking mat on my cookie sheet and my medium sized cookie scoop. They spread a good bit so leave plenty of room. The original recipe says to cook for 6-8 minutes but mine took 10-12.

Coffee Flavored Powdered Sugar Glaze
Mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons black coffee (or milk if you prefer) and mix until smooth. You may need to add more liquid to make glaze spreadable.

Pizza Egg Rolls

I, Lacey Klemm, am a Pinterest addict. It has been one day since I have pinned. I love that site and I probably shouldn't have taken that first step to becoming a member because I really am obsessed. One of the yummy pins I saw was a pizza cone. I only ever see those when I'm at fairs or the Taste of Chicago. I got to thinking, how could I make a WW friendly pizza cone. I immediately thought of using wonton wrappers, but they are so small. I didn't want to have to make 50 pizza cones. :) So the next best thing was egg roll wrappers. I just couldn't think of how to keep the cone shape. Trying to make a cone shape with a thin egg roll wrapper is hard. The picture to the left was my one and only attempt. After the first one I just decided to make pizza egg rolls. They reminded me of pizza pockets. I think these are awesome and at 3 points apiece I'm in pizza heaven.

Pizza Egg Rolls
A Lacey Creation

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8 servings, 3 WW points per serving

8 egg roll wrappers
1/2 cup pizza sauce (I really like Mids)
8 Weight Watcher string cheeses
chopped green pepper, onion, mushrooms
pepperoni or sausage (count points accordingly)


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread about a tablespoon of pizza sauce on an egg roll wrapper. Place a whole string cheese down the middle of the wrapper, or you can cut up the cheese and spread it over the wrapper. Place about a 1/4 cup of the veggies on top and roll up the wrapper like an egg roll. Place it on a baking sheet and repeat with the other wrappers. Spray the rolls with cooking spray and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Fake Shakes

I love Dashing Dish food website. The author Katie just knows what us foodies that are trying to lose weight and stay healthy are craving. She had me with these I Can't Believe It's Not Milkshakes. I have a terrible sweet tooth. I always have. Ice cream is one of my top favorite sweet treats. I think that these fake shakes are really good and the secret ingredient is cottage cheese. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. You read that right, cottage cheese. It makes these shakes nice and thick and you can't taste the cottage cheese, I promise. If you really don't like cottage cheese you can use yogurt. Katie has some awesome shake recipes but you can really put anything you want in them. One of the ingredients is protein powder but I have omitted the protein powder and still enjoyed the shakes.

The top picture is Frozen Hot Chocolate and the picture below has blueberries, strawberries, and chocolate syrup.

Both were very yummy. I have made just regular chocolate shakes, coffee mocha shakes, Oreo cookie shakes and I have many other combinations running in my head. You get that whole big glass for around 7 points or less depending on what you put in it. I'm in love.

Fake Shakes
adapted from Dashing Dish

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Point values depend on what you put in it

1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
1 scoop (120 or less calories) protein powder any flavor
1 tray ice
1/2 cup water or coffee
add ins of choice (fruit, diet hot chocolate, sugar free syrups, crushed cookies)

Add cottage cheese, protein powder, ice, water/coffee, and add ins into the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Weekly Weigh In: Week Seven

I lost .5 this past week. Slow and steady wins the race. My total is 10.6. I am proud that I have lost consistently the past seven weeks but I would like to lose solid pounds. I need to stay away from pizza. It never fails. I get back on WW and I crave pizza. I do enjoy pita pizzas and other variations but nothing compares to JJ's. But I count it so I don't feel so guilty. I would like to have ten more pounds off before my trip to Arizona in March but if that doesn't happen I'll be happy with consistent weight losses.

Here's to another good week.

Weekly Weigh In: Week Five and Six

For week 5 and 6 I lost 1.3 making my grand total 10.1. It has taken me this long to post because the day of week 5's weigh in my house got broke into and then for week 6 my Internet went down. It has been a crazy couple of weeks.

Along with doing WW's again I started working out at Charter Fitness. I hate working out. I really don't enjoy it at all. So it helps that I go with Joyce from work and we work out together. I take a book to read but they also have music playing and TV's to watch. I enjoy the company, not so much the exercise. If it wasn't for Joyce I probably wouldn't go. I try and be honest with myself. I'm usually good when it comes to changing my eating habits but when it comes to exercise, not so much. Joyce and I laugh because it was our other co-worker Kris that really wanted us to join. She and her husband joined for Christmas. She wanted other people to go with. Joyce and I go faithfully and Kris is a book of excuses. When she does go she's antsy to leave. But Kris is skinny so I wouldn't be all gung ho to exercise either. It's just funny that she wanted us to join and shes nowhere to be seen. But we still love her.

On week 5's weigh in I went to work out with Joyce and when I got home I noticed that my front door was slightly ajar. I wondered if my husband might have forgotten to close and lock it when he left for work and proceeded to go into the house. That is when I noticed that our pill bottles from on top of the microwave had been rifled through and once I got into the kitchen I saw that the window had been broken out and my cat Sage was standing in the glass on the floor. Fortunately they didn't take anything of value other than some pills but I had to clean up the mess from the broken window and replace the window. It isn't a good feeling knowing someone has been in your home.

Today I spent time in the emergency room. I have been having sharp pains in my right side every time I breathe. It is very painful. I had a ct scan of my stomach area and a chest x-ray and everything was okay. No, internal problems. I do have a urinary tract infection, which is weird because I don't feel like I have one. So they sent me home with antibiotics and pain killers. I hope it helps because I'm tired of the pain. I want to keep exercising but it is difficult with the pain in my side.

My hubby is awesome. He was willing to sit with me during a Twilight marathon but I spared him from the sparkly vampires. We are watching The Shield.