Baking & Cooking Adventures

It is no secret that I love baking & cooking. Specially trying new recipes or techniques. 
I have had a few new adventures in these areas lately.
My baking adventure was for my bestie Jamie. She is currently pregnant with her 4th baby, a boy. His theme they chose for him is Eyeore. 🙂 I know so cute right.  Well I made the cake for her baby shower. 
I made my first 3 tier cake. It was quite the adventure lol. I also had to fight off a rambunctious 3..almost 4 year old boy for eating it all day. This cake was not perfect and could tell a professional did not do it but the important things are it was so delicious as well as made with lots of love. And the Jamie & Drew loved it. 🙂
Then again as Jamie said since when is anything in the 100 acre woods nothing is perfect. 🙂

Now for my cooking adventures. I have made 2 new recipes recently.
The most recent one is a Meatloaf cups. Who doesn’t love meatloaf? A favorite comfort food. Now this is new for 2 reasons. One I have never made Meatloaf cups or as some refer to them as meatloaf muffins.  They are super cute and great serving sizes. But also I made some regular meatloaf but the rest I made them as Cheddar BBQ meatloaf cups. I must say this does sound interesting but they looked so good. They tasted even better. 🙂 I paired them with mashed potatoes and brown sugar baby carrots. My family gobbled them up. Guess next time I will make a double batch 🙂
Here is the picture of some the Cheddar Bbq Meatloaf Cups.

Here is the recipe in case anyone wants to try them:
Cheddar Barbeque Mini Meatloaf Cups
based on a traditional meatloaf recipe
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
1 small onion, grated
1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef*
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup barbeque sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Combine egg, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, worchestershire and onion in a large bowl and mix well. Crumble ground beef into bowl on top of egg mixture. Add bread crumbs and gently combine all ingredients with hands, taking care not to over-work the meat (don’t “squeeze” it through your fingers).
Divide meatloaf mixture into 9-10 cups of a muffin tin. Using the back of a spoon, press meatloaf mixture firmly into cups then create a shallow indentation or divot in each (no more than 1/4-inch deep). Bake meatloaves at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove meatloaves from oven. Pour off any excess grease if possible (I did this easily by tilting the pan) or use a clean paper towel to blot it up.
Add about 1 tablespoon of barbeque sauce into the divot of each meatloaf. Sprinkle meatloaves evenly with cheddar cheese. Return pan to oven and continue cooking until cheese is bubbly.
Remove from oven and serve immediately. *Use lean ground beef because the excess fat won’t have a way to cook away from the meatloaf cups in the muffin tins.

My second recipe I tried I made it the day I was working on the cake and then I had my son running around lol plus my fiance was in bed super sick, borderline ER visit.  So it was perfect for a hectic day.  But it was so delicious. It is called “Creamy Chicken & Rice Crockpot Recipe” This is a simple &  easy. It is a crockpot recipe.
Ingredients
4-5 large chicken breasts (mine were still frozen)
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup, low-sodium
2 cups of water
2 cups Baby Carrots
3 celery stalks, cup into chunks (not diced)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 ts Paprika
1/2 TB minced garlic
2 ts Garlic salt
Black pepper, to taste
A dash of dill weed
1 cup instant Brown Rice or white.
Turn your Crock Pot onto high. Place the chicken breasts into the bottom of the crockpot. In a separate bowl, mix up all the other ingredients, except for the rice, to create a chunky, creamy sauce. Pour this over the chicken in the crock. Cover and leave to cook on high 4-6 hours. The chicken will become more tender the longer you let it cook! At 3 or 4 hours I shredded up the tender chicken with 2 forks and stirred in the rice. Note: Use 1/2 cup more rice if you would like a thicker consistency. Recover the crock, leave it on high, and let it cook for about 1 more hour. Once the rice is nice and soft (and has soaked up a lot of the liquid), dinner is ready to be served! This recipe came out to the consistency of a thick and hearty stew. Served with a small salad & bisquits. So yummy! 

That is my adventures in the kitchen lately. I hope we can inspire you to have some of your adventures and try some new things. If you try any of these recipes let me know what you think. As well as love to know ow any great recipes you have to share.  🙂
I no leave you & your family with ✌Peace, 💜Love, &😄Happiness from Owl Family to Yours.
💟Nerdy Mama Owl💟