cheesy corn dog muffins: how to win over the hearts of your siblings

A delicious cheesy corn dog muffin!

Last night Mom, Dad and Gama went to a 5 course meal cooking demonstration as an early present for Gama's birthday! That meant I was in charge of cooking dinner for two picky teenagers, Gene and Chessie. 

My parents are what you'd call a power couple. They're both super busy with work, so we ate dinner out a lot this summer. Well the kids and I were absolutely sick of it, so mom woke up extra early before church on Sunday, fired up the crock pot and made her famous beef stew. I told my family that since I was home all week, I'd make sure they had home cooked meals every day and they LAUGHED! No one had faith in my cooking. How rude!

Well last night Gene and Chessie were stuck with me! So they had to experience my cooking. I decided to get creative and make something they would love. And I wowed the judges!

The inside of this tasty treat!

Cheesy Corn Dog Muffins 

(makes 12 muffins)

This recipe is very liberal. You don't have to add cheese, or you can use different kinds of cheese, cut the hot dogs however you want, and so on. It's up to you! Here's how I did it. My goal was to make the muffins extra cheesy, because who doesn't love cheese?!

Ingredients:

One block of sharp cheddar cheese

One bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or shred your own)

2 boxes prepared Jiffy corn muffin mix (as in, with the eggs and milk added, etc)

Cupcake paper (Last time I made these I didn't use the paper and they totally fell apart, so I highly recommend using paper!)

One package of Nathan's hot dogs (we used the bigger than bun kind)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Chop half the cheese block into small cubes.

3. Prepare corn muffin mix in a mixing bowl.

4. Add cubed cheese and a handful of shredded cheese to mix. Stir.

5. Check cheese-to-batter ratio. Add more cheese if needed.

6. Chop hot dogs into fourths.

7. Fill muffin tray with cupcake paper.

8. Use a spoon to fill each cupcake paper about half way with batter.

9. Add three pieces of hot dog to each cup.

10. Fill in the rest of the cups with batter, covering the hot dogs.

11. Bake for 15 to 20 mins. Let cool and enjoy!

This recipe is easy and doesn't take much time to prepare. It's a good one for kids to try, too! Even our dogs wanted to get in on the action.

Scruffy (left) and Peachy (right) anxiously watch as they wait for me to drop a piece of cheese. 

I served the muffins with baked beans and mac and cheese. The kids loved them and I got rave reviews like, "I think you're a better cook than mom!"

Of course I can cook, guys! I had to feed myself somehow while I was away at school!

It was nice to surprise my family, and I even packed leftovers for the kids' lunches for the next day! I'll admit, I'm a pretty awesome sister. :)

Give Me S'more Snowdays!

The good news is... we had a White Christmas!

It was absolutely magical and beautiful! And Santa brought me a new car! Yay!

The bad news? It hasn't stopped snowing! It's been snowing in Kansas City since Christmas Eve! Whoa! I feel like we moved to Minnesota. No thank you!

The weather's been crazy, and although I usually love a Winter Wonderland, I am getting sick of all this snow. But, the good that's come out of it is that my sister, Chessie, got an extra week of winter break because she's had so many snowdays!

So to pass the time we've been keeping busy in the warm indoors by baking, of course!

First, we made a funfetti Christmas tree cake!

Yummm!

Next, we decided we wanted to try some more advanced baking. Chessie gave me this FABULOUS cookbook called Stud Muffins by Judi Guizado, Gilda Jimenez, Shari Hartz and Tammy Aldag. Stud Muffins has 53 creative and delectable muffin recipes like Sweet as Pumpkin Pie muffins and Ooh-La La Quiche muffins. Each recipe has a matching Stud and his steamy story. So hilarious!

The Stud we choose was Blade, the hunky outdoorsman (although a little old for us!) The recipe, Give Me S'more Muffins.

Not only was the recipe extremely easy to follow, but the muffins were HEAVENLY!

This recipe is super creative. Instead of using flour for the muffins, you just crumble graham crackers!

Add milk, an egg, honey, then fold in some chocolate chips and marshmallows. (This is one of the most delicious batters I have ever tasted!)

The best part? You top each full spot in the muffin pan with some marshmallows, which toast in the oven while the rest of the muffin bakes! SO ADORABLE! Don't they look delish?

The muffins are a little messy, but completely worth sticky fingers!

I cannot wait to try out S'more recipes from the Stud Muffin Cookbook! (haha) It's a fantastic and hilarious gift! Thanks Chess!

Also, this was my sister's very first time baking from scratch! She did a fantastic job and I'm glad I got to share this with her!

Next week, back to KU. I'm totally making muffins for the roomies! I cannot wait to go back, but I am NOT AT ALL excited to walk to class in this Arctic weather. But I'm happy to see my friends again and watch some Jayhawk Basketball! Rock Chalk!

Stay warm!

A Perfect Little Party!

I am in college, therefore I am poor!

This is my, and many of my friends, mantra, which is why we find that although we LOVE the holidays, the amount of spending can be a little scary. But we also live by another mantra:

I am in college, therefore, I LOVE to party!

So we had to get creative and to something fab on the cheap.

The evening started with an amazing thrifting experience with MB and AJ at Savers, which is like a Goodwill, but 100 times trendier and cheaper, with 100 times more stuff. We all had great successes and highly suggest it. My highlight pieces? An crazy printed electric blue blouse with gold buttons, a cream beaded, super soft granny sweater, a fab golden feathers pin and some
adorable vintage knick-nacks! Everything is SO affordable! Not a thing I bought was over $10!




MB and AJ bought blazers, and I was wearing one already (vintage JCrew, to be exact!) so we made it a blazer party! LOVE.

Next we went home to decorate the yule log AJ had prepared, recipie from The Joy of Cooking!



We used this DELISH cream cheese and coco frosting, cranberries and some pine tree clippings.
There are tons of traditions attached to the Yule log. My favorite is that the hosts of the holliday parties put together a bundle of sticks and twing bound with greens. They place it on the fire and when it burst, the unburnt twigs from the center are given to next year's hosts to put in their Yule log.

Instead of spending money on gifts for each other, we did a traditonal white elephant gift exchange, where we all found things around our houses to give. I scored a Disney Princess I Spy book. Be jealous!

We ended the evening ejoying the delicious Yule log with AJ's homemade Chex Mix and this amazing cranberry punch from the Junior League cookbook, Beyond Parsley.


Our friends had a fabulous time. Not only did we provide decadent holiday treats, but we also we were surrounded by our best friends, who we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving Break. What a night!


Enjoy the low quality IPhone pic of the hosts! (R to L: Me, AJ and MB)

Weather in Kansas is gray and rainy, but WORTH IT, because, we're supposed to have a white Christmas! Fingers crossed!

Love, AE

P.S. I PROMISE I will post the details, recipies and photos of Drew and I's gift making experience. Finals CONSUMED my life that week! I just need to get the pics from my roomie!

Fa La La La La

In the spirit of Christmas, and being poor college students, Drew and I are making our friends and families holiday treats instead of buying gifts.

On the Menu? White and milk chocolate covered twizzlers, chocolate covered pretzel rods, peanut butter balls and oreo balls. We'll also be making salt dough cookie ornaments! Recipes and pictures to follow!