Buffalo Ranch Tuna Cups

 Buffalo Ranch Tuna Cups

So, I am not a huge tuna eater. I'm more of a steak, chicken, and seafood chick (well, aside from Tuna!). However, since I had gastric sleeve surgery on 8/1, I am required to get at least 60-80 grams of protein in a day. And let me tell you, man, that is hard!!

However, it does get easier, but I have to get creative with my meals, and obviously they have to be bite sized and under 6 oz. Since most tuna packs 15g of protein or more per 3 oz, I have had to choke it down and come up with some really fun and tasty ways to eat it.

Now, if you go back a few blog posts, you will find my blog to the Buffalo Chicken Dip HERE. It tastes amazing with bread, but I can't really eat bread now and its just not the same without it!

I found starkist makes these new tuna pouches that come in all sorts of flavors. I pick them up when they go on sale (They usually run about $1.25 or so) and I have plenty of flavors on hand.

I also have been using wonton wrappers to aid in my new cooking style, and they really come in handy!

Anyway, Starkist has a flavored tuna called Hot Buffalo Style. I figured, if I can make Buffalo chicken dip, I can make a Buffalo tuna dip, right? And to make it more fun, I'll throw it in my wonton wrappers and bake it!

I do have to say, these were soooo good! I plan on making them again for sure, but also maybe for apps at my next house party!

Ingredients:

Pre-heat oven to 350
1 pack of Hot Buffalo Style Tuna
3 small square wonton wrappers
4 oz shredded cheese
2 tablespoons ranch dressing
bowl
muffin tin

Start by mixing all the ingredients into a bowl and mix.

spray a LIGHT coating of pan spray at the bottom of your cupcake pan and gently press the wonton squares in. Fill with about 1 full tablespoon of filling. I added a little more shredded cheese on top.

Bake in the oven for about 15-25 minutes depending on how crispy you want your wonton wrappers to be. I baked mine for about 17 minutes, but I think next time I will leave them a little longer.

And, they are done! I was able to eat 2 and a half of these bite size poppers, and they were delicious! I am sure they can be done with chicken, beef, steak etc.

Honestly, anything can be put into a wonton wrapper and prob taste good! I can't really eat bread, so this gives me just the little bit of crunch and carbs I'm looking for!

What have you baked into a wonton cup? How would you change it up?

Zucchini Ricotta Bake

ZUCCHINI RICOTTA BAKE

I have had many requests to share this recipe so, I wanted to break it down for y'all :-) This recipe has been adapted to feed roughly 4 people, but you can double or triple to make what you need.

This is a great recipe for those on a soft food diet for whatever reason, as well as a high protein meal and virtually no carbs - essentially this is a vegetarian meal, but next time I think I will add some spicy ground sausage or ground beef. I really think this will elevate the dish to the next level!!



Ingredient List:

1 large zucchini
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c parmigiana cheese
2 eggs
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon oregano, Basil, garlic salt (and any other spices you like)
Optional: Ground meat of choice, cooked and drained

1. I swore I had a mandolin type cutter, but for the life of me I couldn't find it anywhere, so I had to do my zucchini slices by hand. Boo.

2. Boil the slices in a little salt water for about 3-5 minutes, just until zucchini is soft and semi transparent. drain and rest on paper towel. 

3. Mix in a bowl all the wet ingredients and the cheeses - Just dump and mix....:-) make sure all the egg is incorporated well.

4. Layer a few strips of zucchini at the bottom of your dish, and begin building up. Zucchini, ricotta mix, sauce, cheese, repeat.

5. top the remaining cheese on top, and pop into an oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. pull out and let cool. pair with a meat or veggie side dish or use this as a side. Enjoy!!

Football cake pop Centerpieces

Football season is upon us! I can not WAIT!! (Go DUCKS, BTW!!)

We had a client this week who wanted a cake and coordinating centerpieces football themed in FSU colors. We were trying to be cost effective and creative, but also wanted a great presentation. First, make your cake pops in the colors designs you'd like to have - Here is the link just in case to the Cake pop directions .

First, we had to find a base that would be heavy enough to hold down when people pulled out the cake pops. We found these tea lite candle holders at the dollar store, and we used them turned over, so when we hot glued the footballs down, there would be more surface to cling to it. They were a great weight and perfect for what we needed them for.

Next we found the squishy type footballs (also at the dollar store) because we were going to put the cake pops into the football. We had a hard time finding all the footballs at one store, so we ended up going to 5 different stores to get 8 footballs - Go figure. We hot glued the footballs to the candle bases and let set

While these were setting, I began to make some bows that were going in the front of the football. We used ribbon color to match the FSU school colors. We had some football cupcake picks that we used as the center of the bow, and added a really nice touch. 

For some reason, I didn't get a picture of the completed bow with the tails on it - Sorry! (But I am sure you guys can imagine it :-)

After all the cake pops were wrapped, we tied gold and black ribbon around each one to create some filler in the footballs.  We used a drill bit to make our holes in the football so that the cakepops wouldn't get damaged when we inserted them. Added the bow with the football on it, and they came out looking so great! Our client loved them! 

What do you guys think of these? Who are you rooting for this year? Anyone play fantasy football? I hope I can whoop my husbands butt this year!! 

Giant Panda Cookie Cake

Hi guys!

I wanted to share some new stuff with you all, and I know it has been FOREVER, but I am trying really hard to post some new content and some DIY stuff, cake stuff and cooking stuff. So bare with me if my posts are far and few between!

I wanted to share a quick tutorial on a Panda Cookie Cake that we just did for a client last weekend. It was really easy to do, so, here are the basics and step by step.

1. Make whatever cookie dough you want to use - In this case, the client wanted chocolate chip. I used a spring form pan (the kind you would use for a cheesecake) and sprayed with pan spray, and put my dough in.

2. I used some of my Italian Buttercream to smooth over the top to make my surface a little smoother, but if it cakes flat, all the better. I also carved out a half circle section where the Panda Ears are going to go. I used a cookie with a little frosting to set it.

3. I started with my black frosting using a star tip - you can use any size you wish, but for the panda I used a smaller tip for the black and a bigger one for the white. In my crumb coat, I drew slightly the outline where I wanted the eyes to sit and filled in with my black frosting. I also filled in the ears.

4. After the black, I started with the white and filled in everywhere else. I did two or three layers on the nose/snout to give a little more of a 3D look. I also did a row around the head slightly on the side to cover the edge of the cookie cake as well as the ears. 

5. Lastly, I added small whites of the eyes and small black for the nose. I added 2 chocolate sprinkles for the eye pupil's. I boxed it up and had it out the door.

Pretty cute, huh? I was very happy with how this turned out and the client was in love with it! What other animal faces would look good on a cookie? 

It's been awhile, huh???

It's been more than a year since my last post, mostly because of life getting in the way of computer time.

I went from an office job to a retail management job which had me commuting an hour each way with 10 hour shifts and left little time for anything else.

I won't lie, I missed my blog and posting, and I missed my readers!!

So here is a VERY short recap of the last year:

I worked retail management.
I bought a bakery.
I quit retail job.
I am pregnant with baby #3 due the end of August.
I love my bakery.

There is the sum up!

Most of my posts going forward will be about cake and things like that, and I will also be sharing a link to a YouTube channel we just created for the bakery.

Interested in the bakery I own?

Check us out on FB at https://www.facebook.com/WRSimplyCupcakes

or our website at www.wrcupcakes.com

I look forward to chatting with you all soon!!

DIY photo frame wall art - Cheap way to add a modern twist to any room!

I always check out the photo frame section of the thrift store whenever I go, because I can ALWAYS find cheap decent frames for as little as .50 cents. Most of them are chipped or nicked or a really bad color. 

Nothing a can of spray paint, a drill and a glue gun can't fix!!

Besides the obvious redo of just spray painting the frame and using it for pictures, I wanted to do some frame art for the Yellow and Gray room.

I laid out my frames in what order I wanted them once I was ready to hang it - be mindful of how it may sit against the wall. Make sure your supporting frame (the one that will be hanging) is the bottom layer and has a good hanging bracket. Build the other layers on top of that.

Once I figured out how I wanted them to go, I took them outside, spray painted them in the 3 colors I wanted (to match my room) and then let dry. 

Once all the pieces dried, I got out the drill and some screws and attached the frames to each other.

In hindsight, I probably used the wrong kind of screws, and some of my frames were REALLY hard to get through, and I ended up cursing a lot. in some places it split my frame and took off some spray paint, but a quick touch up fixed that.

Once it was screwed in place and attached, I took back outside and blasted it with a clear coat of spray, just to give it a little shiny look.

When it was dry and I went to take it inside, one of my not so good screws came out and I decided it might be best to reinforce the screws with a little hot glue.

You can never have enough uses for a glue gun!!

Anyway, once everything was dry and NOT going to plop apart on me, I centered it on my wall, screwed in a screw and hung it up, I had to play with the balance a little just because of awkward shapes, but it worked perfect!

I LOVE it!!!

Slip cover style headboard cover - Easy DIY to change up a room!

Greetings from a rainy and very cold GA!

Schools are closed again today (We had some of this nasty weather a few weeks ago) and I have been busy putting together my grey and yellow room. I've been home and prepping for a new job, you would think I would have a lot of time to post, but really, I feel like I have less time!

Anyway, I'm going to be posting a few updates for my room!

First up: Slip cover headboard!

Above is a quick before and after photo of the bed. The bed itself is a queen and an ugly brown color. I found a really good deal on some clearance fabric at the store, and even though it was a little more than I wanted to spend, I just LOVED the print.

Plus, I didn't want to paint - I HATE painting things like this - too much detail and I don't have the patients for it lol

I did however fail to take pictures of the actual sewing part of this project. BUT, it really is as simple as sewing 3 sides and a quick hem.

I measured out the width and height of the headboard and added in the posts that added about 2 inches on each side, plus 1 inch for a seam allowance. I was SUPER lucky that my measurements for the height was EXACTLY the width of the fabric (45") so I didn't have to make any more than 1 cut (I got 4 yards because I was doing the foot-board too). I got a cheap grey fabric for the back, and some rolled batting to give the headboard a little cushion - You can however make this as thick as you want, but I just wanted a little padding.

I laid out my fabric as solid, print side down, then the batting. Pin. Sew the sides and top - I double seamed mine because it was going to be a tight fit and I didn't want any pulling apart.

Once I did that, I turned right side out, pointed my corners, slid on the headboard and made sure it fit ok. I pulled off again, then did a quick hem along the bottom. I did have to trim a little of the batting so it did't puff out, but no one would see it either.

And there you have it - a very quick and simple slipcover for head or foot board. Stay tuned for the other elements in the room!!