Avengers: Hawk Healthy Cupcakes

Hey everyone!  It's beed a while.  I was down visiting my family in Florida for a week which has kept me pretty busy.  Things are not very good health wise for a few of my family members and it's been quite a weight on my chest since I can't be there in person for them.  I ask you all to please keep my family in your prayers.  It is much needed and very much appreciated.

So while I was down there, I got to baking with my little sister.  Her and I love to be in the kitchen.  I told her about a recipe I had been wanting to try out for the longest.  They are cookies and cream cupcakes with a twist...a HEALTHY twist.  =)

I've decided to name these the Hawk Cupcakes.  The Hawk in the comic books normally has a purplish outfit, but in the movie, his outfit is black.  I couldn't find much else to relate to this character in the movie.  When I think of a hawk, I think is something fast and agile.  Well to be fast and agile, you have to be fit and healthy!

I pulled the recipe off of one of my favorite blogger's site, Chocolate & Carrots.  Mrs. Caroline always has delicious yet healthy recipes and she's always on my go-to list if I'm ever in the mood for a sweet yet healthy treat.  Click here for the recipe for these cupcakes.

First off you'll need the following ingredients to make the cupcakes (AND powdered sugar which I forgot to include here)

Now the Oreo cookies are something we added ourselves since we didn't have Cookies N Cream eggs.  

The batter was extremely simple to make and already it was tasting amazing.

Next we improved Cookies N Cream kisses for the eggs since it's no longer Easter. =)

SIDE-NOTE (The next time I make things, I'm going to try them with the mini Oreos in the middle.  I think it would give it a really nice Cookies N Cream taste.  The kisses were fine, but you have to constantly check on the cupcakes as to not burn the kisses.

And finally the finished product! They were sooo good.  And who would have thought black beans would make sure a great dessert!  Now the icing was a bit tricky. It took a while to get the consistency the right way but just do as the recipe says, keep added powdered sugar and whipping cream until its nice and thick and can stand up on its own.

Enjoy!

Blog Favorites

Whose up for a little procrastination huh???  Well I guess I am!  I've been pretty ocupada lately with school and work...and vacationing!  I just spent a nice weekend in Myrtle Beach with my family celebrating my sister's birthday and Father's Day.  It was a beautiful weekend out there nice and sunny the whole time.  I came back with a nice bronzy tan. :)  It was great to get away from the Fayettenam metro area.

My sisters and I with our awesome Dad <3

I know I've been talking about these Avengers treats for a while, it's just taking me forever since I haven't had much time to bake lately.  I promise I will complete this themed special for you all soon enough!

But for now I'd like to share with you all some blogs I've been enjoying from some of my favorite dedicated bloggers!

Congrats to my friend Steven and his beautiful bride...check out their pretty vintage wedding.

Need something quick to make? Baked Havarti Chicken

After visiting The Night Circus through my imagination while read this amazing book, it was lovely to be able to see one of my favorite bloggers bring some of the books to-die-for treats to life.

What do you really know about your shampoo?

Need some ideas for some super cute summertime sweets?

Tips on Packing for the Field

Hello all!  Its been a very busy few days for me.  Normally I can get my food blogs in during the weekend when I have more time to dance around my kitchen.  But this weekend I had to drill with my Guard unit.  So counting being back to work at my civilian job today...it's been 8 days of non-stop work.  What fun!  We drilled out at Camp Butner for the weekend.  We got everyone qualified at the ranges and then some Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) training.  I got to meet the Captain I'll be working under and all I can say is I'm loving my job so far.  It's going to be a very busy job since they are training me to be the temporary S6, but the experience I'll be getting is priceless.

So I'd like to talk a little about packing...specifically packing for field training exercises.  Some people pack too much for these things...comfort I guess.  And then others pack too little...probably last minute packing.  Even though Guard field exercises are different from ROTC ones, I still pack the same way.  

Tip #1: Take what's on your packing list.  It's there for a reason!

Tip #2: Review your packing list at least a week before (or as soon as you get it if you get it less than a week from departure).  This way you can make sure you acquire the things on the list before you leave.

Tip #3: Hygiene kit includes the following: toothbrush, toothpaste, BABY WIPES (a definite must), deodorant (so you lessen the stinkiness of being out there).  Those are the basic necessities.  Anything else is for comfort.  I usually bring floss too and a bar of soap incase I have time for a canteen shower.  

Tip #4: Sleeping system - If you are sleeping outside, check the weather!  You might not have to bring the whole thing if it's going to be cool or hot out.  The less excess stuff you have to carry, the better.

Tip #5: Do a Pre-Combat Check (PCC) before you leave your house to again make sure you packed everything.  A few times I've forgotten to pack something even though I went over the list before hand to make sure I had it.

Anywho...I'm looking forward to this work week ending (Thursday will be my Friday!  whoohoo!)  I'll be making my way to the beach for some fun in the sun.  Can't wait!

As for my Avengers treats, I'm still working on ideas! I will most likely have my Hulk treat done this week.  I'll give you a hint...they are cupcakes...but don't make them angry!  They might grow to abnormal sizes! Haha...stay tuned!  =)

Simple Birthday for my Simple Man =)

So yesterday was my husband's birthday.  He turned 26!  I had many plans for him and was going to get him a bedside gun vault for his handgun but he insisted that he didn't want us to spend anymore money since he had gotten himself his big present a few weeks ago.  I was ok with that since his big present was a hefty purchase!

So the morning didn't really start off as planned.  My husband came home from PT and came back to bed.  I woke up late rushing to get ready for work.  I completely FORGOT to say Happy Birthday to my beloved husband!  Talk about a horrible wife lol.  I didn't realize it until I left the house on my way to work.  So I called him and apologized a million times over lol.  Then I asked him where he would like to go for dinner.  I was thinking Carrabbas since we both love that place but instead he tells me "Let's eat at Beba's Kitchen...I hear they have great food there."  Haha!  He would say something cute like that.  So instead of going out, we stayed in.  I cooked his favorite salmon recipe (you can find it here) with ranch red potatoes, and a caesar salad.  Not to mention our favorite (ok my favorite) red wine.  ;-)

As for dessert of course, birthday cake!  Two of our neighbors came by and we sang happy birthday to the birthday man and stuffed our faces.  I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Now the cake tasted AMAZING.  But my decorating on the other hand was not my best.  I'm not sure what happened today...maybe I woke up with two left hands haha but at least everyone was raving about how moist and yummy that cake was.  =)

And well, that was it!  A nice simple birthday for a very special man.

Today is a special day in our history.  68 years ago our country invaded the Normandy beaches leaving the lives of many American soldiers on those beaches.  Today let's remember the sacrifice our country did on that day.  It was a day that not only changed America the world. 

These are the words of General Dwight D. Eisenhower on that day:

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you..Good luck! And let us beseech the blessings of the almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking." June 6, 1944 D-DAY

Let us remember this day forever.  America: The home of the FREE because of the BRAVE.  Amen.

Avengers: Captain America Blueberry Cupcakes

Ok So I know I'm late on this but Happy Memorial Day to everyone!  So on my last post, I talked about making some yummy treats dedicated to Avengers.  I decided to go with Captain America first since Memorial Day just passed honoring our soldiers and military history.  Ok and maybe because he is super handsome too.  :-)

So for my treat, I decided to make blueberry cupcakes with white buttercream frosting and a slice of strawberry for taste and decoration.

My awesome neighbor came by to taste test for me too.  =)

As the military would say...IT'S A GO!  :D

 Blueberry Cupcakes Recipe


1 Box of White Cake Mix (follow mix direction on the back)
2 cups of frozen blueberries
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of water
Neon blue and Blue food coloring

(Preheat the oven to 350°)
1. Combine ingredients following box directions. (set aside)
2. In a saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar, and water. 
3. Let this mixture simmer stirring occasionally until you see the liquid come to a slight boil.
4. Once the mixture has come to a slight boil, remove from heat and let it cool.
5. Blend the blueberry mixture until finely chopped and then add the whole thing to your white cake mix.  (This will turn your mix purple but not to worry!)
6. Now add the food coloring to until you get a nice vibrant blue.  I used a mix of the neon and regular blue.
7. Pour the batter into a prepared muffin pan or cookie sheet with aluminum liners.
8. Bake each batch for 20 minutes.

 After letting them cool from the over, ice with buttercream frosting.  I like the one from Chocolate and Carrots.  And then top with a sliced strawberry for decoration.

And viola!  You are done! Captain America cupcakes. =)

Brainstorming: The Avengers

I can't stop thinking about how great the movie Avengers was.  I didn't really elaborate in my last blog but seriously, it was an awesome movie.  I might just go and watch it again today or tomorrow.  So I've been thinking....I'd like to dedicate a few blogs to the movie and make some treats in tribute to the characters of the Avengers team.  First on my list will be the Hulk or Captain America since I found a neat ideas for their themed treats.  Be on the lookout this weekend!  =)

Parents Vist: Airborne and Special Ops Museum

Wow that was super quick!  Principles of Biology in just 10 days time.  I've never had to absorb so much information in such a short amount of time!  But it paid off in the end.  I ended up with a 97 in the class.  Yay me!  And tomorrow, I start Music Appreciation.......blahhhhh.  I mean don't get me wrong, I love music, but I just took a look a some of the notes for the class and boy is it dry material!  "What is an octave?  A tone?  A pitch?  An interval?"  Yep, I'm glad I'm taking this during the summer too.  Enduring the pain for a shorter amount of time.  =)

Anywho....this past weekend my parents came up to visit and let me tell you...I was overly excited to see them.  The last time we saw them was during Thanksgiving.   I missed them so much.  And they surprised us with my mom's parents tagging along too.  That was awesome because my grandparents on my mom's side had yet to see our house.  They loved it.  We had such a great time while they were here.  I took them to the Airborne and Special Ops Museum in Fayetteville and they had an amazing time there.  I also took them to UNCP so they could see the university I'm going to now.  As we were driving around the school my Dad asks me "You never thought you'd be going to college in North Carolina did you?"  I had to laugh...there were a lot of things I could think of that I thought I'd never get to do.  =)  I also got to take them to my favorite BBQ place in Pembroke called Papa Bills.  They have some of the best ribs ever and thats's exactly what we had.  It was so funny to hear my grandmother try and communicate with the waitress.  You see in Pembroke, there is a huge community of Lumbee Indians and they have a very strong thick southern accent.  And well my grandmother straight front the island has a very strong Puerto Rican accent.  So there was a language barrier haha.  I had to translate for both of them.  It was funny because I've grown so accustom to this place and the way people talk and act that it wasn't until that moment that I saw how different things are from Orlando.  I guess I just adapt well and quickly to new places.  =)

My parents left on Sunday morning back to Orlando.  I was pretty sad but my husband took me out that night to cheer me up.  We went to Hope Mills and ate frozen yogurt at TuttiMelon and then went to the move theater to watch Avengers.  It was an awesome movie.  I've actually been craving to see it again!  After the movie we stopped for some wings so I didn't have to cook and then spent some time with the pups when we got home.  It was a good way to help me not feel so sad about my family leaving.  Overall, I can say had a perfect weekend.  Thanks for listening guys and enjoy the pics! =)

Nick Rowe was a POW in the Vietnam War for 5 years...he contributed a lot to the military's SERE school

Mom and Dad sitting where paratroopers sit before a jump

Abuela too!

Sky Soldiers were everywhere in the museum :P

My lovely parents

Daddy's girl =)

Dad having a flashback =)

Mom and Abuela

Dad says I'm a trader for switching lol

Dad representing his branch of service proudly!

The husband ready to devour the pastelon my mom made :P