Weekly Recipe Roundup

How about some sweets? When I made the deal with myself to only make 1 new thing a week, sweets weren't part of that equation. Up until about a month ago, baby boy wasn't a fan of sweets and therefore I didn't partake. Now that I'm in control (ha), I've gone back to my sweet tooth (sorry I ever left you friend) but I'm trying to control it.

First up, treats for the OB's office. The girls loves their treats and who am I to deny them of their guilty little pleasures?! If only they knew how incredibly easy - really, I almost feel guilty for claiming that I put any effort into these at all - these Oreo Truffles were. I didn't sample one but I heard rave reviews from the girls at the office and from Wes (he got 1).

I thought I had some extra pumpkin in the fridge that I didn't want to go to waste. So when I ran across this recipe for Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes, I was sold. I had already started melting the butter when I got said pumpkin out of the fridge. Only to find out it had sprouted some white and green dots - mold my friends. Great, now what? I debated searching online for a regular browned butter cupcake recipe but then I saw Colin's jar of applesauce eyeing me from the back of the fridge. Applesauce and pumpkin are interchangeable, right? Right! The cinnamon and spices match just as well with apples as they do pumpkin, so I was set. I topped them with my own almond cream cheese frosting and they are divine. I'm not sure I let the butter brown long enough to really intensify the flavor but it's still there and I love it!

I have a friend who is half Filipino. She and I lived together for a couple years during college and post college for me. One time when I went to her house, her mom taught us how to make Filipino eggrolls (yes they are different than the variety at Chinese restaurants). She would send us home with Ziplock baggies full of these little gems. What a treat when we thawed these out and fried them up. Heaven! My friend would also make Pancit to go with them. This is another Filipino dish that is basically noodles with whatever kind of meat you want to add to it. She recently mentioned that she had just finished up some and it got my mouth watering and my mind racing. Why couldn't I make it? I had watched her many years ago but I remembered it wasn't too terribly challenging. Thanks to the glorious internet, I found this recipe. I had a heckofa time finding these "egg noodles" but I finally found them at an Asian supermarket (after going to 3 other locations). I chose to use chicken and shrimp and I only used about 1 1/4 cups chicken broth because I thought it seemed like way too much liquid. It was worth the wait. It's so simple yet it's so tasty. Just goes to show complex, fancy dishes aren't the only way to make a stellar meal.