Niki's Neverending Adventure

I had a baking extravaganza this afternoon!! I will share in just a bit, but first things first…

I officially decided to push back my long run until tomorrow. I think this will work out best for me. So today, I quickly went for a 3 miler before the wind advisory officially started!! My goal was to keep an easy, comfortable pace and to not look at my Garmin until I was finished! I didn’t want to push it today since I have a long run tomorrow and I know that I have a tendency to try to run pretty hard on shorter runs. But, I did what I was supposed to and just ran at the pace that felt comfortable. And would you guess what that pace was?? 9:15 min/mile! Nice, right?! Never would I have thought that I would be comfortable at this pace again post injury! It’s taken almost a year and a lot of hard work, but my pace is getting back to where it used to be! And I couldn’t be happier about it!! I am so looking forward to my long run tomorrow!!

I got back from my run and took Sadie on a leisurely 1 mile walk and then did Whittle My Middle 2 and stretched my legs out. My PF is still bothering me! Ugh! I thought I was over this. I’ve iced it once today and foresee doing it again later this evening. Luckily, it doesn’t really bother me when I run. Mostly just when getting up after laying down or sitting for awhile. So i can deal :)

********************************************************************************************

Lunch today was a semi repeat from yesterday’s lunch. Semi repeat because I decided to make some more Quick Cornbread instead of heating up some frozen cornbread muffins! I love this Quick Cornbread recipe!! This was the first part of my Baking Extravaganza!!

 

 

I had the last of my Smoky Chicken Chili 

And 2 slices of Quick Cornbread! Yum!!

******************************************************************************************

Obviously, y’all can tell I have been really into cupcakes lately with all the Muddy’s Bake Shop stops I’ve made recently! So I decided it was time for me to make my own cupcakes!! I decided to make Chocolate Cupcakes with the Best Strawberry Frosting You’ve Ever Had In Your Life!! The frosting recipe comes from my Nana’s Strawberry Cake and I thought it would go perfectly with a chocolate cupcake!! First up, the cupcake recipe. I got this recipe out of Southern Living.

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup hot water

Beat sugar and butter at medium speed until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa in a small bowl. Add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, starting and ending with flour mixture. Beat at medium-low, just until blended after each addition. Beat hot water into batter, just until smooth. Use immediately.

Place paper baking cups(I used the silicone ones I had) in a muffin pan and coat with cooking spray.

Spoon batter into cups, about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely, about 1 hour. Top with desired frosting. Makes 24 cupcakes.

 

Just want to let you know that the batter is delish! And it may or may not be the reason I was too full for my afternoon snack! Ha!

 

 

Next up, Strawberry Frosting:

Strawberry Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter at room temp
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped strawberries

Cream butter. Gradually add sugar and strawberries alternating between them. Beat on high until smooth.

I used a plastic bad with a hold cut at the corner to frost my cupcakes.

 

Seriously, this is the BEST Strawberry Frosting you will ever have!! Yummy!! I think they turned out pretty cute looking!! I hope they taste just as good!!

That’s all for now!! Gotta get to making dinner! Have a wonderful night!!

Posted in: on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at at 6:34 PM