Banana Split Cupcakes

Don't these look YUMMY?!!  My son, Sam, and I made these as part of a fundraising effort in May for his National Youth Leadership Training fees.

It was just an idea we came up with and put together without Pinterest or Google and, boy, was that a good idea this time.  The reason being that afterwards I DID look up 'banana split cupcakes' and found lots of recipes using yellow cake mix and mashed bananas as the cake portion and chocolate for the filling.  That's all good but, we - blissfully naive - went in a different direction and they were delicious!!

Banana Split Cupcake , à la The Coles - chocolate cake, banana pudding filling, cream cheese icing sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar, chopped peanuts, and topped with a marachino cherry.

Make sure the cake is moist and the icing is thick (not like the canned store bought stuff, if you can avoid it.)

One thing we did use Pinterest for was a means to deliver the cupcakes to his customers.  We used a shirt gift box as shown at THIS PIN.

[caption id="attachment_1399" align="aligncenter" width="336"] Sam getting ready to deliver a dozen red velvet cupcakes to earn his way to NYLT.[/caption]

 

Chicken Enchiladas

When it comes to enchiladas I usually opt for white over red and flour over corn.  But Chris really wanted me to make this particular recipe we found on Pinterest.  So while he and the older boys went shopping for camp supplies I spent a few hours {yes, hours} creating this yummy feast.

Click HERE for the Chicken Enchilada recipe.

Click HERE for the Chili's Black Beans recipe

A few notes: The recipe called for 1/3 c. filling but I ran out way too early.  I found 1/4 c. to be just right.   I followed the recipe as it's given for the "crispy" option and they were perfect!  I don't think I'd do it without the initial bake.  A little squeeze of lime and a dollop of sour cream after plating made it oh, so perfect!  Best part?  Everyone, even the kids, loved it!!  This one is a keeper!

Be prepared to spend some time in the kitchen, this is not a quick meal, but it's worth it!  I doubled the enchilada recipe so I could put a batch in the freezer.  For the freezer batch I followed the recipe through adding the sauce and cheese over the tortillas (just after the first bake) then covered with foil with directions to finish written on top in Sharpie.  It never takes more time to double a batch but you get an extra meal out of it!  Plus, if someone needs a meal on short notice you're ready to help.  I love that!

¡Buen apetito!