Butter-Cream Cheese Frosting

For the 4th of July I made some amazing cupcakes with some delicious frosting. This is the recipe I used:

Cupcakes:

1 box Betty Crocker triple chocolate fudge cake mix

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

Add dry pudding mix to dry cake mix. Prepare cake mix as instructed on the box.

Frosting:

1 stick of butter

8 oz cream cheese

16 oz powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Blend butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on medium speed in Bosch or Kitchenaid mixer for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the powdered sugar and mix for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and add remaining powdered sugar, beat for 2 minutes. The frosting was not as stiff as I usually like, but I didn't want to open up a new box of powdered sugar - and everyone loved the frosting, so I posted as I made it :)

Spinach Pasta Salad

I found this recipe on a friend-of-a-friend's blog. I ended up making a few adjustments because I forgot to buy everything.

Salad:

1 small package of fresh spinach

1 – 8 oz package of bowtie pasta – cooked, drained and cooled

2-4 TBLS sesame seeds

½ cup sliced toasted almonds

3 chicken breasts – seasoned heavily with lemon pepper seasoning, grilled and cut into bit sizes. (I used the rotisserie chicken from Albertsons and then seasoned with lemon pepper)

1 cup bean sprouts (I forgot to buy these and the salad was great without them)

Mix all ingredients and toss with the dressing just before serving it.

Dressing:

½ cup oil

½ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame seeds

3 TBLS soy sauce

2 TBLS rice vinegar

½ tsp sesame seed oil

1 tsp grated fresh garlic (about 2 cloves)

1 tsp grated ginger (I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger)

Blend in blender or Magic Bullet. Let dressing warm to room temperature before tossing into salad.

This salad could very easily be made into a vegan or vegetarian dish by not including the chicken!