Potato Jalepeno Soup

Not for the faint of heart, this soup is extremely spicy but yummy, thanks to the peppers. You could cut down the number of peppers to decrease the heat of the soup, but where's the fun in that?

Serve the soup with a dollop of sour cream and some corn tortilla chips.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup hard margarine or butter
1 large cooking onion, diced
4 jalepeno peppers, seeds removed and diced
2 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken stock
5-6 medium white potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup milk (I use skim milk)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large pot, over medium-high heat, melt butter and saute onions until they start to turn clear. Add jalepenos and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes more. Stir in chicken stock, and add potatoes. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Stir in milk and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat, and blend soup with an immersion blender, until smooth.

Cinnamon Cup Cake with Orange & Raisin Sauce

My best friend has a love of all things cup cake, and someone had posted a link on her blog with regards to a literal cup cake. It's a great idea, but the cake was a bit bland by itself. Once you added some frosting, it was a cake that could do in a pinch. The other night, I wanted a piece of spice cake, but it's so wasteful for me to bake an entire cake just for myself. Then I remembered the cup cake recipe and decided to play around a bit with it. The finished product is nothing to look at, but overall, the process took under 10 minutes. Not bad when you're really having a sweet tooth moment and there's nothing prepared in the house!

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp flour
4 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp margarine or butter

1/2 a peeled, seedless navel orange, cut into bite size pieces

2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:
In a large mug, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add the milk, vanilla and egg and mix until combined. Stir in the vegetable oil and mix well. Place mug in the microwave and set for 3 minutes on high.

While your cake bakes in the microwave, over medium heat in a small saucepan, melt the margarine and add the orange pieces. Let the oranges cook for a couple of minutes and then stir in your brown sugar and raisins. Continue stirring, while the sauce thickens to a caramel-like consistency. If your sauce becomes too thick, add a small amount of water and continue to stir until the sauce is the desired thickeness.

Remove cake from the cup and serve in a bowl. Pour the orange raisin sauce on top of your cake and enjoy. To let even more of the sauce soak into your cake, cut the cake into smaller pieces and let it sit for a couple of minutes.