Cake Batter Cheeseball (covered with Sprinkles!)

A few weeks ago I said to some folks at work: "I could solve all the world's problems with enough sprinkles and glitter!"  Did I really mean that?  No.  Obviously I didn't.  Because the world's problems are complicated and involve things like authoritarian regimes, droughts, massive cultural clashes/misunderstandings, greed, hate, etc.

Now, do I think that sprinkles and glitter bring some happiness into my very-definitely-First-World life?  Yes.  Yes, I do.  And do I think that I'm shallow for liking glitter and sprinkles (which are really just the edible equivalent of glitter anyway)?  Why, no.  No, I do not.  But I do know that there are people who do judge me for liking "trivial" things....and I think that is shallow on their part.  Because--and let's be honest here--I'm pretty awesome.  In addition to my love of sparkles and brightly colored bits of sugar, I'm a highly skilled research librarian sharing info with my patrons everyday. I'm an activist working toward improving my community and my country. I'm a caring friend, proud aunt, pretty decent sister and mostly-OK daughter.  I'm a reader, sci-fi fan, Star Wars devotee, kick-ass board game player, namer of houseplants, player of bar trivia, and baker of award-winning cakes.  Like most people, I'm complex.  And my love of parades, balloons, cupcakes, hedgehogs, penguins, sprinkles--and, yes, even glitter--does not make me a foolish little girl or a person who can't grow up.  It means that I like what I like, even though much of society tells me that I'm dumb for doing so.  

Anyway, since I like sprinkles, I decided they needed to be a component for my entry into work's most recent food challenge.  The theme was snack food, so I brought Nilla wafers and pretzels to dip into a sweet cheese ball.  Specifically, I made a sprinkle-covered, cake-batter flavored ball of cream-cheese-based wonder.  The secret ingredient is actually cake mix, so this makes it even more appropriate for me!

The original recipe came from a blog called Like Mother, Like Daughter, and it was really the photos that drew me in.  I'm also pretty certain you could use all kinds of cake mix to make this super-tasty treat.  I think chocolate would be worth a try...but I'm thinking that spice cake and/or carrot cake might be amazing.  Also, this recipe is seriously delicious and a bit addictive...and it won me my second-ever Golden Spatula ("Spatchie") award from co-workers voting it as the best food in the challenge.  I'm honored and also just glad they enjoyed it! :)  

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1½ cups yellow cake mix, dry
• ½+ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• approximately 1 cup sprinkles, optional-but-not-really-optional (don't use the colored sugar or the non-pareils.  The first will disappear and the second are too crunchy.  Use the long-shaped sprinkles.)            

Important directions re: sprinkles
Man!  Sprinkles sure have a bunch of blue in them these days!  (Though Wilton does sell jars of non-blue-containing sprinkles, they are sort of expensive.)  I bought a small shaker of sprinkles so that I wouldn't have to use all my "good" ones, but the bottle was about 1/3 blues.  Blech!  So I decided to remove all the blues and throw those away.  I did this using a plate, small sharp knife, and a bowl, plus a good conversation with a friend on the phone. It was actually kind of relaxing to separate out the good colors from the bad.

At the beginning

Mid-separation

Basically finished

So much better!

 Directions:

1. Stir/whisk/beat your cream cheese until smooth and creamy
   
2. Add butter and stir/whisk/beat until smooth
   
3. Mix in cake mix, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
4. Add half of the sprinkles and stir (optional)
   
5. Place all of mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap in a generally ball-like shape
6. Wrap the plastic wrap around the mixture and roll into a better ball
   
7. Refrigerate for at least an hour (until cheese ball is at least mostly firm)
8. Spread remaining ½ cup sprinkles onto a large flat plate or into the bottom of a large bowl
9. Remove cheese ball from plastic and dab/roll it in the sprinkles, then press sprinkles into an empty spots so that it is even.  Note: I did not put sprinkles on the bottom of the cheeseball.  
10. Cover bowl with cheese ball in it and put in freezer for about 1 hour (or in fridge overnight).  If left in freezer for several hours/overnight, remove to thaw 30 minutes before serving
11. Serve with cookies, graham crackers, pretzels, or whatever

And no, I don't have a photo of the finished product.  People pretty much dug in right away and I didn't have a camera or phone.  But here it is after most of it was eaten:

Buffalo Chicken Mac n' Cheese Pasta Bake

One of the recent recipes that I've tried and liked (the corn pudding recipe was not terrible, but I didn't have any desire to finish it, so I'm not going to make it again!) is this healthy, veggie-packed Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake.  It has lots of flavor but isn't particularly cheesy.  I think adding some extra shredded cheese stirred in and all melty (after it is out of the oven) was a great idea.  Personally, I used some reduced fat shredded Colby and it was super-good.  The original recipe I found in my Hungry Girl 300 under 300 cookbook, but I made a few small changes.  Here's my version:  

Ingredients

• 4.5 oz. (about 1 cup) uncooked macaroni 
• 2 or 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (or a bunch of baby carrots chopped, which is what I did)
• 1 small onion, chopped (or a about half a medium onion, chopped)
• 8 ounces cooked and and shredded/chopped skinless lean chicken breast
• 1+ teaspoon garlic
• 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce, divided
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• bread crumbs, optional 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook pasta to al dente, drain, and set aside
   
3. Heat large skillet sprayed with non-stick spray to medium-high heat.  Add celery, carrots, and onions.  Stir occasionally, cook until veggies are softened, about 5 minutes.
   
4. Add chicken, garlic, and 3 Tbsp. hot sauce to skillet.  Mix and set aside
   
   
5. In a microwave safe bowl mix sour cream, cheese wedges, mustard, and rest of hot sauce.  Heat in microwave for 30 seconds.
6. Spray an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with non-stick spray.  Place half of pasta in pan, top with veggie/chicken mixture, top with rest of pasta.
7. Put sour cream mixture on top in an even layer, Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
   
8. Bake about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling
   
9. Serve, sprinkle with shredded cheese, if desired
   

Makes 4 servings