secret recipe club: bacon topped maple french toast cupcakes

this month's secret recipe club pick was obnoxiously easy for me. as soon as i saw these maple french toast and bacon cupcakes on food ramblings, i knew they were mine! ever since i made these pig out cookies - a peanut butter cookie with bacon and chocolate chips - jason has been asking for more baked goods with bacon included. it seems to be a universal food - i've never met a person that doesn't love bacon!

secret recipe club: cherry sorbet

for this month's secret recipe club, i was on a mission for one thing: ice cream. luckily nichole at cookaholic wife has plenty to choose from. there's caramel smores ice cream, rocky road ice cream - which as nichole mentioned, is actually really hard to find here too, salty caramel ice cream (i have a version of this sitting in my freezer right now!), classic vanilla bean, trendy cake batter, sweet corn ice cream (i just can't quite get over the fact that it's corn to make it), coconut ice cream, apple pie ice cream (bookmarked for fall!), and cherry and brownie bite ice cream (this is on my short list, since i actually have homemade brownies sitting in my freezer). as you can see, nichole pretty much has ice cream tackled. i was this close to making her chocolate tacos, and while all of these choices sound delicious, they were all just a little too much. i wanted something not quite as heavy. something fruity. sorbet! after a quick search, this cherry sorbet was it! the only change i made: doubling the recipe to use up a pound of cherries i had sitting in my fridge. and am i glad i did.

secret recipe club: slow cooker beans & mushrooms

how's the weather where you live? our summer started hot and humid for about two weeks in may. then the rain came. and came. and came. and is still coming. sometimes it's obnoxiously hot and humid and other days, it's cool as a crisp fall day. it's really strange. so for this month's secret recipe club, instead of picking a fun and festive fourth of july recipe, i chose something more appropriate for fall apple picking or as a quick dinner before trick or treating.

and i'm really glad i chose this basic recipe from stephanie at sustainable cooking for one. when i came home from work, i wasn't expecting the beans to be so broken down and creamy. after a couple stirs i realized this is the perfect base for a soup. next time i'll add even more mushrooms, carrots, celery, spinach, and any other vegetables i have laying around. some cooked barley would be a great addition also. so even if the weather is hot and humid where you are, bookmark this one for fall, when soup is back on the brain and in heavy rotation.

brown sugar espresso chocolate chip cookies

sometimes, i just need a cookie. know what i mean? i went through oreos like they were nothing when i was pregnant, and although i'm not usually a chocolate chip cookie girl, lately i've been all over them. i don't know if i'll ever find the perfect recipe - each one i've made has been super delicious for it's own reason. alton brown's chewy stays nice and soft and chewy for a long time. thomas keller's version is perfectly salty. wegmans chocolate chips are a classic and bring back some college nostalgia every time i make them. the browned butter in cook's illustrated's version is nutty and delicious. and the brown sugar in these makes them nice and sweet, not to mention the kick from instant espresso. it doesn't hurt that the recipe makes a ton and they freeze well, so next time i need a cookie, i've got a freezer bag full of them.

greek baked tilapia

i've done a pretty good job at losing the baby weight - all 45 pounds of it was gone within six months. next on the list is getting rid of twelve pounds of what i affectionately call "wife weight." i tend to go through phases of eating really well, working out every day, and eating ok, working out once or twice a week. having meals that are quick, delicious and not so mad for me really help. and this fish is one of them. if you can cut tomatoes and boil pasta, you're set. we served ours with sauteed spinach for an extra dose of vegetables.