A Taste of Pumpkin…

So I LOVE when Fall comes around!  Which means...all things pumpkin start to come back. Yay!  From Pumpkin Spice Latte's, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cookies, and many more wonderful food to make with pumpkin.

Anyway,  the other day I tried a recipe for Pumpkin Spice no-bake cookies. They were amazing!  Just the right hint of pumpkin spice for great flavor.

They were super easy and fun to make and before I knew it I had nearly 3 dozen cookies made to share. 

Once I placed them on the cookie sheet they were nearly set up and ready in 5 minutes, and I don’t think I even waited the entire 5 minutes to try one.

These are a great afternoon snack or evening dessert treat.

They can be stored in a freezer bag for the freezer to keep on hand for later as well. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1 large box instant vanilla pudding or ((2) small boxes) 

   AND add 1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
3.5 cups quick cooking oats
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine sugars, butter and milk.  Bring to boil.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add in pudding mix(with pumpkin pie spice), stir to combine completely.  Add in vanilla and oats.  Stir to combine and let stand for 5 minutes.  Drop by rounded tablespoonful’s onto waxed paper.  Allow to cool completely.  Store in air tight container.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies!

ENJOY!!! 

What’s your favorite thing about Fall?

Blessings!

 

Green Bean Summer Salad

Green Bean Summer Salad

So I found this recipe through Instagram.  It was posted by Candace Cameron Bure on instagram.  This is from the food network. So  I decided to look it up and try it. So here it is, the recipe for:  Green Bean Summer Salad.  

I've included the food network link above, but here is what I adapted to make it here as well.

Ingredients:

Salt

1 bag Fresh or Frozen Green Beans

1 cup Feta Cheese

1 cup Cherry Tomato's, sliced in half

2 tablespoons chopped Red Onion

1/2 cup Slivered Almonds

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

2 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Basil (I used dried basil)

1 Large Clove Garlic, minced

Ground Black Pepper

Enjoy!

Bubble up breakfast bake

Hope everyone is great out there. There are just so many recipes out there to try, I thought I would try another one.  I recently made this breakfast dish, so here's the recipe I found.  Okay, for all of you who love a wonderful hot breakfast in the morning but just don't want to spend a lot of time preparing it, this is amazing!  It's great for those Saturday morning breakfasts, but easy enough to make even the night before on a weekday and pop it in the oven in the morning.  The "Bubble up breakfast bake" is a meal that I came across by browsing on Pinterest.  It's super easy and quick to make and yes, it's delicious and very flavorful.

 

Ingredients:

1 Can Biscuits

1 lb Sausage

2 c. Shredded Cheese

6 Eggs

1/4 Milk

Onions, chilies, bell pepper (whatever you like for the topping) :-)

Salt and Pepper to season

 

 

Cut biscuits in 1/8 pieces and spread on bottom of 9X13 glass pan.

Brown sausage and spread over biscuits.

Top with your favorite cheese.

Mix eggs and add salt and pepper to taste, then add milk and whisk.  Pour egg mixture in baking dish.

And, add onion, chilies, bell pepper's if you would like. Add great flavor to the breakfast bake also. :-)

 

Bake at 350 degrees for approx.  30 minutes. Let cool and enjoy! :-)

 

 

Blessings,

 

 

A day on the farm….

What better way to spend a Saturday morning than going out to a farm and being able to pick some blueberries and cherries.  Ott Farms in Modesto is one of the best blueberry and cherry farms around the area.  I would highly recommend coming here with the kids, make a day of it and just have fun.  

One of the best parts of choosing which ones to pick is “taste testing.”  It is always recommended to taste the different varieties of  what’s out there, so you know whether you want a sweeter taste or a more tart taste. Of course, by default, by the time you are ready to leave the farm, you’ve eaten as many as you have picked….and loved every one of them.  There are rows and rows of blueberry bushes just ready to be picked for your bucket and taken home. It was a especially nice day on the day we went, so it was nice being able to just take our time and have fun while we were out there.  The bushes were loaded with blueberry clusters as well as the cherry trees.  There were at least 5 varieties of blueberries and a couple varieties of cherries as well.

You can check out my post about Baking with Blueberries as well for some more delicious blueberry recipes. 

Next, it was time to take home our stock of fresh fruit.  I had a recipe to try for blueberry muffins again…and….they came out…
A-MAZ-ING!!!

Blueberry Cream Muffins

Now for a little bit of CREATIVITIY…

I even tried out a great blueberry smoothie recipe as well, another great breakfast on the go drink.  I love smoothies on a hot day and I can’t always make it over to a smoothie place to buy one, so it’s great when I’m able to grab some fresh fruit and yogurt to make some of my own when I have a craving for a smoothie. 

Strawberry-Banana-Blueberry Smoothie

1 Banana
1/2 cup Strawberries
1/2 cup Blueberries
2 TBSP Greek Vanilla Yogurt
about 1 cup of Milk

Ice (if needed for consistency/thickness)

Grab your favorite blender and add the ingredients and mix it well until the desired thickness is achieved.
Then pour into your favorite glass and enjoy!  

I tend to vary my ingredients by what I have on hand, but this mix usually produces a really great smoothie to start off your morning with!

Blessings,

Making dinner fun! (Meatloaf Cupcakes)

So what up, readers?  How have you all been recently?  I would love to stay connected with each and every one of you on a regular basis.  I love being able to share my heart with people through this blog, whether it's from a devotion or novel that I read recently or just something that I have been think about lately.   Also, I love being able to share a recent recipe I  tried or a craft that I made.
This past week I was able to get together with family over Easter Weekend.  So we were talking about different recipes to make and we came across the Meatloaf Cupcakes from Pinterest.  This dinner is a fairly easy meal to make and your family should love them.  I love that it's a way to, well...not make "meatloaf"  look not so much like, you know..."meatloaf." lol.  :-)  More kid appeasing also. :-)

Meatloaf Cupcakes

Ingredients
Meatloaf1 teaspoon olive oil1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray
Mashed Potatoes 4 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 pounds)1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Garnish3 tablespoons chopped chives4 pieces of bacon cooked and them chopped

PreparationPreheat oven to 350°.
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.
Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.
Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.
While the meatloaf is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Put potatoes into a ricer for best results. Return potato to pan. Add milk and remaining ingredients; stir with a spoon to desired consistency. If they are not creamy enough for you, add up to 1/4 cup more milk - although they need to be stiff enough to pipe on top.
Put the potatoes into a pastry bag with a wide star tip and pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf. Sprinkle with bacon crumbles and chopped chives.
***If you've tried these please let me know what you think about them.  Thanks.  Talk to you soon.
Enjoy!!!

My Favorite Fall Recipe!

 Okay, so I love it when Fall comes around, cooler weather, changing colors, warm sweaters and scarves, jeans and cute boots.  But mostly, that’s when the pumpkins come back.  The Pumpkin Spice Latte’s and all things pumpkin flavored.  Well, I came across this recipe last Fall and I’ve made it a couple of times since and it has had some amazing reviews.  It’s also really simple and easy to make, and a must to make when the “Fall Season” rolls around!  I’ve made it with fresh pumpkin and canned pumpkin as well, both are amazing! 

So here it is…   

 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread!

Ingredients:

2 cans pumpkin ( or 4 cups fresh pumpkin)
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3-1/2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cloves
3 tsp cinnamon
Add chocolate chips (or nuts)

 

Directions:

Cream eggs and sugar together.

 

Add pumpkin, oil and water.

 

Combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, cloves, cinnamon. Then, add into pumpkin mixture.

 

Add in chocolate chips.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until you can insert and toothpick/knife and it comes out clean. 
This is where baking the bread can get a little bit tricky just because baking times can vary with this bread. I tend to bake the bread for an extra 10-15 minutes (depending on how full the pans are) 

Makes 2-3 loaves

Enjoy!!!!! 

My Favorite Finds

Snack Time!

#1 Cake-batter snickerdoodles

Time for some BAKING!!!

Well...sometimes don't you just crave something sweet? I totally do at times!  Most of our sweet cravings come from when we aren't wanting to eat a lot of sweets, right?  Usually when we're dieting?  Well here are some "sweet tooth' cravings 'with' and 'without' a lot of sugar in them.

I've wandered through Pinterest a few times....okay maybe more than a few times, (totally addicting site, what can I say), but there's some great ideas out there.  I first found these cake-batter snicker-doodles, and while I've seen them before, I really just had to try them this time.  

That, and I was having a group get together for facial one night and I wanted to have some snacks available.  I also didn't want to be in the kitchen all-day preparing them.  So I found these four snacks that I literally made in under 2 hours. Which wasn't a huge chunk out out of my day and at least let me get some of my work done that I needed to do to prepare for my skin care class that night. 

#1: Cake-batter Snicker-doodles - they were really simple to make when you just want to whip us a late night snack.

#2 Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Then I wanted to make something that consisted of peanut butter and chocolate, something that tends to be a craving a little more often. What can I say...

#2:  Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sqaures - defiantly an amazing treat! 
         Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Awesomeness! 
Defiantly enjoyed by everyone!




Well, I thought after these two sugar-packed recipes I should go for something a little more on the healthy side. So I tried recipe number 3.

#3 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

#3: Chocolate chip cookie dough dip - AND YES! It actually is a HEALTHY snack!  You would never believe that it was, because you could pretty much sit down and eat the whole bowl of it. I took it to one of my parties and it defiantly was the hit of the night.  I served it  with graham crackers to spread the cookie dough.





Next, I really wanted to try another HEALTHY food, with brings me to....

Banana, Applesauce, Raisin Cookies

#4:  Banana, applesauce, raisin cookies - 

Yes, those are pretty much the main ingredients in this recipe. Plus, they are totally and completely sugar-free.  And if you're looking for a pretty decent sugar-free snack to quench your sweet tooth than this would be a good choice for you. 
About half the people I gave these to really enjoyed these cookies; although, on the other hand the other half of us thought the taste was okay, but couldn't get past the texture and chewiness of the cookie.   Maybe these cookies can be re-worked a little, for some of us. :-)

These were great fast and easy snacks and treats to prepare when you don't really want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and fun to make as well.   

Grace and Peace, 

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Home-made Chocolate Chip Cookies!!! Yum!!! :-)

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Who doesn't love GREAT chocolate chip cookies?  Let me just say, these are some of the best I have ever made and tasted!  Sometimes nothing taste better than a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of cold milk.  I found this recipe in one of my FAVORITE cookbooks (from Point of Grace).  There are some great tips to making THE BEST chocolate cookie you have ever had!  AND....THEY ARE AMAZING COOKIES!!!! :-)

Here's the recipe: Just thought I would share with you...so grab some cookies and a nice glass of milk and enjoy an amazing snack! :-)

1 cup butter flavored shortening (butter flavored taste better) :-)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 T. milk
10 oz. chocolate chips

First - mix by hand, so not to get to much air into the batter, which will produce a 'cakey' texture.
  1.  Preheat over to 350.
  2.  In large bowl, cream shortening and sugars together by hand until well mixed.
  3.  Add vanilla and egg and continue mixing by hand. (less egg that a traditional recipe for a chewier        texture)
  4.  Add flour mixture, a little at a time (dough will be stiff) mix well.
  5.  Add milk, mix well.
  6.  Mix in chocolate chips.
  7.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheet - 1 1/2 inches apart.
  8.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until starting to brown on top.
  9.  Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  (cookies will crumble if you don't let the cookies coll for a few minutes before removing them.
 10.  Remove cookies from sheet and continue cooling on wire rack.

Makes 3-4 dozen  :-)

The best cookbook I have found!
Some great and easy recipes in here! :)

ENJOY!!!

Baking with Blueberries!

So this past week we went out to a farm here in Modesto to pick our own blueberries and cherries.  We found Ott Farms -- a huge orchard full of great fresh fruit!  And, yes they are on Facebook for directions on how to get there. :-) 
But, anyway...after picking so many blueberries, I just had to try a couple of new recipes.  I found a recipe for blueberry muffins just browsing the Internet on all-recipes.com and I found a buttermilk-blueberry breakfast cake from Pinterest a while ago.  Both recipes came out amazing and are both defiantly keepers.    So I just thought I would share a little bit about these great recipes on here.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• 1/3 cup milk

• 1 cup fresh blueberries

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Ingredients
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

Directions

1.. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

(I didn't have a lemon this time so I left the lemon zest out and it still came out great!)

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if done. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

What can I say, food is great!  Especially when you can find a great recipe that is good for you as well!


I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks.  I finally decided to try it for lunch one day.  It really does make a great sandwich for lunch.  (I made it for lunch and chilled for 10 minutes and had lunch right away)  PLUS...if you use low-fat or fat free ingredients it's perfect for any diet plan.  :-)


Leigh's Chicken Salad

10.5 oz. canned chicken, drained

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup mayonnaise -- your favorite kind :-)

1/2 cup grapes, cut in half

1 Granny Smith apple, cut in small bites with skin left on

1/2 wedge of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (Optional)

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Mix ingredients together.

2.  Chill for 4 hours or overnight

Serve on favorite bread or crackers.  I used Orowheat 100% Wholewheat Sandwich Thins.


Enjoy!!!

A wonderful Saturday Breakfast!

I just love being able to cook, being able to find and try a bunch of different recipes.  I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks and I have been wanting to try it for a long time! So today was the day...and it's amazing! Definitely a keeper :-)  The recipe is for a large 9x13 pan but for this morning I cut it in half and made a square pan. :-)

Here it is:
          Sausage and Crisp Rice Casserole

4 cups of crisp rice cereal
2lbs. sausage meat (browned and drained)
1 medium onion (chopped and browned)
1 stick Cracker Barrel sharp cheddar cheese (grated)--I just used whatever cheese I had in the fridge :)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice  (great way to use that leftover rice as well)
4 eggs
2 cans cream of celery soup

    1.  Preheat oven to 325.
    2.  In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer cereal, sausage, onion, rice and cheese.
    3.  Pour mixture of beaten eggs and celery soup over the rest of the ingredients.
    4.  Sprinkle cereal over the top.
    5.  Bake for 45 minutes.

You can have this with fresh fruit or some sweet rolls.
Serves 10-12

             Enjoy!!!!! :-)

Taco Chili

Fun with recipes!!!

This is an amazing recipe!  Especially on a cold, rainy day or when you just want something easy to make and be able to make use of your crock pot.  :-)
Good for parties, as it will feed many people.  Serve it up with some corn bread or french bread as well.  I've changed up this recipe several times by adding pretty much what I felt like adding.  I usually use what I have in the pantry, which is why this recipe is so great to use, because most of the time the majority (if not all) of the ingredients you will have in your house pantry.  Have fun with this recipe and ENJOY!!! :-)

Taco Chili

Ingredients


1 lb ground beef or turkey meat (I prefer turkey meat)
1 (15 ½-ounce) can pinto beans, drained 
1 (15 ½-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ½-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (15 ¼-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 (14 ½-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix (optional)
Corn chips, for serving
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheese, for garnish
Season to taste--I use a mixture of seasoning of pretty much whatever I feel like ;)  (thyme, oregano, bay leaves, basil) --variety is good! ;-) 


Directions
Brown the ground beef skillet and season meat; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, taco seasoning and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese.

Recipe FUN!!!



Breakfast Casserole for Christmas morning! :-)

     I love cooking and baking!  I found a great cookbook that I absolutely love to use.
     There's some amazing and delicious recipes in this book and everyone of them I've made have been keepers.  :-)
     There's some great everyday of the year recipes and some great ones to make during the holiday season as well.


I made breakfast this year for Christmas morning from my wonderful Point of Grace cookbook. I made a very delicious pull-apart bread that complemented my breakfast casserole I made very well. Defiantly two more recipes that are keepers! :-)


<>  <> 

Pull-Apart Bread!  :-)

This is a great recipe for breakfast when you are have guests staying with you, having company over for breakfast, or if you just want something easy to make for your family to give you a great breakfast!  It's really easy also!  You can prepare it the night before and take it out in the morning and put it straight into the oven for 30-40 minutes.  While that is baking.  You can brew the coffee and set the table up.  You can put out some fruit (whatever is in season) to go with this casserole as well, for a little added sweetness. :-)  This recipe also goes good with a Pull-Apart Bread for a little bit of sweetness to breakfast as well! (which comes from the back of the frozen Bridgeford Bread Rolls)

Breakfast Casserole

<!  6 Slices white bread

<!  1 pound mild sausage

<!  6 eggs

<!  12 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, graded

<   2 cups half and half

<!  ½ t. salt

<!  ½ t. pepper

<!  1 t. dry mustard

     1.  Trim crusts from bread.
2.  Butter bread and cut into fourths.

     3.  Line bottom of 9x13 dish with bread.

     4.  Brown sausage and drain well.

     5.  Sprinkle sausage over bread.
6.  Top with cheese.
7.  Beat eggs and add remaining ingredients.
8.  Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
9.  Bake for 20-25 minutes on 350 – starting in a cold oven (not preheated).

Serves 10-12.

**Optional**you can use Texas Toast (whole slices) and line the bottom of the dish as well.  If you want you can add 4 more eggs to make up for the extra bread added.  Both ways still make a great breakfast casserole.

**if it looks like the casserole needs to bake longer, try adding 5-10 to the baking time.