Got Pumpkin?

This is probably a little late since Thanksgiving is now over. But maybe you have extra pumpkin that you need to use up...

This year I made a pumpkin sheet cake. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. But instead of eating it as is, we made it into cake balls. They turned out really good. How do you make cake balls?

Make 1 cake (box or from scratch)
Make some icing or just buy it in a can.

Let cake cool. When its cool crumble it up in a big bowl. Add some icing so it gets all sticky. Then roll into small balls. Freeze for a few minutes. Then dip in chocolate (white or regular). Then decorate as you like.


Here is the recipe that I used for the cake: here




Since I had leftover pumpkin we also made pumpkin chocolate chip coookies. I love these.




Ingredients
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1.Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2.Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3.Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Enjoy! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Oven Roasted Potatoes

We had chicken with garlic cream sauce the other night with broccoli and cauliflower. I had some left over potatoes from when we made potato soup (I will have to post that recipe later) so I was looking for a way to use them. I found this recipe at all recipes.

I would think you can use whatever seasonings you want. These had a tiny kick to them b/c of the red pepper flakes. We liked that, but if I was making them for company I would maybe leave them out since not everybody likes that.

Ingredients
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, basil, marjoram, dill weed, thyme, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir in potatoes until evenly coated. Place potatoes in a single layer on a roasting pan or baking sheet.
3.Roast for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning occasionally to brown on all sides.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta

Here is a healthier recipe I found on a blog. It was easy to make since I just put the chicken in the crokpot to cook ahead of time and used steamable bag broccoli.
We will keep this in our dinner rotation. I even used the whole wheat pasta. I bought it at Aldi's and I would recommend it.

Recipe:

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 large broccoli crown
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 oz can or 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 12 oz whole wheat fettuccine, cooked according to package directions
• parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large sauté pan or skillet (I use the skillet), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add red bell pepper and broccoli, cook until tender (add some water, 1/4 cup, if you want it to steam up a bit). Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add broth, vinegar, chicken, and basil. Bring to a boil, then simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Add fettuccine. Mix it all up. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with parmesan sprinkled on top.

Found recipe: here

A birthday dinner

Mike turned 34 on Tuesday. With soccer and work I just don't have time to cook some fancy meal. But I did manage to make a few favorites and possibly a new favorite.

Since it is fall I picked up a quart of Eat N Park Chicken Noodle Soup. Mike loves the homemade noodles.



I was going to pick up some bread but decided I could make his favorite cheddar bay bisquits. I posted the recipe awhile back here


Then I made a side dish to go with it that we call tater tot casserole. It is So bad for you but Mike loves it. It is pretty much your standard "funeral potato" recipe or simliar to the Duggar recipe except we don't put ground beef in it.


Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
1 (32 ounce) package frozen potato rounds
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.
Adapted from allrecipes.com


For dessert I made some peanut butter chocolate rice krispie Treats.

They were more like "buckeye" cookies but they were yummy. Mike took a bite and did this groan noise. So they were a hit. But they are very rich. Here is the recipe:
* 3 cups Powdered Sugar
* 1-½ stick Butter, Melted
* 2 cups Peanut Butter
* 3 cups Rice Krispies
* 16 ounces, weight Semi-sweet Chocolate

Mix the powdered sugar, butter, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies together in a large bowl. Lightly butter a 9×13 baking dish, then spoon in the peanut butter mixture. Use a spatula to spread evenly. Melt the chocolate, then layer evenly on top. Refrigerate for an hour or two, then cut into bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I have been craving Chinese food. We had all of the ingredients for this recipe so I tried it. It was good. It is not too spicy but I wasn't sure about giving it to Hayden. He took a bite, made a funny face and went "hot hot". Then shoved 3 more pieces in his mouth! Of course he licks the bottle of hot sauce at my sisters house so I am not sure why I was even worried.


Recipe:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
oil (for pan-frying)
cornstarch (for dusting)

Sauce:
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon ginger (I used ground ginger)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup apple juice
⅓ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
½ cup water
⅓ cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in your wok and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over rice with veggies.

I got the recipe from this site: here

White Chicken Chili

It is officially fall so that means its soup and chili time! Mmmmm.

This week I tried a new recipe for white chicken chili. This one is a creamier version then what we normally have but we loved it. Even Hayden loved it. I wasn't even going to give it to him. I made him something else but he ate from Mike's bowl. Oops!

I think my favorite part of eating soup or chili is having good bread with it. My mom always has the best bread. It must come from shopping at 3 am or whatever horrid time she goes.

Here is the recipe:
White Chicken Chili

Serves 4

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

1 medium onion, small diced

1 T vegetable oil

2 cans cannellini beans

14.5 ounces chicken broth

2 4-ounce cans chopped green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup half & half

8 ounce reduced fat sour cream

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken and chopped onion and saute for about six minutes, or until the chicken is seared and the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another three minutes.

Add the beans, spices, chicken broth and green chilies and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for thirty minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the sour cream and half & half. Serve with cheddar cheese and additional sour cream to top.

I got it from this site: http://eatliverun.com/

Chocolate Pudding Crock Pot Cake

This is a great cake served warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Ingredients:

* 1 pkg. two layer chocolate cake mix
* 3 oz. pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup water
* 2 cups sour cream
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation:
Spray a 4 quart crockpot with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and pudding mix. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the water, then add the sour cream and oil and beat until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and beat well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into crockpot. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until top springs back when touched very lightly with finger. 8-10 servings