Spicy Pumpkin Pancakes

This recipe has been officially approved by my 20 month old....he out ate his mama. He ended up eating 6 pancakes. I hope you like this recipe as much as Bryce did :) We like these as a dinner with apple cider & sliced pears.

Spicy Pumpkin Pancakes

2 1/3 c. Bisquick mix
1/3 c. canned pumpkin
1 1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 TB sugar
1/4 tsp of each: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg & ground ginger
2 eggs

Mix all pancake ingredients just until blended. Heat griddle to 375 & top with maple pecan syrup. (recipe follows)

Maple Pecan Syrup

1 c. maple syrup
1 TB butter
1/4 c. chopped pecans

Heat syrup & butter in saucepan until melted. Remove from heat & stir in pecans.

Amanda's Gourmet Coconut Cream Pie

I love this pie!! My friend Amanda made it for me at all of our special occasion parties (Christmas, Easter, my birthday, etc.) because she knew I loved it so much. Sadly, we moved away and don't get to hang out anymore so I had to get the recipe and learn how to make it for myself. I am not as good of a cook as she is though and it takes me forever! Enjoy!

Coconut Cream Pie with a Hint of White Chocolate

1 cup coconut

½ cup graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup melted butter

2 cups milk

1 cup of coconut

6 egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

½ cup flour

1 tablespoon butter

4 ounces white chocolate baking bar

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups whipping cream

½ cup powdered sugar

Toasted coconut

White chocolate curls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare crust, stir together coconut, graham cracker crumbs and ¼ cup melted butter. Press onto bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Bake in a 350 degree over for 10 minutes. Cool.

To prepare filling, heat milk and 1 cup coconut in a large, heavy saucepan just to simmering, stirring occasionally. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar and flour. Beat with electric mixer on medium-high speed until combined. Gradually stir 1 cup of hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Stir egg mixture into remaining milk mixture in saucepan. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil.

Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter, Cover surface with clear plastic wrap. Cool. In a small saucepan, melt white chocolate baking bar with 1 tablespoon of butter over low heat stirring constantly. Spread onto bottom and sides of cool pie crust. Cool until chocolate is firm.

Pour filling into crust. Cover and chill 2 to 4 hours. Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Swirl whipped cream over chilled filling. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Garnish with toasted coconut and white chocolate curls.

Note: I also have started adding 1 tsp of coconut extract to the egg mixture.

Chili

*1 TBSP olive oil
*2 onions, chopped
*2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
*4 cloves of garlic, chopped
*2 LBS ground beef
*1 6-oz can tomato paste
*1/4 heaping cup chili powder
*2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
*1 tsp ground red pepper
*1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
*dash of paprika
*24oz chicken broth
*4 19oz cans kidney beans, rinsed
*1 28oz can diced tomatoes
*2 1/2 tsp salt
*1/2 tsp pepper

Cook the Onions, bell peppers, and garlic in the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until soft, 6-8 minutes. Add the beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and seasonings and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20-25 minutes.
When serving, top with cheese, onions, and sour cream. Serve with cornbread.

Tillamook Cheddar Scallion Biscuits

*2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*1 Tbsp sugar
*1 1/2 tsp salt
*2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*1/4 tsp cayenne powder
*1 stick Tillamook Unsalted Butter, chilled & cut into small pieces
*1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
*1/2 cup Tillamook Shredded Medium Cheddar Cheese plus 3 Tbsp
*1 cup buttermilk
*2 tbsp heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together first six ingredients in large bowl. Add butter and rub together with fingertips until mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix in scallions and 1/2 cup cheddar; stir in buttermilk. Mix lightly just until a loose dough forms.
Turn dough onto floured surface and knead lightly. Roll dough onto floured surface and knead lightly. Roll dough to 3/4 inch thickness and cut rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps and cut remaining dough. Place biscuits on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and top each biscuit with a pinch of cheddar. Bake 15 minutes until tops are golden brown.
Makes 1 1/2 dozen

Porccipine Meatballs

*1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
*2/3 C uncooked rice
*2 T finely chopped onoin
*1 1/2 t salt
*3/4 t celery salt
*3 3/4 C tomato juice
*6 whole cloves
*3/4 t ground cinnamon
*2 T sugar
*1 T Worcestershire sauce

Combine ground beef, rice, onion, salt and celery salt. Form into balls 1 12 inches in diameter. In large saucepan combine and heat remaining ingredients to boiling. Drop in meatballs. Lower heat, cover tightly and simmer 50 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

My mom will make the meatballs and freeze them (raw). Then, when ready to make, she adds the remaining ingredients and cooks as normal.

Pies in a Jar

These are seriously cute! Thanks to Our Best Bites for this idea. I love that you can freeze these. Wouldn't they be fun as little gifts?

Quick Pumpkin Bars

Fall is finally here and so are pumpkins! So far we have had pumpkin waffles, pumpkin cookies and I will be making this gem of a recipe this next week. I usually double the Cream cheese frosting recipe, because it really is finger-lickin' good.

Quick Pumpkin Bars

1 c. Vegetable oil
4 Eggs
2 c. Sugar
2 c. Canned pumpkin
2 c. Flour
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
A dash of nutmeg
A dash of allspice

Combine the oil, eggs, and sugar in a large mixer bowl & beat until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well.

Spoon into an ungreased 10 x 15" baking pan. Bake @ 350 for 20-25 min. or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Spread with Cream Cheese Frosting. Let stand until the frosting is set. Cut into bars. Store covered, in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 TB margarine, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. Confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Cream the margarine & cream cheese in a mixer bowl until light. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk & vanilla & beat until fluffy.

Minestrone Soup

Two soup posts right in a row !? What? Why? Because Becca requested it, that's why. And I do everything Becca requests, well, except when it comes to going to the gym @ 5:30 am. That crosses the line. My loyalty stops right there.

This is a goooood tastin' soup. Enjoy. It really makes a TON, so you might want to invite people over for dinner. Of course, you will have gallons of leftovers still, but that's okay because, in my opinion, this soup is better on day 2. It must be all the marinating it did overnight in the fridge. This recipe is from Natalie B.


Minestrone Soup

1 lb. ground beef or sausage (we like the sausage)
1) 6 TB butter
2) 3 carrots
3) 2 stalks of celery
4) 1-2 small onions
5) 1 garlic clove
6) 1 head cauliflower
7) 2 cans tomato sauce
8) 6-8 c. water
9) 2 tsp. salt
10) 4-8 beef bullion cubes
11) 1 tsp oregano
12) 1/2 tsp. pepper
13) 4 potatoes
14) 2 zucchini
15) 10 oz. chopped spinach

Cut all veggies into bite sized pieces. Cook sausage in soup pot, do not drain off the drippings. Add in the first 7 ingredients in with sausage & stir fry for 20 minutes. Add ingredients 8-14 and boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. When there is 5 minutes left add in the spinach. This recipe is so good with homemade bread.

Classic French Onion Soup

The leaves are going to be changing with the seasons soon, and you know what that means don't you? SOUP SEASON.....yummm.

1/4 c. butter
3 large yellow onions, sliced
1 c. dry white wine
3 cans (14 oz. each) beef broth
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. worchestershire sauce
1 loaf french bread, sliced & toasted
4 oz. shredded swiss cheese
fresh thyme (for garnish)

Melt butter in large skillet over high heat. Add onions; cook & stir 15 minutes or until onions are soft & lightly browned. Stir in wine.

Combine onion mixture, beef broth, thyme, salt & worchestershire sauce in slow cooker. Cover & cook on LOW 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Ladle soup into 4 individual bowls; top with bread slice & cheese. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Alfredo Potatoes

I found this recipe in a small town newspaper while we were on vacation. I have yet to make it, but I am drooling just reading the recipe...so I thought it was blog worthy. Picture to come.

2 large baking potatoes
1 c. prepared Alfredo sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1 c. (4oz.) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Pierce potatoes several times, bake @ 400 for 45 min, or until tender. Allow potatoes to cool slightly. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine Alfredo sauce, garlic powder, pepper & thyme. Stir in 1/2 c. cheddar & mozzarella cheese. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp & add to the sauce mixture; mix well. Spoon into potato shells. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Place back in oven until warmed through & cheese is melted. Serves 4

Grilled Chicken BBQ Salad

Salad greens
Chicken breasts, grilled then sliced
Corn on the cob, cooked then kernels cut off
BBQ Sauce, drizzled atop everything


BBQ Sauce
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1/2 c Extra Virgin olive oil
1/4 c. BBQ Sauce
Splash of Lemon juice
1/4 c (or less) Brown sugar

Whisk olive oil into BBQ sauce. Once combined, then add in lemon juice & brown sugar to taste.

Skookie (Personal Size Cookie)

These cookies are always a big hit when we have people over. They're easy to make and really yummy!

2 1/2 T. softened butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 T. beaten egg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
6 T. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
About 1/4 cup chocolate chunks/chips

For a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, use the same recipe but take out chocolate chunks/chips for 1/4 cup white chocolate chips and add 3 T. macadamia nuts. Place dough in a 7 inch pie dish or any other small oven-safe dish (I use ramkin dishes). Heat oven to 475 degrees and bake for 5-7 minutes. Serve with ice cream on top of skookie and enjoy!

Brown Sugar Muffins

These muffins are another breakfast favorite of mine. I like them because they are so simple and delicious. The flavor is just plain enough to be able to serve them with a lot of different things or you could try adding things to the recipe like apples or other fruits. However, the recipe is a little tricky if you don't mix it properly. Be sure to use a good quality electric mixer to thoroughly cream together the sugars and the shortening. Add the egg, mix well. Add the vanilla, mix well. Finally add the milk, mix well, and then add the dry ingredients. If you don't get the shortening and sugars creamed properly and the other wet ingredients mixed in the milk and the shortening will react funny and become a strange lumpy type mixture--you know the old addage that oil and milk don't mix, well that's the idea. It will still mix a little funny when you add the milk but as you mix in the dry ingredients it should work out okay. (P.S. Mine never look like the ones in that picture. That's just the image that came with the recipe when I got it. Mine are typically a lot darker and look a little denser than those ones. Maybe I use darker brown sugar than she did or something like that but either way they're tasty. Especially right out of the oven with butter on them! Mmmm! You should never blog hungry I've decided...)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture just until combined. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Baked Oatmeal

This has become one of my breakfast favorites. It's fairly inexpensive to make, very filling and a lot healthier than some other breakfast options. I've found that it's great to make for a group of people like family/friend gatherings or a breakfast potluck. I've also prepped the ingredients and taken them on a trip where we used the kitchenette in the hotel to bake it and it was wonderful. We were able to have a filling breakfast before we left so we saved money and saved time for other fun things. It is surprisingly great the second and third day so don't worry about splitting the recipe. Simply save the leftovers in a tupperware container, reheat (if desired) and add toppings. It might not look as pretty but it's just as good if not better than it was the first morning.

Ingredients:
1 C Oil
2 tsp. Salt
1 C White Sugar
1 C Packed Brown Sugar
1 T plus 1 tsp. Baking Powder
4 Eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
5 C regular, old-fashioned oats
2 C milk

Directions:

Combine oil, salt, sugars, baking powder, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oats. When well blended slowly add milk until totally incorporated. Grease a 9x 13 pan and pour mixture in; cover and refrigerate overnight. Uncover and bake at 350° F for 30-45 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Serve with brown sugar, half and half, milk, or cream, and canned or fresh fruits.

Krista’s Nutrition Calculations: 1/2 Cup serving equals 276 calories, 13 g fat
She suggests using applesauce rather than all of the oil, splenda in place of some of the sugar, egg substitute, and lowfat milk to lower it down to 196 calories and 6 g fat per 1/2 cup.
(Only an approximate guess)

Suiza Enchiladas

Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
1 can Cream of mushroom soup
shredded cheddar cheese to taste
cooked chicken chunks
1/4 C. diced onions
corn tortillas

Mix enchilada sauce with cram of mushroom soup. Divide in half. Add chicken chunks, onions and small amount of cheese to mixture. Put a spoonful of chicken fixture into each tortilla, roll and put into cake or casserole pan. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Bake for 25 minutes on 350 cover with shredded cheese and bake for 10 minutes more. Serve with lettuce, black beans, diced tomatoes, sour cream etc.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 C. oil
2 C. sugar
2 C. grated zucchini
3 t. vanilla
3 C. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
1/4 t. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 chopped nuts

Beat eggs until light and foamy. Add oil, sugar, grated zucchini and vanilla. Add flour, salt, soda, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Mix until blended. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake 325 for one hour.

Seasoned Eggs

Chopped Onions
Chopped Basil
Chopped Cilantro
Eggs
Chopped Ham

The time saver is that I like to have these already chopped and bagged frozen in the freezer so, all I have to do is crack some eggs, chop a little ham and as the eggs are cooking throw in some of my seasoning and voila! Tasty eggs in under 5 minutes.

BBQ Glaze

makes approx.1 cup/prep 5 min

Combine

3/4 cup apricot preserves
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Brush the sauce onto meat toward the end of grilling to add flavor.

Recipe: Family Circle Magazine

Bread Maker Rolls

1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs ( slightly beaten)
1 t. salt
2 T. oil
4 cups flour (I usually use 1/2 white 1/2 wheat but all wheat or all white is good too)
2 t. yeast

Follow directions for bread machine dough. Form into balls and let raise for another hour on greased (spray is great) cookie sheet. Bake 375 for 12 minutes.

Avocado Salsa

makes 3 cups/prep 10 minutes

3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted
1 medium tomato, seeds squeezed out, diced (love Roma tomatoes in recipes like this)
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 small jalapeno, seeded, diced (leave seeds if you want more heat)
2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
fresh cilantro

In a medium-sized bowl, use a fork to mash avocados to the consistency you like (I like mine chunkier) then add remaining ingredients. Gently mix. Can be refridgerated for a few hours with plastic wrap placed directly on the guacamole. Also helps to keep a pit in the bowl if storing for a bit to help reduce risk of browning.

Can use as dip or serve as a topping for grilled burgers or hot dogs or sandwiches.

recipe: tweaked from original found in Family Circle Magazine

Homemade Lemonade

makes 12 cups/prep 5 minutes/chill 1 hour

12 large lemons
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 lemon sliced for garnish

Microwave the lemons for 10 seconds before cutting them to get more juice easily from them. Cut them in half and juice until there is 3 cups of lemon juice. In a large pitcher combine juice and 8 cups cold water and sugar. Chill at least 1 hour. Stir and garnish with the lemon slices and ice.

recipe: from the Family Circle Magazine