Pumpkin Cheese Cake Bars,

These were my last nights project. Tonight i am taking the night off of baking to do some house work as i have been slacking on it latley. I hope you will try these at home. The recipe says a jelly roll pan it is a 9 by 13 pan for those of you who will ask I know there are some of you! I know this will seems like a lot of inderidents but i asure you this was very easy i had it all ready to go in the oven in about 10 min. and while it baked I made dinner, since it has to bake for 50 min. I did not do the cool whip on the whole pan as i didnt have intentions on taking them anywhere, so they are in the fridge and i put whip crean on them as I go. I took some to the Salon this morning and added it right before i left. delish!

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature

for graham cracker crust:

18 graham crackers (2 sleeves)

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

*whipped cream to top

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl crush graham crackers with your hands. Add sugar and butter and mix well. Press graham cracker crumbs onto a lined (parchment paper or silpat) jelly roll pan. Bake for 5 minutes until toasty. Remove and reduce oven temperature to 325.

Mix together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream and vanilla in a large bowl.

In the bowl of a KitchenAid, beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and ginger. Beat until light and fluffy then slowly pour in pumpkin mixture. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and no lumps remain.

Pour batter onto baked crust and bake for 50 minutes until edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool completely before cutting into small squares and topping with whipped cream.

Im sorry i have been a slacker!

Homemade reeses peanut butter eggs step one now they have to
Freeze for an Hour then dip in chocolate. Ingredients broke down to about $4.00 and made 30 eggs n I didn't double the batch! That's less then .12cents an egg!

4 cups Powder Sugar
1 3/4 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 stick real butter
3- 4 tablespoons milk
3 cups Milk Chocolate Chips
2 table Spoons Shortning

mix the first three together
then add milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
batter will be thick like cookie dough.
Line a pan with Parchment paper or Saran Wrap
Shape dough into Egg like shapes and put on cookie sheet
freeze for an hour.

after an hour
In a Glass microwave bowl add the Choc Chips and Shortning, and Microwave on high for 1 min 30 sec.
stir with a wisk, if not all chips are melted and smooth heat for another 30 seconds and stir again do not over heat Choc will harded. if you need you can add more Shortning if you want it thinner. Dip eggs in Chocolate and place back on pan. I used a wooded skewer to dip and then filled in the hole. Place back in fridge
You can be done here. I however cant leave them " how they should be. I melted some peanut butter and placed it in a zip lock bag and cut the tip off and drizzled it on top of the eggs.
Store in Fridge. Made about 30—

This was a great meal for a chilly day. I doubled the recipe for the Fried steak and we had left overs for 2 days. totally up to you!
I hope you try this one! Since the lasagna was a slight flop on monday This was a good one to redeem myself for the week! John already asked when we can have it again! If i have to make a suggestion though i would double the Gravy Recipe if you want left overs.

Chicken Fried Steak
1 cup all-purpose flour

2 packets (1 ounce each) dry ranch dressing mix, Hidden Valley®

Salt and pepper

3 cups buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 pound cubed steak, cut into 4 pieces

Oil, for frying

1 cup chicken broth, Swanson®

1 packet (2.64-ounce) country gravy mix, McCormick®

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour, 1 packet dressing mix, and salt and pepper. Set aside. In a shallow bowl, combine 2 cups of the buttermilk, the remaining packet of dressing mix, and the egg.

Soak steaks in buttermilk mixture. Remove 1 steak, letting excess buttermilk mixture drip off. Add to flour mixture, seal bag, and toss to coat. Shake off any excess flour and dip again in the buttermilk mixture. Return to flour mixture, seal bag, and toss; set aside. Repeat process for remaining steaks.

In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 1⁄2 inch oil to 350°F. Fry 2 steaks in the pan at a time for 4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

For gravy, in a small saucepan, combine remaining 1 cup buttermilk, broth, and gravy mix. Bring to a simmer and stir well. Spoon over steaks and potatoes.


Carrots
Honey balsamic roasted carrots. I made these last night with chicken fried steak and they were awesome! Soo easy n quick!
1 bag baby carrots
Olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
... Place carrots on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil & salt and pepper, ( to taste use as much or little as you want) preheat oven to 400 and put carrots in for 25min
In my Tupperware quick shake I added the honey and vinegar with a dash of salt and pepper, shake it up and dump on carrots after 25 min and bake another 10 min! So easy soo. Good! Great fall side dish! I will make these again!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes ( No picture sorry) BEWARE THESE ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU!
These are something I do a lot. I started one day and just threw a lot of things together and now they are a request quite often in our house. Can Be made the night before and thrown in a crock pot the next morning on LOW or WARM and will be perfect for Dinner/supper
3 lbs baby red potatoes cut in half, i leave the skins on because i like the texture but you may peel them if you choose.
8oz sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 block cream cheese
1 stick REAL butter I use salted butter but you can use unsalted
2 table spoons Garlic Salt

Place cut potatoes in a pot and fill with water to cover the tops of potatoes, add 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 12-15 min until they slide easily off a fork
Drain,
I add them back to the pot i cooked them in and add all of the rest of the ingerideants and beat them with a mixer until creamy.

You may Top this with the gravy from the chicken, or eat them plain they are just as good.

Cake Batter Blondies

ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/3 – 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
directions: Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add the milk slowly – you want the batter to remain as dense as possible. Then mix in the rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate chips. Bake in a greased 8 by 8 pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I made these last night oooo soooo good. But i would up the bake time on them to 35 min. they were a little to soft in the middle. no big deal id just up the time about 5-7 min more.

I think i might also try next time a new approach to these, Maybe like the S'mores bars, take half of this dough, layer WHITE CHOCOLATE then Mallow Creme then the other 1/2 of dough. you would have cake batter S'mores, ya never know it could Rock!

I dont know why you wouldnt wanna make this! No bake Banana Split Pie

No Bake Banana Split Pie yield:
one 9X13 dish or two 6X6 in dishes
2 cups Graham Crackers, crushed
4 oz (1 stick) Butter, melted8 oz (2 sticks) Butter, room temperature
2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 Eggs1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Pineapple, diced (canned or fresh)
5 Bananas
1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip
Topping Ideas:Nuts, Maraschino Cherries, Chocolate Sauce, Strawberries, Caramel Sauce, Sprinkles
1. Combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and toss until the graham crackers are fully coated. Press into the bottom of an 9×13 in dish (or two smaller serving dishes).
2. Next add the butter and powdered sugar to an electric mixer and cream until smooth. Add the two eggs and vanilla and beat for at least 6 minutes until the mixture is thick and smooth.3. Gently spread the butter cream mixture over the graham cracker crust.4. Completely drain the diced pineapple and slice your bananas long ways. Gently press the bananas into the butter cream, and top with the diced pineapple.
5. Spread the whipped cream over the fruit and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (I topped mine with maraschino cherries, pecans, Hershey’s chocolate sauce and sprinkles.)

I read most of the comments on this and I dont know about some of you but the NO BAKE AND 2 EGGS made me hesitant to post this.... but there are over 100 comments and most of them said NO BIG DEAL! so might as well try it

Call me gross but i think this looks amazing

If there is anyone that is good at being over weight its me. I don't know how people don't love to cook, I think it is so fun and a great outlet for me. You think your not great at it? Take your time and throw some shit together and you never know what you will come up with. No its not always going to be great that chicken lasagna i made the other night was not that great, but I'm gonna try it again and i am going to throw some other things in there and see what i get. I encourage you to do the same. be smart with your choices though, not everything goes together.I mean i probably would not toss a strawberry on top of my Steak but now that I mention it if you soaked the strawberries in some balsamic vinegar and then saute them in olive oil and some spices throw them on top of a steak with some sharp cheese it might not be half bad.. some of your are probably thinking that sounds gross but you wont know if you don't try it.

Take the recipe below for example, i am sure someone thought this would be gross but once they got to thinking about it came up with something They love and others clearly have too, hell maybe you will be the only one that likes something you come up with but thats ok you are not asking them to eat it, right? Try it be creative, if its a flop dont tell people about it, Toss it and learn from it!

Bacon Jam ( picture above)
1 lb good-quality bacon1 small onion, finely chopped3-4 garlic cloves, chopped1/2 cup packed brown sugar1/2 cup coffee, cola or beer1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
Roughly chop the bacon and cook it in a heavy pot; transfer to a bowl using a slotted spoon, draining off most of the drippings. Saute the onion and garlic cloves in the rest for 5 minutes, until soft and starting to turn golden.
Return the bacon to the pan, add the brown sugar, coffee and maple syrup and cook over medium heat for half an hour, or until deep golden and thickened to the consistency of jam.
If you like, cool and pulse in the food processor for a finer texture. Serve warm or cold. Keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for a week or two, if it lasts that long.

Tonights Menu is....

Chicken Fried Steak, Roasted Carrots with Balsamic Honey Drizzle, Mashed potatoes and white gravy, Stay tuned to hear how it turned out and Get the Recipe!

Im taking suggestions!

You see something you are Dying to try to make but are to chicken to try it? Let me know i am not afraid... hell your never gonna know unless you Try! Let me do the Dirty work!
Or if i have made something before and you would like to see it on here let me know!

Chicken Salad Dip

Next time i make this i will post a picture! this is one of my go to's for a party every one loves it and you can add and take out things as you please! Makes a Big Batch

6 chicken Breasts
1 bag of Celery ends cut off and dice the stalks
1 Big Red Pepper diced
1 big Orange Pepper diced
1 Red Onion Diced
1 Fresh Jalapeno seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups mayo
1 table spoon milk
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


Cook the chicken ( cook it in 1/2 stick of butter and some olive oil makes it so moist and the flavor is amazing ) once the chicken is cooked i put it on a plate and stick it in the Fridge while i chop up my veggies into a bowl add milk, mayo and cayenne pepper, take chicken out of fridge and dice into small pieces, add to the Veggie/Mayo Mixture. i add 1 table spoon Franks hot sauce or my favorite is Chalula Hot sauce. give it a little kick!

Serve with Crackers, OR.... Leave out the milk and serve on a wrap with some baby spinach and Red onion.

Cheese Burger Soup

I dont have a photo for this one either but this one has become a staple in my house.

1 can Retell ( I use the HOT, if you haven't figured out by now i like a little spice!) but you can use any of them from original mild or hot) Do not drain
1 block of Velveeta cubed
1 lb of hamburger browned and drained
2 table spoons flour
Chicken broth ( I buy the one you can re close ) I use about a can and a half. you can eyeball this to the thickness you want.
1 med onion chopped
dash of salt and pepper
Dill Relish, Red Onion, Chopped up bagels, Diced Tomatoes,

Brown the hamburger and chopped onion together until beef is cooked. Drain
In a stock pot add the beef/onion mixture and add flour on medium/Low heat for about 2 min
add the chicken stock ( about 2 cups to start with) Retell, and Cheese and salt and pepper . let the Cheese melt and then add about 2 more cups Chicken stock ( 1 cup at a time) to desired thickness can use more or less depending on how thick you like it.

I transfer to a crock pot at this point and turn on warm or low for about 15 min. but you could leave on the stove if you would like on low for 15 min as well.

When ready to serve you can top it just like a cheese burger with bagel pieces ( aka the bun! relish Red onion etc!
This is a a must Try!
You might feel like you are eating Cheese dip with a spoon which you pretty much are but it is amazing!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Corn Chowder

I made this last week for Chamber of Commerce lunch and they loved it. Thank heavens there was left overs it was sooooo good! I will make this again for sure. The thing I would Change is since there are no fresh Jalapenos this time of year at the store I used a can. For sure not the same. so i would change that and try and find the fresh ones. I also didnt find FROZEN creamed corn to save my damn life and plus it said to use Frozen Creamed corn Thawed, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me so i just used cans :) it worked just fine. I like a thicker/Chunkier chowder so i used 1/2 and 1/2 and more of the Veggies but feel free to use skim milk and add or take out things you dont love!
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion
2 carrots ( i used 4 )
3 celery stalks ( also used 4)
3 garlic cloves, minced ( i used the already minced in a jar and added 2 table spoons) but i am a garlic lover so feel free to cut that back!
1 jalapeno pepper I used 2 cans still not hot enough for me! :)
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( i used 5)
3 pieces COOKED bacon i used 5
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 20-ounce packages frozen creamed corn, thawed ( I used 4 cans )
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of a large, lidded soup pot. Place over medium heat.
Add roughly chopped onion, carrots, celery, and minced garlic. Cover pot with lid and cook for about 5 minutes.
Remove stems, seeds, and membrane from jalapeno pepper. Dice pepper finely and add to other vegetables.
Cube chicken breasts and add to vegetables. Add enough water to slightly cover all ingredients. Cover pot with lid and cook for about 20 minutes until chicken is done.
Crumble bacon and add to the chowder.
Combine milk and flour in a measuring cup and stir well. Add to chowder.
Open packages of frozen creamed corn and add to the chowder.
Sprinkle dried thyme into chowder and stir to combine.
Cover pot with lid and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.
This Froze well and will Be on my winter list of faves!

Bagel Dip For Brianna

I'm sorry i don't have a picture to post with this one quite yet. But I have a fresh batch in the Fridge that i will take a picture of tonight when i get home.

This makes a BIG BATCH so feel free to cut it down if you like.

6 packages Carl Budding Corned beef ( i use this when i am taking it somewhere because its cheaper and it takes just as good. ) You can also use 1lb of Dried beef. usually somewhere around $8/lb
2 bunches of Green onions Sliced ( Cut off the ends and the Green parts and just use the white pieces)
1 1/2 table spoons Dill Weed
1 table spoon Accent
1/2 table spoon garlic Salt
1 16oz Sour Cream
about 12 oz REAL mayo

Chop up the beef in a food processor, the smaller the better
Put that in a bowl with the onions and add the rest of ingredients and chill over night.
I serve with Honey wheat and Plain Sara Lee Bagels

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

So i made this last night and using the recipe below, while good, i just cant make it as is and i am glad i didn't, i followed it mostly. But i added 1 cup of Pepper jack Cheese and I added 1 can of green chillies to the chicken mixture. next time i might add a few dashes of hot sauce. i just felt like it was missing something... a kick a zing that OH MY GOSH I CANT WAIT TO MAKE THAT AGAIN feeling, so stay posted as i try it again I think i might try adding some ricotta ,1 egg , & some Italian bread crumbs in between the layers.

Stay Tuned!

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna
2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk (not fat-free)1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken1/8 tsp pepper1 (16oz) lasagna noodles, cooked (I recommend reducing it to 8 oz to 12 oz)1 1/2 to 2 C cheddar cheese, grated1 1/2 to 2 C mozzarella cheese, grated
Cook the chicken and noodles first at the same time. Once noodles are done–rinse in cold water and set aside (it keeps them from sticking together). Combine evaporated milk (don’t use fat-free version) and Ranch dressing in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir in chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes (don’t do any less), stirring frequently. Layer half of lasagna noodles, poultry sauce, and cheese in well-buttered 9×13 pan. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Cake Batter Fudge

Funfetti Cake Batter Fudge

¾ cup sweetened condensed milk

1 12 oz. package white chocolate chips

3 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Almond Extract

Rainbow Sprinkles

Pour milk and white chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2-3 minutes, or until white chocolate is almost completely melted. DO NOT OVERHEAT. Stir until completely blended, melted, and smooth.Immediately add vanilla and almond and combine thoroughly. Add a handful or so of rainbow sprinkles and fold in quickly, because they will melt (and if they are stirred for too long they’ll turn the fudge an ugly muddy color).Transfer to an aluminum-foil lined 8×8 inch baking pan. Let set at room temperature or in the refrigerator.Once set, cut into cubes. Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place.

These Were Great. But if/ when I do it again I will use less almond in it. I feel myself that is was a little over powering and I would like more of a vanilla flavor.

Smores Bars

Smores Bars. I made these twice last week and they were gone with in the day they were made. They are an easy go to if you are in a hurry. They took me about 30 min total including baking! sooo good. I hope you will Try this one! 1/2 cup butter, room temperature1/4 cup brown sugar1/2 cup sugar1 large egg1 tsp vanilla extract1 1/3 cups all purpose flour3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs1 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp salt2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)Directions:Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars. ( we didnt let them cool we dug right in!) they are soo good! This is why i cant lose weight! ENJOY

Here goes nothing.....

So i have decided that since everyone always says " How did you do that?" or " This is soo good" I am going to start sharing some of my recipes that i make. So all of you can Try them at home. Some are going to be great and some are going to not be so great, but at least we will know right? So here goes nothing! Stay tuned as i get some recipes loaded!