Better than Pumpkin Pie

And believe me when I tell you I LOVE pumpkin pie! But, I am the only one in my house who does so usually half of the pie gets thrown out and then I overindulge in the left over cool whip. So this year, I decided to try something different... and they were a HIT!

Of course there are hundreds of pumpkin something or other recipes on pinterest, but I picked this one.  The pin led me to Mama B's Blog with the simplest, most delicious cupcake I have ever made.

Ingredients:

• Cake mix of choice (I used a spice cake mix but I imagine any flavor would work. - I wonder if a white cake would pull out the pumpkin flavor more. Hmmm...)
• 1-15 oz can of Pumpkin Puree

Frosting:

• 1 package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup of butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups of powdered sugar

Mix the cake mix and the pumpkin puree in a stand mixer. Fill your muffin tin holders 3/4 of the way full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool completely while making your frosting.

For the frosting: mix all of the ingredients together until fluffy and frost your cooled cupcakes!

 The frosting is key. After baking the first batch (I made two so K could take some to work for her pot luck), of course I needed to taste test the cupcake to make sure it wasn't poisoned. I was actually a little concerned because it wasn't that spectacular. In fact, it seemed kind of bland and left a weird after taste. But I continued on.

Before I even frosted the cupcakes, I "accidentally" got some on my finger so, of course I had to check that for poison too and OH EM GEE! It was so good I about dropped to my knees. (Ok, that's probably a little dramatic, but I have to get the point across that it was good.) My SIL thought it was so good, she wanted just a bowl of frosting, skip the cupcake. I'm telling you - it was good. Did I mention how good it was? ;o)

I scooped the frosting into a piping kit (which my piping skills leave something to be desired as you see in the picture above), and started frosting these little pieces of heaven. I was able to exercise some self control and wait until after we ate our Thanksgiving dinner to test it out and seriously, I don't think I will ever buy another pumpkin pie again in my life! It was ah-mazing!

A few tips -- The cupcake batter comes out unusually thick. I questioned it, but it just made the cupcake a little more dense than the average cupcake, which I think made it better. Some people on Mama B's Blog said they added a little water. I s'pose you could do that, but I don't recommend it - they were perfect without the water.

Like the professional cupcake bakers I watch on TV, I used an ice cream scooper to scoop the batter into the cups. The first batch I made, I did a whole scoop... it was fine, but they came out a little bumpy and more like muffins because they expanded so much when they cooked. After that I did about 3/4 of a scoop and they turned out perfect... I got 28 cupcakes total and probably could have gotten 32 if I would have done smaller scoops for the first batch.

Last, but not least, we stored our cupcakes in the fridge. Partly because I feel weird about leaving cream cheese based food out. I'm not sure what the rule is, but I would hate to cause all my taste testers food poisoning because I left a dairy product out too long. Also, that's typically how we store our cakes. I don't know why, but I think cake tastes better cold. 

I really hope you will partake in this awesome, super simple, delicious treat! I promise, you wont regret it. If your a little skeptical of the pumpkin... or the fact that there's only two ingredients in the cupcakes, fine... don't make the cupcakes that way, but do yourself a favor and make the frosting... slather it on anything.

P.S. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and found yourselves realizing you had more than enough to be thankful for.

Apple Cheesecake Bars

I got the original recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything. She called hers Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars. I decided to leave the Carmel off my title because the first night K and I ate this, I forgot the caramel. The second night, I remembered the caramel but as I grabbed the jar of caramel off the counter, I realized that it wasn't caramel at all, but it was butterscotch sauce. So, technically my version didn't have any caramel at all.

Ingredients: 

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

 

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

 

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup caramel topping

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

 

For the crust:

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or 2 forks) until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9×13 baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 

 

For the cheesecake filling:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust. 

 

For the apples:

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. 

 For the streusel topping: 
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to really combine it by using my clean hands to thoroughly combine the butter into the mixture.

Sprinkle Streusel topping over apples. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool. Serve cold and enjoy! Make 16 servings.

It's a lot of steps, but I think they're worth it. Next time I might use more apples, but it was delish just the way it was. I would make it again, for sure but it was waaaay too much for just me an K. It would have to be a dish I share in the future, or take to a gathering.

Crock Pot Taco Chili

Well, hello strangers! Have you missed me? I have missed you. 

I am still adjusting to my new job. I am used to having a lax work environment where I could just blog from work (on my breaks, of course. Psh.) and my new job is literally no internet, no email, no phones, etc while on the floor. I mean, I get it... we need our attention to be on saving lives, not surfing the net, but it's tough to find time to blog from home. And really, by "finding time" I mean finding the desire to want to take the time to turn on the computer, format pictures, down load pics and all the other fun stuff it takes to post a blog. Not to mention that I work from 9:45am to 8:00pm. I feel like my entire day is at work. I wake up, come home, eat dinner, unwind a bit by watching bad TV (since baseball is over GO GIANTS!!!!!!), and go to bed. Where is the time for blogging in there? ;o) 

Whatever, I am here now and that's what really matters. Just because I haven't been blogging, doesn't mean the projects have been lacking. One of the things I have been up to is making some chili. Taco Chili to be exact. It's a recipe I used to make all the time, but I haven't made it for a few years. 

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (or turkey or fake meat/crumble) - browned and drained
• 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can corn - undrained
• 1 can black beans - undrained
• 1 can kidney beans - undrained
• 1 packet Ranch dressing mix
• 1 packet taco seasoning (I used the less sodium)
• 1 small onion - chopped
• Fritos (or any tortilla chip)
• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream

Directions

• Combine all ingredients except shredded cheese, sour cream, and Fritos in slow cooker and give it a stir.
• Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. 
• Garnish individual servings with chips, cheese, and sour cream.

This is yummolicious! :o) Now if we could just convince the beautiful So Cal weather to take some time off so we can enjoy some cooler fall temps, we'll be perfect! :o)

That's all I have for you this round. I have other recipes and projects to share, but not today... probably not tomorrow... maybe this weekend. We'll see. Just be patient with me. Hopefully, I will get my groove back soon.

BOO!

I think I saw this project last fall when I first signed up for Pinterest. I bought the letters last year and just never getting around to doing this project.

While I was off work, I was going through all my scrapbook paper and found this halloweenish paper I never really cared for in a scrapbook setting and I thought it was perfect Halloween paper. Then I remembered the letters and I thought, PERFECT! I'll do it.

So I did.

Here's what you'll need:

• Wood letters - any size, really
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Scrapbook Paper
• Mod Podge
• Exacto Knife
• Sponge paint brush
• Embellishments (If you wish)
• Paint (maybe)

Here's what you'll do:

1. Trace the letters onto the scrapbook paper and cut them out. Don't worry if they don't fit perfectly, you'll have a chance to clean that up later.
2. If you want, this is where the paint could come in. Paint the letters whatever color you want. I chose not to because I didn't want to have to wait for it to dry before I started Mod Podging. 
3. Put a layer of Mod Podge on the letter and adhere the paper to the letter. Do your best to line up the borders of the paper with the letter, but not to worry if there's a lot of over hang. 
4. Put 2-4 more layers of Mod Podge over the paper to help seal it. 
5. Let that dry completely.
6. Take an exacto knife and clean up the edges. I suppose sand paper might work too, but I was worried about damaging the letter itself so I just cut around the letters. 
7. Once that's done, embellish as you wish. 
8. Oh! And don't forget the help from the family pet.

For some reason, Edward really liked this one. :o)

Fall is my most favorite time of year. Halloween is one of K's favorite Holidays. I did this project more for here than I did me. Hopefully, this project will inspire you to do something fall/Halloween related. 'Tis the season to start getting in the spirit!!!

Project inspired by Then She Made.

S'Mores Brownies

Where's the Graham Cracker part of the S'More?
We'll get to that.

 More like S'mores Brownies disaster. SMH

Recipe swiped from Prevention RD. I just read that she is a Registered Dietitian. I am not really sure what Dietitian in their right mind would recommend this recipe, but at the same time - right on to her for not being a stiff Dietitian that says you can't enjoy life's little pleasures. :o)

Ingredients:

• 1 pack brownie mix (Betty Crocker,  Duncan Hines, etc. – my selection had 18 servings, 140 calories each)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 4 graham crackers, cut into chunks
• 2 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, cut into each segments

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 9×9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the box (or use your favorite homemade recipe) using the oil, egg, and water.

After baking, remove the pan from the oven and set the oven to broil at 500-550 F.

Cool brownies for about a minute then sprinkle the marshmallows over the warm brownies. Make sure to cover most of the area. Sprinkle the graham crackers on top of the marshmallows. Broil about 4-5 inches from the heat for 30 seconds to a minute until the marshmallows are golden brown. Watch carefully so that they don’t burn. Sprinkle with Hershey’s milk chocolate bars.

Sounds simple enough, right? Sure... if you're not me. LOL

If you look back at the picture on the top, perhaps you wonder where the Graham Crackers are, huh? Well, here they are ----

Burnt to a crisp and in a separate bowl.

OK, first of all, we have an electric stove/oven and electric sucks. I did exactly what the recipe said, set it to broil, had the rack where I thought it was meant to be, put the dish back in the oven and set the timer for 2 minutes and before the two minutes were even up, I smelled burning and took out the dish to find my Graham Crackers burnt to a crisp.

If (and that is a giant IF) I were to ever make these again, I would probably throw the brownies back in the oven without the Graham Crackers and I would probably crumble/crush the crackers, instead of cutting them. It was unnecessary to have such neatly cute Grahams.

Anyway, I immediately pulled all the Graham Crackers off the brownies but still put the chocolate chunks on it. The end result left something to be desired. They were very rich, the marshmallows were gooey (duh) and I just didn't care for them. But then again, I don't really care for real S'Mores either. So there ya have it.