Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!

These are oh so good! And even more so, they are so easy! I could sit here and eat the whole pan. Good thing they are low fat and low calorie! Top them with a piece of candy corn!

1 butter recipe (or any flavor you want/have)
1 can pumpkin (I just used Libby's)
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinammon

Mix together, it will be dry, but okay!

Preheat oven to whatever the box says.

Cook them according to box directions.

I got 21 cupcakes out of this, I will make them fuller next time as they don't rise much.


Cream cheese Frosting (from allrecipes)
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream the cream cheese and butter, stir in vanilla and add in powder sugar. Frost cupcakes, this made plenty probably enough for more than 24!

Tastes like spaghetti and meatballs risotto

I was watching Rachel Ray's talk show and she made this, and immediately I wanted it! So I made it for dinner that night! It was really good! I haven't really cooked anything new lately, but I hope that I get back in the kitchen!

Ingredients
1 28-ounce can tomato sauce or puree (I used Prego because I didn't have enough plain tomato sauce, but I will use regular sauce next time)
1 quart chicken stock
2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus some for liberal drizzling
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2 tablespoons tomato paste (didn't have any, I need to find the stuff you keep in the refrigerator)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced
1/3 cup breadcrumbs, eyeball it (I used frozen meatballs because I didn't have the ingredients to make these)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3/4 pound ground beef, pork and veal mix
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, a small handful


Preparation
Preheat oven to 400˚F.
Place the tomato sauce and stock in medium saucepot and heat over low heat. Keep warm.

Place a medium-sized pot with rounded sides over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan EVOO. Add onions and 2 cloves of garlic and sauté a couple of minutes to soften. Add the rice and turn to coat. Toast for about 1 minute then add the tomato paste and stir a minute more, stir in wine and cook until the liquid evaporates. Begin adding a couple of ladles of the tomato-stock at a time. Each time you add the liquid, stir the risotto vigorously to develop the starches. Rice will cook 18 minutes total. (If the rice is al dente and creamy, yet you still have a ladle or 2 of liquid left, do not feel forced to use it.) In the last minute or so of cooking time, stir in the butter until it melts then add 1/2 cup cheese, a couple of handfuls. Turn off heat and stir in basil.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, moisten the breadcrumbs with milk. Add egg, meat, parsley, 1/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix to combine. Score meat into 4 sections and form 8 small balls from each section, the size of marbles. Place the balls on a baking sheet and coat them with a liberal drizzle of EVOO. Bake 5 minutes until cooked through and golden.

Serve risotto in shallow bowls topped with 8 mini meatballs per serving.

Spicy Orange Chicken Drumsticks and green beans

I picked up the new Real Simple for the wonderful recipes in it this month. This was one of them and it didn't fail to meet my expectations! It was so simple and oh so yummy. I didn't make the green beans because my local store didn't have any, which yes upset me! So I fixed hubby canned green beans and I had a salad. I doubled the sauce as I made like 12 drumsticks and it was the perfect amount!

1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/2 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce (found in the Asian section of the supermarket)
8 chicken drumsticks (about 2 1/2 pounds)
kosher salt and black pepper
1 pound green beans
1 tablespoon butter
4 corn bread muffins, warmed (we used rolls)

Directions
Heat oven to 400º F. In a small bowl, mix the marmalade and chili-garlic sauce.
Season the chicken with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper. Roast on a foil-lined baking sheet until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes, brushing with the marmalade mixture during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the green beans until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain and toss with the butter and 1⁄4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve with the chicken and muffins.

M&M Cookies

I made these last week and forgot to blog about them. They were great, enough chocolate compared to the dough. I will keep these in my recipe book for sure!

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 12-ounce package M&M’S® MINIS® Milk Chocolate Candies
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into butter/sugar mixture. Stir in M&M’S® MINIS® Milk Chocolate Candies and nuts, if desired. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Do not overbake. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. Store in tightly covered container.

Weekly Menu 9/20-9/25

Sun: Chicken Soup
Mon: Probably eggs since I'm sick
Tues: Spicy-Orange Glazed Drumsticks, green beans
Wed: Carmel Apple Pork Chops
Thurs: Sloppy Joes in Tortillas
Fri: Homemade pizza

My take on Baja Chicken Soup--Take 2

So I got the new Real Simple just for the month of menus. There are some great recipes in there so this is my take on it! I am not a big soup person, but this was awesome. You get nice heat from the ro-tel, perfect!

1 32 oz carton of low sodium chicken broth
1 can black beans (not rinsed)
1 can ro-tel
1 package of chicken breast (refrigerated section) (I was gonna use a rotisserie chicken but they didn't have any it calls for 2 cups)
1 can corn
8 oz sour cream (buy a bigger thing of it because you'll want more for your bowl)

Throw it all in a stock pot and let it go. I started it on med but turned it down once it was simmering nicely. Whisk in sour cream. Serve with crackers or corn muffins!

Sorry!

Sorry it's been like a week since my last posts! My 30th birthday was on Saturday. I knew there was a surprise in the works, I even knew who all was involved, but I never knew my best friend of 25 years would (with the help of my momma) fly me to Chicago. There we met up with my sister (which was also a surprise) who had drove the 3ish hours from here home to see me!
We went to Angel Food Bakery for lunch and an awesome birthday cake! We went to our hotel, Swissotel, I would recommend to anyone wanting to stay around Michigan Ave! From there we did some awesome shopping! Then went to the Signature Room Lounge in the Hancock Tower on the 96th floor! We then went back to the hotel as I was feeling a little drunk, too much champagne, and a fabulous Coconut Mojito!

Sunday we got up and went to Argo Tea and had some wonderful quiche and tea. Then we did a little shopping before we had to leave and come back to Kansas City. We were so exhausted (the hubby had gone to his home town and stayed out later than usual with his best friend) we fell asleep before 8:30! Then I thought I was coming down with something and to say the least it has taken me til Thurs to recover!!!

I would not have changed anything though! My best friend is so wonderful to get this all together, my sister was great to come up and drive us around, and my mom is fabulous, although she was unable to come with us she did pay for some of the trip! To say the least the females who I have surrounded myself with are some of the best! I love all of you!

Italian Steak Sandwiches

So I had an Italian Steak Sandwich at Lorenzo's a couple of weeks ago and it was so good I had to make them for me and the hubby!

1 lb tip steak (I had no idea what steak to get so I asked one of the butcher's at my local Hy-vee store and this is what he recommended)
1 can beef broth
1 can mushrooms
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp garlic pepper (thanks dad for telling me to buy this stuff, it's awesome!)

I put all of the above ingredients in my large crockpot and put it on low!

I made this last night and then I went to sleep and didn't tell hubby I had made it so he picked up dinner on his way home from work! So I will post pictures tonight after we eat!

Turkey Black Bean Chili

There is a spice store that I had heard the girls on the What's Cooking board talk about called Penzeys Spice Co. Well a while back I stumbled across one on Metcalf by my lawyers office so I decided to make a stop while I was down there! They have catalogs that have all of their spices and wonderful recipes in them. I made this recipe out of the catalog! It was so good, my favorite chili, hubby thought it was quite tasty as well. I served it over the red-lobster biscuits I have blogged about!

Turkey Black Bean Chili
1 med. onion (we didn't use)
1 garlic clove (or 1/4 tsp minced garlic) I used 2 tsp minced because we love it!
1 lb. ground turkey
4 Tb. chili powder (I used 3 as we don't like stuff too hot)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. penzeys freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp. salt (Optional)
14 oz. chicken broth or 14 oz water mixed with 1 tsp. chicken soup base
2 16oz cans black beans (I only used 1 can) (1 drained and 1 undrained) I subbed 2 tbl flour to thicken the sauce
1 16 oz can kidney beans
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (I used 1 can tomato sauce)
1 16 oz bag from corn or the kernels from 4 large ears (I used 1 can of corn)

Put the onion, garlic and turkey in a large stock pot. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the turkey is cooked through. Add the spices and cook, stirring, about 5 mins. Add the chicken broth and stir well to get the browned bits up from the pan. Add the beans, tomatoes, and corn. Cook for 10-15 mins. Serve with tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and/or sour cream. Vegetarian version: substitute the turkey with tofu or meatless crumbles and use all of the bean liquid instead of the chicken broth.


Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: 6-8

I got dutch cocoa, Greek seasoning, Herbes de Provence and Bouquet Garni while I was there and will be replacing my seasoning with theirs because it is awesome!

It was such a great long weekend!

It was such a great long weekend. There was shopping again at the once monthly Urban Mining and lunch with my momma. I got this bookshelf at Urban Mining, and it was exactly what I was looking for, I have an obsession with cookbooks and this is my new place to put them! We ate at Atlanta Bread Company. We also checked out the new JcPenney's and Macy's in Lee's Summit at the Summit Fair those are the only shops open right now but it looks like they are going to have some great things there. Stopped off at the Lane Bryant so I could get some of the new bras (they are awesome, I bought 3 of them!) I then went home and went to bed because I knew I had to get up early on Saturday and I was exhausted!

Saturday we got up really early so we could go to the Sparks KS twice yearly (Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends) flea market/antique fair. It was a nice place to go for parts. Although it was more flea market I will be going back! Then we came back across St. Joseph, went to get my brand new car (brand new to me) fixed (when we got up the battery was dead, had to get it jumped by one of our other cars in order to go) but the guys at Bob Sight Ford took care of it, then went to Independence, and ate an early dinner at BD's mongolian. Then it was home for me and hubby to take naps!

Sunday was a rest day. I was so tired and didn't want to move off the couch. We did watch the movie we got Saturday night on out way back into town, we got "I Love You, Man". It was okay, I won't be running out to buy it. Guess I should have used the wheelchair a little more over the weekend. Someday I will get this all figured out. I miss the days of going and going and not worrying about anything.

We got up and around Monday and went over to Sears to look at and hopefully buy a weedeater. Ours finally died. Hubby had looked at every weedeater and did loads of research to finally end up with a Craftsman, but at least the search for one was over! We also went to lunch at Steak and Shake and by Dick's to look at tennis shoes for the hubby.

To say the least I am happy we had such a great weekend and that it's Tuesday and other than a date at Starbucks with a friend today I don't have to get off the couch. Wed I have our monthly Girls Dinner Club and then Thurs I get to get my hair done! Friday will be another rest day before the Birthday festivities begin!!!!

200th blog post WINNER!!!

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 8
Result: 2
Powered by RANDOM.ORG


2, 2 is the lucky number that random.org chose for the winner of the 200th blog post. So the lucky winner...drum roll please...is SHANNON REED!!! Shannon I will have to get ahold of you on facebook so I can give you your prize. Since I looked at Urban Mining for something and didn't find anything I will be making a welcome sign that looks like mine (I've had mine awhile and it's been hanging up on our front door, in the weather) done according to the colors you choose:

We started at urban mining this weekend and the choice of things was much lacking from last month's trip there. But it was fun and I did find a shelf to put my cookbooks on in my kitchen. Saturday we went to a new (new to us) place for a flea mearket/antique fair and it was fun I found more parts for some calendars I am making. I did mom's for mother's day, I'll have to get a picture and post it!

I'm really thinking I can do these Welcome Signs, Calendars, and Cards and start to sell them, guess if I'm gonna do it I just need to get on it already!

Okay well this week I have to update my blog with what I have done on the front room, post some of my crafts, and get ready for my big 3-0 that is on Sat.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

The weather is cooling off and I'm ready for fall and all things pumpkin! I was at my in-laws house over the weekend and was looking at a cookbook my mother-in-law had and came across this recipe. The Great Pumpkin Cookies, the cookbook is one that came from a church in Castle Rock, Colo. from Christ's Episcopal Church. It is a sample cookbook she received when she was working on a cookbook for Relay for Life. These are so good, just be careful to watch the cooking time. I thought mine weren't huge and they were taking more like 21 mins. different from the 15-18 in the original recipe! These are so good and definitely took care of my fall baking for today...come back later for more!

Ingredients
2 cups of flour
1 cup of oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 jumbo egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk choco.)***I used an entire bag***

Directions
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl, then add the remaining ingredients. Stir in your chocolate chips.
I use parchment paper on my cookie sheets.
Drop by spoonfuls, about a Tbl. is what I used.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Update and weekly menu!

So things have been crazy around here the last week, hubby's dad had surgery, we went to his hometown fair, finalized the settlement with the ltd company, I got some good time in with his sister's 10 month old, and we bought a car. A 2004 Chevy Trailblazer to be exact, I love it! So today I am resting, blogging and getting caught up on my DVR!

On the schedule for the week is clean the bathroom (like deep clean with a bottle of bleach), make pumpkin cookies (the weather in KC is making me feel like fall has made an early appearance), make dinner the rest of the week, and get some good time in with my mom on Friday shopping! Also I have been wanting to start a new craft and I want to learn to sew, because I want to make really cute things (like my mom and mother-in-law have done in the past). So my mom is giving me her sewing machine so watch for some cute things to come!

This weeks menu looks like this:

Monday: Pizza with my bff
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Crockpot salsa chicken
Thursday: Turkey chili
Friday: Homemade calzones

Update

Sorry I've been a little MIA the last couple of days, but my father-in-laws surgery was a success. They were able to get all of the tumor and now he is recovering at the hospital. He is supposed to go home by Thurs. afternoon and then we will be back down on Friday. Their city fair is this weekend so we will go down and walk the square. It is the biggest Free Fair in the state of Missouri and is always fun. My sister-in-law has already made sure that we will be sharing our annual funnel cake!

We decided to bring our in-laws dog home with us, it was actually hubby's dog but he left it behind when he moved in with me as we thought that was only fair to her because she has much more land to roam there, than she would have here. So I will enclose a picture of Shadow in this post!

Thank you for your prayers this weekend! Don't forget to comment on the 200th post so you will be entered in the giveaway!

hello everybody!

I thought I'd take a minute just to let everyone know that we are out of town for the weekend, for my Father-in-laws surgery on Monday. The goodies have all gone over well so far. Our neice was pretty excited and ate one while we were gone and was excited to tell us that she stole a cookie! It looks like it will be a wonderful weekend filled with lots of family and good times.

So there will be no blog posts as we aren't home, but I will post any fun pictures I take!

First funny is that hubby made a wonderful meal on the grill last night, the steaks had been marinating for a few days as we kept putting off making them, they were so tender and oh so perfect. I used Grill Mates Southwestern marinade. As we were finishing up he says this was a perfect night....you should blog about it! But I didn't get any pictues! Sorry!

Have a great weekend everyone and I will be back with an update on Monday! If you could please keep him in your thoughts that would be wonderful!