Pumpkin Crunch

Mmmm... Think I'm gonna try this Paula Deen delight.

INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 oz.) can fresh pumpkin

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 c. sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans

2 sticks butter, cut into pieces

FROSTING:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well.
Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish prepared with a non stick spray. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over entire top. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix and top with butter pieces. Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Prepare frosting while cake is cooling. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until light. Add in whipping cream and continue to whip until fully combined and thickening. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and whip until smooth.
To Serve: Scoop out a slice of the pumpkin crunch and top with a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, or frost the entire pumpkin crunch with the frosting.
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Servings: 8Prep Time: 10 minCook Time: 1 hourDifficulty: Easy

Killer Salad!

Salad. It's what's for dinner.

Southwest Salad



We in the Lowe household were in need of a new salad to get our tastebuds to continue on the treck of eating healthier and lighter. So we have decided to venture into a new arena, experimenting with salad.
This is no easy task. M3 (see sidebar for his mug shot) Hates salad. He likes ONE salad that his grandma makes and I have yet to properly recreate. The above pic is what we had on our plates last night.

Southwest Chicken Salad
washed and chopped romaine lettuce
drained blackbeans
drained sweet corn
diced red pepper
southwest seasoned tortilla strips
diced red onion
southwest dressing
dab of light sour cream
a spoonful of salsa
mexian blend shredded cheese

PS- M3 had Seconds!

A Fun Night With the One You Love

Saturday night left Husband and I sitting on the couch trying to decide what to do. We had played around with the idea of going to the circus (I've never been but have always wanted to, is it much fun?) but opted out. With both of us busy, although we are pretty good at it, cooking has become the dreaded chore. With grocery shopping for the week still on the to do list, we decided to use our evening to make some pre-made dinners for the freezer. We gave ourselves a budget to spend, made a list and we were off.

We were so excited. Normally we dread cooking. Maybe the idea of coming home for 2 weeks of meals already made and not having to cook had something to do with that. We kept asking to ourselves out loud while giggling, "Are we total nerds for being so excited about this?

Recipe For: A fun Night with the one you love...

A little bubbly to spice it up- We are the non alcoholic type, but whatever makes it fun for you works. Sidenote: The Apple Wildberry Cider wasn't our favorite flavor. but it was ok.

Some Fun Music-

The one you love- Hopefully that one you love has cooking skills, that helps :)

A little Hoover- who leaves no dropped scrap uneaten resulting in a crumb free kitchen floor. This season's must have!

Less Dishes- Love that!!

Note- Try to plan meals that all use the same type of meat. We bought a 3 lb pack of extra lean hamburger. From that package we got 2 meatloafs (each pan can feed 2-4), 2 pans of enchiladas- each pan feeds 4-6, and 2 8x8 pans of Lasagna feeds 4. If it's just the two of you, you can look forward to leftovers for lunches or to stretch out your dinners even more.

Meatloaf - So easy!

Throw in a couple Potatoes to bake at the same time and whaala

1 1/2 lb. Ground Hamburger

1 egg

1/2 large onion- chopped

1/2 cup crushed bread crumbs-flavored crumbs make it tastey

1/4 cup swiss Cheese

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

Garlic Powder

pinch of Basil and Parsely for taste

1 1/2 TBsp Worchester Sauce

Mush it with your hands and throw in a bread pan

Little bit of Ketchup on top to keep it moist.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour

All wrapped up ready for the freezer.

Lasagna-

We also made White chicken enchiladas . It took us about 2 hours total to put together 8+ meals. Most large enough to feed us for more then one meal. I don't know about you but 1 good home cooked meal in the evening can talk up almost as much time. Try It!

Involve the Kids:alot of kids love to help, make it a family project. They can smash breadcrumbs, help sprinkle cheese etc.

Demarle Banana Bread

You know what it means when your bananas start looking like this...


Luckily I happened to receive the Demarle Pans I ordered in the mail this weekend. They are silicon (so non stick Yay!!) with glass woven throughout. Made in France. They are commercial grade that professional chef's use. That being said, you would think I cook a lot... um... yeah... sure... but I can say I'm all about easy, and boy these are like a dream. My sister sells them, when she came to visit last year she threw a party and did demos. I was in love with the product and finally ordered some at their end of the year sale.

This one is a muffin tray. You can make quiche, muffins etc. Keep them regular or flip them upside down for a decorative look.

Yeah.. so my camera is only half working... taking pictures crooked even though I line them up correctly.


The Mini Charlotte Tray- Little bite size goodness.

Kev and I call these poppers. Just grab a couple and pop them in your mouth. Cute & Decorative.

WORLD'S BEST JAM

I made my first ever batch of freezer jam. My dad happened to have 1 bag left of his secret stash of Loganberries. They are only grown in particular regions. He can only get them when he visit's Oregon and can fly them back. Homemade Loganberry jam really is the best jam. Sweet but still tart.

LoganBerry- thawed from the freezer. Looks kind of like a blackberry.

A bowl of thawed loganberries in their own juice ready to be made into jam.

The main ingredient :)

Stirring in the Pectin for consistency. Dad made a batch and I made a batch. He let me bring my batch back with me. What a guy to share the coveted berries!

Yep, the pink striped pants are back, and check out the cool apron. That was our father's day gift last year to the master chef from Disney World, so he could be the coolest grandpa ever.

Ready to go in the freezer. I couldn't believe how much simpler it was then I thought. Bring on the strawberries!

Fruit Pizza!

Kev had a Dessert contest at work. We called my dad the master chef and asked for the best of the best. He said, oh I know just the thing...

FRUIT PIZZA

Kev stayed up late making the crust and sauce, and I designed the fruit this morning before work.

The one stipulation to get our hands on this, is that the recipe is Secret, so no sharing it. But...

There is a tastey sweet crust

Cheesecake/cream cheese type layer

and a Tangy glaze

The fruit we used from the outside in was:

Blackberries

Kiwi

Pineapple tidbits

Red Grapes

Blueberries

Mandarin Oranges

Red Raspberries

Green Grapes

blueberries

Raspberry

You can do a different design everytime!

Iron Chef

"When the Moon hit's your eye like a big pizza pie..."

Husband is an amazing chef. He makes "creations" all the time, making up his own recipes, and I'm the lucky taste tester. In fact, he is such a great cook, I've reluctantly (who am I kidding, I have no time to cook!) handed over the cooking duties to him while I finish up school.

Here is last night's creation.



Ingredients:
1 regular boboli pizza crust. (they also make whole wheat)
Pesto Sauce, thinly spread on the crust. (Bertolli brand is amazing in any italian dish!)
Pizza sauce
Lightly dust with Garlic powder
1 1/2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced in long thin strips
handful of diced red peppers
handful of diced onion
Fresh grated romano and parmesian blend
5 cheeses blend shredded cheese
chopped up provolone cheese
chopped up cheddar cheese
(no worries it isn't cheese overload, just your average amount, but all mixed together)
Sprinkled with cilantro to finish it off.
optional- add a bit of oregano

It was amazing. My mouth is watering now.

Pumpkin muffins

I LOVE everything pumpkin! Pie, bread, muffins, bagels, creamcheese, icecream, cheesecake, etc.

I made these pumpkin muffins for a friend, and thought I'd share the recipe. It's REALLY easy and I am always on the lookout for easy fast recipes. Do you have any good ones to share?

Pumpkin Muffins

1 boxed spice cake mix

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (small can)

2 cups of chocolate chips (1 regular sized bag)

That's it! pour all the ingredients in a bowl and mix it together. Plop them cupcake tins 3/4 way full. (would also make great Bars or loafs of bread) I used a silpat decorative tray.

Optional: I dropped melted cream cheese frosting on the top with bits of chopped chocolate. Bake at 375 for 12+ minutes depending on how big the muffins are.