Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

I have yet to make something with pumpkin this fall season, and I needed a recipe that included cranberries for The What's Cooking Ingredient Challenge. This was my first time using fresh cranberries. I was a little worried what consistency would be like because they were so firm....but I am so glad I went with fresh. The flavor and consistency came out great in the pumpkin bread.

Adapted from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1.5 cup fresh cranberries, cut in half

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and orange juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Monkey Bread

Can you tell it is getting colder out since most of my recent post have been sweets? Tis the season...to put on weight! Anyway, I have heard of monkey bread but have never tried it. I saw this on Pioneer Woman's blog and I figured I couldn't go wrong using her recipe. I was right...it was wonderful. And as with most things I make...it was easy. My only worry was my pan because I did not have a metal one. I have 2 bundt cake pans, one stoneware and one silicone. I went with the silicon and had no problem with anything sticking. I also submitted to the What's Cooking Ingredient Challenge.

From Pioneer Woman

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cans of Buttermilk Biscuits (the non-flaky ones)
1 cup sugar
bundt cake pan

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut biscuits into quarters.

Combine the 1 cup of regular sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.

Spread these nuggets out evenly in your bundt pan.

Melt two sticks of butter together with 1/2cup of brown sugar. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Stir together over a medium-high heat until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.

Bake this @ 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep brown on top. It should like like this.


Here is a picture of it fresh out of the oven and waiting to be turned over.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Honestly this is not much of a recipe...it is more of opening cans and throwing them in the slow cooker. But you know what...it sure is good! I added a few extra spices - salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes and smoked paprika. This is prefect for Sunday Football! I also submitted this recipe as part of Joelen's Tasty Tools - Slow Cooker event.

From Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
crushed tortilla chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Fall Exchange 2009

I participated in a gift exchanged and the lovely Joelen sent me these from my wishlist that was organized through Elfster. Thank you very much! If any of you have a great trifle recipe please let me know!

Pizza Dip

Another ugly (hence the small photo), yet tasty dish. This dip was pretty much gone before it was time to eat the main food. I've also submitted this to the What's Cooking Ingredient Challenge.

Adapted from Kraft Foods

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

3/4 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni

Frito Scoops

DIRECTIONS

In a 8X8 dish smoothly layer cream cheese with a spatula. Layer on pizza sauce, then chopped pepperoni and top with shredded cheese.

Microwave until hot and bubbly...about 4 minutes.

Serve with Frito Scoops.

Pizza Pasta

This is a dish I like to throw together using what I have on hand. You could certainly add other pizza like toppings such as onions, peppers and mushrooms...but I don't like all that stuff. I also made this recipe for the What's Cooking Ingredient Challenge.

INGREDIENTS

1 16 ounce box of pasta, cooked and drained

2 jars spaghetti sauce (or make your own)
1.25 pounds of ground turkey
2 cups chopped pepperoni

2 cups Italian mix shredded cheese, divided
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

salt

pepper

garlic powder

Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook ground turkey with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Drain fat if necessary. Add in spaghetti sauce and pepperoni. Simmer if you have the time.

Add sauce and meat mixture to cooked pasta and mix well.

In a 9x13 baking dish layer half of you pasta mixture. Layer 1 1/4 cup Italian mix shredded cheese. Layer the rest of your pasta mixture and top with 3/4 cup Italian mix shredded cheese and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until cheese is nice and melted.

Tomato Pie

I made this as part of the What's Cooking Ingredient Challenge. I had my eye on this recipe for a while, and once again because of this challenge I was give the push to make it. It was incredible. I was unable to get my hands on homegrown tomatoes. But at $5 a pound I used heirloom tomatoes. I wanted to make sure I had a good quality tomato for this. My only problem was my bottom crust didn't cook all the way. Next time I will bake the bottom crust for a little while before piling in everything.

Adapted from Bakin' and Eggs, who adapted if from Christ Church Cooks

INGREDIENTS

1 double 9-inch pie crust (homemade or Pillsbury)
4-5 tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1-2 large garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

crumbled bacon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together cheeses, mayonnaise, garlic and salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with one pie crust, trimming sides if necessary. Layer half of the sliced tomatoes in the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle with fresh basil. Spread (or dollop) half of the cheese mixture over tomatoes and basil.

Repeat another layer of tomato, basil and cheese. Place second crust over the top of the pie and prick with a fork.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Check on crust after 20-30 minutes and cover edges of crust with foil if they are getting too brown.

Cool, slice and serve with crumbled bacon on top.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Blueberry Crumb Cake

I have wanted to make this recipe for a loooong time. And finally thanks to blueberries being on sale, and blueberries being chosen for the ingredient for our WC Ingredient Challenge I no longer had an excuse not to make it. I wish I had made it sooner. It was fabulous. The only change I made was I cooked mine an 8X8 dish for 55 minutes and I didn't not use all my crumb topping.

From Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa

INGREDIENTS

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

I WON! Gourmet Getaway Lunch Tote by Built

I swear I do not enter every blog giveaway out there. But I was lucky again and won this Gourmet Getaway Lunch Tote by Built. This was given away by Joelen at Joelen's Culinary Adventures. Check out her blog for some great recipes, ideas, party menus, giveaways and so much more! Thank you Joelen!

I WON! See's Candy Giveaway

I can't believe it, but I won another giveaway. This one was from Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats. I won a $25 See's Candy gift card. With my gift card I got 2 boxes of "Awesome Nut and Chew Bars" and a chocolate bunny. Thank you Jaime!

I WON! Banana Nut Cheerios Giveaway

I won again! I was lucky enough to win a Blog Giveaway from Carrie's Sweet Life. The prize was Banana Nut Cheerios giveaway. It included a box of Banana Nut Cheerios, banana tree with fruit basket, two cereal bowls and a bread pan. Thank you Carrie for hosting this giveaway!

My Custom Header

Like my header? I love it! I was lucky enough to win a blog giveaway from Get in my Belly. My fabulous header was created by a friend of hers, Valerie. She also does monograms and candy wrappers. Valerie was GREAT to work with and so was her work. Check out her website, Custom Printables, and her blog. Thank you to both Beth and Valerie.