The cutest little snacks...

We're going to a Halloween party with our little friends today! I'm not gonna lie...these parties with my mommy friends and their kids is mostly about the food (as least for the moms ;0) We love a good potluck!  I'm sure the kids are only thinking about the candy! I found this recipe for pizza muffins. Perfect for little fingers (and little tummys) and they were soooo easy to make. I'm also bringing along these little white chocolate dipped ghost strawberries.

How cute are these!!

PIZZA MUFFINS

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mini pepperonis
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Sift together flour, baking powder, and Italian seasoning. Stir in milk and egg until smooth. Mix in the cheeses and pepperoni.

I used a mini muffin tin. Fill muffins about 3/4 full. It makes about 24 muffins.

Bake at 375 degree for about 15 mins.

Transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve with some pizza dipping sauce. Enjoy!!

The belly rules the mind. ~Spanish Proverb

The LAST Banana Bread Recipe You Will EVER Need

Don't throw out those "too ripe" bananas!! Throw them in the freezer. They make the BEST banana bread. At our house we rarely eat the last one or two bananas on the bunches we buy. We like bananas when they are still a little green. So needless to say, I have a freezer full of frozen bananas! My husband loves banana bread...so I pulled out my bananas from the freezer the other day and let them thaw on the counter. (Warning...this process is disgusting looking!) Went to get my banana bread recipe and couldn't find it!! So I began my internet search for a new one and found this one (with a few of my own adjustments) that sounded interesting since it had sour cream in it instead of milk. Now I'm glad I lost my recipe...this is seriously the best banana bread I have ever had!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 3-4 medium bananas, (or about 1 cup mashed)

Directions

Preheat over to 350. Grease 3 mini loaf pans (which I prefer) or one 9 x 5 loaf pan. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and vinegar and mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Fold in the sour cream and mashed bananas. Spread evenly into pan(s). Bake in preheated over for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!!

Never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, eat your breakfast first. ~Unknown

 

 

 



My New Favorite Soup...Loaded Baked Potato!

Have I mentioned how much I love my crockpot?! So much so that the knob has fallen off and the handle is broken...still does the job though! A new one is on my Christmas list for Santa ;0)
I tried out this new soup recipe last night and it is AMAZING! It is super filling though so don't make the mistake I did and eat too much...you will have a stomach ache!

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs. pototoes, NOT peeled

1/2 large yellow onion

5 whole garlic cloves

3 cups chicken stock

1 can cream of chicken soup (sorry...forgot to put in the picture)

8 oz. cream cheese

salt & pepper (to your liking)

Garnish:

shredded cheese

bacon

anything else you like to put on your baked potatoes (I wouldn't recommend sour cream...this is already creamy enough)

Dice the potatoes into about 1/2 in. cubes

Chop up the onion...I let my Pampered Chef chopper do the dirty work

Add potatoes, onion, WHOLE garlic cloves, chicken stock, cream of chicken soup & salt and pepper to the crockpot. Cook on high for about 3 hours then switch it to low for another 2 hours.

After about 5 hours fish out the whole garlic cloves and about 1/3 of the soup and puree. I LOVE my Magic Bullet...this thing is so handy!

Add the puree back to the crockpot and stir in the cream cheese. Cook on low for about another hour, stiring occasionally.

Dish up and garnish with your favorite toppings. Serve it with a nice crisp salad and a crunchy baguette.

Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup ~ Bennett Cerf

Pumpkin Cake!!

I LOVE baking with Pumpkin in the Fall. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, cookies...anything...I love it! Today I decided to make pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. I think I'll need to make my husband take some to work or deliver some to neighbors, otherwise I might sit here and eat the whole pan!

For the Pumpkin Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus!!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(and one little "helper" if you so desire)

Preheat the over to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Combine eggs, sugar, oil & pumpkin in large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth.

Hand mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt & baking soda.

Cream together the wet and dry ingrediants until just mixed. Do not overmix.

Pour in baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean)

Let cool completely.

While the cake is cooling cream together softened cream cheese, butter & vanilla.

Sift in confectioners’ sugar and stir until smooth.

For the heck of it I added a little bit of orange food coloring!

Don't forget to lick the spoon ;0)

Spread frosting on to cooled cake.

Or garnish with a few walnuts and enjoy!!

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter. ~Carol Bishop Hipps

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen