Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate

A few weeks ago we had some pretty chilly temps here in FL.  Right when I got home for work (on the one day it was cold) I made sure to light candles, bring out the blankets and made some hot chocolate.  I didn't just want the usual hot chocolate and I remembered this recipe from Pinterest.  It's from one of my favorite sites, Cookies and Cups.   Took only a few minutes to make and was a great spin on the old boring hot chocolate! Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter?  It's one of my favorite combinations.  So, when I cam across this easy recipe I knew I had to try it.  Of course, I first found the recipe on Pinterest.  It was easy to make.  Make sure the dough is cooked through all the way before you take them out.  I had to leave mine in a bit longer.  These treats are very rich.   Just a small piece did it for me.  These would be great to cut into small pieces and serve at a party. Enjoy! 

1 (18.25) package plain yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) Combine cake mix, melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs in a large bowl using a mixer or spoon. Press this into a 9X13 pan reserving 1 1/2 cup of the mixture to crumble on top.

3) In a small pot, melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
4) Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 cups of reserved cake mixture on top evenly.
5) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Almond Chicken Casserole

Last weekend my mom was in town spending some quality time with me.  We had spend the day out and about on Sunday and I realized I had nothing planned for dinner.  Luckily, we were at Super Target and I have an All Recipes app on my phone.  It took me less than 5 minutes to find this recipe and all of the ingredients I needed for it.  Oh how I love technology! Since the recipe makes TONS, I cut it in half.  It still provided lots of food for hubs and I.  Next time I make it, it will probably be for a get together.  

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
• 3 cups water
• 5 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts
• 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 cups cornflakes cereal
• 1 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In a large bowl stir together the cooked rice, diced chicken, mayonnaise, yogurt, cream of mushroom soup, and chicken broth. Mix in the lemon juice, onion, water chestnuts, 1 cup of sliced almonds, and celery. Season with white pepper and salt. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
4. In a bowl, toss the remaining 1/2 cup sliced almonds and cornflakes cereal with the melted butter. Spread evenly over the casserole.
5. Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

It's been a while since I've made a recipe from AllRecipes.com.  I used to go on the site all the time to find recipes, but with Pinterest I haven't had to do that much searching.  This week I wanted to use a pork tenderloin that I already had purchased.  I'm trying my best to plan recipes with food we have to save $. I knew I wanted a slow cooker/ crock pot recipe, so that is what I searched for. When I came across this recipe, my searched stopped. I have to give credit to my sweet husband for making this creation.  He was off today, so he volunteered to make dinner.  Sweet, right?  He said he did double the recipe, as it was recommended by many reviews.  This pork was amazing.  No knife was needed, but it wasn't falling apart coming out of the crock pot.  He served it with mashed potatoes and broccoli. This was an A+ dinner! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 fresh red chile pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 large onion, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown tenderloins on all sides, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together teriyaki sauce, chicken broth, and brown sugar in a bowl. Stir in garlic, red chile pepper, onion, and black pepper.
2. Put browned tenderloins into slow cooker, cover with the teriyaki sauce mixture. Cook on High for about 4 hours, turning 2 to 3 times during the cooking time to ensure even doneness.
3. Remove tenderloins from the slow cooker and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. If desired, spoon liquid over slices when serving.

Cheesy Cornbread Casserole

This casserole reminded me of the cowboy casserole that I recently made. Mr. liked that one so much, I decided to give this one a try too. It's the same kind of meal, meat at the bottom with a bread topping. This recipe used cornbread from the box, which I'm not a huge fan of.  So, I wasn't in love with this meal.  But, Mr. enjoyed it, and that is all that matters.  Click on the recipe below to go to the original Kraft recipe.  

  Cheesy Cornbread Casserole

what you need

1 lb. lean ground beef

1   onion, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, finely chopped

1 can  (15 oz.) enchilada sauce

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained

1 tsp.  garlic powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 pkg.  (8.5 oz.) corn muffin mix

1 pkg. KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided

make it

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BROWN meat with onions and peppers in large skillet. Stir in next 4 ingredients; cook and stir 3 min. or until heated through. Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish.

PREPARE muffin batter as directed on package; stir in cheese. Spread over meat mixture.

BAKE 20 min. or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread topping comes out clean. Cool slightly.

Cheesy Potato Soup

I've been on a soup and crockpot kick lately.  The weather here has been a little cooler which makes me want to eat warm cozy meals.  Soup= warm and cozy.  I love potato soup, but have never made it at home.  I usually just go to Panera.  After finding this recipe from Betty Crocker and noticing there weren't too many ingredients I decided to give it a try.  Actually, I asked hubs to give it a try since he was off work the day it was on the menu =-).  He said it was pretty easy to throw together.  It was also a very cheap meal that ended up providing dinner for us for two nights.  I was in love with this soup. In my opinion,  it gives Panera a run for their money.  I will say that if you like your potato soup with pieces of potato, this is not the soup for you.  The potatoes were very soft, which I loved.  Hubs also enjoyed this meal.  At first, he asked "where's the meat?".  But, he was definitely satisfied once dinner was finished.  We usually only take leftovers for lunch, like I said before, we ate this two nights in a row.   Do yourself a favor and make this recipe, you'll be a hero in your house! Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

1

bag (32 oz) frozen southern-style diced hash brown potatoes, thawed

1/2

cup frozen chopped onion (from 12-oz bag), thawed

1

medium stalk celery, diced (1/2 cup)

1

carton (32-oz) Progresso® chicken broth

1

cup water

3

tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1

cup milk

1

bag (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend (2 cups)

1/4

cup real bacon pieces (from 2.8-oz package)

4

medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

1. In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, onion, celery, broth and water.
2. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.
3. In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish individual servings with bacon and green onions. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.

Makes 6 servings (1 1/2 cups each)

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

This treat has been floating all over pinterest lately. Here is the recipe I used as my guide.   I decided to make them at the last minute to take to work for my team. I followed normal rice krispie treat directions.  After the marshmallow is melted, I added yellow and red food coloring to create the orange marshmallow.  I added the rice krispies and made sure they were coated with marshmallow.  After the mixture had cooled a bit I shaped a handful of the mixture into a round ball.  I used a Tootsie Roll as the stem and stuck it in the middle of the ball.  I used green icing to make the leaf and vine.  I will say that these were a lot easier to make than I thought they would be.  Enjoy! 

Cowboy Casserole

I love making casseroles.  Anything that takes a few minutes to prepare then goes directly into the oven gets an A in my book.  I came across this Betty Crocker recipe a month or so back while searching for casserole dishes.  I thought that hubs would love it, so I printed and saved it.  I needed a ground meat meal to complete my menu last week and added this one.  I liked this meal and even went back for seconds.  My favorite part was the meat and bean mixture.  Hubs LOVED this meal and went back for a large serving of seconds.  His favorite part was the biscuit mixture on top.  Enjoy! 

1

lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1

can (16 oz) baked beans

1/2

cup barbecue sauce

2

cups Original Bisquick® mix

2/3

cup milk

1

tablespoon butter or margarine, softened

1/2

cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 oz)

1. Heat oven to 425°F. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.
2. Stir baked beans and barbecue sauce into beef. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole.
3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk and butter until soft dough forms.
4. Drop dough by 12 spoonfuls onto beef mixture.
5. Bake uncovered 18 to 22 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake about 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Makes 6 servings (1 1/4 cups each)

Pumpkin Chili

Pumpkin Chili

1/2 cup chopped onion 

1 cup chopped red bell pepper 

1 clove garlic, finely chopped 

1 lb. ground turkey 

2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained 

1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin 

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce 

1 can (15.25 oz.) kidney beans, drained 

1 can (4 oz.) ORTEGA Diced Green Chiles 

1/2 cup whole kernel corn 

1 tablespoon chili powder 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Brown the meat then throw everything in the crock pot for 3 1/2 hours on high.

  Love this spin on chili!

Halloween Sweet & Salty Bites

I've seen pictures floating around Pinterest using these three ingredients to make sweet treats.  I love the sweet and salty combination, so I added them to my "Must Make" list.  I made them last week for D to take to work.  I may have eaten a handful before I bagged them up for him to take.  They were that good!

Halloween Treats! 

Ingredients:

Square Pretzels (I used the butter snaps)

Hershey Kisses 

Candy Corn

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place pretzels on cookie sheet, not touching. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses and place on top of pretzels. Place cookie sheet in oven. Bake for about 4 minutes or until the kisses are shiny.  When you take them out of the oven,  gently place candy corn on top of Hershey Kisses.  Press down gently.  Cool and then transfer to your desired serving dish. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Halloween Cups

I made these cups at one of my recent Pampered Chef parties.  The recipe uses 4 of my top selling (and favorite) PC products: the mini muffin pan, small scoop, tart shaper and easy accent decorator.  I use all three at least once a week.  These tasty bites cost less than $5.00 to make and your guest will come back for more, guaranteed! 

Ingredients: 

Dark Chocolate Cake Mix

1 egg

1/2  cup (or 1 stick)melted butter

Vanilla Frosting 

Red & Yellow Food Coloring

Directions: 

1. Melt your butter, add the cake mix and then the egg and mix together in the classic batter bowl. You'll have to put some muscle into the mixing.  

2. Once you get your  dough, simply scoop dough into a mini muffin pan. using the small scoop.  

3. Bake at 350* for 8-10 min 

4. When your cups come out of the oven they will be slightly brown, spray your mini tart shaper with cooking spray to help them not stick and press down the center of each cup. 

Once all the tops are pressed down, move to a cooling rack.

Once the cups have cooled, fill with your favorite frosting using the easy accent decorator.   

*Use the red and yellow food coloring to make the orange frosting for the festive cups.  

*You can use any cake mix and frosting combination for a variety of sweet treats!

Jalapeño Macaroni & Ham Bake

 If I could rename this recipe, I'd call it Grown Up Mac & Cheese.  A few weeks back I bought mac & cheese because it was BOGO at Publix.  I remembered coming across some Betty Crocker recipes using the deluxe box that looked pretty darn good.  After I got home from the store, I went back to my inbox to find the recipes.  I chose this one because hubs loves hot & spicy food.  I was trying to be a thoughtful wife =-).  I was also already using canadian bacon for another recipe, so this also allowed me to use food I already had at home (and saved me some $).  I LOVED this dinner.  Using the pepper jack cheese is a must.  It gave it the perfect kick.  Mixed with cheesy pasta and crunchy crackers, I couldn't get enough.  I didn't add the garlic or onions because I didn't think it needed it.  You'll definitely love this recipe! 

What You Need
2 pkg. (7-1/4 oz. each) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 Tbsp.  oil
15 slices OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Honey Ham, chopped (I used Canadian Bacon)
1 small  red onion, finely chopped (Omitted)
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, chopped
2 clove  garlic, minced (Omitted)
4 eggs, beaten
4   KRAFT Big Slice Pepper Jack Cheese Slice, coarsely chopped
18 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup  fresh parsley, chopped


Make It

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PREPARE Dinners in large saucepan as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat oil in medium skillet on medium heat. Add ham, onions, peppers and garlic; cook 5 min., stirring frequently.

ADD ham mixture to Dinners with eggs and chopped cheese; mix lightly. Mix cracker crumbs and parsley; stir half into Dinner mixture. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining crumb mixture.

BAKE 35 min. or until center is set and casserole is heated through.