Pumpkin Muffins & Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's another 2 recipes in 1 post. Both SO yummy!
Pumpkin Muffins

3 Eggs
1 c. Sugar
2/3 c. Pumpkin
3/4 c. Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Cloves
1/4 tsp. Salt

Preheat oven to 375'. Grease well a mini-muffin pan. Cream together the Eggs, Sugar, and Pumpkin. Then add all the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Once mixed fill each mini-muffin hole 3/4 of the way full with the batter. Bake for 8-10 min. Once they are done baking, quickly and carefully pull each mini-muffin out of the pan and let cool to allow for the frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting

2 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Tbs. Butter
1 Tbs Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
Powdered Sugar

Blend together the Cream Cheese and the Butter. Then add the milk and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar until it reaches your desired constancy. If it tastes good and it is easy to handle then you got it right. If it is still too thick, just add a little more milk.
Put the frosting in a plastic zipper bag. Trim the corner of the bag and gently squeeze the frosting out on the cooled muffins in swirls starting from the middle and work to the outside. Or just be simple and frost them like regular cupcakes, either way they will still taste great!



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. Sugar
1 c. Pumpkin
1/2 c. Oil
1 Egg
2 c. Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1-2 c. Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375' and lightly grease cookie sheets. Cream together Sugar, Pumpkin, Oil, and Egg. Sift together Flour, Salt, Cinnamon, Baking Powder, and Baking Soda and add to the creamed mixture. Add the Milk and Vanilla, then gradually add the Chocolate Chips (Mini Chocolate Chips work great also!). Drop by spoonfuls and bake for 10-12 min.

Pumpkin Brains

This is a dish that we would always have for Halloween. It is so yummy and make sure you scrape the side of the pumpkin to get the yummy side of pumpkin that tastes great with the rice. This is what is looks like before it is cooked...

Here it is cooked. It may fall more depending how long you bake it.




Heres the rice "stuffing".

Pumpkin Brains

1 Med. Pumpkin (clean all seeds out)

3 c. Cooked Rice-

(Al dente. Don't over cook the rice cause it will cook more inside the pumpkin)
1 lbs. Hambuger or Sausage (cooked)

1 Carrot (shredded)

1 Celery (chopped)

1 Small Onion (chopped)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom
1 c. Sour Cream

Cook the rice and fry the hambuger/sasuage and drain the grease. Sautee the carrots, cellery, and onions. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together, including the cream of mushroom and sour cream. Scoop the rice mixture into the pumpkin.

Bake at 400' for 45-60 min.





Look what else you can do with the rice mixture. Make Stuffed Bell Peppers.
Bake 350' for 10-12 min. Add shredded cheese on top of course to make it super yummy!

Monkey Bread

Yemp, these are Super Yummy, and so easy to make! (and its the same dough recipe as the Super-Duper Pizza Dough recipe!) Monkey Bread

1 envelope Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 tsp. Sugar

3/4 c. luke warm Water

1 3/4 c. Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

Mix the yeast, sugar and water. Let it bubble. Then add the flour and salt. Beat for 5 min.

Once the dough is made, pinch off little balls about 1 in. big.

Now you need to prepare 2 bowls:

Melt about 1/2 stick of butter in a bowl.

In another bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbs. cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg or what ever spices you love to combine with cinnamon.

Dip the balls first into the melted butter, then roll in the sugar mixture. Place the sugar-coated balls in a 8 x 8 greased pan. Let the balls rise for 10 min. Bake at 350' for 10 min. Drizzle frosting on the warm Monkey Bread to let it melt into the cracks. Yummy!

Frosting

2 oz. Cream Cheese

2 TBS. Butter

1 tsp Milk

1 tsp Vanilla*

Powdered Sugar

Whip together the cream cheese and butter. Add the milk and the vanilla to make a little bit runnier. Slowly add powdered sugar to the mixture until you have the consistancy you want, or until it tastes good.

(*I added a 1/4 tsp. of Maple Extract to the frosting instead of Vanilla to make a good "breakfast" flavor to it also)

French Pancakes & Maple Syrup

Heres 2 recipes in one post perfect for Breakfast. Homemade Maple Syrup and French Pancakes. Now the recipe for the pancakes can be thined out with more milk to make an almost crepe batter as shown in the bottom picture. Either way they are yummy!
Maple Syrup

(Now you can switch the 2 cups of white sugar with 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar)

2 C. White Sugar
1 C. Water

Combine, stir, and let boil in a thick pot for a little over 5 min. Watch the mixture, when the bubbles and liquid turn to a clear color, remove from heat.
Add 1 TBS Maple Extract.
Let cool and enjoy.
Double if needed.






French Pancakes

1 C. Flour
1/2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Milk

Mix all the ingredients together. Cook on a hot oiled griddle turning once to brown both sides. Serve with warm Maple Syrup.

To make a crepe like batter, add 1/2 C. more milk for a thinner batter.
Fill with jam or fresh fruit and creme cheese. Roll the pancake around filling and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 8 - 12 pancakes

Hootananny Pancakes

Hootananny Pancakes

Preheat oven to 425 deg.

Melt 1 cube of butter in a 9 x 13 pan while you mix the batter.

1 C. Flour

1 C. Milk

6 eggs

1/2 t. salt

opt. cinnamon

Pour batter into pan with the melted butter, without stiring.

Bake for 12 - 15 min.

Sing: Hootananny, Hottananny, Hoot, Hoot, Hoot!

These are really good with my homemade syrup ontop! Make sure the kids are around when they come out of the oven to see how puffy they get!

Mexi Eggrolls

We had an enrichment potluck night. The theme was any recipie that had beans in it. Well someone brought these Mexi Eggrolls. It sounds kinda funny, but they are AWSOME!

2 1/2 cups shredded chicken

1 1/2 cups shredded mexican cheese

2/3 cup corn

2/3 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

5 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup cliantro, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp grated lime peel

1 pkg eggroll wraps

oil for frying

Dip:

1 cup ranch dressing

2 ripe avocados

1 T cilantro, chopped

1 tsp grated lime peel

In a large bowl, combine first 9 ingredients. Place a spoon ful of filling in each wrap and roll up. Fry in oil 2 min on each side. Combine dip ingerdients. Serve with eggrolls. Enjoy!

Zucchini Enchiladas

Zucchini Enchiladas

3/4 c. onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 c. grated zucchini
2 TBS. water

Cook until tender. Drain.
Add 1 can of green chilis.

Meanwhile, make a Spicy Sauce.

2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
1-2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch of pepper
1 C. milk
Cook, then stir in 1 cup of cheese.

Stir 1/3 of the sauce into the zucchini mixture.
Fill flour tortillas and roll. Put in a 9x13 pan. Once the pan is filled, pour the rest of the spicy sauce on top of the tortilla rolls. Top with more cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 min.

Homemade Laundry Detergent!

Laundry Detergent

1 laundry bar, any brand, grated up finely
1 1/2 cups Borax
3 cups Washing Soda

After you have grated the laundry bar, combine the Borax and Washing Soda in a large bowl.
All you need is 1 Tablespoon of the detergent for a normal size load. If you have heavier soiled clothes or a larger load use 2 Tbs. Be sure to store it in an airtight container, which I use used icecream or licorice buckets. Works great and love to recycle containers.

There are only 3 ingredients in this laundry detergent. No fillers or harmful chemicals in it. You know exactly what is in it! You can find all the ingredients in the same soap isle. Use any brand of laundry bar that is avaliable. It really has no fragrance in it either. But if you want your laundry to smell pretty you can add a few drops of essential oils to the water. You can buy a 2 year supply of detergent for under $50. How about that kind of savings!

Super-Duper Pizza Recipie

Pizza Crust

1 envelope Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp. Sugar
3/4 c. luke warm Water
1 3/4 c. Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt

Mix the yeast, sugar and water. Let it bubble. Then add the flour and salt. Beat for 5 min. Roll out on your pan. Add all the rest or your pizza toppings, (sauce, cheese, exc.). Bake 475 deg. for 12- 15 min.

My sister, Brooke gave me this pizza recipie. She told me how good it was and so I wanted to try it out...Wow... This IS the best home-made pizza crust that I have had, so I want to share it. As you can tell it was half way gone before I pulled the camera out to capture the moment. All the other home-made crusts that I have had were always toasted on the outside and doughy in the middle. Not this one. Perfectly cooked!...Try it out!

Mother Goose Popcorn

Mother Goose Popcorn

2 C. sugar
2 Tbs. butter
3/4 C. milk
6 qts. Popped Corn
food coloring

Mix sugar, butter, and milk- cook to a firm soft-ball stage*. (See Note at the bottom) Once you reach the stage, add your choice of food coloring. Add popcorn- mix well. Let cool on cookie sheet. Can roll into balls. Store in an air tight container.

This is my moms recipie that we had growing up. It is so fun to eat andeasy to make. You can change to color for different occasions. Fun stuff!

*Firm soft-ball stage- get a small cup and fill it with cool water. Then take a spoonful of the sauce and drop a small drop into the water. At this stage, the drop should hold its shape and make a little soft ball.

Gift Basket Ideas

For all those uncrafty people a Gift Basket is so easy to put together and pretty afforadable as well. Here are some ideas...

Movie Night
put in a popcorn bowl,
Family DVD, microwave popcorn, popcorn seasoning, theater size candy, 2 lt. pop, 3D glasses

Indulgent Chocolate
Truffles, anything chocolate covered, hot chocolate, chocolate covered spoons or straws, chocolate syrup

Cozy Night
Hot chocolate, mini marshmallows, insulated cups or mugs, candy canes, whipped cream, soft blanket

Snack Time
Nutella, frosting tub, pretzels, vanilla waffers, dried fruit, gram crackers, cookies

Sundae
Sprinkles, nuts, syrups, cherries, ice cream cones, ice cream scoop, sundae bowls

In The Garden
In a terra cotta pot,
Gardening gloves, snippers, veggie seeds, flower seed/bulbs, sprinkler, windchims, plant markers, fertalizer, bug spray, kneeling pad

From the Garden
Canned foods like relishes, pickles, soups, veggies, dehydrated foods as well, recipie cards

From the Orchard
Canned fruits like apples, peaches, pears, berries

Jams and Jelly Basket
Any homemade jams or jellies, loaf of homemade bread

Baby Shower
Diaper Cake, diapers, wipies, pacifiers, baby wash, powders, lotions, burp rags, diaper pins, baby brush, bottles, stuffed animal, toys, baby blanket

Bath and Body
(for man or woman)
Soaps, perfume/collogne, body wash, brushes, candles, back scratcher, razors, shaving cream, sponge, rolled up bath towel, bath mit, massage oil, lotions, bath salts, bubble bath, rubber ducky

Date Night
Cologne, body wash, gum, chapstick, Movie Tickets, Resturant Certificate

Picnic Basket
In a cute wicker basket
Plastic plates and utincles, pop, chips, buns, condiments, table cloth

Glamour Girl
Tutu, bows, ribbons, gloves, tiara, lipgloss, anil polish, feather boa

Cookie Baker
In a mixing bowl or cookie jar
Cookie cutters, cookie recipie, sprinkles, nuts, chocolate chips, frosting, extracts

Barbeque
On a platter,
BBQ utincles, apron, potholders, cook book, skewers, meat tenderizer, BBQ Sauce, BBQ brush, Rub seasoning

Person Who Has Everything
Chocolate, gormet cookies, movie tickets, Resturant , Spa, Fittness Center or Magizine Subscription

Teacher
Bulletin board boarders, cute notepads, sticker, glue, glue sticks, erasers, pencils

Bread Basket
Any homemade breads like zucchini, bananna, shortbread, Amish bread, with jelly/jam, honey, honeybutter

Breakfast
Wrapped in a castiron fry pan and hand towel:
Pancake Mix, syrups, juice, jam, honey

Off to College
In a laundry basket or bag:
Roll of quarters, small laundry soap, laundry bag, spot remover, dryer sheets, directions how to do basic laundry, bath towel, iron, room deodorizer

Pamper Basket
Candles, bubblebath, bath soaps, body spray, small box of chocolates, vitamin E cream or cocoa butter, sponge

Dinner in a basket
In a collinder:
Pasta in a mason jar tied with a ribbon, Gormet pasta sauce, Shaker cheese, clove of garlic, Italian Seasoning, pasta or wooden spoon, candles, french bread loaf, gormet cookies

Man Basket
Jerky, beef sticks, cheese, pepper rings or spread, crackers, cookies, candy bars, hard candy, pop gatorade or drink mix, gum

Make it into a Hiking basket
add trail mix, compass, bug repelant, sun screen, ect.

Kids Crafting
Assorted papers, coloring books, crayons, coloring pencils, washable markers, stickers, paint box and brushes, kid proof sizzors, pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes, sprinkles, elmers glue

Holiday
In an Festive Basket
Matching plates, napkins, cups, nixed nuts, nut cracker, cookies, cheese ball, sasuage stick, crackers, Christmas CD, tree decorations

Car Wash
Tire gauge, motor oil, car wash gel, turtle wax, chamois, squeegee, milage log and pen, travel mug, fragrant mirror hangers, car wipies

Spicy Lovers
Spices: cayenne, black pepper, white pepper, crushed red pepper, chili powder, papricka, chili sauce, fresh peppers, recipies, Pepto Bismol

Young at Heart
Silly puddy, magnets, magnifing glass, yo-yo, paper airplane kit, kite, kaleideo scope, puzzles, rubix cube

Chinese Lovers
Tea Set, Cookbook, cleaver, chopsticks, dried mushrooms, soy sauce, plum sauce, sweet & sour sauce, mandrine oranges, Thai noodles, sliced almonds, Jasmine rice

Survival/ 72hr Kits
In a water proof container or backpack
Water bottles, compass, flashlights, whistles, glow sticks, freeze-dried foods or MRE's, rolled coins, razors, light rope, tarp, sewing kit, desposable toothbrushes, trail mix, water tablets, chapstick, asprin (this list can go on and on...)