Pumpkin Spice Cake

Ingredients
Cake:
1 box spice cake mix
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree

Topping:
1/2 c flour
4 tbsp cold butter
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2- 2 tsp cinnamon

Other:
Cinnamon and white sugar mix to sprinkle over pan

Process:
Preheat oven to 350.
1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together spice cake mix and pumpkin puree. 
2. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over the pan, shake to cover bottom and sides.
3. Pour batter into pan. 
4. In a small bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon.  Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Sprinkle over top of batter.
5.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.

**Can also be made as muffins.  Bake only for 15-18 minutes.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples

I fixed this for the first time for dinner tonight and it was delicious!  I will definitely make it again.

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I didn't have any nutmeg, so did 1/8 tsp ground allspice)
4 boneless pork chops
2 tbsp butter
2 c thinly sliced unpeeled Gala apples
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c apple cider or apple juice (I used juice)
1 tsp thyme

Preparation
1.  Heat large pan over medium heat.  Combine first 5 ingredients (salt-nutmeg) and sprinkle it evenly over the pork.  Coat the pan with cooking spray.  Add pork to pan and cook on each side until cooked through. 
2.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a separate pan.  Add apple slices and 1/8 tsp salt.  Saute for four minutes until apples start to brown.  Add apple cider (juice) to the pan and cook for two minutes until apple is crisp and tender.  Stir in thyme.  Serve apple mixture over the pork.

I served it with green beans, Stove Top stuffing and yeast rolls.  Yum!!

Three Cheese Penne Florentine

Ingredients

• 1  teaspoon  olive oil
• Cooking spray
• 3  cups  thinly sliced mushrooms
• 1  cup  chopped onion (I left this out and it was still good!)
• 1  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 3  cups  chopped fresh spinach
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  (16-ounce) carton  low-fat cottage cheese
• 4  cups  hot cooked penne (about 8 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)
• 2  cups  shredded cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  2% reduced-fat milk
• 1  (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach, oregano, and black pepper; sauté 3 minutes or just until spinach wilts.

Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Barbie Cups aka "Beefkins"

I got the recipe for Barbie Cups from one of my roommates at UNCW.  It's simple and delicious!!  I took it to small group one night and they renamed it "Beefkins", which is a combination of beef and muffins...?  Too funny!  Anyway, no matter what they're called, they're usually a hit!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can biscuits
1/2 c BBQ sauce
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Instructions:
1. Brown the ground beef, drain.
2. Stir in BBQ sauce and brown sugar, mix.
3. Meanwhile, roll out the biscuits flat.
4. Using a greased muffin pan, press the biscuits into the bottom of each cup, allowing the extra to come up over the sides of the cup.

An idea of what this should look like...

5. Put a scoop of the BBQ beef mixture into each biscuit cup.  Top with cheddar cheese.
6. Follow baking time and temperature on the biscuits.

Blueberry Crisp

 Ingredients
3 large containers fresh rinsed blueberries
2 tbsp+1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c quick-cooking oats
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 c sliced almonds
Vanilla icecream or Cool Whip

What to do
Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse blueberries. Drain, allowing some water to cling to berries. Place berries in 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon; stir to blend. Let stand until sugar dissolves and coats berries. Stir oats, flour, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar to blend in medium bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips or fork until moist clumps form. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over blueberries. Bake crisp until berries are bubbling and topping is golden, about 35 minutes. Serve warm, each serving topped with a spoonful of icecream or Cool Whip.

**Personally, I like to almost double the amount of topping made.  It's really up to you!

Pumpkin Crunch

This is a yummy fall recipe with one of my favorite ingredients: pumpkin!

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can solid packed pumpkin
1 can fat free evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped pecans (optional)
1 c butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350º.  Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.  Pour into a greased 13x9 dish.  Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture.  Top with pecans.  Pour melted butter over the pecans.  Bake for 45-50 minutes.

It's best served warm with vanilla icecream!  Yummy!!

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread

In honor of fall, I decided to bake something with pumpkin in it today.  I ran across this recipe using peanut butter and pumpkin (two of my favorites!) but was a little skeptical of using them both together.  The result was excellent!  Both flavors are subtle and neither outdoes the other.  Yum!

Ingredients:
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 15 oz can solid packed pumpkin
1 c applesauce
3/4 c water
2/3 c peanut butter
4 eggs
3 1/2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

What to do with it all:
Preheat oven to 350º. Combine the sugar through the eggs on the ingredient list.  Beat until well blended.  In a separate bowl, combine flour-spices.  Add slowly to the other bowl, mixing well.  Pour into TWO greased loaf pans at bake for 60-70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I found this soup recipe online and have enjoyed making it and tweaking it many times!  It's one of our favorite cold, rainy day meals!

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken- cooked, shredded
1 clove garlic, pressed
4 c low sodium chicken broth
1 c masa harina (this is a mexican corn flour-I found it at Harris Teeter)
3 c water
1 can enchilada sauce
16 oz Velveeta OR 16 oz shredded cheddar cheese+ 2 tbsp milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed

Optional garnishes:
sour cream
shredded cheddar
crushed tortilla chips
salsa

The process:

1. Add garlic and chicken broth to large pot, heat on medium.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine masa harina with 2 c water.  Whisk until well blended.  Add into pot with broth.
3.  Add remaining 1 c water, cheese, enchilada sauce, and spices.  Bring to a boil stirring frequently (I learned the hard way that it will stick easily!)
4. Shred chicken into small bites and add to the soup.  Allow to simmer for 20 minutes until mixture has thickened.  Add black beans in during the last 5 minutes or so.  (They stick very easily to the bottom no matter how much you stir if you add them in before.)
5.  Serve!  It's great with Jalapeno Cheddar Bread...yum!

This picture was borrowed from the Chili's website

Chicken Enchilada Wreath

This is a recipe that I found online and modified to create my own version.  It was a big hit with Jeremy and at small group!

Ingredients:

2 c cooked chicken
1 pack low sodium taco seasoning
1 8 oz pack shredded cheese (save a handful to sprinkle on top before going in the oven.)
1 8 oz lite sour cream
1 can Rotel with green chilies
2 c raw spinach (optional)
2 cans crescent rolls
1 lime (juiced)
Finely crushed tortilla chips

The process:

1. Chop the cooked chicken, add in taco seasoning, cheese, sour cream, Rotel.  Juice the lime and add this to the mixture. Add spinach if desired.
2. Unroll the crescent dough and separate the triangles.  Arrange on a greased round cookie sheet or baking stone with the wide end overlapping and the points toward the outside.

This is not MY picture, but a picture of what it should look like at this point!

3.  Add a spoonful of the chicken mixture on the center of each triangle.   Sprinkle crushed tortilla chips on top of the mixture.
4.  Bring the pointy end of the triangle up and over the filling, tuck under the wide end in the center.  Top each piece of dough with more crushed tortilla chips and a little bit of shredded cheese.
5.  Bake according to the crescent roll package, probably 375º for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and dough is golden brown.

Again, not my picture, but an idea of what the final product should look like!

I served it with Spanish rice one night and with Chicken Enchilada Soup another night.  Both were great!