Pumpkin!

There are so many reasons I love Fall.  We've already covered football and now one of the next things on my list is pumpkin.  I love everything about it - I love picking them, I love carving them, I love the way they look on a front porch and I especially love eating them!

My October blog goal was to test a pumpkin recipe everyday during the month.  31 pumpkin recipes!  That was until I came across a little snag.  Grocery stores are wiped clean of pumpkin this year.  Unbeknown to me, there is apparently a pumpkin shortage this year.  Yesterday I finally tracked some down and now I'm 10 days short of my goal.  I'll still see how many I can fit in.  I'm also going to need people to sign up to take goodies out of my kitchen because I certainly don't need to eat them all and my work folks will get tired of pumpkin.

Today's recipe is short, sweet and easy.  2 ingredients!  3 if you count water as an ingredient.

1 box of spice cake mix
1 can of pumpkin
3/4 cup water

I chose to make muffins.  This recipe made 12 rather large muffins.  Smaller muffins are supposed to be just a mere 100 calories - mine are probably closer to 200, but who's counting.  I can't wait to have one tomorrow with my bowl of cereal or maybe I'll have one tonight fresh out of the oven with a slab of butter!  Or maybe I'll try spray butter - nah real butter it is.

This is so easy, fairly healthy and DELICIOUS!

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes?

Cheers!

A Little of This, A Little of That

I swear time flies!  We had a great weekend doing family stuff like going to a high school football game, getting new tires on my car, going to Costco, KK and I went to a Lia Sophia party, and we went to the Children's Museum.  We ate at home all 6 meals Saturday & Sunday which is almost unheard of for us.  We ended that streak last night with a trip to Steak & Shake for dinner.  Sometimes, especially on Mondays, I just can't muster up the energy to cook.  I will never turn down some Chili 3 Way from S&S!

We went with an Asian themed dinner on Sunday night.  I love all Asian food, especially Thai.  I don't, however, cook it very often.  I don't think you can beat take-out when it comes to Asian cuisine. Thai Cafe in Broadripple is a must! I was hoping this meal had more of a Thai flavor than it did, but it was still really good.  I had it for lunch today and it reheated well.  I do realize my picture taking abilities really hinder any desire to try the recipes I post!  Note I added some egg rolls for extra kick!

Tonight we had tortellini - out of a bag.  Spaghetti sauce - out of a jar.  Garlic bread - out of a box.  Looked a little something like this.

Most exciting news out of the weekend is that we officially have a walker on our hands!  I think little ones are so adorable when they first learn to walk.  My blog isn't liking the video I have so I'll just post some cute pics of the walker herself.

Cheers!

Some Like It, Some Don't

I have those recipes I grew up on: Mexican cornbread, tater tot casserole, breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, etc. (all to be featured at some point).  These are all things I can make that immediately make me feel like my mom is in the room.  The first time I made each of these for Hubs I expected him to fall in love with the meals as much as I had over the years.  He liked each of them, but didn't quite feel as strongly as I do.  Sometimes I think it is more about the memories as opposed to the recipe or the dish.

Tonight I made Beef Stroganoff for dinner.  This isn't a childhood recipe - my mom actually doesn't even like anything stroganoff - but anything served on egg noodles immediately makes me think of my grandma.  She made the best egg noodles!  No one has ever been able to recreate those.

Even though I didn't grow up on it, I do enjoy a big crockpot full of Beef Stroganoff from time to time.  Again, Hubs doesn't typically feel the same.  Today he finally told me why - it takes him back to a Manchester College cafeteria and apparently the memories of that meal aren't too fond.  He did, however, tell me that mine is at least better than Manchester's.  :)

So if you're ever in the mood for a good Stroganoff, here's the recipe!


2 pounds cubed stew meat

2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup (if you can't find it, cream of mushroom works just as well)

1 large onion diced

4 Tbls of Worcestershire
1/2 water

8 oz of cream cheese
couple of dashes of Garlic Salt

couple dashes of Hot Paprika

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese, together. Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles.

Cheers!