Christmas Cookie Pin-Win

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and since it fit in nicely with my "semi-homemade" baking abilities, I decided to give it a show for my Christmas cookie exchange last week. It turned out marvelously. So marvelously, I'm sharing the recipe with you :)

Candy Cane Christmas Cookies (whew, that's a lot of C's)

1 sugar cookie mix

1 stick of butter

2 eggs

1 packet of candy cane pudding, Jello brand

1 tsp vanilla

Approx. 2 cups of white chocolate chips (I always put a lot since we're big chocolate fans) 

Peppermint pieces

Not my picture, but this is very close to what mine looked like.

Mix together all ingredients except peppermint pieces. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. While still hot, sprinkle peppermint pieces on top. Eat.

See? Soooo simple, and they were scrumptious. Super easy to whip up for some unannounced Christmas carolers or a family gathering! :)

Family Favorite Recipe: Cup 'o Cobbler

Let me start off by saying that this recipe is not original to me. I'm not sure who started it first, but my mom, aunt and grandma have all made this as long as I can remember, and I'm most certainly not going to mess with that kind of tradition. Since we all know what a stellar cook I am, you know if I'm making it that it's going to be easy. Let it also be known that in all the dozens of times I've made this, it's never turned out badly. Ever. That's how easy it is.

There's a reason it's called "Cup 'o Cobbler," and that's because the only measurement you need to remember is 1 cup. Like I said, easy as pie. Or cobbler rather.

1 stick of Butter 

1 cup of Bisquick   

1 cup of Sugar

1 cup of Milk

1 can of peaches OR 1 bag of frozen berries
Cinnamon to taste

Brown Sugar (for crunchy, yummy topping)

I always make this dish in a Pyrex 9x9, because I can just throw the stick of butter in the dish and pop it in the microwave to melt it. The butter needs to be melted completely. While the butter is melting, combine the Bisquick, sugar and milk together. Add this mixture straight to the Pyrex with the now-melted butter. Dump the fruit on top. Add your sprinkling of cinnamon and/or brown sugar as desired. Bake at 350 for about 40 mins, or until golden brown and bubbly. Bam. That's it. 

GB&B
(golden brown and bubbly)

My family really has no preference between the peach an berry variations of this classic - they're both delicious. In fact, the last time I made this, I accidentally used peach pie filling instead of canned peaches, and it was just as yummy. That's how fail-proof this is. It's the perfect EASY ending to a meal when it's both chilly outside or for a summer evening. Who doesn't love cobbler?

Pumpkin Muffins: Another Fall Pin-Win!

We've all seen this pin over the past month or so: 

Source Link

I have really wanted to try it, since recipes with more than 5-6 ingredients cause me to break out in hives. Pumpkin is also one of J's favorite flavors, so I wanted to make something yummy for him as well. These seemed to be the perfect, no-fail muffins. Even if I mess up, I've only spent about $2-3, so it's all good :)

First thing I did was read all the comments under the original post so I could get the best results possible, and I'm glad I did. I ended up subbing out Spice Cake mix for the regular vanilla, adding 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of Mexican vanilla (which I add to everything anyways.) I also sprinkled brown sugar on top of the muffins before baking.

So here's the recipe and process:

1 Spice Cake mix

15 oz. of canned pumpkin

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brown Sugar to taste

Mix the first 4 ingredients together. pre-heat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with .... liners. (Aren't they called something else? "Liners" seems redundant...) Fill muffin liners. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake for 20 mins. Consume. I mean, seriously. Does it get easier than that?! 

Mmmm...you know you want some! :)

I kid you not, before the second batch was out of the oven, we had already eaten half of the first, they are that good. A-bug broke down into tears when I wouldn't give her more, after she ate a whole one and half of mine... they are SO GOOD. J added cream cheese frosting on top because he's a sugar addict, but that's not necessary if you're trying to save on calories or sugar or whatever. Oh, and did I mention these are only about 100 calories?! Seriously?! Which is probably why I didn't feel guilty about eating 4. Yes, 4. Don't judge me.

Note: these can also be made with Devil's food cake and chocolate chips, but per my mother, the chocolate ones aren't as good as the regular Spice Cake mix ones. You can also add raisins if you prefer, which I may do for J later. I see a lot of batches of these in our future. 

Fall Dinner: Pin-Win!

As most of my "regular readers" out there know, I'm really not a big cook. I love food and trying new things, but I'm just not blessed with the talent that my mom has for baking, cooking, canning and all sorts of other food-making verbs. I have a few basic meals I stick with, and because my hubby is wonderful, he doesn't mind the same 10 meals or so.

One of my favorite things to do for dinner is to pop a pork tenderloin in the crockpot with whatever else suits my fancy. I've never really used a recipe, and sometimes that is very apparent. Well, yesterday, I decided to use a Pinterest recipe (more like a concept lol) with my pork tenderloin, and it turned out so good, I had to tell you all about it. I actually ended up using 2 crock pots, because I didn't want my carrots to have the same flavors I was using for the tenderloin. I'll post both "recipes."

My Best-Ever Pork Tenderloin

Any size pork tenderloin - I bought a big one this last time, so I could freeze the rest for meals after the baby comes. I've also used smaller ones that are one-mealers.
Applesauce

1 can of Dr. Pepper (or Mr. Pibb... my hubby actually prefers the latter, but it's not available up here in MI.)

Cinnamon 

Brown Sugar

I put the applesauce on top of the tenderloin and the Dr. Pepper all around it. I then added the cinnamon and  brown sugar to the Dr. Pepper. I don't really have an amount for these...I just dumped in what looked good to my eye. I left it in the crock pot on low for 6 hours, and it was seriously the best Pork Tenderloin I've ever  made. Even A-bug who doesn't really like meat ate quite a bit.


My Best-Ever Cooked Carrots (I know, my recipes have such original titles...)
1 pound of carrots

2 tablespoons fresh oregano

1/4 cup of brown sugar

3/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon of salt

I just dumped it all in the rock pot and put it on high for 3 hours, and they were perfect. Soft enough for A to eat without us cutting them up, but they didn't fall apart when you tried to stab them with a fork. They were delish.

So anyways, that's my super easy-peasy Fall-inspired dinner. Have I mentioned how much I love the flavors of Fall? Hopefully, I'll get some more yummy recipes to share later. I have a whole bunch of ingredients for more Pinterest recipes on my shopping list for this weekend, and I can't wait to try them. I'm sure J and A won't mind being my guinea pigs ;)

(I would like to note that neither of these pics were mine, but they look remarkably close what came out of my crock pot. Yes, the pork really was that tender. I'm seriously going to throw some BBQ sauce on the leftovers and turn them into pulled pork sandwiches, that's how tender it was.)

Family Favorite Recipe: Spaghetti Carbonara

When I went to Europe in 2006, one of my favorite things as a foodie, was enjoying all the different flavors and dishes in European cuisine. My favorite dish ended up being one of the most simple things I ate there, Spaghetti Carbonara. I'm a huge pasta fan anyways, but when you add even more cheese and prosciutto (basically Italian bacon) it only gets better.

Recently my mom discovered a super easy recipe for this yummy dish and it's now a family favorite. It takes me no longer than 1/2 hour max to mix it all together. Because it's SOO easy that even I can make it, I thought I would share so maybe you and your family can enjoy a little bit of Italy :)
(Full Disclosure: this is not in any way a healthy dish. At all.)

You'll need Spaghetti, 1 lb of either prosciutto (if you want to be really authentic) or bacon (which is also yummy,) grated Parmesan cheese, a couple eggs and salt and pepper to taste. Yep, that's all. Like I said, super easy.

~ First, make up your spaghetti like normal. Nothing special there.

~ Next, fry up your bacon or prosciutto. This is easily done on a cookie sheet inside your oven, since 1lb is a lot to fry up all at once. Trust me on this one. SAVE YOUR BACON GREASE!
~ Chop your bacon up into bite-sized pieces.
~ Add about 1/2 cup, give or take, of the grated parm to your bacon grease and stir it together. Now slowly add your 2 eggs to the grease and cheese mixture. (If you do this in the wrong order or too quickly, you will scramble your eggs. Not yummy.)
~ Add your bacon and grease/cheese/egg mixture to the spaghetti and stir well.
~ Enjoy.

Seriously, that's it. If your family so desires, you can add saute'd mushrooms or peppers as well. I'm not a huge fan of either, but those in my family who are have enjoyed both variations.

Pinterest Birthday Treats

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I really do make an effort to actually use Pinterest ideas I find and not just blow hours and hours of time on there for naught, which is very easy for an aspiring Creative to do. This weekend seemed the perfect time to try one of those easy but yummy desserts with it being my hubby's birthday. His love for Reese's made this one a sure winner. Also the fact that very little actual work was involved was very appealing to me - I am anything but a master chef or baker.

The steps and results are super easy and super delicious. All you'll need is a brownie mix (mine called for oil, water and eggs as well,) Reese's cups - one per treat - and frozen cookie dough. I used plain old chocolate chip, but I'm sure any flavor would be yummy.

1. Smoosh 1 - 1 1/2 blocks of the cookie dough into the bottom of your cupcake pan, like so. This works best if the dough is not frozen solid.

I had to use a spoon, since the dough was
frozen pretty solid at the time. 

2. Place Reese's cups on top of now smooshed cookie dough. 

Doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just yummy.

3. Pour brownie mix over the Reese's and cookie dough. I poured just enough to cover the Reese's cup, and it was perfect.

(Yes, mom, I cleaned the edges of my pan so the mix
wouldn't bake on there and stain my pan :) )

4. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. I used a non-stick pan, and had no issues getting the treats out with a butter knife.

I'm sure you could easily make a less processed version of this, but like I said, I'm no chef, and this was super easy for me. My husband loved them and they were perfect for his birthday party - portable, portion-sized and easy to stick a candle in, if that's your thing :) 

Finished product!