Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins (Recipe Review)

I went to the store and found a great deal on some canned pumpkin.  Pumpkin is great for you and with a little tweaking is great to eat in so many dishes.  I was excited so I bought two.  Imagine my surprise when I noticed that I really bought Pumpkin Pie Mix.  It already has the sugar and spices mixed right in.  Not quite what I was looking for.  I did the only thing I could think to do and searched for a recipe to use this in. 

I found a great site full of fun things. .  Carrots n Cake is the site I landed on and THIS is the recipe I followed.  I am looking forward to diving deeper in this site and finding other gems to try.

Here is her recipe-

1 C flour
1 C oats

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 C canned pumpkin
1 egg

1 tbsp canola oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 C rasins

1/4 C walnuts

375 degrees for 18-20 min.

Changes I made.  I used olive oil instead of canola oil since I had that.  I used pumpkin pie mix that has added sugar.  I used 1/2 C chocolate chips instead of the rasins and nuts because thats what I had and it just sounded good. I also made 12 muffins instead of 9.

We each ate one then put the rest in the freezer in sandwich bags tied off to keep the air out.  I put one in the Hubbs lunch each morning for a week and he loved them.  By lunch time they were soft enough to eat but still cool enough to be a nice summer treat.  This is a recipe we will make again and again. 

XOXO Mist

Go Bananas!

Summer time is here and so are the kid's million requests for popsicles and ice cream.  As part of our Summer Blast we are trying to make some healthy changes.  If you have stock in ice cream it's time to sell because we are off the wagon.  So here is our solution.  Skip on the creamy calories and give me a frozen banana.  

A simple dip in chocolate and it's a treat the kids can't resist.  Creamy like ice cream with out all the naughty!

I used 3 bunches of bananas and two bags of melted chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Cut the banana in half and poke a stick through it. Dip in the melted chocolate and toss some almonds on the top and it's a treat you can eat.  Freeze them and pull from the freezer just like you would any other frozen treat.  I eat them when I need a quick treat to get me through a sweet tooth urge.

Linked up at DebbieDoos

                                  XOXO  Misty

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my favorite soups to throw together, probably because my family will eat it.

Toss everything in a crock pot in the afternoon and its done by dinner time.  I cook on high until the chicken is done and then down to warm until we are ready to eat.

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can diced tomatoes (great value brand is what I used)
• a bunch of cilantro
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 small zucchini
• 6-8 cups of water to taste

At the table when I serve it I have cheese, chips and often frozen corn ( we use it to cool off the soup for the kiddos).  I let everyone salt and pepper their own but really with the bouillon its plenty salty.   You can add most any vegi to this and it will blend nicely.  Also if you want to make a freezer meal from this put everything but water in a bag and freeze it.  Add water when you are cooking it up.  Simple!

Nutritional information.
Whole dish- 584 calories.

• 16.7 grams of fat (3 saturated )
• 197.1 mg cholesterol
• 5,567.7 mg sodium
• 36.5 carbs
• 11.3 g fiber
• 24.7 g sugars
• 77 g protein

I break it up into 6 servings- 4 for dinner and 2 for meals later (freezes well)

Serving- 97 calories

• 2.8 g fat (0.5 saturated )
• 32.9 mg cholesterol
• 928 mg sodium
• 6.1 g carbs
• 1.9 g fiber
• 4.1 g sugar
• 12.8 g protein

XOXO Mist



Perfectly Pasta Salad.

The sun is bringing a warm glow to my neck of the woods these days and somehow that makes it seem almost cruel to slave over a stove for a warm dinner when we can have something simple, cool, and tasty.  Unless its the Hubbs turn to cook then light up the BBQ and I will get my lounger out. 

We get a variety pack of produce from a local food co-op.  Its always the same price but the items in it are always just a little different.  I have learned to love this pasta salad because the vegi varieties are an endless option. 

The basic recipe is this simple. 
One thing of pasta... I used a 2lb box of elbows today but I just use what ever I have. 
3/4 C Ranch Dressing ... Your favorite will do just fine
3/4 C Italian Dressing ... Again your fav.

Then just start dumping stuff in from there.

Here is what I used today. 
2lb box of elbow noodles
Kens Ranch and lite Italian dressing.
Sliced almonds
One tomato
Bag of broccoli and cauliflower
One carrot and
about 2 pounds of chicken.

 Cook up the chicken any way your family likes it.  Cook the noodles and let

them cool.  Dice up all your produce and mix it in a big bowl.  The only issue we have ever had is if we mix it up while the chicken or noodles are still warm.  It makes the cheese go greasy.  We chill it for a while because we like it cooler but as long as its not melting the cheese hot its all good.

 

                                   XOXO  Misty

 

Key Lime Cheesecake

Of all the sweets that I make, this is definitely my favorite. It is simple, creamy, and refreshing. Can cheesecake be refreshing? This cheesecake is tart with just a hint of sweet. Just how I like it. It is also so simple that it is easily changed to your liking without much effort. It is so easy, and so good.

I was first inspired to make this by Paula Deen, but I have simplified her recipe and changed it to my taste. I still haven't perfected my technique but I had just had to share it with all of you.

As with most of my recipes, these measurements do not have to be exact and since there are no eggs in this recipe you can easily adjust the level of tartness to sweetness without fear of salmonella.

Ingredients

2- 8 oz pkgs of Cream Cheese (softened)
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C Key Lime juice
1 tsp Lime zest (optional)
1/2 C butter
20 cracker sheets of Graham Crackers

Crush the graham crackers into crumbs with a food processor or place them in a baggie and use a rolling pin to break them up into a fine crumb. I have a 3 cup food chopper which I use for this part. It makes things go so much easier.

Melt the butter and mix it into the crumbs. In an 8 inch springform pan, press the mixture into the pan evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min. Remove from the oven.

Mix the cream cheese, lime juice, sugar, and zest (if you used it) in a bowl on high until the mixture is creamy and smooth. I've found that if I take the time to mix this well instead of leaving it lumpy like cottage cheese--and I've done that--then it doesn't crack while I bake it. You also won't have lumps of cream cheese in any of your bites. When it is creamy, smooth it onto the crust and bake for about 40-45 minutes. It's been so long since I've made a cheesecake this large that it startled me that it was still bubbly under the top skin after the full 45 min so I put it in for another 5 minutes. Don't do this. Just trust that it is done. Cool. I left mine to cool overnight before I cut into it. It took all of my will power to do this.

As you can see, this doesn't make a very thick cheesecake but I think it is the perfect ratio of crust to filling. It doesn't leave an overpowering taste in your mouth nor is it crust-heavy.

This recipe can easily be adapted to make cheesecake bites by putting it into a foil-lined 9x9 pan and cutting the cake into 1 inch squares or by putting it into a paper cup-lined mini muffin pan and reducing the baking time. If you go the mini muffin pan route you can substitute whole mini Nilla Wafers for the crust instead of the graham cracker crust if you're in a hurry.

If you like this, and decide to make it, we'd love to hear about it. Send us a link of your post and link back to Bumblebliss on your blog and send us some blog lovin.

I linked up to
DIYbyDesign
Marni's Organized Mess
DebbieDoos Newbie Party

                    

                

                                           Eve

Oreo Truffles

So for those of you reading this, you're probably thinking that I must be 600 lbs because all I ever post on here is food and generally desserts of some kind but it's not true. Sometimes there are dinners.
While searching through blogland I couldn't help but be tempted by the word, "truffle." Really, could you? Now I'm not talking about the dirty, treasures hunted by pigs, but the sweet, morsels of chocolate that call out to you in the middle of the night. I found a very simple recipe for truffles. I have always envisioned truffle-making to be grueling. Images of me sweating in my kitchen over a hot stove with a candy thermometer whilst my slab of marble awaited its turn to be abused have plagued my mind. To my great surprise, I was sorely mistaken. If you can melt chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave than you are set. There is not much more involved than that.

As usual, I made some adjustments per my taste. I used Newman-O's cookies because there is something about the thought of using Oreo's that just doesn't jive with me. I'm sure they are mostly the same but using the Newman's cookies makes me feel like I'm using a healthier alternative. I'm probably totally deluding myself on that but hey, whatever works. If I were to make these again, (they have been ok'd for a repeat by the critics,) I would use semi-sweet chocolate to dip them in as mine were too sweet for me. Even The Man thought that they were slightly sweeter than he would prefer and he has quite the sweet tooth. I also did not do the white chocolate drizzle because mine were already too sweet and that would have put it over the top for me. I might, however, consider dipping these in something...nuts, perhaps?...I don't know. I've always wanted to try the chili pepper and chocolate thing but it never comes up when I'm working with chocolate. Maybe next time.
If you want this recipe you can get it from Recipezaar or from WhiMSy love like I did. She does a tute on her site if you are the kind of person who likes pictures.

If you decide to make this please link back to us and share the blog lovin.

                                      

                               Enjoy!

                               

                                  Eve

Cocoa Banana Nutter Muffins.

I had some bananas that were past the point of looking tasty.  So I did what anyone would do and went through my pantry to see what I could make from it. We ended up with a muffin which is one of the things I love to cook because I can make a bunch and freeze them for later.

Here are my ingredients.

1 C White Flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C Sugar
1/2 Butter or Margarine
1/2 C Cocoa Powder
3/4 C Diced Pecans
3/4 C Chocolate Chips
3 Ripe Bananas
3 Eggs
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tblsp Vanilla
Optional Tablespoon of Flax Meal.


Step 1- The Wet stuff.
Preheat oven to 375.

Mix the Butter and Sugar in a bowl.  Cream it up and add the eggs and vanilla and at this point I add the chocolate chips because I want them to be equally mixed in.  Mush the bananas up and add them to the wet bowl.

Step 2- The Dry Stuff.

In a second bowl I have both flours, the pecans, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder and flax meal.  

Step 3- Combine, bake and enjoy. 

Add the dry stuff to the wet stuff and mix it up. 

Either grease or use cupcake liners in a standard sized muffin tin. It will be a thicker batter like a cookie dough so use two spoons to get it into the muffin cups.   Fill the cups 1/2 way full and pop in the oven for 14 minutes. 

Let them cool a bit before getting them from the pan. 

Next time I make them up I will add more chocolate chips.  Just round it up to a 2 C bag of them.  More chocolate is never a bad thing...

XOXO Mist

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I have heard these called Chocolate Crinkle Cookies but in my house they are Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookies. I know that is a lot to say in one breath but it seems to suit them better than "Crinkles." This cookie is not for the faint of heart. This rich, cocoa cookie is filled with mini chocolate chips and dredged in powdered sugar. It is a favorite at my house and one that I can't seem to keep around very long.

The thought of making cookies often hits me at night, just before bed. It may be in part due to the fact that the time after dinner and bedtime routines is my time to reflect and think about what I have done that day and what I have to get done tomorrow. I make my cookie dough at night and leave it in the refrigerator over night to chill. I don't even have to cover it. In the morning I bake my cookies after the little ones have gone to school. That way, I always get the first taste. I think these cookies are best eaten the next day. That is how I like it.

Ingredients

3/4 c     Melted Butter
1 c         Sugar
2            Eggs
1/2 c    Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 tsp     Vanilla
2 c         Flour
1 tsp     Baking Powder
1 tsp     Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
6 oz       Mini Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 c     Confectioner's Sugar

Mix butter, sugar, and cocoa together. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture. Do not over mix. Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Form into 1 inch balls and roll in confectioner's sugar. Bake at 350* on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheet for at least 5 min. Transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!!

*Hint* I use parchment paper to make cleanup easier as these are quite messy.

                          

                              Eve