Author: Suz

Categories
Food

Spinach Artichoke Squares

I found this recipe while looking for tailgate recipes on perfectentertaining.com. I thought it would be a great appetizer to either have when hosting a party or to take to holiday parties. I gave the recipe to a friend last week and she made it for our Bible Study and it was delicious! I hope I can make it as yummy to take to a cookie exchange Saturday night!
Ingredients
1 8 ounce can refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
8 ounces room temperature cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
10 ounces thawed frozen chopped spinach, squeezed until dry
14 ounces artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375.
Unroll the crescent dough and place on a 13 X 9 inch pan. Gently press though dough evenly into the pan and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan to form a crust, paying special attention to seal the roll perforations. Sprinkle the dough with 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven.
While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, sour cream, and remaining Parmesan cheese and mix until smooth. Fold in the spinach and artichoke hearts. Spread the mixture evenly over the prepared crust.
Bake for an additional 13-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set. Cut into squares and serve hot or cool to room temperature. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. To reheat, bake at 375 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or until piping hot.

Categories
Food

Pumpkin Cake

I made this pumpkin cake for my family’s Thanksgiving feast and it was a huge hit! Thought I’d share this recipe and I’ll post the pictures when I get back home.

Pumpkin Cake from Kraft Foods

Ingredients
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 can pumpkin, divided
1/2 c milk
1/3 c oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, divided
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar
8 oz cool whip, thawed
1/4 c caramel ice cream topping
1/4 c chopped pecans

Directions
Heat oven to 350. Grease & flour 2 9 in round pans. Beat cake mix, 1 c pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs & 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into pans.
Bake 28-30 mins. Cool in pans for 10 mins. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
Beat cream cheese in a small bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stir in cool whip.
Cut each cake layer horizontally in half; stack on serving plate, spread cream cheese filling between layers (but don’t frost top layer). Drizzle caramel topping just before serving; sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate leftovers. We added additional caramel later on per slice as people wanted.

Categories
Food

Pumpkin Waffles

So I’ve had and LOVED pumpkins pancakes, but Jason likes waffles better. I actually made plain ones this weekend and as I was doing so I was thinking that I should find a more fun recipe for them. Lo and behold! Tonight I found one thanks to Erin’s Food Files! I know I said I’d be making blueberry muffins next weekend, but I might put that on hold and make these instead!
UPDATE 12/6: I made these this morning & they were amazing!

Pumpkin Waffles from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (original recipe called for ground cloves)
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Directions:
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (flour through spice) in a large bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (milk through egg) in a bowl, and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist.

Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray; preheat. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter per waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading the batter to the edges. Cook 5 to 7 minutes or until steaming stops (it took more like 3 mins on our Belgian waffle iron); repeat procedure with remaining batter.

Categories
Food

Blueberry Muffins

I really want to make these the next weekend we’re home for breakfast, so I’m posting this to remind myself! I also got these from Stephanie Cooks blog.
Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can blueberries, in liquid rinsed and drained or 1 cup fresh blueberries
1 (18 ounce) package white cake mix
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding (4-serving size)
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1- Rinse blueberries lightly and drain well.
2- In mixing bowl, beat eggs until light. Add the cake mix, pudding, vegetable oil, vanilla, and milk.
3- Beat until smooth, but do not over beat (about 2 1/2 minutes). Batter will be thick.
4- Carefully fold in blueberries with spoon. Try not to break the berries–fill muffin cups 3/4 full and place into preheated 350F degree oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on muffin cup size.

Categories
Food

Crockpot Meatballs

So I don’t eat red meat (aka pigs & cows) so I can’t attest to this recipe myself, but I thought I’d post it since meatballs are a kinda standard potluck/party recipe. I got this recipe from my mom last year for our new year’s eve party. Jason needed a side/appetizer to bring to his work potluck last week and he requested meatballs. So I bought frozen meatballs at the store and defrosted them overnight in the frig. To make my morning easier (I’m less than a morning person) I combined the sauce ingredients at night and let them chill in the frig too. I tripled the recipe to go with approx 100 meatballs.
Meatball Sauce
Ingredients
12 oz jar of Heinz chili sauce
3 oz grape jelly
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Directions
Combine, add meatballs, cook on low in crockpot for 6-8 hours or high for approx 4 hours. Enjoy! Jason brought home an empty crockpot so I guess his coworkers enjoyed them!