Category: Food

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!

Categories
Food

Mac N Cheese

I needed a homemade side to bring to a potluck for the Chi O alum group dinner tonight. I volunteered to make homemade mac n cheese but truthfully I usually only make Kraft’s from a box. I’m hoping this is a good as Stephanie’s picture makes it seem!
Baked Mac N Cheese (from Stephanie Cooks)
Ingredients:
2 cups of dry elbows or small shells
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of milk
2 cups of cheese
bread crumbs
Directions:
1- Turn oven on to 350.
2- Bring the water to a boil, cook pasta, drain and set aside.
3- In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Once melted, stir in the flour and stir until it forms a thick paste.
4- Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly, until the flour is smooth in the milk.
5- Add the cheese, stir until smooth.
6- Add pasta, mix until pasta and cheese are well combined.
7- Pour into a greased baking dish. Top with a sprinkle of bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes uncovered.