Jessica's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Happy First Day of Fall, Everyone! In the spirit of the day, I thought I'd share my favorite fall treat with you all!

In our previous house, we were super blessed to have amazing neighbors turned friends living just two doors down from us! One of my fondest memories of that home is all the walks around the neighborhood that Jessica and I did, pushing our babies in their strollers and chatting. I'm so thankful for the friendship made in our old neighborhood!

One fall, Jessica shared some pumpkin muffins with us and I've been hooked ever since! There's a million pumpkin recipes out there, but I come back to this one every year. It's easy, only dirties one bowl for prep, and the muffins turn out moist and flavorful every time! Bonus points-- it makes a ton, so there's always enough to share!

Jessica graciously said I could share the recipe with you all! Hope you enjoy them as much as we do! Enjoy!

My New Favorite Cookies

I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I've been eating all things peppermint since Christmas to satisfy my sweet tooth, but was looking to switch it up recently. Jeremy loves and usually requests my traditional chocolate chip cookies, but when I went to bake this weekend, he suggested I do a chocolate based chocolate chip cookie. Ya know, just for fun. ;)

I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman and had to give it a try. With 2 1/2 sticks of butter and 3 1/2 cups of chocolate chips, how could you go wrong?! Trust me, they did not disappoint! They are rich and decadent and absolutely perfect fresh out of the oven. 

I made the recipe as directed, except I used 1 cup white chocolate chips and 2 1/2 cups of milk chocolate chips since that's what I had on hand and I prefer milk chocolate over semi-sweet. I used Ghirardelli chips and they are amazing! I baked mine on my stoneware and my Air Bake pans because I love how soft they turn out on those pans, so mine took about 13 minutes to bake instead of the suggested 9-11 minutes.

The cookies are soft and chewy and are so rich and chocolaty! Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Click HERE for the recipe for Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Checking In + New Recipes I Love

Well, you may have noticed that I fell off of the 31 Days bandwagon. I had to stop. It gave me good momentum to get projects accomplished and I've continued to try to tackle the lingering projects around my home. However, blogging every single day sucked the blogging joy right outta me. I never want to blog because I feel like I have to blog. I want to blog because I love it. As a result, I took a step back for the past month and gave myself a break.

The break has been lovely and was much needed! This year has been hard and ridiculously busy. I didn't realize how much I needed this break, even from something that I love doing. I will not be resuming regular blogging until the new year, but may pop in here and there during the next month or two to say hi.

Today, I wanted to pass along two new recipes I've tried out this month. I've been trying to cook new things recently and am always excited to find great recipes!

Image Source: Pioneer Woman

The first recipe is Pioneer Woman's Self Rising Biscuits. Oh my word, they're so easy and so delicious! I've made biscuits several times before, but they are never that great. I usually wind up just buying the canned biscuits because I know that they will turn out better. But, these are a game changer for me! I've made them twice and they've turned out great both times!

I followed the directions to a tee except for two minor things--I didn't bother sifting anything and I didn't bother breaking out my rolling pin. With a baby getting into everything while I was trying to cook, I had to take some shortcuts. ;) I simply flattened the dough with my hands. Less dishes, less time, and turned out beautifully!

Image Source: Kevin & Amanda

The second recipe is just downright insane. Insanely delicious, that is. Kevin and Amanda's Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie is so rich and decadent!

Again, I followed the recipe exactly with only two small exceptions-- I don't like dark chocolate, so used half dark chocolate chips and half milk chocolate chips. I also skipped the salt. I think it'd be delicious, but I forgot to buy coarse salt at the store and Jeremy isn't a fan of salted sweets. So, I just skipped that step. Still amazing!

Enjoy!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta

It's been forever since I posted a recipe! With the constant nausea associated with my pregnancy with Little Girl last year, then the chaos of this year happening, I've been stuck in a dinnertime rut. I finally tried out a couple new recipes this summer and found some keepers! 

Jeremy is not a pasta lover. Sigh. As in, he pretty much hates all pasta. The only pasta I can get him to eat is my homemade macaroni and cheese. He doesn't even like the boxed stuff. I, on the other hand, love pasta and could eat it all day! I saw this recipe for Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta and thought if two meats can't get him to like a pasta dish, nothing can. Well, my friends, the two meat theory (let's get real, it's all about the bacon!) worked and he loves this dish. He even requests it! Finally, after 7 years of marriage, I have found a pasta dish to serve for dinner! Hooray! :)

Try it! I bet even your pickiest eater will love it! 

I am so NOT a food photographer! Haha! Recipe adapted from Chef in Training. Find the original recipe and a much prettier picture here! 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta

Ingredients

-10-12 oz penne pasta

-2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (I've found that a rotisserie chicken is amazing in this because it is so moist!)

-3/4 cup crumbled bacon (I use about 2/3 package of cooked microwave bacon. Less time, less dishes!)

-1/4 cup butter

-1/4 cup flour

-2 cups milk

-1 tsp onion powder

-1 tsp garlic salt

-1/3 cup ranch dressing (I like fresh ranch for this recipe, so I pick up a package of Hidden Valley ranch dip and mix it with sour cream. I save the leftover ranch to dip my pretzels in! Ranch that comes in the refrigerated section in the produce department would be good, too.)

-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta in a large pot. 

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, onion powder, and garlic salt until smooth and bubbly (just a few seconds). Remove from heat and add milk, then return to heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in ranch dressing. 

Drain cooked pasta, then return pasta to large pot. Add chicken, bacon, and the sauce. Stir to coat. Stir in cheese, then pour into greased 9x13 casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

White Chicken Chili

It's been slightly cool here lately...perfect soup and chili weather! I made White Chicken Chili yesterday in the Crock Pot. It's super easy and delicious! I got the recipe at a women's fellowship at church a few years ago and it has become a fall/winter regular in our house!

Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

(Originally from recipezaar.com)

1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken

2 (15 oz) cans great northern beans 

1 (15 oz) can white corn

1 envelope (or 1/4 cup) taco seasoning

1 (4 1/2 oz) can chopped green chiles--I half this because I'm a wimp :)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

Toppings:

Sour cream

Chopped green onions

Monterrey Jack cheese

Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with beans and corn. In a medium bowl, combine taco seasoning, chiles, condensed soup, and chicken broth. Pour over top of ingredients in Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Before serving, stir gently to break up chicken. Serve topped with green onions, cheese, and a dollop of sour cream. 

Notes--Before serving, you can also just add 1/2 cup sour cream to Crock Pot if you want to skip putting on a dollop for each person. Also, I usually cook mine on high for 4-6 hours, or until chicken is done and falling apart. I used just under a pound of chicken tenderloins in mine yesterday, so it was closer to 4 hours because the chicken was on the thinner side. 

Linking up to The Larson Lingo!

Summer Salad

Hi! Long time, no post! We just got back in town from vacation last night. We had a great trip to see my family, then met up with Jeremy's family to go to Sea World with them. So fun! While we were on our trip, my Grandma broke her hip, though. The last part of our trip was spent at the hospital with her. She did great during surgery and is now on the long road to recovery. She is such a trooper. I'm so thankful we were in town when it happened and were able to be with her. Please pray for her if she comes to mind!

We've been eating a lot of fried food while on the road, so tonight we wanted something fresh and healthy and NOT fried. I saw Pioneer Woman's new Chicken Taco Salad recipe and knew it would be perfect for dinner tonight. It turned out great and was very yummy! I will definitely be making this many more times!

Here's a link to the recipe. I was going to re-write it here, but then you'd miss all of the beautiful pictures on her site. Go check it out and drool over the deliciousness!

I followed her recipe exactly, except for these few exceptions.

-I seasoned my chicken with chili powder, seasoned salt, and a little bit of onion powder. It's what I had on hand.
-I used canned corn instead of fresh. I just drained it, then browned it in the same skillet I used for the chicken.
-I majorly cut back on the cilantro. We are not huge fans of cilantro. I think next time I'll actually omit it completely.
-We omitted the avocado. Both of my boys scrunch their noses up at avocados, so I didn't bother.
-I assembled our salads on our individual plates instead of all together since I knew we couldn't eat it all at once and would have leftoveers. Soggy chips in the leftovers=gross. ;)

Try this salad! You won't be sorry!

Linking up to The Larson Lingo's Summer Salad Swap!

Pintertest Kitchen: Easy Cheese Danish

Growing up, my grandparents used to take me to a sweet little bakery in Waynesville, NC called Whitman's Bakery. Everything there is amazing! My grandma and I almost always chose a cheese danish out of the donut case to share and Grandpa always opted for something with chocolate. :) After our treat, we'd walk up and down Main Street, browsing all the quaint little shops. Those are some of my very favorite memories!

When I saw this recipe for cheese danish on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it! It's easy and really yummy! Brings back lots of sweet memories from our trips to the bakery! Try it!

Ingredients:

2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan. Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes.

Notes: 

I used reduced fat cream cheese with great results! Original recipe found here. 

Linking up to the Pintertest Kitchen link party!

Tater Tot Soup

One of my favorite bloggers, Mel at The Larson Lingo, is doing a Soup's On link party this week and she posted a fabulous looking broccoli soup recipe! Can't wait to try it! I had to add this potato soup recipe that I found on Meg Duerksen's blog and had posted on my old blog. It uses tater tots, so no peeling and dicing prep work is required! It's easy and SO yummy! I can't wait to see all the other soup recipes that get posted! I hardly have any soup recipes, so I'm stoked to get some new ideas. 

This recipe was originally called “Cheesy Potato Soup”, but when my husband found out how it was made, he renamed it “Tater Tot Soup”. Kinda gives my cheater secret away, but it’s cute. 

This is my cool weather quickie meal. It makes a ton, so you won’t have to cook the next day!

Tater Tot Soup

One bag of frozen tater tots (32oz) or 12 hashbrown patties
2 cans chicken broth
1 stick butter or margarine
6 slices American cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup green onions, sliced with tops
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cups sour cream
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Real bacon bits

In a large pot, combine tater tots and broth over medium heat until combined and the tater tots are crumbled. Add remaining ingredients except the bacon. Stir well, then cover and cook on low for 20 minutes or until hot. Do not boil. Garnish with bacon bits and extra shredded cheese (if desired). Enjoy!

Makes about 10-12 servings.

Original recipe found here. The original recipe calls for all sliced cheese, but I like to use both sliced and shredded cheese. Either way, I don't think you can go wrong!

White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

I'm a huge sucker for anything white chocolate + peppermint, so when I saw this recipe for white chocolate peppermint fudge, I had to try it out! It is really rich and yummy and easy to make. Enjoy the recipe! 

Ingredients: 

-1/4 cup butter, softened plus about 1 1/2 tsp butter for greasing the pan

-2 cups granulated sugar

-1/2 cup sour cream

-12 oz white chocolate chips

-1 jar (7oz) marshmallow cream

-1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy (I crushed them pretty small so the fudge wouldn't be crunchy.)

-1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:

-Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil. Grease the foil with about 1 1/2 tsp butter; set aside. 

-In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, sour cream, and 1/4 cup butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a rapid boil; cook and stir until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft-ball stage), about 5 minutes. (I didn't test temperature, just cooked for slightly less than 5 minutes.)

-Remove from heat; gradually stir in white chocolate chips and marshmallow creme until melted. Fold in peppermint candy and extract. Pour into prepared pan. Chill unitl firm. 

-Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Gently peel off foil; cut fudge into 1 inch squares. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 2 pounds. Original recipe can be found here.

Linking up to The Larson Lingo's Cookie Exchange. Check out all the other cookie recipes and Mel's blog here! 

Soft Christmas Cookies

I'm copying this post over from my old blog. Sorry if you've already read it, but I wanted to have it all in one place. And, let's face it, I love these cookies! They're worth two posts! :)

I am super picky about my Christmas sugar cookies. I don’t like really crispy, crunchy cookies and I don’t like for them to taste like you used a lot of flour when rolling them out. Told you I was picky! I found this recipe last year on allrecipes.com and love it! The cookies are soft, but not so fragile they fall apart when you pick them up and they have a nice buttery taste. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour (plus a little extra on the side for rolling)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together then set aside. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed.  Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheets or line sheets with parchment paper (works great!). On a clean, floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/3 inch thickness. You will need to work some flour into the dough, but don’t over do it. Just keep your rolling pin and your surface lightly floured and gently roll out. I only ran my rolling pin over the dough a couple times. Cut out shapes using floured cookie cutters.

Bake 6-8 minutes in preheated oven until middle of cookie is set and no longer wet/shiny looking. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

I used Bridget at Bakeat350′s icing recipe to decorate with. Check out all her awesome cookies!

I linked up to The Larson Lingo's Cookie Exchange last year. Love her blog! Will post another recipe for her cookie exchange tomorrow! :)

Southwestern Chicken Pie

My Instagram photo :)

(Photo from Pillsbury website.)

I've been totally bored with our normal menu. So, off to search Pinterest, right?! Ha! I saw this recipe from Pillsbury and had to try it out. I made it exactly like the recipe said, except I didn't brush the crust with egg and sprinkle parsley on top. All that extra work and dishes was just not worth a shiny, decorated crust. ;) The pie turned out super yummy and is definitely a keeper! Try it out! Recipe here!

Honey BBQ

One of my favorite meals is pulled pork sandwiches! My friend Heather taught me how to do pulled pork in the Crock Pot. It's super easy and makes a ton, which means we have enough leftovers for a couple days. Love getting an occasional break in the kitchen, don't you?

A few months ago, I made pulled pork, but didn't realize until dinnertime that we were out of barbecue sauce. I quickly looked up recipes for barbecue sauce and found this Honey Barbecue Sauce on Tasty Kitchen. It is SO good! I make it every time I do pulled pork now! I'm a sucker for a good, sweet barbecue sauce!

Heather's Crock Pot Pulled Pork 

Pork Tenderloin or Boston Butt (I always get boneless)

1/4 cup water

Salt & Pepper

Barbecue Sauce 

Place pork in Crock Pot  Pour in water and salt and pepper the roast. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 7-9 hours. Take pork out and shred with fork. Pour grease out of Crock Pot and discard. Return shredded pork to the Crock Pot and stir in your favorite barbecue sauce. Cook on high for 20 minutes, or until hot. Enjoy by itself or on a bun! 

Honey Barbecue Sauce

I make a double batch for pulled pork.

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar (I usually use dark, but either will work)

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 t. apple cider vinegar

1 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. pepper

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and stir over medium heat with a whisk until brown sugar and honey have melted and the sauce just starts to bubble. Remove from heat. Enjoy! Recipe credit here. 

Linking up to The Larson Lingo's Crock-tober! Check out all the other yummy Crock Pot recipes, especially Mel's Chicken Parmesan! Looks amazing! 

Caught Red Handed

More confessions... I'm a sugar-holic. I LOVE sugar and will eat just about anything sweet. I'm trying to be better about going for fruit instead of the bag of chocolate chips when I get a sweet craving, but sometimes I treat myself to a dessert. I try not to buy sweets too often because I know I will devour them and I hardly ever bake desserts for the same reason. Amy M, stop laughing. Just because every time we are in Target together I buy a package of Oreo's doesn't mean I do it every time! And we just won't discuss the Tootsie Rolls I eat on the way out of the gym, k? I mean, what's up with the gym having a giant bowl of Tootsie Rolls (one of my favs) setting out right by the door?! :) Hahaha!

Anywho...today, I'd eaten some grapes and was fine for a while, but I reeeeaaaalllly wanted a dessert. I'd been pretty good this week and only had dessert once at a friend's house and a couple chocolate chips here an there. And I mean only a couple, not a couple million handfuls--honest! I had refrained from buying Oreos and ice cream at the store this week so it wouldn't be so tempting. So...I resorted to my "emergency dessert". Thanks a lot Bake at 350 for that one. ;) We won't even mention how many of these I've made. Basically, you take a tortilla, sprinkle with chocolate chips (I added a little peanut butter and Nutella), fold it in half and cook it like you would I quesadilla, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. It's so good and we usually have the ingredients on hand. Dangerous!

Image Credit--Bake at 350

Fast forward... Little One is napping and Hubby is enjoying some down time playing a video game, and I'm chilling on the couch enjoying my dessert. I was intently reading something and subconsciously sticking out my tongue and dipping the tip in the giant pile of powdered sugar on my plate. About the third dip, with my tongue sticking out and the plate held up to my chin, I feel eyes on me. I freeze, look up with my tongue still out, and find Hubby turned around in his chair gawking at me with an amused grin on his face. Seriously?! You look up now?! So embarrassing and so hilarious. I could not stop laughing. Tears just streaming down my face. I am not a finger licker when I eat (gross) and am a bit OCD about being clean, so dipping my tongue in sugar right off my plate is way out there for me. And to be caught red handed?! Geesh. Hahahaha! Hubby had a good chuckle over it. Too bad I didn't catch his facial expressions on camera. He does not share my sugar love. This year for his birthday, he told me he didn't want cake or any dessert. Crazy man. He totally did not understand my sugar licking.

Needless to say, I won't be licking powdered sugar anymore (I'll go for the spoon next time!) and am definitely going to have to walk a couple miles tonight to burn all those calories off! Tell me you've been caught red handed doing something ridiculous, too??!!! Someone, anyone?!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This morning, we ALL slept in! It was glorious! To celebrate, Little One and I baked our favorite coffee cake together. Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Cake Ingredients: 

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture and beat until combined. Spread half the batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle half of topping over batter. Add remaining batter. (Batter will be thick, so drop it by spoonfuls and spread the best you can. It doesn't need to be perfect.) Sprinkle on remaining topping. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40 mins or until done. Yields 12 servings. 

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com.

Japplesauce

When friends with little kids come to our house for dinner, we usually have some Japplesauce for the kids in case they don't want the adults yummy salad. (Mom!!! Lettuce, broccoli, vegetables?! The horror! Well, at least that's what my little one thinks. Haha!) Japplesauce is a mixture of Jello and applesauce that you can make into fun combinations of flavors. It has an applesauce texture, but sets up like Jello. It's a hit with the littles (and grown-ups!) every time!

Japplesauce
Recipe credit to my bestie-since-high-school's family. Hi, Julia! Hey VPs! :)

Ingredients:
1 small package Jello
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups applesauce

Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Stir in applesauce. Chill until set up...about 4-6 hours. Enjoy!

I usually use strawberry Jello, but you can use any flavor you want. Experiment and find the flavor you like best! They all sound good to me!

Linking up to The Larson Lingo's summer salad swap. Check out the other yummy salads on Mel's blog!

Let's Break for a Treat

I've seen this recipe for toffee mentioned many times on Joy's Hope blog (awesome blog, btw), but just finally got around to making it. Ummmm, why did it take me so long?! Easy peasy and super delish! Try it! Click here for recipe!