Pumpkin Pie

I asked my mother-in-law for a good pumpkin pie recipe. She said, I always just use the Libby pie recipe. I thought it was boring, but hey- they are the experts right? So while I've tried other recipes, I always go back to this one. It has the perfect pumpkin flavor. So this fall season...Libby it was.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 2 eggs
* 1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)

The Perfect Side Salad

Well, you can hardly call this a recipe, but I had this salad a few years ago at a bridal shower. All the ingredients have very strong flavors, but they compliment each other perfectly! It never fails to satisfy...Lindsay- I know it's veggies, but the blue cheese totally negates any healthiness. Maybe you could give it a go :)

Hearts of Romaine
Green Pepper
Blue Cheese Crumbles
Dried Cranberries
Crumbled Walnuts
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Ok...that's all I'm telling you. Really...I don't know what else to tell you. It's a salad. Just put it together :) Doesn't the picture look good? Mmmmm.

Lindsay's Taco Stuffed Shells

I stole this right off Lindsay's Blog. They looked to be right up our alley and they were! I cut this recipe in half and we barely had enough for the two of us. Next time I would definitely make the whole batch...but then again we like leftovers.

Ingredients

* 1 lb. ground beef (we used ground turkey)
* 1 package taco seasoning
* 4 oz. cream cheese (we used non-fat)
* 12 jumbo pasta shells (we used 16)
* 1 cup salsa (we used a little more)
* 1 cup taco sauce
* 1 cup cheddar cheese
* 1 cup monterey jack cheese
(we used 2 cups Sargento mexican blend)
* 1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips (we omitted)
* 3 green onions (chopped)
* Sour cream

Directions

1. In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.
2. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.
3. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don't stick together.
4. Pour salsa on bottom of 9x13 baking dish.
5. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9x13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
7. After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes.
8. Add any condiments you'd like (onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa. Enjoy!

Puppy Chow

No, I'm not making my dog homemade food...just yet. But I AM making delicious treats for my friends. I also made this for the Halloween party (hangs head in shame again for being so late). I got this recipe from cooks.com.

CHEX MIX PUPPY CHOW

9 cup Chex
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Put cereal in large bowl. Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour over Chex cereal, put into a large plastic bag with powdered sugar and shake well to coat.

Spread mixture evenly on wax paper and allow to cool.

I swear I'm not behind.....

Ok, so now I realize my blog is totally outing me. Yes, I'm way behind on updating, but these turned out so cute, that I'd rather admit to my lateness than not show you at all! I got the idea from Semi-Homemade with Sandra on the Food Network. There aren't too many instructions, but here goes:


Jack-O-Lantern Strawberries

White Melting Chocolate
Orange Food Coloring (or obviously red and yellow)
Black gel icing (the kind in the small tube)
Fresh Strawberries

Clean and dry the strawberries. Melt the chocolate and add food coloring until you get a satisfactory orange. Dip each strawberry and lay on wax paper to cool. Once they dry, draw jack-o-lantern faces with the black gel icing. Put them in the fridge for about an hour and the black icing will harden up pretty well.

I served these at our Halloween party and everyone loved them. I'll definitely do them again, and I'll probably do some Christmas related ones as well!

Panko Shrimp & Fried Rice

I found this Panko shrimp recipe on Savory Safari, and while she was daring enough to make her own sweet and sour sauce, we just settled for some yummy red La Choy sauce. So then I needed a fried rice recipe to go with it and found this one from Joelen's Culinary Adventures.

This has quickly become a favorite in our household. It's honestly better than going out to a restaurant.

Fried Rice:
1 cup leftover meats - pork, chicken, beef, seafood (I left this out, but added more veggies than it called for)
1-2 eggs
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 onion finely diced
3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped vegetables (fresh or frozen)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1-2 tablespoons light or dark soy sauce
1-2 cups prepared rice, cold (or day old)

In a hot skillet or wok, heat oil.
Add garlic and onions & stir.
Add leftover meats of your choice, chopped up in bite sized pieces.
Stir fry meats until you get them a bit crispy.
Push the meats aside and crack eggs into the pan.
Scramble the eggs into the pan until cooked.
Add cold rice over the eggs & meat into the pan, making sure to crumble it in your fingers. (Dumping a large chunk of rice is not going to work here. You need to crumble it so it separates nicely).
Add salt, pepper, onion & garlic powders and soy sauce; toss.
Allow the rice to heat up and absorb the spices and soy sauce, tossing to help it along.
Add the fresh or frozen veggies and toss into the rice.
Continue cooking it all on high heat until rice is heated through and veggies are cooked.

Panko Shrimp:

Canola oil to cook
Salt and black pepper, to taste
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup all-purpose flour, in a shallow dish
2 eggs, beaten, in a shallow dish
1 cup panko, in a shallow dish

Directions
1. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Dredge shrimp in flour, then egg, then panko.
2. Heat oil until shimmering and a sprinkling of flour sizzles and immediately dissolves. Fry shrimp until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes total, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

PW's Cowboy Breakfast Sandwich

So...I haven't updated in forever. No, I have not given up on cooking, but we have been trying to keep our new Coney Island in business. Anyway, stop yelling at me or I'll never update again! Here we go.....

Ok, so I saw Pioneer Woman make this breakfast sandwich, and it looked so good that I stopped on my way home from work to get the ingredients. I couldn't stop thinking about it...and so rather than waiting until morning, I made it for dinner! Then when Carl got home at the end of the week, I made them again for breakfast. We both LOVED them!

4 slices of Texas Toast (I used English Muffins)
2 Eggs
2 slices of Kraft Cheese
2 Breakfast Sausage Patties
Jarred Jalapeños
Milk
Mayo (I used Miracle Whip)
A whole lot of butter...mmmm

1. Start to warm up your griddle- either on the oven, or like I use, my stand alone griddle. Fry the sausage patties in a fry pan on the stove, smooshing while you cook them so they flatten a bit. Then set them aside- I put them on a plate and in the microwave so they stay warm. While the sausage is cooking, whisk your eggs with some milk, salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Put some butter on the griddle and fry up the jalapeños, set aside. Coat your griddle with butter again and put your bread or muffins on the griddle. While those are grilling up, pour your egg mixture into the sausage pan...sans sausage of course by now and fold the eggs as they cook. The key is to NOT scramble them but rather create more of an omelet format so you can layer it on the sandwich and it won't fall apart on you.
3. Finally...its time to layer!!! Remove your bread product from the griddle, smear on your Miracle Whip...or if you insist, regular mayo. Then put the sausage patty, layer with egg, top with jalapeños and a slice of good ol Kraft cheese and of course finally another piece of bread. Tada! Delicious breakfast- or if you just can't wait that long, dinner!

ENJOY!