Delicious Pumpkin Bread

For some reason, I have been wanting to bake a lot, more recently. My family  has enjoyed it, but it sure isn't good for the diet!

One of my most recent endeavors was Delicious Pumpkin Bread. I love just about anything pumpkin, so this looked yummy! I was very pleased on how it turned out. It was quite moist and tasty!  Since Hubby and a few of the kids do not like pumpkin, I was able to enjoy this treat for several days! I did make some Banana Bread several days later just for Hubby, but it was gone quite quickly!

If you like Pumpkin, then you will probably enjoy this Delicious Pumpkin Bread. You can find the recipe here.

Delicious Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1-1/4 cups canola oil

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 packages (3 ounces each) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture.

Pour batter into five greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 5 mini loaves (8 slices each) . Bread may also be baked in two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans for 75-80 minutes. (I did the two 8-in x 4-in. x2-in. loaf pans)

Fresh out of the oven and still in the pan.

Large slices that are so much cheaper than Starbucks and a lot more yummier!

I Definitely give it 2 thumbs up!

Crafty Crescent Lasagna

I am always looking for something new to try for dinner. It seems like we do the same things over and over again and it gets boring!

Back several years ago, we were living in a different house in a different state, and a neighbor made us dinner because we had just had a new baby!  We enjoyed the dinner and I begged asked her nicely for the recipe( actually several times). I never got that recipe from her, but over the years I remembered that dinner and would hope to find the recipe.

Recently I did a google search for it and I got this recipe. I think she must have used something different for the crust, but I am not sure. It is not exactly the same(at least from my memory), but it was still good. It seemed as though most of my family enjoyed it.

INGREDIENTS:

Meat Filling

• 1/2 lb bulk pork sausage
• 1/2 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• Dash pepper
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

Cheese Filling

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup small-curd cottage cheese
•  1 egg

Crust

• 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet
• 2 (7x4-inch) slices mozzarella cheese ( I used shredded mozzarella instead)
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon sesame seed  

DIRECTIONS :


1. In 10-inch skillet, cook sausage and beef until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink, stirring frequently; drain. Stir in remaining meat filling ingredients; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.


2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix cheese filling ingredients. Unroll both cans of dough. Place dough rectangles side by side, on ungreased cookie sheet (if using crescent dough, firmly press edges and perforations to seal). Press to form 15x13-inch rectangle.


3. Spoon half of meat filling in 6-inch wide strip lengthwise down center of dough to within 1 inch of short sides. Spoon cheese filling over meat filling; spoon remaining meat filling evenly over cheese filling. Arrange mozzarella cheese slices over filling.


4. Fold short sides of dough 1 inch over filling. Fold long sides of dough tightly over filling, overlapping edges in center 1/4 inch; firmly pinch center seam and ends to seal. Brush with milk; sprinkle with sesame seed.


5. Bake 23 to 27 minutes or until deep golden brown.



I made two of these. Since some of the kids do not like Sesame Seeds, I made one of them without.  I will definitely make this again sometime!

Strawberry-Frosted Banana Brownies

One thing I have enjoyed is trying new recipes. I love cookbooks and could sit and read through one like most people would sit and read a novel. If anyone was ever wanting to give me a present and had no idea what to get, a new cookbook would be perfect!

I like to try recipes for dinner as well as desserts. The dinner recipes are more of a challenge because most of my family will not eat a dish with veggies added in. I love veggies so there are many recipes that look yummy to me but I know won't work out too well for my family.

Dessert recipes are my favorite. I guess one reason is I have a Huge sweet tooth! That works really well with my quest to cut sugar out of my diet! Of course the family is excited when I try a new dessert recipe.

I subscribe to a few sites that send out email newsletters with recipes. Yesterday I decided to try this recipe from  Betty Crocker. You can find the recipe here.


Strawberry-Frosted Banana Brownies

From Betty Crocker

Ingredients:


1 box Betty Crocker® fudge brownie mix

Water, vegetable oil and eggs as called for on brownie mix box

1 banana, mashed (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) strawberries

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Fresh sliced strawberries, if desired


Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 350° F (325° F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan.


2. Make brownie batter as directed on box; stir in bananas. Spread into pan. Bake 24 to 26 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely.

3. In food processor, process strawberries until pureed. In medium bowl, beat powdered sugar, strawberries, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies. Garnish with strawberry slices, if desired.

When I make brownies I usually double the recipe and bake them in a pan that is larger than a 9x13 but not exactly double the size either. I do not know the size of the pan, but it is a blue lasagna pan I got from Pampered Chef many years ago. I absolutely love this pan and wish I could find another like just like it!

Anyway, I doubled this recipe also and baked it in my blue pan. I actually used the Pillsbury brand brownie mix!(shame on me, I know!) I stock up on those because Walmart will have them on sale for a dollar. Another thing I do is add chocolate chips to my brownies. I do a half cup per box of brownie mix.  So I added a cup to this recipe since I doubled it!

I served  the brownies with sliced strawberries and drizzled chocolate syrup on top. I wanted to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but we did not have enough for everyone. I should have planned ahead!

The flavor was very yummy! I like my brownies gooey, but these were a little more cake like. I wonder if making this with cake mix would  would turn out well?

Strawberries and Bananas are some of my favorites and the pureed strawberries in the icing was very yummy! I give this recipe a thumbs up!

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

My first daughter, and fourth child, Rebekah, just recently turned 17! Wow! Where does the time go?

The day she was born I was on cloud nine! Finally a girl after having three boys! She wore a lot of pink and headbands. I even had her ears pierced when she was 9 months old. I did not want anyone to ever mistake her for a boy! Believe it or not, I still had an older man call her a boy!

Rebekah is now a beautiful, 17 year old, young woman, inside and out! She is very hard working. She will be a senior next year and also is in TBQ (Teen Bible Quiz) and studies very hard! Her team is going to the National Competition soon! She works at Chick-fil-A to earn money for college and maybe a car. I am so proud of all her hard work, but I am especially proud of her dedication to the Lord and living her life for Him! 

Rebekah with Anna 

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

I usually order a cake from Walmart for most of the Birthdays around here. As the children have gotten older they seem to appreciate a home made cake a bit more.  Rebekah wanted a special chocolate cake, so I found this recipe.  I decided to make a white cream filling to go in the middle instead, so there would not be too much chocolate, (if there is such a thing!).

Well, things did not go as planned! About 20 minutes into baking, Luke comes in and asks "what is that horrible smell"? Chocolate Cake Baking is not supposed to smell horrible!

One minor detail that I overlooked is that I was supposed to put the batter into two 10 inch pans and not 9 inch pans. The batter was overflowing all over the oven! It was burning on the burners. Yikes!

Well, I decided to let it keep baking and see if I could salvage anything. It seemed a bit crispy on top. I decided to put in an emergency call to Leigh, Jeremy's girlfriend. She works at the Bakery at Walmart and is an amazing cake decorator. She made a beautiful cake for Rebekah.

Rebekah and Anna being very silly!

I eventually made the icing and the cream center and put the cake together.  It was falling apart a bit, and crumbs were everywhere when I put the icing on. It was a little sorry looking, but it tasted amazing!

This is their version.

Mine

Yummo!

 I will have to try it again using the right size pans! This cake was very yummy and the Chocolate Ganache Icing is almost like eating Fudge! We really enjoyed the white cream center to break it up a bit!

Have An Awesome Weekend!

MckLinky Blog Hop ~ Strawberry Pretzel Jello

This is a recipe that I received originally from my cousin several years ago. I had not made this in a few years but I was reintroduced to it recently by a friend from church. She brings it to most potluck dinners and it is usually gone really fast. I try to get some of this before any other food because it is so good and I want to make sure I can get some!

The only difference in my cousin's recipe and my friend's recipe is the first layer. My cousin uses 2 cups of pretzels and my friend's uses 1 cup of pretzels and 1 cup of pecans. I borrowed this picture to show you what it looks like. It is a pretty dessert and oh so yummy! I need to start taking pictures of the food I prepare in case I want to share the recipe. Anyway, Enjoy!

Strawberry Pretzel Jello

First Layer:

1 Cup of Crushed Pretzels

1 Cup of Finely Crushed Pecans

3 Tablespoons of Sugar

1 Stick of Butter (melted)

Combine together and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely then add second layer.


Second Layer:

1 (8 Ounce) Package of Cream Cheese (room temperature)

1 Cup of Powdered Sugar

8 Ounces of Cool Whip

Cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar then stir in the cool whip.


Third Layer:

2 (10 Ounce) Packages of Sweetened Frozen Strawberries (thawed)

1 (6 Ounce) Package of Strawberry Jello

2 Cups of Boiling Water

Dissolve the jello in the boiling water. Stir in the Strawberries. Put in Refrigerator until partially set then add on top of second layer. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.









Blessings,

MckLinky Blog Hop ~ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Today on the McLinky blog hop we are sharing one of our favorite recipes. This recipe became one of my favorites recently. A friend shared it on Facebook and she got it from Bakerella. It originally came from Betty Crocker. It is so easy to prepare. It calls for using canned icing, but I like to make the chocolate ganache that Bakarella mentions. Be prepared for Yummy Chocolatey Goodness!





Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies


1 Box Betty Crocker Original Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 eggs

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy chocolate frosting

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray, or grease with shortening. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and 2 eggs. Spread in pan.

2. Make cookie mix as directed on pouch, using butter and 1 egg. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter; press down lightly.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes. Frost with frosting. For brownies, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows.


Chocolate Ganache

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

6 Tbsp butter

In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.

Pour over the chocolate morsels.

Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.

Pour over brownies and let set before cutting.