The New Year

Well, I haven't accomplished much in this new year. I have broken all my resolutions, and have been stuck in my house most of this year. My cooking skills have also been lacking. What I have done is obtained a peanut butter infatuation. I'm not sure if it is from all this talk of tainted peanut butter or what, but I love the stuff. I have eaten it on cucumber slices. It is also good on saltine crackers, dash of hot sauce and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. Behind closed doors, I have been know to eat spoon fulls of the stuff. I am partial to the creamy. I need to end this relationship, because I know it isn't helping my diet out at all. Anyway, I will get some energy and start blogging again. I know that spring is around the corner and this gives me hope. This darn winter has been absolutely brutal, and all I want to do is stay inside where it is warm. Until next time, adios.

Layered Pumpkin Loaf

I told kraftykash that I had a great pumpkin cream cheese bread recipe and then left town and didn't look back. So sorry! Christmas was crazy this year. I usually refuse to travel, but in a weak moment agreed to go to the in-laws. It went fine, but I just really enjoy staying home and having Santa come to our own house. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I got this recipe out of the Kraft Food & Family magazine. It is wonderful.

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 egg whites, divided
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a nonstick 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside. Mix pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, the brown sugar, 3 of the egg whites, milk and oil in large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, pie spice and salt; stir just until moistened. Set aside. Beat cream cheese, remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar and the remaining egg white with wire whisk until well blended.

Spoon half of the batter into prepared pan; spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter. Cover with remaining pumpkin batter.

Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 5 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run knife or thin spatula around edges of pan to loosen bread; cool in pan on wire rack 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Treats

Yum, my Mom sent me some of these and I ate the whole bag in one sitting. I decided I better make more and take them to my in-laws for Christmas. Everyone should pork out on these. They are so easy and good. My Mom used Rolos, but I found Caramel Kisses for cheaper. They seem to taste the same.

1. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

3. Unwrap candy Kisses and put on foil.

4. Bake for 3 minutes.

5. Press Pretzel onto Kisses.

6. Let cool.

7. Peel off and eat.

So easy, so if you aren't into holiday baking...this may be for you.

Green Tip

I just saw a link to this website through on of my favorite websites. They sell lots of good things, but I love the Rice Hull pots. They are made of Rice Hulls and 100% biodegradable and 100% compostable. I love it!http://www.olivebarn.com/ has lots of great Eco-friendly gifts at reasonable prices and reasonable shipping. I'm definitely going to put them in my faves list. Check them out.

Warm Bread...mmm

Well, it has been so darn cold, I just want to eat pasta and bread non-stop. So, I gave in to temptation and made some bread. I'm not really a bread maker, I wish I were. My bread never turns out quite right. I need some bread help. This recipe requires no kneading and is really pretty fast-right up my ally. I've seen different variations on this recipe, but this is the one I used.

English Muffin Batter Bread

4-41/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 pkg active dry yeast or 4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups water

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. In a small saucepan, heat water and oil to 120-130 degrees. Add liquid and eggs to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, stir in 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour to form a stiff batter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80-85 degrees) until light and doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes. Grease and sprinkle with cornmeal two 8x4 inch loaf pans. Stir batter vigorously 30 seconds; spoon into prepared pans. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes. Heat oven to 375. Bake 20-30 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from pans immediately; cool on wire racks.

They turned our pretty good. I may have left them in a bit too long, the tops got pretty brown, oh yeah, and that big tunnel-darn. I just can't resist warm bread with butter. I could eat the whole loaf!

Another Day, Another Dinner

I made another casserole last night. You will notice that I go a little overboard on the casseroles, but I love the ease of them. I throw veggies in, and it is basically all I need to do for dinner. Well, and they are usually pretty economical. Anyway, here is the recipe.

Pizza Casserole

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion chopped

8oz. rigatoni noodles, cooked

1 pkg pepperoni

8 oz. mozzarella cheese shredded

1 (16 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 small jars mushrooms

1 package frozen spinach

Brown and drain ground beef, add onion. Heat spaghetti sauce and mix mushroom soup in with it. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Layer in dish 1/2 ground beef, sauce, noodles, mushrooms, pepperoni, spinach and cheese. Start over using the other 1/2 of the ingredients ending with cheese on top. Cook for 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until browned and bubbly. You could also layer in a crock pot and cook on low for 3 hours.

note: I used my homemade tomato sauce, so my casserole has tomato chunks in it. Use what you have . :)

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I have this great recipe for homemade taco seasoning, and it is so easy. It tastes great, and you control what goes into it. I have been using it for years, so I never buy the packets anymore. You can make this for just a few cents, and you probably have everything in your cabinets.

1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Red Pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Mix all ingredients. Sprinkle mix on cooked hamburger and add 1/2 cup water. You can also add 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste at this point if you want more tomato flavor. I usually leave out the red pepper, since the kids don't like spicy things. This only takes a couple of minutes, and tastes great. I put shredded carrots and diced boiled potatoes in my taco meat to give it more heft and also to sneak in some veggies. Have fun with this.