Buckeye Pretzels

I made these deliciously addictive buckeye pretzels yesterday for a Final Four party. I pinned the recipe from Sweet Peas Kitchen on Pinterest. Instead of using traditional, twist pretzels I used Snyder's Snaps, so the peanut butter mixture wouldn't push through too much. Does that make sense? It made sense to me and it seemed to work out really well. I will definitely make these again, but the next time I will likely drizzle the chocolate instead of dipping the pretzels because it was pretty messy.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I'm counting down the days to Spring Break...4 days!

~Sarah

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

As we are nearing moving day I am trying to use up any food items remaining in our freezer. So today I made these yummy cookies I saw last night on "Kelsey's Essentials" a cooking show on the cooking channel. They sounded so good and I knew I had all of the ingredients already including the bananas I had frozen a while back. Bananas freeze really well if you have never tried it you definitely should. I wouldn't these are my favorite but they are good. They are cakier than a normal cookie. And I could probably do without the cinnamon and nutmeg. I think next time I will try it without the spices. I also think I will try making them with pumpkin.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Kelsey's Essentials

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 2 overripe bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups rolled oats 
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips (about half a 12-ounce bag)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream together the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Mix in the bananas and egg and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the vanilla.

In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. It will be a wet cookie dough. Stir in the chocolate chips.

 Portion cookies out using overflowing tablespoonfuls on 2 greased cookie sheets, 12 cookies per sheet. Bake just until golden brown, 20 minutes. I recommend baking these one sheet at a time. Cool on a wire rack.

Print this recipe!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not sure why I have never shared this recipe before. It's really easy and so yummy. I honestly couldn't tell you how many batches of these I have made. They are always a favorite and are hardly even around long enough to cool. They are really easy and have a super short ingredient list! Gotta love that.



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

-1 C Peanut Butter

-1 C Sugar

-1 Egg

-1 t Baking Soda

-1/2 t Salt

-2/3 C Chocolate Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or stand mixer combine peanut butter and sugar. Add egg. Last add baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. (Dough will be crumbly) Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for a few minutes then place on waxed paper to cool completely (I do not recommend cooling on a wire rack as they tend to fall through when warm).

*Hint: I do recommend forming dough into rounded balls and flattening slightly as the cookies do not change shape much while baking. Also you can place them pretty close together because they do not spread much.  

Print this recipe!

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Slow Cooker: Simple Pork Roast

Hi there. Happy St.Pattys Day! Sorry I don't have a fancy St. Patricks Day themed dish for you. Maybe next year. I do however have a really easy recipe for you. It is another slow cooker recipe. I love slow cooker recipes but I tend to only use them in the cooler months. I prefer to grill during warmer weather. So I thought I would post this while it is still slightly cool outside. Here in Ohio that is. Anyway here is the recipe.

Slow Cooker: Pork Roast

Ingredients

-Pork Roast (3-5lbs avg. size)

-1 packet onion soup mix

-Enough water to almost cover roast (usually 2-3 cups)

-You will also need a crockpot/slow cooker

Directions

Rinse pork roast with cold water (I do this with almost all meat).

Place roast in crock pot. Add onion soup packet. Add enough water to almost cover the roast. Set slow cooker on low and cook for atleast 6-8 hours. I do not recommend cooking for much more than 8 hours. Feel free to add veggies if you like this recipe is very flexible.

*I always cook mine for atleast 8 hours. I just start it in the morning before I go to work so really it ends up cooking for about 9 hours.

Serve with whatever sides you like. We think mashed potatoes and green beans are especially yummy with it.

Print this recipe!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Slow Cooker: Chicken & Dumplings

Happy Hump Day. I can't wait for the weekend to get here! We have some seriously fun plans this weekend. Including going to look at a house. I really hope it works out.

I have a seriously love of comfort food. I am pretty sure I could eat mashed potatoes every day of my life...but then again who couldnt!? So when I saw a recipe on pinterest for slow cooker chicken and dumplings I knew I had to try it. My inspiration came from this post on polishthestars.com. I followed a good portion of her ingredients and directions but I made some of my own changes.

Slow Cooker: Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients

-1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (About 3 breasts)

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

2 cans (10.5oz) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (I used fat free)

1 can (14oz) Chicken Broth OR

(1 C water and 2 frozen chicken broth cups. See how to make those here.)

1/2 medium White Onion, diced

4 Large Flaky Refrigerator Biscuits (half a can)

1. Place thawed chicken in crock pot and top with butter.  Add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and diced onions.  Cook on Low for 8 hours (I never cook anything for very long on high in my crock pot because I have never had good luck with it. Everything seems to dry out.)  Now walk away and do not stir while cooking.

2. Cut each uncooked biscuit into 9 small pieces and stir into the chicken/soup mixture.  Continue to cook on High for 45 minutes (or until biscuits look smooth and doughy like dumplings).  Remove chicken from slow-cooker and shred with a fork.  Return to slow-cooker and stir everything together.  Serve hot.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

No Fail: Breakfast Casserole

Hello! Happy Wednesday. We just finished one of our all time favorite meals. Delicious sausage and egg breakfast casserole. This is a recipe my family has used for years. I remember my mom making it for Christmas every year. =) It is really easy and quick, plus you can make it the night before! I love when I come home from work and all I have to do is stick something in the oven. So here is the recipe....I hope you enjoy it!

Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

-1 lb pork sausage (I like bob evans)

-8 eggs

-2 1/2 cups milk

-1 t salt

-1 t ground mustard

-6 slices white bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

-1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a skillet brown and crumble sausage; drain and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs; add milk, salt and mustard. Stir in bread cubes, cheese and sausage.

3. Pour into grease 13x9 inch baking dish.

4. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

5. Remore 20-30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

I like to serve with a fresh fruit salad. Thanks for stopping by! And as always please feel free to leave any questions in the comments section and I will get back to you ASAP.

Click Here to print this recipe!

February Pinterest Challenge

Hi there. I am keeping it simple this month because we have soo much going on. So I am trying to be realistic for once. haha  So here is my pinspiration....

Homemade Bread

via pinterest (originally allrecipes.com)

I have always wanted to make bread from scratch but I have been intimidated by the idea of baking with yeast. But I finally decided to go for it! So here are my results! I must say I am very pleased with my results and with practice I think I will only get better at the whole process.

Here is my bread cooling.

I used this tutorial (via lafujimama) to get the technique done and to get a good visual. I highly recommend checking it out and watching her video!

I used the follow recipe originally from allrecipes.com adapted slightly to suite what I had on hand.

Homemade White Bread

Ingredients

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 3 T granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 C warm water (110 degrees F / 45 degrees C)
• 3 T butter (softened)
• 1 T salt
• 6 1/2 C all-purpose flour (or Bread Flour)

*Most recipes recommend bread flour however I did not have any on hand and I read all-purpose would work ok. Next time I will plan ahead and buy bread flour to see if there is a difference.

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.  Stir in butter, salt and two cups of the flour. (Transfer to a stand mixer at this point if you have one and use your dough hook) Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
2. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Click Here to print the Homemade White Bread recipe!

*I made cookies while I was waiting for the bread to rise so the kitchen would be nice and warm. You can find my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe here! 

And here is the final product pre-sliced and ready to enjoy!

I had some peanut butter toast for breakfast and it was delicious. Light soft middle with just a little crunch to the crust. I would say this was a definite success. I am looking forward to trying some more complex bread recipes in the future. I will certainly be looking for some healthier options. Have you ever made your own bread?

Thanks for stopping by! As always leave me a comment if you have any questions!

January Freezer Meals

Hello. Today I will be telling you about my January freezer meals. This is my first attempt at making and using freezer meals and I must say I am a huge fan. It was definitely a lot of work to get everything made and in the freezer but it totally paid off! I love that I can take something out of the freezer the night before and pop it in the oven or microwave when I get home and I am done! I have been waiting to post this because I wanted to try the recipes before I posted to make sure everything tasted good.

*Before you get started I recommend reading through all of the recipes to see what you already have and what you will need to buy. Also be sure you have plenty of freezer space available to store everything you're going to make. We do not have a big chest freezer and I was able to fit everything in our standard size freezer by freezing everything flat and maximizing space. You may also want to shop one day and cook the next so it is not as overwhelming.

*Also pre-chopping all of your veggies is a huge help!

So this is what I made...

-Chicken Enchiladas (enough for 4 dinners)

-6 cups shredded chicken

-Taco Meat (enough for 2 dinners)

-Sloppy Joes (my own recipe) (enough for 2 dinners)

-Pork Chops and Apples (enough for 2 dinners)

-Stromboli (enough for 5 dinners)

-Chicken Souvlaki (enough for 2 dinners)

-Chocolate Chip Cookies (4 dozen)

-About 20 cups of chicken stock

*Most of these recipes yielded enough for a few dinners plus some leftovers to take to lunch the next day.

*WARNING: This is going to be a really long post! Thank you in advance for reading the entire thing and making some of the recipes! Leave me a comment if you have a question about anything I did and I will get back to you ASAP! =)

Shredded Chicken

Yield: 12 cups shredded chicken and 20 cups chicken stock

For this I used two whole roasting chickens. Some stores will put these on sale buy one get one so stock up if you can when they are on sale.

Ingredients

• 2 Whole roasting chickens
• 1 C chopped carrots
• 1 C chopped celery
• 1 C chopped onion
• 2 T poultry seasoning
• kosher salt

1. Rinse chickens with cold water and place in a large stock pot. Cover with water and add all of the chopped carrots, celery, onions, poultry seasoning and kosher salt.

2. Let simmer,covered for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked.

3. Pull the chicken out, throw away the veggies and let the broth cool. (I used my strainer and a very large pitcher for this. Place the strainer over the pitcher and pour the broth through separating the broth from the veggies)

4. Once your broth is cool pour it in to muffin tin cups and freeze, once frozen you can pop them out of the pan and freeze in zip lock bags for easy use later.

5. Once the chicken is cool enough to touch begin separating the meat from the bones and shred. If you have a stand mixture you can toss the chicken in there give it a quick whirl and it will shred the chicken for you!

6. Once chicken is cooled and shredded you can set aside 6 cups for enchiladas and freeze the other half. I froze them in two quart sized freezer bags 3 cups in each.

2 roasting chickens yield approx. 20 cups of shredded chicken
*I dont remember exactly how much they weighed but they were medium sized compared to the other chickens.

Click Here to print the Shredded Chicken Recipe!

*This is my chicken stock freezing. I used large muffin tins bc thats what I have. You could use a regular muffin tin with the same results.

*To thaw place chicken in refrigerator the night before or morning of the day you want to use it. I like to use my chicken for buffalo chicken dip or bbq chicken sandwiches!

While the chicken is simmering you should be able to make the sloppy joes and taco meat.

Taco Meat

Yield: 2 dinners plus some leftovers



This recipe is so easy and delicious I love all the added veggies!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef or turkey
• 2 C salsa
• 1 can diced jalapeno peppers, drained
• 2 packets taco seasoning
• 1 1/2 C water
• 2 t cumin
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1 green pepper, chopped well
• 1 onion, chopped well

In a large skillet brown 2 lbs ground beef/turkey (which ever you prefer). When meat is browned drain grease, return to skillet and add all remaining ingredients. Simmer until the water has cooked down. Set aside to cool. When cool divide up into quart size freezer bags. Be sure to let all of the air out and press everything flat so you can maximize space in your freezer. Also date and label your bags so you know what is in there!

*To thaw submerge in cold water for about 30 minutes or place in refrigerator in the morning to use for dinner that night. We used ours to make taco salads! Yum.

Click Here to print the Taco Meat Recipe!

Homemade Sloppy Joes

(You may remember these from a previous post.)
I doubled the original recipe. When making freezer meals you really want to make a lot at a time to maximize your hard work.

Yield: 2 dinners plus some leftovers

                                                   Ingredients

• 2 lb ground beef or turkey
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped (or green I have used both with great results)
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 t minced garlic
• 2-6oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1 t ground pepper
• 1 t ground cumin
• 2 t chili powder
• 2 t low sodium worcestershire sauce
• 2 T yellow mustard
• 2 T brown sugar

1. Brown ground beef/turkey.
2. Combine olive oil, minced garlic, onion, red pepper and celery in medium sauce pan. Cook on low to medium heat until it becomes fragrant (about 3 minutes).
3. Drain ground beef/turkey and set aside.
4. Add remaining ingredients to vegetable mixture. Simmer for about 2 minutes.
5. Add ground beef/turkey and enjoy!

*Allow sloppy joes to cool then place in quart sized freezer bags, remove air, press flat, label and freeze.
*To thaw submerge in cold water for about 30 minutes or place in refrigerator in the morning to use for dinner that night.

Click Here to print the Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe!

Chicken Enchiladas

Yield: 20 enchiladas, About 10 servings

* I eat 2 my husband eats 3 so one recipe made 4 dinners for us

Ingredients

• 1 C diced onion
• Canola Oil
• 6 C shredded chicken
• 1 small can diced green chilies, drained
• 1-15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained well
• 2- 28oz cans red enchilada sauce (1 can for filling and 1 can for topping)
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 20 tortillas ( I used 10 whole wheat and 10 flour)

1. In a large pot (I used my large dutch oven) saute diced onion until soft (about 10 minutes). Add all remaining ingredients (only 1/2 can of enchilada sauce you will use the other half upon filling enchiladas) until everything is well combined and cheese is melted.

2. Begin filling and rolling tortillas. Spoon approx. 1 T enchilada sauce onto tortilla, scoop 1/4 chicken filling on and spred evenly across tortilla. Roll and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.

3. Repeat filling, rolling and wrapping until no ingredients remain.

4. Place in large freezer bag and label

*When you are ready to eat place in refrigerator the night before to thaw (I pull out 5 at a time). Remove from foil and place in greased baking dish. Pour 1 can enchilada sauce over top (my husband likes a lot of enchilada sauce so use however much you like) and sprinkle with chedder cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Enjoy!

Click Here to print the Chicken Enchiladas Recipe!

Pork Chops and Apples

Yield: 2 dinners (plus some leftovers)

Ingredients

• 8 thick cut pork chops
• 1/2 C refrigerated egg product
• 2 1/2 pumpkin pie spice or all spice
• 1 t dried sage
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 2 T butter, softened
• 4 fiji apples, cored and sliced thin
• 1 cup italian bread crumbs
• 1 t kosher salt

1. Place 4 chops each in large freezer bags and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together egg product, 1/2 t of the pumpkin pie spice, and all the garlic powder, kosher salt and sage. Divide egg mixture evenly and pour into the two bags with pork chops. Massage bag to coat chops. Squeeze air out and seal. 

2. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, butter and the remaining 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. Add apples and toss to coat.Dividing apples in half and placing in two bags. Place sealed bags of chops and sealed bags of apples in large freezer bags. Seal bags, label, and freeze. 

You will end up with two large freezer bags each containing 1 bag of chops and 1 bag of apples.

*Thaw completely in refrigerator (I placed mine in the refrigerator the night before).  Preheat oven 375 degrees. Place apples in 9x13inch baking dish and set aside. Remove chops from egg mixture. Place bread crumbs in shallow dish and coat chops with bread crumbs. Place chops on top of apples. Bake for 45 minutes.  

This dish was delicious and definitely one of the easier dishes I made.

Click Here to print Pork Chops & Apples recipe!

Stromboli

Yield: 5 stromboli enough for atleast 5 dinners

Ingredients

• Kroger frozen bread loaves (comes in a plastic bag with 5 loaves)
• Italian seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Lots of shredded italian blend cheese (about 1 C for each stromboli)
• 1 lb sliced provolone cheese (from the deli)
• 1 container Kroger brand grated parmesan cheese (for filling and topping)
• 1 egg, for egg wash
• What ever filling you would like. I like diced chicken, spinach, mushrooms and onion (precook chicken and saute veggies for a few minutes) in mine. My husband likes italian sausage (cooked and crumbled), salami, pepperoni and banana peppers.

1. Prepare all ingredients for filling and set aside. Make egg wash with the egg and set aside.  (Crack egg, add a splash of milk or water, scramble)

2. Place each bread loaf in its own pan or bowl. I like to use my bread pans for this. Allow to rise all day until it is filling up the entire pan. I set mine out in the morning around 8am and it is ready to use around dinner time. So for freezer meal sake the day you plan to cook set this out first then start on everything else.

3. Rub dough with a little olive oil and stretch it out on a cookie sheet in the shape of a rectangle. You can then fill it with all of your ingredients. I like to alternate layers of cheese and filling. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

4. When you are finished filling start at one end and roll up the stromboli until it looks like a log (best example I could think of) you then pinch the seams closed on both ends and along the side.

5. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with italian seasoning and parmesan cheese.

*To eat now: Place on a cookie sheet (I recommend one with sides so the grease doesn't spill out into the oven). Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

*To freeze: Wrap in wax paper. Then wrap in tightly in aluminum foil. Label and freeze.

*To thaw: Place in refrigerator the night before you want to eat it! And bake according to directions above.

The day I made our freezer meals I made this last and we baked two for dinner that night.

Click Here to print the Stromboli recipe!

Chicken Souvlakia

Yield: 4 dinners

From the kitchen of Stacey Stathulis

(Although I dont believe he ever freezes it!)

Ingredients

• 6T lemon juice
• 1 t dried oregano
• 4 t olive oil
• 1 t salt (I use kosher salt)
• 8 garlic cloves minced
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

Combine ingredients in large zip-lock bag shake until all ingredients are mixed well. Then divide everything into 4 quart sized bags. Remove air, label and freeze.

*To thaw place in refrigerator the night before. Chicken will marinate while thawing. Skewer chicken and grill.

Super easy and delicious!

Click Here to print the Chicken Souvlakia recipe!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Kitchenaid Cookbook

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1 C granulated sugar
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 C butter or margarine, softened (2 sticks)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 3 C all-purpose flour
• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Place sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in mixer bowl. Using flat beater turn to speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to speed 4 and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl.

2. Turn to stir speed gradually add baking soda, salt and flour to sugar mixture. (I combine the baking soda, salt and flour together in a bowl, stir and add to sugar mixture about 1 cup at a time) mix about 2 minutes. Turn to speed 2 mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Add chocolate chips. Turn to stir speed and mix about 15 seconds.

3. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

*I recommend keeping atleast a dozen of these out to enjoy in the next few days! After all you did just make an entire months worth of dinners! You can then place the other 3 dozen in freezer bags, remove air, label and freeze. Just take them out of the freezer when you want them and let set out for a few hours to thaw. If you are really impatient like me you can pop them in the microwave! Cookies freeze very well but I recommend eating them within 3-4 weeks of making them.

Click Here to print the Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe!

Shew! That was the longest post I have ever done by far!! If you made it this far thank you! And if you make all of these recipes congrats! Its hard work but the pay off is great!! Let me know what you think and how it goes! =) I did my best to make this easy to understand and typo free I hope I was successful.

Have a great week!



Black Bean & Salsa Chicken

I didn't take a picture of this one! Boo. I was so excited to eat I totally forgot about taking the picture! This recipe is amazing and super duper simple (yea I just said super duper). Ok here it goes.....

Black Bean & Salsa Chicken

Ingredients

-1 small bag frozen corn

- 1 large jar of salsa (mild, medium, hot, melt your face off hot...whatever you like)

-2 cans black beans

-1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast (approx. 3-4 breasts depending on size)

Directions

-This part is tricky so stay with me!

-Place chicken in the bottom of crock pot and dump all remaining ingredients on top of it. Put the lid on and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours.  (I like to dump the ingredients in this order although I am not sure it matters...Chicken, Salsa, Black Beans then Corn)

-Easiest crock pot recipe ever! And oh so delicious!

This is great served over brown rice and topped with shredded cheese! I always look forward to taking the leftover to lunch the next day! Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are having a good week so far!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Hi! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I know I sure did. I had some much needed time to catch up on house work and crafty things.

I have been dying to make something pumpkin! So today I finally did...I made yummy pumpkin spice bread. In case you haven't noticed I really like breads! Remember the Zucchini Spice Bread and Banana Nut Bread.
This was the first time I have made pumpkin bread but I must say I think it turned out quite perfect! I used part of my zucchini bread recipe and part of a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.

Here is the recipe. I hope you will try it and enjoy it as much as I am!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Ingredients

3 C sugar

1 C vegetable oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 (16oz) can solid packed pumpkin

3 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1 1/2 t salt

1 t vanilla

1 T ground cinnamon

1 1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t cloves

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, and set aside.

2. In large bowl or stand mixer combine sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs. Add pumpkin and mix well. In separate large bowl combine dry ingredients and whisk until smooth (no clumps). Add flour mix about 1 cup at a time. Continue until all flour is mixed in well.

3. Pour evenly into loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.


Enjoy and leave me a comment if you have any questions!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to come back soon for more new posts!

Linking up to....  skiptomylou

Banana Nut Bread

I had some bananas that were very very brown and in serious need of becoming banana bread. So banana bread they now are. I have tried a few different banana bread recipes in the past and this one is definitely my favorite. Moist and delicious and just the right amount of banana! It is a starbucks recipe...sometimes they pass out little recipe cards telling you how to make the breads and muffins they serve there! Isn't that nice of them.

Where is the recipe? Over at my sisters blog...waughtivebeenupto. Go check it out and see "waught" she has been up to! hehe

Linking up to...
somedaycrafts, 

Simple & Hearty Chili

Just in time for football season and those wonderful chilly fall days here is our favorite chili recipe. There are tons of variations when it comes to chili. This one just happens to be our favorite and it is super simple too! We happened upon this recipe through a friends mom who made this chili many times for all of our friends during Ohio State games. Hope you like it! It is not an original it is a Bob Evans recipe.

via

Hearty Chili 

You will need...

-2 lbs Bob Evans Original Roll Sausage (you could substitute the Hot to add a little more kick)

-1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion

-1 package chili seasoning (I use Kroger brand)

-3 cups tomato sauce

-3 cups tomato juice

-1 30oz can kidney or chili beans

Crumble sausage into large dutch oven. Add onions. Cook over medium heat until sausage is browned, stirring occasionally. Drain off any drippings. Stir in seasonings and then remaining ingredients. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. 

Or..... You could brown sausage and onions in dutch oven and then add everything to a crock pot, stir and let cook for a few hours (2-4 hours) before serving. I like to do this on the weekends because I can do other things while it is cooking and the flavors are all coming together. Plus it makes the house smell soooo good. 

Enjoy. We like to eat our chili with cheese, oyster crackers and a dollop of sour cream! Yum.