Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Friday Dessert -
Since it's Halloween and all! Thanks Rachael Ray (again!).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar



Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

**Photo from www.rachaelraymag.com



Feedback:
These were so good. I can't believe I made them myself, they look like they came out of a package! I thought they would be more pumpkin-y, the flavor was pretty mild though. I took some next door after trick-o-treating to share, they loved them too. Making these again for sure!

Chicken Salsa Verde Bake

Friday dinner- I am home (I got the day off!), but I want something I can make ahead anyways, so that I can have fun trick-or-treating with the kiddos!

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. Laugh if you like, but I am one of her many fans! She is the reason I started cooking. I was flipping through the TV right after I got married and saw her making a Chicken Chorizo Stoup. I watched her and thought "I could do that", and I did. And it was great! And now I do it everyday. If not for her, we'd be living on Hamburger Helper and meat off the barbeque. Thanks Rachael!

Ingredients:

2 tbs vegetable oil
2 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Two 16-ounce jars salsa verde
One 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup sour cream
3 cups crushed tortilla chips
One 8-ounce bag shredded Mexican-style cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. (***I usually use my Foreman Grill to pre-cook chicken for recipes. It's faster) Let stand until cool, then shred the meat into a large bowl. Stir in the salsa, kidney beans, onion and sour cream.

Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, scatter 1 cup tortilla chips on the bottom and top with half of the chicken mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers and cover with the remaining 1 cup tortilla chips. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

**Photo from www.rachaelraymag.com

Feedback:
This was really good. Spicy, and easy. The kids couldn't eat it with us. I will make this again!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Thursday Dinner-
Haven't tried this one before...hope its good!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
4 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
1/2 pound pasta, cooked, drained - whatever you have on hand (I had macaroni)
4 cups cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Saute until liquid evaporates, about 12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add broth and milk, stirring until blended. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add 3 cups cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Stir in pasta and chicken. Pour into a buttered shallow 3 quart baking dish.

Mix remaining cheese and bread crumbs; sprinkle over casserole.

Bake, uncovered, until bubbly. 35-40 minutes


Feedback:

I made this today before I left for work, and couldn't help but eat a serving for myself. This is super good! I didn't get to try it with the crumb crust of course, but the sauce is cheesy and creamy, and the mushroom sauted in garlic...oh my, oh my! The kids gobbled it up. And my youngest, who has been acting like he didn't feel too well all day, ate a little and then threw up all over his highchair. Poor thing (him AND my husband, who had to clean it up). Hubby hates mushrooms, but he doesn't mind picking them out. I am determined to change his mind about them, so I refuse to take them out of the recipe...not that he had too much of an appetite, after the above mentioned incident.

Jerk Chicken

Wednesday Dinner-
I adore this stuff. We went to Jamaica for our one year anniversary and ate jerk chicken at all hours of the day and never got sick of it. This is a pretty close recipe, but nothing is as good as the real thing!

Ingredients:

1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp all spice
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground ginger
4 garlic cloves chopped
4 green onions chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
4-5 lbs chicken pieces - bone in

In a food processor, blend all the ingredients (except the chicken) together until smooth. Reserve 1 cup of the marinade. Place chicken pieces in a ziploc bag and pour marinade over them. Seal and allow to marinate for 4-6 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat reserved 1 cup of sauce in a small saucepan until reduce by 1/3(about 10 minutes). After 20 minutes, baste chicken with thickened sauce. Raise heat to 400 and cook another 20 minutes.

Serve with rice.

**In Jamaica, we had the cook making us a special sandwich. Jerk chicken shredded and put on a hamburger bun with a slice of melted cheese (warmed on the bread in a pan). Like a jerk chicken melt. Fabulous! I'll make this for lunch - if there are any leftovers!

Feedback:
So yummy! I used a poblano pepper instead of a habanero - hubby has a wimpy mouth ;). And there's no leftovers. I scraped off the skin and cut up the chicken for the kids, they ate a ton and so did we. No Jerk Melts for lunch for me!

Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Tuesday Dessert...yummy!-
I got this recipe from a fellow blogger and am so excited to try it!

Ingredients:

3 large Macintosh apples, peeled and sliced
2 1/4 cups sugar divided
1 Tbs cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 cup apple juice
6 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven 350.

In a large bowl, combine apple slices, 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine remaining 2 cups sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Pour in oil, vanilla, apple juice and eggs. Stir to just combine. Pour about half of the batter into a lightly greased bundt pan. Top with the apples (do not let them touch sides of the pan). Top with remaining batter. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, run a knife around pan and invert onto a platter.





Feedback:
This is the only time I have ever been able to invert a cake and have it come out clean. I'm usually terrible at it! But it works this time, and this cake is as yummy as it sounds!!

Blackened Chicken Wraps with Balsamic Mayo

Dinner for Tuesday-
I had this amazing wrap at Mimi's Cafe the other day, and I can not wait to re-create it! It was excellent! So I dug up a few recipes and threw in a little of what I thought I tasted and come up with this:

Ingredients:

Blackened Chicken:
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
Olive oil
4 boneless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all spices together. Drizzle olive oil over chicken breasts. Then coat evenly with spice mixture. Heat a non stick skillet over high heat until it is really hot. Place chicken in hot pan and cook for 1 minute on each side. Transfer chicken onto baking sheet and cook in oven for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of breasts)

Balsamic Mayo:
1 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne (opt)

Combine all ingredients.

Wraps:
Sundried tomatoe tortillas
Lettuce
Tomato
Shredded cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese

Spread mayo onto tortilla. Lay down lettuce, tomatoe slices, and cheese. Place slices of blackened chicken. Fold tortilla in on the sides and then roll. Cut at an angle in the center and serve.

Feedback:
Oh my gosh, were these fantastic! Even my husband loved them. And I thought FOR SURE he'd give me a hard time about the sundried tomato tortillas, since that would trigger the "healthy flag" in his mind and he is positive that he can't stand any healthy/diet food. So I was surprised I got no resistance, and he loved it too!

New Feature...

To the right, in the side bar, you will find a new feature. I have listed our menu for the upcoming week - exactly as it is written and hanging on the side of the fridge in my home.

I am thinking of posting all recipes I plan to use for the week at one time, and then posting pictures and feedback as they are made. What do you all think? - Post all recipes at once, or do it day-to-day? What would you prefer? I'd love your opinion!

VOTE IN THE SIDE BAR ~~~~~~>>>>>>