Pumpkin Pancakes!

My mom had made sweet potato pancakes when I was little, so I thought why not get with the season and make pumpkin pancakes? I made them for dinner with some potatoes and turkey bacon.

Pumpkin Pancakes

• 1 1/4 c. All-purpose flour
• 2 T. Sugar
• 2 t. Baking powder
• 1/2 t. Cinnamon
• 1/2 t. Ground ginger
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 1/8 t. Nutmeg
• 1/8 t. Ground cloves
• 1 c. Milk
• 6 T. Pumpkin puree, about 1/2 a can
• 2 T. Butter, melted
• 1 Egg

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl.
Whisk together the milk, pumpkin, butter and egg in a separate bowl. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Flip pancake when top starts to bubble. Cook for ~3 minutes on other side.

Recipe from: http://www.howto-simplify.com/2010/10/pumpkin-pancakes.html

Pumpkin Chai Thumbprints

It may be too late for anyone to make these cookies because I can not find the Hershey Pumpkin Spice Kisses anywhere anymore :( I found them at Walmart in late September and haven't seen them since. I am sure they would taste good with the caramel filled Hershey's or with no kiss at all.

These cookies were super moist. I did not let them sit in the fridge long enough and they were a sticky mess to try and put on the tray, especially since I was doing it by hand. They disappeared in a day as well. Luckily I have more kisses so I can make them one more time this season. Unless Joey takes it upon himself to raid my pantry and eat some more.

Pumpkin Chai Thumbprints

• 1 Stick butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. Sugar
• 1/4 c. Brown sugar
• 1/4 c. Chai concentrate, I used Oregan Chai, found in the tea section at Walmart
• 1 Large egg
• 1 t. Vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 c. All-purpose flour
• 1/2 t. Baking soda
• 1/8 t. Salt
• 1 t. Pumpkin pie spice
• 24 or more Pumpkin spice Hershey’s Kisses, frozen
• 1/2 c. Sugar and 1 t. pumpkin spice to roll the cookies in before baking

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the butter and sugar a bowl with an electric mixer and cream at medium speed until fluffy, for about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, chai concentrate, and vanilla, mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt. Refrigerate the dough for an hour, or more if dough is still really sticky.

Using your hands, roll out 24 or more 1 inch round balls. Then roll in the sugar and spice mixture. Place on tray and bake for 12-15 minutes. 

Unwrap kisses and keep frozen (or else they will melt onto cookie). Remove cookies from oven and immediately place kisses on cookies before cookie starts hardening. Cool and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://passthesushi.com/chai-pumpkin-spice-thumbprints/

 

Apple Upside Down Cake

I made this because I had some apples that were turning to mush and didn't want to waste them. It turned out very well. The cake part was a little dry, but that was my only complaint. I am sure if I made it again I could figure out how to make it more moist. Maybe using oil or even applesauce instead of all the butter. Or listening to what the directions say and watch the baking time because it could dry out. But what are you going to do? Ps. I served it with vanilla ice cream :)

I got the recipe from http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/08/12/apple-cinnamon-upside-down-cake/

I didn't follow the directions for alternating the mixing of the ingredients because frankly I didn't have the patience for it.

Mexican Lime Soup with Chicken

O my goodness, if you want a tasty, belly filling soup this is the one! I found it on the Williams-Sonoma website of all places. It did not call to be made in a crock pot, but I did anyway and had amazing results! I just tossed it all in and cooked it on LOW for 8 hours or so. SO GOOD!

Unfortunately, the picture doesn't do it justice because we ate almost all the soup before I remembered to take a picture :(

Mexican Lime Soup with Chicken

• 3 Limes
• 2 Chicken breasts (or tenders), about 10 oz. each
• 1 t. Salt
• 1/2 t. Ground pepper
• 1 T. Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, I used yellow, chopped
• 5 Garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Jalapeño chilis, seeded and minced
• 3 c. Low-sodium chicken broth  
• 3 c. Water
• 1 1/2 t. Oregano, the original called for Mexican oregano, but I couldn't find any.

• 1 Avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
• 2 oz. Queso fresco or feta cheese, crumbled. the fresco was a lot more expensive, so I used feta.

Cut one lime into wedges to use as a garnish for later. Juice the other 2 to get 1/4 c. of lime juice. Mix all ingredients in the crock pot, minus the avocado and cheese, those are used as garnishes. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. Remove chicken from crock pot and shred or use two forks to shred in the crock pot. Serve with the lime wedges, avocado, and cheese.

Here is the original recipe: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/mexican-lime-soup-chicken.html

Crock Pot Apple Crisp

I made this when my parents and brother came to town to visit me and see my new apartment. It was a good visit and nice to finally be able to show them a put together, homey looking apartment.

The apple crisp was really easy, tasty and made my apartment smell really good. The only thing I changed was using pecans instead of walnuts. I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Gala apples just to mix up the flavors a little bit.

I got the recipe from crockingirls.com Here is the recipe anyways:

Apple Crisp

• 1 c. All-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. Brown sugar
• 1 c. White sugar
• 1 t. Ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. Ground nutmeg
• 1 Pinch of salt
• 1 Stick butter, softened 
• 1 c. Chopped pecans
• 1 T. Cornstarch
• 1/2 t. Ground ginger
• 6 c. Apple cored, chopped (peeled optional) (about 7 apples)
• 2 T. lemon juice

Mix flour, brown sugar, ½ c. of white sugar, ½ t. cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl. Combine butter in with the mixture using a fork or your fingers until coarse crumbs form. Stir in pecans and set aside. Whisk together 1/2 c. sugar, cornstarch, ginger, and ½ t. cinnamon. Place the apples in the bottom of the crock pot, then stir in the cornstarch mixture; toss with lemon juice. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top of apples. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or LOW for 4, until apples are tender. After cooking is complete remove lid so topping can harden, about an hour. Serve with vanilla ice cream of course!

Fall is in full swing.

I have been making a lot of tasty fall treats recently, but have been too lazy to put them on my blog. Or do anything with my blog in general. Sorry. These next few posts are going to have a lot to do with pumpkin and apples. I must say, they all turned out pretty good as well.

But first here is a late happy halloween picture taken at the party Joey and I hosted.

Meat Loaf and Mashed Potatoes

This is one of the best comfort foods in my opinion. It just takes an hour to bake. It is also a good recipe to sneak vegetables in so that's why I used a whole pepper and onion :)

• 1lb. Ground turkey
• 1 Yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Red pepper, chopped
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1/2 c. Quick cooking oats.
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Topping:

• 1/3 c. Ketchup
• 2 T. Brown sugar
• 1 T. Mustard

Mix all the ingredients together. Place in a baking dish or bread loaf pan. Spread the topping all over. Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Mashed Potatoes

• 3 Potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 c Milk
• 2 T. Butter
• Salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover all the potatoes for 15 mins. Drain water and return to pot.  Add milk and butter and blend with electric mixer till reaches desired consistency. Add more milk, butter, salt, and pepper to taste.