Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Our heat wave has finally let up a bit, and we've been airing out the house all weekend.  The cooler temperatures have left me craving fall comfort foods, so I threw together a batch of chili in the crock pot, and made these super easy pumpkin muffins.

Ingredients:

1 18 oz box of yellow cake mix

1 can of pumpkin puree

1.5 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350, and line muffin tin.

2. Combine ingredients until well blended.

3. Spoon even amounts of mixture into each cupcake liner.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

I was tempted to throw in a handful of chocolate chips, but I resisted.  I did sprinkle the muffins with powdered sugar, though.

Do you see how much my lettuce is growing in the background?

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced into small pieces

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground flax meal

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

2. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, flax, and baking soda in large bowl and mix well.

3. Beat the eggs into the oil, then add the strawberries and mix well.

4. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, mix together until the batter is even.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

8. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

I found this recipe online, and it's a great way to use up strawberries.  The texture is kind of crumbly, and it didn't slice well for me.  But it did taste good!  I may have added a little more chocolate chips than called for.  :)  Enjoy!

Quick & Cost Effective Chicken Noodle Soup

When I cook I look to a recipe for inspiration, but rarely follow one closely.  Part of our budget plan is to stretch leftovers and pantry staples to make hearty and pocket-friendly meals.  One of our sweet church friends brought us a whole chicken the other night, so I cut the remaining meat off the bones to save for this soup.


Here’s what I did:


Chop 3 long and skinny carrots.  
Chop 1 medium onion.
Add to stock pot and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Add garlic.  I didn’t have any fresh, so I had to use powder.
Sautee for about 5 minutes to soften them a bit.


After the 5 minutes were up, I added 6 cans of chicken broth.  
Add the shredded leftover chicken.
Season to taste with:
Salt & pepper
Basil
Oregano
  *This is what I had on hand.  You can also use parsley, thyme, etc.


Bring to a boil.
Turn heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, make ½ a bag of egg noodles according to the package.  Drain and add to the soup when done.  You can cook the noodles in with the soup, but you would need a lot more broth because it will soak it all up.


That’s it.  Very basic so you can add whatever your family likes.

Mom A's Meat Loaf Recipe

I wasn't able to snap a photo of dinner last night before it was gone, so the above photo will have to do. This is Josh's mother's recipe that he loves so much so I thought I would give it a try.

Meat loaf Recipe

1-1.5lb. hamburger

1 pack of Lipton onion soup

2 eggs

1 pack of crushed crackers (I used wheat)

1/2 cup of worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper

ketchup

1. Mix onion soup packet, eggs, worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, cover hamburger with crushed crackers. Pour above mixture into second bowl and mix together with hands, kneading like dough.

3. Form meat into a loaf pan. (I didn't have one so I used a round corningware dish and it turned out just fine.)

4. Put ketchup over top evenly.

5. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

Grandma's Fried Green Tomatoes

Josh and I ate dinner last night at my grandparent's house. At the end of every summer my Grandma fries up green tomatoes from my Grandpa's garden because it's my favorite side dish. Well, it usually turns into my main dish, yum.

Grandma's Fried Green Tomato Recipe

late green tomatoes

egg

flour

milk

salt, pepper, & sugar

oil

1. Slice tomatoes and dip in egg and milk batter, then dip in flour.

2. Fry until tomatoes are golden and tender.

3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sugar.

* Some people use cornmeal but we always use flour and they are divine!