Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! The weather, the visiting, the weather (wait I said that already) and all the baking that comes with the holidays.  I can't take credit for this recipe (except for passing it on) but I don't know who to give credit to either because I've had it for so long I don't remember where I got it from! I do know it was not Paula Deen because I was making a long time before she made ooey gooey butter cakes famous!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Crust:

1 Yellow cake mix 

1 egg

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix above ingredients with electric mixer. Pat mixture into lightly greased 13 x 9 pan. I usually spray my fingers with some Pam or use butter and pat down and slightly up the sides.

Filling:

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1 (16 oz.) package powdered sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, butter and beat again. Add remaining ingredients; beat again. Spread over crust. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. The crust will be browned but the middle will still look jiggly. Don't worry it sets after cooling.

No Cook Eggless Homemade Ice Cream

Nothing says summer like the sound of a churning ice cream machine filled with the delicious goodness of homemade ice cream! My family for several generations has made the uncooked version that means having raw eggs in the ice cream. Just one problem, as good as it tastes it completely grosses me out to find a piece of egg in my ice cream. 


No worries, help is on the way! Like I said it just grosses me out to have raw egg in the mix and I'm not about to feed that to my children so I went on the hunt for an eggless ice cream mix. After many searches and failed attempts I got the recipe below. Don't ask where it came from, because I do not remember. All I know is no eggs were harmed in the making of this ice cream!


No Cook Eggless Homemade Ice Cream 
Makes 1 quart


1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 oz.) can evaporated milk
2 T. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. whole milk


Mix it all together and pour it into your ice cream mixer. Layer ice and rock salt then crank it 
up. Delicious! You could add other ingredients to change the flavor such as crushed oreos, butterfinger or chocolate syrup.

Want to get the kids involved? Pour 1/2 c. of the mix into a quart size ziploc bag and seal up tight. Fill a gallon size bag about half full with ice and add salt (table salt will work but you have to use a lot).  Put the smaller bag inside the gallon bag and shake with all your might for 5-7 minutes or until ice cream is firm. **I made this with my 8 year old a few weeks ago and she had a blast! I would suggest wrapping a towel around the bags because they are VERY cold!

Apple Salad

Have company coming and you need a quick dessert? The ingredients for this Apple Salad are easy to keep on hand and pretty inexpensive. Plus adjust it just slightly (less snickers, reduced calorie/sugar cool whip) and it's not too bad on the diet!

Apple Salad
3 Granny Smith Apples
3 Red Apples (not red delicious, look for jazz or honey crisp)
3 Snickers Bars
Handful of peanuts (optional)
1 container Cool Whip


Chop apples  (do not peel) and Snickers. Mix with cool whip and peanuts. Chill; serve within a few hours.

Roast Pork Loin

I was tired of the same old, same old pork loin roast so I went recipe hunting. This is the result! Delish! Sorry I'm one of those cooks who doesn't measure! Can't decide if it's a blessing or a curse!

Roasted Pork Loin


 olive oil (1/4 a cup for a small pork loin)
thyme
oregano
red pepper
cayenne
salt
garlic powder
onion powder
2 1/2 c. chicken broth

Mix seasonings and oil. Rub on pork; brown in hot skillet. Place in roasting pan with one chopped onion. Deglaze pan with 1/2 c. chicken broth. Add to roasting pan along with remaining chicken broth. Bake at 350 degrees for 4 hours.

I serve this with garlic roasted red potatoes and green beans.

You can't go wrong with Crescent Rolls!

You can't go wrong with crescent rolls! Serve them with dinner or as dinner! You can even turn them into dessert!

Crescent Taco Ring


2 cans crescent rolls
1 lb. ground beef, browned drained
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of shredded cheddar cheese

Cook drained beef with taco seasoning. While beef mixture is cooking unroll crescents and make a circle on a pizza stone. Leave an opening in the middle with the small points of crescents pointing out. After meat mixture is complete, spoon around edges of crescents. Top with cheese; fold crescent tips toward the center and press down. Bake at 350 degrees until crescents are golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).

Crescent roll lasagna


1 cans crescent rolls
2 cups shredded cheese, your choice
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 jar pasta sauce

Mix cooked beef and pasta sauce.**Make sure you choose a thick sauce OR only use half a jar, if too watery crescents will be gooey** Spread meat mixture into pan. Top with 1c. cheese. Roll out next set of crescents on top of meat. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees or until edges of crescents are golden brown.


Sopapilla Cheesecake


2 cans crescent rolls
2 packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Spray 9x13 dish with non stick spray. Mix cream cheese and 1 c. sugar together.  Roll out one can of crescents into pan; top with cream cheese mixture. Roll out second can of crescents. Mix melted butter with 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon. Pour over top of crescents. Bake in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Country Apple Dumplings


2 granny smith apples, peeled, quartered
2 cans crescent rolls
1 c. sugar
1 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 can Mt. dew

Roll one quarter of apple in each crescent roll. Place in casserole dish. Mix melted butter, sugar and cinnamon and spoon over each roll. Pour Mt. Dew over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Crockpot Fall Apart Chicken

I've had this recipe for several years but I don't remember where I found it! I'm bad about that. Guess I should start writing it down, because I would imagine there are other good recipes in that location.


Crockpot Fall Apart Chicken


1 can cream of chicken soup
1 block cream cheese, softened
3 chicken breasts
1 stick butter or margarine
1 pkg. Italian dressing
1 can water


Put chicken, butter and seasoning in crockpot. Cook on low for 3 hours. Add soup, water and cream cheese. Cook for 3 more hours. Remove chicken; shred and add back to crockpot. Serve over rice.

Mardi Gras Pizza

We LOVE pizza! Delivery gets too expensive, and I try not to buy the prepackaged stuff very often. So necessity (and not wanting all the preservatives) forced me into finding a dough recipe.  This is one of our favorite pizza ideas, Mardi Gras Pizza! This same type of pizza is served at Old Venice Pizza Co. in Jackson, MS and a bbq sauce version at Tom's Extreme Pizza in Ocean Springs and Gautier. We love both versions so much we make our version at home!


Here's my recipe: Makes 2 small pizzas


Mardi Gras Pizza
1-recipe Everything Yeast Dough
1 small red(purple) onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1small yellow bell pepper, diced
andouille sausage, browned (amount depends on how much you want!)
1/2-1 block cream cheese, softened
mozzarella cheese
garlic salt


Prepare your dough as directed; bake until lightly browned. Remove from oven and spread cream cheese on top. Then sprinkle peppers, onion and sausage on top (as much or as little as you want). Top lightly with mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of garlic salt. Bake a second time until cheese it melted.


*When using prebaked dough (like Boboli) start by topping with cream cheese and then proceed as directed.