Taco Soup

Lately it seems like we have been unusually pounded by old man winter.  This week was possibly the worst for our small town who sees a couple inches once or twice a year.  This time we had a solid 1/2" of ice on top of our 6" of snow.  For most people it isn't a big deal, but our entire town was shut down.  Finally on Wednesday I was able to get out of the house and it's a good thing because I was getting a serious case of cabin fever.  I ventured out to get groceries and the ingredients for some Taco Soup that I had been craving for 2 weeks.  I couldn't exactly remember the recipe because my roomies used to cook it for me in college...so I just did my best and it was amazing.

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion
1 can- stewed tomatoes
1 can- Rotel Tomatoes
1 can- Chili beans
1 can- Kidney Beans
1 can- Pinto Beans
1 pkg Ranch Dressing Mix
1 pkg Taco Seasoning
2 cups of water
Sour Cream
Cheese
Frito's

Chop up your onion and then ground beef and onion in a skillet.
While that is browning, dump all of your remaining ingredients into a crock pot and stir.
Once the beef and onion has browned, add to crock pot and stir soup. 
Let ingredients warm for 1hr 30min.
Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream, Cheese and Frito's.

Serves 6-10 and cost around $20.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes...delicious...

Last week I dedicated two nights after work towards baking miniature cupcakes for my mom's holiday party.  Mom is preparing enough for 150 of everything so...after the time I made enough cupcakes for that (and the extras I was supposed to make for my family) I had gone through 3 or 4 batches of batter. I was so tired of mixing pumpkin spice cupcakes I never wanted to see one again...until I had one for breakfast the next morning :) So since I love this recipe so much, I thought it would be something worth sharing...something that I hope your family enjoys as much as mine does. And after this, I promise to not do anything else PUMPKIN...for a while anyway.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon groung ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup melted unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 can (14-15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Preheat your oven to 350. Line the cupcake pan with liners.
Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs. Whisk in pumpkin puree. Fill each liner about 3/4 full with batter.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes and a cake tester comes out clean.



Let cool completely before icing.
Icing
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 c butter at room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
2 t cinnamon
3 cups powdered sugar
Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Slowly add powdered sugar. Ice cupcakes.

Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without the Pumpkins

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...and not a ton of leftovers to deal with :)  This year I have been on a pumpkin kick and the family has jumped on the bandwagon with me...we've had pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spice cupcakes and now pumpkin cheesecake.  Now, forgive me for saying this but...I have NEVER been a pumpkin fan.  In fact, I have always passed over the pumpkin pie or sweet potato casseroles, eww.  It seems like pumpkins are a Thanksgiving staple so I have learned to eat it, once it's doctored up enough of course.  I made two cheesecakes from this recipe but you can make one if you use a springform pan.

Crust:

• 1 3/4 c graham cracker crumbs
• 3 T sugar
• 1 stick melted butter

In a bowl, combine crumbs and sugar.  Slowly add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan or a pie pan. Set aside. If you are using a pie pan, you will need to make two.

Filling:

• 3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 c sour cream
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat cream cheese until smooth.
Add pumpkin puree, eggs, sour cream, sugar, spices, flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.


Pour into crust.  Bake in oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes.
Refrigerate 4 hours before serving.

About 10 months ago I decided that I just had to take the Wilton's Cake Decorating Courses...so I did and went a little overboard with all the accessories and such to go along with it. Since then, our family has had a homemade buttercream cake or fondant depending on the person...I think we are about fondant/buttercreamed out. So for my grandma's birthday, I decided to keep it simple and go with a cake based on her favorite candy bar...the butterfinger. If you are craving a simple and moist cake...here's your new go to!

Ingredients:
1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 jar of caramel Ice Cream Topping
1 can of sweet condensed milk (not evaporated)
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 8-pack of mini butterfingers

1. Prepare the Devil's Food Cake according to the box directions.
2. While the cake is still warm, take a fork and poke holes all over the cake. It will make it ugly and messy but the more holes the better!

3. Mix the caramel topping and sweet condensed milk together in a bowl. Pour over the warm cake.
4. Crush 4 of the miniature butterfingers and sprinkle over the cake. I crushed them in the packages and it cut down on my mess. Put the cake in the fridge and let it cool.

5. When you are ready to serve the cake, spread the cool whip over the cake and then sprinkle the remaining crushed butterfinger over the top of the cake. Chill and serve.

Breakfast in bed...

Making banana pumpkin pancakes...
First, I should start by saying a very Happy Birthday to the most amazing woman that I could ever imagine having in my life, my grandma.  What better way to start someones birthday than breakfast in bed with their favorite pancake?!?!  If I only had a dollar for every time I said they were banana pancakes...maybe because of the "Banana Pancakes" song by Jack Johnson that relaxes me just like the rest of his music after a stressful day!  These pancakes were super easy...thanks to some Bisquick and this recipe is based on your preferences!  If you aren't crazy about pumpkin, lean towards the 1/2 c range of pumpkin puree...if you love pumpkin, add 1 c to the mix!  I hope that you love these pumpkin pancakes as much as we did...and I hope you hold a great conversation with the people you share them with :)

2 cups Bisquick
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup-1 cup pumpkin puree
3 T Sugar
1T Cinnamon
1/2 T nutmeg

1.  Whisk all the ingredients together, don't over mix. 
2.  Allow the mix to rest for 10 minutes.
3.  Get griddle warm on Low-Med heat and spray with cooking oil.
4.  Pour 1/4 cup mix for pancake.  Allow to brown on one side and then flip.
5.  After browning on both sides, serve warm with your favorite syrup.

Sorry there aren't any pictures, I couldn't find my camera...and didn't think of using my phone until they were gone. 

Hope you all have a great day!