makes 2 dozen

filling:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese softened

1 egg

1 tablespoon sugar

muffin:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs lightly beaten 

2 cups sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup canola oil
24 pecan halves (i don't use)

 for the filling in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg and sugar until smooth then set it aside. In a large bowl combine flour pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, & salt. in another small bowl beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Then stir them in with the dry ingredients in the large bowl. Mix just until moistened.

divide half the batter into 24 greased or paper lined muffin cups.Drop filling by the teaspoonfuls over the batter. top with remaining batter. place a pecan on each muffin if you use them.

bake at 350 for 20 - 22 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to the cooling racks.

7 cups thinly sliced & peeled tart apples

1 cup sugar

1 table spoon all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

dash of salt

1/4 cup water

1 package (9 oz) yellow cake mix

3/4 cup quick cooking oats

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

vanilla ice cream (optional)

place the apples in a greased 2 1/2 quart shallow baking dish.  In a small bowl combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.  Sprinkle this mixture over your apples. Drizzle with water. In a large bowl combine the cake mix, oats, butter brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Sprinkle over apples.

bake uncovered at 350*f for 45 - 50 minutes or until the apples are tender and the topping is golden brown.  serve with ice cream on top

serves 8

Peanut Butter Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

*2 teaspoons vanilla

*5 tablespoons peanut butter (reduced fat will work too)

*3 cups **old fashioned oatmeal (dry, it sometimes takes a tad bit        more)

*2 cups of brown sugar

*1/2 cup milk (non fat or reduced fate also works)

*1/4 cup butter

1st: mix together the 1st 3 ingredients in a small bowl

2nd: stir together sugar, milk and butter in a medium sauce pan, and cook over medium heat, stiring occasionally, bring to a full boil for exactly ONE minute

3rd: immediately pour over the oatmeal mixture (step #1) and stir rapidly and thoroughly.

4th: spoon cookie size scoops onto wax paper or plastic wrap and let them cool until they are firm (about 6-8 hrs)

Yield's: 8

8 pounds boneless pork chops

2 tablespoon lemon pepper

2 teaspoon olive oil

2 cup sweet and sour sauce

40 ounces pineapple chunks, drained

1.5 cup green bell pepper, sliced

1.5 cup red onion, wedged

Directions:

Top pork chops with lemon pepper seasoning. Heat skillet over medium high. Add oil and brown pork chops and

saute vegetables. Serve over rice or stir-fry noodles if desired.

4 cups dry oatmeal

4 cups buttermilk

4 medium eggs

4 tablespoon's vegetable oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups blueberries

Directions:

The night before, combine the oatmeal and buttermilk in a large bowl. Cover well and refrigerate overnight. If you

can't wait overnight, it needs to at least soak an hour but the longer it soaks, the better. The next day, add remainder

of ingredients except blueberries. Once mixed well, fold in blueberries. Heat skillet and spray with non-stick cooking

spray. Once it is hot, cook approximately 1/4 cup batter per pancake.

3/4 pound smoked sausage, sliced

8 ounces frozen pepper and onion mix

2 1/4 cups pasta sauce

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

8.00 ounces penne

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, brown sausage, peppers, and onion until brown. Meanwhile cook the pasta in salted, boiling water according to al-dente direction's on package. Combine the noodles in with the skillet were the sausage is. Ready to heat.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken Breast's

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

3 cloves garlic minced

2 1/4 teaspoon's ground ginger

Cut your chicken into serving size pieces and put in a large bowl, In a smaller bowl combine remaining ingredients Then pour over the chicken you cut into servings sizes and placed in the large, let marinate for 2-16 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven at 350ºF 

Place in a greased baking dish and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until juices are clear.

Serve over a bed or white rice, it is so delicious!!!!

Yield's: 4 Servings

Bite Size Taco's

1/2 cup ground beef, cooked and drained

6 ounces wonton wrappers

2 teaspons taco seasoning

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 ounces chopped green chiles

1/4 cup chopped onion

nonstick cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees *f  

Mix browned ground beef with onion in a pan on the stove and cook for 4-5 minutes. 

Carmelize the onions then add taco seasoning to the meat.

Next spray your muffin pan liberally

with non stick cooking spray. 

Place two wonton wrappers in each muffin cup and fill with ground beef, cheese, and

chilies. 

Bake for 9-11 minutes watching closely so the wrappers don't get too dark brown you want them golden brown.

Remove from pan and let them cool. 

Repeat until all the meat and wrappers are gone.

Yeild's : 2 servings

Hello Everyone,

I would like to start off by saying I hope you all are enjoying the recipes that are posted here, there are so many recipes it will take me a long long time to get them all posted, and I continue to collect more on a daily bases, thanks to my grandma and my friends.  I have cook books all over the place.  I have cookbooks from my Great Grandma Betty (who has since passed away and became a angel) to current books that I have bought recently and things I have found online.

I would love for all of you to add some of the recipes you have in your collection and let all of try them.

I cook at least twice a day, every day.  I make 2 loafs of homemade on Sundays (since I have make 4 lunches a day) then I make 2 more loafs on Wednesday's.  I make breakfast for my 3 children on every day, along with any snack ideas I can come up with for their lunch's, and I will admit there is at least one night a week that we eat left overs, and then one night a weeks we eat out (on nights that we have soccer until 730 its normally a quick trip to taco bell on the way home).  I recently ran across some recipes that are freezer meals, my hope with them is that we can avoid the quick trip to fast food on the night we have a late soccer practice.  Not to include we have many family and friends who stop by and join us for meals, and we always have extra kids around the house. And one night every third week we do dinner and movie night here at our home with the 7 neighbor hood kids. Which means on that night I need to make a kids friendly yet nutritious meal for 12 people along with a dessert (of which I am slacking on recipes (please help) and I need some help).

So here I am adding a few more recipes, but I wanted to stop in and leave every one a quick note and update on the blog.

I hope to hear back from you and I am in need of dessert recipes if anyone would like to share, and please leave your feedback and constructive comments on the recipes you like.

I'm sorry I have been slacking on the pictures but as soon as life its self calms down (i'm hoping with in the next few weeks) I can get back on track with them.

Thanks for stopping by

Happy Blogging :)

This is were we will be buying our meat from now on, its fresh, tender and good pricing!

I am so glad we found this 

Ok guys this is a recipe I just found online and I will be making it soon, not only does it make my mouth water by looking at these awesome pictures that were with it, my hubby loves pasta salad. On top of the fact that I am now being frugal with money and have our family set on a tight budget, I'm saving any way possible.

roasted garlic pasta salad

$8.53 recipe / $1.06 serving

This pasta salad is super easy to throw together and is surprisingly filling! I was also really happy with how creamy and delicious it was, despite the fact that I used part-skim ricotta. It looks and tastes like a really creamy, guilt-inducing pasta salad, when really it's quite innocent!

Half of the reason that I wanted to make this pasta salad is that I wanted to try out a technique that I've been seeing around the internet: roasting garlic in the microwave. I ruined one head of garlic in the process, but I think I got it right after that. The end result isn't as caramelized as real, oven roasted garlic, but the flavor is definitely good enough to make this technique worth it when you're in a hurry. Roasting garlic in an oven can take almost an hour and this only takes 2 minutes - literally!

There are a few different techniques that I've seen, some microwaving for a minute or so, and some for up to 8 minutes  (with water added), but I found 2 minutes with no water to be just right for me. I'm sure every microwave is different and each head of garlic will require a slightly different amount of time to cook, so I suggest microwaving in small, one minute increments until you get the technique just right. You want the garlic to be soft, and very fragrant, not brown and hard. Microwaving past the point of softness will only lead you down the road to burnville, and believe me, it doesn't taste or smell pretty!

Oh, one more thing. If you have access to inexpensive fresh basil, it would be to-die-for in this recipe. Just add it on in with the spinach or even in place of the spinach!

Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad

Total Recipe cost: $8.53 

Servings Per Recipe: 8 (about 1.25 cups each) 

Cost per serving: $1.06 

Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 20 min. Total: 30 min. 

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 head	garlic	$0.59
1/2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.09
1 lb.	pasta shells	$1.29
15 oz.	ricotta cheese	$2.45
1/4 cup	grated parmesan	$0.23
to taste	salt & pepper	$0.05
1 pint	cherry tomatoes	$2.50
3 cups	baby spinach	$1.33
TOTAL		$8.53

STEP 1: Using a sharp knife, cut approximately 1/2 inch off the top of the head of garlic. Place the garlic bulb in a small bowl or dish and drizzle 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil over the exposed cloves. Cover the bowl with an inverted plate. Microwave on high, in one minute increments, until the garlic is soft and fragrant (about 2 minutes). Use caution when touching the dishes, they will be very hot. Allow the garlic to cool.

STEP 2: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add the pasta, and cook for 7-10 minutes or until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.

STEP 3: While the pasta is cooking, squeeze the garlic cloves from the head and mince well. Add the minced garlic to a medium bowl along with the ricotta cheese, a healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper, and about 1/2 tsp of salt. Add the 1/2 cup of hot, starchy pasta cooking water. Stir until it forms a smooth sauce.

STEP 4: Drain the pasta. Return the drained pasta to the warm pot (the burner should be turned off). Add the fresh baby spinach and pour the ricotta sauce over top. Slice the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pot as well. Stir until everything is well mixed. Add in the parmesan cheese and stir again. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm!

Step By Step Photos

To cook the garlic in the microwave, begin by cutting a little off the top of the head to expose the cloves. 

Place the head of garlic in a small dish or bowl and drizzle about a half tablespoon of olive oil over the exposed cloves. This will help keep them from burning.

Place an inverted plate over top of your bowl or dish. Microwave on high, in one minute increments, until the garlic is soft and very fragrant. Mine took two minutes and after that it began to burn (even when I added water to the dish). The garlic will hiss and pop during cooking, and some of the cloves may jump out of the head! 

When it's finished, it will be soft, kind of mushy, and it will smell really REALLY good. The cloves will be about the same color as they were fresh, but they will look slightly transparant. Allow the garlic to cool. 

Once it's cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the head and mince them. They'll likely be pretty sticky. 

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and cook the pasta shells according to the package directions (boil 7-10 minutes). When the water gets cloudy and starchy (like in the picture), dip in a measuring cup and reserve a half cup of it for the sauce.

While the pasta is cooking, place the minced garlic, ricotta cheese, freshly cracked pepper, and about a 1/2 tsp of salt in a bowl.

Add a half cup of the hot, starchy pasta water and stir until it is all smooth.

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half.

When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it well and then return it to the warm pot (make sure the burner is turned off). Add the fresh baby spinach, the ricotta sauce, and sliced tomatoes. The residual heat will slightly wilt the spinach leaves.

Stir everything until combined, and then add the parmesan cheese and stir again. The reason I added the parmesan at the end is because I didn't want it to melt from the heat. Once everything is combined, the temperature is considerably lower and you won't have melted parmesan cheese clumping up and sticking to the spoon. It just evenly coats everything instead.

Taste the pasta salad and add salt and pepper as needed. I like to add freshly cracked pepper to each serving.