Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cake

This cake is out of this world delicious! The pumpkin cake is very moist, and the buttercream isn't too sweet either! Just the right amount of creamy-ness and sweetness.

Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients for Cake:

15 oz. Can Pumpkin

1 C Vegetable Oil

4 Large Eggs

2 C Brown Sugar

2 C All Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

Ingredients for Snickerdoodle Buttercream:

1 Cup Milk

2 Tablespoons Flour

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup (Two Sticks) Butter, softened

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix together all of your ingredients for the cake in a large mixing bowl.

Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, then pour your cake batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees (or until done).

Make sure your cake cools before you frost it. While your cake is cooling is the perfect time to make your buttercream!

Stir together milk and flour until it mixes together completely. Then, pour it into a small sauce pan and heat until it boils. Take off heat and let cool. While milk/flour is cooling, cream your butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Then add in milk/flour.

Ice the cake and try not to eat too much - it's really that delicious!

Perfectly Pumpkin Fall Oatmeal

I LOVE fall! This morning I celebrated this love for fall (due to the chilly temperatures and some leftover pumpkin puree) with this deeeelicious oatmeal recipe that I made up :)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Water
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
3/4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 1/3 Cup Oats
Candied Pecans
Brown Sugar or Maple Syrup, to taste

In a saucepan, combine the pumpkin, milk, water, salt, spice. Bring to a boil.

Once boiling, add oats and cook for about 10 minutes.

When serving, top with sugar and candied pecans.

MMMmmmm Fall in a bowl!

Cinnamon Raisin Upside Down Coffee Cake

Cake Ingredients:

1 1/3 C Flour

2/3 C Brown Sugar

3 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

Dash Allspice (Optional)

1/2 C Milk

2 Large Eggs

1/2 Stick (1/4 C) Melted Butter

Topping Ingredients:

1/3 C Rolled Oats, chopped

1/3 C Brown Sugar

1/3 C Golden Raisins, chopped

1/2 Stick (1/4 C) Melted Butter

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

Directions:

Start by mixing together the dry ingredients of your cake (flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice). Then, add in the wet ingredients.

Grease a 9in round cake pan.

Pour in cake mixture. Shake pan to make sure it is evenly spread.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While oven is preheating, mix your crumble ingredients together.

(Don't forget to chop your oats and raisins!)

Spread crumble topping evenly over your coffee cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

Green Pepper, Pineapple, Chicken Skewers

Ok, the fun part about this recipe is that you could really thread a ton of different veggies on the skewer if you wanted! I chose green pepper and fresh pineapple because it sounded the most delicious with the spices I intended on putting on the chicken!

Sorry for the last few posts being so open-ended and non-specific, but these recipes really just depend on how many you want to make and what your personal tastes are! #sorrynotsorry

Ingredients:

Chicken tenderloins
Green Pepper
Fresh Pineapple
Crushed red pepper
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Brown Sugar
Garlic (powder OR fresh minced)

Cut your tenderloins into 3 - 4 pieces each.

Combine all the spices in whatever ratio you deem best and toss over raw chicken pieces until very even.

Soak skewers in water.

Thread pineapple pieces, green pepper pieces, and spiced tenderloins onto skewers.

Grill until chicken is cooked through.

BONUS:

Have a few grilled skewers with JUST pineapple.... Ohhh my word, yum!

Easy Pad Thai

So, sorry to break it to you, but I'm not going to be super specific in this recipe (gasp!).  But, I just love how I throw things together to resemble a favorite such as Pad Thai. This won't be the most authentic (double gasp!)... but it was delicious!

Ingredients (you get to decide how much of them for the most part!)

Rice noodles
Carrots
Bean Sprouts
Lime
Green Onion
Cilantro
Peanuts
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Sriracha Sauce
Rotisserie Chicken

Cook your rice noodles according to package directions.

In a small sauce pan, combine the juice of the lime, a few tsp sugar, a little bit of soy sauce, a couple tbsp of water, and a little sriracha hot sauce.  Heat until sugar disolves, then set aside for now.

Chop your carrots (or any other veggies you include... baby corn would be yummy in this)

In a wok, add your noodles, torn up chicken, carrots, and sauce (not the bean sprouts yet). Toss for a couple minutes until sauce has been soaked up by noodles.

Pour into a serving dish, add the bean sprouts, peanuts, green onion and cilantro.

Garnish with the wedges of the lime you used in the sauce.

Yum!

Summer Quiche

Ready for another yummy and easy one?!

Summer Veggie Quiche! Ok, so we all love home-grown veggies, right? Either you grow them yourself, or you stop at a farmers market or maybe get them from a friend whose "harvest" is a little too plentiful for them!

This quiche is practically guilt-free, so eat up :)

Ingredients:

4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Skim Milk
1 Zucchini
2 Tomatoes
1 Ear Corn
Salt and Pepper
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese of choice
Half an onion, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop up your veggies, putting each one in a different bowl. (Corn should not be cooked first, neither should it be of the frozen variety! Fresh is key!)

Sautee zucchini for a few minutes in 1 tsp olive oil just to soften it.

Mix together your eggs and milk, then pour into a well-greased pie dish.

Layer half of your chopped tomatoes as well as all of your corn. (If you want onion, add it now) Add zucchini in a pretty arrangement on top. Then sprinkle your cheese. Top with freshly ground pepper.

Bake for 50-60 minutes (eggs must be cooked thoroughly!)

Enjoy while topped with remaining tomatoes or any other veggies your heart desires.

I like sour cream on top of mine... which isn't as guilt free so it's not in the picture, haha. Doesn't mean it didn't go in my stomach!

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Umm... one word: YUM!  This is the kind of recipe that makes it feel like both a healthy day and a major splurge day at the same time. That's probably because there is bacon involved!

It's a super easy recipe that anyone that knows how to work a grill (or I suppose a grill pan) can make.

Ingredients:

Bacon (one piece for every 8 asparagus spears)
Asparagus
Olive Oil (1-2 Tbsp)
Pepper (Up to you!)

Chop your asparagus so it's only about 4 or 5 inches in length. Toss in 1 Tbsp olive oil and however much freshly ground black pepper you want.

Cut your bacon in half and wrap around 5 asparagus pieces.

Grill. (takes about 10 minutes / make sure the bacon is crisp)

Yup, that's it!