Just realized people still read this blog occasionally, so wanted to update you all that I’ve moved to Blogger! You can find me at littlebitsofhome.blogspot.com. I wanted a fresh start at blogging with a focus on all things related to the home, not just cooking. Check it out! 🙂
This fall, my neighbor Jessica (Hey Jessica!!!) brought me a bag of these pumpkin muffins. They were so good, I promptly ate half the bag then tried to finagle them into my Weight Watchers daily point allowance. Haha! These muffins are the most moist muffins I’ve ever made! They’re pumpkiny, have lots of chocolate chips, and are a cinch to make. Can’t get much better than that! 🙂
Here’s my neighbor, giver of wonderful muffins…and Oreo Balls, which is another story that ends with me stuffing my face. Haha! I’m so thankful to have her as my neighbor and friend!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 heaping cups canned pumpkin
12 oz chocolate chips
Directions:
Mix together and bake at 350 degrees for 15-30 mins. Mine only took about 15 minutes, so just watch them and pull them out as soon as your toothpick comes out clean. This recipe makes a ton! I had 2 dozen regular muffins and 24 mini muffins from one batch. Be prepared to share!
UPDATE: I’ve moved to littlebitsofhome.blogspot.com! Find more recipes and other home projects there!Â
I am super picky about my Christmas sugar cookies. I don’t like really crispy, crunchy cookies and I don’t like for them to taste like you used a lot of flour when rolling them out. Told you I was picky! I found this recipe last year on allrecipes.com and love it! The cookies are soft, but not so fragile they fall apart when you pick them up and they have a nice buttery taste. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour (plus a little extra on the side for rolling)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together then set aside. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed. Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheets or line sheets with parchment paper (works great!). On a clean, floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/3 inch thickness. You will need to work some flour into the dough, but don’t over do it. Just keep your rolling pin and your surface lightly floured and gently roll out. I only ran my rolling pin over the dough a couple times. Cut out shapes using floured cookie cutters.
Bake 6-8 minutes in preheated oven until middle of cookie is set and no longer wet/shiny looking. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
I used Bridget at Bakeat350’s icing recipe to decorate with. Check out all her awesome cookies!
Linking up to TheLarsonLingo’s cookie exchange! Love Mel’s blog!!!
Just a quick correction to my Tater Tot Soup recipe… it’s 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar, not 1/2 cup! Sorry!
This recipe was originally called “Cheesy Potato Soup”, but when my husband found out how it was made, he renamed it to “Tater Tot Soup”. Kinda gives my cheater secret away, but it’s cute. 😉
This is such an easy potato soup recipe and is my cool weather quickie meal. It makes a ton, so you won’t have to cook the next day!
Tater Tot Soup
One bag of frozen tater tots (32oz) or 12 hashbrown patties
2 cans chicken broth
1 stick butter or margarine
6 slices American cheese
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup green onions, sliced with tops
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cups sour cream
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Real bacon bits
In a large pot, combine tater tots and broth over medium heat until combined and the tater tots are crumbled. Add remaining ingredients except the bacon. Stir well, then cover and cook on low for 20 minutes or until hot. Do not boil. Garnish with bacon bits and extra shredded cheese (if desired). Enjoy!
Makes about 10-12 servings.
Recipe adapted from: http://megduerksen.typepad.com/photos/recipes/sc002b1470.html
Here is a quick recipe for peppersteak. The recipe calls for fresh peppers and onion, but if I’m short on time or peppers are way too expensive at the store, I’ll substitute the fresh peppers and onion for a bag of frozen pepper and onion stir-fry mix. If you choose to do this, the directions stay pretty much the same. The only tweaks I’d suggest is to simply coat your pan with cooking spray instead of using olive oil. You may also need to drain off any extra water the veggies make from thawing as they stir-fry. Enjoy!
Saucy Peppersteak
2 cups hot, cooked rice
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add bell peppers and onions; cook and stir 6-8 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Transfer to large bowl; cover to keep warm.
Add meat, garlic and black pepper to skillet; cook and stir 3 minutes. Add soy sauce; cook 1 minute or until meat is done. Stir in barbecue sauce and return vegetables to the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice.
Recipe slightly adapted from the Kraft website. Original recipe: Saucy Peppersteak
One of the biggest time savers I do is to cook multiple packages of chicken at one time and freeze them. Then, when I make a recipe with cooked, chopped chicken, I can just pull out a bag of chicken from the freezer, shaving off that preparation step.
For years, I boiled my chicken, then cut it up and froze it in one pound portions. A couple months ago, I read on another blog to bake the chicken instead of boiling it. I was really skeptical that it would taste that much better, but gave it a try. SUCH a difference! The chicken has way more flavor and is so moist. It only takes 2 minutes to lay the chicken in a pan and throw it in the oven and you can walk away and forget it. No more monitoring a big pot of boiling chicken, waiting for it to overflow. Try it! You won’t go back!
Baked Chicken
–I usually do 2 packages of chicken breasts at one time. Use however much of any type of chicken you want, just adjust the cooking time appropriately.
–Lay chicken in 9×13 pan and season with your favorite seasonings. I use a good shake of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
–Bake for around 40-45 mins. I usually check it around 30 or 35 mins and take it out when it’s no longer pink in center.
–Chop, shred, or leave it whole and place in freezer bags when cooled. You can divide them into one cup or one pound portions–whatever will be easiest for you!
–I’ ve found it freezes better if you put the portions in freezer quart bags, then place all your quart bags into one gallon size freezer bag, making sure to squeeze out all the air.
–Don’t forget to date your bags so you know how long your chicken has been in the freezer! Unidentified meat in back of freezer=gross. 🙂
Enjoy!
These have been circulating food blogs for a while, so I finally gave them a try and was super excited with the result! I modified the different versions I saw online to come up with a quick and easy version that I liked. They are so easy and really tasty!
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced (I use the minced garlic from the jar.)
2/3 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
10 8-inch flour tortillas
Cooking spray
Salt
Preheat the oven to 425Ëš F. Â Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, salsa, spices, beans, chicken, and shredded cheese. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the filling mixture down the middle of each tortilla. Â Roll the tortilla up tightly around the filling. Â Place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Â Repeat with the remaining tortillas, spacing taquitos evenly on cookie sheet. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
Bake 15-20 minutes, until crisp and lightly browned. Â Serve with sour cream and salsa, if desired.
Update! I’ve moved to littlebitsofhome.blogspot.com! Find more recent posts there!
Welcome to my new blog! This blog is my attempt to document my favorite recipes that are both delicious and don’t require a ton of time and prep work. I thought it was only fitting for my first blog post on Cheater Cheater, Pumpkin Eater to be a pumpkin recipe! My friend Veronique made this for community group once and I was dying for the recipe! She gave it to me and I quickly made it again and gobbled up almost the entire pan. Ha!
I would have scooped some out, plopped a big dollop of whipped cream or ice cream on top and taken another picture for you, but I made this for community group. I would have been caught red-handed when they opened it up and found a corner missing. 🙂
The recipe originally comes from our friend Autumn (pictured on left). She’s such a sweet, thoughtful person and so fun to be around… not to mention a great cook! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!
Pumpkin Dump Cake
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 pan. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, and spice. Mix well and pour into 9×13 pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over top then drizzle with butter. Top with nuts. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until knife come out clean near the center.
Cheater Cheater, Pumpkin Eater 
