Making Fresh Pumpkin Puree!

Hello Hello!

I know, I know. I do have more beauty posts that I want to get done, I just simply haven't had the time! I have however, been baking and preparing some things for the Holiday season(s). I do have posts planned! They will be coming soon, I just wanted to get this out quick with Thanksgiving on the way!

I have made this recipe a few times, but let us not kid ourselves I ate it, it did not go into a pie. Don't judge me. Also, because of that "Earth shattering" revelation that Libby's canned pumpkin puree is NOT actually pumpkin 9 times out of 10, I have heard a lot of people saying they want to make their own. It is super simple! Don't shy away from making it yourself! Plus, I mean you could always make ravioli with it or something else! You don't have to make a pie with it! The sky is the limit!

I am not going to beat around the bush, this kind of can turn into a process depending on how much liquid your pumpkin decides to give off. You could get a dry pumpkin or even a moist one! You can't really tell until you are done cooking it.

Don't go out and buy a HUGE jack-o-lantern pumpkin, because those don't really work. You need one of the small pie pumpkins, which is what we shall be using. If you want a big pumpkin I would say they may be better for eating...not so much baking...They are grown to be huge, so they may have less flavor then one of the smaller ones.


Preheat your oven to 375°F.

Cut the stem of your pumpkin off and then cut it in half and clean all of the seeds out of the inside of the pumpkin. This is pretty important, because you can get rid of all of the stringy bits and roast the seeds later.

After you have cut your pumpkin in half and cleaned it out, put it cut side down on a baking sheet. You don't need any oil or any sugar. Roast the pumpkin for 45 minutes, or until the skin darkens. 

The pumpkin flesh should start to pull away from the skin, but if it doesn't don't fret. I don't feel that it is that big of a deal. The biggest thing you want to make sure happens, if that the whole thing is soft. You want the whole pumpkin to be cooked!

Let the pumpkin cool down enough to where you can handle it. You should be able to peel the skin away from the flesh, if not don't worry! You can always take a spoon and just scrape it out! That is what I did!

This really is when you find out the water content of your pumpkin. Unfortunately, the water content in mine was high...so this is really where it becomes a little tedious. After you process your pumpkin you need to let it drain. I used my mesh strainer, but ultimately in the end I ended up using cheese cloth and just squeezing out as much of the water as I could.

Don't waste your pumpkin juice though! I actually poured it into my hair, because it is good for that and lawdy loo. I had some pretty shiny and nice hair for a week!

Anyways, you want to try and get out as much of the juice as you can, it will make for a better puree, especially if you are going to use it in a pie. Don't make it as dry as the desert though!

One small pie pumpkin gave me 1 CUP of pumpkin puree. I know, that doesn't seem like a lot! Especially for the work, but one cup of pumpkin is what you need for a pumpkin pie. So I am happy with what I got out of it. That is the exact amount that I needed!

Freezing wise, I have seen people say to not do it and some who say freeze it for 6-8 months. I never usually freeze mine, but I made my pumpkin puree about a month before I actually needed it.

Once you have your pumpkin ready, just throw it in a ziploc bag and label it for the freezer!...or don't because I sure as heck didn't!

So what do you think? Is this something you would do instead of using the canned pumpkin?!

Wonton Taco Cups

On one of the nights that Chris and I managed to get some alone time, we decided to do a little "date night" kind of thing and I went to Pinterest to find something fun and new. I have to say, I was on the site for a good couple of hours since it's easy to get lost in the website!

I stumbled upon "Taco Cupcakes" as the recipe was called and I honestly can't find blog post I originally found, but if you Google Taco Cupcake you'll find LOTS of different kind of recipes. I tweaked mine from the original, so you can really adjust the recipe to your taste..I kind of want to try these with those meat-free beef crumbles...that sounds kind of interesting! 

My only real gripe with the wonton wrappers is that in the cupcake tin, they didn't crisp like they should have but, the crispy top and the soft bottom make a really nice textural contrast, so I really liked it! Also, as a tip, use a regular sized cupcake tin, the wrappers fit better in that then a jumbo pan  and you don't have to fiddle with them in the mini tin. 

As you see the cups is how I served them, so they aren't pretty but they taste awesome. When I make these again, I'll probably leave out the salsa because it just didn't do anything for me, nor could you really taste it once it was cooked, but I will definitely leave that decision up to you! 

I hope you all enjoy! Let me know if you try these out and what you think of them!

Gingerbread Cheesecake!

Hello everyone!

I wanted to use up the last of the cream cheese that was in the fridge that was left over from the wedding so Chris and I decided we wanted to try and make a cheesecake!

I used the Cheesecake recipe from my Brownie Bottom Cheesecake. It's really simple to make!

2 8oz. packages of Cream Cheese (softened)
3/4 cup Sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of Torani Gingerbread syrup

(I would suggest using more. The gingerbread flavor was not as prominent or noticeable as I would have liked)

1 shortbread crust (you can really use any kind of crust you want!)

1. Pre-Heat oven to 350F (176C)


2. Mix Cream cheese, sugar, eggs and syrup together until smooth


3. Taste mixture to make sure it is Gingerbread-y enough for you (lol)


4. Pour mixture into crust


5. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes (the cheesecake will more than likely NOT go brown around the edges unless you cook it for longer)

The good thing about this is that it is not as rich as a normal store bought cheesecake is. You don't feel as guilty eating a piece! It's not overly sweet either.

Mind you the center of this is white and the top is only slightly yellow. The reason is cracked is because Chris put it in the fridge without covering it and before it was fully cooled D:

These aren't terribly fantastic pictures, but I think you get the point :P

Let me know if you try this recipe out! I would absolutely LOVE to know how it came out! You can play around with the flavors as well!

Disclaimer: I received the Torani Gingerbread Syrup for free from Torani and Shespeaks up. This is a sponsored post on that aspect. That however does not affect my opinion! All opinions are 100% my own and nothing will ever change that! I am not being paid by either company to do this blog post! 

Ps. Yes, I know I am supposed to be starting a diet. However, I am waiting on something so I have not exactly started it. HOWEVER, because of that, I am NOT going to start baking. :) Chris or others in my family will be the testers! :P So, since it is the Christmas season, be prepared for a lot of indulgent posts! :P I'm making my Mom's Orange Creamsicle cookies this year, among a few other things. I will be sticking to a diet however in the next week or so.

Brownie Bottom Cheesecake Recipe

Hello loves!

I know, I know. This totally does not go with the whole weight loss thing that I was talking about in the last blog post. Well, I made these before Chris finally sprung the whole idea that he wanted to start then! Bah. Men gotta love them!

Anyways, My Grandmother gave me this recipe book as part of a wedding present and I couldn't wait to dig into it! The book is called Quick fixes with mixes by Lia Wilson. I was looking for a recipe to use the extra cream cheese that we had from the wedding and boy o boy, there are so many! But this one I just HAD to make. Maybe it was my period (TMI? LOL) wanting me to make it, but we ran out and got the only ingredient that we didn't have :P

Needless to say, these are now going to be a treat! They are really easy to make, considering there is a cheesecake aspect to make but its super easy I promise! Now these have an option to make a chocolate frosting with it, but I omitted that part, because it would have been WAY too much with it in my opinion. I will add the recipe to that at the bottom just in case you want to make it :)  I will also add what I changed/did at the bottom! Anything that is in Italic are notes from myself.

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) devil's food cake mix (with of without pudding)(yes you are using a boxed cake mix, but you can't even tell!)


• 1/2 cup Butter or margarine (I used margarine because that is what I had left over)


• 3 eggs, divided (see the directions)


• 2 (8 Ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened


• 3/4 cup Sugar

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven too 325°F  (162°C). In large bowl, combine cake mix, butter and 1 egg; blend well. Press mixture into bottom of greased 9" x 13" baking pan. (see below for what I did. Also, the mixture is going to be EXTREMELY thick, you will basically be able to use your hands. Spray them with a little baking spray to press it down)


2. In medium bowl, combine remaining eggs, cream cheese and sugar. Beat until mixture is smooth and blended.


3. Pour mixture over cake mix and bake for 40 to 45 minutes (until edges are very lightly browned). Let cool and ice with Chocolate Frosting.  (see below)

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and sour cream. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool until just warm to the touch.

As you can tell, I made cupcakes. This is where the changes come into place! It has nothing to do with the recipe, just more of baking and how to proportion it to each cupcake.

If you are using a regular sized cup cake tin (yes there are different sizes IE: mini, jumbo etc..)

I used a 1 ounce disher for the brownie mixture, but you can use less. You just have to remember not to fill it too much because it IS a cake so it will rise. Some of mine puffed over the top because I either added too much brownie or too much cheesecake. I would suggest maybe using a little more than half of the disher, or you could always measure it to your liking. This is just what I did.

For dishing the cheesecake, I used between 1-2 tablespoons per cupcake wrapper. Once again, it depends on how much of the brownie mixture you put in the bottom.

As for time, I only put them in for 20-25 minutes. No more than that, or the cake could start to dry out. I felt that this was a reasonable amount of time, considering it was not going to be a HUGE batch in cake form. Since these are smaller, you do not need to put them in for longer than 25 minutes. I put a batch in for 30 minutes and had to take it out at 23 minutes because they started to brown. I don't think that you NEED to let these brown, they are incredible without the browning. It would be just for mere color.

In cupcake form, I made around 24 cupcakes. but that could change depending on how much brownie mixture you have left because I had more cheesecake then brownie!



As you can tell, the cake in the middle did not rise much, which is good because I thin kit is a nice touch that the cheesecake sank into the middle instead of rising out. That way you get a little extra in each bite!

Now as for mixing other flavors into the cheesecake, I personally did not do it this time around because it was my first time making these. I definitely think that you could add a flavoring into the cheesecake mixture. Not into the brownie mixture because you need it to be thick, so in my opinion it would be better to flavor the cheesecake portion. 

I hope you all try these out! Let them know what you think of them! I think they are absolutely fantastic!  I have to send them to work with Chris or I will eat them all and it will not go well with my upcoming diet! :P Good thing I have something to do with all of the baking I plan on doing this year! Sending it with Dad to Busch Gardens (he works there) and with Chris to work! Hahah

I hope you all are having a lovely day! <3

Recipe : Poor Man's Dinner/Pasta

Hey everyone!!

So, I really want to post recipes on my blog that I really love. I hope that is okay with everyone!

Now, this really doesn't have a name. The reason I gave it a name is because it's a really cheap, no more than $5 at most!
My parents made this a lot when I was a kid, because we were short on money. You would think that I would have gotten over it but I still love it just as much as I did when I was a kid.

All you are going to need is:
-Cream of Mushroom Soup.
(you can use any soup really as long as its Cream of something. It's tasty with anything!)

-Mixed Vegetables
(I suggest canned.)

-Dry Pasta
(Use any kind you want! =^_^=)

~Make your pasta as normal. Cook it to Al dente (cooked to the tooth)

~Drain your pasta really good and return it to the pot you cooked your pasta in.

~Add your soup and your vegetables.

~Stir and add salt or other seasonings as you wish!

It's really that easy honestly and is so yummy!

if you find 1 can of the vegetables or the soup is not enough you can absolutely add more to it! Just using 1 can of each and 1 pound of pasta is enough for 4+ people depending on how you eat!

You don't have to use the expensive name brand products. I just bought the generic stuff. It's just as good and even sometimes better than name brand!

This is what I payed

Happy Harvest Mixed Vegetables from Aldi $0.59

Nice! Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup from Walgreens $1.12

And I just used penne pasta. It was from Walgreens as well and was $1.59

So figure without tax I spend $3.30!

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I really hope you try this out! Let me know what you think!!