Nutter Butter Ghost Cookies

Cook's Note:  Of course, I saw this on Pinterest and had to try making this myself because they were just too cute! I am taking these to my daughter's daycare tomorrow - I think the kids will love them!

What You Will Need: 

Pack of Nutter Butter Cookies
Almond Bark - White Chocolate
Chocolate Sprinkles
Wax Paper

Directions: 

Lay out your wax paper on the kitchen counter. Melt almond bark according to package directions (I recommend using a glass bowl for the almond bark). Once thoroughly melted, using tongs, dip each nutter butter cookie into the chocolate. one at a time. You will be shaking off the excess chocolate each time and once a thin coat of the chocolate is on the nutter butter, lay it down on the wax paper to dry and repeat each time until you are done. I placed one chocolate sprinkle per eye (while still wet). 

Let dry for about 20-30 minutes. 

Once dry you place them in cute cookie bags and tie with a cute bow or gift tag. What fun treat for kids!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

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Cook's Note: I saw these on Pinterest and Cookies don't get ANY easier than this. All I can say is that they were really yummy. This is a very soft cookie and will only be good for a day or two, but not to worry, they will disappear quickly!

What You Will Need: 

1 Box Spice Cake Mix
1 Can of Pumpkin Puree
1/2 bag chocolate chips (optional)

Directions: 

Mix ingredients together with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well blended. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. 


This "Pinspiration" comes from Liv Lives Life

Caramel Apple Crescent Rolls

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Cooks Note: This was a last minute impromptu dessert that came to fruition because I did not have a pie crust to use with my apple pie filling and I needed a quick dessert. Anytime I can use crescent rolls I do, so I threw in some caramel and it turned out really great! Also good as an after school snack! Use cherry, peach, pumpkin, blueberry, whatever you want, they would all be delish. Enjoy!  

Ingredients:

1 Can Crescent Rolls

1 Can Apple Pie Filling

Dash of Nutmeg

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 T Caramel Dessert Sauce

Powdered Sugar for Sprinkling 

Directions:

1. Pour Apple Pie filling into mixing bowl

2. Cut large apple slices into smaller chunks (I do this right in the bowl)

3. Add Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and dessert sauce and mix together

4. Unroll crescent rolls as you would normally per package directions

5. Place one tablespoon of Apple Pie mixture in the top center of the crescent roll and roll per package directions.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-18 minutes, or until golden brown

7. Sprinkle crescent rolls with powdered sugar and serve warm

Sister Smith's Pumpkin Bread

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Cook’s Note: I have been making this recipe now for about 5 years. I stumbled upon my original recipe inspiration via Southern Living and decided to make my own light version by removing the vegetable oil from the recipe and using vanilla yogurt instead. I also added vanilla extract and watch out… this is amazing for breakfast (or anytime really!) with a nice hot cup of coffee and topped with a little butter or cream cheese. I made 6 mini loaves as gifts for friends and neighbors. This recipe will make either 6 mini loaves or 2 regular size loafs!

What You Will Need:

4 cups bread flour 

3 cups sugar 

2 teaspoons baking soda 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4   large eggs 

1   (15-ounce) can pumpkin

1 cup Plain or Vanilla Yogurt

2/3 cup water

Directions:

In your stand mixer, beat all ingredients at medium speed until  well blended. Pour evenly into 2 bread pans (spray well with non-stick cooking spray first!)

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans  for at least 15 minutes, then turn upside down and gently shake bread out so and cool completely on wire racks.

This “Pinspiration” comes from Southern Living

Crock Pot Tortellini Soup

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Cooks Note: This soup sounded yummy, and by yummy I mean it would take 10 min to prep and everyone would eat it, oh, and delicious too. So, it took 10 min to prep, everyone ate it and it was delicious. I followed the recipe, except I was so excited with how easy it was, I dumped the cans of tomatoes in. undrained, oops. But, all was well, the soup came out great. The only other change I made, was to add an extra cup of chicken broth at the end, because it was a little thick. In fact. it probably could have used another cup, the tortellini soaks up the liquid. This is a "make again" for sure. Enjoy!

    INGREDIENTS

1 (19 oz.) bag frozen Cheese Tortellini
1 small bag of fresh spinach
2 (14.5 oz) cans of Italian Style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 block (8 oz) of cream cheese or neufchatel (less fat)
1 lb. of ground sausage or chicken/turkey sausage
4 cups of chicken broth (I used 5)

    DIRECTIONS

Brown the sausage and put all ingredients in crock pot,
chunking up the cream cheese. 
Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
(Keep an eye on your tortellini, it may be done sooner as crock pots can vary in temperature.)

Serves 4-6

This Pinspiration from What's For Dinner?

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

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Cook's Note: So, I was cruising Pinterest and this little gem of a recipe popped up. I thought it looked so good and I couldn't wait to make it. Let me tell you - this recipe is divine!! You know I usually change something about every recipe and the only change I have made here is to use one clove of garlic instead of two. This is a wonderful fall meal and actually very easy to make... I encourage you to give it a try!

What You Will Need:

1 Box of Jumbo Shells (I used Barilla)

¾ Jar of tomato sauce (I always use Franceso Rinaldi Tomato Basil sauce, its my favorite!)

15 oz can of pumpkin puree

1 container of Part Skim Ricotta Cheese

1 ½  cups of shredded light mozzarella cheese

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 egg

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp  sage

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

sea salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Boil the shells in accordance with the instructions on the box (I used Barilla Jumbo Pasta shells). Once they are ready, strain and set aside to cool.

Stir together pumpkin, ricotta, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, garlic, egg, nutmeg, sage, basil, and salt & pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Spray a 9X13 glass cooking dish with non-stick cooking spray and then evenly spread the tomato sauce along the bottom of the dish.

Stuff each of the shells with about 2 tbps of the pumpkin/ricotta mixture and place in rows along the dish (sitting each shell on top of the tomato sauce).

Once you’ve stuffed all the shells, cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, remove the foil and sprinkle the last ½ cup of the shredded mozzarella over the shells and let the cheese melt.

Serve with some yummy garlic bread and salad for a delicious fall meal!

This Pinspiration comes from "The Daily Dish"

Brown Sugar and Bacon Little Smokies

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Cooks Note: This is so yummy there are no words. I mean, you could wrap bacon around pretty much anything and it would be divine, but Little Smokies and brown sugar? HEAVEN! This is a great party or game day snack, but I suggest making a lot, cause these little suckers will go fast!Enjoy!

Pre-Topping:

Going into the oven it looked like this:

Ingredients

• 1 package of Little Smokies
• 1 pound of bacon
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1/2 Stick of But

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the bacon into thirds and wrap each third around a Little Smokie.
3. Place seam side down on a baking sheet.
4. Melt the butter and mix in 1 cup brown sugar, pour over smokies.
5. Sprinkle 1 cup brown sugar on top of smokies
6. Bake for 20-25 or until bacon is crisp and sugar has caramelized.
7. To crisp up your bacon, turn the broiler on High for 4 min.

This Pinspiration comes from all over the place!

Victoria Justice Peanut Butter and Banana Power Shake

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Cooks Note: My daughter LOVES Victoria Justice, the Nickelodeon star. So I thought, hey why not try some kid celeb recipes in an effort to make eating better, cool. Well it worked. I made this smoothie, which is really good if you like peanut butter as much as we do, and I let my daughter try it. I didn't tell her what is was, and she said, "It's pretty good, what is it?" I told her it was Victoria Justice's favorite smoothie and she said, "REALLY? WOW, I really like it a lot!"  and proceeded to drink almost the whole thing. Score: Mom-1 Kid-0. 

Ingredients:

8 oz. skim milk
1 sliced banana
1/4 cup ice
2 tbsp. peanut butter

Directions: Toss all ingredients into a blender, puree for 1 minute or until creamy, but not liquidy.

This Pinspirtation comes from Victoria Justice and Seventeen Magazine