Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Still loving Fall and finding ANY reason to incorporate pumpkin into my cooking and baking!  These were so easy to make with ingredients I already had in my kitchen.  The recipe made a lot so I ended up giving some away too!

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate but would prefer dark if I had it)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Set aside.  Cream together butter, pumpkin puree, sugars and egg yolk.  Mix in dry ingredients until just combined.  Fold in Chocolate chips.

Form dough into golf ball-sized balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden on the edges.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Recipe from: http://foodologie.com/2011/10/27/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Sunday Football and Crock-Pot Carnitas

It was a beautiful Fall day in North Carolina.  We went for a nice bike ride before sitting down to watch some football.   I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to throw it in the Crock-Pot for a Sunday fun-day meal!  When we got back from our ride, our place smelled wonderful and it was game time!

There are so many optional toppings you can put on your carnita for different flavors.  We really liked ours best with avocado, red onion, monterrey jack cheese and taco sauce.  We also used the artisan corn tortillas and thought the texture was more authentic than just flour tortillas.

It paired perfectly with a cold Corona Light and made a ton of leftovers.  It would be a great recipe to make for a party, and easy too!  You could throw it all together and then focus on your guests while the Crock-Pot does the cooking.

Crock-Pot Carnitas Recipe:

3-4 lb. pork tenderloin

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 orange, juiced

1½ cup cilantro, snipped

1 cup salsa (use any type you like...I used Chi-Chi's Mild Original)

1/4 cup chicken broth

¼ cup tequila (or beer.  I used Corona Light)

1 can (4oz) chopped mild green chilies (you could go with spicier to add heat)

12  tortillas (your preference)

optional toppings: fresh cilantro, sliced avocado, tomato, lettuce, shredded cheese, red onion

Place pork in crockpot. Sprinkle with garlic, oil, salt, pepper and cumin. Top with cilantro, salsa, broth, tequila, green chilies, and juice from one orange.

Cover and cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Shred pork with two forks and continue to cook until heated through.

Serve on a tortilla with all the fixings. Enjoy!

Adapted from: http://www.shugarysweets.com/2011/03/crockpot-carnitas.html

Toast, bacon, egg and cheese muffin cups

I heart making breakfast!  My favorite time of the week is when I can spend some time on Saturday mornings and make something other than yogurt for Nick and I.  We enjoy a big cup of coffee, sit outside on the balcony, and just take the morning in slowly.  I wish every morning during the week could start like this but there's just not enough time!

Thanks to Martha Stewart,  I came across this recipe and knew it was so easy I had to try it!  I made a couple of modifications, but you can view the original recipe here.  Rather than using a standard muffin pan, I used an extra large muffin pan.  Since I used the bigger muffin cups, I didn't have to cut the bread.  Also, I added a quarter of a piece of cheese on the bottom of the bread because we love bacon, egg, and CHEESE!  Next time, I will try to use bread that is more fresh because I think it can cook quickly and the bread gets a little stiff if it's slightly stale.

Toast, bacon, egg, and cheese muffin cups

Source: marthastewart.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
6 slices pre-cooked bacon
2 slices cheddar cheese
6 large eggs
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly butter 6 large muffin cups.  Press bread into the bottom of each muffin cup making sure the bread comes up to the edge of the cup.  Patch any gaps by pinching the bread together.  Brush bread with remaining butter.

Microwave bacon, about 30-45 seconds, until almost crisp.  (It will continue to cook in the oven).  Quarter cheese and lay it on the bottom of the bread.  Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake until egg whites are just set, 20 minutes.  Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts.  Serve immediately.

Voila!  Here was our delicious breakfast and it was so easy to make!  Enjoy!

Dreamy Closet Organization

Do you ever just have one of those days that starts out the wrong way and then CONTINUES throughout the day with bad vibes and  unfortunate mishaps?  My morning started with my closet shelf falling on me before work.  It also ended with a newly hung wine shelf on the floor.... all off the glasses shattered on my hard wood floors.

I was bound and determined to take my bad luck with the closet and turn it into an unplanned, yet successful project.  So what if the shelf fell?  Now, I had to figure out how I wanted to organize it.... and I knew just where I needed to go for my inspiration... The Container Store!!!

The Container Store was having a sale on shelves (and tip: also another one on Christmas Eve-- 25% off shelving!)  I found, and fell in love with, Elfa shelves.  You can mix and match shelves to tailor any size closet.  I was particularly inspired by the shoe shelving.  The shelves maximize vertical space and the racks pull forward so you can pull out your shoes!  I mixed and matched the types of pull-out shelves so I could alternate between flat shoes and heels.  By maximizing my shoe space, I was able to hang the fallen clothes on the other side of the closet.  Check out the before and after photos below.

Before

After

I bought a boot box which is holding two pairs of winter boots underneath the bottom rack of shoes.  The shelves were hung just high enough off the ground so that it could fit underneath the bottom shelf.  There's plenty of room on the shelves for dozens of shoes and you can see I also put a few purses on the top. 

Is this a shoe lover's dream or what?!  I couldn't be happier with the finished product!  And I'd be remiss if I didn't extend many many thanks to my wonderful Nick for all of his handy work hanging the shelves.  Oh yea, and also thank him for his patience as I picked between dozens of options for the shoe shelving.

Banana Pumpkin Bread

I love making pumpkin bread this time of year.  My favorite part is the way the smell turns my condo into pumpkin heaven.  I've been using a standard pumpkin bread recipe for years, but sometimes it can be a little bit dry.  I had some very ripe bananas so I started digging for a recipe that would use both pumpkin and bananas.  The combination was a match made in heaven!  This turned out to be a very moist banana pumpkin bread!


Also, I didn't have allspice so I substituted 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and cinnamon.

(Recipe for 2 Loaves)

• 1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (1 cupful)
• 1 1/2 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped 

Heat the oven to 350°F.  Butter two 8- by 4- by 2-inch loaf pans.

Using a wooden spoon, beat the applesauce and sugars together in a large bowl.  Add the mashed banana, pumpkin, eggs, and keep beating until well blended.

Sift all the dry ingredients, except the raisins and pecans, together in a separate bowl.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix.  Stir just long enough until all the dry ingredients are absorbed.  Stir in the pecans.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.  BAKE for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.  The top should be golden brown and cracked.  Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before attempting to remove it from the pan.  Cool completely before slicing. (Although I couldn't wait and sliced it warm!)

Serve right away or double wrap in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.  Or give one to a friend!

Recipe adapted from: Simple Daily Recipes

Let a Little Light Shine In

Another little "before and after weekend" project gone right.  At least I think so.  I've loved these eggplant window treatments for so long in the condo.  And I've loved the way they elongate the wall to make a small space look even bigger.  But as the sun comes in through the windows in the morning, I've noticed that it hides some of the sunlight.  After careful consideration, I've finally decided to add some holdback hooks.  I'm glad I did because now a little more light shines in to welcome my mornings.

Before 

After

Something tells me that Cooper is happy with the extra sunlight :)

Pesto and Chicken Stuffed Shells

As I mentioned earlier, I have an insane amount of basil on my patio so I have a lot of pesto on hand!  We've been enjoying all of the pasta with the pesto and tonight I found another dish to use it in.  I found this recipe on Pinterest, from Joelen's cooking blog and I made some slight modifications. It was simple to make and delicious!  


Of course, I used homemade pesto since I had some on hand.  I also added mascarpone cheese since I had some leftover from a previous recipe.  Be careful with the salt because depending on how you make or use pesto, there may already be enough salt in the dish.  I added pasta sauce to the bottom of the baking pan and drizzled on top to keep the shells moist.


Pesto and Chicken Stuffed Shells


Ingredients


12-16 jumbo pasta shells
water for boiling pasta
4oz cream cheese, softened
4oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese + 1/4 cup for topping
3 tablespoons prepared pesto (homemade or store bought)
2 cups shredded rotisserie or cooked chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar pasta sauce, your preference
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large pot over high heat, boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. The pasta will finish cooking when the dish is baked. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping.  Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish.  Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish.  
• Drizzle pasta sauce over the shells.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over filled shells.  Bake shells uncovered for 30 minutes or until shells are bubbling hot and cheese melts.

   

   

DIY Fall Wreath

Earlier this year, I was inspired by this tutorial to make a Spring wreath (thanks Nina!).  It turned out really well, but because I only used one color, I got tired of looking at it after a while.  I was able to re- purpose my Spring wreath and add some additional rosettes to make a Fall wreath.

Since the photo was posted to my Facebook page, several of my friends have asked for the tutorial on how to make a similar wreath and the results have also been super cute!  The great thing about this wreath is that you can layer the flowers or use two tones for the colors.  Play with it and have fun!  Also be sure to check out Pinterest for tons of wreath ideas.  It's an easy DIY project and there's no need to spend $30+ on a wreath again!


My Fall Wreath:

Meggan's Replica:

First Day of Fall!

Happy first day of Fall!!!  I'm beyond excited that this day is here.  The air is crisp and I can already smell the pumpkin baking in the air!  I'd like to kick off the day with my Fall to-do list!

Happy Fall Ya'll!