Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lay pumpkin seeds in a flat layer in a baking pan.  Drizzle with melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon.  Toss around until everything is completely coated and lay in a flat layer.  Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.

Serve and enjoy!

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Artichoke Bread

Ingredients:
1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts
2 garlic cloves
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 loaf italian bread

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain the artichokes from the can and chop into bite sized pieces.  Mix this with the chopped garlic cloves, cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Make sure everything is evenly combined and distributed.

Cut open the loaf of bread lengthwise.  Slather both sides of bread with the artichoke mixture coating every piece of bread.  Sprinkle with a little bit more mozzarella if you would like.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown.  Slice and enjoy!

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Chicken Nuggets with Homemade Honey Mustard

Everybody loves chicken nuggets, but honestly they are one of the most unhealthy things you can eat.  Between the mystery meat, preservatives, and frying, they aren't really worth it.  My chicken nugget recipe is made from all natural ingredients and its also baked.  No calories from oil but no wasting your time standing by a hot stove and frying.  And they are way better than the store bought kind.  I swear you get a crispy crust on the outside which is what always makes me nervous when I bake something instead of fry it.

Ingredients:
Chicken Nuggets:
4 chicken breasts
2 eggs
5 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 cups breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
cooking spray

Honey Mustard:
1 tablespoon mayonaise
1/2 cup mustard
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
Cut the chicken breasts into chunks or nugget sized pieces.  I usually did about 4 strips and then cut each strip into about 4 cubes.

In one bowl, beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon of water. Mix so everything is homogenous and the yolks are not separate from the wipes.  In another large bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, chopped rosemary sprigs, salt, paprika, garlic powder, lemon zest, and cornstarch until everything is evenly distributed.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray evenly with cooking spray.

Dip each nugget into the egg and shake off the excess.  Then put into the bread crumb to make sure everything is evenly coated.  Put on the baking sheet.  Once all of the nuggets are done, cover the baking sheet with foil and refrigerate for about an hour.

For the honey mustard, mix the mayo, mustard, and honey all together.  Make sure to taste it, some people like sweeter sauce and others like more tangy.  Set aside for later.

One the nuggets are finished chilling, preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Liberally spray the nuggets with cooking spray.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until outside is golden and crunchy.

Serve with honey mustard and enjoy!

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Fiesta Cheese Fondue

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite restaurants.  Making their fondues at home is actually way easier than it looks.  For Halloween I decided to make their fiesta cheese fondue, serve it in a roasted pumpkin, and make homemade tortilla chips.  Boy was it good!

Ingredients:
Fondue:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups colby jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa
2 tablespoons corn starch

Chips:
8 corn tortillas
vegetable oil

Directions:
For the roasted pumpkin, you want a medium sized pumpkin.  Cut about an 8 inch circle in diameter off the top of the pumpkin.  Use a sharp knife to cut down at an angle.  Once you do this, you can pull the top off.  Clean out the inside with a metal spoon and get rid of the pumpkin seeds.  Roast them if you'd like.  Clean out as much of the flesh as possible to make a smooth inside.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Roast the pumpkin for a half hour or until it turns golden.  Set aside for later.

Heat the oil in a small sauce pan about 2 inches up the side.  Cut each corn tortilla into 8 triangles.  I use one to test the oil.  Once it floats to the top it is finished.  Toss in about 8 at a time and stir around with a slotted spoon.  Cook until they turn lightly golden.  It should only take about a minute or two.  Drain on paper towels and LIGHTLY season with salt.

Get a fondue pot of a small sauce pan and begin heating the vegetable broth with the salsa.  Grate your cheese by hand.  Do not buy pre-shredded cheese as this makes the fondue clump.  I learned that the hard way.  Once all of your cheese is shredded, mix with the corn starch.  This will also prevent clumping.

One the broth is hot, stir in your cheese one small handful at a time and slowly whisk in.  Allow all of the cheese to melt before adding more cheese.  Once all of the cheese has melted, pour into the pumpkin.  Serve hot with the chips!

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Brownies

So brownies are one of my favorite things ever.  I found a recipe for brownies that are actually faster than box brownies and way better.  And adding pumpkin in the middle made them absolutely unbelievable. Make these for any fall occasion.  They are warm, gooey, with just the right amount of pumpkin.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 1/2 sticks butter

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

7 oz canned pumpkin (usually half of a normal can, NOT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING)

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for about 1 minute.  Stir in the white sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and eggs.  Once completely stirred, place about 1/3 of the batter in the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  It is very thick so it might take some good spreading, but don't worry if it doesn't completely cover the bottom of the pan.  Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

While the bottom layer is baking, in a separate bowl mix the pumpkin, chocolate chips, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Then put 1/2 cup of the remaining brownie batter and stir together.  

Once the bottom layer comes out of the oven, pour the pumpkin mixture on top and spread.  Then put the remaining brownie batter on top of that and spread.  Again it is very thick and may be difficult to spread.  I would put small spoonfuls all over the top and then try to spread.  

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

Allow to cool for at least 2 hours.  Cut into squares and enjoy!  Beware, you can't eat just one!

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Halloween Menu

Halloween is such an awesome time of year!  It is one of the best times to throw a party because all of your food can be Halloween themed!!  Here is a list of recipes from my blog and others to make your Halloween Party great!

Appetizers:
Mummy Dogs

Goblin Dip with Bone Crackers

Individual Spooky White Pizzas

Main Courses:
Ghostly Shepherd's Pie

Desserts:
Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Brownies

Candy Apples

Candy Corn Cookies

Drinks:
Spooky Halloween Punch

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Strawberry Shortcake Shooters

Have you ever had the shooter desserts at Applebee's? Well this is a take on those.  I love strawberry shortcake, but I wanted to keep myself from eating the entire cake.  So I thought why don't I make individual ones in a shot glass and then it's automatic portion control.  Well except for when you eat 6 of them...which is what I did.  This dessert is super simple and super delish!  To make it even faster, use yellow cake mix instead of making your own and add a little bit of strawberry extract to it.

Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup milk
3/4 vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons strawberry extract

Strawberries:
1 quart fresh strawberries
1/2 cup strawberry jam

Cream:
1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons strawberry extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened.  Add flour, milk, vegetable oil, baking powder, vanilla and strawberry extracts.  Beat for one minute or until smooth.  Pour into loaf pan.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the stems of the strawberries and slice them.  Put in a large bowl and mix with strawberry jam.  Put in refrigerator until ready to serve.  It will make a strawberry syrup and the strawberries will soften slightly.

In a large, cold bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer.  After about 5 minutes, sprinkle in the sugar slowly while beating.   Continue to beat until it becomes very thick and forms soft peaks on your beater.  Pour in the strawberry extract and beat for another minute.  If desired, you can pour into a piping bag or into a ziploc bag.  Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

 Once cake is done, allow to cool for an hour.  Remove from pan and make 1 inch slices down the loaf.  Take each slice and using a shot glass, cut out circles of the cake.  To build your dessert, put one piece of cake in the bottom.  Cover with whipped cream.  Then top with a few strawberry slices.  Continue with one piece of cake and top off with whipped cream.

You can also just make a layer cake by making 2 8-inch rounds of cake.  Put all of the strawberries in between the two cakes.  Frost the entire outside with the whipped cream.

Chill for about an hour.  Serve and enjoy!

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