Just in Time For Fall

A friend of mine made a pumpkin cake and brought me a piece.  The only thing I didn't like about it is that it disappeared so quickly.  The cake was so moist and so good!  Her cake didn't have icing.  I added that part. If you want to cut a few calories, leave the icing off.  It's good either way. It's the perfect cake for Fall.  Thanks for sharing Cindy!

Pumpkin Cake

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant butterscotch pudding

4 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

1 cup of canned 100% pure pumpkin

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

½ can cream cheese icing

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except the icing. Beat on low for 30 sec, then on medium for 4 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch Bundt tube pan.  Bake at 350 for 50-55 min or until wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 15 min.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Microwave icing for 40 seconds.  Spoon over the top of the cake.

Time Saving Tip

Sometimes, out of nowhere, I'm struck with a moment of brilliance!  Yesterday was one of those moments!  They don't happen often,so when it does, I have to capitalize on  it.  I do have to give some credit to hubby.  He suggested I put it on my blog ... and Pinterest.  When he suggested that, I knew it was a good idea!. 

My daughter's father-in-law is in the hospital, so I have the grandbabies for the weekend  YAY!.  The youngest needs her food cut into little pieces.  I whipped out the pizza cutter and sliced everything up in seconds!  I'm not having that baby wait for her food a second longer than she needs to.  Spoiled?  Absolutely NOT!  Loved to pieces?  YES!  I sliced up a hamburger patty as fast as lightning, pizza in a flash, pancakes and cheese toast speedy quick!  Was she a happy girl?  She's always a happy girl.  But now, she's a happy girl who doesn't have to wait as long for her food.

Open Sesame

Don't you love simple recipes with only a few ingredients?  If so, you'll REALLY love this one!  It has two ingredients!  YEP!  TWO.  As the kids say, "It's easy peasy."

I was at Publix this weekend and one of the "sample people" was cooking this recipe and it was good!  I quickly bought the 2 ingredients and prepared it for dinner tonight.  Even the hubby stated more than once how good it was.  What were the 2 ingredients?  Top sirloin steak and Lawry's Sesame Ginger marinade.  I also made Fried Rice to go with it.  It was the perfect combination.

Sesame Ginger Steak

1 pound of Top Sirloin Steak
1/2 bottle of Lawry's Sesame Ginger marinade

Cut the steak into small cubes.  Place the meat in a pan and pour 1/2 the bottle of marinade over the meat.  Cook over a medium heat.  Stir frequently for about 10 minutes.

This Little Piggy Went To Market

 My local grocery store had pork loins on sale for $1.99 per pound.  I bought one and had it cut into boneless chops.  I bought another and cut it in half.  Since there are only 2 of us left at home now, it's a waste to make a whole one for us.  I now have enough chops for 5 meals, 1 pork loin for another night, and made one for dinner tonight.  We had enough leftover from dinner tonight that hubby and I can have lunch one day too.  So I have at least 8 meals out of 2 pork loins.  What a deal!  I mixed up some yummy marinade for the one we ate tonight and made mashed potatoes, speckled butter beans, and a fruit salad.  It was delish!

Pork Loin Marinade

2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 Tb. garlic (minced)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together and pour into a gallon size Ziploc bag.  Place the tenderloin in the bag with the marinade and place in the refrigerator and marinate for at least an hour, up to 24 hours.  I marinated mine for 2 hours.  Spray an 8” baking dish with Pam.  Place the marinated tenderloin in the dish and cover with foil.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 40 minutes.  Cook longer for larger tenderloins.

For the Monkeys In My Life

Do you like to eat bananas?  I don't.  I don't like the way they feel in my mouth when you chew them up.  I feel the same way about cottage cheese.  GROSS!  Strangely enough though, I do like banana bread and banana flavored candy.  Just one more of my little oddities.  I bought bananas last week and put them in a paper bag to ripen.  They didn't ripen fast enough so I put the apples I was going to use in hubby's apple pie in with the bananas to help ripen them faster.  Did you know that apples release a gas that ripen bananas quickly?  So next time you put fresh fruit in a bowl, don't put the apples next to the bananas.  However, if you forget, you can always make banana bread.

Banana Bread

3 bananas, mashed

1 cup of sugar

½ cup shortening

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups of self rising flour

½ cup chopped pecans

Mix bananas, sugar, and shortening until creamy.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add flour and pecans.  Spray a loaf pan with Baker’s Joy.  Pour mixture into a loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.

Happy Birthday Pie?

Today is my husband's birthday.  He had a big birthday breakfast, a not so impressive birthday lunch, but we are going out for a birthday dinner.  He just hasn't told me where yet.  In our house, you get to choose what kind cake you want.  Normally, hubby chooses pineapple upside down cake.  This year was different.  He chose an apple pie.  I was thrilled!  Pineapple upside down cake is O.K., but I really like apple pie.  I have the best recipe for apple pie thanks to my friend Becky.  Years ago, she made an apple pie and brought it to work to share.  It was delicious and she gave me the recipe.  I made a couple of small changes.  She used 4 red apples instead of 3 red apples and 1 Granny Smith and since I really like cinnamon, I added more cinnamon than what she did.  It's cooking right now and it smells goooooooood!!!!!!

Apple Pie

1 deep dish pie crust

3 red apples

1 Granny Smith apple

½ cup of sugar

1 ½ tsp. of cinnamon

Peel and dice the apples into bite sized chunks.  Place in crust.  Top with the sugar,   and cinnamon.

Topping

½ cup of sugar

¾ cup of self-rising flour

1 stick of butter
1 drop cinnamon essential oil

Cinnamon to taste

Melt butter and mix in sugar. cinnamon oil, and flour.  Spread over the top of the pie.  Sprinkle cinnamon over the topping.  Make at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

 I wish this was a scratch and sniff picture so you could enjoy the aroma too!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Thank you to all those who have served in a branch of the military in order that we may be free!  YOU are AWESOME!!!  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

We were invited to a cook out at our new neighbor's house.  I gave them a choice of desserts I could bring.  Either coconut cake or chocolate eclair dessert.  They chose chocolate eclair dessert.  All the food was absolutely delicious and we had a delightful time.  It was a perfect way to celebrate the 4th.  We have the nicest neighbors!

Chocolate Éclair Dessert

1 box of graham crackers

2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding

3 cups milk

1 tub of Cool Whip

1 tub of chocolate frosting

Spread a layer of graham crackers in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish or pan.  Add milk to pudding and let set.  Add Cool Whip to the pudding.  Spread ½ of the pudding mixture on top of the graham crackers.  Lay another layer of graham cracker and spread the remaining pudding mixture over the crackers.  Top with another layer of graham crackers.  Open the frosting and put it in the microwave for 1 minute.  Pour over the graham crackers and chill.

To cut back on the calories, I use sugar free pudding, skim milk, and fat free Cool Whip.