My Girl, Paula: MIni Mummies

Happy Halloween everyone! My son had a party last night. It was me and a bunch of teenagers! They were all good kids. Last one left about 11:30 (not counting the one that spent the night).

Along with setting out a bunch of other food, I made Paula Deens' Mini Mummies that was one of this month's My Girl, Paula's recipes. I used the lil smokies sausages instead of hot dogs. These were so yummy made with the little sausages and the pie crust. I will definitely make them again! There weren't many left. I used almost the whole package of sausages, too.

Sorry about the pictures. They are from my cell phone. I took a couple on the digital, but camera is in my son's room. The boys are still sleeping!

1 package hot dogs, each cut in two

1 package prepared pie dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the pie dough and cut into 1/8" strips. Wrap strips around the hot dog halves in a mummy like pattern. Pinch the ends together on the bottom side of the hot dog. Place on the lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Approximately 10 minutes. Serve with mustard and ketshup.

Before baking:

My Girl, Paula - Crispy Rice Candy Corn Treats

This is my 100th post for 2009! Yay!

I'm a little late on this entry. I decided to wait until later in the month to make. My son is having some friends over for a party on Friday night, so I decided to make this for the party. The look so good. I hadn't made Rice Krispy Treats in years. It's so simple and versatile!

The recipe can be found here.

Marshmallow goodness!

This is what my son was doing while I was cooking tonight:

Pumpkin-Filled Chocolate Cake

This is another recipe from the September/October 2009 "Cooking With Paula Deen" magazine. I made this for dinner at my parents' house.

It's supposed to be Upside-Down Pumpkin-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. But, after spending time in the kitchen, I did not feel like making 20-24 cupcakes! I made a triple layer cake. The layers were thin, but that was fine. The directions I'll give will be with the changes I made. You can find the cupcake recipe here.

This is a pretty simple recipe. Haven't tasted the final product yet, but the licks tasted yummy!

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz) box dark chocolate cake mix

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup confectioners sugar

8 (1 oz) squares semi-sweet chocolate

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom and sides of 3 cake pans.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. I baked for about 17 minutes.

Let cool in pans for 10 mintues; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add pumpkin and cofections's sugard, beating until smooth.

Put one cake layer on plate. Spread half of the mixture on this layer. Top with next layer and spread remaining mixture on top of this second layer. Top with last layer.

In a medium bowl, combine chocolate and cream. Microwave on High, in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and cooled.

Spoon desired amount of mixture over top of cake. I had some left.

Cover and chill, or serve immediately.

Paula Deen Dinner - Black Bean Soup and Cheese Quesadillas

I found both these recipes in the "Cooking With Paula Deen" magazine, September/October 2009. I've made almost all the recipes from that issue that I want to. I just got the next one, so I can start on that one next!

Both these recipes were very easy to follow. My son wasn't too keen about the onions in the soup, but I chopped them up small and they werent' noticeable. He really liked both the soup and quesadillas.

BLACK BEAN SOUP

Ingredients:

5 slices bacon, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 (15.25 oz) cans black beans, drained

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Garnish: sour cream, minced chives (omitted both)

Directions:

In a medium Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-high heat for 3 mintues, or until just beginning to brown. Add onion and garlic; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until onion is tender. Add beans, broth, cumin and chili powder. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

In the container of a blender, spoon half of the soup; process until almost smooth. Return processed mixture to Dutch oven, stirring to combine.

Garnish iwth sour cream and chives, if desired.

Serve immediately.

4-6 servings

CHEESE QUESADILLAS

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) package shredded colby-Jack cheese blend

4 oz cream cheese, softenend

1/4 cup prepared salsa

8 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1/4 cup butter, softenend

Garnish: chopped onion, chopped tomato, chopped fresh jalepeno

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine cheese, cream cheese, and salsa. Spread mixture evenly over 4 tortillas. Cover each with remaining tortillas. Spread softened butter evenly over both sides of quesadillas.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 quesadilla, and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn quesadilla, and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, or until golden brown. Repeat procedure with remaining quesadillas.

Cut into wedges to serve.

4-6 servings

My Girl, Paula: Easy Yeast Rolls and Hasselback Potatoes

This week's My Girl, Paula recipe was to pick your favorite. I decided to try a new one. After searching through her magazines and cookbook, I picked two recipes to try - Hasselback Potatoes from the September/October 2009 Cooking With Paula Deen magazine and Easy Yeast Rolls from "The Lady & Sons, Too!" book.

The potatoes where delicious! Very tasty. Next time, I may just slice and lay them in pan. I kept slicing all the way through!

The yeast rolls are delish, too. I just notice on Paula's website that the sugar was 1 tablespoon, but the book said 1 teaspoon.

I baked chicken with the Bone Suckin' Sauce I got at Cracker Barrell. It was really good. My only problem was getting everything timed!

EASY YEAST ROLLS

Ingredients:

One 1/4 oz package dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 1/2 cups, plus 1/2-1 cup The Lady & Sons Biscuit Mix, or any prepared biscuit mix (I used Bisquick)

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Put the 2 1/2 cups of biscuit mix in a large bowl; stir in the sugar. Add the yeast mixture; stirring vigorously.

Sprinkle the work surface generously with the remaining 1/2-1 cup biscuit mix. Turn the dough out onto the surface and knead well 15-20 times. Shape the dough as desired. (I made 15 balls).

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet; cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush the rolls with melted butter while they are hot.

Yield: 15 rolls

HASSELBACK POTATOES

Ingredients:

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled

1/2 cup cornflakes cereal

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Cut bottom one-fourth off 1 long side of each potato, making a lefel surface. On a clean flat surface, place potato, flat side down. Cut 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick slices crosswise into the top of each potato, cutting to but not through the bottom 1/4 inch of potato (you want potato to bend like an accordian).

In the work bowl of a food processor, combine cereal, 1 T of olive oil, chese, paprika, garlic salt, pepper, and salt; process until finely ground. Place in a shallow baking dish.

Drizzle potatoes evenly with 2 T olive oil. Carefully bend potatoes to separate sections; dredge in cornflake mixture. Place potatoes, cut sides up, in prepared baking dish. Cover with foil; bake for 30 mintues. Uncover, and bake for 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are golden brown. Drizzle with remaining 1 T olive oil. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings.

Perfect Brownie - Traditional Homemade Brownies

I saw the advertisement for Perfect Brownie Pans while watching an Ohio State game a couple weekends ago. I thought I'd try it. It's always so hard to cut brownies nicely, especially if you try to cut too early.

This is my first recipe for using it. It comes with a recipe book. It was very easy. I chopped nuts to put in it and then forgot! Grr...

These came out good but I undercooked some. The middle brownies were too gooey. Next time I will bake longer.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

6 oz unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup butter

1 1/4 cup flour

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Perfect Brownie pan and divider thoroughly with non stick cooking spray.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Melt chocolate and butter in microwave, stir until smooth. Add to butter/sugar mixture. Stir in flour. Add nuts if desired.

Spread mixture into pan and place divider into batter.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Lemon Bundt Cake

I saw this recipe in the Taste of Home's Quick Cooking magazine, January/February 2003. It looked good and easy, so I put it together for tomorrow night's dinner at my parents'. I haven't eaten the final product yet, but the batter was to die for! My glaze didn't come out real smooth. Oh well! As long as it tastes good!

LEMON BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients:

1 package (18 1/4 oz) lemon cake mix

1 package (3.4 ounces) instant lemon pudding mix

4 eggs

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 T butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup orange juice

1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix and pudding mix, eggs, water, and oil. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch fluted tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 mintues or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 6-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, for glaze, combine butter and orange juice in a small bowl; stire in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Remove cake from pan to a serving platter. Poke holes in cake with a meat fork. Slowly drizzle with glaze. Cool completely.

Yield: 10-12 servings

Right after it came out of oven...pretty.

Before the glaze.

Black Bottomed Coconut Bars

This Martha Stewart recipe was September's Cookie Carnival challenge. I did not make it until this past Wednesday night. Oh well! It was so yummy and easy to make. I screwed up on it though. I mixed in the 1/2 cup of coconut that you set aside and set aside the rest. I sprinkled on the amount that I set aside and it still came out yummy! I will definitley make this again.

You can find the recipe here.

The chocolate base

Crock Pot Burritos

Tried and True Cooking With Heidi posted this recipe last month. I knew I had to make it since it sounded delicious and sounded easy. Perfect for a busy Tuesday night. It was yummy! To quote my son "mmmm mmmmm mmmm mmmm". I browned the meat last night so it went everything just had to be put into the crock pot this morning. Loved it!

CROCK POT BURRITOS:

1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained

1 envelope taco seasoning

2 cans refried beans

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

3/4 cup water

Flour tortilla

toppings of choice (lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, black olives)

Mix first 5 ingredients in a greased crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-10 hours. Place in flour tortillas with your choice of toppings; roll up, and enjoy.

Cheesy Chicken Carbonara with Fettuccine

I got this recipe out of Weight Watchers Comfort Classics. I'd been wanting to make it. I had all the ingredients so that is what I had for dinner. It was sooo yummy! It wasn't creamy like I thought it would be but I really liked it. So, did Jimmy. I used angel hair pasta since that is what I had and reduced calorie parmesan cheese.

The whole thing was easy and not time consuming at all.

Ingredients:

6 oz. fettuccine (I used angel hair pasta)

3/4 cup fat free milk

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

4 slices center cut bacon, chopped

1 small onion, chopped (I omitted)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions, omitting the salt if desired. Drain and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the milk, Parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl until blended.

3. Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon begins to brown, 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to brown, 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the chicken and cook until heated through, 1-2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the pasta and milk mixture. Cook, tossing, until the sauce is thickened and creamy, 2-3 minutes.

Serves: 4

WW Points: 7

The chicken I used!

After all the ingredients have been added.

Crumby Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Recipe

I found this recipe on What's Cookin'? blog. It seemed to be lower fat than most recipes. I had the right amount of bananas for the recipe, so I made them. They are soooo delicious. Those that follow Weight Watchers....only 3 points per muffin! Yay!

Ingredients:

Muffins:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt
3 bananas
3/4 cup sugar1 egg
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup chocolate chips, optional

Topping:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.

In a small bowl, thoroughly mash bananas with a fork or potato masher. Add sugar, egg, and applesauce. Mix well with electric blender.

Pour banana mixture into dry ingredients and mix with spoon until all is moist and blended. Stir in chocolate chips at this time.

Grease or line a muffin tin and add muffin mixture.

For the topping- Mix all dry ingredients well in small bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is nice and crumbly.

Sprinkle some of the crumb topping on each muffin.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Makes about 18 muffins.

Made be frozen.

Weight Watchers points: 3

Ready for the oven

Right out of the oven