Moist Pumpkin Muffins! (Best part...they are HEALTHY!!)

OK... so we all live on diets ladies...go ahead admit it! We constantly worry about how we look, how big we are, and how far we can stretch those weight watcher points! WELL I these pumpkin muffins are absolutely amazing to die for yummy and are healthy! Oh did I mention simple with ONLY 3 ingredients...yup just 3!!! OH and the best part of all only 2 weight watcher points!!!!

Pumpkin Muffins

You will need:

• 1 box spice cake mix
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• 1 c. water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners OR grease with non stick cooking spray
3. With mixer, beat all ingredients together
4. Fill liners, or cups in the pan, 2/3 way full
5. Bake about 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I start checking mine at 12 minutes because my oven is very sensitive!! Be careful not to over cook them.

So simple you can't screw it up... Chocolate Chip Cheesecake!

I have not always been a cheesecake fan...something about the texture of some cheesecakes is just not appealing to me. BUT we have made a wonderful friend through baseball who is a chef and his secret recipe cheesecake is the most amazing thing....EVER. NO LIE! I can seriously sit and eat the entire thing by myself I think if I tried. Sadly, no this is not his super top secret recipe but a super yummy easy cheesecake that even the pickiest of cheesecake eaters (me) loves!!
It is very creamy and you get to buy the crust...It doesn't get any easier and it is pretty foolproof!

FOOL PROOF CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE

You will need:

• 1 c. mini milk chocolate chocolate chips, divided
• 1 premade Oreo Cookie crust (normally found with all the baking stuff)
• 2 8oz. packages of cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat with a mixer your cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until completely smooth and not grainy
3. Add eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed until blended
4. Stir in with a spoon 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips
5. Pour into crust
6. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips evenly over the top
7. Bake 40-45 minutes until the center is just about set. If it stays in too long it will crack and become too brown so make sure to watch it!
8. Refrigerate at least 3 hours after coming out of the oven this will help finish the middle setting and make it easy to cut and come out clean.

Enjoy!

Mt. Dew Apple Dumplings

Well...I can say this has been such a wonderfully lazy weekend! I love those and they are definitely few and far between in my world! Yesterday, I went shopping BY MYSELF for 5...yes 5 hours!! Then picked up the girls and went to dinner at Wicks with friends. Today....I have been lazy. Extremely lazy...got up at 10 only because the girls got up, took a nap from 1-3:45 this afternoon, went to baseball signups and now on to dinner (out because once again I am being lazy), then to coach cheerleading at our 8 pm game. Not going to lie...after that i plan on going straight back to bed! hahaha. Needless to say, if I am not well rested this week then there is something wrong with me!
So in the honor of my laziness today...I thought I would go with a comfort food! What is better than Mt. Dew Apple Dumplings! Super easy and extrememly yummy!!

Mt. Dew Apple Dumplings

You will need:

• 2 cans crescent rolls
• 4 larger apples, tart ones
• 1 tsp cinammon
• 1 can Mt. Dew
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1 1/2 c. sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish
3. Peel and core each apple; cut each apple into 4 equal pieces
4. Roll one slice of apple in each crescent roll and place lined up in the baking dish
5. In seperate bowl melt butter in your microwave and then stir in sugar and cinnamon until completely mixed
6. Pour over crescent apples
7. Pour Mt. Dew evenly over apples
8. Bake for 45 minutes until dumplings are lightly browned and bubbly.

This is sooo easy but addictive be careful you may eat the whole pan! They are super sweet as well this is why you need to use a tart apple to off set it some :)

Rainbow Cupcakes

Ok...we are only 6 days into January and I almost failed tonight by forgetting to put up a recipe! Shame on me how in the world am I going to be on top of this the rest of the year?!?

For my daughter's, Ryanne, 1st birthday party in December it was a cupcake themed party! I decided instead of take home goody bags we would do decorate your own take home cupcakes! I had cupcakes that were plain, lots of different icings to put on them, sprinkles, bubblegum, gummy worms, m&ms and lots of other goodies for the kiddos and adults to decorate their cupcakes with. Then I took the white paper bags and drew a cupcake on them and wrote "Thanks for making my 1st birthday "sweet"!" After their cupcakes were decorated they put it down into their bags and took them home as a goodie for later! This went over very well...the best part was it wasn't just a regular cupcake I made rainbow cupcakes!!



Rainbow Cupcakes



You will need:

• 1 box white cake mix (and all ingredients on the back that are needed to bake the cake.)
• Food coloring. I prefer the Wilton gel colors-you can get them at Michaels or WalMart for sure
• Cupcake liners

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to the degree on the back of the cake mix box.
2. Beat all cake ingredients as directed on the back of the box.
3. Once all ingredients are mixed well seperate into 4-5 different ceral bowls in even amounts.
4. Add a different color gel/coloring into each bowl and mix until the exact color you want the batter to be
5. Put cupcake liners into cupcake pans
6. With a different spoon for each different colored batter, put 1 tsp. of each color into each liner. Keep alternating until the liners are 2/3 way full. DO NOT MIX THEM! They will look like mudd not rainbow
7. Bake according to the time on the back of the box and then test with toothpick until it comes out clean!
8. When you bite into these you will see all the different layers of color.

It is super easy to turn this into 2 9 inch cakes too! Just spoon the different colors into the round baking pans and bake! This is very easy but will baffle people who eat them wondering how you did this!

The Recipe People ALWAYS Ask For.....

Drum roll.................
CAKE BALLS!!! No not out of a cake ball maker those are not the same! You can make these into balls, suckers, creatures, decorated any way you like...no matter what flavor they are WONDERFUL!
Some of my favorite flavor combos are:

• Red Velvet with cream cheese icing dipped in white or milk chocolate
• Orange cake with vanilla icing dipped in white to make dreamcicles or dipped in milk chocolate to make chocolate covered oranges
• Cherry chip with cherry icing dipped in milk or dark chocolate makes chocolate covered cherry
• German chocolate cake mix and icing dipped in regular chocolate rolled in nuts makes german chocolate
• Chocolate with hershey chocolate icing dipped in milk chocolate make triple chocolate (my fav!!)
• French vanilla cake mix with cream cheese icing dipped in white chocolate

The posibilites are ENDLESS! So get creative and have a cake ball party! Roll in sprinkles, oreos, nuts, colored sugars anything you want!!



Cake Balls

What you need:

• box of your favorite cake mix (and all the things on the back it says you need to bake it)
• 1small box instant pudding mix, whatever flavor matches the cake mix you have chosen
• 1 container of icing
• 2 bags of whatever chocolate you want to melt and use OR 1 package of flavored almond bark

Directions:

1. Bake cake as directed ONLY add in the pudding mix before you mix it. NO MILK JUST THE DRY MIX!!
2. When the cake comes out let it cool.
3. After it cools use your hands to crumble it finely into a LARGE bowl.
4. Mix in 3/4 container of icing flavor you have chosen.
5. Use a fork or your hands to mix the icing into the cake crumbles. Make sure to mix completley if you need more icing add it! It should not feel dry or cakey at all should be very moist!
6. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a tray of any kind that is flat and can fit in your freezer.
7. After all balls are rolled, and it will make lots, place a toothpick into the top of each one.
8. Freeze overnight or for several several hours until frozen!
9. Heat chocolate in 30 sec. intravels until melted. Make sure not to over heat to where it becomes crusty.
10. Take your balls out of freezer and dip in the chocolate using toothpick.
11. After dipping in chocolate remove toothpick and cover the little toothpick hole with chocolate.

Please note: Squirrels do LOVE cake balls...if left out even with a lid on them outside they will take off the lid and eat them. I know this from experience! Trust me! hahaha....Why yes there is a story to go with this...if any of you know me you are completely NOT shocked!

Baked Ravioli

Tonight was one of those nights...I knew it would be MORE than crazy because we had cheerleading practice and it would be late when we got home to eat but the last thing I wanted was McDonalds! This is where freezer meals come in handy! While I actually just prepared this earlier in the day it can very easily be done way in advance and frozen!! Then just put in a preheated oven the night you want it! It makes a huge 9x13 pan and can very easily feed a crowd! It is also semi homemade which just makes it that much easier!

Baked Ravioli

What you need:

• 1 bag of cheese ravioli (or whatever kind you like) frozen. I use Meijer brand and the mini round ones.
• 2 bags of mozzerella cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, cooked, drained
• 2 jars of your favorite speghetti sauce
• 1 large can of mushrooms, drained (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix hot ground beef, frozen ravioli, mushrooms, and sauce together.
3. Pour into the 9x13 baking dish and cover evenly with the bags of shredded mozzerella.
4. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more or until middle is hot and cheese is completely melted.

I serve this with garlic bread! You can also serve it with steamed broccoli to get some green worked in there!

BLT Dip

I know what you are thinking....gross! I thought the same thing until I tried it...it is anything but gross. This seems to be a lot of my friends favorite, especially Amber. She request it at every get together! You can serve it with pretzels, bread, beer bread, chips, veggies, cardboard....it is great on anything really! :) I usually serve mine in a bread bowl with extra bread cut up around it.

BLT DIP

You will need:

• A bag of shredded lettuce
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 bag real bacon pieces (right next to bacon bits in store)
• 2 medium tomatoes cut up small
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• whatever you want to serve it with

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix together the sour cream, mayo, cheese, bacon pieces, and tomatoes.
2. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Right before serving add 1 big handful of lettuce...if you like more feel free to add more!

This is such an easy throw together for parties and get togethers. It is great in the winter and summer :) Hope you enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Weenies!

Seriously...I can think of very few things that are not good wrapped in bacon...very very few! Well this recipe is kinda sorta like one I am sure you have seen but we are stepping it up a notch with a secret ingredient!
Growing up my mom made this for a lot of get togethers. Throughout the years I have seen the recipe posted but never the same as she made them growing up. What is that super top secret ingredient you ask...Coca Cola! Crazy I know!
I promise though these will not disappoint. We went to a party for New Year's Eve and these were gone...fast!

Bacon Wrapped Weenies

You will need:

• 1 package of bacon cut horizontally into 4 equal halves.( I cut mine while it is IN the package makes it much easier!)
• Toothpicks
• 2 packages of the Little Smokies
• 12 oz Coke
• 1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wrap each little smokie with a piece of the cut bacon and secure it with a toothpick.
3. Place each one as you wrap and secure them lined up into a 9x13 pan. They should sit lined up touching so you can get as many as possible in your pan.
4. Once all are wrapped and placed in there sprinkle the brown sugar over them evenly.
5. Next pour Coke evenly over the bacon wrapped weenies.
6. Place into the oven for 30 minutes or until bacon appears cooked and no longer has the translucent look. The Coke mixture will be boiling.
7. Once out of the over pick up each weenie by it's toothpick and place in a serving dish! Serve warm.

These are amazing!! I mean out of this world amazing!! Try them...they are like Pringles you can't eat just 1!

Not your normal rock hard Sausage Balls!

Yes, yes I realize that I have been MIA for 6 months from this blog but instead of having the same yearly resolution on January 1st I have decided that I will try something new that maybe, just maybe, I can stick to this year. SOOOO I have decided to be super dedicated to this blog! Hopefully you will enjoy my blog and recipes as much as I enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes!
All of these recipes are mine or tweaked but my promise to you is NOT to make you poison, make someone sick, or gag by making one of these for your family and friends!
I will try to provide pictures for each recipe even if they aren't posted the moment the recipe is. :)
Lets kick off this blog with a new twist on sausage balls!
What can seem like it can be so easy to make can easily turn into a flaky shoe leather hard rock...so lets revamp it!

Sausage Balls

You will need:

• 1 lb. sausage I use mild but you can use any heat you want
• 1/2 jar of Cheese Whiz
• 1 individual packet of the Bisquick mix (you will find it right beside the boxes but it gives you the exact amount without measuring! Awesome i know!)
• 1 pkg finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix together sausage, Bisquick mix, and shredded cheese. I use my hands, they seem to be the best mixer I own, but you can use a fork.
3. Once mixed pretty well add the Cheese Whiz. This will make the rest of the Bisquick mix in and leave behind no powder traces. You will notice they become super mushy feeling.
4. Roll 2 inch balls and put them on a GREASED 9x13 baking pan.
5. Bake in preheated over for 15-20 minutes. You will know they are done when they are lightly browned on the top.

My promise to you (if you followed directions) is that these will be moist and awesome! Not an object you could knock out a window with :)