Pepitas Trail Mix from Pioneer Woman {THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS LINKY PARTY}

 

It's our very last LINKY PARTY {THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS}, I started this oh so long ago when I first started my blog and I think it has ran it's course. I still LOVE LOVE blogging, but I HATE HATE having a schedule and having to post on a certain day at a certain time. I am still growing my blog and looking for new avenues all the time, I just think linky parties are not it right now. Blogging is my outlet, my free time thing and I do it for my love of cooking. I am not making a million dollars  and I am not stopping anytime soon, but I just want it to be FUN FUN FUN and no presure, so I am sorry to say this will be my last THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS linky party (at least for now, never say never).

Today I am bringing you a recipe I made about 2 years ago (and never posted, yeah I have alot of those). This trail mix was the BOMB! It was so delicious and so yummy, I kinda wish I had some right now. It's a good healthy trial mix too, which would be perfect for my diet. Ya, who starts a diet in November (ME, that's who!). I have a small goal, a next goal and a BIG goal. My first goal before Thanksgiving is 5 lbs. I CAN DO THIS! 

First step is to clean out the punkpin seeds. I do this and then I take the pumkins and make homemade puree'. Yep, I love love having homemade puree in my freezer all year long.

Pepitas Trail Mix

adapted and made by me, taken from Pioneer Woman

1 whole pumpkin, seeds
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pumpkin Spice Seasoning

Mini Chocolate Chips
Almonds, no salt
Vanilla Granola Clusters (any kind of granola will work)

Keep all the seeds from one or more pumkins in a bowl. Throw them into a colander and rinse them under cold water, pulling away the chunks of pulp as you go.

Spread the rinsed seeds out on a baking sheet. Allow the seeds to dry several hours or overnight. And beware: they’re quite sticky/slimy, so don’t place them on paper towels! Just leave ‘em on the baking sheet and they’ll be fine.

When they’re nice and dry, go ahead and preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Begin by drizzling the seeds with a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Use your fingers to toss the seeds around to coat.
Then salt and season the seeds to taste.

Pop ‘em in the oven for an hour or so, until the seeds are light golden brown. Let them cool for a few minutes…then let the snacking begin!

But if you wish to make the trail mix make sure the seeds are completely cooled and add chocolate chips, almonds and granola and toss.

Pepitas Trail Mix can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS  you can now link up ANY recipe you'd like. Come one, Come all. NO rules, NO requirements, just link up any recipes (or food related craft items) and hop around to visit all the great recipes.

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. We are no longer sticking with ONE theme, so just link up any of your favorite recipes.

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Your hostess for this linky arty are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter.

THE LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week, come back and link up as many times as you wish, we can't wait to see all your fun and new recipes you made this week!

Knock You Naked Brownies {Pioneer Woman}

My son (the little boy, as the twins call him) is still on a brownie kick, so away we go making more and more brownie recipes each and every week. We even made some last week on vacation in the motorhome. Good thing I like brownies and don't mind tasting them all. Click here to see all our brownie recipes, so far to date.

These brownies are delicious (and don't mind me I totally forgot the Powdered Sugar on top). AH, photographed, served and ALL of them eaten and then it hit me. I guess it wasn't missed, but to top them off I would of totally added it, and you should too.

Here are the girls saying goodbye to the little boy in Missouri last week. You can tell he is really gonna miss them. He wouldn't even take out his Hawaiian roll to hug them goodbye. OH, KIDS!!!

Let's get to the brownie recipe now. It's not as hard as it looks, but it does require a few steps and some unconventional things that you do not normally do. (like make the brownie so thick you can shape them on the counter and using a German Chocolate cake mix, yep! that's how it's done). But, no matter what it tastes GREAT!

Knock You Naked Brownies {from Pioneer Woman}

recipe found at The Pioneer Woman

1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk (additional)
1/2 cup butter, melted
60 whole caramels, unwrapped (of other kind of caramel)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick. Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. (I like to melt in the microwave, as long as you can do it without burning). When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.  Bake for additional 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours.

When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

Pioneer Woman's Fried Chicken {CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE}

CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE

Fried Chicken

WOW, WOW, and WOW again. I can not believe I have sucessfully made Fried Chicken. I have attempted a few times before, but this time, let me tell you. The BEST Fried Chicken EVER!!! And so easy and user/cook friendly, really anyone can do this. Believe me, my husband's favorite meal ever is Fried Chicken and I have always just bought a bucket from KFC, he is gonna be so happy now that I can make it fresh, like his mama does. :-)

One year for Valentine's Day, I made a huge delicious meal complete with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, homemade coleslaw and YEP Fried Chicken (I purchased this from Kentucky Fried Chicken), no lie. I really went up to the fast food place and bought the chicken because I could not figure out how to make  GOOD Fried Chicken! Well, problem solved this is KFC good.

This month we are making FRIED CHICKEN. I started this CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE almost a year ago and it's so exciting for a bunch of us bloggers to get together once a month and all make the SAME recipe. Just click on the tab CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE to see all the details and find out how you can join in for next month. Our theme for August will be Cheesecake.

The CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE is alot of fun. It's nice to see all the variations and exciting to watch how many other bloggers out there make a similar or almost identical items.

I knew this month was gonna be so easy for me. I have been dieing to make Pioneer Woman's Fried Chicken. When I first started blogging I didn't even know who Pioneer Woman was and a dear sweet blogger named Leigh Anne of Your Homebased Mom had actually made PW Fried Chicken and blogged about it, this is where I first saw the recipe. Perfect! I got to make Pioneer Women's Fried Chicken and I still get to highlight an AWESOME blog Your Homebased Mom.

Leigh Ann is the talent behind this wonderful blog, Your Homebased Mom. And she is also a Facebook friend of mine (I love how we have FB friends, and you feel so close to them, even though you may of never even met)! I just LOVE LOVE watching all she does and what is coming up next in her kitchen. The next time I am in Portland visiting family, I have got to meet her in person. You see I found Leigh Anne by mutual friends, through our Creative Memories contacts. I knew who she was, but did not know her personally and well we have never actually met, YET (a few emails and postings on facebook every now and then)! Then, she hosted an awesome scrapbooking event in Portland and I have a niece in Portland, I hooked them up and well they got to scrapbook together. Lucky for them... but one day I will visit Portland again and I too hopefully will have the privilege of meeting Leigh Anne.

Leigh Anne is a stay at home mom and mother of four grown kids. I watched her all this past year as her youngest went away to college, and now this fall I will be sending my twins off the college. It's nice to see how other moms have done this and survived.

I have made a few other recipes shared by Your Homebased Mom. Here they are: EggNog Cranberry White Choclate Muffins, Shaved Parmesan Chicken & Lemon Creme, Fluffy French Toast, White Chocolate Mousse, Brown Sugar Brie, Buttercream Frosting and our all time favorite cupcake that we've probably made at least 100 times (no exaggeration) Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. So check her blog out, check out my other postings of these fabulous recipes and enjoy!

Again, thank you to Leigh Anne for introducing me to the world of blogging, it it wasn't for Your Homebased Mom and seeing, reading and loving every bit of it. I may not of ever have become a blogger myself! THANK YOU! 

Pioneer Women Fried Chicken
recipe found on Your Homebased Mom and adapted by me with a few small changes, but originally is from The Pioneer Woman Cookbook: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond

2 cut-up fryer chickens (my family loves just legs, so I bought the big pack of just legs)
1 quart plus 1/4 cup buttermilk
5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp Lawry's seasoned salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dried thyme (we leave out the thyme & add in basil instead)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup milk
canola or vegetable oil for frying

Rinse your chicken and in a large bowl add the chicken with 1 quart buttermilk. Refrigerate overnight. When ready to fry, remove chicken from bowl and let sit on counter for 30 minutes to take chill off. (I actually added the buttermilk to the chicken and then froze it until later when I was ready to make it, didn't hurt it a bit. Then I just let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight)

Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together the flour, seasoned salt, pepper, thyme, paprika and cayenne in a very large bowl. In a small bowl combine the 1/4 cup buttermilk and the milk. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and use a fork to mix until still slightly lumpy. The lumps help the breading stick to the chicken.

Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat to 365F. Use a thermometer to monitor your heat. Working in batches, thoroughly coat each buttermilk-soaked chicken piece with the breading, pressing to adhere the breading. Add the chicken to the oil 3-4 pieces at a time. Cover pan and fry 5-7 minutes, checking to make sure chicken isn’t getting too brown. Turn, cover and cook additional 3-5 minutes more. Monitor temperature of oil to make sure chicken doesn’t burn. Keep in mind chicken will finish cooking in oven. (I love this, then I don't have to worry about pink in the middle)

Place chicken on baking sheet and continue frying rest of chicken. When done, bake the chicken for 10-15 minutes, until chicken cooked through. You can cut into one of the thicker parts of one of the pieces to make sure it is thoroughly cooked.

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS #74 (FREEZER MEALS) and Pastor Ryan's Bolognese from Pioneer Woman

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #74

(FREEZER MEALS)

Pastor Ryan's Bolognese from Pioneer Woman's Blog

Another Sapghetti Recipe and of course it was delicious, as always! And I am one step closer to finding a perfect Bolognese recipe. I have been looking and searching for a Bolognese sauce and this was my first one.

Pastor Ryan's Bolognese
adapted by me, originally from Pioneer Woman's Blog

1/2 cups Olive Oil
1-1/2 cup Grated Carrots
1 cup grated celery (this was added to the recipe)
1/4 cup large red onion, diced
2 lbs Ground Beef
2 tbsp dried or fresh Oregano
2 tbsp dried or fresh Basil Flakes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (or less) red wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire
2 cans (28 oz) tomatoes - (we used diced)
1 cup milk
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Add grated carrots, celery and onions and cook for a few minutes. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and then add in the ground beef. Cook for a few minutes until brown, gradually stirring it into the carrot mixture.

Throw in oregano and basil. Use fresh if you have it; if you don’t, it’s fine. When the meat is browned and combined with other ingredients, make another well. Add tomato paste and let it heat. Add garlic and stir to combine.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and add red wine (we felt 1 cup was a little too much, so unless you love the tatse of red wine, I would use a little less next time). Stir together. Add Worcestershire and stir. Add canned tomatoes. Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for about 2 hours, I feel the long the better for all the flavors in spaghetti sauce to mix around.

Serve with pasta and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
 

FREEZER TIPS: I LOVE LOVE making loads of spaghetti sauce and freezing it for later. I think I have about 6 packs of spaghetti sauce saved right now and I am LOVIN' it! I know anytime we want to throw together a pizza, make some Goulosh or of course just enjoy some plain ole' spaghetti, there is fresh sauce waiting for us anytime.

This week's theme is: FREEZER MEALS

Please only link recipes with our theme!

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new, please just follow our simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

Please Grab Our Button!!!

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This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

April 2 - Easter Cookies & Treats

April 9 - Show Us Your ULTIMATE SANDWICH

April 16 - Copycat Recipes

April 23 - Picnic Recipes

Your hostess for this party are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angela from Big Bear's Wife, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter. We host this theme linky party every Monday (and the party stays open all week long)! We hope to inspire you to make something with our theme or get an old post notice by linking it up to the linky party below. 

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.
This week's theme is: FREEZER MEALS
Please only link recipes with our theme!

This week's theme is: FREEZER MEALS
Please only link recipes with our theme!

Pioneer Woman's BBQ Comfort Meatballs

This has been my "go-to" recipe ever since I made them from Pioneer Woman's first cookbook. I love to make up a big batch and freeze them for later. My friend and I had a freezer cooking day a few weekends ago and this meatball recipe was top on my list. This was my first freezer cooking day in a long time and it was SO worth it, we focused on Hamburger Meat. I haven't ever done a freezer cooking day that concentrated on one type of meat and I think I really like it. We have already planned our next freezer cooking day and we will be working with only chicken.

This recipe of meatballs is delicious all by themselves but add in the scrumptious Pioneer Woman's homemade BBQ sauce and they are out-of-this-world YUM! We enjoy them this way or I've used these same meatballs in many other recipes too. We made meatball sandwiches, I've added them to Spaghetti Sauce or I just bake them up for my son on days I do not feel like cooking from scratch (like tonight). They are quick, easy and I know you will love them too (plus they beat Costco frozen meatballs any day).

FREEZER TIPS: Here are a few of my great freezer tips. I cook the meatballs half-way and then lay them out on a cookie sheet. I set the cookie sheet in the freezer for at least 3 hours (or overnight). The meatballs then freeze individually and are ready for packaging. I package about 20 meatballs per ziploc bag and then store them in the freezer. I then make up the BBQ sauce recipe and package that separately too (making sure you double bag all liquids).

BBQ Comfort Meatballs
recipe found at Pioneer Woman's Blog

INGREDIENTS FOR MEATBALLS
1-1/2 lbs Ground Beef
3/4 cups Oats
1 cup Milk
3 tbsp Very Finely Minced Onion
1-1/2 tsp Salt
1-1/2 tsp Fresh Pepper (or more if desired)

1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating for Frozen Meatballs)
Canola Oil

RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE BBQ SAUCE
1 cup Ketchup
2 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire
4 to 6 tbsp Onion, diced
1 dash Tabasco

If you are wanting to cook Comfort Meatballs right now and are not prepping this for the freezer, then Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (if you are freezing meatballs you can skip this step)

Combine all meatball ingredients (except flour and canola oil). Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for about fifteen minutes. Remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

Start heating the canola oil into a large skillet and brown meatballs, until they are just brown. You do NOT need to cook them all the way. Place them into a baking dish (if you are cooking now) or if you are wanting to freezer them, after they are browned you can add them back to the cookie sheet and set them into the freezer to freeze for about 3 hours (or overnight). Once frozen you can package them into ziploc bags that meat your family needs. I usually do a double recipe and then freeze about 20 meatballs per bag.

To make the BBQ sauce, you need to combine all the sauce ingredients. If you are cooking right now just pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. If you are doing this as a freezer recipe then package the sauce into ziploc bags and freeze until ready to use.

These Comfort Meatballs and Homemade BBQ Sauce are perfect served over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or white rice. Enjoy!

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #66 (FAVORITE COOKBOOK) and Pioneer Woman's Hot Artichoke Dip

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #66

(Recipes MUST be from your FAVORITE COOKBOOK)

Hot Artichoke Dip

I just LOVE LOVE the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I am sure ALL of you do too! I LOVE that it's down-home cooking! I LOVE that it's food my family will eat and I LOVE that everything I make from her cookbook is a HUGE HIT!

Pioneer Woman's Hot Artichoke Dip
found in The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook, by Ree Drummond

2 (14 oz) cans artichoke hearts, drained
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
dash of salt
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Add one can of artichokes, cream cheese, mayonnaise, green onions and cayenne pepper (add more if you like it hot) to food processor. Pulse about 7 times, you do NOT want to liquefy. Then add in the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Now, roughly chopped the additional can of artichokes, down to bite-size. Add these to the above mixture and mix together gently. Pour mixture into an oven-safe dish and bake for at least 20 minutes.

Please Grab Our Button!!!

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This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

February 6 - Nutella Recipes (Nutella, Peanut Butter or Almond Butter)

February 13 - Valentine's Day Treats or Romantic Dinners

February 20 - Mexican Appetizers (Avocado Recipes & Salsa Recipes)

February 27 - Smoothies and Shakes

If you are new here browse around some past weeks at THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS and you'll see why we are having so much fun and we invite you to link up too. Your hostess for this party are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angela from Big Bear's Wife, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter. We host this theme linky party every Monday (and the party stays open all week long)! We hope to inspire you to make something with our theme or get an old post notice by linking it up to the linky party below.

If you are a regular, link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. Just follow our simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.
This week's theme is: FAVORITE COOKBOOK RECIPES
Please only link recipes with our theme!

This week's theme is: FAVORITE COOKBOOK RECIPES
Please only link recipes with our theme!

Pioneer Woman's Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce: Thanksgiving Feast 2011

Simple and Super Delicious Cranberry Sauce, this is almost as easy as opening a can of that round-looking cranberry thing, that I never even tasted as a kid because it looked too funny. This dish though, I love. The first time I had fresh cranberry sauce, I was like WOW! And this is a perfect side dish to serve with your Turkey dinner this year, use with Turkey left-overs, but can be used so many other times during the year. I will be sharing two left-over recipes in the days after Thanksgiving using this delicious cranberry sauce like a Turkey & Cheese Quesadilla and a Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Pizza.

Thanksgiving Feast

Turkey with Apples & Butter

Olive Garden Bread Sticks; Copycat Recipe

Pepper Jack Macaroni & Cheese

Crash Hot Potatoes from Pioneer Woman

Grandma's Baked Corn Casserole

Cranberry & Sausage Stuffing

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce from Pioneer Woman

Grandma's Pumpkin Bars

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce
from The Pioneer Woman Cooks Web Site

1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries
16 oz, Pomegranate Juice
3/4 cups sugar

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring ocationally. Mixture will thicken as it cooks, and will thicken more as it cools. Cool in the refrigerator, before serving.

Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes: Thanksgiving Feast 2011

Looks like this Thanksgiving Feast is filled with Pioneer Woman recipes. It wasn't planned that way, but it happened and each and every recipe came out perfect. I have been on a quest to cook my way through Pioneer Woman's first cookbook, click here to see what we've made so far.

I wanted to make a different kind of potato and this recipe came up on my Pinterest over and over again. I already found my DREAM potato; White Chocolate Mashed Potatoes which will be my go to mashed potato from here on out. But for this Thanksgiving Feast I choose Crash Hot Potatoes, and this recipe was delicious.

Thanksgiving Feast

Turkey with Apples & Butter

Olive Garden Bread Sticks; Copycat Recipe

Pepper Jack Macaroni & Cheese

Crash Hot Potatoes from Pioneer Woman

Grandma's Baked Corn Casserole

Cranberry & Sausage Stuffing

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce from Pioneer Woman

Grandma's Pumpkin Bars

Crash Hot Potatoes
adapted by me, but found on Pioneer Woman's Blog, all the way from Australia

12 whole New Potatoes (or other Small Round Potatoes, we used Red Potatoes)
3 tbsp Olive Oil (I like to use butter and/or both oil & butter)
Kosher Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil (or use melted butter for this step). Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

Pioneer Woman's Potato Skins

I am cookin' again from my favorite cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I think ya'all might get sick of me posting her recipes, but secretly I hope not! They are all scrumptious, I have only made ONE thing we didn't care for, only ONE out of an entire cookbook so far, that's pretty darn good! (it's just a little secret, don't tell, but we perfer our Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese recipe to hers...shhhhhh!!!!)

My twins are going off to college next year, from California to Missouri (as most of you know who already read my blog.... and if you don't know yet, I am sure I will mention it often) and it was so funny that after looking through Pioneer Woman's cookbook a few weeks ago they declared "Mom, we have to make everything in here before we leave". How could I resist? I of course agreed, and now we are on a roll. Cooking atleast once a week, if not more from this amazing cookbook.

I can't really take credit for this creation it was my daughter Kayley who made these. I keep asking my kids are they sure they want to major in Marketing/Advertising? I am sure they would be great in the culinary industry too. Maybe someday they can work for a cooking magazine or something. I know they would both love that.

Pioneer Woman's Potato Skins
from The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook

8 slices thick-cut bacon, fried and crumbled
8 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
Canola Oil
Kosher Salt
1-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated (we used white cheese, or whatever you have on hand)
1 cup sour cream
4 green onions, sliced

(and this is served great with Pioneer Woman's Homemade Ranch Dressing)

Preheat oven to 400. Wash the potatoes and rub the skin liberally with canola oil. Place on a baking pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the potatoes are fork-tender. When finished, sliced potatoes in half lengthwise. With a cookie scoop or a spoon, scrape out the inner flesh of the potatoes, leaving a small margin of potatos in the skin. (Do NOT disgard this yummy delicious potato from the inside, you can use turn this into Mashed Potatoes for tomorrow night's dinner.... check out this oh-so-delicious White Chocolate Mashed Potato that is to-die-for)

Brush both skins of the potato skins with canola oil. Salt both sides liberally. Place the skins cut side down and return to oven. Bake for 7 minutes, then flip to the other side and bake for 7 more minutes. (I truly believe this is the step that makes these potato skins the grand-of-all-grand potaoto skins) Remove skins when they become crispy.

Sprinkle cheese into each potato skin. Spinkle with bacon and return to the oven one last time, just until cheese melts, a few minutes. Just before serving spoon 1 tbsp of sour cream on each skin and sprinkle with sliced green onions. We also love to serve with a side of Homemade Ranch Dressing, everything taste better with Ranch.

Fresh Puree' Pumpkin

I picked up a few pumpkins on my Apple Picking weekend so that I could try my hand in making some homemade puree'. I knew I would be baking a lot this season with pumpkin and what better way then to make everything with fresh pumpkin. I can honestly say, it was SO easy! I think making pumpkin puree' will be a regular thing in my house from now on. I only did one pumpkin at first, to make sure it worked out. Then I baked a few things with the fresh pumpkin as you will see in the coming days and those recipes came out wonderful. And now I am ready to puree' the additional two pumpkins I purchased and will get to baking some more awesome pumpkin recipes. Update: I now finished the two additonal pumpkins and I have an update to the recipe!

Fresh Puree' Pumpkin
recipe found on Pioneer Woman's Blog

2 small-ish / medium size Pumpkins

UPDATE: I tried to bake the pumpkins without cutting them in half before hand and it works PERFECTLY! Here is an updated photo too! And WOW! so easy to cut them in half after they are baked rather then cutting off your hand :-)

Cut the pumpkin in half (after you bake is my new preferred method). With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center (you will now do this after baking). Place all the seeds into a bowl (we will still be roasting them later, I will be posting a recipe for pepitas). Repeat until all the pumpkin pieces are largely free of seeds and pulp.

Place pumpkin on a baking sheet (face up, face down or just throw the entire pumpkin in the oven) and roast in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until pumpkin is fork-tender. They should be nice and light golden brown when done.

Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces. In a food processor, throw in a few chunks at a time (a blender will work too or simply mash with a potato masher), you may need to add in a little bit of water (in my second and third batch NO water was needed and I like the thickier pumpkin to bake with).  Pulse the pumpkin until smooth.

Dump the pureed goodness into a bowl, and you can either use this immediately in whatever pumpkin recipe you’d like, or store it in the freezer for later use.

Freezer Tip: To store in the freezer, spoon 2 cups of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag (this is approximately 1 can of pumpkin). Store them in the freezer until you need them.

Second time around baking the pumpkins, I did NOT cut them in half before baking!

And it worked out perfectly! You just scrap out the stuff after you cook them.

I was able to get at least 4 or 5 bags of puree' pumpkin from 1 medium size pumpkin.

I packaged them into 2 cups each into Ziploc bags and froze them for later.

Pioneer Woman's Homemade Ranch with Iceberg Wedge

I just love the Pioneer Woman recipes. Who doesn't right? They are so simple, so down-to-earth and they all taste so good! I am trying to cook my way through her first cookbook, before the second cookbook comes out next year! Wish me luck.... I make so many recipes from blogs and Pinterest, that I forget about my millions of cookbooks. But, her cookbook I've decided to leave out right on the counter and have vowed to cook from it at least once a week. So far I've made the Chicken Pot Pie, that is out of this world, the Chocolate Sheet Cake which everyone loved, hands down, and with my Nerd Cupcakes a few weeks ago we used her Flour Frosting (A-MAZ-ING). I have a few more things that I haven't had a chance to post yet! So, watch for them.  Today, I am sharing a Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing on top of an Iceberg Wedge Salad. Funny thing is, is that I always order my wedge salad with ranch, because I hate blue cheese. This recipe was just perfect for me and my family!

Pioneer Woman's Homemade Ranch with Iceberg Wedge

adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cookbook

It's such a delicious salad and it's SO simple! I did not have any fresh ingredients the first time I made this dressing, I used dried everything and we still LOVED it!

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 to 1/2 milk or buttermilk, depending on how thick you want it
1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf Parsley
1 tbsp Fresh Chives
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
dash of hot sauce
2 heads of lettuce
fresh bacon (cooked & crumbled), chives & grated cheese (this is what I added in)

Mince the garlic with a knife and then sprinkle the salt on it and mash it into a paste with a fork. Chop the parsley, chives and all of the other herbs very finely and add to the garlic.Wow, another great recipe from Pioneer Woman and a dressing that will be repeated for sure in my house.

In a bowl combine all ingredients, tasting frequently and adjusting seasonings as needed. Chill for a couple of hours before serving, thin with milk or buttermilk if desired.

Wash and dry the iceberg lettuce and then cut into wedges. Add the cooked bacon, chives and cheese (if desired) and then drizzle generously over the wedge.

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings

This recipe tastes as good as it looks. And go-figure it's another amazing recipe found on the blog of  The Pioneer Woman. I am just loving her cook book and my daughter and I are determined to make every recipe in her cookbook. I suppose we better hurry up because I just pre-ordered her new cookbook that comes out next year.

What a great recipe for a hot Apple Dumpling. I can't even say I've ever even had an Apple Dumpling, but this recipe was great! It was so quick to put together and the results seemed like I had slaved hours in the kitchen (which I had not)! I made these in my motorhome kitchen while camping. So, if I can make them there, anyone can make them.

Apple Dumplings
adapted from Pioneer Woman's Blog (February 2008)

2 sticks butter (I would like to try with only one stick of butter, next time)

1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tubes crescent rolls
2 granny smith apples
12 ounces of Mountain Dew (use only half the can)

Cinnamon & Pecans (chopped)

Serve with Vanilla Ice Cream

Peel and slice your apples. Wrap each slice in a crescent dough triangle and place in sprayed (greased) 9 x 13 pan. In a bowl, melt your butter and stir in sugar and vanilla, lightly mix and leave grainy. Pour over top of the wrapped apples. Pour one-half of the can of Mountain Dew all around and sprinkle with cinnamon and pecans. Place in 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream!