Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars

Wow, one hell of a week! Skubz and I have been busy bees setting up the nursery and doing all the little home repairs that need to get done before December. Just 7.5 more weeks until my due date, what a crazy thought! We haven't been doing anything in terms of Halloween festivities this year (even though it IS my favorite holiday). I'm just too big at this point and our money has been going towards baby stuff, baby stuff and more baby stuff!
Little guy isn't even here yet and he is already getting spoiled.
So I haven't had as much time or energy to cook in depth meals... we have been eating "cheater meals". Chili dogs and such.
Still good to me!
But I did manage to make these tasty little morsels.

Cinnamon roll cookie bars! I found this recipe from Blissful Whimsy. What I loved about it was that it was like a "half-cheater recipe." It takes a boxed cake mix, yet there are some other ingredients involved as well. So I didn't feel so terrible about the idea of simply making a boxed cake.

I will be honest, I did not measure the amount of cinnamon I put in them. It suggests 1 1/2 Tablespoons, but I can guarantee I did not use that much, and the bars were already heavily spiced. I may have used 1 Tablespoon at the most. I also needed to add more milk to the icing portion, otherwise it didn't spread over the entire pan.
In the end, it really does taste like a cheater cinnamon roll. No rolling and cutting involved!

Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars
Ingredients
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
Icing
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 9"x13" baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.
When perfectly baked remove from the oven and pour icing over the top.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

Mmm, when I found the picture of this from the website An Edible Mosaic, I was totally sold. I'm sure it's no secret by now that I LOVE pumpkin anything. Unfortunately I don't own any mini bread pans, so this makes only one regular sized loaf.

It was as good as it looks.
To be honest, I was a little intimidated by the recipe, it seemed like a lot of ingredients and a lot of preparation  But once it was all said and done, it really was very simple.
Skubz hasn't been home to try it yet, so that will be the ultimate test!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Pumpkin Spice Batter:

3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2 large eggs

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon cloves

Directions:

For the Cheese Batter:  Use a handheld electric mixer to beat together all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

For the Pumpkin Spice Batter:  Preheat oven to 350F; lightly grease 3 mini loaf pans with butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, then stir in the pumpkin, canola oil, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.  Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to over-mix.  Divide the pumpkin batter between the 3 loaf pans, then pour the cheese batter on top.

Bake until golden around the edges, about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted inside comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs.  Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Grandma's Potpie

Ohh this one is personally my favorite dish to make for supper. Skubz would give it an 8/10 but in my book, it's a 20. I will say that this recipe is a bit involved, but worth it if you have the time.
I started craving this one pretty bad so I decided to put in the time for this totally homemade meal.

This recipe comes from Taste Of Home. I may not be the best at making fluted edges but hey, it tastes just as good I'm sure. 

So I ended up eating way more than I should have, and spent the majority of my evening regretting the decision to stuff my gut.

After making this as many times as I did, I have a few tips. First of all, I don't own a 9x9 pan but I do have an 8x8. So I usually just use 1 pound of hamburger and everything fits just fine. The potatoes have the potential to stay crunchy if you follow the recipe instructions, but if you put them at the very bottom of the pan, they cook to a nice soft texture.
I have tried "cheater" versions of this such as buying canned gravy or using a pre-made crust dough.... it doesn't come out nearly as tasty. Personally, I don't thaw the frozen veggies, and have never had an issue with them. I usually use a bean, corn and pea mix. I have also made this with chicken. Just substitute the broth for chicken broth, and the beef for a pound of chicken. Easy!

Grandma's Potpie

Ingredients
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt to taste
1 cup cubed peeled potatoes
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth
CRUST:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in onion powder and salt. Transfer to a greased 9-in. square baking dish. Top with potatoes and vegetables.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt the butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add broth. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Pour over vegetables.
For crust, in a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk until a soft dough forms.
On a floured surface, roll dough into a 9-in. square. Place over filling; flute edges and cut slits in top. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Cherry Cheesecake Dip

I had been waiting for a good excuse to make this one for a while now. I have seen this from so many blogs and websites, that I don't know what the origin of the recipe is, but I followed the recipe from Chameleon Girls.
The Bronco's game was on last night, and Skubz was sure as hell going to be watching it. Although we are from WI (and I am 110% Packer fan) my Skubz has always been about the Bronco's.
So I decided that I would get a little something out of this situation and make cheesecake dip!
I have wanted nothing more than to eat cheesecake every day through this pregnancy. Of course I am too concerned about my bloated waistline to do that, but this was a nice alternative that made me feel (just a little) better about eating cheesecake.

This is such a light and fluffy dip, that I don't feel like I am stuffing my gut with that heavy, rich cheesecake. Skubz really enjoyed it also, even though he isn't the biggest fan of cherry. I'm sure you could use blueberry or raspberry if you felt like it.

The recipe that I had used did not specify which size pan to use, so I put mine in a 9x13 and it seemed to be just the right fit. A pan any larger would make it difficult to add the pie filling on top.

Cherry Cheesecake Dip
1 pack soften cream cheese
1/2 jar marshmallow fluff
1 small tub Cool Whip
1 can cherry pie filling
Pack of graham crackers

Ingredients
Mix cream cheese and marshmallow fluff until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip Spread into 9x13 dish.Cover with cherry pie filling. Break the graham cracker into sticks to use for dipping.

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Ohh this was an amazing recipe. I made this on Sunday. Yeah I am a little behind, but oh well! It had rained, constantly, all weekend. And it was cold! So as you can imagine, it was miserable.
I thought about making chili, but it just seemed too cliche. And I love trying new things, so I found this little gem.
It was easy, tasty, and it was made in a crock pot (my favorite!)
It also didn't require much in terms of ingredients.

Now with this pregnancy, I had a pretty severe hatred of chicken, particularly fried, but any talk about eating chicken was enough to make me gag. It seems here in the third trimester I have gotten over that. Just in time too, I was really starting to get tired of eating beef EVERYTHING.

And I wouldn't have found this!

I whipped up some biscuits to go with this also. That recipe came from Deals To meals. I can never get mine to look as amazingly buttery and moist as hers, but they still taste good. And the Cheesy Chicken and Rice recipe came from Southern Plate.

Just an FIY, this meal still tasted as good as the first time after we reheated the left overs!

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken and Rice
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 onion, chopped
1 8oz pack of Ben's Wild Rice, prepared to package instructions
1 cup of cheddar cheese
1 10.5oz can cream of chicken soup
1 15oz can of whole kernal corn, drained

Instructions
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker. Scatter chopped onion over chicken. Spoon cream of chicken soup on top. Cover and cook-
Low setting: 7-8 hours
High setting: 3-4 hours
A few minutes before serving, add in the cooked rice, corn and cheese. Stir to combine and shred chicken. Cover and let it heat through (about 10-15 minutes). Serve hot.

Ruth's Diners Mile High Biscuits
3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 stick butter
3/4 c. buttermilk (OR 3/4 c. milk + 2 T. lemon juice)
1 egg
1/4 c. water

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and butter until crumbly. Mix in buttermilk, egg and just enough water to make a workable dough. Mix the dough until it is just barely combined (don't over mix). Roll the dough onto a floured cutting board about 1 inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or a 2 inch round cup. Place on a greased baking sheet (touching each other) and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

I've been slacking on supper the last few days. We've been having those awful boxed meals and such while I decided that I needed a break.
But tonight I am back!
Skubz and my step-dad were working on our broken dryer this afternoon. I was doing some relaxation/Mimz time, when I realized, that Skubz needed to be to work in about two hours, and I didn't even THINK about supper! So I pulled up some random recipe, and ran (or waddled) over to the store.

This is what we came up with for this evening: Chili Cheese Dog Casserole!
Yes, another cornbread recipe, but ya know what, Skubz loves cornbread so it works. I found this from Taste Of Home. I had to modify a bit, because I didn't want to chop up all the veggies that the recipe suggested.
When I was whipping this up, I also noticed that it was really tough to split the cornbread batter between the top and bottom layer, there just wasn't enough batter. I would suggest just putting it either on the top or the bottom instead of both.
Dinner did turn out as a success, it didn't take long and Skubz loved it.
I will be adding it to my collection of fast dinner recipes, for the next time I forget that Skubz works.

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Ingredients
1 8.5oz package corn bread/muffin mix
1 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 package hot dogs,cut into bite-size pieces

1 can (15 ounces) chili with beans

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Prepare corn bread batter according to package and spread half the batter into a greased 8x8 baking dish; set aside.

In a large skillet, saute the green pepper, onion and celery in oil until tender. Stir in hot dogs; heat 3-4 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Stir in the chili, brown sugar, garlic powder and chili powder; heat through. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese.

Spoon over corn bread batter; top with remaining corn bread batter. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Homemade Pizza

Just to let Skubz know just how much I appreciate everything he does for our small-but-growing family, I made him one of his favorite things for supper tonight.

Homemade Pizza!
Now I am pretty sure we don't need to put up a recipe for pizza, it's pretty standard. But I will share with you the easiest, and fluffiest pizza crust recipe that I have ever made.

My mom has always made the best pizza. When I was growing up, she would let us have a special meal of our choice on our birthday. We very rarely chose anything that WASN'T her homemade pizza.

The crust recipe comes from an old old cookbook that used to be my grandmothers. I only have a written version, so I am not sure what that book was called.

Since I didn't acquire the recipe until a few months ago, I tried my finding a pizza crust recipe that was equally as amazing with little luck. They were either too thin, too thick, too time-consuming, tasted like cardboard or any other variation of things!
So here it is, the "not too thick, not too thin, easy and tasty" pizza dough recipe.

Pizza Dough
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs vegetable oil (olive oil works also)
2 1/2 cups of all purpose OR whole wheat flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the remaining ingredients, and beat vigorously for 20 strokes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes before spreading out on pizza pan.

Simple Sugar Cookies

As I am writing this post, Skubz is getting our supper ready all by himself. Tonight on the menu is BLT's. This is a rare event, but I am not complaining! I get to put my sore preggo feet up for an afternoon.
That wasn't the case for this morning. We went binge-cleaning this morning, AND I had time to whip up some simple sugar cookies.
I consider it a gift to myself for working so hard on the house.

I am not exaggerating when I say SIMPLE sugar cookies. They were all the sweet taste of a sugar cookie, but took no time to prepare. No chilling or rolling out with these.

I got the recipe for this one on Taste of Home. It's an old Swedish recipe that seems to be a hit, according to the reviews. I give it a thumbs up for sure!

The website there says that it should make 5 dozen. I guess if you like penny sized cookies. I also used powdered sugar to coat them instead of granulated.

Honestly I don't have a good reason as to why I did that.

Overall, the day was a success. A clean house, supper that I didn't have to make, and cookies!!


Simple Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar

1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Additional sugar

In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture.
Shape into 1-in. balls. Roll in sugar. Place on greased baking sheet; flatten with a glass. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.  

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

It was kind of tough to decide between a pasta or a soup today. Being that it was cool and a little breezy, and that the Packers lost, we really needed something good for supper.
I stalked around the 'net for something easy and quick (because hell, that's just my style.)
I found a post on Never Trust a Skinny Cook for these beautiful looking lasagna rolls. I didn't immediately find a step by step recipe, and being the type of impatient person that I can be, I just briefly skimmed the article and decided to wing it from there.

I started out with some ricotta cheese, spinach, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and mozzarella cheese. I mixed those all together and spooned the mixture onto lasagna noodles.

I was a little worried when it came to rolling these guys up, I thought I might have picked one of those recipes that is awesome in theory, but ridiculous in execution. But honestly, the ricotta seemed to act almost like a "glue" and kept everything nice and neat. I dumped some spaghetti sauce on top, and added more cheese, because that is how we do things in Wisconsin.

So I stuck my cute little lasagna rolls in the oven for what felt like FOREVER (I was starving at this point).
It was worth the wait. They were cheesy and the spinach gave them some awesome flavor. 

And the best part? I got Skubz to eat spinach! That was a miracle in itself.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls8 cooked lasagna noodles
15 oz of ricotta cheese
10 oz of spinach (thawed and drained)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

1 1/2 cup shredded mozerella cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together the ricotta cheese, spinach, garlic, oregano, basil and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Place the cooked lasagna noodles on a flat surface, and evenly spread the cheese mixture on the noodles.
Gently roll the lasagna noodles, and place them in a greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish.  Top the noodles with the jar of spaghetti sauce, and the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
Cover the noodles with aluminum foil, and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake an additional 10 minutes. 

I'm sure that this recipe has a lot of room for interpretation. Maybe add some cream cheese, beef, or chopped onion. Whatever works for you or your family.

Taco Cornbread Bake

So today was one of those rare days that Skubz had off of work, from BOTH jobs! Woohoo! So I let him pick what we would have for supper, and he picked this Taco Cornbread Bake that I used to make when we lived in our apartment.
I had completely forgotten about this one, and how much Skubz liked it, so I was pretty excited (especially because of how quick and easy it is!)

I found this recipe on a healthy eating website once, but I only have the "pregnant" excuse to eat what I want for a few more months, and I plan to use it, damn it! So it was changed around, a few things added or taken out. I also didn't agree with the baking method, so this has really become more of a Mimz original.

Mmm, everything about this screams comfort food. And of course this is before it gets all dressed up and sexy.

There was only half a pan left by the time Skubz was done annihilating what was on his plate.

Taco Cornbread Bake
1 (8.5 oz) box cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 lb cooked taco meat

1/2 cup onion (chopped)
1 can of re-fried beans
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
Optional toppings:
lettuce
chopped tomatoes
sour cream
salsa
black olives

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the cornbread mix, egg and milk. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, set aside. Combine the prepared taco meat, onion and re-fried beans. Evenly spread on top of the cornbread. Top with the shredded cheese. Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
Before serving, add any optional toppings.

And for your viewing enjoyment, here is a sexy, dressed up version of our delicious dinner. Seriously, are you still looking at the picture? Go make it already! ;)

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I wasn't kidding when I said I was a pumpkin addict. So I thought, why not just continue with some fall foods that I have made in the last few weeks to celebrate my favorite season!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles anyone?
I'll take 5. These didn't last long in my house. Between my very hungry Skubz, and my very pregnant self, they last maybe 4 days.
This was a recipe was one that I had stumbled onto thanks to Pinterest. It comes from Pennies on a Platter. Since I have pumpkin on hand at all times in the fall, this one was a no-brainer.

Now these were really fantastic. I will admit that I didn't follow the recipe completely. Honestly, I almost never do.

Instead of adding nutmeg to the cookies, I added pumpkin pie spice. I also used pumpkin pie spice instead of ginger and allspice on the coating.
Because I am spontaneous like that.
I would get at these if I were you, this soft amazing fall treat was just what I needed.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Yield: 3-4 dozen
Serving Size: 2 cookies

Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 3/4 cup of flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Coating:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Dash of allspice

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Stir in the pumpkin puree, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until fully incorporated. Cover and chill dough for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner. Mix the coating ingredients in a small bowl. Scoop equal dough balls and roll into the sugar mixture. Set on cookie sheet about two inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat drinking glass into water, then into the sugar mixture and use it to slightly flatten the dough balls. Recoat the glass as needed.

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until baked through. Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. 

Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie

So for the last few months on facebook, I started a "Dear Skubz" article. Skubz is my husband, and he has been working two jobs so that we can prepare for our new addition while still living with all the wonderful comforts that we have. He really is amazing, and I am one lucky Mimz. So I try to make something delicious for him every few days, and I would post a picture of it on facebook while he was at work so that he would see it before he came home.
I was getting so many requests for the recipes that it was part of my decision to move over to a blog.

But now I have some catching up to do.

So I'm going to start with this Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie.
The idea was something I came up with in my own head, though I am sure it has been done before. When we were grocery shopping, there came this magical moment when I spotted PUMPKIN SPICE MARSHMALLOWS!

Now, I am a woman who loves her pumpkin. Anything pumpkin. Hell, I would just eat a pumpkin raw.
So obviously, in my cart they went. And thus, the Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie was born.

I started out by making just a typical Libby's Pumpkin Pie. Nothing crazy there. I did let the pie cool for about an hour so that the marshmallows wouldn't melt sitting atop that steaming mountain of pumpkin deliciousness.


So I set my oven to broil, and topped my pie with those magical marshmallows. This is the part that got a little scary. I was afraid that instead of toasting, they would become a big ugly mallow mess. They only needed about 3-4 minutes in the oven before they were beautifully toasted brown (and not ugly, yay!)

After warding off a hungry Skubz, it managed to cool again for another 2 hours, and into the fridge it went until after supper.
So how was it? It was AWESOME. I don't think I can find the right words to describe how it tasted, but it was worth it. We will be making this again for sure.

Joining the World of Bloggers

Yeah, yeah so I am a little late in the game. But ya know what, it's better late than never! So let me start out by telling you a little story.

In April of this year, I found out that I am going to be a mommy! I was and still am super thrilled. But let me tell you one little secret about being pregnant, it can be one of the most uncomfortable, scary, confusing and exciting times all rolled into 9 months that seem to fly by and drag on at the SAME TIME.

Well since my husband and I have decided that I will be a stay at home mom for at least the first couple years of our baby's life, I have been practicing my homemaker skills right here at home for the last 6 months. It is really a different experience than what I had expected, since I had been out in the workforce since I was 16 years old. But, since my own mother was the greatest domestic goddess I could ever imagine, I learned a lot while growing up and I feel the world should know about it. So I'm hoping to share some great recipes, crafts, and other nonsense right here. I look forward to this whole new journey into mommyhood, homemaker, and now... BLOGGER!


-Mimz