Pumpkin Faces

This is a Halloween tradition in Josh's family, so it falls on me to make them. Mine never look like pumpkins, so I call them scary faces.

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 T. minced onion

1/4 c. mustard

4 oz shredded mozzarella

2 cans refrigerated biscuits

Brown ground beef, drain. Stir in onion, mustard and cheese. Cook over medium until cheese melts. Roll out biscuit into 3 inch circle. Spoon meat filling into 10 biscuits. Cut faces in remaining biscuits and place over meat, press edges together. Make stems out of left over dough.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

I always double this recipe, and when we eat them we dip them in more mustard.

Here is a cute picture of Owen helping me make them when he was little.

Halloween Eyeballs

Halloween Eyeball Recipe

I used M&M's instead of chocolate covered peanuts.

They look so cute but I haven't even eaten one yet. It makes me nauseous just looking at that much sugar.

Beer Bread

This bread is SOOO EASY and SOOO good. It is perfect for things like soup and chili. It is by far one of my favorite bread recipes...

{Sweet Version}

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 (12 oz) can beer

1/4 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease 9 x 5 baking pan.

2. In a bowl mix everything except beer & butter.

3. Pour in beer and mix just until moistened.

4. Pour in baking pan and top with melted butter.

5. Bake 45-55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

{Spicier Version}

Add:

1/2 tsp. onion powder

3/4 tsp. italian seasoning

Easy Pumpkin Cake

Sorry no picture, I forgot to take one before I ate it all. I made this dessert for the vice presidential debate. At least something was good that night.

1 box yellow cake mix, set aside 1 cup
1 cube soft margarine
1 egg
combine and press into bottom of 9x13 pan

mix:
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can pumpkin (around 14 oz. I think)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
pour over cake

crumble topping:
combine 1 cup cake mix (that you set aside) with
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecan (you can use less or leave them out)
1/4- 1/2 cube soft marg (I used 1/4 last time and I liked it better)
sprinkle over top

Bake at 350' for 50 minutes, cool 20 minutes so you don't burn your tongue off. It is really good topped with French Vanilla Cool Whip.

Banana Bread

This recipe came from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed banana (2-3 medium bananas)
1/3 cup shortening, margarine, or butter (I've used marg and butter)
2 T. milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped nuts (no thanks!)

In large mixer bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add mashed banana; shortening, marg, or butter; and milk. Beat with an electric mixer on low till blended, then on high for 2 minutes. Add eggs and remaining flour; beat till blended. Stir in nuts.
Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350' for 55-60 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing (WHATEVER).

Pumpkin Muffins

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

1 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used almost 1 tsp. of cinnamon, I also added nutmeg and ground cloves)

2 eggs, beaten

1 c. ground pumpkin (canned)

1/2 c. cooking oil

1/3 c. chocolate chips

Mix together.

Fill muffin cups and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Okay fine, I got this from Becky Higgins too. She has good recipes, I can't help that. These are so much easier than making pumpkin choc chip cookies, just as good too!

Peach Pie

Yes, I made this pie, crust and all. I can hardly believe it myself. My brother brought us some peaches and I got a wild hair. Josh's mom usually invites us up for her delicious peach pie, but I think they lost our phone number. I took matters into my own hands and it was a good thing I did. This pie was delicious. Josh hates pie crust, but he ate this one.

I got the recipes off the internet, so here are the links.

How to make Peach Pie. I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh and I forgot to put cut up butter on the peaches before I put the top crust on. It still turned out fine.

Cream Cheese Pastry (crust recipe).

Pretzel Hugs

Okay so I totally stole this from Becky Higgins, whatever. They are so good and easy to make I claim them as my own. This is an easy way to involve the children so they feel like they really helped out.

What you need:

1 bag pretzels, waffle style (I use Snyder's)

1 bag plain M & M's

1 bag Hugs

1 bag Rolo's (I have used Hershey's kisses w/caramel, they work fine but the caramel doesn't set up and they are a sticky mess)

Place pretzels on baking sheet. Place hugs or rolos on top of pretzel. Bake at 200' for about 8 minutes. Remove and immediatley place two m&m's on top of each pretzel. Eat a few right off the pan. Let set up before handling (it will take quite a while). I put mine in the fridge for about an hour then set them on the counter and grab one everytime I walk by. They work great for any time of year, especially with the holiday themed M&M's.