Good Eats | Dinner In A Pumpkin

This is one of my favorite things to make every Fall.

Dinner in a Pumpkin Recipe

Ingredients:

Either 1 medium size pumpkin, or 4 small individual pumpkins

1 ½ lbs. lean ground beef

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

¾ cup chopped celery

¾ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 – 4 ounce can of mushrooms

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 cups cooked rice

If you want to make the faces on the pumpkins you will also need the following:

Black whole olives for the eyes

Steamed carrot (or several small carrots) used for the nose

Whole cloves for the mouth

Fresh parsley used to stick out from under the lid for hair

Toothpicks

Directions:

Using a sharp knife, cut the lid from the pumpkin(s) and scoop out the pumpkin seeds and excess membrane with a spoon or scraping tool.

In a large skillet, combine ground beef, chopped green pepper, chopped celery, and chopped onion and cook over medium heat until ground beef is browned.

Add the next 7 ingredients into the skillet and mix well. (salt, pepper, soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms, soup, rice)

Place the mixture into the pumpkin cavity, making sure pumpkins are sitting on a foil-lined casserole dish or baking sheet so they fit well without much room to move.

Place lid on the pumpkins and bake at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours.

Just before serving, embellish the pumpkins by placing the black olives for eyes, carrot for nose, whole cloves for mouth, and parsley for hair. Hold the “face” in place with toothpicks.

To serve, place each individual pumpkin on a plate. If using one larger pumpkin, scoop out part of the baked pumpkin along with the mixture and serve on a plate.

Warning! The mixture and the pumpkins will be VERY hot! Eat and handle with caution!

You and your family won't be disappointed!

**When removing the inside of the pumpkin, mainly remove the seeds and leave the rest of the pumpkin goodness.

You will thank me for this tip when eating your delicious meal :)

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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Good Eats | Crispy Cabbage & Noodles

I'm back!

My new computer arrived and I once again have access to my blog and all the other sites I have been blocked from.

That was torture!

But hopefully that is over for good now and I can move on :)

Today is Good Eats!

I am sharing a recipe that my mom made for me as a kid, and I continue to make.

It is one of my favorite things to eat!

Kaluska!

What the heck is that you ask?

Basically it's cabbage and noodles.

Here is what you will need:

1 bag of Mrs. Weiss Kluski noodles

1 head of cabbage

1 stick of butter
1-2 spoons of minced garlic

salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried onion to taste

1. Follow the cooking instructions on the bag of noodles.

2. Chop up the head of cabbage, place in a pot with water, and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes.

3. Drain the noodles and cabbage when done.

4. Just before noodles and cabbage are done, place 2-3 tablespoons of butter and a couple of spoons of minced garlic in the electric skillet and allow to melt.

Here is the skillet I use...

5. Add the cabbage and noodles to the skillet with another couple tablespoons of butter.

6. Add your some salt, pepper, garlic and onion and stir.

7. Allow the mixture to cook on high for 5-10 minutes before stirring and adding more salt, pepper, garlic and onion.

8. After another 5 minutes add the rest of the butter.

9. Continue to cook and stir until the noodles get brown and crispy.

Enjoy!

You can easily add bacon or smoked sausage to this recipe.
I tend to add some smoked sausage on the side :)

Now it is your turn to link up your recipes below!

Have a great day friends!

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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Good Eats | No Bake Key Lime Pie Bars

I personally love a good piece of Key Lime Pie!
I actually had never tried it until we were on our honeymoon back in 2006.
While I still haven't found a piece of it that rivals that one I had on that dinner cruise on the Savannah River, I'm willing to keep looking 😂
This time I decided to give one of Shay's (Mix and Match Mama) recipes a try.
Let's be honest, her recipes all sound amazing!
And once I have a full kitchen again I will be trying to many more of them.
I even have her cookbooks :)

But for today I tested out her No Bake Key Lime S'mores Bars.

Head here for Shay's recipe!

The bottom is super crumbly, so I just added some of that graham cracker goodness to the top!
So yummy!!!
You can see the bits of lime zest in the picture below.
YUM!

What recipes have you tried of Shay's?
I would love to hear about them in the comments below!

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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Good Eats! | Peanut Butter Brownies

If you are new around these parts...Welcome!

Also, the second Tuesday of the month is Good Eats!

I share a recipe I recently have tried that I think you will all love as well.

I found these Peanut Butter Brownies on Pinterest and knew I needed to make them ASAP!

Another thing if you are new, my son is not a chocolate fan.

So I try to make things that he will like too so I don't have to eat the entire thing.

Let's be real, my husband will eat whatever is leftover ;)

Now on with the recipe!

This bad boy comes from Julie Blanner's site.

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter (creamy)

11 tablespoons butter (softened)

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cream peanut butter, butter, sugars, and vanilla. Beat in eggs.

3. Add in baking powder, salt, and flour. Mix until smooth.

4. Pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

*For thicker brownies, bake for 30 minutes in an 8x8 pan.

*For standard brownies, bake for 25 minutes in a 9x13 pan. (This is what I used.)

These smell and taste just like a peanut butter cookie, just with a brownie texture.
SO GOOD!

Do you like peanut butter treats?

What is your favorite dessert with peanut butter?

Check out previous recipes I have tried and shared below.

January - Low Carb Philly Cheese Steak

February - Valentine Toffee

March - St. Patrick's Day Food

April - Banana Bread

May - Snickerdoodle Blondie Bars

June - Easy Blueberry Cobbler

Don't forget to link up your recipes below!

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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Good Eats | Easy Blueberry Cobbler

Summertime desserts always have me wanting blueberries, apples or watermelon.

I had a craving for blueberries recently, so I thought a blueberry cobbler sounded so good!

I have made cobblers before, but a lot of the time I will just buy the bag of mix and throw it on top of the apple or blueberry mixture.

But I was looking for something more from scratch this time around.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot.

So, so good!

Here is what you need to make the original recipe size:

(I cut the recipe in half when I made it)

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice

1/2 cup melted butter

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon baking powder

Start by preheating the oven to 325*.

In a mixing bowl combine blueberries and lime (or lemon juice) and set aside.

Pour melted butter in your 9 x 13 baking dish.

In a second mixing bowl combine flour and sugar.

Add milk, buttermilk, and vanilla and whisk together.

Whisk in baking powder.

Pour mixture over butter. DO NOT stir into butter.

Pour blueberry mixture over batter. Again, DO NOT stir.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until center is set and edges are golden brown.

(Mine took about 65 minutes to set.)

Serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Serves approximately 12.

I baked mine earlier in the day, so the cobbler was room temperature when I served it with ice cream.

But you could always warm it in the microwave quickly before putting your ice cream on top.

Honestly, this recipe was super easy!

No mixer or lots of baking tools needed.

This would be perfect for a summer get together or holiday!

What types of desserts do you enjoy in the summer months?

Don't forget to link your recipes below :)

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday!!!

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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Good Eats! | Snickerdoodle Blondie Bars

Happy Tuesday!

Today I'm sharing a recipe I recently made for my non-chocolate lover child ;)

I wanted to make him a sweet treat and I came across these Snickerdoodle Blondie Bars that I thought he would absolutely love!

Ingredients

* 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

* 1 cup granulated sugar

* 1 cup light brown sugar - I used dark brown sugar since that is what I had

* 2 large eggs

* 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1 tsp baking powder - I subbed baking soda

* 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

* 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Topping

* 1/4 cup granulated sugar

* 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Lightly grease exposed pan and parchment paper.

* In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars.

Mix in eggs and vanilla, followed by dry ingredients.

Mix until smooth and no streaks remain.

* Lightly grease hands, press mixture into an even layer in prepared baking pan.

Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar topping mixture.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Store in an air tight container.

And the finished product...

The are definitely darker than the images from the original recipe since I used dark brown sugar, 

but that didn't matter at all.

X absolutely loved them!

I'm sure your family will too!

Now it's your turn to link up your recipe below!

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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Good Eats | Banana Bread

It's the second Tuesday of the month and that means it is time for 

Good Eats!

Today I am sharing a super yummy banana bread recipe I recently made.

Honestly, banana bread is one of the easiest things to bake in my opinion.

Let's get started!

The ladies at The Spoiled Home shared this recipe from Tory Burch on Instagram, so I decided to give it a try.

So here is what you will need:

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup walnuts (optional)

I decided to make a double batch, so I through all six bananas in a bowl and used my mixer to mash them up.

Directions:

Combine the oil, eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas.

Add the baking soda and flour.

Combine well for 2-3 minutes.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

And voila!

This bread had a super yummy crust that had some sweetness to it!

So good!

Are you baking or trying out new recipes since we are all at home more?

I would love for you to share what you are making in the comments below, or link up your post with me if you have a blog :)

Click below to see what recipes I previously shared :)

January

February

March

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO ~ Vanessa

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