Pumpkin Fluff

This is such an easy recipe! This makes a large batch, so it is great for large parties. My family has used this for about two party occasions during this Christmas season. Although it takes time to chill, its a quick prep and then you can go on with cleaning the place for your upcoming party, or go get ready for someone else's party. Anyways, everyone has loved it. So, if you need a quick dish for an upcoming party, give this one a try. I did not do this, but the original source, Budget Girl, topped hers off with whipped cream. I will definitely have to do that next time, because there will be a next time. Have a happy holiday and I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip

1 (5 oz) packet vanilla instant pudding

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, optional

Dash of cinnamon, to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in to a bowl and mix with a hand mixer. Spoon mixture into desired serving dish and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
Boom, you're done.

I served my fluff with ginger snaps, but other great dipping options are: graham crackers, Nilla Wafers, or animal crackers.

RATER

Oreo Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Merry Christmas! 

 This year I have actually had time to bake and cook things this break! Here is one of the recipes I was able to make. These cookies are exceptional. Everyone who tried these bundles of sweetness enjoyed them. It was hard not to eat more than one. However, they are pretty rich so that helps stop the urge to continue shoveling them into your mouth. Not everyone is a fan of peppermint, but if you are these are a good choice to satisfy your craving. The best part, in my opinion, is that you use cake mix. It makes the flavor and texture so much better than your average cookie. But hey, this isn't your average cookie; you've got cake mix, cream cheese, Oreo's, peppermint, AND chocolate chips. So many different flavors! But oh so yummy.

Enjoy your Christmas, or whichever holiday you celebrate, and let your tummies be filled with joy too!

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix

1 stick butter, melted

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup Oreo cookies, broken into chuncks

1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch pieces

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Oven 350
{dough will have to sit for 30 minutes so don't make this in a rush}
Combine the cake mix, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Beat until a soft dough forms. Add the softened cream cheese and beat in gently until combined. Stir in the peppermint pieces and chocolate chips. Then gently stir in the cookie chunks. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.  
Roll the dough into 36 balls. Bake on a cookie sheet for 9 minutes. Do not over bake; the cookies will be very soft and look undone. Let them sit on the hot cookie sheet for 2 minutes, with a spatula gently move them to a piece of wax paper. Very gently tap the tops of the cookies with the bottom of the spatula to even out the tops. Let them sit until completely cool. 
Store in a sealed container. 

RATER

Adapted from Inside Bru Crew Life

Zucchini Relish

Here something that my fridge never goes without, zucchini relish. I put this on several different things: hot dogs, burgers, tuna salad sandwiches, etc. This makes a huge batch of relish, so if you are planning on making this be prepared to spread the love. A heads up, this is a sweet relish. This recipe takes two days because you will have to let the veggies sit overnight in salt water. This batch makes a huge amount of relish, which is great because my family is stocked with relish for usually an entire year. So stock up or spread the love!
Tater is not a huge fan of sweet relish, but guess what? She likes this! YAY!
Ingredients

10 cups zucchini, shredded

{10-15 medium zucchini}

4 cups onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 1/2 cup white vinegar

4 cups sugar

2 tsp celery seed

2 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp corn starch

1/2 tsp pepper

NON-IODIZED salt

Directions

Make sure to shred the zucchini before measuring the 10 cups, chop the zucchini, onions, and peppers into very small pieces. Place in a large bowl and cover with water. Sprinkle with non-iodized salt over the top and mix. Let stand overnight.
Next morning, pour into strainer and rinse with cold water. Place into a large pot. In a separate bowl, combine white vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed, turmeric, corn starch, and pepper. In the large pot, add these ingredients to drained zucchini mixture; bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
Place in hot sterilized jars and seal each jar immediately.

TATER RATER

Jalapeno Crescent Poppers

Makes 16 or 32 little Crescent Poppers

These yummy creations were found on My Homemade Life. What is unique about this recipe is that she added sugar to the cream cheese mixture! Sugar? Who would of thought? Surprisingly, it is actually tasty. Nothing like a little bit of sugar to sweeten up that spice. I made these for me and my roomie as our brain food for finals last week. What better than warm cream cheesy goodness? How 'bout all A's on my finals!!! Back to the poppers... other than finals week ;) these bad boys are great for game days. So easy to make and so easy to disappear, so I suggest you make double or even triple(!) depending on your head count. Mix, spread, and roll away to a yummy treat! Enjoy

Ingredients

1 tube original Crescent Rolls

4oz can Diced Jalapenos {only using half}

8oz cream cheese, softened, cubed {only using 3/4}

1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Oven 375
In a bowl, cube about 3/4 of your cream cheese. Add about half of your Jalapeños and tablespoon of sugar {I added more Jalapeños to the batch since the sugar made it sweeter, I needed more spice!}. Taste your cream cheese mixture and see how the flavor is, you may want to add more Jalapeños since the sugar sweetens it up a bit. Your choice! Take your fork and mash it all up really well. Set your bowl of cream cheese aside. Open up your tube of crescent rolls and place on your cutting board. Separate them to where you have two large rectangles{don't tear the triangles that form the rectangle}. Now pinch together the perforations to create the rectangles. You can use a rolling pin if you need too. With the back of a spoon, spread half of the cream cheese mixture onto one of the rectangles. Save the other half of the mixture for the other rectangle. 
Once you've spread your half portion of cream cheese on one of your rectangles, start with the LONG end of the triangle {think of it like when you fold your piece of paper hotdog style} and get to rollin'. Once it's all rolled up, you will need to cut your log into 16 {or 8 if you want bigger pieces} pinwheels. I stuck my rolls into the freezer to harden up a bit so I could cut them easier, but keep an eye on them you don't want them frozen! If you have one, make sure you use a sharp knife, that'll also make it easier to cut. Here is a break down of how to cut them into 16 - I'm not very good at math so this helped me-  Cut your log right in half. Now you should have two logs.  Then cut those two logs in half, and now you should have four logs. Now, cut these rolls in half and now you have eight smaller logs. This is where I stopped because I was not about to try cutting these tiny rolls into even smaller rolls. But, if you feel like taking on the challenge, cut those lil pieces one last time. You now have 16 {or 8} pinwheel poppers. Repeat with the other roll. So now you should have 32 mini rolls {or 16 larger rolls}. You can roll and cut the second rectangle while the first batch is baking.
Spray a cookie sheet with Pam and place your first set of 16 poppers, standing up. Make sure you stand them up, with the cream cheese facing upward. Pop these into the oven for about 13 minutes until they are golden brown.  Keep an eye on them, as each oven varies.

Once they are done, immediately slide them off the cookie sheet, onto a plate, and eat up because they are best fresh out of the oven.

TATER RATER

Cheesy Pesto Pull Apart Bread

I have mainly been making meals, so I figured I'd make something different. I love cheese and I love bread and I love pesto. Basically, I love this dish. Every week me and my roommates Miranda and Tater will make a meal. This week was Miranda's; she made a delicious cheesy chicken spaghetti. I've been wanting to try this recipe so I figured it would go well with this meal. Maybe that's just my excuse to make this because I would eat this with any meal.
I made this with store bought pesto, however, the website I got this recipe from, Shortcut Kitchen, provides ingredients and directions on how to make pesto.
Either way, this recipe is a must.

Ingredients

1 can refrigerator biscuits

1/2 cup pesto (you can make your own or use jarred)

1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

For Pesto 

1 cup basil or spinach

1/4 tsp pine nuts

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1-3 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the pesto ingredients in a food processor. Blend on high until smooth.
Cut each biscuit into quarters. Place in a greased oven safe baking dish.
Spread the pesto over the top of the biscuits, being sure to distribute evenly. (I used a teaspoon to spread mine out in small dollops)
Spread the Monetary Jack cheese on top of the biscuits and pesto. Top with the Parmesan cheese.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through and cheese begins to brown.

TATER RATER

Browned Butter Salty Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Here is another pumpkin recipe for you all!

These cookies are the perfect holiday treat, or even fall treat. 

If you're not a huge fan of sweet treats, these are great.

This past week I got to go home and spend my time with my family, celebrating Thanksgiving. This year my cousin Carly and her husband came to visit us. While she was in town she really wanted to make something with me. Her request were these delicious goodies. She asked my opinion on salted desserts. I have never really tried salted desserts, so I figured this would be a good treat to start my new found love. These cookies are moist and chewy and fluffy; basically the perfect cookies. Thank you Carly for converting me to salty sweets and showing me this amazing recipe. If you have never tried salty sweets, this is the place to start.
So, if you're in the mood for perfect holiday {or any day} cookies, give this scrumptious recipe a try!

Recipe from: The Spiffy Cookie

Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

14 tbsp unsalted butter

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree

Coarse sea salt, for garnish

Directions

{Make sure you plan ahead with this recipe; a couple things need to sit for awhile}
First off you need to prepare the brown butter. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, frequently stir the butter until melted and foamy. Continue to cook until brown specks begin to appear and it has a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and transfer to a glass bowl to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon {we added extra cinnamon, because why not!} then set aside.
After the butter had cooled to a reasonable temperature {ours was still warm}, beat in the sugars. Next, add in the egg yolk, vanilla, and pumpkin puree, and beat until combined. Gradually fold in the flour mixture until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350; line cookie sheet with parchment paper or use baking spray. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart, and flatten slightly. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges of cookies are just barely browned and centers are set. Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, sprinkle them with the coarse sea salt. Let cool on sheets for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

LATER RATER

Unfortunately we ate all the cookies before Tater got to try them...they were just so yummy

But knowing her, this is probably the rating she would give