Guest Post: Pumpkin Bread

Hey *Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM* readers!!  I’m Joanna from This Southern Girls Nest. 

Kelli ask me to do a guest post while she’s away and I couldn’t wait to blog over here!  I love her blog!

You’ll normally find me blogging about my family {my hubby and 2 daughters} and what’s going on with us.  But I love to cook/bake so you’ll usually find at least one recipe a week.  I am also into crafting up a thing or two when I find the creativity.  Here lately that creativity has been hard to find!  Well..not too hard because of my newest addiction to Pinterest.  I’m constantly finding all sorts of things that I want to craft but for some reason I never make it to the store to buy any of the items needed. Hmph.  But I did manage to do one craft in the past couple of weeks…DIY Mercury Glass! 

However since my heart belongs in the kitchen I thought I’d share a recipe with y’all!  Since we had a taste of some Fall weather this week I thought I’d share a favorite recipe of mine…Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

What do you need?

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 16oz can pumpkin puree {not the pumpkin pie blend}

What do you do?

1. Combine the sugar…butter and eggs in a large bowl.  Cream them together.
2. Add the pumpkin and mix until combined.
3. Toss in your cinnamon and cloves.
4. Add 1 cup of flour at a time letting the mixer combine one completely before adding the other.
5. Add to your greased loaf pans {2} or to your muffin cups. Or both.  We always make one loaf and 12 muffins.
6. Bake at 350 degrees.  Now if your doing the loaf you’ll bake it for an hour.  If your doing muffins..you’ll bake at 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

We didn’t do the glaze on these this time because the hubby and I are on a mission to lose some weight.  Gotta cut sugar where ya can! ;-)  But if you want the glaze you’ll top it with your favorite confectioners sugar glaze.  Too make it fancy add 1/2 to 1 tsp sugar to your glaze before pouring over the top! 

I hope y’all enjoy! 

I’d love for you to come on over to my blog and visit if you’d like! 

Guest Post: Sausage Egg Casserole

Hi there, SUPERMOM readers! My name is Yanet and most days you can find me in Florida playing and/or decorating (but not cooking) with my 3 Sun Kissed Boys. Sure I feed my little ones. But let's just say that cooking is not one of my passions. So, why am I showing a recipe today?! Because I do love making meals that involve togetherness. The type of meals where you can gather up the kids to help while you chat along. Plus, it's a pretty fool-proof recipe that happens to be delicious!

Here are the ingredients and directions. 

My little assistants and I made this casserole while we were on vacation this summer. My family and my BFF's family rented a beach house for a week this summer. Here are the steps in pictures.

Brown, drain, and set sausage aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, tear up bread into bite size pieces.

In a separate bowl, combine eggs, mustard, salt, and half & half.

Pour over the bread, add sausage, cheese and mix well.

Pour mixture in a greased 9x13 baking dish, cover, and refrigerate overnight. 

In the morning, bake at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes or until top is golden brown.

I had visions of taking at least one really nice picture of the served dish with a glass of juice, some fruit and a pretty little vase with a flower but.... The kids ate it like they hadn't been fed in a year!

I mean, really, when you find a heart-shaped strawberry, it begs to be photographed and showcased in a blog somewhere, right?

I hope y'all enjoy, not only the casserole, but also the fellowship that comes with working together with family and friends.

Kelli, thank you so much for having me over today. Now lets gather up the boys and eat!

Guest Post: Baked Zucchini Bites

So excited to be able to share a post with Kelli's readers today! My name is Amanda, and I blog at Serenity Now, a lifestyle blog. Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is eating healthy, and what better way than to use those things in our garden called vegetables? I know it sounds crazy, but I thought "Wouldn't it be cool if I could find a good use for those greeny things I've been growing all summer?"

My sister is a great cook, and she shared a zucchini recipe with me that I just had to try. Before you click away, let me just say that I normally find zucchini to be fairly blech unless it is all shredded up in a sweet bread recipe. I found this recipe to be absolutely delicious....I make such an effort for my girls to eat balanced meals--it's time for me to do the same!


Baked Zucchini Bites

Ingredients:

1-2 Large Zucchinis (depending on how many "bites" you want)

Bread Crumbs

Egg Yolk

Herbs

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper, to taste

My grocery was out of bread crumbs when I rushed in with two cranky kids, so I had to settle for herb seasoned stuffing mix, which I crushed in a plastic baggie with a rolling pin and placed in a small plastic container:


I sliced my zucchini into thin pieces and set up a little "dipping station." (Please forgive the photos...a thunderstorm came through as I was cooking and ruined my lighting--a blogger's worst nightmare!)


The first station was to dip a slice into the egg, then coat with bread crumbs and set aside:

I placed the zucchini bites in a single layer on a baking sheet and baked them for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F. I was rewarded with a nice plate of tasty veggies!


Paired with a small salad and some chicken, it was a great dinner. I'll be posting the recipe for the Red Pepper Chipotle Lime Sauce soon if you're interested in a great veggie dip/spread:


What are some ways you "dress up" healthy food to make it tasty for your family?

Thank you so much, Kelli, for sharing your blog with me today!

I hope Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM readers will stop by Serenity Now to say hi. You'll find crafts, thrifty decorating, recipes, and more at my blog. I also host a weekly Weekend Bloggy Reading party for bloggers to share their best post of the week. I'd love to "see" you there!

Guest Post: Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

I am not a baker but do love to cook. However, I decided I needed to come up with a chocolate chunk cookie that suits my needs; lots of chocolate, and thick. Many people like cookies that flatten as they bake, but not me. I like them thick, the thicker the better:) My kids get all excited when I bake a treat during the week, because it is not something I do often. I am not cool so have to do everything by hand, no KitchenAid Mixer here, like my dear friend Kelli. This is really the ultimate chocolate chunk cookie recipe giving me everything, huge chocolate chunks and a nice sized cookie. I highly recommend doubling the recipe as the basic recipe only makes about 36 cookies, which will not last long. When making this cookie the dough may seem crumbly so get your hands in the mixture to make a large ball:) We like messy cooking in our home, so why not do it with baking as well! I hope you all enjoy this recipe. Fall is coming so baking season is coming up quickly!

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter-unsalted, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz Semi-sweet baking squares-chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beat well. Chop the baking squares by hand(1/4 inch chunks or so). Stir the chocolate in by hand. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets(I do 12 to a sheet). Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes(set your timer) Immediately move from pan to wire racks to cool. Enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk!

Nichol is a mom of two, and blogs over at KiddiesCorner Deals, where she posts about online kids deals, recipes, reviews and giveaways. She knows kids are expensive, but shopping for them doesn't have to be! She is thrilled to be guest posting on Kelli's blog while her family is away on vacation.

Cookie Fail!

A few months ago I made these really yummy Fluffer Nutter Cupcakes:

The combination of peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate was so yummy that I started playing around with the idea of using those same ingredients in a cookie. I decided on a peanut butter cookie with mini marshmallows mixed in the dough then drizzled with melted chocolate after they were baked.  I used my trusty Peanut Butter Cookie recipe and simply mixed in about a cup of marshmallows at the end.

The dough looked promising, but unfortunately the marshmallows did what marshmallows always do when they are heated up...they melted everywhere. Some of the cookies turned out okay, but the majority of them were weird shaped from the marshmallow melting out the sides of the cookie. Plus a lot of them ended up sticking to the pan too because marshmallows are sticky! They still tasted pretty good, but the marshmallow flavor wasn't as strong as I would have liked, and  I ended up not even trying the chocolate drizzle because I wasn't happy with the cookies.

So now it's back to the drawing board kitchen to figure out another way to make Fluffer Nutter Cookies work...maybe marshmallow creme instead of the mini marshmallows or maybe some kind of sandwich with two cookies?!?

Have you ever had a cookie {or any kind of recipe} fail in your kitchen?

Cupcake Waffles

I've had a cake mix in my pantry calling my name for weeks now! I had planned to make this fun creation weeks ago...you know when I was on my waffle kick...but I got distracted by kids, crafts, trips, and the 4th of July. The last few times I've opened my pantry all I could think about was that darn box of cake mix! So I finally got around to making my fun treat yesterday, and let me tell you it was totally worth the wait! So instead of keeping you in suspense any longer, I will tell you how you can make this yummy treat I call Cupcake Waffles:)

 Drool worthy right?!? The beauty is that they are really {no I mean REALLY} easy to make!

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Start with your favorite box of cake mix. I chose Funfetti cake mix simply because I thought the kiddos would like that best...what kid doesn't love sprinkles in their cake:) Make your cake mix according to the directions on the package.

 Warm up your waffle iron, spray it with non stick cooking spray, and them put your cake batter on the waffle iron. I used my trusty Pampered Chef scoop {the large size} that I normally use for cupcakes and I put three {plus just a little more} scoops.

 Cook your cupcake waffles on medium heat. You want them to cook through without getting too crispy on the outside. We are going for the texture of a cupcake but in the shape of a waffle:)

 Remove the waffle from your waffle iron and separate it into sections. Let it cool slightly.

 Put two sections of waffle on a plate and put a {smallish} scoop of ice cream on one of the sections...

 ...sandwich the two waffle pieces together...

 ...then top your cupcake waffle creation off with the icing of your choice. Again I chose Funfetti icing just because sprinkles makes everything more fun:)

And that is how you can have yummy {ice cream filled} cupcake waffles without ever turning on your oven!

Banana Pops

During a quick run to our local grocery store, my boys saw a box in the produce department that contained supplies to make banana pops. They asked if we could buy it, but I quickly said no. Little did they know, right then I made plans to make our own version at home without that little box:) We picked up a bunch of bananas and the other things that were on our list and headed home. While they were busy playing I whipped up a fun banana pop treat for them and I even added sprinkles to make them a little more fun:)

I started with a few bananas, chocolate melts, and lollipops stick. You will also need sprinkles, but somehow they didn't make it into my picture.

The first step was to cut my bananas in half and insert the lollipop sticks into the cut end of the bananas. I left the peel on the bananas and stuck them in the freezer for about an hour. I have seen these before and the directions say to peel the banana first, but I didn't want to worry about having a plate to sit them on in the freezer. Leaving the peel on allowed me just to stick the bananas in the freezer among the fish sticks, broccoli, and frozen waffles:)

After an hour in the freezer, I pulled out the bananas and removed the peel. Be sure to get all the peel and stringy things off...they can be stubborn in places and break because they are frozen.

Dip your frozen banana in melted chocolate. I used chocolate melts, but chocolate chips or almond bark would work too. Let some of the excess chocolate drip off the banana and then roll it around in your sprinkles. This is a messy step {notice I didn't get a picture of the sprinkle dipping}, so have a wet rag handy to wipe up your hands and any messes.

I left my bananas on the countertop to harden for about 15 minutes, but you can also stick them back in the freezer for a few minutes. Leaving them on the counter for a few minutes lets the banana soften up a little which makes it easier for little kiddos to eat them! Hand them over to your kiddos and watch their faces light up at the sight of all those fun sprinkles and yummy chocolate!

What kind of fun snacks have you been making for your kiddos this summer?

Inside Out S'mores

Nothing says summer is here better to me than a warm, melty, gooey, chocolaty s'more! One of the best things about a s'more is that there are a ton of different ways to make them!

s'more pops

s'more pie

s'more party favors

s'more cake in a jar

s'more milkshake

s'more cookie bars

s'more turnovers

s'more cupcakes

See, I told you! A ton of different ways to make them!

But an inside out s'mores is one thing I haven't seen...at least not the way I made them anyway:)

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To make Inside Out S'mores, you start with a JUMBO sized marshmallow {I picked these up at our local grocery store, but I have seen them at both Target and Walmart this summer so they should be pretty easy to find.}, mini teddy grahams, and some milk chocolate chips.

Using a very sharp knife, cut a slit into the top of the marshmallow being careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom. I was surprised at how easy it was to cut through the marshmallow even though it did get the knife pretty sticky. You can clean your knife in warm water after each marshmallow to make cutting them easier.

Stuff your marshmallow full of chocolate chips and broken up pieces of mini teddy grahams. Any kind of graham cracker will work and you could even try graham cracker crumbs, the mini teddy graham were just the perfect size for stuffing my jumbo sized marshmallows.

Another variation I tried was Nutella and broken pretzel pieces....YUM! It would also be really yummy to stuff small pieces of Snickers or Reece's cups inside your marshmallows too, but those aren't technically s'mores so we'll save them for another post:)

After you stuff your marshmallow, seal it up by squishing the cut edges together. Then put your marshmallow onto a roasting stick in the opposite direction that you cut your marshmallow.

Roast your marshmallow over a campfire or your gas kitchen burner until it is warm, melty, and gooey!

You can eat your Inside Out S'more right off of the roasting stick or eat it with your hands {and get your fingers good and sticky}! Either way the yummy melted filling makes these s'more a ton of fun and impossible to resist eating at least three:)

What is your favorite way to eat a s'more?