Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Bars

A little last-minute here, but since I've been on a bit of a recipe-sharing kick lately, I thought I'd share what I baked up tonight. I had to get my bake on tonight so I could Turkey Trot in the morning! (Everyone please send out some positive jo-jo that my angry, rebellious, now-constantly-painful lower legs stay attached for all 3.1. =)

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Prep: 15 min

Total: 55 min

Yields: 24 servings

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups  flour

3/4 cup  granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup  packed brown sugar

3/4 cup  cold butter or margarine, cut up

1 cup  old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1/2 cup  chopped PLANTERS Pecans

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 can  (15 oz.) pumpkin   

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350°F.

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides; spray with cooking spray. Mix flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar in medium bowl until blended; cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats and nuts.

RESERVE 1 cup oat mixture; press remaining onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min. Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs, pumpkin and spice with mixer until blended; pour over crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture.

BAKE 25 min.; cool 10 min. Use foil to transfer dessert from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

SUBSTITUTE

Can't find pumpkin pie spice? Simply mix 1 tsp. each ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and allspice, then use as directed.

HOW TO STORE

Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Source: Kraft Foods.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Project Life Week 45

Week 45: November 5 - 11, 2012

Week 45: the week of the election, an initial consult with a fertility specialist, etc. Click any photo to view larger.


Left side: my Instagram picture on the Young House Love blog, new beef for our freezer.


Right side: feeding the squirrels, morning run.


I had three inserts this week: a birth announcement, an insert about Election Day, and some info from the fertility specialist about a special x-ray I'm going to have done (I'll spare you pictures of that one :).



Here's the back of the Election Day insert.


Details.





And just to keep it real: here's what it actually looks like every week when I take pictures of my album.


************************************ Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm also printing some of the Clementine title cards and journaling cards at home. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. I use a Silhouette Cameo. The pen I use most often is a black medium Sharpie pen. See all my Project Life posts here. If you have any questions about anything you see feel to leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer.

Menu Plan Monday: Chicken & Biscuit Casserole

I've started to get back into menu planning again recently and have been working on getting all my recipes into Evernote on my computer (so I can access them on my work computer, home computer, iPad, and iPhone).

This recipe is one that I just added to Evernote (I've had the recipe - torn from the old Kraft Foods free magazine - in my menu binder for years and we've had it many times) and we had it last night so I thought I'd share. Recently when I've made this I've been making double and freezing one to reheat later. The recipe is online here.

Chicken & Biscuit Casserole

Prep: 15 min

Total: 50 min

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1

can  (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup

3/4

cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream, divided

2

cups  chopped cooked chicken

1

pkg.  (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas), thawed

1

cup  KRAFT Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

1

cup  all-purpose baking mix

3

Tbsp.  milk

(I add a little extra milk so the biscuit topping can be spread over the whole top of the casserole instead of it being in little clumps on top.)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375*.

COMBINE soup and 1/2 cup sour cream in 8-inch square baking dish. Stir in chicken, vegetables and cheese.

MIX baking mix, remaining sour cream and milk just until mixture forms soft dough.

SPOON into 6 mounds over chicken mixture. Bake 35 min. or until biscuits are golden brown and chicken mixture is hot and bubbly.

nutritional info per serving

Calories

 400

Total fat

 22 g

Saturated fat

 10 g

Cholesterol

 85 mg

Sodium

 810 mg

Carbohydrate

 28 g

Dietary fiber

 4 g

Sugars

 6 g

Protein

 24 g

Vitamin A

 90 %DV

Vitamin C

 15 %DV

Calcium

 25 %DV

Iron

 10 %DV

October 2012 Round-Up

What books/magazines did I read this month?
13 Little Blue Envelopes - I think it was intended for teens, but since it's a fiction book about travel, I loved it. I also read the sequel, The Last Little Blue Envelope. I read Bared to You and Reflected in You (similar to 50 Shades) in five evenings.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Twilight

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
I went to the Bridge Festival with Cheryl, Tiff, and Madison.

An Instagrammed October:

About this Project
My monthly Round-Ups are inspired by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. You can read more from her about round ups here.

Project Life Week 44

Week 44: October 29 - November 4, 2012

Click any photo to view larger.


Left side: our cute pup, more Starbucks, one of our cute trick-or-treaters, morning runs.


Week 44 was the week of Hurricane Sandy, so I included an insert with pictures gathered from the internet.



Right side: November 1 was the first day of Starbucks' Red Cups, Norm hit a deer and killed a coyote in our yard, we went to a cookout, etc.


Details.







************************************ Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm also printing some of the Clementine title cards and journaling cards at home. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. I use a Silhouette Cameo. The pen I use most often is a black medium Sharpie pen. See all my Project Life posts here. If you have any questions about anything you see feel to leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer.

Recipe: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I made these last week and had to share this yummy fall pumpkin recipe. Mine didn't turn out exactly like the picture (the cream cheese mixture was a lot more liquid-y so it's a thinner layer on top of the pumpkin) but still really yummy.

Picture from here.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

FILLING:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons brown sugar

STREUSEL TOPPING:4 1/2 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped pecans (Toasted these briefly first on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees, for about 10 minutes.)

MUFFIN BATTER:2 1/2 cups flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Toast 3 tablespoons of chopped pecans on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees, for about 10 minutes.

1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2 Grease and flour 18 muffin cups.

3 FILLING: Beat cream cheese until soft.

4 Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar.

5 Beat until smooth.

6 Set aside.

7 STREUSEL TOPPING: Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans.

8 Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly.

9 Set aside.

10 MUFFIN BATTER: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

11 Make a well in the center of flour mixture and gradually incorporate eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla.

12 Beat together until smooth.

13 Fill cups with pumpkin mixture until they're about 1/2 full.

14 Carefully add one tbsp of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter.

15 If you're using paper cups, try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper.

16 Sprinkle on the streusel topping.

17 Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins-74401?oc=linkback

Currently

feeling frustrated with finishing our fourth month of Clomid and still no tiny Norman.

planning ahead for our next step in the infertility journey.

drinking lots of water and sometimes chocolate milk.

loving the Twilight movies. I never really got into them before, but I’m thinking I need to catch up!

appreciating this time with just Norm and I.

trying to be patient for the next stage of life.

dreaming about a vacation…always.

wearing scarves again.

starting to think about Christmas gift ideas.

missing the fall leaves already.

starting to run again.

eating too many pumpkin cream cheese muffins.

watching lots of fall TV.

thinking about trying again to run the Mini next year.

making handmade cards.

realizing that it's just over 6 weeks to Christmas!

Project Life Week 43

Week 43: October 22 - 28, 2012

Week 43 and I'm loving it! This is another one of my favorite spreads in the album. Click any photo to view larger.


Left side: a birthday card I made for my nephew, some scrapbooking fun, fertility update (I'll share soon), hot cocoa weather.


Right side: Starbucks, more scrapping (and Cullen-watching), a weekend run.


Details.




************************************ Project Life was created by Becky Higgins. The kit I'm using this year is Cobalt. I'm also printing some of the Clementine title cards and journaling cards at home. I'm using a We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" album in Vanilla. I use a Silhouette Cameo. The pen I use most often is a black medium Sharpie pen. See all my Project Life posts here. If you have any questions about anything you see feel to leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer.