Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Wontons

Pumpkin Pie Wontons

1 cup canned pumpkin pie filling 

16 wonton wrappers

¼ cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  On each wonton wrapper place, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie filling in the center.  Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper with water.  Fold wonton wrapper over to form a triangle.  Gently press the air out of the wonton as you seal the edges.  On a lightly greased cookie sheet arrange wontons.  Spray wontons lightly with non-stick cooking spray.  Sprinkle brown sugar over tops of wontons.  Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

My son Tyler, love pumpkin pie, so these wontons were a big hit with him.  The wonton was crisp and sweet, with a little pocket of pumpkin pie filling tucked inside.  They make a great appetizer or even a dessert. 

(The view from our hotel room in Honduras)

We just returned from a trip to Honduras.  

On Tuesday, I will be posting pictures from our trip.

Sign up to follow my blog, for your chance to win a Christmas apron,

and a copy of my cookbook, MY KIND OF COOKING.

Check out my blog about the Giveaway for more details.

Visit my friends blogs!

Bo, at Bo's Bowl, is giving away a, Barefoot Contessa Cookbook!   You will love his blog!  Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Recipe: Apple Stuffing

Apple Stuffing

2 medium apples, cored, diced

1/3 cup diced onion

2 tablespoons butter

2 (6 ounce) boxes stuffing mix, prepared according to package directions

3 eggs, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In large skillet, saute apple and onion in butter over medium heat until tender.  In large bowl, combine prepared stuffing, apple mixture, and eggs. Mix well.  Pour into greased 13x9 inch baking dish. bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

This recipe is a recreation of one I saw on Rachel Ray's show a few years ago.  It was one of her Thanksgiving specials, in which she makes the whole meal in 60 minutes.  I loved her idea of putting apples in the stuffing, but she used a lot of ingredients when she made the stuffing and I only like to use a few ingredients when I cook.  After a couple of experiments, I came up with the above recipe.  Rachel put her stuffing in the cups of a muffin pan.  When I tested this recipe on my husband and son that is the way I made it too.  We like the crunchy brown parts of stuffing and by baking it in the muffin pan each serving is nice and crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.

The stuffing is savory, with just a hint of the apple sweetness.  I don't like dry stuffing, and by adding the apple that problem is avoided.  My son Tyler, was never a fan of stuffing until I created this recipe, now he loves it!  I am sure it is the addition of the apple that he likes more than the stuffing.

Tyler was allergic to apples when he was a little boy.  When he was five, we attended a Fall Harvest party at our church.  All of the kids were given a bag full of candy with an apple thrown in to make the adults feel better about the sugar overload.  When I realized there was an apple in the bag, I began looking for my son to make sure he didn't eat the apple.  I found him hiding in a corner, munching on the apple as quickly as he could.  I took the apple away from him and told him to eat the candy.  As I turned to throw the apple away, I caught  another mom looking at me in horror, for encouraging my son to eat candy instead of the nutritious apple.  I explained to her, that in a few minutes he would begin to get sick from eating the apple.  I couldn't have her thinking I was a bad mother or a candy pusher now could I.

This recipe is on page 218 in 

MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK.

November's winner of

MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK is:

Is Jennifurala of Indigo's Sugar Spectrum

Sign up as a follower, to enter my monthly, Cookbook Giveaways!

Check back on Tuesday, for  details on December's giveaway..

For more great giveaways, visit my friends blogs!

Bo, at Bo's Bowl, is giving a way a, Barefoot Contessa Cookbook!   You will love his blog!  Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner, she is giving away a, John Besh Cookbook.  You will love Pam's delicious recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Recipe: Mediterranean Salsa

Mediterranean Salsa

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fine chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
24 green olives, chopped fine
2 Anaheim Chiles, seeded and chopped fine
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

In large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Simmer 5 minutes.

This recipe has a unique blend of flavors and the perfect amount of heat.  It is from the first cookbook I wrote, MILD TO WILD MEXICAN COOKBOOK.  The recipe was a last minute addition.  The designer called me, saying she needed one more salsa recipe to complete the Appetizer section of the book.

I had already put all of my salsa recipes in the cookbook, so I had to create a new one.  As I opened my cabinet, I was praying for inspiration.  The first thing  that caught my eye, was a jar of green olives.  I immediately thought back to a conversation I'd had earlier in the day with Fareed, the owner of my favorite radio station, Passion Radio, where I do my "Fast Food Friday" segment.  We had discussed how much we both loved Mediterranean food, so when I saw the green olives, I knew I had to make a salsa with them in it. It only took two batches of salsa to get the desired blend of flavors.

My husband loves this recipe, so It is probably the one recipe that I make the most.  When I am creating a recipe, and I get it just the way I want it, I will seldom make it again.  I have to keep coming up with new recipes, because I am always working on a new cookbook, and you can't do that if you keep making the same recipe over and over again.

MILD TO WILD MEXICAN COOKBOOK, will soon be republished by my current publisher. 

Sign up as a follower, to enter my monthly, Cookbook Giveaways!

Check out my post about the Giveaway for details.

Visit my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), 

Bo's Bowl. Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Recipe: Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

1/2 pound ground beef, browned, drained

6 to 8 slices bacon, browned, crumbled

2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cheddar cheese soup

2 soup cans milk

In large saucepan, combine all ingredients.  Simmer over low heat 20 minutes.  Makes 6 servings

My husband loves bacon, like Paula Deen loves butter.  When I am creating recipes, he almost always suggests I add bacon to it.  This recipe is perfect for him.  It has a lot of his favorite flavors in one bowl.  The rich taste of cheddar cheese, combined with the hearty flavor of beef and of course his favorite ingredient, bacon.  It tastes like it's name, Bacon Cheese Burger Soup.

I am often asked how I come up with recipes.  One way I come up with recipes is by going to restaurants and trying to figure out what is in the dish I am eating.  I carry a small notebook with me wherever I go.  The one above is the current one I am carrying.  When I go to a restaurant and taste something I like, I write down what I think is in the dish and make notes in the notebook.  Then I will go home and try to recreate the recipe.

Above is a picture of the page in the notebook for Bacon Cheeseburger Soup.  While I was traveling this summer promoting my newest cookbook, I went to a restaurant and had a bowl of this soup.  It is a simple soup, so figuring out what was in it was easy.  When I returned home from my travels, this was one of the first recipes I recreated.  I knew my husband would love it and since I had been out of town for so long, I thought it was time to spoil him with food he would love.

This recipe will be in the cookbook I am currently writing.  The cookbook is called, BUSY WOMAN'S 3 & 4 INGREDIENT COOKBOOK.  This cookbook will be available next summer.

Sign up as a follower, to enter my monthly, Cookbook Giveaways!

Check out my post about the Giveaway for details.

Visit my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), 
Bo's Bowl. Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also stop by my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,     for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!  Pam is also doing a CSN Giveaway on her blog for a $20.00 gift certificate. 

Recipe: Caramel Apple Cider

Caramel Apple Cider

1 gallon apple cider
6 cinnamon sticks
1(10 ounce) jar caramel ice cream topping
1 (14 ounce) can whipped topping

In slow cooker, combine cider and cinnamon sticks.  Cover.  Cook on low 2 to 4 hours.  In each mug, add 1  tablespoon caramel topping.  Add cider.Mix well.  Top each with whipped topping.  Drizzle caramel topping over top.  Makes 15 servings.

 Recipe can be found on page 14 in, 

MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK.

Sign up as a follower, to enter my monthly, Cookbook Giveaways!

Check out my post about the Giveaway for details.

I love the the fall!  It is my favorite time of the year.  The leaves on the trees turning bright beautiful colors, changing a boring drive into an exciting adventure!  The warm days and cool nights inspire me to sip hot drinks and make big pots of steaming soup.

This recipe tastes like a caramel apple in a cup!  I make up a big batch of this for the Fall Harvest party at our church.  The kids love it and always come back for seconds.  It is not the cider that they love, but the sweet and sticky caramel, that is in it and on top of it.  The tip off to that insight, is that they ask for extra caramel when I am preparing their mug of Caramel Apple Cider.

Check out my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), Bo's Bowl.   Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

  

Also check out my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner, for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Recipe: Stuffed Chicken Breast

Stuffed Chicken Breast

1 (6 ounce) package stuffing mix
1 (10 ounce) package chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Add broccoli.  Mix well.  Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.  On each chicken breast, spread stuffing mix.  Roll up each chicken breast, place seam down in 13x9 inch baking dish.  In small bowl, combine soup and milk. Mix well.  Pour over chicken.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes.  Makes 6 servings.

Recipe can be found on page 144 in,
MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK.

This recipe is a great way to sneak extra vegetables into your diet.  And who can't use a few extra veggies?  It is a simple recipe but it is packed with a lot of flavor!  The soup keeps the chicken nice and juicy and the stuffing adds a savory surprise when you cut into the chicken. 

I am back in Iowa.  On Saturday I will be at the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa.  Also on Saturday, I will be doing a radio interview with 107.7 KICD-FM.  They broadcast live from the fairgrounds.  George has asked me to be his first interview for the fair.  I always enjoy being on George's show, he is a great interviewer!  On Sunday, I have my first cooking demo.  Later in the week, I have another cooking demo and a cooking contest to judge.  I will post the winning recipes.

Be sure to check back on Tuesday, 
when I will be posting pictures from the fair!

Check out my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), Bo's Bowl.   Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also check out my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Successful Farming Magazine, Prize Winning Recipes & Winner of the Monthly Drawing

Raspberry Tiramisu

1 cup seedless raspberry jam
6 tablespoons orange liqueur, divided
2 (8 ounce) tubs of mascarpone cheese, room temperature 
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar

28 soft ladyfingers or 2 (10 ounce) packages pound cake, cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 3/4 cups fresh raspberries

In small bowl, combine jam and 4 tablespoons orange liqueur.  In large bowl, combine mascarpone cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons orange liqueur. In another large bowl, combine whipping cream and sugar.  Mix with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Fold into mascaropne cheese mixture.  Arrange half of the lady fingers or pound cake in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish.  Spread half of jam mixture over lady fingers.  Spread half of mascarpone cheese mixture over jam.  Arrange half of berries over top.  Repeat layering.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  Makes 8 to 12 servings.

Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla

Lemon pie filling

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line bottom on 13x9 inch baking pan with one can of crescents.  In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, vanilla and egg yolk.  Mix well.  Spread evenly over crescent layer.  Spread a thin layer of lemon pie filling over cream cheese.  Arrange remaining crescent rolls over pie filling.  brush with beaten egg white.  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar over top. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Black Raspberry Cobbler

1/2 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups black berries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In 2 quart baking dish, place butter.  In medium bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, flour, milk, and baking powder. Mix well.  Pour over butter.  Do not mix.  Arrange blackberries over top.  Do not mix.  Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until golden brown. 

My publisher asked if I would be interested in being one of the judges for the Successful Farming Magazine dessert contest at the Iowa State Fair.  Of course I said yes!  I love to judge recipe and cooking contests.

A few years ago, my mom judged the Tone's Cinnamon Roll contest.  She had to test over 30 entries.  To me, that sounds like a dream job, but it wasn't for my mom.  They had to try the finalist cinnamon rolls over and over to pick the winners.  To this day, my mom has trouble eating cinnamon rolls.  She also doesn't like being a judge for recipe contests anymore.  I hope that never happens to me, because I really enjoy judging recipe contests.

The winner of this month's drawing for my cookbooks, MY KIND OF COOKING and BUSY WOMAN'S SLOW COOKER COOKBOOK, is Mags of The Other Side of 50.  Please visit her wonderful blog!

Sign up to Follow my blog 

for your chance to win next month's drawing!

Check out my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), Bo's Bowl.   Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

  

Also check out my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Spam Recipe Contest Winner

Spam Mac 'N Cheese Pizza

Prepackaged refrigerated pizza crust

1/4 cup cooking oil 

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow pasta, prepare according to package directions

1 can Spam, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread pizza crust on pizza pan.  Lightly coat top of pizza crust with cooking oil.  Sprinkle garlic salt on crust.  Bake crust for 5 minutes. Set aside.  In small sauce pan, melt butter over low heat.  Add garlic, saute until golden.  Add flour, stir until smooth.  Cook until bubbly.  Add cream gradually, stirring constantly.  Cook until it comes to a boil and thickens.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat.  Add 2 cups cheddar cheese, stir until melted.  Add cooked pasta to cheese sauce, spread over pizza crust.  Arrange spam over top.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese over top.  Bake 6 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

The Spam recipe competition is a big contest at the Iowa State Fair.  This year the winner was Deana Wright.  You may recognize the name, she was the third place winner in the Holiday Cookies and Dessert contest I judged.  In that contest she made potato chip cookies.  Apparently Deana has a talent for taking strange ingredients and making a crazy creation that taste fantastic!

This pizza is comfort food on steroids!  The rich flavor of homemade mac and cheese, combined with the slightly salty ham tasting Spam, piled on top of a soft pizza crust, makes it easy to see why it took first place.  This pizza would be a big hit in Hawaii, where they put Spam on everything.

Below are a few pictures I took at the Iowa State Fair.

Animal Face Cake Contest

 

Check back on Tuesday to see the prize winning recipes from the
Successful Farming Magazine contest that I judged.

I will be drawing a name from my followers to win copies of my cookbooks, MY KIND OF COOKING and BUSY WOMAN'S SLOW COOKER COOKBOOK, on Friday, September 3rd.   

Sign up as a FOLLOWER for your chance to win!

Check out the great giveaways at my blogging buddy, Bo's Blog (say that three times fast), Bo's Bowl.   Not only does he have great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.
 
Another great giveaway can be found at my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner.  Please check out her incredible blog and sign up for your chance to win!

Recipe: Grilled Orange Chicken

Grilled Orange Chicken

 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

In large resealable plastic bag, place chicken.  In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Add to bag with chicken.  Seal bag.  Toss gently to coat chicken.  Refrigerate 3 to 12 hours, turning bag over often.  Discard marinade.  Grill on medium heat 15 minutes or until no longer pink in the center.  Makes 4 servings.

This is one of my go to recipes when I know I am going to only have a short amount of time to cook.  And this week is one of those weeks!  I have been helping our Passion Play Ministries International team going to India, prepare for the trip.  I was going to be a part of this trip, but the dates got pushed back, and if I went I would miss my son's birthday.  I love to travel, but I love my son, Tyler, more. 

I will be drawing a name from my followers to win a copy of my cookbook, MY KIND OF COOKING, on August 6th.  If your name is drawn and you have a blog, I will mention your blog address on my "Fast Food Friday's" radio show on the The PCL Radio Network, and then post your blog address on my blog.

 Sign up as a FOLLOWER for your chance to win!

The first Friday of each month, I hold a drawing for a FREE copy of my cookbook, MY KIND OF COOKING.  This cookbook has over 500 yummy recipes using only 3, 4, or 5 ingredients.  It has everything from appetizers to desserts and everything in between.  It also includes slow-cooker recipes! 

For your chance to win, all you have to do is sign up as a follower.  To find the Follow button, scroll down the blog and look on the  right side.

If you are looking for more giveaways to enter, check out my friend's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner.  She is giving away a book called "Street Food Chicago" by chef Mike Baruch. 

Recipe: Italian Pinwheels

Italian Pinwheels

5 (10 inch) flour tortillas

1 (8 ounce) container vegetable cream cheese, softened

1 (8 ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained

30 fresh basil leaves

On each tortilla, spread 3 tablespoons vegetable cream cheese, covering top side of tortilla completely.  On each tortilla, sprinkle 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes over cream cheese.

Arrange 6 basil leaves over sun-dried tomatoes on each tortilla.  

Roll each tortilla up into a log shape.  

Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting into 1/2 inch slices.

This week at the radio station where I have my show, we are doing an on air fundraiser for Passion Play Ministries International.  The station is full of volunteers.  When I see a room full of people, I see guinea pigs, I mean taste testers.  Today I am testing my Italian Pinwheels on them. 

I came up with this recipe when a friend of mine purchased some frozen appetizers that had sun-dried tomatoes in them.  It got me thinking of ways I could use sun-dried tomatoes in quick and easy recipes.  Italian Pinwheels is one of the recipes I came up with.

At the radio station this week for the fundraiser is Doug Griffin of Your Family Friendly Morning Show with Doug & Kim and his wife Sheryl.  Sheryl is the author of A Scarlet Cord of Hope.  The book is her true life testimony of her journey through guilt, shame, and fear to hope.  It will have you hooked from the first page. 

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway at Bo's Bowl.  Entries will be accepted until midnight (CST) tonight, July 9th.