Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins With Cream Cheese Frosting!!

     Well I thought I was done posting for today..... then I made this recipe, and I wanted to share it with you.  They were wonderful, tasted like fall. I did finally find pumpkin at Walmart, so I thought I would make these muffins and they were so good!!  I hope you make them and love them too!!  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/moist-pumpkin-spice-muffins-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Side Note:  You will have to try these Vanessa... ( My best friend.. Her husband loves pumpkin!)

Creamy Lemon Supreme Pie

     I wanted to give a sweet recipe today... This recipe is for a Creamy Lemon Supreme Pie.  It is very very good. I love it because it is a cross between a cheesecake and a pie... I just love the cream cheese in this pie.  it is a must make if you love lemon and even if you don't, you will still like this pie and it is sooo pretty!! I hope you enjoy!

Creamy Lemon Supreme Pie

Crust

• 12 lemon creme-filled cookies
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine melted

Filling

• 2 lemons
• 1 pkg. lemon cook and serve pudding and pie filling
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 cups water, divided
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tabelspoon butter or margarine
• 2 pkgs 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream

Lightly spray a 9 inch pie pan. For crust, finely chop cookies using a food processor. Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in a bowl until moist.  Press the crumb mixture into your pie pan. Refrigerate crust while preparing the filling.

For filling zest lemons to measure 1 ½ tsp of zest. Then juice lemons to measure ¼ cup of lemon juice. Combine pudding pudding mix, sugar, ¼ cup of the water and egg yolks in a small saucepan, stir until blended. Stir in remaing 13/4 cups water. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full boil; remove from heat. Set aside 1 /2 cup of the pudding; cool slightly. Whisk butter and lemon juice into remaing pudding in saucepan; cool 15 minutes, stirring twice.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Whisk in reserved ½ cup lemon pudding and 1 tsp of the lemon zest. Fold in 2 cups of whipped topping. Spread over crust

Stir remaing lemon pudding mixture and evenly spoon over cream cheese filling spreading gently. Then refrigerate at least 6 hours. Then decorate with more whipping cream and the leftover lemon zest.

Yummy King Ranch Chicken Casserole!!!

     I want to start off by saying, I was very pleased to hear there were some people that missed my post yesterday!!!! Yesterday was a rough day, I was trying to switch over my 3 kids summer clothes to winter clothes.... This is such a big job, first I had to go through all their clothes form last year , and then BEG them to try them on....lol....  any moms out there know what fun that is..... Well I had a lot of clothes that needed to be washed and of course... the washer went out.... it is only 5 years old...  so as you can see it was a rough day.  So we had Dairy Queen for dinner.  Well I determined that today will be better!!  So tonight we will be having a yummy King Ranch Casserole.  It is a Mexican style casserole and it is so good!!! I am telling you I really love this dish!!

King Ranch Casserole

·         2 cups chopped cooked chicken

·         1 can cream of mushroom soup

·         1 can cream of chicken soup

·         1 frozen pkg veggies (3 pepper & onion blend)

·         1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chili’s

·         1 tsp chili powder

·         1 tsp garlic salt

·         12 (6 inch) corn tortillas’

·         2 cups sharp cheddar cheese or Mexican style cheese

     Preheat oven to 350, stir together the first 7 ingredients. Cut tortillas into 1 inch strips, layer one third of tortilla pieces in a lightly greased 9 X13 inch baking dish.  Top with one- third of chicken mixture and 2/3 cup of cheese.  Repeat layers twice.  Bake at 350 for 32 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and lightly brown.

Monday dinner- Cheeseburger Meatloaf

     Tonight for dinner I am making cheeseburger meatloaf.  let me start by saying I have never been a fan of meatloaf until this one.... It is so good you will make it all the time, and as a bonus my kids like it too!!  And to keep it real I am having tater tots with it, 1. because it is fast and 2. because it will keep my 1 year old busy feeding himself in between me feeding him... we are also having grapes.... nothing fancy but very good.  I got this recipe from Paula Deen and have been making it for years!!!

Here is the recipe for the best cheeseburger meatloaf!!!
http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/cheeseburger_meatloaf_and_sauce/

As always I hope you enjoy!!!

Yummy Homemade Granola

     Here is a recipe for homemade granola that I make all the time. My kids and husband love it!  We eat it on top of yogurt and ice cream and sometimes eat it as cereal.  I hope you enjoy!

Homemade Granola

·         2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

·         1 cup slivered almonds

·         1/2 cup golden raisins

·         1/2 cup honey

·         1 tablespoon unsalted butter

·         1/2 cup cherries or cranberries

·         1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or 10 x 13 baking pan and line with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment. Put the oats and almonds on a baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F. Then while the oats are baking, mix honey and butter in a small saucepan and heat until butter is melted and honey is hot. When the oats are done transfer to a large bowl and add hot honey, cherries, raisins, brown sugar, salt, and almond extract and stir to thoroughly combine. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking pan. Bake the granola for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let cool completely, and then crumble on top of yogurt or ice cream or use it as cereal.

Warm Peach Cobbler Recipe

     It's cold and rainy outside here today so it is the perfect day to make a warm peach cobbler for my family.  I can not take credit for this recipe, this is my Dads recipe that he created (so you know it's good).  This recipe is so easy and so good.  The only tip I have is when greasing the pan you can use the butter that is left over on the wrapper to grease the pan and save your spray for another time, since you are throwing the wrapper away anyway. I hope you enjoy it!!

Warm Peach Cobbler Recipe

• 1 ½ cups self rising flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon - for sprinkling on top
• 1 tsp sugar - for sprinkling on top
• 1 Large can of peaches including all the juice

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or butter a 9x13 baking pan.  Melt butter, and then mix together butter, flour, sugar and milk.  Pour mixture into baking dish, then pour the can of peaches over top, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar; bake for 45 min to 1 hr, or until golden brown.  Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.  Enjoy!!

Game Day 5 layer Taco Dip!!!

     Well it's Saturday and that means college football..... I wanted to post a dip recipe that everyone loves and it is so quick to make, it is a 5 layer taco dip.  I got the recipe from Paula Deen (Gotta love Paula) it is so good you will love it. Enjoy... oh yea and Boiler Up!!! http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/five_layer_taco_dip/

1st Day of Fall Soup!

     Well it is the first day of fall and I thought a recipe for soup who be appropriate.  First I thought I could go with chili but I am not in a chili mood yet, so taco soup it is.  This recipe has many variations, one of them being a weight watchers version, well I have my own version.  The first time I got this recipe it had no meat in it, and while it is wonderful that way, if I made would have made this for dinner with no meat, well lets just say Adam would not be happy, he is not a vegetarian that is certain.  Be sure to read the options in this recipe and make it the way that works best for you.  I hope you enjoy and Happy Fall!!

Taco Soup

• 1 lb. ground turkey or lean beefshopping list
• 1 large onion, chopped shopping list
• 1 (1 oz.) package hidden valley ranch dressing mixshopping list
• 1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning Mix shopping list
• 1 (16 oz.) can pinto beansshopping list
• 1 (16 oz) can chili beans (either hot or regular) shopping list
• 1 (16 oz) can whole kernel corn Or Mexican style cornshopping list
• 1 (8 oz) can Mexican-style tomatoesshopping list
• 1 (8 oz) can diced tomatoes (any flavor) shopping list

How to make it

Brown meat & onions and drain. Mix Ranch & Taco seasonings into meat. Add rest of ingredients, undrained to mixture. Simmer 1 hour or you can put it all in the crock pot and let it simmer on low for a couple hours.

**** Options****  I add a can of diced chili’s to mine and 2 cans of chili beans instead of the pinto beans.  I also use the fire roasted diced tomatoes just to add more flavor and color.  Before I serve this I add a little shredded cheese on top and some of those tortilla strips that you buy in the grocery store next to the croutons…. Makes all the difference….

Party Dip Recipe

Today I am actually going to the Bluffton Street Fair for dinner and will not be cooking, but I wanted to post a recipe that I have made many many times.  It is my BLT dip recipe, when I make it people go crazy for it.  Every time I make it I make sure I have a couple copies of the recipe with me because people WILL ask for it!  I serve this with wheat thins, pretzels, or some of the flavored crackers. I hope you make it and enjoy it.  Warning once you make it you will be known for it.......

BLT Dip

1 Package (8 ounces) cream cheese softened            

½ cup ranch salad dressing (Hidden Valley)

1 medium tomato, seeded and diced

9 bacon slices, crisply cooked, drained and chopped

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

Place cream cheese in bowl (make sure it is soft) gradually stir in dressing, mix well. Add tomato, bacon, onion and sugar. Mix well.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with your favorite crackers.

Wednesday Dinner

On Wednesdays I like to use the crock pot if I can or if I remember, today I am making sweet & sour pork (or you can use chicken).  I made it last week and have been craving it since then. The recipe is:

Sweet & Sour Pork

1 1/2 lbs. pork loin, cubed or 2 1/2 cups boneless skinless chicken, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 14 oz can of chicken broth
2 10 oz bottles of sweet and sour sauce
1  15 oz can pineapple chunks, and 2 tablespoons of the juice 
1 c. converted rice, uncooked

     Place onion and pork or chicken in the slow cooker, then add the broth and one jar of the sweet and sour sauce. Cover and cook on high for one hour; reduce heat to low setting and cook for another 3 1/2 hours.  Add pineapple, peppers, the other bottle of sauce and rice; mix well.  Cover and cook on low for 1 1/2 more hours. 


***Variations***
     I will use the frozen bag of three pepper and onion blend from Kroger to save time and money( these normally are on sale 10 for 10).   If I use this I put the whole frozen bag in the slow cooker from the start.  If you like it a little bit spicy you can add a bottle of sweet chili sauce in place of one jar of sweet and sour sauce.

 ENJOY!!

Apple Dumpling Recipe

     I made these apple dumplings yesterday and they are so good I could have eaten the whole pan.  I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman website and they are so good and simple to make, my family loved them. Enjoy! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/02/apple_dumplings/

Tuesday Night Dinner

     Well it's Tuesday and in my house that means it is dance night.  My daughter has three dance classes on Tuesday night and I need to have dinner ready to go when she gets off the bus... or close to ready to go.  Tonight I decided to take advantage of the nice weather we are having and use the grill.  So first I marinaded pork chops in the Mc Cormick Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper Marinade( this is so good and only around $1.00 for the packet). Then for a side I just did some potato wedges to be cooked on the grill with the chops. Now for the potato wedges I just washed them, drizzled a little olive oil on them and some garlic powder, salt and pepper.  I will put all of this on the grill, and I will warn you the potatoes will take a little longer than the pork chops.  Of course this all could be done in the oven if the weather is not cooperating.  I will pair this meal with some sliced apples and maybe some peanut butter to dip the apples in.  Simple but good and it is something that all my kids will eat.  That is a bonus for me!   

For Dinner Tonight!

Tonight for Dinner I am making a great recipe from The Pioneer Woman website.  It is called Chicken Spaghetti and my family and I LOVE it.  Especially my husband.... My sons will eat it because it looks like spaghetti and my daughter will eat some of it so I make sure I put a side dish with it so she gets full.  Tonight it will be bread sticks.  The bread sticks will also keep my 1 year old busy in between me feeding him and myself, he gets very impatient if not. This is a whole meal in itself. A real life mom approved kid approved meal. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

***First Blog***

     I am so excited to be starting this blog, for years I have followed other mom blogs and food blogs and have wanted to start one of my own.  While I love to read some of the other blogs, I have always felt that there is something missing.  I am a normal mom of three, Lily 8, Gage almost 3, and Gunnar 1. I am just as the title of this blog states a Everyday Real Life Mom.  I do not have huge hook line for you except I am a mom like most of you that lives in the real world.  I do not live in a mansion nor do I have an endless supply of cash to make fancy meals and buy anything I want.  I am here for my kids and husband, I need ideas for supper and treats for kids to take to school and tips on saving money on kids birthday parties.  I sometimes look at some of the cooking shows on tv and I have found that they are not realistic for me.  I need a show that shows me ideas for kids that are picky eaters or a tip for my one year old so that when he is finished with his food how I can get him from throwing everything that is left on his plate on the floor.  This happens every meal at my house.  In this blog I vow to give real tips and recipes for real life moms.  I look forward to this blog and it is all about helping each other!