Wednesday, October 31, 2012

BBQ Meatballs

Today I am sharing a true oldie but goodie--BBQ meatballs.  Nothing fancy here.  Just good old-fashioned home-cooking like grandma used to make.  I got this recipe from a college roommate.  Shout out to you Stefanie!  We ate a lot of convenience food back in the day, if we even bothered to have full meals.  But Sunday nights we actually got together and made ourselves real food.  These meatballs were Stef's specialty.  And when she got married and moved out, I made sure to get the recipe from her.

This is one of those recipes that circulates around a small town through just about every church and business cookbook.  Who knows where it started!  These savory little balls of beef are baked with a generous amount of a sweet and smoky BBQ sauce.  This is one of my favorite main dishes and it is really simple, so I thought it was time for it to make its way to the rest of the world via the internet.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Makeover Monday: Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies

Everyone knows I think peanut butter and chocolate are the bee's knees.  The only thing better than peanut butter and chocolate is double peanut butter and chocolate.  Yum!  I had a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips that I bought for the heck of it just lying around my pantry.  I considered just tossing them into a batch of chocolate cookies (like I did with the Reese's Pieces in my Chocolate Reese's Pieces  Cookies).  Then I noticed a recipe for double peanut butter paisley brownies.  That changed my plans!

I had to make these.  But I had to make these my way.  And by my way, I mean with less fat, less sugar, and more fiber.  While these were lacking in calories, they were not lacking in taste!  These were super yummy, and as peanut butter-y as promised in the title!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Pull Apart Bread with Butter Rum Glaze

OK.  After a brief trip back to summer yesterday, I'm ready to get back to fall.  Perhaps it is the consistent 25 mile-per-hour wind swirling around golden and maroon leaves that has snapped me back into the autumn state of mind.  That reminds me of one of the downfalls of this time of year--raking leaves.  Ugh!  

So to cheer myself up, I have been trying to focus on one of the many things I love about October--pumpkins.  They are all over front porches and kitchens everywhere.  I have been reviewing some older pictures of recipes I have made but haven't shared yet, and I came across this pumpkin spice pull apart bread.  I think it is past time to share this with the world!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Summer Squash Pizza

I can be so inappropriate.  Seasonally inappropriate, that is!  In all other aspects of life, I am a perfect angel. And if you believe that, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona.  All jokes aside, yes, I posted pumpkin recipes this Spring, and I am now, in mid-October, posting a summer squash recipe.  Guilty!  But let's just go with it!

If you are someone who has already consumed an entire bumper crop of summer squash, and you feel you might gag if you see another one, fight back the urge and hang in there!  If nothing else, you are going to want this recipe for next summer.  Poor summer squash is always the bridesmaid, and never the bride.  Until now!  Summer squash's day has finally arrived as the star in one of my all-time favorite foods--pizza!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Makeover Monday: Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Do you ever watch infomercials and think, "Yeah, that will work when pigs fly?"  I love the ridiculousness of them and truly appreciate the cheesy lines and bad acting.  Last weekend I made an infomercial-worthy breakfast.  If I were to write an infomercial for these unbelievabley amazing cinnamon roll waffles it would read something like this:

"Want to make an amazing homemade breakfast that will wow all of your family and friends this holiday season and make you the talk of the town?  Then try the new, unbelievable, cinnamon roll waffle.  Regular waffles are okay, but they are loaded with refined flour and oil (insert image of supermodel looking disgustedly at a pile of overly greasy waffles).  Cinnamon rolls are delicious, but they take hours to make and don't always turn out.  Who has time for that?  (insert image of exasperated-looking woman, covered in flour, rolling out dough).  Introducing the whole grain, low fat, perfect solution to your breakfast problem--the cinnamon roll waffles.  Now you can enjoy the cinnamon roll taste everyone loves, in an easy to make, healthy waffle."

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Apple Pie Cake with Butter Rum Sauce (and Cinnamon Candied Pecan Homemade Ice Cream!)

 It's apple time!  I can't get enough apples this time of year.  I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And as a snack.  And I could wash it all down with a gallon of apple cider.  That oughtta keep the doctor away!  But, I do actually eat other things, even in the fall.  Because I have approximately 1 million apple recipes, I have to do a little picking and choosing.  It's so hard to decide what to make sometimes!

Apple pie is one of my favorite all-time desserts.  But I'm also pretty fond of spice cakes.  Fortunately, I have this great apple pie cake recipe that brings these two great treats together.  I love it when I don't have to choose!  This is really easy to make, and just tastes like fall!  And as if that wasn't enough, I topped it off with an outrageously delicious butter rum sauce, and served it with homemade cinnamon candied pecan ice cream.  This dessert is heaven you can eat!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Mini Corn Dog Muffins


Football season is in full swing.  Hallelujah!  And in my kitchen, football snack making is in full swing as well!  There is nothing like a good football game to bring people together to drink beer and eat great food.  It's a beautiful thing.  

I found this recipe on Pinterest and pinned it immediately.  It took me a while to get around to making them, but I am so glad I did.  I wish I could take credit for this recipe's brilliance.  It is such a simple idea.  Make a cornbread batter, cut up hot dogs, place cornbread batter in mini muffin pans, insert cut-up-hot dogs, bake, and devour.