Cold Weather Comfort

I am so fickle.  I remember last March saying......I am so sick of this cold gray weather.  I can't wait for it to be hot and sunny!  Now that it's fall, I am feeling just the opposite!  I am SO ready for cool, fall weather...ready to wear sweaters and boots and snuggle on the couch with a big quilt.  There are so many great winter, comfort food recipes.  This is one of our favorites.  It's kid friendly and pretty inexpensive, but really, really good.  I have even served this for company many times. 

Slow-Cooked Pork Chili

Ingredients:

1 Pork Roast (3-5 lb)

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can chili beans

1 packet chili seasoning

Put all ingredients in a slow-cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove roast from slow-cooker and shred it with 2 forks. Return pork to slow-cooker. Serve  flour tortillas with shredded cheese or in a bowl with tortilla chips.

**if you want to eat it in bowls (like chili) I usually add a can of beef or chicken broth too.

Long Time No See!

Hi Friends!  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted!  Life is crazy anyway, but I had to study for my certified coder's exam and take the test, so I felt like every minute needed to go to that!  I took the big 5 hour exam on Saturday and found out today that I passed!!  Yay!  Now I can earn a little extra money to pay for Catholic High School! 


I LOVE this great Fall weather.  Just went to D.C.M's football game and it was perfect weather for it!  It's this time of year that I start wanting apple and pumpkin desserts.  This is a popular pumpkin dessert, that I would never have thought I would like--I'm not a big pumpkin pie fan--but I really love this.  I always add extra pecans and serve it with a little scoop of  vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

PUMPKIN DUMP CAKE                           

Ingredients:

1- 15 ounce can pumpkin

1- 12 ounce can evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon nutmeg*

1/2 teaspoon ginger*

1/2 teaspoon cloves*

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

----

1- 18.25 ounce yellow cake mix**

1 cup walnuts (I used pecans)

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter, melted

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Completely combine 1st set of ingredients. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with cake mix. Gently pat down with spoon. Sprinkle with nuts. Drizzle with butter. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool and cut in squares.


* Or use 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice or Cinnamon.

Happy Birthday Dannyboy!

Today is my Danny's 13th birthday!  He is my sweet, funny, hardworking middle child.  I know it is so cliche, but it really does blow my mind how fast time flies!  It seems like just yesterday that we were driving down the highway, on the way to daycare, and he looked up at me through his little balled fists and said  "Mommy, dat sunshine is boddering me!"  I asked him a few days ago what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday.  He thought a while and decided he wanted a double batch of fudge crinkle cookies.  You know, it's those chocolate cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar before they are baked and come out all crinkly looking?  I made them a few weeks ago from a chocolate cake mix and they turned out awesome.  Here is the basic formula:

1  cake mix, any flavor
1/2 cup of oil
2 eggs

Mix together, drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  There are a lot of great combinations you can make....lemon........ yellow cake mix with chocolate chips....... spice cake with cream cheese glaze...........

For the chocolate crinkles, use a chocolate or devils food cake mix.  Roll the dough into balls and let them sit and dry out for about 10 minutes (this keeps the powdered sugar from soaking in too much).  Coat each ball really well in powdered sugar.  Bake according the the recipe above.

These are so fudgy and rich.  They are so easy and definitely worth the time to make!