Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 spice cake mix
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 egg
1 15oz can pumpkin
1 tsp. pumkin spice

Preheat oven to 350*.  Mix ingredients together.  Grease cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.  Enjoy!

Biscuits & Gravy

I do not usually like biscuits and gravy because I hate that country gravy in a packet. But I love this recipe for the gravy!

Biscuits Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1/4 c. cooking oil
1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 425*.  Mix all ingredients together with a fork.  This will be too sticky to roll out, so sprinkle a couple tablespoons of flour over the mixture and stir again.  Continue doing this until dough is thick and workable.  Sprinkle some flour on your countertop.  Scrape the dough onto the flour, sprinkle with more flour on the top of the dough.  Pat out with hand and roll until 3/4" thickness.  Cut out with a biscuit cutter or drinking glass.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

Gravy Ingredients:
1/2 c. sausage (I used the whole lb since all you need is the drippings)
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste

Cook sausage until browned.  Pull sausage out, leaving drippings behind.  Set sausage aside.  (I left a small amount of sausage in the pan to have in the gravy.)  Stir in flour with the fat drippings.  If there is not enough fat drippings to create a paste (roux) with the flour add some butter.  Slowly add half the milk and whisk until all the lumps are gone.  Then add the rest of the milk.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Continue stirring gravy over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Once it comes to a boil, turn off heat.  If gravy is not thick enough add a small amount of flour. If gravy is to thick add more milk.

Creamy Chicken Alfredo

1/4 c. flour
2-6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Only cook what you will eat)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Place flour in a shallow dish.  Sprinkle chicken with salt; coat with flour.  Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add chicken; cook, turning once until golden, 2-4 minutes per side.  Remove chicken from skillet; place in a 9x13 baking dish.

2. heat remaining olive oil in same skillet over medium heat until hot.  Add garlic and onion; cook until garlic is fragrant and onion is tender, 1-2 minutes.  Increase heat to medium-high; add whipping cream, parmesan and pepper.  Cook until sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Spoon sauce over chicken in dish.

3. Bake chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of chicken registers 180*F, 8-12 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

4. I cooked some linguine pasta while chicken was baking.  Place the pasta on the plate and top with chicken and sauce.

Strawberry Bread

3 cup strawberries, chopped or puréed
4 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
3 cup flour
1 cup walnuts (opt)

Mix eggs, oil and berries.  (I did a chunky purée.)  Stir in sugar, salt, soda and cinnamon.  Add flour and nuts.  Bake in grease loaf pans on 350* for 50-60 minutes (Test after 50 mins - may need to place a piece of foil lightly on top if browning too much on top.)  Makes 2 large or 4 small loafs.
**I made them into muffins.  Cook for half the time, testing afterwards to make sure they are done.**

Caramel-Stuffed Snickerdoodles

Jsee sent this recipe to me. They are super easy, but yummy!   http://www.the-baker-chick.com

Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Print this Recipe

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening

1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed

2 large eggs

48 soft caramel candies or Rolos unwrapped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough. Break the ball into two and place the caramel into the middle. Form one large ball and roll in cinnamon sugar. (I had a problem with the caramel coming out the bottom once cooked. Make sure you have enough dough around the caramel.) Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.  Warm in the microwave for about 10 seconds afterwards to soften caramel again.

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

*Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I used choco chips instead!)

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Add pumpkin, butter and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans (or 6 mini loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until breads test done. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.

Tortellini Spinach Bake in a Creamy Lemon Sauce

(click here for printable version) - From The Farm Girl Recipes http://thefarmgirlrecipes.blogspot.com

12 oz  Tortellini (find them in the dry pasta aisle and the only brand my store carried was Barilla Parmesan Cheese but any kind should work)

6 strips bacon 

3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced

2 Tbs flour

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. cream

¾ t. kosher salt

⅛ t. black pepper

1 1/2 t. dry basil

¼ t. red pepper flakes, optional

1 medium lemon

2 c loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped

¾ c. grated mozzarella cheese, divided

¾ c. grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

2.  Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and cream continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

3.  While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon--be careful not to get any of the white part in the sauce, it is quite bitter.  Then cut lemon in half and remove juice.  Add zest and lemon juice to sauce.  Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

4.  Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture.  Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.

5.  Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and serve.  Enjoy!