Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes!

Pumcakes?  Pumcups?  Kincakes?  I think I like pumcakes best :).  Anyway, I was on twitter the other day when TiffanyD (a youtube beauty guru & blogger) posted a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes.  Since it's Fall and I love learning new Fall-y recipes, I decided to try this out.  Except, as with most recipes I try, I had to change it to suit my mood :).

Start out with a box cake.  She used a basic yellow cake, but I felt like using a spice cake.  I just thought the flavors would compliment each other nicely :).

Mix the cake as directed, except substitute one 15oz. can of pumpkin (I like Libby's best) for the water.  Also, add 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice and mix all together.  My mix called for 1/3 cup of oil and 3 eggs, so to spell it out plainly, here are the ingredients I used:

1 box spice cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
15oz. can pumpkin
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Spoon the batter into muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes in the oven preheated to 350*.

When they're done baking, put them on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes or until cool.  Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Eat... and enjoy! :)

p.s. - sorry for the poor picture quality... I took them with my iphone because our camera battery died... and I'm too lazy (forgetful?) to recharge it :).

More recipes to come soon!!!  If you have any requests, let me know :).

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I was never a fan of bell peppers.  Something about the unique taste just never appealed to me until Jason's mom (my mother-in-law) made this recipe.  I still don't eat red or yellow bell peppers, but I really enjoy green ones now, all because of this delicious and filling recipe.

I have to add that I've tried a couple of other stuffed peppers (that other people made) and they didn't taste nearly as good as these :).  So... on to the recipe.  It's fairly simple, but you'll see that there are quite a few steps and it is time consuming.  So make sure that you plan ahead to make these on a night that you have plenty of time.

Here are the ingredients... I'll explain what to do with them as I go along :).

6 peppers

1 to 1.5 lbs ground beef

2 Tablespoons onion (yuck, I either use onion powder or minced onion)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

2-3 cups cooked rice

2- 15oz cans tomato sauce

1-2 cups shredded cheese

First, you need to cut the tops off of the peppers and remove the insides.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Boil the peppers for 5 minutes and set aside in a baking dish.

Make enough rice to have 2-3 cups cooked.  Brown the ground beef.

Once the rice and beef are cooked, I combine them in the large pot that was used to boil the peppers.  Add one can of tomato sauce and the seasonings & stir together.  Taste the mixture to make sure it is seasoned to your liking and add more if needed.

Stuff the peppers (Jason likes them overstuffed) and place back in the baking dish.

Pour the other can of tomato sauce over the peppers.

Cover with foil and bake at 350* for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and cover peppers with cheese.  Cook for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!  One pepper is usually more than enough for a meal for me and Jason usually eats two... then we have enough left for lunch the next day :).

Buttermilk Raspberry Cake

Growing up, my mom had a large raspberry "patch" (as well as strawberries and rhubarb) behind our house.  Every summer, we would have to go out each day to pick a bowl-ful of fresh raspberries.  Whenever she sent me out, she was lucky I brought any inside, because I loved to just eat them as I picked!  Anyway... anytime I come across a recipe that involves raspberries, strawberries, or rhubarb, I jump at the chance to make it because I really really really love the taste of them!

This cake isn't like a "birthday" cake or anything like that.  It's more like a breakfast/coffee cake and it's oh so delicious!!!

Start out by mixing the following ingredients together:
1-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or light olive oil are what I usually use)
1 egg

After mixing the above together well, add and mix the following:
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

Add the following dry ingredients to the above "concoction" and mix together:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp salt

Pour the batter into a 9x13" cake pan.  Spoon 2 cups of raspberries on top (you can also use strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, etc.).  Sometimes I put the berries on whole, other times I like to mash them up and put them on like that, which is what I did this time.

In a separate small bowl, mix the following together:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Sprinkle this on the top of the cake and bake it at 350* for 40-45 minutes.  The cake will probably look a little odd when it's done cooking, because the berries usually move away from the edge of the dish.  But don't worry!!!  It will still taste super delicious :).  This is one of my favorite dishes to make for brunches & breakfasts :).

Good luck and let me know if you try this!