Pumpkin Cheese Ball Revisited

Last year I made a delish cheese ball that was perfect for Halloween. It would also be perfect for the Thanksgiving's Day get together!

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend! Cheers to Monday!

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

Stopping in real quick to share a fun recipe that will be perfect for the Thanksgiving day table. I made this pumpkin cheese ball last year for Halloween, but forgot to post it both last year and this year. Opps. What can you do? I thought it could still work for Thanksgiving. Because, pumpkins. 

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

|| ingredients ||

2 tsp Butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh Garlic
1 tsp Sugar
1 (8-ounce) package of softened Cream Cheese
1/4 cup softened Butter
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup chopped Green Onion
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely crushed Cheese Nips
1 medium bell pepper with stem
Fresh cut-up vegetables or crackers to dip

- Melt 2 teaspoons butter in skillet. Add garlic and sugar. Saute garlic over medium heat until garlic starts to brown. Remove from heat.

- Combine garlic mixture, cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, 8 ounces cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup chopped green onion, and 1/4 tsp salt together in a bowl. Mix well. Form mixture into a ball.

- Pour Cheese Nips into a ziplock and crush. Pour crushed crackers into a large shallow bowl or plate. Roll the cheese ball into the crackers and press to coat. Place the ball onto a serving plate.

- Cut out the stem from the bell pepper. Place it on top of the ball.

- Serve with crackers and vegetables. And done.

  

Bacon Cups FTW

Is it already Friday? What the what? Where did this past week go? I don't know either. I'm about to get some shopping done with my tiny partner in crime. I get to go baby browsing for one of my good frand's baby shower on Sunday! Oh. All the itty bitty sized clothing! I love picking out baby gifts. It brings me back to the months before Adrienne was born. Hold on. Let me check my temp...

Okay, I don't have baby fever. No signs of it as of yet. Phew. 

Switching gears to something that I am craving again, bacon cups. These things are pretty much a party in your mouth parts. Straight legit. They're the perfect go to breakfast dish for company. They're easy to whip up, but look like you slaved for a while making these fancy bacon delicacies. Win/win

Bacon and Egg Cups
|| ingredients ||

1 slice of Bread (per muffin cup)
2 slices of Bacon (per muffin cup)
1 Egg (per muffin cup)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a muffin tin.

- Use a biscuit/cookie cutter to cut circles out of each piece of bread. Place bread circles into bottom of each muffin cup. Put those in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. You want the bread to be toasty. Remove from the oven.

- Cook bacon in a skillet until halfway cooked. Place 2 slices of bacon in each cup, as the bacon should be the walls. I, on the other hand, only used one piece of bacon per cup. I was running low on the stuff.

- I scrambled up an egg for each cup, and then poured it over the bread in the cups. You could also just crack the eggs straight into each muffin cup, too.

- Sprinkle tops with cheese, salt, and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the eggs are set. Remove with forks and serve! 

Shout out to the Pampered Chef for always helping me in my kitchen. I used their Muffin Stoneware Pan and their Biscuit Cutters.

I also have a gorgeous necklace up for grabs! Go here to enter for your chance to win some neck candy from Cristal Jewels.

If you like my blog, help a homie out and vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking the picture below. Just one click. It will take you to the Top Mommy Blogs website, but you voted for me by just clicking that happy cartoon lady below! YOU CAN VOTE DAILY!! Thank you guys!!

Italian Pasta Salad

One of my frand girl's came up with this yummo in my face pasta salad recipe. She brought a ton over to one of our cookouts, and I demanded the recipe. I, of course, changed the recipe up a tad. It's a fun dish to play around with. You could add a variety of things. Let me know if any of you guys try it out! I'd love to hear some ideas.

Italian Pasta Salad

|| ingredients ||

1 box of Ditalini Noodles

1 can of Diced Tomatoes

1/2 bottle of Italian Dressing

1 small jar of Capers

Pepperoni

Mushrooms

Mozzarella 

fresh Basil

Red Wine Vinegar

Rice Vinegar

Garlic

Olive Oil

Italian Spices

Crushed Red Pepper

- Boil Ditalini noodles according to directions on box. Heat olive oil and red wine vinegar in a small frying pan. Add garlic. Saute garlic for about two mintues. Add mushrooms. Saute for five mintues. Meanwhile, drain pasta extremely well. 

- Add pasta to a large bowl. Drain jar of capers and add them to the noodles. Cut up mozzarella and pepperoni. Add both to pasta.

- Drain can of diced tomatoes. Add tomatoes to pasta. When the mushrooms are cooked, add those to pasta.

- Add a generous amount of Italian seasoning and fresh basil to pasta. Add dashes of crushed red pepper and rice vinegar to pasta. 

- Add one half bottle of Italian dressing to the pasta. Stir until well coated. Taste test. Add more of whatever's needed. Wham. Bam. Thank you ma'am. 

Don't forget to enter to win some jewelry from Ball and Chain! Enter HERE! Contest ends this Thursday!

If you like my blog, help a homie out and vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking the picture below. Just one click. It will take you to the Top Mommy Blogs website, but you voted for me by just clicking that happy cartoon lady below! YOU CAN VOTE DAILY!! Thank you guys!!

I'd Do Anything For Love

That's such a great song by Meatloaf. Since we are talking about a yummy dish of a singer, I obviously need to talk about a yummy dish of the real thing. See what I did there? Cheesy stuffed meatloaf. It is the nomz. I've made my meatloaf for years and never messed it up, until I made it and took pictures of it for the ole blog. Figures. In the photos below, it shows I have one pound of ground beef instead of two, yet I go by my usual recipe that calls for dos. I should have halved the recipe. Meh. I was wondering why it tasted off that night. Now I know. So, follow the directions. Not my pictures. 

Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf

|| ingredients ||

2 pounds Ground Beef 
1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 Eggs
1 cup plain dry Breadcrumbs
1/3 cup Onion (finely chopped)
1/4 cup Ketchup
Garlic (generous amount)

Shredded Cheese (of choice)

- Preheat oven to 35o degrees.

- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into a loaf and place in a 13x9 inch baking dish.

- Hollow out the inside and stuff with shredded cheese. I used mozzarella. Close the meatloaf seam back up.

- Cover top with extra ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.

- Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until done.