I actually forgot to take a picture of this before it was all eaten up so I have no picture to show. That’s okay though because it doesn’t look near as good as it tastes. Actually, it doesn’t look very good at all, but we all know looks can be deceiving! Plus, this is a crock pot recipe so of course we all love it because it’s easy! Woo!

What You Need:
-Boneless skinless chicken breasts. (This recipe will cover up to 8, but I only used 2)
-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
-1 cup of sour cream
-1/2 cup of flour
-Bacon (However many chicken breasts you have is how many slices you need. I had 2 slices)
-Garlic powder, salt, & pepper

Directions:
-In a medium bowl mix together sour cream, soup, flour, & spices. (Use as much garlic, salt, & pepper as you would like)
-In a frying pan cook bacon, but not all the way. Just enough to cook a little of the fat out, but it still needs to be “bendy” (You know, not hard and crispy)
-Wrap each chicken breast with one piece of bacon & place in the crock pot.
-Pour soup mixture over chicken in the crock pot.
-Cover & cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

Around Christmas time I had bought stuff to make pumpkin pies at my mom’s house for our Christmas Eve dinner. Well my parents live about 2 hours away and when I left I forgot the pumpkin pie stuff! When we came home after Christmas I had all this pumpkin and we don’t even like pumpkin pie! So the search began for something I could use the pumpkin stuff for that we might actually eat. These cupcakes are it. They have actual pumpkin in them, but you can’t taste it. The icing is amazing too. Of course Andrew has just been eating the icing off of them, but whatever. Oh yeah! Andrew got me a new hot pink Kitchenaid stand mixer for Christmas! Obviously I had to use it!

What You Need:
-Cupcakes
-2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
-1.5 cups of flour
-1 teaspoon of baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
-1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick)
-1 cup of brown sugar
-2 eggs
-1.5 teaspoons of vanilla
-2 cups of canned pumpkin

-Icing
-5oz of cream cheese (a little over half the block)
-1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick)
-2 cups of powdered sugar
-1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
-1 Tablespoon of milk

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees
-In a medium bowl mix pumpkin pie spice, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
-In the mixer bowl or if using a hand mixer a large bowl beat the butter and brown sugar together until fluffy.
-Mix in eggs
-Mix in vanilla & 1 cup of the pumpkin
-Mix in half of the flour  mixture.
-Mix in the rest of the pumpkin and flour mix.
-Fill cupcake cup about 3/4 of the way full. Makes 12 cupcakes.
-Bake for 20-25 minutes. (It took mine about 24 minutes)

-In the stand mixer bowl or regular bowl beat cream cheese & butter until fluffy.
-Mix in powdered sugar. (Its best to do this a little at a time instead of all at once)
-Mix in vanilla and milk until fluffy.
-Once cupcakes are completely cool ice them.

**Disclaimer: I’m so sorry I’ve been gone for months! Andrew and I finally got married October 12 and now that the stress of our wedding is over I hope to be back more! As soon as I get our professional photos back I will post them along with some details from our wedding!

One of my greatest abilities when it comes to cooking is laughing at my failed attempts. This is certainly one of them. Possibly my ugliest creation yet. I can attribute a lot of that, though, to the fact that once I realized this was going to look nothing like it was supposed to I just quit trying. I’m sure you’ve all seen that beautiful pumpkin cake on Pinterest. You know, the one with the caption “2 bundt cakes stacked together! So easy!”, yeah, that one. Well…it wasn’t so easy. Mine looked nothing like a pumpkin. Really, NOTHING like a pumpkin. On the bright side, the cake tasted soooo much better than it looked! It was still worth making because it was yummy eating. To the girl who made the cake you see on Pinterest, bless you, you have far more time and talent than I do.

You Will Need:

-2 boxes of spice cake mix (and the ingredients needed on the box)
-5oz cream cheese (a little over half a block)
-1 stick of unsalted butter
-2 cups of powdered sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon almond extract
-1 Tablespoon milk
-Orange food coloring

Directions:

-Make the spice cake according to the package. You will make 2 separate cakes. In a bundt cake pan
-Beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy
-Mix in 1/3 of the powdered sugar
-Mix in another 1/3 of the powdered sugar
-Mix in the last 1/3 of powdered sugar
-Mix in vanilla, almond, and milk
-Mix in orange food coloring until desired color
-When the cakes are done and cooled stack them on top of each other to look like a pumpkin
-Frost the cakes
-The end.

I hope yours turns out much better than mine did! Best of luck decorating!

Gooey and chocolate and cookies all in the same name? Ohh this is good. That’s a combination that can never go wrong, right? Oh so right. These are so good. They’re really rich and chocolately with big chocolate chunks. A sure favorite!

You Will Need:

-1.5 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (a little less than 1 bag)
-3 egg whites
-2.5 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 cup cocoa powder
-1 Tablespoon cornstarch
-1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray
-Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in the microwave
-Beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form
-Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar until it looks like marshmallow creme.
-Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl
-On low speed beat dry ingredients into marshmallow creme
-Mix in chocolate & 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Dough will become stiff.
-Place 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl.
-Scoop up a spoonful of dough & roll around in powdered sugar until completely covered then place on baking sheet.
-Bake for 10 minutes until the tops puff up and crack.

Who eats breakfast on the go?? Okay, let’s be honest here, who doesn’t eat breakfast at all because you’re on the go and don’t have time? That’s what I thought! I am notorious for skipping breakfast because I just don’t have time to make something in the mornings and then by 9am my blood sugar is in the floor and I feel like crap! This is a really easy solution to that problem! You can make these breakfast burritos a month in advance! Just make everything, freeze, and heat up when you’re ready to eat!

You Will Need:

-Ground sausage
-Bacon
-Eggs
-Shredded cheddar cheese
-Hashbrowns
-Large tortillas

Directions:

**How many you want to make will determine how much of everything you use. I only had 1 package of 8 tortillas so that’s all I made. Just play it by ear with the ingredients.

-Cook & drain the sausage
-Cook the bacon
-Cook the hashbrowns
-Scramble & cook eggs
-Heat up tortillas for a few seconds in the microwave so they’re easy to move
-Combine sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, eggs, and cheese in each tortilla and roll up
-Wrape each individual burrito in plastic wrap so they can be removed from freezer bag individually.
-Place the rolled up tortillas in a freezer safe zip lock bag and freeze for up to a month.
-Just heat up a burrito in the microwave when you’re ready for it!

Today our middle school had a fundraiser for Relay For Life. This fundraiser was a bake off!! Yay! I picked an easy recipe because I kind of forgot about it and had to throw this together last minute & I happened to have the ingredients for this cake. Well guess what, my lemon creme cake won FIRST PLACE!!! I was absolutely ecstatic! There were so many other cakes there & people who had been baking for much longer than me! I’m still riding on my first place high from this afternoon. This cake was a hit! Everyone was going after it. Of course it was a hit, it was the first place winner! So let me share this really simple recipe with you!

You Will Need:
-1 box white cake mix
-1 8oz package cream cheese
-2 cups powdered sugar
-1/4 cup lemon juice
-1 cup heavy whipping cream
-1/2 cup flour
-1/2 cup powdered sugar
-1/4 cup cold butter
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-1 fresh lemon
Directions:
-Make white cake according to package in two 9inch cake pans
-In a medium bowl mix cream cheese and 2 cups powdered sugar until smooth
-Mix in lemon juice and set aside
-In a medium bowl whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form
-Spoon in cream cheese mixture and fold together (This is your “icing”)
-When cakes are COMPLETELY cooled set the first cake on the serving plate & cover the top of it with the “icing”. You want this icing layer to be pretty thick, but leave enough for the top & sides.
-Place the second cake on top of the icing, cover it and the sides with the remaining icing.
-In a medium bowl combine flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar
-Add vanilla and cut in butter until the mixture is in small pea sized pieces. This is your crumb topping.
-Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top of the cake
-Cut the fresh lemon into slices to decorate the top of the cake as you please
-Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Here’s my pretty trophy for this cake!

Not too long ago I made my favorite Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells and I ended up with an extra box of the giant pasta shells. What to do, oh what to do with these shells? Then I came across this magically little recipe (which of course I didn’t have all the ingredients for, but I improvised & it turned out awesome anyway) So, yeah, these are pretty darn tasty! Andrew even liked them & they were definitely out of his meat and potatoes comfort zone!

You Will Need:

-1 box jumbo pasta shells (I use the great value brand at walmart)
-1lb ground beef (browned & drained)
-1 package taco seasoning
-4oz cream cheese (That’s half of the standard box)
-Salsa (I don’t have an exact amount for this. You’ll see why later)
-1 package shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Cook the ground beef & drain the grease
-Add taco seasoning and water according to package
-Mix cream cheese in with ground beef until cream cheese is melted & completely mixed in.
-Cook pasta shells according to package
-Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish
-Place the pasta shells in the dish with the opening facing up
-Spoon ground beef into each shell
-Add a spoonful of salsa to each shell
-Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes
-Remove from oven and cover each shell with shredded cheese
-Bake for another 10 minutes.

You Will Need:
-1 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/8 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/3 cup butter
-1 cup brown sugar
-1 egg
-1 Tablespoon vanilla
-1 cup M&M’s (I made these for Valentine’s day so I used the Valentine’s M&Ms)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
-Melt 1/3 cup butter & mix in brown sugar
-Add egg and vanilla.
-Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.
-Mix in 2/3 cup M&M’s.
-Spread in greased 9×9 pan.
-Sprinkle M&M’s on top.
-Bake for 20 to 25 minutes

I love Valentine’s Day. It is probably one of my favorite holidays. Possibly because I don’t think I’ve ever been single for one..oops.. Anyway though, Andrew & I don’t buy each other gifts for Valentine’s Day; instead I like to make us a bunch of treats for us to share. These are by far our favorite Valentine’s treats! They’re really easy to make too!

You Will Need:
Red Velvet:
-3 1/4 cups flour
-2 1/4 cups sugar
-3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-3 eggs
-1 cup vegetable oil
-4 Tablespoons milk
-1 Tablespoon vanilla
-1 Tablespoon red food coloring
-2 teaspoons white vinegar

Cheesecake:
-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese
-3/4 cup sugar
-2 eggs
-2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jelly roll pan (I just used  a cookie sheet with a higher lip)
-In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
-In a medium bowl, mix eggs, vegetable oil, 2 Tablespoons milk, vanilla, red food coloring, and white vinegar.
-Pour dry contents of medium bowl into large bowl & mix thoroughly
-Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and place it in a medium bowl.
-In the batter you just took out, add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of milk
-Pour the batter in the large bowl into the pan and smooth it out flat
-Beat cream cheese and sugar together for 2 minutes in a medium bowl.
-Mix in eggs and vanilla until smooth.
-Pour cream cheese mixture over the batter in the pan and smooth out.
-Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter onto the top of the cheesecake layer.
-Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.
-Bake for 30 minutes until center no longer jiggles
-Let cool completely before cutting with heart shaped cookie cutter (or any cookie cutter or just cut into squares!)