days of nuwanda

Anniversary weekend

My Man and I got away last weekend to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary and basically to catch up. He's been back-n-forth to North Carolina on a project since starting his new job 4 weeks ago, which means we don't connect much. So we had our friend come stay with the kids while we stayed in downtown Indy near Circle Centre Mall, enjoyed eating at the Weber Grille, shopped our hearts out (Love the downtown TJ Maxx!), and saw The Avengers movie (which was awesome! Surprisingly enough, Hulk was my fave character). The weather was so nice--great for just walking around looking for the Jeep, which we temporarily lost in a parking garage...hahaha! That's a story for another time!

On our way home through Carmel/Noblesville, we checked out UrbanSpoon, a phone app that showcases local restaurants, and came across BoomBozz, a pizza joint with rave reviews. The place was packed, so we ate in the bar and got seated right away. We had the pretzel sticks, which were amazing, and a specialty pizza--half buffalo chicken, half greek. WOW! My Man is a pizza connoisseur and tries pizza places wherever he travels, so he knows a thing or two about it. And he couldn't say enough good things about the crust, which held up under a crazy amount of toppings. It became our fave pizza EVER in a matter of seconds, and we are making plans to go back w/ our other pizza-connoisseur friends. Wow, so good! We talked to the manager/owner, and found out BoomBozz has won international awards and was featured on the Food Network. Now we know why! They are a relatively new, small chain with restaurants only in IN, KY, and AZ for now, but I'm certain they are going to explode. 

BoomBozz waiters were wearing fun tshirts, which endeared me to the place even more. 

The vanity of muffins

I'm slightly obsessed with cupcakes and muffins, always searching for new recipes and new ideas. And since I had a bunch of overly-ripe bananas (I prefer them almost green, and in this heat they ripened really fast!) I tried a new banana nut muffin recipe that I found. It calls itself "The World's Best (and easiest) Banana Nut Muffins" which seems a bit arrogant and egotistical on its part, but it got my curiosity up, so I tried it. 

Verdict? Amazing muffins. Hands down the best recipe I've tried. Super moist, amazing flavor, wow. Normally I would include the recipe here, but it's kinda long (w/ the author's detailed notes), so just follow the link. I didn't have any coffee made, so I just used milk, and I used 2 1/2 bananas instead of just 2, but otherwise I followed her exact instructions for mixing/not over-mixing. I also baked them at 325 because my oven seems to be running hot. This recipe is a definite keeper. 

PB cup pie

This pie is super easy to make and tastes amazing! There won't be any leftovers, that's for sure. 

Mr. Food's Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Preparation Time: 10 min --Chilling Time: 4 hr -- Serves: 8
Ingredients:

• 1 (4-serving) package sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free (skim) milk
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat chunky peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed and divided
• 1 (1.5-ounce) package peanut butter cups, chopped
• 1 (9-inch) reduced-fat graham cracker pie crust

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, using a wire whisk, combine pudding and milk until thickened. Whisk in peanut butter and 1 cup whipped topping. Stir in peanut butter cups.
2. Pour mixture into pie crust then spread remaining 1/2 cup whipped topping over pie. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

Snickerdoodle bread

I was never a fan of Snickerdoodle cookies growing up, but then later in life I realized my wonderful Mother always over-baked cookies (and pretty much everything) b/c that's how my Dad likes his food--really done. (I'm not critiquing my Mom, btw. She still is a great wife who cooks/bakes to please her Husband. I just so happen to have a different taste...) Anyhow, I always thought Snickerdoodles were rock-hard, and I pretty much hate hard cookies. So then I made them myself, and they were soft and delicious and I was blown away. I only make them a couple times a year b/c I don't wanna eat the whole batch myself.

So then a couple months ago I found this recipe for Snickerdoodle Bread and immediately went out and bought the cinnamon chips and got baking. The result? Superb. Honestly, it mixed up so quick and easy, baked beautifully (though a couple minutes short of the recommended 60 minutes in my oven), and made the whole house smell divine. The recipe makes 2 loaves, so it would be great to eat one and freeze one for later. I didn't get a chance to b/c the fam ate it all within one day!

If you like cinnamon, you will like this bread. If you have taste buds, you will like this bread. If you are breathing, you will like this bread. It's that good.

I used some leftover red sugar we had from Christmas, so it's very pretty, but you could use any sugar. And FYI--I've only found cinnamon chips at Meijer. Get baking and let me know what you think!

Butterfinger Cake

I found this cake online last week and made it for our small group Super Bowl party and LOVED it! My friend Sarah has requested that I make this for her birthday b/c she only got one piece. Yah, it's that good. 

Butterfinger Cake

• 1 box of yellow cake mix and the items needed to make it
• 1 can of condensed milk
• 1 jar of caramel sundae topping
• 1 tub of Cool Whip or whipped topping
• 4 regular sized Butterfingers candy bars

 1. Bake the yellow cake in a 9x13 pan as directed on the box.

 2. While it is baking, mix together caramel and condensed milk.

 3. When cake is hot out of the oven, poke holes in the cake with a fork. Pour caramel mixture over the hot cake and let it sit until completely cooled. The cake should soak up the caramel.

4. Crush up two of the Butterfingers and sprinkle them over the cake. (I put the candy bars in the freezer because they crush better. I actually crush them in the wrappers then cut the tops off and just pour them out over the cake.)

5. Ice the cake with the Cool Whip and top with last two crushed Butterfingers. Store in the fridge once iced. Enjoy!

 *Trust me, this cake will be a hit!My kids even liked the leftovers the next day--it was surprisingly not overly soggy the 2nd day. Great for pitch-in dinner at church or work. 

I wanna try this!

Bon Appetit magazine highlighted the Scotch Egg, and I want to try it. 

Another recipe--I'm in cooking mode!

Sis and I both saw this recipe online last week for Crockpot Cranberry Chicken, and it sounded odd, w/ strange flavors mixed together. But apparently odd in a way that made us want to try it, and I'm glad we did! Hubby thought it was a little too sweet, and I didn't dare tell the kids what was in it or they would've turned up their noses, but it was good. Very unique flavor, and also good reheated as leftovers. 

Crockpot Cranberry Chicken

What You’ll Need:

• 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 can Whole Berry Cranberry
• 1 pkg. Dry Onion Soup
• 8 oz. Catalina Dressing 

What You’ll Do:

Cook chicken in crock pot on high for 3 hours (covered).

After 3 hours, drain juices from crockpot.

Mix together catalina dressing, cranberry sauce and dry onion soup.

Pour cranberry mixture over chicken, and cook on high for 30 more minutes (covered).

 

Pumpkin overdose

I got a little carried away w/ the whole pumpkin thing lately. I don't know about you, but I do not tire of pumpkin. Pumpkin flavored anything sounds amazing! Pumpkin pie is great, but doesn't pumpkin deserve a bit more respect than one little pie? So, armed w/ some new recipes, I went into pumpkin mode and infused a little pumpkin love into everything I could think of...well, almost everything. Pumpkin Pecan pancakes, pumpkin-filled crescent rolls (a family favorite!) and pumpkin cheesecake truffles. My fam has pumpkin coming out of their ears and will be happy to learn that I'm giving it a rest...for a week or so. :) 

The crescent rolls are always great, and I just use a tube of rolls from the store. The pancakes had a nice flavor, just very thick. Then again, my kids were not crazy about them, so this recipe may not make it to "the keep" folder. The truffles were lots of fun to make, but I wasn't in love w/ them at first. They were kinda blah. They did improve over time, and I liked them much better 2 days later. I froze the rest. Note: the truffle recipe for the cake does not call for any pumpkin spice, but you need it. I added 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, and could've added another tsp. Pumpkin isn't a strong flavor on it's own and needs plenty of spice. I also sprinkled chopped pecans on a few truffles and drizzled orange-colored chocolate on the rest. They looked very cute!

More pumpkin recipes

In case you need more inspiration to fill your home w/fall goodness, here is a FREE eCookbook full of recipes to make the most of your pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and other squash. Soups, cupcakes, casseroles, breads, and more. YUM!

Easy muffins

It's October, the apple orchards are in full swing, and pumpkins have started showing up everywhere. I LOVE FALL!!!! So naturally I start thinking pumpkin muffins. This recipe is simple, and you'll have muffins on the table in no time--and then they'll be eaten and gone in no time! I made a streusel topping that was good, but think I'll just sprinkle some sugar on before baking next time. They are also great just as is! I've used yellow, white or spice cake mix, and all turn out equally well. 

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.