Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

So Pinterest has become my new obsession. I somehow get sucked into this place where time flies by and when I look up from my computer I have passed hours. And this recipe is one of the gems have discovered there:

World's Easiest Pumpkin Muffins

I have a friend from college who writes a food blog. I love her blog because most of what she makes is on my skill level. Sometimes she goes above and beyond my abilities, but for the most part she uses ingredients I'm familiar with and recipes that interest me.

The other day she posted a recipe for pumpkin muffins and I had to make them... right away. They are literally the easiest muffins I've ever made. and they taste delicious!!

1 box yellow cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1.5 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sugar
Cinnamon

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners, or spray with cooking spray.
2- In a bowl combine the cake mix, pumpkin, and cinnamon, mixing well. Divide into 12 muffins.
3- Top each muffin with a pinch of sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Bake 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.


From: Stephanie Cooks

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Ok, I promised this recipe days ago after posting on Facebook about how delicious they were! Really, they were amazing. Perfect for a cool fall night. And to top it off, they were very easy to make.

This recipe is from The Skinny Chef:

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons trans-fat free margarine
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
2 tablespoons orange liquor (optional)

Directions

Preheat a large crock-pot on high heat and preset it for 3 hours. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, margarine, and cinnamon. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the apple juice or cider and the liquor, if using. Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.

I finished this off by adding frozen vanilla yogurt and warm caramel sauce. Yum! The apples literally fell apart.

Down with My Diet!

Ok, I'm not really giving up on the whole diet thing. I'm just taking a little... break. For a couple of days. Until I finish this....

This is the amazing dessert that my husband made for my birthday/Valentine's Day yesterday. It's a Reese's Peanut Butter Pie and it's to die for! I couldn't even finish my piece because it is so rich... yet so light and fluffy. It's just yummy!

Here's the recipe in case anyone else wants to fall off the wagon. Temporarily of course :)

Ingredients
1 package of cream cheese 
1 cup peanut butter 
12 ounces Cool Whip 
3/4 cup sugar 
1 graham cracker crust (we prefer the chocolate one)
10 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups 
Directions
Combine the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add Cool Whip until smooth. Pour half of mixture into crust. Top with 5 crumbled Reese's cups. Cover that with remaining mixture and crumble remaining Reese's Cups on top. Refrigerate overnight.

Cooking Made Easy

I really like to cook, but when you have a baby you just never seem to have the time. I have to plan meals that can be prepped and cooked within an hour or tossed in a crock pot. This way when my DH gets home from work He can take over baby duty while I cook... and we can still eat at a somewhat reasonable time.

Once you throw working into the mix cooking begins to seem next to impossible. Seriously, I don't know how full time working moms do it! As I said before, I work 2 days a week. Wednesday are my long days and I get home a little after 4. Thursdays are shorter and I am home by 3. So on Wednesdays I use my trusty crock pot for all my cooking needs. Seriously, I use it EVERY Wednesday! I plan a week ahead to try a new recipe, order my ingredients through Peapod (because really... who has time to food shop?), prep the night before and throw it in the pot that morning. I come home to an amazingly fragrant house and a couple of free hours to devote to my little love bug!

I'm going to start sharing some of my recipes... because I know I am always looking for some ideas and maybe this will help someone out!

This week.... London Broil

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 pounds London broil
• small jar (4 to 6 ounces) of mushrooms, drained
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Preparation:

Mix together flour, ground black pepper, and paprika; rub London broil with mixture then put in crock pot. In a bowl, combine mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, tomato soup, and onion soup mix; pour over meat. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.

This literally falls apart. Melt in your mouth good!