Pumpkin Bread Pudding with a Caramel-Pecan Sauce

My newest obsession in my kitchen is playing with my ramekins. I picked up my first bunch of three ramekins this summer, and then a few weeks ago, I added to my collection six more ramekins. And I still want more, lol! Not only do ramekins make great prep bowls, but they're the perfect individual portion serving for dessert too. And how does a Pumpkin Bread Pudding sound?

A typical bread pudding has raisins it, which I despise greatly. But this bread pudding is moist, beautiful, and full of flavor. This dessert needs to get started a full day before you are actually going to make it, and let me tell you, it is worth the wait...but you have to wait, because if you make it before the bread has really had a chance to soak in that beautiful pumpkin spiced flavor, you will be sorry. I'm just warning ya!

Also, this dessert creates five beautiful full ramekins. So invite your four favorite people over to share in this treat and have a movie night or, for an even better idea, serve this at your New Year's Eve gathering. That's right, make yourself and your friends indulge in this - that way you can all be in the same boat before the dieting begins the next day!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel-Pecan Sauce

Source: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

2 large eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 of a 12oz loaf of french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 TB corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, cream, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla. Add bread cubes and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 5 ramekins and fill with bread mixture. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for 50 minutes, lightly tenting with foil for the last 20 minutes. 

During the last 15 minutes, prepare your sauce:

Toast pecans in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.  In a small saucepan, cook brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup over medium heat for about 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and vanilla extract. 

Once bread puddings are finished cooking, remove from oven and top with the caramel-pecan sauce.

This recipe is linked to:

Comfy in the Kitchen's Feasting in Fellowship, Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday

Creamy Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup..in the Crockpot

I love and adore my crockpot something awful. I mean, it's way up there on the list. When I say up there, I mean smack dab in between my KitchenAid Mixer and my zester. My crockpot is like a best friend. Trust- worthy, smart, and always there to lend a helping hand.

Normally, I don't use my crockpot on the weekends due to the fact that Josh and I tend to cook together on those days and we don't need to rush. But on this particular weekend day, Josh wasn't going to be able to cook with me since he was going to be working on a podcast for The MacMob. (If you've missed reading some of Josh's posts, it's because he's been moonlighting as a writer for an Apple tech website. I promise, he'll be back writing for us soon though). And since he was busy, I thought it would be best to not worry about dinner too much and let my crockpot help me out for a few hours.

This soup was such a delightful and sassy change from the kinds of soups we're normally used to. It's sweet and spicy soup, and it goes perfectly when paired with some rolls and a drizzle of honey which really compliments all the different flavors in the soup.  For extra garnish and flavor, I toasted and seasoned some of the seeds from the squash and placed them in the soup, and my 7 yr old went crazy for it, haha! She's into crazy little garnishes like that.

This soup is a must slurp eat for the Fall and Winter Seasons!

Creamy Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

Source: Rival Crockpot Recipe Collection Cookbook

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed

1 can (13 1/2 ounces) coconut milk

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground red pepper, or more to taste

1 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste

3-4 green onions, green and white parts, finely chopped (optional)

Combine sweet potatoes, squash, onion, half of chicken broth and butter in 4 1/2-quart crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

Puree until smooth in blender 1 cup at a time, returning batches to crockpot. Stir in remaining broth, coconut milk, ground cumin, ground red pepper, and salt. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until heated through. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chopped green onions or toasted seeds. 

Our Christmas

I hope your Christmas was beautiful and full of many memories.  I can't believe after weeks of celebrating Christmas, that it's just over now. I've already taken down all of the Christmas stuff, ( except for my wreath) and Josh organized and cleaned the garage and our home is back to normal. After putting all the stuff away it's always amazing how much more you feel like you can breathe in your home again. I'm always shocked by how much space I have again, lol!

Since my Birthday is Christmas Eve, we normally celebrate Christmas with my family on my Birthday. However, I got Birthday/Christmas gift a week early.

Meet Noel :)

I've been wanting a baby kitten for so long now! When Josh and I moved to our previous rental house almost 4 years ago, we brought my cat over from my parents house. But when we had to move back into an apartment, my old cat ( she is 16 years old) got depressed. So we gave her back to my mom and she is so happy there. Since we've lived in this house, I've been begging for a kitten. 

As it so happened, Josh's parents take care of a stray cat and she and a Siamese cat got together and created a beautiful litter of 5 kittens. The mama cat kind of abandoned the litter when they were about 5-6 weeks old and left them in the cold, so Josh's parents have basically nursed them back to health and have taken care of the five. There were 3 male cats ( 2 siamese) and 2 female cats. I wanted a girl kitty and I fell in love with this one. 

Our landlord agreed to let us do a trial run with this kitten ( even though they don't normally allow kittens) to see how she would do with being away from her brothers and sister. This kitten however was kind of a loner, very shy and not really attached to her siblings so we were hopeful that she would adjust to living inside our house. Within the first evening of being in home, Noel made herself at home. She was so happy to be here and she and I have just bonded like crazy.

Within the first few days of her living with us, Josh and I decided that it was indeed working out and we took her to the vet and got all of her vaccinations and stuff done and she is a permanent part of our family now.  She is about 15 weeks old and we've had her officially now for a week and a day and it feels like she has always been a part of our family. She is rowdy at night of course, she seems to think 2am is the perfect time to play in our room while we sleep, but when she does calm down at night, she curls up on the pillows above our heads and sleeps there. She is gentle with our girls and believe it or not, they are very sweet and sensitive toward her. So we're all getting along beautifully. Today, Noel got to meet Ashely, Grace's pet rabbit and they had fun sniffing each other out. ( Ashley of course was safe in the confinement of her cage.)

She's a funny kitten, she loves to drink out of our drinking glasses. We give her the same filtered water that we drink, but she prefers to take a sip out of our cups. At night, we have to put books over our drinking glasses or else she'll drink out of them while we sleep, lol!

So Noel was Josh's and mine's gift to each other. And the kids got a healthy balance of gifts from family, so we are all very happy :)

Quick & Easy Tip for Handling Leftover Ham - Ham Rolls!

Happy Holidays, everyone! I don't know how often I will actually have the opportunity to post on CatzintheKitchen this holiday season, but I wanted to get this tip out to you. In this season of leftover ham (you did realize this was that season, right?), it is vital to know how to handle such overwhelming quantities of pork and pork-based substances. In typical Catz fashion, have we got a solution for you!

This idea is not my own, I must admit - to the best of my knowledge, it is my mother's. Around the holidays, when we had extra ham lying around (to be clear, it was normally lying around in the fridge or the freezer, not like the backs of the sofas or anything), she would fix up these marvelous treats with the bags of rolls from Costco. You know the ones - they make you feel like the Santa Claus of starch when you throw them over your shoulder - big, plastic bags full of thousands (okay, maybe 30 or 40) of little dinner rolls? We were lucky if they made it home with us - super tasty! Those rolls are absolutely perfect for this easy meal tip, but you can certainly use others if you like.

It's simple. Take your leftover ham (cooked, of course) and dice it up into little squares. These squares should be quite tiny - not more than a quarter inch or so in length or width. Throw them in a bowl (the measurements are totally abstract - maybe a cup of ham for every ten or fifteen rolls?) and add a couple tablespoons each of mustard and mayonnaise. Now, this is very much by feel - you want the ham to be a bit beyond coated, so make sure every piece is covered, and then that there is still some extra forming a "sauce," as it were. Take the entire mixture and spoon it out over the rolls, which should be cut in half. The mixture should be applied to the cut side of each half roll, while the crust side of the roll should be against a baking pan - you can probably fit 20+ of these little guys on your average 10" x 13" baking pan.

When you have them all ready to go, flip on your broiler and slide that baking pan in the oven. Keep a very close eye on the rolls - when their edges are turning brown, you're done. This should be around three or four minutes of cooking time. Get this - you're done. That's it. This is actually a full meal, believe it or not. A serving size is between four and five of these, so with a cup of diced ham, a few tablespoons of common condiments and ten to twelve dinner rolls sliced in half, you have a full meal four. See why we like it?

"Ham Rolls"

• ten to twelve dinner rolls
• one to two cups of diced cooked ham
• two to three tablespoons of mayonnaise
• two to three tablespoons of mustard

Slice dinner rolls in half. In a medium bowl, mix ham, mustard and mayonnaise. Spread ham mixture on top of sliced rolls. Broil rolls on baking pan for three to four minutes, or until brown around the edges. Serve immediately. Serves four to five. 

Peppermint Snickerdoodles

Have I mentioned that it's my favorite time of the year? I love wearing the warmer layered looks paired with boots and scarves. I love the brightly colored lights on everyone's homes, the smell of fresh Christmas trees, and the music. One of my favorite sights are the hundreds of cars carrying their Christmas trees home, because you know that the same excitement you felt decorating your own tree is about to be felt by others as well. Editor's note: They're also about to be really cold. If they're planning on putting up lights. And then there's the food! How many delicious flavors and aromas come out of this time of year?

But with all the spectacular colors, smells, and memories in the making...there are also drawbacks to this time of year. Let me just say that Christmas will be here before we know it. And that means we are in the hustle and bustle of Christmas parties, freezing temps, and long lines and crowds - whether that is traffic or just people in general. Crowds are what I dislike the most, since I'm claustrophobic.

But if all those negatives that I just listed have you down in the dumps, I'm certain I have something that will cheer you up and turn that frown upside down. How about a cookie that is so festive, bright and - did I mention? - easy, that it will have you singing Hallelujah from the rooftops.  How do Peppermint Snickerdoodles sound?

These cookies are great to bring to any holiday gathering - or, how about whipping these up - get the kids involved - and setting them out for Santa on Christmas Eve (which also happens to be my birthday...just in case you were wondering). Either way, partygoers, Santa, or even your little family will enjoy these sweet treats!

Peppermint Snickerdoodles

Source: Taste and Tell

3 candy canes

2 TB sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Using a ziploc bag, place the candy canes inside and smash with a hammer or rolling pin until a crumb forms. I liked keeping a few bigger pieces because I enjoy that minty crunch surprise on the cookies. But mostly you want a crumb mixture.

Combine the candy cane crumbs with the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

In a medium sized bowl, break the sugar cookie roll up into chunks and add in the flour and combine. I found that using my hands to mix it all and combine it worked really well. Plus it was fun!

Reshape the dough back into a roll/log type thing and slice, making 32 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then dunk and roll in the candy cane/sugar/cinnamon mixture until evenly coated.  Place on a baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11-14 minutes or until the edges have that golden tint to them. Allow them to cool for 1 minute before transferring to wire racks and allow them to cool completely...if you can allow them to cool completely. ;)

Christmas Week and No Weekly Menu

Merry Christmas week to you all! I'm sure you are all scurrying around trying to get last minute gifts bought and wrapped and menu's made, and wonderful foods cooked.  I, myself am sick with a cold and I'm trying to quickly get rid of it and get on with my holiday week. Josh is officially on vacation now, and also sick :(

We do have some fun little posts headed your way for this week of festivities. So stay tuned :) As for me, I'm headed to the freezer to start my thawing out my turkey. We're having ham and turkey this year and I'm going to try brining my turkey with the PW's recipe.  Wish me luck :)

Homemade Pizza Dough

Before this summer, making my own pizza was something I had only tried a few times; but with only store bought dough or dough from a pizzeria. Those were great ways to get acquainted with making our own pizza, but I didn't like spending the money on the dough you can easily buy in the store ( because I knew I could make it for cheaper) and the dough from a pizzeria was really difficult to handle.

Finally, about a year and a half go we attempted a few rounds of making our own dough. It didn't go well. We just weren't in love with the recipes we were trying. You know as a consumer when you've found a pizza dough you love from a restaurant. Some like the Pizza Hut version, others like the thin and crispy kind. But Josh and I, we're in love with the California Pizza kind. To us, it's the texture, thickness and appearance which wins us over every time. And that was the kind of dough I had been searching for.

When we piggybacked this summer to try making our own pizza dough again, I got the crazy idea of wanting to grill the pizza. I saw Bobby Flay do it on one of his episodes of Barbecue Addiction and I fell in love with the idea. But I wanted to grill a pizza before I had even ever made a successful dough. So after many trials and errors, I've perfected the recipe and am happy to announce that this dough is great grilled or  baked in the oven. You can't go wrong it it.

Start by pre-heating your oven to 250 degrees and then begin creating the yeast mixture first.  I use a packet of the Fleischmann's Pizza Crust Yeast. Now this yeast does not require rising time, but I allow my dough to rise anyways because that way I get two pizza's out of the dough.  Add 1 cup of warm water ( not hot because then you'll kill the yeast) to a small bowl, along with 1 tsp of honey, stir to combine and let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast is bubbly.

While the yeasty magic is creating bubbles, start combining your dry ingredients. You need to measure out 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour. If you don't like whole wheat flour, just omit the wheat and add in another cup of all-purpose flour. To that, I throw in 1 tsp of sea salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 3/4 tsp of Italian Seasoning.  I make my pizza dough with the dough hook on my KitchenAid Mixer, if you don't have a mixer, just stir it real good with a wooden spoon.

After your dry ingredients are combined, your yeast should have bubbles. Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on low speed with your dough hook. Once the yeast has begun to absorb into the flour mixture, slowly start adding in a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil. I start with about 1 tablespoon and continue to add more as needed to get the nice ball of dough you'll want to see form in the hook of your mixer.

Once your ball has formed, take the dough out and place it on a floured surface and just knead it for a minute or two to loosen it up and shape it into one nice ball. I've found sometimes that if my dough doesn't always make that pretty ball in the mixer, I'll take the dough and set it on my floured surface and add a little tiny bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and knead it for 3-4 minutes. Sometimes, the dough can be finicky and just needs a little bit more love.

Take a bowl that is medium to large sized and spray it with cooking spray and then place your dough inside the bowl turning to coat. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and turn off your oven and place the bowl inside the oven and allow the dough to rise for at least 30 minutes, but longer is always better. You want the dough to be doubled in size.

When your dough has doubled in size, remove it from the oven, throw away the plastic wrap and punch it down with your fist.  Now, divide the dough into two halves.

Leave one half in the bowl and place the other half on your floured work space and begin rolling it out into a circle or whatever shape your heart desires. The great thing about this dough is your can roll it as thick or thin as you want and it will be delicious either way. We like our pizza pretty thin.  Then baste a light layer of Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the dough.

Now all you have to do is let your creativity run wild. The great thing about pizza is any topping will pretty much work.

When you have decorated your pizza, pop it into a 425-450 degree oven and let it bake for 8-15 minutes. The pizza is done when the edges are browned and the cheese is completely melted. Then slice it up and devour.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Source: Chels R.

Makes 2 lb. pizza dough

1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) Pizza Crust Yeast or you could use Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp honey

1 cup warm water

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 tsp Italian Seasoning

1-3 TB extra virgin olive oil, plus more for basting

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees. 

In a small bowl, mix together yeast, honey, and warm water. Let sit for a few minutes until yeast is bubbly. 

Using a mixer with dough hook, mix flours, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and Italian seasoning together. Add the yeast mixture and 1-2 TB of evoo to the bowl and mix on low till a dough starts to form. Once a dough starts to form, increase the speed just a smidge until a ball forms. If the dough is having a hard time grabbing all of the flour mixture, drizzle in a bit more evoo. Knead until a ball forms and pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.  Place dough on floured work surface and continue to knead for an additional few minutes and reshape into a ball form. 

Spray a medium-large sized bowl with non-stick spray and place the dough inside the bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap. Turn oven off and place bowl in oven for 30 minutes or more until dough has doubled in size.

When dough has doubled, remove from oven and punch the dough down with your fist. Divide the dough into two halves, leaving one half in the bowl.

Pre-heat oven to 425-450 degrees.

 On a floured surface place begin rolling out the dough into a circle until it's at your desired thickness. Decorate your pizza and cook in your pre-heated oven for 8-15 minutes. When the sides are browned and the cheese has melted it's done. Repeat process with 2nd half of dough or freeze. 

Vanilla Peppermint Fudge

I figured that since I was going to make fudge for the Crazy Cooking Challenge, I should at least make fudge that appeals to me, which means it can't contain nuts,  milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate at all! So what's left? White chocolate, of course!

This was the first recipe that actually called my name while I was on the fudge-searching adventure, and I am so glad I listened, because not only is this an incredibly easy fudge to make - it's a delicious one, too.

Since I had ended up making two batches of fudge for the crazy cooking challenge (this fudge and the Eggnog Fudge), I thought it would be nice to share. Isn't that what you're supposed to do with fudge? Share? Editor's note: No. So I brought my two fudge dishes to our church's annual Thanksgiving potluck and you know what, the kids were cutting in front of the adults in the serving line to get a piece of this fudge. I even found one kid just standing there eating it. I had to shoo him off to his mother, lol! Needless to say, I came home completely cleaned out!

I think it's safe to say now that I like fudge, but it's got to be the non-chocolatey and non-nutty kind of fudges. Like this one - it's perfect for a girl like me! :)

Vanilla Peppermint Fudge

Source: The girl who ate everything

1 (12 ounce) package of white chocolate chips or high quality white chocolate bar

1 (16 ounce) container of vanilla frosting

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

8 drops red food coloring

2 TB crushed peppermint candies or peppermint candy canes

Line an 8x8 pan with wax or parchment paper. 

Melt white chocolate chips or bars in a double boiler. Or you can melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. 

Stir in frosting into the white chocolate chips.

Stir in Peppermint extract.

Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Drop 8 drops of red food coloring evenly spaced on top of the fudge.

Using a knife, swirl the food coloring.

Sprinkle top of fudge with crushed peppermint candies and press down slightly.

Cool for about an hour in the fridge. 

Once firm, turn fudge onto cutting board and cut into small squares. 

Weekly Menu 12/12-12/18

I was thinking yesterday about my New Year resolution I had made at the beginning of the year. I wanted to take away the coffee and drink tea instead. But like most New Years resolutions, it stuck for maybe 2 days and I was back to drinking coffee again. I'm not sure what my resolution will be this year or if I will even try to have one. I normally can't stick to them anyways. Am I the only one who finds it hard to stick to something you plan on doing and doing it consistently?

If I do a resolution this year, maybe I'll just try and stick to my schedule of going to the gym 3 days a week ( which 3 days is a struggle) and have 3 blog posts a week as well. Since summer, I've had a hard time of making it to the gym all 3 days. I refuse to wake up at 4am and go to the gym because I know I will be a Crabby Patty for the rest of the day. So the only option I have is to go in the evenings when my husband gets home from work...which is an hour long drive for him; and he doesn't always get out of work on time. So to help combat issues that may arise, you might start noticing a few more crockpot posts during the week. As far as the blogging goes, I've recently just starting working out a really good scheduling system.  I've begun writing several posts all at once, scheduling them out, and then having Josh edit my writing. He is easily entertained by all the editing that has to be done, because after the first or second post of writing I've done, my grammar and punctuation start to make me sound like I've been drinking...which is definitely not the case. Hahaha!

The New Year is still a few weeks off, but it's never to early to start thinking about the things you might want to improve upon or change. But why you're thinking, why not take a gander at this week's menu.

Monday

Crockpot Taco Soup with cheese quesadillas

Tuesday

Pesto, Ricotta, and Cherry Tomato Pizza 

Wednesday

Chili Bean -Stuffed Peppers

Thursday

( Awana Night)

Apple, Cheddar,  and Bacon Monte Cristos

Friday

Chicken BBQ Sandwiches, Macaroni and Cheese, and Green Beans

Saturday

Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Sunday
Penne with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

Some of those are new recipes and some of those are old ones, but I'm excited about every one of them .:)

Desserts/ Etc

Assuming I can find these Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch Candies- I'm going to make these Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies for my hubby's lunch this week :)

If I can't find those candies, then I'll make him Holiday M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies.

What are you making this week?

Lentil Soup

Lentils is one of those foods I grew up on and happen to love (I can't say the same thing about onions though). I love lentils because they have this tendency to absorb whatever flavors are soaking into them. Not only are they a great protein, but they're also high in fiber and have the power to lower cholesterol. And...since one cup of lentils is about 230 calories, they are very kind to your waistline as well.

But, I think it is very important for me to tell you all that when I was growing up, my dad did not like lentils, which I thought was sad.  And, it is also equally important to tell you that my dear hubby also detests lentils. But, while I think it's sad with my dad, it's a completely different thing with my husband. I think he's nuts, and I don't care if he doesn't like them because I'm going to make him come to his senses and help him discover his love of lentils. He likes them, he just doesn't know it yet.

Let me let you in on a secret...the night I made this soup, he was not happy with me. He just couldn't understand why I would force him to eat a food he doesn't like. But ya know what, I got a "Not Bad. It's better than I thought it would be" from him! SCORE!!!! In my head, I was running around my living room doing the "Touch down victory dance." But I played it cool with him, and said, "See, I told you you would learn to like them."

I have yet to make my family-favorite lentil loaf for him. I'm going to give him a break for a few weeks, but soon, I can promise he will be eating another lentil dish and liking that one, too. :)

Lentil Soup

Source: Martha Stewart

3 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB tomato paste

1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 cans ( 14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth ( 3 1/2 cups)

1 TB red-wine vinegar

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a dutch oven ( or other 5qt pot with a tight fitting lid), cook bacon over medium-low heat until browned and crisp, 8-10 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat.

Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 secs. Stir in tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute. 

Add lentils, thyme, broth,  and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook on low until lentils are tender, 30-45minutes. Stir in vinegar, 1 1/2 tsps salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Serve immediately. 

EggNog Fudge: Crazy Cooking Challenge

Crazy Cooking Challenge #3

Fudge

I've got to be honest, when I first read what the cooking challenge was for this month, I was not excited. Fudge is not my thing at all! Editor's note: I like fudge. Not only am I not a fan of the texture and flavor of fudge, but I have never ever attempted to make it before. I had never even watched my mom make her fudge before! I was dreading this challenge, and the thought of dropping out did cross my mind at least once.

BUT...thank goodness Pinterest has popped up and caused such a craze, because it saved my life when I searched for Fudge! 

I had such a fun time making this fudge recipe. I had my sisters-in-law come over and help me out, we had a blast, and we ended up making two different Fudge recipes and then chose between the two. This recipe was the winner for this challenge. Not only was the fudge process not as hard as I thought it would be (BTW- thanks mom for loaning me your candy thermometer), but this fudge is actually quite delicious and very indulgent. I swear, it actually tastes like you're drinking eggnog from a glass! How good is that?! Since you're using eggnog to help make this fudge, this is a great use up of whatever is left in the fridge.  So, it's a frugal candy, too! :)

I ended up sharing this whole batch of fudge with my church last Sunday for our annual Thanksgiving Potluck, and the little bit that was left got eaten up at my husband's bank. I received a ton of rave reviews on this fudge, which thrilled me to no end, because that meant I didn't screw it up, lol! 

Trust me, this is an addition you are going to want to make for your holiday dinners with your family! :)

EggNog Fudge

Sourced from Recipe Girl

Servings: 20-40 fudges cubes

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: approx 1 hour+

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup dairy eggnog

10.5 ounces white chocolate bars, chopped into small pieces

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, plus a little more for the top of the fudge

once 7 ounce jar marshmallow creme

1 tsp rum extract

Directions

1. Line a 8 or 9-inch square pan with foil and let it hang over the sides. Butter the foil.
2. In a heavy, 3-qt saucepan combine sugar, butter, and eggnog. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 8-10 minutes over medium heat or until a candy thermemoter reaches 234 F, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat. 
3. Using a wooden spoon, work quickly to stir in chopped white chocolate and nutmeg until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in marshmallow creme and rum extract. Beat until well blended  and then pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with a little freshly ground nutmeg on top. Let stand at room temperature until cooled. Refrigerate if you'd like to speed up the process.
4. When completely cool, cut into squares. Store in covered container.

This recipe is also linked to:

Crumbs and Chaos' Seasonal Inspiration, Sweet as Sugar Cookies's Sweets for a Saturday, Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Weekly Menu 12/5-12/11

We finally got  99.9% of all our decorations up. We got our gorgeous Christmas tree on Saturday and did all of that decorating. On Sunday, we got our outside lights put up. And on Monday, my mom came over to help me decorate the inside of my home with some of the leftover swag from our Christmas tree.  We're doing Christmas this year at our house and I wanted the house festive and beautiful!

The fireplace mantel wasn't finished when I took that photo earlier this week and how do you like my Christmas Moose? It was my parents and they we're going to burn it because they didn't have a need for it anymore and the head no longer moves. But I wanted it ( I didn't care if the head moved or not), so my parents let me save it and now it has a home in my front yard. You can't beat free I tell ya! I felt so bad when my mom came over the other day to help me decorate, I somehow without me really planning it, started a Snowman collection and I have more snowmen than any other Christmas decoration. And the few other little doodads I have, are all little things that we're given to me or stuff I bought at Goodwill when Josh and I first got married. It's been a long time since I've bought Christmas decorations, so for this year, I'm making do with what I have. I know eventually, I'll probably be able to talk my mom out of some her's because she has more Christmas decorations than she knows what to do with and she doesn't really decorate anymore. I'm just waiting patiently till she lets me go through all of her stuff :) Her stuff is the kind go stuff I like; classy and cozy.

I still have a bit more decorating to do. I need Josh to hang the garland around my front door and then I need another wreath hook for a wreath I want to hang inside the house...but then I'm done! How about you?

Monday

We had leftover Texas Toast, so Josh turned it into French Toast with breakfast sausage that was ready for me when I got back from the gym :)

Tuesday

Homemade Pizza- Canadian Bacon and Pineapple

Wednesday

We're going grocery shopping tonight, so I'm going to take the Navy Bean Soup I made a few weeks ago and reheat it in the crockpot.

Thursday

(Awana Night)

Lime Chicken Tacos with these awesome new flavored tortillas I bought. I've been making these tacos for years and love love love them!

Friday 

Tuna Casserole with a fruit salad and bread & butter, the way my family always ate it

Saturday

Breaded Pork Chops with sage cream gravy, mashed parsnips and potatoes, and a garden salad. Are you shocked? Yes, I'm making an actual Pork dish...I hope it's good!

Sunday

One of my husband's favorite meals, Chicken Curry with rice and I'm still playing with a side dish...maybe rolls or something. 

It's been awhile since I've made the Chicken Curry for Josh. Last time I made it, I completely left out the rice, lol! He doesn't know I'm making it this week, so I'm sure he'll be in for a pleasant surprise when he reads this post later on.

Desserts & Etc

This week I'm going to try out my Ramekins. I'm so excited. I'm hoping to get to Ross later this week so I can pick up another set, because I only have 3 ramekins. :(

I'm also making yet another "new and holiday-ish" cookie this week!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Hot Chocolate Cookies

And I want to hear what your one Kitchen Wish List item your asking for this Christmas. It could be anything?

 In years past for me, it was a Kitchenaid Mixer. But now...if I could have anything...it would be a toss up between a Dutch Oven, Cast Iron Skillet, or a Grill Pan- the kind that go over the burners...that way we could make Burgers all year long :)

Chocolate Mint Cookies with Dark Chocolate & Mint Chips

I love making cookies. I think it might have something to do with my mom always having freshly baked cookies awaiting me and my brother when we would get home from school. When I was young, I would picture myself whipping up something fabulous in the kitchen and presenting them to my kids and husband and they would keep begging me for just one more cookie. I guess you can say my mom's baking left me with quite an impression.

These days, I'm baking cookies on an almost weekly basis for my husband's lunches and if we're having company over, I like to have cookies in the house for them as well. And with every batch of cookies I make, I always set aside about 4 of those cookies to pass on to my mom and dad to share too. It's like the ultimate reward if I get the cookie approval from my mom. My dad's approval is great too, but he is a simpleton and is perfectly happy with Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Last year when all the baking products were on sale, I went crazy with buying all kinds of different chocolate chip morsels. One of of the packages I bought was Nestle's dark chocolate and mint morsels.  That's right, I held onto that bag for an entire year before using it! I wanted the perfect recipe, but last year when I was on the hunt, I didn't see anything that I liked. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, because this year I found a recipe that had my husband, my mom, my sisters & brother ( in-laws), and my kids oohing and awing. Even my dad said they were good. And he's not a mint liking person.

I whipped these cookies up and fell in love and so did everyone else. I haven't been able to keep my husbands hand out of the cookie jar. It's not enough that he gets 3 or 4 of these babies in his lunch, but when he gets home, he goes straight for the cookie jar and grabs one...or two.  They are that good!

If you come across some of these bags of Nestle morsels, I highly recommend you buy as many packages as you can fit in your cart because they are a seasonal item and you should stock up while you can! That's an order! :)

Chocolate Mint Cookies with Dark Chocolate & Mint Chips

Source: Nutmeg Nanny

2 Cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup ( 2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp peppermint extract

2 large eggs

1 10-oz package Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. 

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. 

Beat butter, granulated suar, brown sugar, and vanilla and peppermint extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by a well-rounded TB onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 11-13 minutes, until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing and placing on wire racks to cool completely.

This Recipe is Linked to:

Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday, Crumbs and Chaos's Seasonal Inspiration, Comfy in the Kitchen's Fellowship Fridays, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday