Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffin Tops

The weather is still warm, but I feel like fall! Today I wanted to use up some extra pumpkin, so I made these cookies. They tasted more cake-y or muffin-ish so I have picked a name to suit.


1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
(then I put just a dash each of nutmeg and cloves)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Additions: 1 cup raisins or chocolate chips or nuts. Just please don't pick raisins because they are so gross. It's like biting into a fly in the middle of your yummy cookie. Ewww!

Cream the first set of ingredients, add the second and then do any additions you want. The dough will be sticky. I found two spoons worked best for getting these on the baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 13 minutes.

This recipe isn't a 5 star for me yet. They needed a little more spice to them and maybe more oats just to give them more substance. They do taste super yummy with cream cheese frosting, though my poor daughter was so upset at me for skipping the chocolate chips.

I found a pretty similar recipe on foodista--you can try them both and let me know which one to make in the future. Happy fall, y'all!

Shredded Meaty Oreos

You read that right. According to Bryn, that's what we had for dinner. If they make fried Oreos, why not throw a little meat on top and make it a meal? Andrew was in a bit of shock when she told him that over the phone!

What we really had were shredded beef burritos.

Making Mexican style shredded beef is easy, but takes a lot of time. Break out the crock pot and follow this basic concept.

2 pound beef roast
3 or 4 cloves minced garlic
1 can petite diced tomatoes with green chilis
1 can red enchilada sauce
2 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t oregano

I like the sweet heat taste, so I will also throw in a little cayenne and then toward the end, a little bit of brown sugar. Leave it on the crock pot on high for 6 or so hours, until the meat shreds with a fork. Turn to low until you're ready to serve and the juicy goodness is all blended up. This is pretty versatile, so you can use regular tomatoes or rotel or just use tomato sauce and a can of green chilis, etc. You get the idea. This is a guideline recipe, instead of a follow it exactly recipe.

We had saffron rice, broccoli, and the burritos. Costco has some seriously tasty cook-it-yourself tortillas which we layered with cheese, shredded beef, green onions, cilantro and avacado. Yum!

And I do know the broccoli isn't very Mexican, but I bought one of those giant Costco bags so we've had it for the last five nights! (Hey Costco: I love you and hate you, at the same ti-iiiime...)

Zucchini Cornbread Bake

This is the yummiest and super easiest, hearty side dish. In fact it was so well loved at our house that we ate it all before I even took a picture, and I'll be sure to double this when I make it again.

The cast of characters:

2-3 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 t salt
1 package cornbread mix (I used the 6.5 ounce Betty Crocker)
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c corn kernels
2 eggs
1/4 t ground pepper
8 ounces shredded cheese

350 degrees for 1 hour. (Yes, really--one whole hour)

Salt the shredded zucchini, and let it sit in a colander to remove excess moisture. Then stir everything together, except for a handful of cheese. Pour into a well-greased pan and bake. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top for the last 15 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and eat the whole pan in ten minutes. You don't really have to do that part, but I'm telling you that you will want to.

This comes out with a texture more like polenta, but it holds together well for cutting into squares. My not quite as food savvy husband described this as being like quiche, but not like quiche. I like this because I think there's great versatility to work with. Add bacon or sausage and it's a breakfast casserole. Put in some cayenne and use pepper jack cheese and serve it with black bean soup.

Foodie news flash: The big O has become an expert egg cracker. This is exciting stuff, but it means he wants to make cake all the time now!