.

1 can of pumpkin pie filling

1/2 tsp of of pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp of cinnamon 

1 tsp of vanilla

1 8oz brick of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup of butter softened (Not the spreadable. Use the brick meant for baking)

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

2 cups of icing sugar

1 tsp of cinnamon

Whatever kind of sprinkles or candy you want to decorate with

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box but add the pumpkin pie filling instead of the water

Add vanilla and cinnamon

Pour the batter into the cupcake liners. About 2/3 of the way full

Bake for 17-20 minutes

Let cool completely 

Combine all ingredients for the frosting except the icing sugar together 

Add icing sugar in 1 cup at a time until fully blended 

Decorate & enjoy! 

There's to many of my favorite things in this pasta I can barely handle it; Peppers, feta and penne. Helloooo tasty. 

The only ingredient that I didn't add was an onion and that's simply because I didn't have one. I probably would have used almost the entire onion if I had one on hand. I quite enjoy onion and garlic as you can tell. 

What you will need:

1 red pepper 

1 orange pepper

5-6 large mushrooms

4-5 cloves of garlic

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup of feta

1 jar of roasted garlic pasta sauce

3 cups of penne

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Directions:

Cook pasta following directions on package
Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to two frying pans. One small and one large.
Place on burner and turn each burner to medium heat
Cut up peppers and mushrooms into small pieces(see photo below) and place in a large frying pan
Mince cloves of garlic
Slice chicken breasts up into small chunks, place into smaller frying pan with garlic, stirring occasionally
Place pasta sauce in a small pot and turn it on low, stir often
Feta usually comes I'm large cubes so I would recommend cutting them up into smaller pieces
Drain the oil from the chicken and the vegetables
Drain water from the noodles
Combine all ingredients except the feta into the large frying pan
Sprinkle feta on top of finished product

*Note* - I can't remember that last time I used bacon bits from a jar and put them in a salad. Ew. I promise you that if you cook your own bacon and then slice it into little, tiny pieces, you will enjoy your salads so much more. Also, I cook my bacon on low until it's cooked but not crispy. I prefer soft bacon rather than stiff bacon. However, if you prefer your bacon crispy, then by all means turn the heat up and watch it burn. 

 Gummy goodness. 

 Chocolaty goodness. 

White chocolaty goodness.

Our microwave is on the fritz so I did this the old fashioned way. I realize this looks slightly ghetto however it does prevent the chocolate from getting all gross like it sometimes can if you don't stir it enough in the microwave. All you have to do is grab a big pot, add water, bring to rapid boil, place a frying pan on top of the pot with boiling water. I suggest using a frying pan that has a good, non-stick coating on it. 

 Add the white chocolate Chipits. 

 Stir. Keep stirring and mixing until the chocolate is smooth. 

Add the Gummy Bears & stir. 

 It should look something like this. 

Add wax paper over a cookie sheet. 

Place the mixture on top of the wax paper & pan. Smooth all over as flat as you can get it,  refrigerate for 2-3 hours and then smash it so it turns into bark-like pieces of goodness.

I have two favorite soups; Turkey and Vegetable soup and Carrot and Dill soup. I've only ever had these soups at one of the restaurants beside my work. I would take both of these soups over deep fried fish & chips and I love, love, love anything deep friend. Fish & chips especially. A little off topic but everywhere that Alex and I go, we always try their fish & chips before anything else. We're foodies. Kidding. 

I found a recipe for carrot and dill soup and I thought I had to try it. It turned out really good but I will say that the amount of dill required in the recipe, I will cut in half next time. (Anyone who knows me and is reading this, your jaw just dropped, didn't it?) (I also love dill anything for those of you who don't know me. Dill pickles especially!)

3 tbsp of olive oil

1 onion

1 2/3 pounds of carrots

1 sweet potato

Salt & pepper

4 sprigs of thyme (leaves removed or 1 tsp. of dried)

1 tbsp of honey

5 1/4 cups of chicken stock

2 tbsp of chopped dill (I reccomend 1 or 1.5)

1 tbsp of Italian parsley

I don't know who ever thought to mix carrot and dill together in a soup but whoever you are, you have my stamp of approval. 

Here's the recipe:

1 cup of coconut

1 cup of chopped walnuts

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups of powdered sugar

3/4 cup of chocolate chips

After going grocery shopping, I came home super excited to get my bake on. I open up the recipe and start reading the instructions only to find out that MORE ingredients are required.... The ingredients that are needed to make the box of chocolate cake which of course I don't have on hand. Here's a list of the additional ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cup of water or milk

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Luckily, I had oil & milk. Eggs on the other hand, I did not have. As a substitute(Thanks to my wonderful aunt for the solution) I used 1 tsp of baking powder per required egg. I also added a little bit of extra oil so that it would remain moist. Substituting other things for eggs is a first for me, so we'll see how it turns out. 

Almost all of the ingredients

Ceili decided she wanted in on this picture :)

As a side note, I would like to point out that I very rarely use pre made box cakes, cookies, etc... I usually make them by scratch. Today I have a lengthy to-do list so I may have cut a small corner. (Shhhhh)

Instructions:

Start by preheating the oven at 350 degrees & greasing a 9x13 inch pan, then sprinkle the cup of walnuts and the cup of coconut on the bottom of the pan, creating an even layer.



Following instructions on the back of the chocolate cake box, mix required ingredients(eggs, milk or water & oil), once that's done, pour the cake mix over the coconut and walnuts.


I love my cupcake spatula(Courtesy of Mom & Joey Christmas 2012)

In another bowl, mix together softened cream cheese, butter & vanilla with an electric mixer, gradually add in the icing sugar until smooth.



Take a large spoon and scoop out the mixture onto the cake mix making sure there is a once inch margin around the sides of the pan. This prevents it from bubbling over the edge of the pan.



Take a fork or butter knife and weave up and down the mixture in the pan making an s pattern so the chocolate and cream cheese mixture somewhat mix. Be careful not to push the fork or knife all the way to bottom so the coconut and walnuts stay on the bottom and don't get brought to the top. 

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and place in the over for about 35-40 minutes. The recipe I found said put it in the over for 50 minutes.... I took it out at 35 minutes and it was starting to burn.


Up close it's looking pretty good.



 I feel like I should give it another shot when I have eggs on hand and make it as it supposed to be made. I'm not a huge coconut fan either but I thought this just looked so delicious that it had to be good regardless of the coconut. That being said, I can always replace the coconut with Skor bits or something like that which I will probably do!