Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

24 November, 201528 November, 2015 ~ Grace ~ Leave a comment

I needed one more excuse to use my homemade pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin pie spice mix and this is a GREAT way to use both. I made pumpkin dip last year and followed a recipe with powdered sugar……it was WAY to sweet. So, this year I decided to come up with my own pumpkin dip. I was aiming for rich, creamy and naturally sweetened. It took me a couple tries to perfect it, and I’m excited to shared it with you just in time for Thanksgiving!

Rich, creamy, and sweetened with 100% maple syrup……yummmmm!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide

Ingredients

½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1¾ cups pumpkin puree or one 15 oz. can
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix
½ cup maple syrup
liquid stevia, powdered sugar (optional)
Graham crackers and apples for dipping

Instructions

Whip together the heavy cream and vanilla until soft peaks form.
In a separate bowl blend together the rest of the ingredients until smooth then fold in the whipped cream.
Give it a taste, if you think it needs to be sweeter you can add a little more maple syrup or stevia or a little powdered sugar. We usually add about 10 drops of liquid stevia, and that does the trick.

Fresh Raspberry Dessert Bars

8 July, 20159 January, 2018 ~ Grace ~ 10 Comments

This recipe was moved to our new blog: SufficientAcres.com.

Click here or on the picture to take you to the recipe!

This recipe was adapted from: That Skinny Chick Can Bake!

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

18 February, 201521 February, 2015 ~ Grace ~ 3 Comments

The other day Mary asked me what my favorite cookie is. Without much thought at all, I answered “Chocolate No Bake Cookies”. Then I wondered why the heck I don’t make these more often. Then I remembered how I can’t stop eating them and it’s probably good I don’t make them very often. Then I got the ingredients out and whipped up a batch. 🙂

Start by heating up butter, milk, cocoa powder, and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. (stirring constantly) Bring it to a boil and keep stirring for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add vanilla & peanut butter and stir until all the peanut butter has melted and is completely incorporated. Then pour into a big bowl with the oatmeal.

Stir together.

Then plop a spoon full at a time onto wax paper and let them cool. It will take 20 to 30 minutes.

These are sooo stinken easy to make!! It’s the perfect cookie to make with your kids. That’s probably why most people have fond childhood memories of these delicious, easy cookies. 🙂

5.0 from 1 reviews

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide

Ingredients

½ cup butter
½ cup milk
¼ cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup peanut butter
3 cups of oatmeal

Instructions

Heat the butter, milk, cocoa powder and sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Let it boil for 3 minutes while continuing to stir. Remove from the heat and add vanilla and peanut butter stir until peanut butter is melted and incorporated. Then pour into a big bowl with the oatmeal and stir. Drop a spoon full at a time onto waxed paper. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes.

Tip: Doing a little prep work before you start making these cookies is a good idea. I lay out my waxed paper and measure out the peanut butter and oatmeal ahead of time. Once you take your chocolate mixture off the heat you want to hurry and finish before your mixture gets to cool. If it cools to much you will end up with chocolate granola instead of cookies. Chocolate granola is tasty but a little frustrating when you were looking forward to cookies. 🙂

This post was shared at: The HomeAcre Hop – The Weekend Potluck – Simple Saturdays Blog Hop –

My Contributions to Thanksgiving Dinner and a Couple Confessions

18 November, 20134 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 13 Comments

I have a confession to make……I don’t like turkey. There,… I said it. Let me be clear though, I don’t HATE turkey, I just don’t favor it. I can eat it, especially in a casserole or on a sandwich. But when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, I want a big fat plate full of stuffing, a couple servings of salad, and then some more stuffing. Of course this is all after I have grazed on the veggie trays, fruit trays, deviled eggs, olives, and array of other “appetizers” that will be laying out on the counter before the turkey gets done. Needless to say by the time dinner is over I will be miserable and useless…..but I don’t think I’m alone here.

So, here are my non turkey contributions to Thanksgiving dinner this year. 🙂

Last week I shared a recipe for homemade thousand island dressing and promised to share my grandma’s special green salad to serve with it.

Just add some baby shrimp, a little crab meat, and some sliced olives to your greens.

Serve it with the homemade thousand island and…who needs turkey!?

At most family functions I bring the deviled eggs. Not because mine are exceptional or better than others, it’s simply because I HAVE TOO MANY EGGS! (Well,… and mine are fresh!) So that’s my second addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Note: If you also have nice fresh eggs and have a difficult time peeling them, click here to read my little “trick” on how to cook and easily peel farm fresh eggs. 🙂

My next contribution is an easy appetizer…maybe my favorite appetizer. I call them asparagus wraps.

They are simply softened cream cheese spread on a thin slice of ham wrapped around pickled asparagus….and they are DELICIOUS!

Last Thanksgiving I ran out of time and instead of making these ahead of time I took the supplies and made them after I got to my parents. They disappeared just as fast as I could make them.

Now for my next confession…..I’ve never made pumpkin pie. Actually I’ve only ever made one pie in my entire life and that was an apple pie. It was about ten years ago and it turned out kinda weird?? So this Thanksgiving I have decided to try my first ever pumpkin pie! I’ll be sure to take pictures and let you know how it turns out.

I am sooooo thankful that my parents now have a large, conveniently located house that is perfect for large family gatherings. This has not always been the case, and Thanksgiving dinners took place at our house. I think squished and crazy would be the best words to describe those gatherings. As I shared, turkey is not my favorite meal and therefore cooking one is not my idea of fun. The last Thanksgiving we hosted, I spent my morning rushing around cleaning, opening doors and windows to fan the smoke out from the ran over turkey drippings. Oh, and meanwhile Digger was in the bathroom with a small blow torch trying to melt the spilled wax out of the sink (but that’s a story for another post). I am much happier to make my additions to dinner at home, pack them in a cooler, and leave my messy house. Then I can enjoy a wonderful meal with our awesome (and large) family at my parents house….and I’m sure my moms home grown turkey will be wonderful…under tons of stuffing and gravy!

What are your contributions to Thanksgiving dinner? Do you have the privilege of hosting and cooking the turkey? If so, my prayers are with you. 😉

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalms 107:1

Award Winning Chocolate Chunk Brownies

14 August, 20132 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 31 Comments

In the past I have tried to share only recipes that are on the healthier side…this is not one of those! I feel compelled to share it with you though, because they REALLY are award winning brownies (not to mention easy and delicious).

In 2009 when Little Chef was 6 years old I asked her if she wanted to make some cookies and enter them into the fair. She said “no, I want to make brownies”. So we found a brownie recipe that looked easy enough for a six year old and she went to work (with a little help from mom). That year she brought home the huge purple “Top Of Show” ribbon. Over the past four years that recipe has become our “go to” dessert. If I need a dessert quickly this is the recipe I grab. I usually grab my daughter too and have her make them! (lots of grabbing going on, sorry) She never says no to making “her” brownies. 😉 So when her 4-H leader told us about “Food Activity Day” the natural recipe of choice was………..you guessed it, Chocolate Chunk Brownies. On food activity day the kids pick a recipe and bring everything they need to prepare that recipe (or meal). They set to work while the judge watches. When they are done and the kitchen is clean they get to share their food with the judge and answer any questions they have. My daughter was so excited about this day, and she had soooo much fun! She was asking if she could do it again next year before they even handed out the awards. 😀 She received reserve champion in the Junior class for her brownies and brought home another purple ribbon and a blue ribbon!

They are soooo soft, gooey, and chocolaty rich, and they just melt in your mouth!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Award Winning Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Author: Little Chef adapted this recipe from the Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 cup butter - melted
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs - slightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup simi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

In a large bowl add the sugar, vanilla, and eggs to the warm melted butter and blend well. Add flour, cocoa and salt; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a greased 13X9-inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until set. Let cool for at least 1 hour or until completely cooled before cutting into bars.

As you can see this is not a healthy recipe but definitely worth sharing. 🙂 Well….maybe I just wanted to brag about my Little Chef, that’s not so little any more.

Healthy Homemade Blueberry Muffins

7 August, 20132 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 14 Comments

Berries seem to be everywhere right now, and muffins are a weakness of mine so we’ve been eating lots of them lately. A couple weeks ago I shared a Fresh Raspberry Muffin recipe that used our homegrown raspberries. The girls and I made several batches, but now the bushes are pretty much picked clean. Sadly we don’t have any blueberry bushes (yet), but I did find some for a very good price the other day so I bought LOTS! I found this blueberry muffin recipe about a month ago and they looked sooooo delicious I couldn’t wait to try them! I made a few minor alterations to the recipe and oh yum, yum, yum!

In a big bowl stir together the milk (any kind will work), melted butter or coconut oil, egg, vanilla and sugar. Then mix in the flour, baking power, and salt.

Gently fold in the blueberries. We used fresh berries but frozen would work too. Fill greased muffin tins two thirds full (this makes about 10 muffins). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

They went really well with my iced coffee. 😀

Healthy Homemade Blueberry Muffins

Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide adapted this recipe from Angela at Hickory Trails

Cuisine: For breakfast or a snack

Serves: 10

Ingredients

¾ cup milk - any kind of milk will work
¼ cup melted butter or coconut oil or olive oil if you prefer
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup organic sugar or sucanat
¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen

Instructions

Stir together the milk, butter, egg, vanilla, and sugar. When it's nice and smooth mix in the flours, baking powder, and salt. Then gently fold in the blueberries. Fill greased muffin tins about two thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. This will make about 10 muffins and can easily be doubled if you want more.

I’m going to make a dairy free version of these for my mom and sister by using almond milk and coconut oil. I love recipes that you can easily substitute ingredients for people with allergies!

This recipe was adapted from Angela at Hickory Trails. She took some amazing pictures of her muffins; you should check out her blog!

Fresh Raspberry Breakfast Muffins

24 July, 20134 March, 2018 ~ Grace ~ 36 Comments

This recipe has been moved to our new blog SufficientAcres.com. Click here or on the picture to take you to the recipe.

An easy breakfast or healthy snack with berries strait from the garden….yummmm!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie – Sugar Free

26 June, 20131 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 6 Comments

Summer is finally here! We enjoy smoothies all year, but they seem to be especially good on hot days. So to celebrate the beginning of summer I’m sharing one of our favorite smoothies,(the girls have been making these daily!) The best part is I don’t mind them having one everyday, they are a pretty healthy snack, especially if you have organic ingredients. 🙂

5.0 from 2 reviews

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie - Sugar Free

This makes enough for one adult size smoothy or two kid size smoothies. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide

Recipe type: Smoothy

Ingredients

¾ of a cup of milk (any kind of milk)
1 frozen banana
1½ tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ice cubes
2 tablespoons peanut butter
5 to 7 drops of liquid stevia - we use the chocolate flavored (If you don't use stevia any sweetener will work, honey, maple syrup, sucanat ect....)

Instructions

Put all the ingredients in a blender and push the liquify button, blend until you have a nice smoothy consistency. It takes about 30 seconds in my blender.

This is a very versatile recipe; if you can’t have peanuts just leave out the peanut butter, it’s still yummy. If you need dairy free, you can use a different milk. I have used almond milk and rice milk and both worked great.

An easy, healthy, summer treat with chocolate and peanut butter….how could you go wrong? Yummmm!!

Happy Summer Everyone!

The Perfect Eggs for Breakfast Sandwiches

6 May, 20131 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 18 Comments

I know, I know, you’ve all seen this trick of cooking eggs in muffins tins. It’s a great idea, don’t you think? Our family has been enjoying these allot! The only thing I do differently is cook them in a JUMBO muffin tin. They are bigger around and fit PERFECTLY on English muffins and biscuits.

Crack eggs into jumbo muffin cups (grease them first) add salt and pepper and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes and you have the perfect eggs for those yummy breakfast sandwiches.

Here are some that we’ve been enjoying….the possibilities are endless!!

This is a toasted, sour dough English muffin with cheddar cheese, bacon and a perfect egg!

Click here for an easy, mess free way to cook bacon!

This is a toasted, whole wheat English muffin with egg and cheese. I had to make my 8 year old stop eating so I could get this picture. She wasn’t very patient for some reason??

This is a homemade whole wheat biscuit with a sausage patty made with my homemade breakfast sausage seasoning and a perfect egg!

Banana Grilled Cheese Sandwich

27 April, 20131 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 1 Comment

“Banana Grilled Cheese Sandwich” sounds a little weird huh? I was going to call them “Delicious Banana Bread and Cream Cheese Grilled Sandwiches” but that’s to long, and Jo likes to call them “Funky Monkey Sandwiches”. You can call them whatever you want, but the name that best describes them is “Awesome Deliciousness”!

Start with your favorite banana bread. I used my recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, omitted the chocolate chips and baked it in a loaf pan at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. It turned out great, and I like that there is no sugar in this recipe.

This is just like making a regular grilled cheese sandwich except you are using banana bread and cream cheese. We add a little stevia to softened cream cheese. You could use honey, maple syrup, sugar, or whatever sweetener you prefer. My recipe for Homemade Honey Whipped Cream Cheese would work great for these.