Pineapple Fluff

Not long ago, my Sunday School class had a little potluck after church.

One of my friends told us she would be bringing "Pineapple Fluff". 

I have to admit.

I am not normally a big fruit eater...in desserts. I like fruits alone. Just not in desserts. Usually it isn't a dessert to me unless chocolate is involved.

But I decided to take one little taste (to be polite).

But one taste turned to another and another and another.

I wanted to eat the whole pan!

Well, not the pan, but the contents of the pan.

Oh yum.

I begged for the recipe.  Okay, I really asked but begged sounds so much more dramatic.

And my friend shared the one she used.  She had gotten it from Pinterest. 

So I have made it.  Twice.  In like a week and a half.

Not for me...always for someone else.

Though I wish it were for me sometimes.

Or all of the time.

So here is the recipe. 

Ingredients for the "fluff":
1 box cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 20oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 container Cool Whip

Directions:
Cream the cream cheese and sugar together until fluffy.

Add in the pineapple and Cool Whip and mix together (I used my electric mixer).

Chill until ready to serve.

Ingredients for the "crunch":
1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels (I just put some in a ziplock bag and hammered away with my meat tenderizer tool.
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
Mix pretzels, butter, and sugar together.  (I just used a spoon/spatula)

Spread into a 13x9 dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Press the pretzel mixture into the dish.

Bake at 400 for 7 minutes.

Once it has cooled, break apart and toss into the "fluff".

Note:  I do this part as last minute as possible to keep it crunchy as long as possible.

Enjoy!

Reba

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

You may remember that I love pumpkin.  Especially pumpkin muffins. I used to make them all of the time.  A cake mix, a bag of cinnamon chips, a can of pumpkin.

That was it.

Except those cinnamon chips...they have dyes in them.  Evil dyes (at least for one of my kids).

And the cake mix? Full of preservatives/artificials...which we also cannot have.

So my pumpkin muffin baking days came to an end.

However, I find myself STILL craving some pumpkin muffins.

So not long ago I did a recipe search.

And I happened upon this.

So a couple nights ago, I decided to just make them.  (I baked them at night since they would take a while.  I have been keeping them in the fridge, and we heat them in the microwave as needed)

And they are rather tasty.

Not as easy or as simple as the ones I used to make, but that hasn't stopped me from eating them.  I mean, these have a crumb coating. You can't go wrong with that!

Ingredients:
Filling
8 oz cream cheese block (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Note-While the cream cheese definitely adds to this muffin, next time I will probably halve all of these ingredients so not have quite so much cream cheese involved.

Muffins
2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar (granulated)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I didn't have any and left it out...it was fine without it)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin (I just used one regular size can)

3 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter (melted)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Filling-  Combine the cream cheese fillings in a bowl and beat (I used my little hand mixer) until smooth.  Place on a large sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a "log".  Place in the freezer for about an hour. 

Topping:  Just before removing the cream cheese from the freezer, put the topping ingredients in a bowl.  Use a fork to mix it.  It will form little clumps.  Resist just sitting and eating the topping...good stuff.

Muffins:  Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin tin with liners.  This recipe easily makes 16.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices/salt) in a large bowl.  Stir together.

In another bowl, combine "wet" ingredients (pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla).

Make a "well" in the middle of the dry ingredients.  Pour "wet" ingredients into the hole.  Stir all ingredients together until mixed.  Do NOT over mix.

Add about 2 Tbsp of muffin batter to each muffin liner. 

Slice the cream cheese log into 16 equal size pieces.  Like I said, I think next time I will half that...it is a lot of cream cheese :).  Place a cream cheese "slice" in the middle of each muffin liner.

Top the cream cheese with remaining muffin batter.

Sprinkle the topping on top, pressing it down to ensure it sticks.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Ham and Egg Cups

 I try to have a "breakfast for dinner" at least once every other week if not more. It gives us a break from a heavier meal. Plus the kids LOVE it.  Especially pancake or waffle night.

But sometimes I just want to have some eggs.

I kept seeing these ham/egg "cups" on Facebook.  I thought they looked like fun so I decided we would have them earlier this week.

And they were fun.

For the most part they were well liked too.  I have one non-eater who (bless her heart) tried REALLY hard to eat it. She just couldn't do it.  She did eat the ham though.  The egg was too much for her. Thankfully I also used homemade bread to make toast and we had some fruit, so she didn't go hungry.

Oh, and these are EASY. They would make a great breakfast or brunch food and would be wonderful for those "brunch" type baby or wedding showers. They are kind of elegant looking (not that you can tell looking at my pictures:) and easy to eat with the hands.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound (or so) of deli sliced ham (mine was kind of a cross between thick and thin so I just used one slice per "cup".  For thin, I would use two)

eggs (one per cup depending on how much you want to make)

shredded cheddar cheese of your choice (or whatever cheese you prefer)

chives

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Spray the cups of a muffin tin.

Push a slice or two (depending on thickness) of ham into each cup to conform to the "cup" shape.

Break open an egg in each "cup".

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Top with cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes (until whites of egg have set except that is hard to see under the cheese :).

Sprinkle chives on top.

Enjoy.

The only change I would make is possible scrambling a few of the eggs next time in the cups because my hubby doesn't care for the yolk all in one piece. He would rather it all be mixed together. :)

Otherwise, it was a hit with my egg eaters.

Kind of a nice twist on eggs and cheese.

Enjoy!

Reba

Sausage Egg Casserole

I know, I know, almost everyone has a recipe similar to this. But I am going to post it anyway. If anything, just so if I ever lose mine, I will know where to find it. :)

Oh, the brown spot? That is the sausage. For whatever reason, I am missing a piece of cheese. I don't know why.

We had this (and pumpkin muffins) for Easter breakfast. The nice thing about this casserole is that it needs to be prepared the night before. Then you just get up in the morning and stick it in the oven.

My kids will eat it sometimes though they are not really sausage eaters. We eat bacon more often.

Mark and I like it though. And it is a great dish to take for a brunch.

Anyway, here it is...

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread
1 pound sausage
6 eggs
1 cup milk
6 slices American cheese (or 1 cup grated cheddar cheese or Colby)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Line a greased 11x7 inch dish with bread slices (cut when necessary).

Fry sausage, drain.

Spread sausage over the bread slices.

Cover the sausage with cheese slices. (Don't forget one like I apparently did)

Beat eggs, milk, dry mustard, and salt. Pour over cheese.

Refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Happy cooking!
Reba