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Pumpkin Raisinets Streusel Top Muffins Recipe and Coupon!

October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Because I am a Nestle Family Blogger, occasionally I get to peek behind the scenes and see what’s new for the coming Season.  This time,  I get to share it with you!  If you are looking for a great way to Welcome Fall into your kitchen, check out this recipe for Pumpkin Raisinets Streusel Top Muffins!

Pumpkin Raisinets Streusel Top Muffins
(Makes 24 muffins)

MUFFINS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 ounces) LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
¼ cup orange or apple juice or water
1 bag (11 ounces) NESTLÉ RAISINETS Milk Chocolate-Covered Raisins

STREUSEL TOPPING
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

PREHEAT oven to 350º F. Grease or paper-line 24 muffin cups.

FOR MUFFINS:
COMBINE flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine pumpkin, eggs, oil and orange juice in medium bowl; mix well. Stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in Raisinets. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling three-fourths full.

FOR STREUSEL TOPPING:
COMBINE sugar, flour and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over muffin batter.

BAKE for 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.

Enjoy!  To help you with your recipe, don’t forget to take advantage of this $1.00 off coupon for Raisinets!

Thanks to Nestle Family for this amazing recipe which will be featured on meals.com in the coming days!  I have not been compensated in any way for this post.
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Pressure Cooker Meat Sauce Recipe

September 27, 2011 By 5 Comments

When I got married, my mother-in-law gave us a pressure cooker as a wedding gift.  It looked completely foreign and frankly a little bit scary.  Cooking with heat and pressure and my novice ability in the kitchen was surely a recipe for disaster. But, she assured me that in time, it would become my best friend…and she was right!  Making incredibly tasty meals in a matter of minutes is very appealing given my lack of available time.  So, I thought I would share an easy recipe for delicious meatsauce and spaghetti made entirely in our now very worn pressure cooker.

What you Need:

  • 1lb ground beef
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1 diced green pepper
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 6 oz. can tomato paste
  • 1/8 tsp. red pepper
  • 1 tsp. parsley flakes
  • 1/2 tsp. oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. sweet basil
  • 1/4 tsp. thyme
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 3 drops Tabasco sauce

How to Make It:

Brown ground beef and drain.  Add all ingredients (except tomato paste).  Close cover and cook on medium heat for 8 minutes after the pressure cooker regulator starts rocking.  Remove cooker from heat and cool under cold water for 30 seconds to one minute.  When pressure decreases, open cooker and add tomato paste.  Simmer uncovered to desired thickness.

Serves 6.

We love making this recipe because it is a great way to sneak extra vegetables and fiber into the diet of my two picky eaters.  One way is to use the new Piccolini Rich in Fiber-White pasta.  It looks and tastes just like regular pasta but is packed with three times the fiber and provides 30% of your daily whole grains per serving!  You can find Piccolini in mini penne, mini rotini and mini conchigle-shells.  Get more great tips by following Piccolini on Twitter!

piccolini

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla Piccolini.  All opinions remain 100% mine.
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“Slap Ya Mama” Hot Bacon Dip Recipe

September 5, 2011 By 8 Comments

Our boys in Black and Gold play this Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers and the whole City is gearing up for some infamous parties!  Here in New Orleans, the centerpiece of our parties isn’t the football….it’s the food!

One of the staples in our repertoire was given to me by one of my best friends (and Experimental Mommy product reviewer), Jennifer.  She calls it:

Slap Ya Mama Hot Bacon Dip

What you need:

  • 1 bread bowl
  • 8 oz. sour cream
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 2+ cups of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3 stalks green onion
  • 1 bag of Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits

How to Make it:

Mixture before baking

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Cut off top of bread bowl and hollow out carefully.  Mix cream cheese, sour cream and 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese.  Add bacon and chopped green onion.  Place mixture in bread bowl and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Top with a little extra shredded cheddar and return to over until melted.

Serve with crackers.

It’s so good you will want to “Slap Ya Mama!”  What are some of your favorite football foods?

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Easy Back to School Banana Breakfast Bread Recipe

August 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We start school in about a week.  (cue sad music)  It’s time to start thinking school supplies, uniforms, freshly sharpened pencils…..and mass morning chaos.  I have to have the kids out the door no later than 7:10 am (cue even sadder music) and so breakfast is always something I need to have ready in a hurry so they can grab it and run.  A great alternative to super-sugary toaster pastries?  Banana Breakfast Bread.  It takes minutes to prepare (an hour to bake so do it the night before), stores easily, and the kids love it.  Let me know if you try it!  Or, if you have any healthy and quick breakfast ideas that your kids love, please share!

My kids like it warmed up in the microwave with a little butter....of course!

Banana Breakfast Bread

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Here’s how to make it: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.  In a large  bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.  Then add the other ingredients and mix until blended….don’t overmix!  Pour into pan and bake about an hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Enjoy!

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Perfect Summer Dessert – Lemon Icebox Pie

June 9, 2011 By 6 Comments
Louisiana. 9:30 am. That’s how we roll.

It might be a  Southern thing that when it gets hot, we think about certain foods.  Or maybe that’s just a foodie thing?  Anyway, I have shared quite a few of my Granny’s famous recipes with you in the last year or so, and Lemon Icebox Pie is one of her standbys that CANNOT be topped.  She made them every summer and now I make them too.   It’s so easy, even if you can’t boil water, you can do it.   It’s my all-time fave, and this statement is from someone who loves chocolate so much she’d marry it.  Anyway, it’s NOT Lemon Meringue…don’t even pretend to compare it to that….it’s 1,000 times better.

What makes Lemon Icebox the best pie you’ve ever eaten in your life is condensed milk……liquid Heaven in this house.   Granny taught us from day one the BEST part about any recipe using condensed milk is getting to eat a little bit of it (or a lot of it)  on a spoon after you’ve opened the can.  Don’t leave that step out.  It’s essential.

Ahhhh. Perfection.Here’s what you need:

One graham cracker crust (pre-made is just fine)

3 eggs

1 can condensed milk (14 ounce)

5 Teaspoons Sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Carefully crack eggs and separate them, placing the whites in a clean, dry bowl and the yolks in another.  To the yolks, add condensed milk and lemon juice.  Stir with a fork or whisk until combined.  Pour this mixture into the pie crust.  Place pie in oven and immediately proceed to next step.  Beat reserved egg whites until stiff to make a meringue and add sugar.  Remove pie from oven (you are only leaving it in for as long as it takes to whip your egg whites) and spread meringue on top.  Use your knife to make nice swirls and peaks so it looks nice and pretty.  Return to oven and keep watching it.  Remove from oven when peaks of meringe start to brown.  Chill completely and keep pie in fridge.

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Valentine’s Day Cookie Ball Recipe from Kraft

February 10, 2011 By 2 Comments

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, have you come up with a fun way to show your loved ones just how much you care?  Because I am not exactly known for being a great chef, I want to surprise my daughters with a special treat such as these Valentine’s Day Cookie Balls!

A fun, no-bake treat perfect for Valentine’s Day, these exclusive Cookie Ball recipes and decorating tips are all about presentation! With love-infused recipes like Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookie Balls or decorating tips to create Conversation Hearts, these yummy desserts are a cute addition to any meal on Valentine’s Day. Whether you choose to make these for your partner, with your kids, or even for a few guests, these Cookie Ball treats are a great way to celebrate the holiday.

Lovesick Cookie Balls

1. Prepare OREO Cookie Balls or any other Cookie Balls recipe. Refrigerate until firm.

2. Meanwhile, cut each JET PUFFED MARSHMALLOW crosswise into 4 slices. Cut small notch out of each slice for each pair of feet.

3. Dip sticky side(s) of each marshmallow slice in colored sugar.

4. Attach 1 cookie ball to sugar-coated side of each marshmallow slice with small amount of melted chocolate, allowing feet to stick out from bottom of each ball.

5. Decorate with assorted candies, chow mein noodles, tinted melted BAKER’S White Chocolate, melted BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, JET PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows, toasted BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, Mini OREO Bite Size Chocolate Cookies or Mini NUTTER BUTTER Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies as desired.

Note: To decorate balls with piped chocolate, melt BAKER’S White Chocolate as directed on package; tint with desired colored food coloring(s), adding 1 drop food coloring for each square of chocolate. Pour melted chocolate into resealable bag; seal bag. Cut small corner off bottom of bag; use to pipe chocolate onto balls as desired.

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Cupid Approved Treats by Hershey’s!

February 7, 2011 By 2 Comments

As Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, I have received letters from both my daughter’s teachers outlining the day’s activities including how many Valentine’s we should bring for the class.  Both of my daughters love to create personalized cards for family and friends, so it is only natural that they want to start coloring, cutting, pasting and glittering cards for their classmates.  However, this year, they want to include something extra special….chocolate!  If you know me, it is no surprise that my daughters love chocolate, too, so I am eager to help fulfill their request!

Hershey’s, the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America, has created an incredible line of Valentine’s Day chocolates perfect for gift giving!  Many of the snack sized treats such as the Kit Kat Wafer Bar or Reese’s Peanut Butter Heart, have a section for writing a love note or name of your Valentine directly on the package.  And who can resist the many varieties of Hershey’s KISSES?  In festive foils, you can surprise your office mates with a vase full of caramel, cherry cordial or almond KISSES!  In my office, the most popular desk is the one with chocolate!

Looking to get creative this holiday?  Hershey’s helps by providing some taste tested yummy recipes (I have seen the test kitchens and know the recipes that come out are phenomenal!) such as these divine Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes! Go ahead, you know you want to try them:

What you Need:
  • Hershey's recipeCHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST(recipe follows)
  • 1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
  • 3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • CHOCOLATE GLAZE(recipe follows)
How to Make it:

1. Heat oven to 300°F. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups or spray with vegetable cooking spray.* Press about 1 tablespoonful CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST mixture onto bottom of each cup.

2. Stir together cocoa and 1/4 cup butter. Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in cocoa mixture. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Fill muffin cups with batter.

3. Bake 35 minutes or until set. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Refrigerate. Before serving, spread with CHOCOLATE GLAZE. Allow to set. Serve at room temperature. About 24 mini cheesecakes.

CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST: Stir together 1-1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 wafers, crushed), 6 tablespoons HERSHEY’S Cocoa, 6 tablespoons powdered sugar and 6 tablespoons melted butter or margarine in medium bowl.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips with 1 cup (1/2 pt.) whipping cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Use immediately. About 2 cups glaze.

*If vegetable cooking spray is used, cool baked cheesecakes. Freeze 15 minutes; remove with narrow spatula.

No matter how you plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Hershey’s has something to satisfy every sweet tooth!  Check out all the Valentine’s Day recipes, crafts and products before Cupid steals them all!

This post is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy.  Hershey’s provided product to facilitate this review, but all opinions remain 100% mine.
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Easy (and Yummy!) Stuffed Shells Recipe

January 20, 2011 By 5 Comments

I am always looking for dinners that I can make ahead and pull out of the freezer.  Our weeknights tend to get so jammed up with homework and sports practices and I refuse to become a fast-food family.  Last year I found this recipe for stuffed shells and have made it countless times and shared with quite a few friends.  While making it this week, I decided to share it with all of you!  And let’s face it, we all know Bridgette needs some ideas in the kitchen!  :)  

PS:  It’s meatless, so this is great for those of us who observe Lent!  It’s coming up!  Even better, it makes a bunch, so you will have plenty for leftovers! 

EASY STUFFED SHELLS

What you need:
  •  1 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta shells
  • 2 (10-ounce) packages chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 3 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1 large egg, well beaten
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 (24-ounce) jars marinara sauce, divided
How to Make It:

Easy Stuffed ShellsIn a large stockpot, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add shells. Cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

  1. In a large bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella, egg, garlic, and Italian seasoning, stirring well. Spoon spinach mixture into shells.
  2. Pour 1 jar marinara sauce into the bottom of a 15-x-11-x-2-inch baking dish. Arrange stuffed shells on top of sauce. Top with remaining 1 jar marinara sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1.5 cups mozzarella.*
  3. Preheat oven to 350°.
  4. Cover and bake until cooked through, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove cover and bake until cheese is bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.
Note: *If you’re making this dish ahead, cover it and freeze it at this point. Thaw in refrigerator overnight before baking.
Happy eating!
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How to Make your Own New Orleans King Cake

January 9, 2011 By 14 Comments

In New Orleans, a lot of our time is measured in seasons….Football season, Advent Season, Crawfish season, and King Cake Season.  Starting January 6th (Twelfth Night) until the day of Mardi Gras, you can typically buy a King Cake anywhere, from the fanciest of bakeries to the regular grocery store.  A few years ago, I decided to get adventurous and make one with the kids.  It was something they enjoyed so much we do it every year.  It’s time consuming but not difficult, and definitely worth the effort.   Now you can get a little NOLA in your kitchen, too!

What you Need:
  • 1/4 cup butter or margarine
  • 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F.)
  • 2 eggs
  • 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

To Decorate the king cake you will also need:

  • Powdered sugar, about 2 cups or so, mixed with a few Tablespoons of milk and stirred until smooth and spreadable (I like mine just thin enough to pour on)
  • Colored sugar (Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold)
  • Small plastic baby (this represents Baby Jesus) or dry bean if you can’t find a baby.
How to Make it:
Cook butter or margarine, sour cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Cool mixture to 100 degrees to 110 degrees F.

Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs, and 2 cups flour; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Stir together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

Punch dough down; divide in half. Turn 1 portion out onto a lightly floured surface; roll to a 28- x 10-inch rectangle. Spread half each of cinnamon mixture and softened butter on dough. Roll dough, jellyroll fashion, starting at long side. Place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends together to form an oval ring, moistening and pinching edges together to seal. Repeat with remaining dough, cinnamon mixture, and butter.

Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Decorate with Frosting and Colored Sugars.   Hide the baby under (or in) one of the slices.  Serve!

Whoever gets the baby has to buy (or make) the next King Cake!

Happy Mardi Gras!

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Hershey’s Cookie Exchange {Giveaway}

December 15, 2010 By
Hershey's Test Kitchen

Baking at Hershey's Test Kitchens

There’s just something about the holidays that makes me want to be in the kitchen creating yummy treats for my friends and family.  Unfortunately, I am so not capable of doing anything edible.  However, I think my skill was bumped up a notch after visiting the Hershey’s test kitchens last week!  I think the incredible people that develop the recipes at Hershey’s were shocked to find out that I had basically no baking experience.  They were so nice and taught me many tips and tricks for navigating the kitchen and making the perfect cookie.

Before this trip (which you will hear a LOT more about in the days to come), I would have never, and I mean NEVER, attempted to make cookies as teacher gifts for the holidays and certainly never hosted a cookie exchange.  But with my confidence at an all time high and armed with the best Hershey’s products, I decided to bake.  Shocked?  Anxious to see how it turned out?  Along with the help of my daughter, we decided to bake the KISSES Cocoa Cookies and the Reese’s Chewy Chocolate Cookies.  Wanna try?

Reese’s Chewy Chocolate Cookies

What you Need:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/4 cups butter or margarine
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2  eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-2/3 cups REESE’S Peanut Butter Chips
How to Make It:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. I used a hand mixer, but a stand mixer would have been infinitely easier.

3. Stir in peanut butter chips (I used my hands to mix them in!). Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes about 4-1/2 dozen cookies.

The results?  FA-BU-LOUS.  My daughter and I had such a great time making the cookies together and they were indeed edible! Score! You really have to try this and any other recipe at HersheysCookies.com.  If I can do it, it will be a piece of cake for you!  While you are there, make sure you enter to win one of two $10,000 kitchen makeovers (one for you and one for a friend…or me…LOL!).

GIVEAWAY

Do you want to try a few of the recipes and have a cookie exchange of your very own?  Hershey’s will generously provide one reader with the following prize pack:

  • Branded Hershey’s Canister Set
  • Hershey’s Cookies Holiday Apron
  • 3 bags of assorted Hershey’s Baking Chips
  • 2 bags of Hershey’s Kisses Brand Milk Chocolates
  • 1 canister of Hershey’s Cocoa
  • Branded Hershey’s Cookie Timer
  • Set of Hershey’s Recipe Cards
  • 2 Hershey’s Baking Boxes

How to enter:

1. Visit HersheysCookies.com and tell me what makes your mouth water?!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and HersheysCookies.com (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Hershey’s Kisses on Facebook.

5. Place my blog banner on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on December 29th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This product review is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy. Others may have a different experience. Hershey’s supplied me with a sample for review, but all opinions are 100% mine.
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