~ Pumpkin Bread ~

 I made this a few weeks ago and used mini muffin pans, i.e., bite size muffins for a nice little treat. 

And since it is the season for pumpkins with Halloween coming up..why not enjoy some yourself?

Here's what you need: Pumpkin Bread mix, eggs, vegetable oil (I use olive oil), water, and 8 oz can of pumpkin

 Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer, mix 8 oz can of pumpkin, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup water and contents of the bag. 

 The next directions indicate to pour into greased 9 x 5 loaf pan, but I placed the batter all in mini muffin pans. Then place in oven and bake. The loaf indicates 50-60 minutes, but my muffins were about 20 minutes.

 

Optional: Drizzle with glaze made of powdered sugar and a little water. Here they are cooling on a rack! I froze some of these to have for breakfast when I want something a little different yet home made.

~ Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies ~

I was in the mood for cookies and made these last week. 

 What is needed: Package of Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies, butter, egg, vanilla

 Directions: Mix 3/4 cup melted butter or margarine (I use butter), 1 slightly beaten egg, 1 tsp of vanilla and the cookie mix until well blended.

 Shape into 1 inch balls

 Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until done.

Cool on baking sheet. Makes 3 dozen cookies.  These are chewy, tasty cookies and did not last long! (I did not use the raisins as I do not like raisins in cookies - one of my quirky 'do not like' things...hey hubby has a lot longer list of what he doesn't eat than I do! :)

~ Spicy Saltine Cracker Mix ~

Here is the last thing I made for the get together we had...this is so...easy..

What you need: 1- 16 oz box of saltine crackers or 16 oz of oyster crackers (I used oyster crackers), vegetable oil and contents of Spicy Saltine Cracker Mix

 Directions: Pour 1 box of crackers into a 2 gallon resealable storage bag. I did not have any bags so I just used my large Tupperware container (w lid). Mix together..

...  1 1/4 cups vegetable oil and the contents of package...

...and pour over crackers. Seal bag and tumble constantly until all crackers seem coated. In my case I placed the lid on my container and shook it.  Let sit for 15-30 minutes for best results (this lets the flavor soak in better). I just stored the remainder this way as well after we served it as we had some left over.

This is spicy and was perfect as a side!  Great for a party snack too!

~ Pasta Salad with Wheat Noodles ~

Here is another quick, easy to make dish that we served when our friends came over that evening a few weeks ago.  

  Here is what is needed Pasta Salad with Wheat Noodles package, water, and mayonnaise

  Directions: Bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Pour noodle mix into boiling/water and continue to boil for 9 minutes.

 

 

 Meanwhile, mix 1/3 cup of mayonnaise with the seasoning mix.

Drain noodles, and then stir noodles and the mayonnaise mixture together. Enjoy warm or chilled. I chilled this dish in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving, but did taste it when it warm and it is great either way!

~ Spinach Dip Mix ~

We had friends over last night for a Southern Belle Gourmet hodgepodge!  I was thinking about what to have yesterday morning not wanting to go to a lot of bother to cook any elaborate dinner.  

So I opened my SouthernBelleGourmet cupboard and saw right away three, easy to make dishes to have!  I will post them one at a time, but let me say they were are easy, delicious and a hit with our friends!  

I also had meatballs/pasta sauce in the crock pot and used some of the pita pockets for little meatball pocket sandwiches.  Also had strawberries, cherries and grapes with cool whip for dipping.  What a yummy yet relaxing, non-stressful get together!

Spinach Dip Mix

Here are the ingredients required: 1 cup Sour Cream, Spinach Dip Mix. That's IT!

 This one is so easy it really hardly needs photo directions but here goes. 

Mix package with 1 cup sour cream. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.  I actually had it in for 4 hours, so I would just say at least an hour. In my opinion the longer something is in the refrigerator the more the flavors blend, so this could even be made the night before an event.

Here it is! Served it up with little triangle cut pita pockets and some thin everything bagels that I also cut up into dip-able pieces.  This was actually when it was half gone, as there was bread all around it when I first put it out! :)

Get some for your next get together! It is so easy but tastes like you made it from scratch and pulled the spinach yourself!

~ Kung Pao Chicken ~

This is the first time I have ever made this any kind of Kung Pao Chicken, and it was GREAT!  The sauce was so incredible I couldn't get enough of it, kept dipping every BITE! :)

Ingredients: Kung Pao Chicken mix, Olive Oil, Rice Vinegar, Water, that's it!

 Directions: Take the small package out of the mix and set aside. Make the marinade by combining contents of large bag with 1/2 cup olive oil and 3 Tbsp rice vinegar. Place in large, gallon size re-seal able bag. Cut up 3 chicken breasts into bite size pieces and place inside the bag with marinade. Shake to coat and refrigerate for 1 hours.

Make the sauce by combining contents of small bag with 2 Tbsp of rice vinegar and 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp of water ...

...in a small saucepan over medium heat. (I wait until chicken is ready to cook for this step). When mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Right after I get the sauce starting to cook, I am ready for the chicken.

Discard marinade from chicken. Cook chicken pieces in skillet or on grill until cooked through. I imagine this is YUMMY on the grill but I just did this on the stove.

Serve chicken drizzled with sauce.  I forgot to take the final picture as we were anxious to chow down!

Here is the photo from the website:

Definitely going to have this again soon!  Visit my website to see all the wonderful easy to make food for your family!

~ Hashbrown Casserole ~

Tonight we had barbeque pork chops in the crock pot and I made Hashbrown Casserole to have with it

Here is what you need: 2 cups of water, Hashbrown Casserole contents, (cream of) celery soup, 1/2 cup cour cream and 1 cup grated cheddar cheese. Oops sorry, also need 1/4 cup butter..forgot to add to picture.

Heat 2 cups of water and contents of large bag on low for 10 minutes.

Add one 10 1/2 oz can of celery soup, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Here it is with the hashbrown mixture added. Mix together...

Pour into a 9 x 9 dish...

..and sprinkle with the contents of the small bag.

Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine and pour over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

This is officially my husband's new FAVORITE side dish!  We are going to have the leftovers with dinner Wednesday night as the side!

Can't wait to try it?  Get it here

Here is the photo from the website