Day 70: Paula Deen's Pumpkin Oat Bars

I truly am getting my money's worth with these Paula Deen magazines. It's really hard for me not to bake out of them everyday without my pant size being affected. Luckily, my family and I went out on the boat and I needed to bake something sweet and obviously went to her magazine for some inspiration. This recipe is straight from the magazine, as per usual, I didn't really mess with her recipe because- well, Paula Deen, that's why. My only regret is that I didn't add a thicker layer of the pumpkin butter, which I will do next time. Hope you enjoy!

*Ingredients

2 cups plus 1 TBS all purpose flour, divided

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

2/3 cups granulated sugar

2 TBS heavy whipping cream

2 large eggs

1 (9 oz) jar pumpkin butter (I just put a bunch of dollops on top and did not measure- next time will be adding more!)

*Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with foil, letting excess extend over sides of pan; spray foil with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, salt, pie spice, and baking soda. Add butter, and beat with a mixer at medium low speed until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups oat mixture in a small bowl; press remaining oat mixture into bottom of prepared pan. 

Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in same large bowl, beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, cream, and remaining 1 TBS flour with a mixer at medium speed until creamy, 2-3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour mixture onto prepared crust, and spoon pumpkin butter by tablespoons onto cream cheese mixture. Using a knife, swirl mixture together. Sprinkle reserved oat mixture on top.

Bake until top is golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely in pan ona wire rack. using excess foil as handles, remove from pan before cutting into bars. Cover and regrigerate for up to 3 days. 

Day 69: Pumpkin Butter

This was the first time I've ever even heard of pumpkin butter but I came across a recipe that required it so I figured lets give it a shot. Basically, pumpkin butter is the mixture of a pumpkin pie but you cook it on the stove top instead of baking it. It had those holiday flavors that I love but I also really enjoyed the true pumpkin flavor that came through as well. This is a delicious recipe and I can't wait to play around with some creations! Enjoy!

*Ingredients
2 15 oz cans pumpkin (3 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
2 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp powdered vanilla

*Instructions
In a 5 qt heavy pot, combine all of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring frequently- the mixture will thicken. If the mixture is spattering, lower the heat.
Ladle the hot pumpkin butter into hot sterilized canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Cool for 30 minutes, then place in fridge.

Day 68: Shredded Buffalo Chicken

I'm not quite sure why but my husband is obsessed with shredded chicken. Like literally anything you put on shredded chicken, he will devour. I find this ironic because he says he doesn't love baked chicken but shredded chicken? Shredded chicken all day. So, I've made my Santa fe slow cooker shredded chicken for tacos a couple of times but I wanted to switch things up and get a new flavor profile in the mix, so I tried out a buffalo chicken recipe tonight.
I just kind of used what I had in my fridge and pantry to create this. Warning- I am a ranch girl, not blue cheese. So if you rather the blue cheese, you can simply just substitute blue cheese instead of the rance. You can adjust the ingredients to your liking depending on how spicy and saucy you want it. I also didn't measure this recipe because honestly I didn't know how good it was going to turn out so this is my rough estimate as to how much went in here but again, adjust the ingredients to your preferred taste.
My husband was OBSESSED with this recipe! The great part is you can add the chicken to rice, or make a burrito, place s scoop over a salad, or even make a sandwich out of it. Enjoy!

*Ingredients
1/2 vadalia onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves
1 1/2 lb chicken breast
salt/pepper to taste
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Adobo (or chicken seasoning)

1/4 cup hot sauce (I love Hooters, you can find it at Publix)
about 1/4 cup sour cream
about 1/4 cup ranch dressing

*Instructions
Boil chicken in medium saucepan. You can use water but I like to use chicken stock or beer (I typically use Corona to cook with). Boil chicken for about 10 minutes. Cut into chicken to ensure it's cooked all the way through, then shred. Or you can buy a rotisserie chicken and just shred it.
Saute onions for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook for and additional minute or so, until fragrant. Add shredded chicken, hot sauce, sour cream, and ranch. Season with salt and pepper and adjust any ingredients to your liking. Enjoy!

Day 67: Blueberry/Rasberry Muffins

I could eat muffins all day- every day. There is just something about their fluffiness and sweetness... They're the perfect size and no one judges you for having one (or a few) for breakfast and there's nothing I love more than starting the day with a treat. I had some berries in the fridge that I didn't want to go bad so that's where this inspiration came from. I got the recipe off Pintrest and I really didn't change much from the recipe.. just added a few spices, the sugar on top, and the Rasberries. The recipe said this was a doughnut muffin and the texture of these bad boys do not disappoint. They're dense but light and fluffy... almost chewy but in a good way. I loved them and can't wait to make another batch :) Hope you enjoy!

*Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup blueberries
1 cup rasberries
1/4 cup coarse sugar (I used madagascar vanilla)

*Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners or spray with cooking spray and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, oil, and sugars. Add in eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Add vanilla extract.
Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl and add to the wet ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until fully combined.
Gently fold in berries with spatula, some with break but that's okay. Add 1/4 cup of batter to eat muffin cup, sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 15-18 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

Day 66: Scallop Quinoa Bowl

I had leftover quinoa from the night before and it was my no meat night so I came up with this yummy scallop bowl idea. First let me just tell you that I love seafood, especially scallops. Even more, I love using leftover ingredients in my fridge to make a completely new dish. I had a tupperware of corn and black beans.. fresh cilantro and chives.. and even some chimichurri so I went ahead and threw all of that together and the end result was quite delicious! If you don't have chimichurri, you can substitute for pesto or even a salsa. Seriously though, this dish was so good. Hope you enjoy!

*Ingredients

1 chive

1 TBS cilantro

4-6 scallops

2 tsp minced garlic

1 TBS corn

4 TBS black beans

1/4-1/2 cup quinoa 

2 TBS chimichurri (or any sauce you'd like)

2 tsp olive oil

pinch diced tomatoes

*Instructions

Place your scallops on a paper towel and dab it to get excess water off. You want the scallops to be dry so they can get a nice sear on them.

In a small saute pan add oil and cook onion for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Add minced garlic, cook additional minute or so; set aside.

In a medium saute pan, on high, add the scallops and let sear for about 2 minutes. Once there's nice color on one side, flip and cook the other for an additional 2-3 minutes. 

Add onions/garlic to scallops with chimichurri, cilantro, and chives.

Add quinoa in bowl, top with black beans and corn, top scallop mixture and top with a pinch of diced tomatoes. Enjoy!