Category Archives: recipes

baking, menu plan Monday, recipes

Of course I’m calling them David S Pumpkins muffins. Any questions?

It is decorative gourd season, mighty friendlies, and I got my October off to a properly spooky start by walking straight into a dangling spider in the garage this morning. Later this evening Rockford will be figuring out where we put all of the Halloween decor when we moved in some 10 months ago, and then we will commence with the spookyfication of hearth and home.

In further autumnal news, today I made some pumpkin muffins with a lot of chocolate chips and every fall-evoking spice in the cabinet. They were delicious, and they tasted like break-apart chocolate oranges because I also put an orange’s worth of zest in them.

The children, naturally, did not care for them.


David S Pumpkins Muffins
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
zest of one orange
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pop paper liners into a muffin pan.

Mix sugar, maple syrup, oil, eggs, pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, zest and salt. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20.

And here, friends, is what we’ll be having for dinner this week.

Monday: Chili

I made chili for a church thing yesterday, and I far overestimated how much I’d need. So the “spare chili,” as Pete calls it, will be appearing on our table this evening.

Tuesday: Meatball soup
I used to make Rachael Ray recipes all the time, and then I just stopped for no particular reason. Rachael fatigue, I guess. But lately I’ve been very enthusiastic about soup and meatballs — because I am about to turn 40 and that’s what happens, kids — and when I googled “meatball soup” this popped up.

Wednesday: KFC?
I don’t know. These busy Wednesday nights are wearing on me.

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner
Maybe I’ll let the kids make their own eggs this week.

Friday: Tacos
Poppy is volunteering at a fundraiser for a friend’s non-profit, but the rest of us will be at home eating tacos.

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

Eating, National Blog Posting Month, recipes

Rockford’s contribution to Thanksgiving

1 Comment

We have a few dishes that appear on our Thanksgiving table every year. One of them is Rockford’s very sweet and tasty Sweet Potato Casserole. Here’s the recipe:

Rockford’s Sweet Potato Casserole
4 medium-large sweet potatoes, baked
1 8oz can crushed pineapple
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 bag mini marshmallows

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Mash or mix the sweet potatoes. Add butter and sugar, and blend thoroughly. Add pineapple and mix until combined. Place mixture in an ovenproof casserole dish and cover with marshmallows.

Cover casserole with foil and bake in 325-degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until marshmallows reach desired toastiness.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, friends!

National Blog Posting Month, recipes

An easy Sunday night dinner

1 Comment

Every other week we host my in-laws for Sunday night dinner. Here’s my tried-and-true pot roast recipe, which is actually my mother-in-law’s tried-and-true pot roast recipe. It makes a gravy, too, which is a great thing for a recipe to do. I usually serve it with mashed potatoes, but it would also be great with The Best Crunchy Roast Potatoes You’ll Ever Have.

Really Easy Pot Roast
2 1/2 pound boneless chuck roast
1 packet Lipton’s onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put enough aluminum foil to wrap around your roast in a roasting pan. Put the roast on the foil.

Sprinkle onion soup mix over roast and spread mushroom soup on top. Pour about 1/4 can of water over the roast.

Seal the foil over the roast (fold the top, then the sides).

Bake for 3 to 4 hours or until the roast is really tender.

Be careful when you open the foil packet. It’ll be steamy. Put the roast on a serving platter, then carefully pour the gravy into a gravy boat.

This isn’t our week to host Sunday night dinner. My sister-in-law is hosting this week, and she’s making pot roast. What a crazy coincidence.