Nutella Hot Chocolate

Thank You so much to The Hungry Housewife (Leslie) for letting me pass this wonderful recipe along to you guys!  I am a huge fan of her blog.  When I saw this recipe..I immediately ran into the kitchen and tried it out.  Hope you guys enjoy this yummy concoction as much as I did!  I have also included the recipe for her homemade whipped cream.  Yuuuummmmm.... :-)

*Find the original blog post from The Hungry Housewife here!

Nutella Hot Chocolate

1 cup milk (I used whole)
2 1/2 Tbsp Nutella
1 Tbsp cocoa
Tiny pinch of salt

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, whisk together all ingredients until well blended and hot.
Pour into cup or mug and top with whipped cream.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Place a medium bowl and beaters from your electric mixer in the freezer for 10 minutes (this helps the whipped cream stiffen faster)
Pour all ingredients into chilled bowl and start to beat.  Start off slow and gradually work your way up to high speed.  It will be done when it has the consistancy of...whipped cream.  Do not over beat.

Crockpot Cajun Boiled Peanuts!

This is another recipe from my fall cooking that I forgot to post! Sorry again!!

I am from the South. And being from the South I LOVE me some cajun boiled peanuts! They are such a great snack. But they can really be a labor of love. I found this recipe while searching around on Recipezaar.com. I added a good bit of cajun seasoning and hot sauce to spice things up a bit! I have a large crock pot with a lid that locks in place for transporting. It really came in handy with this recipe. As the peanuts cook and water fills the shells...it will begin to lift the lid!
**Original recipe from PugsandHugs on Recipezaar.com**

1 1/2 quart green uncooked peanuts (I used 1 lb peanuts in shell)
1/2 cup salt
2 1/2 quarts water (I just added enough water to cover the peanuts)
*4 tablespoons cajun seasoning
*hot sauce to taste (I like things spicy so I added just over 1/2 cup of Franks Red Hot)

Wash peanuts until water runs clear. Place peanuts in crock pot. Add salt, seasoning, hot sauce, and water. Cook on high for 6 hours. Then cook on low an additional 4-5 hours.
Add additional water during cooking to keep peanuts covered.

Super Easy Pumpkin Bread

I would like to start by saying...I know I am super behind on this one! My apologies in advance!

I started (finally) clearing the memory card on my camera the other day. I found the pics of these muffins and realized I never posted this recipe! So I am taking a few steps back to October of 2009. These were so super easy to make. Instead of making a loaf...I made mini muffins. The recipe made about 24. I made two batches so I could share with my neighbors...and friends at work :)
**This recipe came from Mrs. English on Recipezaar.com**

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin)
1/2 cup olive oil (I used canola)
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup walnuts (I omitted)
**I doubled all the spices in this recipe. Since I like a very strong nutmeg/cinnamon/allspice flavor**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. In a separate bowl combine pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, and spices. Then combine with dry ingredients. Do not mix too thoroughly. Add walnuts. Pour into well buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on rack.
Makes one loaf.

If desired you can make them in a muffin tin as well. They come out just as moist! Just bake for 12-15 minutes! (mine came out perfect at 12 mins)

My New Favorite Snack!!

Now that I am working night shift again I have not had much time to blog. I also have not really cooked or tried anything new that was "blog worthy"....that was...until Sunday night! It was one of the longest night shifts of my life...seriously. As the night drug on I developed the raving munchies. I noticed one of my work peeps eating these pretzel looking things. She offered to share.....big mistake on her part ;) I fell in love with the Andersons Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels! I stopped by two different stores on my way home that morning in search of these little gems. I bought two containers and hid one of them from my hubby (just in case he liked them even more than me!)!! They are seriously good snacking....and taste even better after midnight :P