Pumpkin Bars with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Today, I was in a mood to try out a new recipe. I wanted to make some pumpkin spice cake bars, but I couldn't find a recipe that was quite what I wanted. So, I decided to make one up on my own. Usually when I do this, I end up taking a few things from multiple recipes, and take notes as I go so that I don't lose track of what I've used.

For this recipe, I decided to start with a yellow cake mix. I made some cookies a few weeks ago using a box cake mix, and they were so delicious, so I thought I'd keep the trend going while I still have box mix in the pantry.

Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients:

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 (3.4 oz) box of cheesecake pudding mix
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves

First, find your favorite program on Netflix. I can't seem to cook without watching Bones or some other show that I'm currently addicted to. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, pudding mix, and seasonings. Then mix in the butter, eggs, and pumpkin. Spread the mix into the cake pan, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake bars to cool inside the pan while you make the frosting.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 oz white chocolate, melted
• 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• chopped pecans

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium/high speed. Add the melted white chocolate. Once all of this is mixed together, reduce the speed to low and add the confectioner's sugar. Then, add the heavy whipping cream and continue beating until completely mixed.

Spread the cream cheese frosting over the cooled bars, then sprinkle as many chopped pecans on top as you like.

I think I might like these even more than the pumpkin spice muffins I made. The flavor is incredible, just like the muffins, but they're cakey and dense, and the frosting on top is amazing. I might not be able to eat only one two...

Happy baking!

Andrea

Crockpot Chicken Soup

I only had to work about a half of the day today, so I decided to be super-productive around the house when I got done, and I started by getting some dinner in the crockpot before I started cleaning the house. I wanted some kind of soup since it's been so cold out, but I didn't want anything too heavy. So, I decided to try out some chicken noodle soup, minus the noodles.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• 5 large carrots, chopped
• 5 uncooked, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped
• about 2-3 cups celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1-2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water

I chopped up all of the ingredients, then put everything in the crockpot and cooked it on high for about 5 hours. I definitely recommend adding a bit of salt, especially if you have low-sodium broth, just to add some flavor, if you're not too concerned about sodium. I did not add any because my mother watches her sodium intake, but if I were making the soup for just myself and Chad, I would add a bit more salt. And as far as the herbs and seasonings are concerned, add as much as you like! I couldn't find any shallots at the grocery earlier, or I would have added those, as well. This recipe is pretty versatile, and it really just depends on your taste preferences. It's always nice to have dinner ready in the crockpot when you've had a busy day, though, and that's definitely what I was going for this evening!

The soup is healthy, but that grilled cheese? Not so much. But I find it nearly impossible to have soup without grilled cheese! It's always been a weakness for me.

Hopefully tomorrow (and the next few days) I will have some more recipes to post. I always go crazy with baking over the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks!

Andrea

Lately...

This semester is FINALLY almost over! I got to teach some of the kindest, funniest, and smartest third graders at a school in Hoover, and I was so sad that Thursday was my last day with them. Two of the girls cried as I was leaving, and it broke my heart, but it reminded me of why I chose to pursue being a teacher in the first place- to (hopefully) be a positive influence in the lives of the young people I have the pleasure of teaching, and to teach them more than just the facts from textbooks. Not every child has a good home life, and we might be the only smiling face they see every day, and the only one offering kind words to them. I cannot wait to find out which school I will be at next semester. Hopefully I will have an update for you all very soon! :)

Now, since this semester I have been insanely busy, I'll just share some pictures of what I've been up to over the past couple of months. Not all of these are of things I have baked, and I'm thinking of turning this into more of a student teaching, baking, wedding planning, life blog, so be looking for that soon, too!

Pumpkin spice bread! I used the same recipe as the pumpkin spice muffins, I just put it in a bundt pan instead of muffin tins.  

It fell apart, but it was soooo yummy! I added a glaze with the pecans to the top. Delish!

Chad loving on our sweet Khaleesi before she got a hair cut for our engagement pictures. I love my little family!

She's slightly bald now. That just means she cuddles a little more at night because she's missing her blanket, I mean hair. 

The third graders built some landforms using model magic, and then their friends had to guess which landforms they built! This was an awesome review, and probably the majority of the class's favorite activity we did while I was with them. I love anything that eliminates worksheets and gives them something to do that is hands-on, and this was one of the ways we did that this semester. 

Mini cupcakes for a couple's shower! 

White hot chocolate! Mmmm :) 

This was part of our introduction to rocks and minerals. Students learned about what a geologist is, and then we read Everybody Needs a Rock, and they used the rules from the book to select their own rock to study. 

Bookmarks I made for the kids on my last day. I think I had more fun with them than the kids!

They loved these goodie bags, and so did I! 

My gifts from the kids and the teacher on the last day. They each made a card, and they were so sweet! 

Now that it's Thanksgiving break, I'll hopefully get to do some more holiday baking to share with you all! 

Happy holidays!

Andrea