Fall Weather - Fall Recipes!

I just have to say that I'm thoroughly enjoying the cooler weather we've been experiencing lately. The highs are supposed to be in the 76-82'F range for highs and I'm most certainly not going to complain! Of course, now the reality of how close Halloween is getting has set in - and that only means that November and the rest of the holidays are hot on its heels. 

Even though it's not cold here yet, I'm already looking forward to making soups this fall and winter. I love making big batches of soup either on the stove or in the crock pot. This last year, I've been learning how to can. My goal is to make big batches of soup, eat them for that meal, and can the rest. That way we can just open up a jar and have homemade soup whenever we're in the mood. 

This time of year also makes me think of a couple of recipes that I make - at most - once a year around this time. The first is a dessert - pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing. The other is dinner in a pumpkin.

I thought I would share both recipes with all of you :-) 

Pumpkin Bars

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda

• Preheat the oven to 350'F
• Beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until light and fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. 
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix
• Spread the batter in an ungreased 15" by 10" pan
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, testing with a toothpick to see if it's done. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (3 oz) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

• Cream the cheese and butter.
• Stir in the vanilla and sugar a little at a time.
• Beat until smooth.

I do recommend keeping this dessert in the fridge because of the frosting.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

• 1 medium pumpkin
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups of hot, cooked rice

• Preheat the oven to 375'F
• Cut the top of the pumpkin around the stem, keep the top, and discard the insides. 
• Brown the beef, add veggies, and cook until tender. 
• Stir in the other ingredients and spoon into the pumpkin. 
• Replace the top. 
• Lightly grease the center of the baking pan or use aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place the pumpkin. 
• Bake 1 hour until the pumpkin in tender. 

You can serve this right out of the pumpkin, or scoop it all into a bowl. You can decide how much pumpkin to include in it by how much you scoop off the sides. This makes a LOT of food!

Follow me on BlogLovin'