Kielbasa Corn

It sounds so simple. Turkey Kielbasa and corn. Now I'm trying to figure out how I lived my life before it. I seriously stared at my computer for a few minutes trying to figure out what to call this. So act like it's something that sounds really delicious and measures up to the unbelievable yumyumness this has. Oo! Yumyumcorn. Kielyumcorn. Yumcornkiel. Kielbasayum!

My husband and I have been putting it on our menu almost every week since the day we first tried it and we obsess over the leftovers. He of course likes it more with onions in it.

That's the beauty of this thing, you can add whatever you want and it'll be great! P
robably not "whatever" you want, but nearly. Heck, take these two ingredients camping and wrap it in some tin foil together to cook over the fire!

I actually like my kielbasa browned a lot more than this, like almost burnt coloring. But I wasn't paying attention while I was shopping because my son brought "moo-moo" (his cow) with us and was mooing at me and demanding I stare at him instead of shop.

So, I grabbed some kind of sausage type stuff that wasn't turkey kielbasa and I didn't love the way it browned or tasted but....we can pretend it's the good stuff here.

What you will need:

• 6-8 ears of corn
• 2 turkey kielbasa 
• Garlic Salt
• Black Pepper
• Onions, peppers, etc. (optional)

Directions:

• Shuck and boil your corn for 10-15 minutes depending on the texture you like
• While that's boiling, slice your kielbasa into coins
• When it's done boiling, set your corn on the side and drain the water from your pot
• Dump your kielbasa coins into that same pot and start to brown the sides (if you're planning on adding onions or other vegetables, go ahead and toss those in for a bit before adding the kielbasa in)
• While the kielbasa is browning, cut the corn off of the cob
• When the kielbasa is browned, add the corn into the pot with the kielbasa and mix together with seasonings

Kiss Pies

So I tried to make some pie pops a couple weeks ago. It turned into a complete disaster. I was frazzled the entire time. I was suppose to make my pecan pie filling mixture, but went along not realizing I was making my 6 minutes caramels mixture. Once I realized that (and noticing the time crunch I was in), I was just a mess doing two things at once and didn't use my head at all!

That being said, I had some extra pie crust that needed to be used and just happened to scroll past this recipe from the Picky Palate that looked easy and perfect to do with my kids!

You can totally leave them plain but we definitely wanted to dust with some powdered sugar and drizzle with a chocolate/butterscotch drizzle for an extra bit of deliciousness. These would be adorable on everyone's plate at the Thanksgiving table.

What you will need:

• One roll of refrigerated pie crust rolled out pretty thin
• Hershey kisses
• Circular cookie cutter or a knife to cut a circle around each hershey kiss
• egg wash mixture
• Sugar
• 1/2 C Chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/4 C Butterscotch chips (optional)
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Roll out the pie crust
• Place a Hershey kiss on the crust and cut a circle around the kiss
• Bring two ends of the dough together and pinch
• Bring the other two ends of the dough together and pinch
• Pinch each side
• Place them all on a baking sheet
• Brush them with some egg wash
• Sprinkle sugar on top
• Bake for about 23 minutes
• Let them cool while you melt chocolate & butterscotch
• Drizzle with the chocolate
• Dust with powdered sugar

Pumpkin Bars

I was in my early twenties when I tried pumpkin bars for the first time. (???!!!!) A sweet neighbor brought some by and at first I thought it was some yummy cake with vanilla frosting. My heart sank a little when I learned it was both pumpkin bars AND cream cheese frosting. I hadn't totally converted to the cream cheese thing at that point.

They sat there and I was a little unwilling to eat them, but I didn't feel happy about tossing them out. So I stuck them in the fridge.

Well, true to self, my "tensies" kicked in at night (my husband and I call our craving for food "tensies" because it always ends up happening around 10pm) so I decided to give them a try.

UMMM heck yes! Where had they been all my life? And cream cheese frosting? What in the world? The most confusing time in my life right there. (Not really...)

I've loved them ever since. But now, I always like them chilled a little. It's just my thing. Maybe a reminder to try new foods or be open to new experiences. I just got deep there for a second!

So here they are. Mmm.

What you will need:

Pumpkin Bars

• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
• 1 2/3 C sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 C canola oil
• 2 C flour
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. all spice
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 C powdered sugar
• 6 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 C butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1-2 T milk 

Directions:

Pumpkin Bars

• Preheat the oven to 350*
• Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil
• Add in the cinnamon, all spice and mix
• Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together 
• Spread the batter into an ungreased jelly roll pan
• Bake for 25-30 minutes
• Let cool completely

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy
• Spread over pumpkin bars when the bars are completely cooled
• Chill in the fridge (optional)

Sausage and Tortellini Tomato Soup

I'm not exactly sure how to word the name of this soup. Tortellini and sausage? Basil Tortellini.....Sausage, basil and Tortellini soup..I don't know. Also I didn't really know what I was doing when I made this. I had about 3 different recipes swirling around in my head so I combined them all and winged the whole thing.

My whole family scarfed the whole thing up. My daughter who haaaates tomatoes had SECONDS. It has so much flavor! It doesn't just take like a can of tomatoes. Not even close. I was shocked. I served it with some Crack Bread in case you need an idea.

I was extremely surprised at how fast this came together, especially since I started it without really knowing what direction I was going with it!

What you will need:

• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 32 oz. box chicken (or vegetable) broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 c basil, chopped
• 1 pkg. frozen tortellini
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• Crushed red pepper
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C grated Parmesan

Directions:

• Brown the Italian sausage
• While that's browning, mince up your onions and peel your garlic
•  Heat up the olive oil in a large pot 
• Add the onions and saute' for a few minutes
• Add in the garlic and saute' for another minute or so
• While the onions and garlic are being sauted, dump the two cans of tomatoes into a blender
• Add in the onions and garlic to the blender and blend well
• Pour the puree back into the pot and add the box of chicken broth
• Stir to combine and drop the two bay leaves in
• Chop up your basil and add into the soup
• Add in your seasonings
• Add in the heavy cream, stir in
• Add in the sausage, stir in
• Add in the tortellini, stir in
• Add in the parmesan, stir in
• Let simmer for about 10 minutes (this is where I prepped my crack bread and got it into the oven and set the table)