Fall Fun and Festivities!

I love fall!  The weather is mild, the trees are gorgeous, and fun stuff like Halloween happens! I love scary movies, haunted houses, creepy tales, and kids in cute costumes.  Sadly I also love the comfort food that goes with cooler weather.  Nice crisp salads no longer sound good but awesome pasta dishes do!

These were some cheese stuffed chicken meatballs.  Pretty tasty.  The recipe called for chicken sausage but I had to use plain ground chicken and spices.  I'd recommending going with the sausage as these were a bit bland.

I have a new breakfast sensation!  A gluten free Bisquick biscuit with melted white cheddar cheese and autumn olive  jam.  So good.  Also a great source of lycopene from what I've read.  The autumn olives not the Bisquick! ;p

To get even more into the Halloween spirit I got this cute coffee mug at Kmart for less than $3!  Score!  I have a somewhat serious addiction to purchasing coffee mugs.  I really am running out of cabinet space.

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The real excitement in my life lately is my new phone.  For two years I've been stuck with the boring phone while my husband enjoyed his iPhone.  Now I too have a fun phone!  The HTC Desire.  My husband is terribly underwhelmed with it and is giving serious consideration to going back to the iPhone but I am easily amused and it suits me fine! :) 

  

Bacon cupcakes rock!

Today was our best friend Mike's birthday!  Mike loves bacon.  He will eat an entire pound of bacon at once!  So I knew I had to make him bacon cupcakes. This recipe was adapted from All Recipes. Of course I substituted Pamela's gluten free baking mix for the flour and leavening agents.  Everything else was as written.  I used all natural, uncured, hickory smoked bacon.  I don't like all the chemicals that are in normal bacon.  For the icing I decided on a simple ganache.  I heated one cup of heavy cream and stirred in a 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips until smooth.  Then I topped the cupcakes.  Perfection!  They really are good.  My husband was totally weirded out by the bacon, it was too much for him!  Everyone else loved them.  The saltiness of the bacon accentuates the sweetness of the dark chocolate.  Really a unique and delicious cupcake!

In other news I am cooking more due to gluten restrictions.  I love deli roasted chicken for quick and easy dinners but I noticed the ones at Kroger's are not gluten free!  So the past couple of weeks I have been roasting a chicken at the start of the week and using it for a couple of quick dinners and lunches!  As you may notice I do not tie the legs.  This is because I'm too forgetful to buy the twine.  I've read it makes the chicken more moist  but I've not had any trouble without it.  I make this the simplest way possible.  I rinse and dry the chicken, rub it with olive oil and Bragg's seasoning mix plus salt and pepper.  I then put it in the oven at 350 for about an hour and forty minutes.  I let it rest for about 20 minutes and dig in!  The night I make it we will have the legs and thighs with a salad and baked potato.  Then I'll shred some and take for lunch with beans and rice or in a greek salad with lettuce, olives, and feta.   The rest I put in soups or casseroles.  Another good lunch idea is of course chicken salad!

I mix the shredded chicken with Hellman's olive oil mayo, sliced seedless grapes, and toasted pecans.  Served over greens.  Simple and delicious like most of the best things in life!