Author: Busy Mom

I'm a busy mom of 2 adorable kids! I love cooking, Finding Nemo, and face painting.

Trick and Treat

Posted on by Busy Mom

My kids helped me make Sweet Potato Pie the other day, and it was a trick and treat!

What happened? When I pulled the frozen pie crust out of the freezer, it came right out of the pie tin and I somehow didn’t notice. So I set the pie crust (without the tin) on a baking sheet and filled it with the filling. We popped it in the hot oven, and thankfully my son was excited and checked on the pie just a few minutes after it went in the oven.

He told me the pie was bleeding.

Curious, I checked on it too. Sure enough, the crust was flat with the filling all over the baking sheet. I was SO confused and thought maybe somehow the tin melted in there, but I just couldn’t see it.

When I realized what really happened, I was happy there was not tin mixed in with the pie. We salvaged the yumminess  by putting the crust and filling in a glass baking dish and cooking it up. Not as pretty, but still a treat. 🙂

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (just 3 ingredients)

Posted on by Busy Mom

Alright, here is one of the easiest recipes ever. 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Easy to remember. Easy to make. And maybe a little too easy to eat. 🙂

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 32 cookies):

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a bowl, mix together pumpkin puree and the dry spice cake mix (do not add any eggs, oil, or water) until there are no more clumps.
  3. Stir in chocolate chips.
  4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheet, about two inches apart. (the batter/dough will be sticky, so it helps to use another spoon to get it out of the tablespoon).
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit about 5 minutes before taking the cookies off the cookie sheet.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a great way to welcome this Fall season. They make your home warm and smell like Autumn spice. Hope you enjoy!

*Inspired by THIS recipe.

Hawaiian Ham and Cheese Sliders

Posted on by Busy Mom

These ham and cheese sliders are the best! They turn out flavorful and a little crispy on the bottoms and sides, but still soft and cheesy in the middle. We made these sliders for a bridal shower and served with a variety of fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberries and grapes), cheese and crackers, sweet treats and lemonade. It was perfect.

Leftovers the next day were still delicious- just zapped in the microwave for a minute or two.

Hawaiian Ham and Cheese Sliders Recipe

Ingredients (makes 24 sliders):

  • 2 (12 count) packages of King’s Hawaiian Rolls (original)
  • 24 slices honey ham deli lunch meat or regular ham
  • 24 slices cheddar cheese
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2-3 Tbsp. minced onion (I sauteed the onion in a little butter before adding it, but not sure if this is necessary)
  • 11/2 tsp. mustard (I used regular French’s mustard)
  • 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
  • note: Sometimes the bag of rolls come in 18-count instead of 2 bags of 12. I’ve made these with the 18 count bag of rolls, and did everything else the same except used 1/4 C. butter instead of 1/2 C. butter. And of course only 18 slices of ham and cheese instead of 24.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Cut the rolls in half.   Put the bottom parts on top of the foil. Top the bottom part of each roll with 1 slice of ham (folded up a bit) and one slice of cheese. Then put the tops on each roll.
    ham and cheese sliders
  3. In a small bowl, combine the butter, minced onion, mustard and poppy seeds. Stir, then drizzle over the tops of the rolls. 
  4. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then bake 2 more minutes. Serve warm. 

*Inspired by THIS recipe and THIS recipe.

**Another great way to use up extra ham is to add it to SCRAMBLED EGGS.

Best Apple Pie Recipe

Posted on by Busy Mom

Isn’t it great when storybooks include recipes in the back?

My kids and I recently read Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie, by Herman Parish. Cute book, and we had a lot of fun making apple pie together after story time.

I was not ambitious enough to make our own crust, so we just used Pillsbury pie crust, which turned out delicious! It sure makes making a pie much easier.

pillsbury pie crust

Really, I think you should know, this was the best apple pie I’ve ever had. Why is it the best apple pie recipe? First, the pie is perfect in every way, from the flaky crust to the soft perfectly sweetened (but not too sweet) apples. The apples were not drowning in liquid, nor were they too dry. Just right. You’ve got to try this one! Second, the recipe was easy. The pie came together quite quickly, using pre-made refrigerated pie crust. And last but not least, it was inspired by an Amelia Bedelia book. 🙂

apple pie before top crust

Best Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 large Granny Smith apples and 3 large Gala apples (about 6 cups of chopped apples total)
  • 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 C. granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 Tbsp. butter (I used salted), chopped into small bits
  • 1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (should include a top and bottom crust)

Instructions:

  1. Remove pie crusts from refrigerator so they can soften a bit at room temperature.
  2. Peel the apples. Cut each into 4 sections. Slice out the core parts. Cut each of the 4 sections into 4 slices, then cut those into 3-4 chunks each (the chunks instead of long slices make it easier for my kids to eat). Put all the little apple chunks into a large mixing bowl.
  3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a glass 9.5 inch pie dish on top of a baking sheet. Sprinkle a little flour on the pie dish.
  4. Add flour, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon juice to the apples. Mix together. apples cinnamon sugar
  5. Unwrap the crust and place one of the crust discs in the pie dish, pressing firmly onto the bottom and sides of the dish. Dump the apple filling into the crust and dot the top of the apples with the little bits of butter.                        butter bits in pie
  6. Place the second crust disc on top. Seal the edges of the two crusts. You can cut off any excess crust and make shapes to place on top of the pie. Make about 6 slits through the top pie crust with a sharp knife to let out steam while baking.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes (on top of cookie sheet in case of any spills). Remove from oven. Use hot pads to gently press strips of foil around the edges of the pie crust so they don’t burn. Place back in oven and cook for another 30 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and let cool for several (maybe 4?) hours or overnight before eating. This is important. It’s hard waiting, but totally worth it! I think it tastes best at room temperature, or just very slightly warmer than room temperature. The texture is also better if you wait.

You can serve this pie with ice cream, whipped cream, or a glass of cold milk, but honestly, it was even amazingly perfect all by itself.

slice of apple pie

*Inspired by the recipe at the end of THIS book and also THIS recipe.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Posted on by Busy Mom

This chocolate chip pumpkin bread is delicious! Moist and sweet and chocolatey. Even though it is sweet, I can justify it as a good mid-morning snack because of the bit of whole wheat flour and pumpkin inside. 🙂

chocolate chip pumpkin bread snack idea

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Ingredients (makes two loaves):

  • 2 C. all-purpose flour
  • 1 C. whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • about 1 C. plus 1/4 C. chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
  • 1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 C. packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 C. (about 6 oz) vanilla yogurt
  • 15 oz can pumpkin puree
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 C. Canola oil
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly grease 2 (9×5 inch) loaf pans. Get out a medium and a large mixing bowl.
  2. In the medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Put 1 C. of the chocolate chips in a small bowl and sprinkle about 1-2 tsp. of the flour mixture on top of the chocolate chips and mix around (this should help the chocolate chips not fall to the bottom of the bread pan while baking). dry ingredients pumpkin breadchocolate chips in flour
  3. In the large bowl, whisk together the granulated and brown sugar and get any lumps out. Add yogurt, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir together until smooth.
  4. Add dry flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips (the 1 C. with a little of that flour mixture around them).
  5. Distribute batter evenly into the two greased bread pans. With the last 1/4 C. chocolate chips, sprinkle some on top of the batter and chop a few up and sprinkle the chopped ones on top too. Just to make them pretty. chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipe
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes. Definitely check at 45 minutes and watch the bread closely if you need to cook a little longer.
  7. Let cool in bread pans for about 3-45 minutes. Remove from bread pans before slicing.

pumpkin bread with chocolate chips

*Inspired by THIS recipe.

Homemade Tomato Soup

Posted on by Busy Mom

This was my first time making homemade tomato soup, and my whole family loved it! Definitely different (much much better) than that canned tomato soup I used to eat in college—-the kind that gets clumpy and yucky-looking when it cools down.

healthy homemade tomato soup

This soup is healthy, creamy and pretty easy to make. Leftovers taste great as well!

Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 9 cups):

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 C. chopped celery (I used 2 stalks of celery)
  • 1 C. chopped carrots (I used 2 carrots)
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 1 (28 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, with juice
  • 4 C. chicken broth
  • 1 tsp. thyme
  • 1/4 C. chopped fresh basil (packed)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • 1 3/4 C. milk (2%), warmed
  • 1/3 C. grated Parmesan/Romano cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Heat a soup pot to medium heat. Add olive oil and swirl around gently. Cook celery, carrots, and onions in the oil for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.
  2. Pour the juice of the canned tomatoes into the soup pot. Gently crush the tomatoes with your hand and put them in the pot as well (very gently! This can get messy, so be careful. You can also put them in there and smash them with a potato masher, if you want to be more civilized, but still be careful of the juice squirting up out of the pot).
  3. Add chicken broth, thyme, basil, and bay leaf to the soup pot. Stir. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and let simmer until carrots are tender and flavors blend (about an hour).
  4. Blend the soup until creamy. You can do this in batches in a blender, but be careful because the soup will be very hot and steamy. You can also use an immersion blender.
  5. In a skillet or saucepan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour. Whisk in about 1 C. of the creamy tomato soup. Then whisk in the warm milk. Stir until smooth, then add to the big pot of soup.
  6. Stir in the Parmesan/Romano cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve this homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches, toast, garlic bread and/or a fresh green salad for a complete meal.

tomato soup recipe

*Inspired by THIS recipe.

Whipping Cream Biscuits (Easy)

Posted on by Busy Mom

Tired of cutting in butter or shortening to make biscuits? If so, you’re gonna love these Whipping Cream Biscuits! In fact, you don’t even have to roll and cut them out. Just drop them onto the cookie sheet. It is seriously so easy and they are so good.

I put this recipe in the “Breakfast” category because sometimes I love a warm biscuit with butter and jam for breakfast. The ease and speed of this recipe makes this one a winner for breakfast time.

cream drop biscuits

Whipping Cream Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 C. all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 C. heavy whipping cream
  • optional: butter and jam (we used Blackberry Preserves) to spread before eating

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then stir in the whipping cream.
  3. Drop biscuit dough onto the parchment paper, making about 9 biscuits.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Serve immediately with butter and jam if desired.

*Inspired by THIS recipe.

Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Soup)

Posted on by Busy Mom

It feels like I’ve been making all sorts of noodles this week. Spaghetti, chow mein, macaroni and cheese just to name a few. Tonight we needed something a little less noodle-y. This soup was delicious! Made me feel like I was eating at the Olive Garden. We had this Zuppa Toscana with biscuits on the side. Would have also loved a fresh garden salad as well, but that didn’t happen tonight. Maybe next time.

Zuppa Toscana Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices bacon, cut into about 1 inch strips (optional, I usually leave this out)
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage (I used a mild Jimmy Dean sausage, but if you want it spicy, you can use Spicy Italian Sausage)
  • about 1 Tbsp. light olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 32 oz chicken broth
  • 3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • about 3 C. of chopped kale leaves (or baby spinach leaves)
  • 1 C. milk (I used 2%)
  • 1/3 C. heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

  1. Heat a soup pot to medium heat and cook the small pieces of bacon until crispy. Transfer the pieces of bacon to a paper towel-covered bowl or plate.
  2. Add the sausage to the pot and cook until browned and crumbled. Swirl a few paper towels in the pot to soak up the grease. Discard the paper towels and transfer the sausage to the bowl/plate with the bacon.          ground beef grease
  3. Add olive oil to the soup pot on medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then add the chopped potatoes. Let boil about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Stir in the kale (or spinach) and the bacon and sausage. Let cook a few minutes as you stir until the kale is all wilted.
  4. Turn off the heat. Add milk and heavy whipping cream. Voila!

zuppa toscana with kale

*Inspired by THIS recipe.

Peanut Butter Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Posted on by Busy Mom

Last night by 4-year old asked for a “big breakfast tomorrow morning”. I asked what he wanted for this big breakfast. First he said french toast, then changed his mind to chocolate chip muffins.

We found a delicious peanut butter chocolate chip muffin recipe that uses Greek yogurt, so between the peanut butter and yogurt, I think there’s probably a good amount of protein. And they are very filling!

peanut butter muffins with greek yogurt

Peanut Butter Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients (for 12 muffins):

  • 1 C. whole wheat flour
  • 1 C. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 C. brown sugar
  • 1/2 C. plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 C. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 C. peanut butter, melted and cooled
  • 2/3 C. milk
  • 3/4 C. chocolate chips (I mostly used mini chocolate chips)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a muffin pan.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar and Greek yogurt. Then whisk in the melted and cooled (cool enough so it doesn’t cook the egg when you stir it in) butter and peanut butter. Once it is all smooth and creamy, whisk in the milk.
  4. With a spoon, stir in the flour mixture and chocolate chips, just until moistened.
  5. Put about 1/4 C. of the batter in each muffin cup. I had a little extra batter, so just evenly divided it between the muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until done.
  6. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing from the muffin pan.

We enjoyed these muffins with applesauce on the side. I totally would have loved a glass of milk too, but we used the last bit in the muffin batter! So we had water instead.

*Inspired by THIS recipe.

Perfect Kale Salad

Posted on by Busy Mom

This salad is called Perfect Kale Salad because I really do think it’s perfect. There’s a nice blend of flavors, which might make you want a second helping 🙂

My husband saw me pouring the apple cider vinegar into the dressing and said he wouldn’t eat any of the salad if that was on it. I convinced him to try it at least, letting him know the dressing also had other ingredients and they all compliment each other. He tried the salad with the dressing on top and said “not bad!” It didn’t taste like vinegar 🙂

Perfect Kale Salad

Ingredients for the salad:

  • 5-10 oz. baby kale, triple washed (I used a 5 oz. bag from Trader Joes, but totally could have doubled the kale)
  • 1 medium apple, diced (get a crispy one! I used an organic Fuji apple)
  • 2-3 Tbsp. dried Orange Flavored Cranberries, or you can use Craisins
  • 2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
  • 3 Tbsp. chopped pecans or walnuts
  • about 2 oz. crumbled goat cheese (optional, but it sure added to the salad!)

Ingredients for the Dressing:

  • 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil (I used light, but I think extra-virgin would even be better and healthier)
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 1 tsp. prepared mustard
  • a pinch of salt
  • a pinch of pepper

Instructions:

  1. Combine all of the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Put the Triple Washed Baby Kale in a salad bowl. Drizzle about half the dressing over the kale and use two spoons to toss the kale and salad dressing together.
  3. Top with diced apple, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pecans and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle the remaining salad dressing on top.
  4. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

perfect kale salad healthy

I refrigerated our leftover salad and it was still very appealing and tasty the next day.

*Inspired by this Tuscan Kale and Apple Salad recipe.

 

Testing new hosting, hi!