Pumpkin Coffee Cake

 

Ingredients: 

Streusel Topping: 

1/4 cup melted butter

2/3 cup flour

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cake: 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1 cup can pumpkin

Optional Glaze:

1 Tbsp milk

2/3 cup powdered sugar

Mix the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula. 

Pour into a greased 8x8 inch pan. In a small bowl, combine the streusel ingredients, mixing with a fork. 

Put the streusel on top of the cake and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until the middle is set. 

You can top with the optional glaze if you would like. We ate it without the glaze, but that would be a nice addition. 

Air Fryer Potato Wedges

 

Ingredients: 

5-6 Russet potatoes cut into wedges

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, chili powder, paprika, parsley, sea salt, and pepper. 

Stir until the potatoes are evenly coated.

Put half of the wedges in a 400 degree preheated air fryer for 10 minutes. Shake them after 10 minutes. Cook for another 4 minutes. Repeat with the second batch. 

Pumpkin Bread

This is such a delicious pumpkin bread: it was gone within an hour. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

3 egg whites

1 cup canned pumpkin

Combine the flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and nutmeg in a bowl. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, brown sugar, milk, and egg whites together. Add in the pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake at 350 for about 55 minutes. 

Let the bread cool on a wire rack after taking it out of the oven. 

 

Mulan Dinner, Movie, and Craft Night

 For our family movie night featuring Mulan, we decided to add dinner and a craft to fit the theme. 

I made a quick Mongolian Beef Noodle dish, cut up some meat and cheese to practice our chopstick skills, cut up Swiss Cake Rolls and Strawberry Cake Rolls, dipped some fortune cookies in chocolate, and had mandarin oranges. 

We also made paper fans out of two pieces of 12x12 cardstock. Rachel drew a design on the fan, we folded it accordion style and hot glued it together with two popsicle sticks on the end. 

Mongolian Beef Noodles with Ground Beef

 Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
3 tsp ginger
6 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
pepper

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1/8 cup water
1 14 oz package of lo-mein noodles (or spaghetti) 

Boil water and cook your noodles while preparing the sauce. 

Brown the hamburger in a pan. Drain the grease. Add the ginger and garlic.

Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, beef broth, hoisin sauce, red pepper flakes, and pepper to a separate bowl. Whisk until combined. Add the sauce to the meat. Mix the cornstarch hand water in a cup. Add to the pan and let the mixture simmer while the noodles finish cooking. 

Add the noodles to the sauce, Stir and simmer for about a minute. 

Cherry Dump Cake

 

Ingredients: 

2 cans cherry pie filling

1 tsp vanilla 

1 yellow cake mix

1 stick melted butter

Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Pour the cherry in the pan. Sprinkle the vanilla over the cherries and lightly stir with a spatula. 

Pour the cake mix on top of the cherries. 

Pour the melted butter over the top of the cake mix. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. 

This is really good with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.