Pumpkin Soup

Hey Everyone!!!!  It's Joj0 from Pieces Of Joj0!!!  So glad to be posting again!!  I decided to make this pumpkin soup since it is hitting fall when it starts to get chilly and everyone starts making soups to warm up!  Plus, I love all things pumpkin, so...lol   It is incredibly filling and versatile enough to throw in other things if you wish.  You will see at the end I put some elbow macaroni in, but you can also try some sausage or whatever else you experiment with!!  Leave a comment and let us know what you do or add or change!!!

Pumpkin Update

Happy Tuesday Friends! A few months back I wrote about my daughters pumpkin plant she brought home from school. Well it was a dud. LOL! She had fun trying though and as bad as we did with those, we are doing great with these!

My kids dubbed this one (Cinderella)

The only issue were having is keeping the vines from growing out into the street and keeping the pumpkins sitting up the way they belong ( we dont want flat pumpkins lol) 

The upkeep is super easy and Its great spending time with my kids doing an activity that not only helps us bond and become better at gardening but gives them an important life skill as well! 

Pig Eyes Casserole

I am so happy to have this recipe for you all today! This is a very unique recipe that I have never seen made by anyone else and it was sheer inspiration that led to this recipe. Its simple, yes...but it packs a powerful flavor punch! And it will help you stretch your budget. (and your pant size if you're not careful lol)

Matt & I were trying to figure out what kind of casserole we could make with what we had on hand and that would give us enough for leftovers the next day. I roamed around pinterest for awhile and saw some great recipes but none of which I thought had the flavor i wanted. Well i started thinking about all the casseroles that my mom and grandmother used to make and the updated versions of those that I've seen lately and Matt and I came up with this! Matt calls it Pig Eyes Casserole (because of the sausage) which is weird but its also funny and cute. 

Ingredients:

Casserole

1 30 oz Bag of Potatoes O'brien (you can sub with Southern Style or even tater tots but I prefer O'brien because of the veggies) 

2 Packs of Frozen Sausage Links (you can brown ahead of time if you wish)

1 whole onion minced or chopped finely

1 cup Sour Cream

1 Prepared Package of Sausage Gravy 

1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 1/2 cups of Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup of Shaved Parmesan Cheese 

Salt & Pepper to taste

Topping Ingredients:

3 cups Corn Flakes

3 tbs Butter or Margarine (melted)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350

Combine melted butter & corn flakes until all flakes are coated with butter

Set aside.

In large bowl mix onion, sour cream, gravy, cream of chicken soup, both cheeses, potatoes and sausage together until very well mixed. 

Pour into large casserole dish (i used a 9x13 and it fit perfect) and pat even.

Take the Topping and sprinkle evenly on top of casserole

Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. 

This recipe will knock your socks off!! 

Crockpot Orange Chicken (Simple & Quick)

As I said, Lots of chicken this week! This recipe is seriously yummilicious!
 Now normally with Orange Chicken id cut the chicken into bite size pieces before hand but you can cut it afterwards and it wont affect the taste (in my opinion). OK onto the recipe! It cant wait.

Ingredients:
4lbs Chicken Breasts
1 cup Ketchup
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Vinegar
1 Tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
7 Tbsp Orange Marmalade
2 Tbsp Ground Ginger
4 Cloves of Garlic (you can substitute for Garlic Powder)

Directions:

Place chicken in crockpot (you can use a sea salt rub with some pepper but I choose to leave plain because theres so much flavor already and teh soy sauce is salty enough)

In medium or large bowl mix together all other ingredients and pour over the chicken in crockpot.

Cook on low for 5 hours and serve over rice, or broccoli. 

I'm willing to bet this would be phenomenal with some stir fry! 

I may have to try that soon. 

Let me know how you like it! 

This recipe was written by me. Any similarities to other recipes is purely coincidental.

Crockpot Garlic & Honey Drumsticks

As Hubby and I were scheduling our meals for this week, I discovered I had a bunch of chicken still, so the next few posts will involve alot of chicken. LOL! This recipe was very easy & quick. 

It only has 5 ingredients other than the chicken! 

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs of Drumsticks ( I used drumsticks & thighs bone-in) 

1/2 cup of Honey

6 large cloves of Garlic ( i consider a clove to be a shard of the whole garlic)

1 cup of ketchup 

1/2 cup of Soy Sauce 

1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Place chicken in crockpot

Mince garlic in blender or chopper or what you have on hand

In a medium bowl combine Honey, Ketchup, Soy Sauce, minced garlic, & Red Pepper Flakes until well blended

Pour over chicken in crockpot 

Cook on low for 6 hours 

Enjoy!!!

This recipe was written by me. Any similarities to other recipes is purely coincidental.