Happy Fall Y'all!!

So tomorrow marks August 1st, which in my book is the beginning of Fall! I know that to a lot of people, especially us Floridians, it won't feel like fall because it is still 1,000° outside! But really August is the beginning of kids going back to school, pumpkin everything and the holiday season in general! I thought that my first post for the 2016 Holiday Season would include a new little recipe that I came up with yesterday while experimenting in the kitchen. 

My new wreath I made for the Fall!! 

It is a little bit coffee cake and little bit spice cake. This cake would be wonderful for breakfast with some friends, or even as a dessert with ice cream after dinner! Eat it warmed-up or just as it is.  And here is the biggest surprise... ready for it...? Its Gluten Free!! You really would not even know it! Now, if you don't want to make it gluten free, then you can use regular AP (all-purpose) flour! 

Hope you enjoy making this cake as much as I did! 

-Simply A Girl and Her Home

Just before cutting it! 

Kym's Cinnamon Spice Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 1/2 cup flour (gluten free or AP)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp All-spice

1 tbs cinnamon

Topping: 

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cinnamon

All-spice and nutmeg to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven 350°. Grease a spring form pan. If you don't have a spring form pan, a 13x9 or loaf pan will work. 

2. Stir together: flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl. 

3. In another bowl or mixer, mix sour cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla until blended. Slowly start adding in the dry ingredients.  Lastly slowly blend in the vegetable oil. 

4. In a separate bowl, mix all of the topping ingredients. 

5. Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the topping mixture on the top. Take a knife or toothpick and swirl the topping mixture into the cake batter a little. 

6. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick clean.*

7. Let it cool and Enjoy! **

* Toothpick clean: insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if the toothpick comes out clear/clean, then the cake is done. If it is still a little sticky in the middle then put it in the oven for a couple more minutes. 

**Optional glaze:

 If you want to add a little more sweetness to the cake, take a little bit of confectioners sugar and either water or milk until a glaze consistency. Drizzle over the top of the cake and enjoy!! 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake Bites

A long time ago I learned a recipe for a fruity angel food cake. It was an easy low-calorie dessert that we used to eat all the time. I decided to make it today and put a new little spin on it!

The basic recipe calls for a box of angel food cake mix and a can of pie filling (fruit of your choice). I thought it would be neat to take strawberry pie filling and add some chocolate chips to the batter. This would make it like a chocolate covered strawberry.

If you don't like strawberry, you could use apple, blueberry, blackberry, peaches (chopped up), or cherries! The options are endless!

Enjoy!

-Simply a Girl and Her Home

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake Bites

Ingredients:

1 box angel food cake mix
1 can pie filling, of your choice
1 bag chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Beat together pie filling and angel food cake mix until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly mix in the chocolate chunks.
4. Scoop batter into cupcake pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick clean.
5. Let cool before removing from pan.
6. Enjoy!

A Southern Family Dessert

Being a southern girl and raised in the South, we love our traditions and family recipes. Since we are staying at our house in North Carolina, there is a lot of fresh produce, mostly locally grown.  Yesterday we were able to pick up some great peaches and so I knew that my Pop-Pop’s homemade peach cobbler was in the plan. I feel like peach cobbler is one of the southern traditional, comfort desserts.
My Pop-Pop makes so many wonderful things from scratch and peach cobbler just happens to be one of my favorite ones!  This is such an easy recipe and one that you make your own! The recipe calls for fruit of any kind, so you can make blueberry, peach, apple, cherry, or whatever you want!
This cobbler recipe is one that you can make and have with a nice scoop of ice cream! Another really nice thing about this recipe is that you can save any leftovers and refrigerate for at least a couple of days.  Just take out however much you want, throw it in the microwave for a few seconds and you have got a really nice dessert.  My Pop-Pop’s Peach Cobbler recipe is one that will definitely continue to be passed down.

Enjoy y’all!
-Simply a Girl and Her Home 

Southern Fruit Cobbler

(From: My Pop-Pop)

The Final Peach Cobbler

Filling:

 3 cups of fresh fruit

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp self-rising flour

Topping

1 cup self rising flour

2 tbsp sugar

dash cinnamon

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

1/3 cup oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make the filling by mixing sugar, flour and cinnamon. Also, cut your fruit of choice into medium size slices or cubes.

3. Sprinkle mixture over fruit in casserole dish.

4. Take 2 tbsp of butter and dot the top of mixture.

5. Make the topping mix and spoon on top of the fruit. 

6. Sprinkle sugar and a little bit of cinnamon on top.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Easy Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

I'm sure everyone has those mornings where you want to fix something for breakfast but don't want to spend the entire morning making it.  This morning was one of those... So I got up and fixed a cup of coffee (of course). I ventured into my fridge and found that I had a tube of crescent rolls. Then an idea popped into my head... "I could make cinnamon rolls using the crescent rolls and it wouldn't take forever."

I grabbed some cinnamon, sugar, butter and created the most amazing little cinnamon roll bites ever!
You could have so much fun with these! You could add: raisins, apple bits, walnuts, almonds, or even chocolate chips!!

Like always if you try something new or different, let me know! I am always looking for new ideas to try!

Enjoy!

-Simply a Girl and Her Home

Easy Yummy Cinnamon Rolls with Icing

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Rolls:

1 tube of crescent rolls

Cinnamon 

Sugar

1 tbs butter, melted

Icing:

water

powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 375°.

2. Roll out crescent roll dough on to a small sheet of parchment paper.

3. Sprinkle brush with small amount of melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. 

4. Roll up the sheet of crescent dough pretty tight. 

5. Slice rolls about 1" or to personal preference.

6. Lay on a cookie sheet and brush with the remaining butter.

7. Bake for 10-15 min or until golden brown.

8. While baking, mix together some powder sugar and water to make the icing. 

9. After the rolls finish baking, while still warm, drizzle icing over the top of the rolls.

10. Enjoy!! 

To-Go Salads in a Jar

Spring has sprung and time to start thinking about summer time. Some of us are thinking about working on getting that summer body, the summer cruise you are going on and others just want to enjoy the warm sun. So whether you are going to the beach or just taking a lunch with you to the park, here is a simple and fun way to eat healthy on the go.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to try it out. This week is going to be one of the craziest weeks (working 60+ hours) and I needed something quick and easy to do for dinner. Last night I took: baby sweet peppers, onion, eggs, cheese, cucumber, lettuce and made my own salad in a jar. I left enough room on the top to add some salad dressing and shake it to mix it up.

You can add whatever you want and however much you want. So mix it up: try new veggies, or toppings. Let me know what you try because I want to be able to try them with you!

Enjoy!

-Simply A Girl and Her Home

To-Go Salads in a Jar

Lettuce

Veggies of your choice

Cheese of your choice

Salad Dressing

Pint Size Mason Jar with lid

1. Place veggies in the bottom of the jar. 

2. Place the lettuce on top of the veggies.

3. Top with cheese of choice.

4. Add salad dressing when ready to eat. Enjoy! 

** The salads should be able to last about a week in the refrigerator** 

What the Pavlova?!

When we go on our cruises, my first favorite dessert is cherries jubilee.  My second favorite is the strawberry pavlova.  Pavlo...what? A pavlova is a meringue type cake usually topped with a whipped cream and fruit. On the cruise, it is a plain pavlova with a simple whipped cream and usually strawberries. I love this dessert because it isn't too sweet and it's very light. A perfect way to end dinner!

I found this recipe for a pavlova and thought I would give it a try.  There are only 3 ingredients that you need to make it! It almost seemed to simple and easy to be true, but it was! After I made mine, I topped it with some sliced strawberries. Unfortunately I did not add and whipped cream to mine but it was still good!

Since the pavlova itself is pretty simple, you can have a lot of fun with it. Here are just a few ideas that I thought of:

- Drizzle Caramel
- Drizzle Chocolate
- Fruit of any kind
- Just by itself!

Hope you enjoy making these delicious little treats!!

-Simply a Girl and Her Home

Simple Pavlovas

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

splash of vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°.

2. Using a mixer, whip the egg whites. Add in the sugar a little at a time and vanilla until it is fully blended and stiff peaks form.

3. Using a piping bag or ziplock bag, pipe small drops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. ** 

4. Bake for 30 minutes.

5. Let them set and cool. Then ENJOY!

** If you do not have a piping bag or don't feel comfortable piping the drops, then you can just use a spoon to make them. 

Springtime Lemon Cake

For many of us, it is starting to feel like Spring (unless you are in Michigan where they got 10 inches of snow last night according to my boyfriend)! The other day I was in a baking mood and decided to try a new recipe. I found a recipe for a nice lemon cake that looked absolutely delicious. Although I have never been a huge lemon cake fan, I figured I would try it. 

The first time I made the cake, I followed the recipe exactly. The second time, I did not have any yogurt so I substituted sour cream. I think that the sour cream made the cake a little more moist and helped add a little more tang to it. Another thing that I did to change the recipe a little was, I added extra lemon juice to both the cake batter and the simple syrup. 

If you make any changes or try something new let me know! I would love to hear about them so that I can try them too! 

Enjoy this wonderful Spring cake! 

-Simply A Girl and Her Home

Springtime Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

• Cake:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Lemon Simple Syrup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Lemon Juice (to taste)
• 1/4 cup water

• Glaze
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. You can also use other baking pans (see footnote ** ) 
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. 
4. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
5. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 
6. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
8. To make the lemon simple syrup, cook the lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
9. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon simple syrup mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
10. For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the cake.

*** I made one cake using the loaf pan. I also made one using a spring form pan. 

I baked that one for about 40 minutes. 

I lastly made some mini cupcakes and baked that for 15 minutes. 

You can use different pans to have fun with it ***