Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

It seems as soon as it turns into October this happens

And it's true. But I am also in the Midwest, where we are perpetually ten years behind all things current. So while I brushed by Posh Spice bob haircut, put on my Uggs and turned on season one of Breaking Bad, I made these pumpkin whoopie pies. 

Naturally, I modified a recipe from Martha. I liked the idea of a simple pumpkin and cream cheese combo but I wanted something with more flavor. I keep crystallized ginger on hand since it works great for an upset tummy, so I decided to add some of that to the cream cheese to give it a nice kick.

The addition of the ginger gave the filling just the right amount of kick and cut the sweetness of the whoopie pie. I made The Good Husband take these to work with him and everyone loved them.

Ingredients For the Cream-Cheese Filling
3 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon crystallized ginger 
For the Pumpkin Whoopie Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon ground cloves 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

~Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

~In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

~Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

~Make the filling: Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar, ginger and vanilla, beat just until smooth.

 

~Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

 

recipe modified from the great herself

NEW Halloween Printables in my Etsy Shop!!

Ain't no shame in my game! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween. It's like my Christmas. I love all the Halloween things (169 pins and counting)!!!! 

I love to try and watch a scary movie, only to puss out. I love all the candy and I love dressing up. Now I have kids and I can dress them up too. I have almost as many Halloween decorations as I do Christmas. 

So I decided that I should spread my anal retentive, OCD-ness to the bestest holiday there is. I designed these printables to help take the stress and worry out of Halloween and b/c I am an organizational freak. We all knew that, yes? Good. 

Let's take a look at the new printables, shall we? 

This calendar will help you stay on top of all the Halloweenie things - decorations, candy, costumes. 

This checklist allows you to see what decorations you have and where they are stored.

These labels work together with the inventory list to know what box contains what decorations. The labels are formatted to print on Avery US Labels 6578

This two page party planner has everything you need to throw on hell of a Halloween party.

This expanded guest list helps you track who is coming and what they are bringing.

This planner helps you know what food will be served at the party.

To help you stay on budget -a planner to track food and drink costs.

For all the great recipes you want to try, a planner with three per sheet. 

Hop on over to my Etsy Shop to get this pack for yourself.

Fall Planner ~FREE PRINTABLE~

Despite what my drunk ass thought last week, this Friday is actually the first Friday of Fall.

It is my favorite season of all time and only partly b/c it contains my super, duper, most favoritest holiday ever - Halloween. Fall is the time you can snuggle inside with some hot apple cider but also enjoy the crisp air.

Since there are so many things to do and eat and craft and drink, I decided to make this Fall Planner. It's a great way to track everything you want to do. It has a Fall Bucket List, space for parties you want to host or attend, decorations you want, recipes you want to try, activities to do and crafts to make. Everything is all in one spot.

Download your free Fall Printable here!

And as a way to track what new fall recipes you want to try out, I have made some recipe cards for you. Just print and fill out!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!

But remember; if you say 'pumpkin spice latte' three times in a mirror, a white girl in yoga pants will appear and tell you all the things she loves about fall.

You've been warned.

Make-up Organization: Take Two!

Awhile ago, I talked about how I organize my make-up. Taking one look at the original, you would know that eventually it would turn into a mess. And it did. I mean, just look at this shit.

I must have been smoking some good stuff that week to think the drawer would stay neat and organized.

I said at the time that organizers would be the best bet to keep everything contained and corralled. I was right. However, instead of buying a tray at the store, I decided to upcycle some boxes around the house and make trays.

All of the boxes were cereal boxes, a few tea boxes and I think one granola bar box. Like any good mom, I feed my kids the sugary cereal in the mornings, so in no time, I had enough boxes to fill the drawer. I just wrapped them in pretty scrapbook paper once I cut them to fit the height of the drawer.

And then I filled them all in. 

There were some places where the boxes created holes but I was able to fill these with little things like bobby pins and my extra contact case or rubber bands for The Good Daughter.

If you are new to the blog, know that my number #2 organization tip is to group things with similar functions together to save time and create functionality. This is a great example. 

So all of my lip stuff goes in one box, sandwiched between eye make-up and deodorant.

Contacts and foundations are in the first box followed by my brushes and moisturizer and make-up setting spray followed by my contact cleaners and disposable contacts.

Bronzer and pressed powder in another box.

Samples and rarely used items are all the way in the back.

I makes me so happy to open my drawer in the morning and have everything in a spot I can find. It even motivates me to wear most of the stuff.

So the next time you need to organize something, ask yourself if you have something on hand like cereal boxes you could use instead of buying something new. It will make you feel like a dirty hippy to upcycle. But you wont' smell like patchouli, I promise.

New Cleaning Printables and COUPON

A while back,  I expanded my Budget Pack in my Etsy shop and made sure to post all about it.

Now I am happy to say my most popular pack - The Cleaning Pack - has been expanded as well. What are the new printables?

I have redesigned the original Weekly Cleaning Checklist! The original is still included in the pack, so don't worry. I have just updated it now to include a lighter cleaning schedule. Now cleaning the major rooms is no longer linked to a specific day. There are less daily cleaning tasks as well but also room to add more.

For those that only have time once a week to clean, there is now a Once A Week Cleaning Checklist to help with those tasks. 14 weekly cleaning tasks with space for seven more will help to keep your house sparkling clean with only one day of cleaning per week (or month).

Created from another popular post on the blog, I now have recipe cards for all the green cleaners PLUS TWO BONUS RECIPES never before seen on the blog. Now you will never look up a recipe again. Simply print and you will never again have to guess the recipe for glass cleaner.

And to make sure you always have the ingredients you need for green cleaners or to make sure you never run out of bleach again, I have created four Cleaning Supply Checklists. One for green cleaning, one for traditional cleaning, one for both and one blank for you to customized just how you want.

So now you have seen all the new cleaning printables I have designed that are included in the new *expanded* Cleaning Pack in my Etsy shop.  
 
Buy this pack, or anything else in my shop, and take 15% off your order! Use coupon code NEW15 at checkout.

Summer First Aid Kit

We are nearing the Dog Days of summer now. The days are the longest and hottest. The kids and adults are outside more. And with all the extra time spent outdoors, someone, somewhere, is bound to get hurt.

That's why in the summer, we have a special first aid kit.
 

In it, we have everything we need to treat the summer bumps, bruises and ouchies.

Most importantly, we have bug spray. I love this Buggins stuff you can get at Walgreens. It keeps the gnats away and smells really good, for a bug spray. We also have some Jason natural bug spray.

Right behind the bug spray, the most important thing to have at all times in the summer is sunscreen. I like both the cream and the stick so I can get all over coverage. I love the cream for bodies, while the stick is so nice for faces. You don't have to worry about smearing it into an eye accidentally. This is extremely important when your toddler is trying to break free from your grip like a convict fresh off the farm.

Band-aids. Duh.

Pain relief antiseptic cream and anti-itch cream. Not a summer goes by when The Good Husband doesn't get poison ivy.

To soothe your sore muscles from all that hard summer work - muscle balm.

I have some extras on hand for summer illnesses - aloe for treating sunburns, lye soap for poison ivy treatments. But everything we need is kept in the summer first aid kit.

How is your summer going so far?

New Budget Worksheet - Finance Calendar and COUPON CODE

This is the sixth and final post in a series on the new budget worksheets I have created that are NOW available in my Etsy Shop.

I am so excited to share this template so everyone can bask in my anal retentive ways. I like to keep track of things. I don't think that is any secret. In fact, my therapist told me on the second visit, in a very nice way, that there was just no hiding it.

So I like to see, in detail and often, everything. In this case, monthly bills and when they are due. 

For me having a calendar like this is a great way to keep on top of all your finances. You can see when you will get paid, when bills are due. You can calculate how much will go out at the end of the week and how much will come in. It is also great to see if a payment due date falls on a nonbusiness day, so you can make it in advance and avoid all the late fees.

This worksheet allows you to write in the left column all the bills that are due for the month and then track them on the calendar on the right. It keeps all your finances in one spot and helps to never miss a payment.

So now you have seen all the budget worksheets I have designed that are included in the new *expanded* Budget Pack in my Etsy shop.  

Buy this pack, or anything else in my shop, and take 15% off your order! Use coupon code NEW15 at checkout.

New Budget Worksheet - Checkbook Registers

This is the sixth post in a series on the new budget worksheets I have created that will soon be available in my Etsy Shop.

It seems I never shut up about how I pay bills.

It just never occurred to me to stop using that silly *small* and *ugly* checkbook register when paying bills and reconciling my statements and design my own *bigger* and *prettier* one.

So I did. It works great in my Household Binder. I can add a lot more transactions to the page and it stays in one place with all the other budgeting templates.

And I have both a horizontal and vertical one.

Come back tomorrow when I talk about a finance calendar!

New Budget Worksheet - Safe Deposit Box Log

This is the fifth post in a series on the new budget worksheets I have created that will soon be available in my Etsy Shop.

It's a great idea to have a safe deposit box. You can keep your Home Inventory Log in there as well as other important documents, like original birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates. 

We have the important paperwork above as well as things like savings bonds, family jewelery, valuable coins in our safe deposit box.

So we need a good way to track what we have in there. This log allows us to know where the box is located, as in the actual bank, where the key is, any special instructions to access and the contents. We can log when we add or remove any items and we also have a record should anything happen with the safe deposit box. 

Check back tomorrow when I talk about checkbook registers.