Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Apple Cider Glaze

I am trying to clear some things out of my cupboards and the spice cake mix had to go! So did the can of pumpkin.  It sounded like a good marriage so a cake was born.

(1) Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix
(1) 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
(3) eggs
(3) tablespoons of brown sugar
(3) good shakes of cinnamon

Mix the above ingredients well and pour into a greased bundt pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let rest 10 minutes before flipping out onto a plate.

For the glaze, mix two packets of instant Alpine Hot Apple Cider Mix with approximately 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and enough hot water until it gets to a good pouring consistency, not to thin and not to thick.  Poke a few holes in the cake with a fork to let some of the glaze seep into the cake.

The cake is very moist and the apple cider glaze compliments the pumpkin very well. In hindsight I would have only used (1) packet of the cider mix as the glaze is very sweet. It will definitely require a little bit of playing around next time if I decide to make it again.  For what it was, a cabinet emptier, it is yummy and fun!

Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Chicken with Spinach & Cream Cheese with Sauteed Brussel sprouts and rice

I finally felt creative in the kitchen again after about two months of hitting a brick wall.  Yesterday's grocery shopping trip netted quite a lot of things on sale, one of the most exciting items was the bacon!  I decided I needed use it for dinner. I poked around the kitchen to see what I could add to it.  This is what I came up with:

(6) thin sliced chicken breasts
(1) block of cream cheese, softened
(1) pound of bacon
(1) thawed package of spinach

Spread the cream cheese on the chicken breast and press some spinach into the cream cheese. Make sure you squeeze any water out of the thawed spinach before you add to the cream cheese.  Roll the chicken up and the wrap with a piece of bacon.  Place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.  I wanted to secure these with a toothpick but I could not find them! Fortunately they ended up not needing the toothpicks.  I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and then switched to broil for approximately five minutes just to further crisp the bacon on top.

While the chicken was baking in the oven, I took the last two leftover pieces of bacon and put in a saute pan to fry with half a small yellow onion chopped small.  I let the bacon get crisp and then drained a small portion of the bacon fat off, but not all.  I then added three servings of frozen brussel sprouts and 1 tablespoon of butter to the saute pan, put a lid on and let gently saute for about 10 minutes while the chicken finished baking.  I do not think I will EVER eat brussel sprouts any other way again! They were the best I have ever had!

Here is how the finished dinner looked:

The cream cheese and spinach were warm and oozing inside the chicken. The chicken was moist because of the bacon.  The brussel sprouts were smoky and tender.  It was a wonderful dinner.  Even my pickest eater came back for seconds!  Mission accomplished for dinner!