Happy Halloween

From our house to yours..... Happy Halloween!

~ The Cowgirls

Vegan Caramel Apples

I know. I am on a caramel kick. I can't help it. It's Halloween time and it just sounds sooo good. I went looking for a great caramel apple recipe that did not include dairy. Hard to find my friends. This one sounds really excellent though. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Here is the link: Vegan Caramel Apples

Chunky Chicken Chili

Kim here...Now I know you are thinking, yuck! What are you thinking putting chicken in chili! I know, I thought the same thing until I tried it. My mom isn't a ground beef fan and so she usually substitutes different meat for beef. Tonight, she made this for our family and I really liked it. The hubby complained because it wasn't his typical red meat fare, but I enjoyed it because it was lighter in calories and better for you...plus it was good! So give this a try and you will be surprised that chicken really can go in chili!

Congratulations to our winner as well for this month's giveaway. Thanks Deb for organizing that!

Chunky Chicken Chili

1 lb. ground chicken
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 pkg. McCormick chili packet
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, don't drain

1. Brown and crumble chicken in a deep skillet. Season with salt and pepper while cooking it. After it is cooked through (no pink left) add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Bring to a boil and then lower heat so it can simmer about 30 minutes. Thanks mom for the good idea! Gotta love those moms!

Microwave Caramel Corn

And the winner is........... Amy!!!!!! Thank you Amy and to all of you who entered the Cowgirls and Cupcakes second big giveaway. Amy will receive a bounty of Halloween crafties plus an awesome apron made by Kim. Amy, please send us your address and we will get your prize out to you! Kim and I will be having another giveaway next month as we gear up for the big turkey day so be sure to keep reading.

I was so excited to receive this recipe from my good friend Tammy. She always has such fantastic ideas for cooking and crafts. I know that this will be a good one. And caramel corn always reminds me of Halloween!

Microwave Caramel Corn (Yippeee!)

Pop approximately 1 cup corn in brown paper grocery bag in microwave for approximately 2.5 minutes. Be sure to remove any unpopped kernels.

Then in a 2 qt. microwave safe dish put:

1/4 c. white corn syrup

1 c. brown sugar

1 stick butter or dairy-free margarine (great for dairy allergies or vegans)

1/2 tsp salt

Bring to boil in microwave on high. Boil for 2 min. then add 1/2 tsp baking soda and stir well. Pour over popped corn in bag and shake well.Return bag of corn mixture to microwave and cook on high 1 1/2 min. Shake well & turn bag over. Microwave another 1 1/2 min.Shake well again May microwave a 3rd time for 1 1/2 min. if needed. I usually do only 30-60 sec. the 3rd time. Pour on wax paper & let cool . Store in airtight container.

Baked Three Cheese Tortellini with Tomato Cream Sauce

Kim here...We are back from Disneyland! It was so much fun, but feels oh so good to be out of the mouse house! Both the kiddos had a blast!

We are very excited around here because Bubbas actually touched his food tonight on his own free will and put it to his mouth to eat! This is the first time that has happened in his 25 months of life! Woo hoo! Way to go Bubbas! In celebration of this huge milestone for him, here is a dish he likes quite a bit.

Baked Three Cheese Tortellini with Tomato Cream Sauce

1 (13 oz) bag Barilla Three Cheese Tortellini (dried)
1 jar marinara sauce (I like Golden Grain)
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil water for tortellini's and follow cooking times on package. Drain and set aside.
3. Bring marinara sauce to a light boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Add tortellini and toss to coat.
4. Grease a 13x9 pan with butter. Pour tortellini mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and dot with 2 Tbls. butter.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

***Good with adding ground beef or sausage to sauce as well.**

Gilded Pumpkins

So it's our last day of Halloween crafting here at Cowgirls and Cupcakes and I wanted to send you off with a bang. Yes, it's gilded pumpkins! I opened up my Country Living magazine a month back and was in awe when I saw these. I almost hurdled the couch to run down to Michaels and buy some gold leaf. Their is a technique to this, and unfortunately, I can't say that I have tried it yet, but plan too very soon. Look at how beautiful these pumpkins came out. The article featured Carol Kemery who is a decorative painter and developed this fantastic kit along with Country Living, to make these beautiful gilded pieces. So this is not really a tutorial by me today, but I thought that if you saw these that the kit might be worth a look see.

Here is her tutorial: Gilding Pumpkins

Here is the link to her website with the kit: Beautiful Gilded Pumpkins

Here is the wonderful article about guilding in Country Living: Fall Guilding

It has been fun crafting with you this week! Let's do it again soon. Our buddy Kim will be returning from LA on Sunday and I can't wait to hear about Disneyland's decor for the Halloween season. Our recipes will be returning next week as well. Be sure to get your comment or email in to join our giveaway. The giveaway winner will be chosen on October 27th at midnight, so get those entries in.

Stamped Halloween Cards

And the crafting just keeps rolling on here at Cowgirls and Cupcakes. Today I made a few Halloween cards. I love giving these out to my friends and family. These also make great little teacher gifts. I saw cards very similar to these in a store that cost $15.00. That is insane! You can make these at home for little to nothing. I bet a lot of you crafters out there already have a few items already on hand.

Here is what you need:

Black and white card stock with envelopes - I buy the pre-cut cards and envelopes in a large pack at Michaels. They have both black and white.

Any of your spooky Halloween stamps. For these I used the new clear stamps. I found them in a store for .99 cents and thought they were so cute and very vintagy looking. If you use the clear stamps like I did, you will also need an acrylic block. They sell these at any craft store. I actually picked mine up at my local Wal-Mart.

Black stamp pad and white stamp pad - Again, found mine at Michaels.

Here is what I did:

Just line up your stamps on your acrylic block and ink them up. I found that the clear stamps don't use as much ink as the rubber stamps do. Use it sparingly and do a few test runs first.

Finally, you just stamp away.

I always like to keep it simple and I think that these are sooooo easy for anyone to do. I will wrap these in a cute Halloween ribbon and add these to the giveaway stash.

Just a reminder, our Cowgirls and Cupcakes Halloween Giveaway has already started. If you would like to be entered into the giveaway, please send us a comment or an email or a great recipe and you will be entered. The giveaway winner will be chosen on October 27th at midnight.