Pumpkin Patch Muffins

Ben and Melissa gave us a beautiful pan that makes little pumpkin-shaped cakes/muffins last year. This is the recipe that came with it from Williams and Sonoma...adapted quite a bit - the sugar is cut way down.

3 1/3 C. flour ( can use half whole wheat)
1/2 C ground flax
1 Tb bk powder
1 tsp bk soda
2  tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon (can use more!)
1 3/4 tsp nutmeg
14 Tb softened unsalted butter (can use salted)
1/2 C. br sugar
3/4  C. sugar
4 eggs
1 C plain, unsweetened yogurt
2 C. pumpkin or squash  puree (fresh, frozen and thawed, or canned)
Raisins - handful

-Beat butter and sugars until fluffy.
-Add in eggs and mix well. Add squash and yogurt, mix gently.
-Mix dry ingreds together.
-Add wet to dry ingredients. Add raisins and mix just til combined.
-Bake at 350 in sprayed muffin pans or mini cake pans for ~18-22 min til golden brown.

Yield: 24+ muffins + 12 mini-muffins

Craisin Rhubarb Quick Bread

Every spring I love tinkering around with rhubarb recipes. This one is pretty simple and versatile. Most recipes I could find have gobs of sugar in them. I think this one is plenty sweet and hope you like it! Here's to prolific rhubarb! ;)

2 C. Brown Sugar
3/4 C. Olive Oil
1/2 C Applesauce
2 Large Eggs or 3 medium eggs
2 C. Buttermilk (used 2 Tb. lemon juice with 2 C. milk as substitute)
2 tsp Bk Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
2 C. Flour
2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. Quick Oats
3 C. diced rhubarb
Optional mix-ins: Craisins, Cinnamon

-Mix first five ingredients.
-Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add in rhubarb.
-Combine til just mixed.
-Split batch and add a handful of Craisins to half of the batch and 2 tsp Cinnamon to the other half of batch for variety. I liked it both ways, although my boys preferred the Craisin loaves.
-Bake at 325 for approximately 40 minutes in lightly greased loaf pans, or until loaf is firm in middle and does not sink in when pressed lightly.

Yield: 3 (large) - 4 (medium) loaves (I used two standard loaf pans and 4 mini-loaf pans).

Veggie Dip

 Veggie Dip

1/2 C Mayo with Olive Oil
1/2 C Plain Yogurt
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of dill
Pinch of Lawry's Seasoning Salt - increase to taste

-Mix.
-Refrigerate.
-Enjoy!!

Crepes

3 C whole wheat flour (or white)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C milk
2 C water
4 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tb melted butter

-Mix flour and salt.
-Wisk in milk and water till smooth
-Wisk in eggs til smooth
-Mix in vanilla and butter

-Lightly grease and heat non-stick pan (only needs greasing for the first crepe if non-stick pan).
-Pour 1/4 to 1/3 C batter onto pan and immediately maneuver pan so batter coats entire bottom surface. (For those in need of mass production, a griddle works too if you can pick it up and tip)
-Cook 1-2 minutes as you would a pancake, but this will be ready to flip a little sooner.
-Flip and cook for approx 1 min.

-Serve hot (can keep hot in a 150 degree warm oven on a cookie sheet)
-Fill with: peanut butter and jam, honey, cream cheese and strawberry jam (oh yum), fruit, veggies/cheese/pepperoni - dip in spaghetti sauce, whatever you like!
-Dust with powdered sugar, spread with a touch of maple syrup, or eat plain with filling.

Yum!!

Y: Forgot to count. Enough to feed 4 very hungry farmers and a couple mini-farmers, or probably 8 normal folk:). 

Black Tie Mousse Cake Close to Home

I love Olive Garden's Black Tie Mousse Cake. Oh yum! I tried making a Copycat recipe from Food.com and was happy to eat the results - ha! Just don't look at the nutritional info and enjoy!

I included their recipe and what I modified in purple below. Wonderful recipe. Thanks, Food.com! I would have just linked to them, but I couldn't figure out a simple way to include the changes or notes I had. This was the fanciest dessert I've ever made. Very fun and time consuming!!

BOTTOM LAYER

• 1 (18 ounce) box of ordinary cake mix (devil's food) Dark Chocolate Fudge 

SECOND LAYER

• 1 teaspoon knox unflavored gelatin
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

THIRD LAYER

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon knox unflavored gelatin
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
   
• FOURTH LAYER

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 18 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional) Almond Bark
• 1 C mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for edges/"crust" 

1 There are FOUR layers to make:

2 BOTTOM LAYER (cake):

3 Bake according to directions on box using 2 round (9-in springform) pans, then cool. Once cooled, use the cake from one pan as one layer (you do not need the second cake from the second pan. In other words, you only need half the box cake. I doubled the whole recipe, except for part 4.) Place this round cake at the bottom of a CHEESECAKE PAN. Press it with your fingers and flatten the cake a little. This is the bottom layer out of four layers.

4 SECOND LAYER (the chocolate mousse):

5 Melt chocolate and cream cheese together. Let cool. Soften gelatin with cold water for 1 minute (sprinkle over water in bowl), then add boiling water, stir until dissolved and clear. Let this cool while you start whipping the heavy cream and sugar. As cream starts to thicken, add gelatin. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the cream to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Then fold this into the remaining cream. Once you have it completed, spread this chocolate mousse onto the cake and refrigerate (freeze).

6 THIRD LAYER (the custard):

7 Beat egg yolks until pale. Add sugar, flour, and gelatin (sprinkled over eggs), then beat until mixed. Bring cream and vanilla extract to a boil. Add a small amount of cream to egg mixture while stirring. Gradually add until all of the cream has been added and then pour entire mixture through a strainer into the pan. Continue to cook until custard begins to thicken. Cool slightly, then pour on top of the chocolate mousse layer and freeze while getting the fourth layer ready. (This step is very time consuming but oh so yummy).

8 FOURTH LAYER (the icing):.

9 Please note: this makes a lot of icing so feel free to half this part of the recipe (I just happen to like a lot of icing on top). (I would cut this in half if only making one cake. I like icing and it makes a ton). Bring butter and cream to a boil, pour over chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool until it starts to thicken. Remove cake from freezer, remove the cheesecake pan collar, then pour some of the icing and use a spatula to spread it evenly across the top and sides of the cake. While this is still wet, put chocolate chips onto the side of the cake. Optional: Melt half a cup of white chocolate chips (in the microwave) and swirl into the icing if you want yours to look like the picture. (I used almond bark, which tasted great but hardened really fast.)

10 Refrigerate FREEZE the cake. Be sure to see the picture. Serve cold. Delicious! I wish I would have cut this while mostly frozen. It is very hard to cut out of the fridge without making it look messy.

Squash or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 C pureed banana, squash or pumpkin (thawed frozen squash worked great)
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C oil
3 eggs
3 C flour (can use half whole wheat)
2 tsp bk soda
2 tsp bk powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 C flax
1 1/2 C semi-sweet mini choc chips

-Mix squash, sugar and oil til well blended.
-Mix in eggs until smooth
-Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl.
-Add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
-Bake at 400 degrees in greased muffin cups for 16-20 minutes (until lightly browned).
Y: 24 nice sized muffins and 12 mini muffins

These were very yummy and adapted from a recipe found on MoneySavingMom. I really enjoy trying to cut down the sugar content in baked recipes and am constantly surprised how huge the sugar content is in everyday recipes. One of my favorite cookbooks, More With Less is linked on the side of this blog. That book really keyed me in to nutrition in recipes and making more with less. Hope you enjoy!

Freezer Organization: For Those with Lots of Meat

Dairy farmers that we are, beef is an abundant blessing at our house that we too often take for granted. I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought beef in a grocery store...probably close to 8 years ago when we lived in North Carolina.

If you are like us and get your beef in quarters or halves, freezer organization can get a bit chaotic. I do not like digging through chunks of frozen meat up to my elbows to find a package of hamburger in the middle of winter. So I thought I'd show what works really well for our family!



1. Purchase a decent sized chest freezer...it has been the best food investment I think we've ever made. Buying meat in bulk will save your family money. If you have the space and farmers near by, I highly recommend it. We also are able to freeze large quantities of summer vegetables and fruits in season or when they go on sale.

2. Upon bringing your meat home, take out your previous supply of freezer meat. Using large bags as seen below (our meat packer supplies them), sort your meat into a few manageable categories. I go with

Hamburger
Roasts/Stew Meat/Soup Bones
Steaks

3. Place your previous meat in the top of your bags to use up first.




Hope this helps someone out there!:)

For more kitchen tips, check out a great site called Tammy's Recipes.

Rich Oat n' Raisin Cookies

1 C lard or butter
1 C sugar
1 C br sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp real vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp bk soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 C rolled oats (can use quick)
1 1/4 C raisins



-Beat butter and sugars with mixer til well blended.
-Add eggs and vanilla and beat til blended.
-Combine dry ingreds (except oats).
-Add to wet ingreds and mix til almost blended.
-Add in oats and raisins and mix until just blended.
-Drop by Tb balls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake at 350 or 170C for ~8-10 min, til lightly golden/brown.
-Remove from sheet after a couple minutes to cool.

Y:4 dozen

Pepperoni Cheese Bread

1 batch of my favorite pizza dough

1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

-Dissolve yeast in water and oil. Stir in sugar, salt, and flour.
-Mix until a ball forms. Knead in a little extra flour if dough seems overly sticky. Otherwise no real kneading needed (that was a tongue-twister to type!:))
-Cover and let rest in warm place while you get other ingredients out. (This does not need to rise more than a few minutes...it should raise just fine in the oven!)

1 pkg pepperoni slices (~3.5oz, use as much or as little as you like)
8 oz mozarella cheese shredded (freshly if possible)
butter
parmesan cheese (2 Tb)

-Roll dough out into large rectangle.
-Spread cheese out over dough, leaving approx 1 in space on ends (east/west), little space at top of bread (north), and ~ 1-2 inches space at bottom (south) of rectangle.
-Cover cheese with pepperoni slices.
-Roll dough from top (north) toward you, slowly, back and forth from one end (east) to the other (west).
-Tuck in east/west ends as you get to the bottom to seal off sides. Stop rolling when long seam is at the bottom of loaf and gently seal edges.
-Lift loaf with seam side down onto sprayed 11x15 pan.
-Bake at 375 until nicely browned approx 15-25 minutes.
-Remove from oven.
-Rub butter lightly over top of loaf. (I just use the end of a stick of butter.)
-Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
-Let rest approx 5 minutes before cutting.
-Serve with pizza sauce to dip!

Y: 3 servings (we were hungry!:))

Simple Bag Drying

 

-Wash plastic bags as you do dishes or...

-Open them up widely in the top rack of your dishwasher and press start. ;)

-Hang to dry on a mug rack!

-Store, and reuse, again and again!

In Guinea last year, the missionary family we were with washed their bags out each night in dishtubs outside and hung them to dry on little metal wands attached to the side of their house. Inspired, I decided to commit to washing out ours as well. I was frustrated with them not drying well though in our little rack in the sink. Then, we tried this little mug rack - voila! Works just dandy. Nice for drying bibs out, too. I just leave on the shelf above our washer, so it's not a big deal if they drip a lot.

Hope this helps somebody out there...:)

Check out Tammy's Recipes for great kitchen tips on Tuesdays!

Frozen Bananas & Banana Milkshakes

Oh the yummy possibilities with frozen bananas! I've been blessed to hit our grocery store twice in the last few months when bananas were on sale for 39c/lb...with a whole bunch of bunches on the reduced rack for 29c/lb! That adds up in a hurry with bananas! This time I purchased ~7 large bunches for around $4.50.

I used to just throw whole bananas in the freezer with peels on. My current, favorite way of preserving them is to peel, chunk, throw on a cookie sheet and flash freezer overnight. I first read about trying this on moneysavingmom. Next morning, just throw in a ziploc bag and they'll last a couple months in the freezer.

Here are great things to do with these yummy chunks-o-nana:
-Throw into smoothies - so sweet, we don't add sweetener to our smoothies anymore.
-Thaw and mash as baby food.
-Thaw and use in banana bread.
-Banana Milkshakes: Yumm-o! Our current favorite...




~8 Banana chunks (enough to fill your blender 1/2-2/3 full)
Milk (we use whole)
Vanilla extract (I don't use pure for this)



-Fill blender 1/2-2/3 full by loosely tossing in frozen banana chunks.
-Pour milk in 'til one inch below top of bananas.
-Blend until really thick and smooth. Add more milk if not creamy enough.
-Add vanilla and blend a bit longer.
-Drizzle with chocolate syrup if desired and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Waffles

A recipe with love for Valentine's Day...

5 1/4 C whole wheat flour (freshly ground or frozen if available)
3 Tb baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 C applesauce
1/2 C oil
5 eggs
1 tsp real vanilla
5 1/4 C milk

-Mix dry ingreds. in large bowl (16C+).
-Mix applesauce and oil in large bowl.. Stir in eggs until well blended.
-Add vanilla and milk to wet ingreds. and stir.
-Add wet ingreds to dry ingreds. Mix until blended well. Do not overmix.
-Heat waffle iron and spray. We use a hotel-style waffle iron we got from my parents. It is the type that you have to flip. We LOVE it. Highly recommended if you make a lot of waffles (which obviously we do - ha!).
-Add 2/3 C batter (for our size w.maker).
-Heat 'til nicely browned.
-Serve with maple syrup, fresh/frozen fruit, whipped cream, peanut butter...oh the possibilities!
-Allow extra waffles to cool, then freeze in a bag or tupperware for up to 3-4 months. I like to freeze in quarters rather than big round waffles.
-Thaw in toaster oven.

Y:~18 large round waffles (I honestly don't know! Have to count next time!)