Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies

This is a fun fall treat.  My youngest child, Andrew, has to bring brownies for a Halloween Party on Friday.  They were very easy to make, but I do think that you can make some adjustments though.  I doubled the batter recipe so that I could make a bigger batch of brownies.  There were really chocolatey though; I would maybe reduce the chocolate chips a little bit.  I am still working on it though.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (Fresh homemade pumpkin puree recipe)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted since we can't have nuts at school)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan (if you are doubling the batter recipe, I suggest using a 9x13 pan). Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, stir together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla extract; beat in the eggs one at a time with a spoon. Gradually add the flour mixture, and stir the batter until it's evenly moistened. Divide the batter in half in two separate bowls.
3. Into one bowl of batter, blend the cocoa powder and chocolate chips. In the second bowl of batter, stir in the pumpkin puree, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
4. Spread 1/2 of the chocolate batter into the bottom of the prepared baking pan, and follow with 1/2 of the pumpkin batter. Repeat the layers, ending with a pumpkin layer, and drag a kitchen knife or small spatula gently through the layers in a swirling motion, to create a marbled appearance.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan, cut into squares, and serve.

Batter prepared

 Going into the oven

 Final Brownies, I will post a picture of the swirl/layer effect in the middle.

Adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Homemade Pancakes

I got this recipe from a friend on a mom's site. It was very easy and the kids loved it. It took about 30 minutes or less from the time I started making the batter until the pancakes were served.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar (I used Splenda instead of sugar - same measurement)
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
cooking spray

Directions:

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg, vanilla and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

BTW, the recipe above was doubled from the original recipe that I received in order to feed a family of 4. (If you want extras, I would suggest making more batter - yields about 20 1/4 cup pancakes - there were no left overs in my house)

I am going to try and make these ahead of time and freeze them for a quick meal.

Penne with a Sausage Cream Sauce

When I was looking for recipes with chicken sausage, I found this one. The recipe calls for Italian sausage, but chicken sausage still tasted wonderful.  This was a hit with my family.  It took about 30 minutes to prepare this meal and serve. 

Ingredients:

1 pound sausage (sweet Italian sausage, casings removed or ground chicken sausage)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 medium onion (diced)
4 garlic cloves (minced)
2/3 cup of dry white wine
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons chopped Italian Parsley
1 teaspoon of salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 pound penne pasta, cooked according to package
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (do not use the canned stuff)

Directions:

Cook sausage in a large skillet of medium-high heat.  Remove sausage and set aside; drain excess grease from skillet. 

Melt butter and oil in the skillet; add the onion and saute until softened and golden in color.  Add garlic, cook and stir 1 minute.  Add wine to skillet and reduce volume by half, about 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and simmer 3 minutes.

Return cooked sausage to skillet, add cream and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.  Stir in parsley, salt and pepper.

Place cooked Penne in a large serving bowl (I just used the pan that I cooked the pasta in); pour sauce over pasta; add Parmesan cheese and toss to combine.

Serve sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese. 

Serves 6. 

Sauce prepared before pouring over Penne

 Completed Penne with a Sausage Cream Sauce

Adapted from www.cooks.com

Pasta with a Garlic Cream Sauce



Claudia posted a recipe for me to try.  I was amazed how easy and tasty this recipe was, even the kids liked it.  You can add chicken, shrimp or even some veggies to this pasta. 

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Pint of whipping cream
4 oz of grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz of cooked linguini, spaghetti or angel hair pasta
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a heavy bottom pan, melt the butter, add the garlic and let it infuse for a little bit (without browning the garlic).  Add the whipping cream, let it boil and simmer on low heat until the sauce is reduced by 10% (important step).  Add the Parmesan cheese and season to taste.  Add the cooked pasta and toss.

Sauce after simmering

 Finished pasta, serve with chicken or shrimp



Chicken cutlets with an Onion-Mushroom Sauce

I bought some chicken cutlets from my local meat co-op.  I was going to make them into chicken fried chicken, but saw this recipe and thought I'd give it a try.  It tasted way better than it photographed.  I add some rice and green bean casserole (per request).  I used a lot of cream of mushroom soup tonight, but it was really good.

Ingredients:

1 - 2 lb of chicken cutlets, sliced thin
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 pkg dry onion soup mix
2 cups of milk
paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Place cutlets in a baking dish.  I used a casserole dish. Whisk together undilted cream of mushroom soup with onion soup mix.  Gradually whisk in the milk.  Spread of the chicken and top with paprika. Place in the preheated oven until the chicken is lightly browned, about 40 minutes. Serve with rice, there is plenty of gravy to use over the rice.

Chicken Cutlets

 Soup mixture

 Prior to baking

 After baking (my chicken was covered by the gravy)

 Chicken cutlets in an Onion-Mushroom Sauce with rice and green bean casserole

Recipe adapted from cooks.com

Low Fat Pumpkin-Banana Bread/Muffins

I still have a lot of pumpkin puree left, so I am trying more pumpkin recipes.  Andrew loves muffins and I like to make him healthy things to eat for breakfast.  The recipe was actually for a bread, but I thought the muffins would be more kid-friendly.

Ingredients:

1 mashed ripe banana

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup canola oil (I half oil and half natural applesauce)

1 large egg

2 egg whites

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 1/2 X 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Or you can use 18 muffin tins with liners.

Place mashed banana, pumpkin puree, oil, egg and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat with an electronic mixer on low speed. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to banana and pumpkin mixture and beat until just moist. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick placed in center comes out clean. If you are making muffins bake for 18-20 minutes (fill them about 3/4 full).

 

Serves 12 as a loaf or Serves 18 as muffins.

Per Serving as a loaf: Calories 196, Calories from Fat 48, Total Fat 5.3g (sat 0.5g), Cholesterol 18mg, Sodium 206mg, Carbohydrate 33.3g, Fiber 1.6g, Protein 3.7g

 Adapted from Low Fat Cooking

Low Fat Baked Ziti with Spinach

Baked ziti is a family friendly recipe, especially with sneaking spinach into it.  Andrew didn't seem to notice that it was hidden in there.  This recipe makes enough for 8 people, so you might have some as leftovers. 

Ingredients:

1 lb high fiber ziti

28 oz crushed tomatoes (I used the diced tomatoes)

1 tsp olive oil (I used coconut oil)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed (I would think you could use fresh as well)

1 tsp oregano

2 tbsp chopped basil

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz fat-free ricotta

1/4 cup Parmesan

2 cups (8 oz) part skim mozzarella

spray olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with oil spray.

In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta according to the instructions until al dente. 

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add olive oil and saute garlic.  Add chopped spinach, salt, pepper and tomatoes.  Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Simmer in saucepan while pasta is finishing.

Once the pasta is done, drain and return to pot. Add the sauce to the pasta.  Add half the mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and ricotta.  Mix well then transfer to the baking pan and spread evenly.  Top with the remaining mozzarella.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and the edges are lightly browned.  (It took about 25 minutes in my oven)

Before going in the oven

After baked

 Served with a small chicken breast

Recipe from Skinny Taste

Grands!® Monkey Bread

My Grandma used to make Monkey Bread for us all the time. I remember waking up to the smell of cinnamon and sugar on Christmas mornings.  It's a memory of her that that I still cherish to this day. She used to make it with homemade biscuits, but this recipe is just as good. 

 

I prepared the biscuits and the cinnamon/sugar coating last night.  I put them in the pyrex dish and placed in the fridge over night (Note: let the pyrex dish get to room temp before placing in the oven in the morning, the shock of heat on the cold dish can make them crack or explode).  This morning, I just melted the butter and added the brown sugar. I made a half batch of the recipe below. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1/2 cup raisins, if desired

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (6 tablespoons if you are doing half a batch)

 

Directions:

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large -storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.  (I used a flat pyrex dish since I did not have a bunt pan.  It's works just as good)

Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces.

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm. 

If you are only doing half a batch with 1 tube of biscuits, reduce time to 20 minutes. 

Recipe from Pillbursy Website

After the dough has been prepared with cinnamon and sugar. 

I placed this in the fridge last night with foil over the top.

 After the butter and brown sugar have been added

After baking

 

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

This is a pumpkin bread with a cream cheese filling.  It can be frozen.

Ingredients:
Filling:
• 1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, at room temperature (I use the reduced fat cream cheese)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel (I omitted since I didn't have any)
Bread:
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (Here's my recipe for easy pumpkin puree with a real pumpkin)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (you can subsitute natural applesauce)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly grease two 8x4x3-inch loaf pans. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 egg, and the orange peel; beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside. Into another bowl, sift 1 2/3 cup flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside. Put pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, 2 eggs and 1 1/2 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat well. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Fold in the pecans or walnuts, if using. Pour half of the pumpkin bread batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of pumpkin batter layer and then pour on the remaining pumpkin batter. Bake in preheated 325° oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes; remove to a rack to cool completely. Pumpkin bread recipe makes 2 loaves.

Pumpkin Cookies

These were cake like pumpkin cookies.  I made them as directed, but I would use a different icing next time or just omit the icing all together.  (I would suggest a cream cheese frosting vs the sugary frosting)  They were a huge hit in our house.

Cookie Dough Ingredients

• 1 cup of fresh cooked pumpkin (How to make your own pumpkin puree)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising flour)
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or hazlenuts (optional)

Icing Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar, unsifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup milk (just enough to make the mixture spreadable)
• chopped pecans or other nuts (optional)

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F  (190 C).
2. Lightly grease two cookies sheets (I used baking liners so that it would be an easy clean up)

Prepare the icing:

Carefully, lightly brown the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Be careful not to burn it. If you have trouble getting it to brown, down worry about it, it is mostly to add the color!
 
Remove the browned butter from heat.
 
Blend in the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla extract. It will start off think and lumpy, until you add the milk in the next step.
 
Mix in just enough milk to make the mixture smooth and spreadable.  It probably will only take a small amount, like 1/8 to 1/4 cup.
 
Set aside

Prepare the Cookie dough
In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar together until light and smooth.

Mix in the eggs, pumpkin and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices (cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg).

Combine the two bowls (just pour the smaller bowl into the larger) and stir until blended.

Stir in the chopped nuts (optional).

Use a ordinary spoon (table, soup) or small ice cream scoop to drop the cookie dough onto the greased cookie sheet (you can also use the silicon cookie sheet cloths on a regular cookies sheet, the cookies will come off more easily).

Bake pumpkin cookies in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
 
Cool the cookies on racks and while they are still warm (but not hot)
Spread the butter icing on them!

They're great warm, or later when cool!

Recipe from here

How to make Pumpkin Puree

This past weekend we were at the pumpkin farm with the kids.  When we were looking at pumpkins and we found one that was a perfect "baking" pumpkin.  I have never cooked with fresh pumpkin before and wanted to give it a shot. 

This is the pumpkin that we picked. 

I looked up different ways to make this pumpkin into the pumkpin puree that you can make into pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, cookies, etc.  You can bake it, microwave it, steam it, and boil it.  I started off with preparing it to bake, but then quickly switched to boiling it. 

I used a large pot and started boiling the water.  I cleaned the pumpkin off in warm water (no soap).  Then I sliced it up.  Here's the inside of the pumpkin.  You can save the seads, which you can roast if you like.  I diced the pumpkin into reasonable chunks.  I placed them in the water for about 45 minutes or until tender.  (Some recipes call for removing the skin before placing them in the water, but I tried that and it seemed to take forever, so I just tossed them into the water, skin and all)

Drain off the excess water and then let them cool on a cookie sheet. This is what mine looked like.

Then I used a spoon and removed the pumpkin from the skin.  This was very quick and ease!  I put all the pumpkin into a bowl and then used a blender to puree the pumpkin.  My pumpkin yielded about 5 cups of puree.

You can freeze the puree for about a year.  Use freezer ziplock bags to ensure freshness. 

This can be used as a replacement for pumpkin in a can.  It's the same measurement.  You do not need to add anything to this puree to use in a recipe.  I used it right away for pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread. 

Apple Muffins with Streusel Topping

These scrumptious muffins are great whether made with pears or apples. This muffin recipe is easy to make and the muffins will stay moist for a few days...not that they will last that long.

Serves 1 dozen

First preheat your oven to 400° F (205° C).

Step 1: Measuring the Wet Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Whisk in the sour cream and oil until smooth. Set aside

Step 2: Measuring the Dry Ingredients (Sift all of the ingredients into a large bowl.)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda

Step 3: Gathering the Streusel Ingredients
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cold butter
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry knife or fork. Once the mixture forms coarse crumbs, set aside.

Step 4: Preparing the Fruit
1 cup chopped apples (or pears)
For this recipe, it is best to use pears that are still a bit firm and are not fully ripened.
Wash and peel the pears. Cut into roughly 1/2-"inch cubes and set aside.

Step 5: Mixing the Batter
To make the batter, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently stir until nearly combined. It is ok if you see a bit of dry ingredients as the batter will be mixed a bit more when you incorporate the fruit. Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough.
Fold in the apple until just incorporated.

Step 6: Filling the Muffin Tin
Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin and then sprinkle with the streusel topping. Place directly into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

Step 7: Checking the Muffins for Doneness
To check if the muffins are done, insert a wooden skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, remove from the oven.

Step 8: Serving the Muffins
Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for about 10 minutes. Remove and serve.

Lasagna

I got this very easy and wonderful recipe from a friend.  I have made it a couple times and it's a big hit with the family.

1lb ground beef, 1 med onion chopped stir together and simmer for 15-20 mins (you want to cook the ground beef all the way)

1tsp basil leaves
1tsp oregano
1tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups slightly blended tomatoes (I use 1 can diced tomatoes)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 cup water
mix the ground beef and onion with those above.

separate mixture
1 egg slightly beaten
1tsp dried parsley flakes
2Tbs parmesan cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

8 lasagna noodles

in a 9x13 baking dish layer 1 cup of sauce, 4 noodles and half of the cottage cheese mixture. Repeat the sauce, noodles and cottage cheese mixture. Top with remaining sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 50-60 min. sprinkle with cheese and serve! This is so yummy!

The verdict:
Everyone loved it. Very easy and there was enough for me to take as left over’s the next day. It reheated very well. I added a salad and bread sticks with the meal.