Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

I was in the mood to try a new Thanksgiving sounding (non-pie) dessert and this turned out to be just perfect. It freezes well and would make an easy, yummy, and quick Thanksgiving day breakfast (along with Orange rolls at our house).

4 eggs

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup canola oil

4 cups sugar

4 1/2 cups flour

2 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

4 cups cranberries , fresh (coarsely chop in food processor)

Combine the wet ingredients and then add the dry ingredients. Pour into 3-4 medium loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Southwest Shredded Chicken 3 Bean Chili

This recipe is quick and tasty and complements the cornbread recipe below. It's a match made in heaven. I especially enjoyed that though this chili had some bite, it wasn't too spicy yet still full of flavor all at the same time.

4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 14 oz cans chicken broth
16 oz can black beans, drained
16 oz can red kidney beans, drained
16 oz can canelli beans, drained
15 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 Tablespoon Tabasco hot sauce
1 fresh lime juiced
2 heaping Tablespoons chili powder
1 heaping Tablespoon cumin
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and shredded chicken breast; cook for 1 minute then stir in chicken broth, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, hot sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes then reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.

Green Chili Cheddar Cornbread

1 Cup butter (2 sticks)
1 Cup sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ Cups flour
1 Cup cornmeal
1 ½ Tablespoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ Cup ultra gel (optional)
1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
1 16oz can creamed corn
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well combined. Slowly add eggs until well combined. Pour in remaining ingredients in no particular order until just combined. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish or 24 muffin tins that have been sprayed with cooking spray. If baking in 9x13 inch dish bake for 25-30 minutes, if baking in muffin tins, bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.

I got this recipe off the Picky Palate blogspot. It's absolutely delicious! The one suggestion I have is to make the cornbread in muffin tins rather than the pan. It's so moist and delicious that it took me a lot longer cooking time to get the center of the 9x13 pan fully cooked. But, it was worth the wait!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

PICTURE COMING SOON!


My recipe was "Pumpkin Cheesecake" from Real Simple Magazine (Nov 2008). This is actually not a cheesecake. It is called "cheesecake," but in reality it is an icebox pie shaped like a cheesecake. This is unbaked (no eggs), and it just sets up in the fridge. It has a lighter, less dense, creamy texture, not a traditional cheesecake texture. When I gave my husband a slice, he didn't like it at all. But when I said, "Don't think cheesecake...think 'PIE'", he said, "This is great pie!" It cracked me up.Pumpkin Cheesecake

For the Crust 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from 14 graham crackers) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling
1 .25-ounce envelope unflavored gelatin
1 8-ounce bar cream cheese, at room temperature
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make the CrustHeat oven to 400° F. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Transfer to a 9-inch springform pan. Using a straight-sided dry measuring cup, press the mixture into the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the pan. Bake until set, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.Make and Chill the FillingSprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup boiling water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until dissolved, about 5 minutes.Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin, sour cream, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Mix in the gelatin mixture until incorporated.Pour the mixture into the crust and refrigerate, covered, until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Yield: Makes 8 servings


NUTRITION PER SERVING -- CALORIES 458; FAT 29g (sat 17g); CHOLESTEROL 80mg; CARBOHYDRATE 44g; CALORIES FROM FAT 56%; SODIUM 233mg; PROTEIN 6g; FIBER 3g; SUGAR 32g


submitted by Elizabeth Nielsen

Creme Brule

Crème Brule
6-8 servings

Heat almost to a simmer:
2 c. heavy cream
In medium bowl, stir with a wooden spoon just until blended:
8 large egg yolks ½ c sugar
/or 3 large eggs (I do the 3 eggs)
Gradually stir into the cream strain through fine mesh into a large bowl. Stir in:
¾ tsp. vanilla
Pour into 6-8 4 inch custard cups or ramekins and place in a preheated water bath. Set in 250° preheated oven, bake until set but still quivery in center about 1-1 ½ hours. Remove from oven & water bath & cool to room temperature. Cover each one tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hrs or up to two days. Shortly before serving, gently blot any liquid that has formed on the surface with paper towels. Then caramelize the tops by using small kitchen blowtorch.





After it has sat in refrigerator over night.After you sprinkle sugar on top you caramelize it with a hand held torch.

As the sugar cooks it turns into this brown crispy crust. This one still needs more around the edges.
These are done, and ready to eat.

Pumpkin Caramel Corn

This was such a fun recipe to make - I mean c'mon who doesn't love caramel corn in all it's ooey goodness! :)

8 quarts of popped popcorn = 1 1/4 cups unpopped kernels

1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup karo syrup

3/4 cup solid pack pumpkin

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

pinch of cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Pop the popcorn into a large greased w/pam roasting pan. Melt butter in a medium saucepan and then add brown sugar, karo syrup, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla. Bake in roasting pan (or you can use a big bowl and greased cookie sheets) at 225 degrees for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. When it's done cooking, pour onto waxed paper/foil and stir every 5-10 minutes as it cools. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili w/pumpkin

Submitted by Rebecca Cantwell

You will need the following ingredients:

2 large onions

4 cloves of garlic

1 large zucchini

2 large yellow squash (can substitute one small pumpkin for one of the squash)

2 large pepper of any color

2 cans diced tomatoes

4 cans black beans

3 cans kidney beans

2 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. red pepper/cayenne pepper

Dash of cinnamon

In a large pot:

Add 1 cup ow water, onion and garlic and turn on stove to medium heat. Add all the other veggies (peeled & diced), and cook for approximately 5 minutes until veggies are tender, but not yet cooked. Add cans and turn to low heat. Let simmer for1 hr.

*All the canned ingredients in this recipe are 14-15 oz. cans.*

Pumpkin Cheeseball

This cheeseball turned out quite tasty. It's an interesting assortment of ingredients that blended very nicely together. It's also festive looking as it's orange in color. The recipe doesn't call for the nuts, but the second time I made it I enjoyed rolling it in crushed pecans as pictured above.

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened - do not microwave, just let it sit out on the counter for a couple of hours

1/2 cup. solid pack pumpkin

1 jar (2 1/2 oz.) dried beef slices, chopped. This was very easy to find in the grocery store next to the canned meats. It's an ingredient I've never used before, but it was easy to work with and necessary for the salt in the cheeseball

2 cups (8 oz.) sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1 tbsp. chopped onion

Mix and form into a bowl. Roll in chopped nuts if desired and/or score the cheesball with a knife to look like a pumpkin and use a short celery stick to represent a pumpkin stem. Serve with crackers and enjoy.

Pumpkin Cobbler

I'm experimenting with new pumpkin recipes because I'm hosting a Taster's Night in October and pumpkin is the focus ingredient. This was very simple to make and quite tasty. It also looks more appealing in person than in photograph.

1 29 oz. Libby Pumpkin Puree (follow the pie directions on the back and mix the filling in one bowl).

In another bowl - mix a dry yellow cake mix with 1 cube of softened butter.

Pam spray 1 9x13 pan - pour in pumpkin puree and top with cake mix (optional - can chop some nuts and sprinkle on top).

Heat oven to 350 and bake for 1 hour.

ENJOY!

Pasta Salad

12 to 16 oz. bag tri-color rotini
1/2 green bell pepper, diced small
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cubed
4 oz cheddar cheese, cubed
1/2 container grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/4 carrot, shredded or chopped
5 oz. Wishbone Italian dressing or Ranch dressing

Boil pasta, make sure you don't over cook it. Drain and then add cold water & ice cubes to cool off, then drain again. Add the dry ranch dressing mix & bell peppers to the pasta. You can let this part sit over night or if you're eating it soon, add the rest of the ingredients right before serving. The cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes will get soggy if you let them sit too long in the dressing. I like to omit the Italian dressing and top mine with Ranch. If you plan on eating this over a couple of days, don't add the Italian dressing to the bowl, just add it when you are eating. You can make it a meal by adding some cubed grilled chicken to it. YUMMY!

Chicken Shish-Kabobs

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes

1 medium zucchini cut into 1 inch cubes

1 red onion cut into 1 inch square pieces

1 green, red, orange or yellow bell pepper cut into 1 inch squares (or mix it up and use more than one color.)

Italian Dressing (I use Wishbone brand)

Wood or metal skewers (if you use wood, you need to soak them in a pan of water for at least an hour so they don't burn and if you use metal, spray them with cooking spray before you add the food to them.)

1. Cube chicken and place in a ziploc bag. Pour enough Italian dressing over it to coat. Let marinade for about 6 hours.

2. Cut up vegetables (make sure they're all about the same size as the chicken) and add them all to a different ziploc bag and coat with Italian dressing. Marinade for about 6 hours.

3. After everything is done marinading, alternate chicken and vegetables on skewers, making sure that you don't leave gaps on the skewer (the wood might burn between the food if it's exposed to the flames). The onions turn out best if you stack 3 layers together at a time.

4. Grill for approximately 3-4 minutes on each side on a Med-High heat, turning 3 times. The Italian dressing will turn black when you grill the kababs, but won't have a burned taste.

*These are great with the twice baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

Freezer Jam

Okay so I LOVE some good jam on a loaf of homemade bread. I've made lots of freezer jam and it always seem to be a hit and miss process for me. Sometimes it sets up, but other times it separates no matter what - even when I double the amount of sure-jell. Well, on my trip to Idaho my mom gave me this awesome product called Ultra Gel. It's AMAZING!!! There's no cooking involved at all - plus you don't have to let the jam sit out for 24 hours before freezing it. The jam will thicken within 5 minutes. My mom bought it at her health food store, but the website address is http://www.carnetfoods.com/ Again the product is called Ultra Gel - modified food starch. My mom paid $6.79 for 11.7 oz. This may sound like a lot of money, but you only use a little bit and it can be used in lots of different recipes. I've figured that it's cheaper than sure jell. Anyway, it's wonderful and delicious and without further adieu, I give you :

Never Fail Basic Freezer Jam

3 3/4 cups of fruit puree(any type you want - I just pureed mine in the food processor)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Ultra Gel

Combine crushed fruit, sugar and lemon juice. Gradually add Ultra Gel, stirring constantly. Let stand 5-10 minutes and stir until smooth. Add additional Ultra Gel if necessary for desired consistency (I didn't have to add any extra.). Put in plastic or glass containers and freeze immediately.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes....YUMMY!

This is a recipe that Stacy introduced our family to several years ago. We LOVE it and so does everybody else who tries it.


Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

5 baking potatoes
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
3 T. dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (1 packet)
2 green onions, chopped

Oven Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes and poke holes in them with a knife. Place them straight on the oven rack (do not cover them with foil because you want crispy skins). Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375 degrees. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, scoop out the middles with a small spoon and place in mixing bowl. (To save your hands from being burned, use a small hot pad to hold the potato halves when removing the middles.) Use a hand mixer to combine the middles with 1/4 cup butter and salt & pepper to taste. Stir in, with a spoon, 1 cup of the cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing mix and green onions. Spoon mixture into potato skins and place on baking sheet. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 more minutes.

Microwave Directions:
Wash potatoes, poke holes in them with a knife, then wrap them in plastic wrap. Cook for however long your microwave says for baked potatoes. Then cut each potato in half lengthwise, scoop out the middles with a small spoon and place in mixing bowl (the skins will be delicate, so be careful). (To save your hands from being burned, use a small hot pad to hold the potato halves when removing the middles.) Use a hand mixer to combine the middles with 1/4 cup butter and salt & pepper to taste. Stir in, with a spoon, 1 cup of the cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing mix and green onions. Spoon mixture into potato skins and place on a microwavable plate. Top with remaining cheese. Microwave for 3-4 minutes.

*Serve as a side for grilled steak, chicken or pork.

Spicy Crockpot Chicken Tacos

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or about a 2 pound pork roast)
2 cans green El Pato sauce (jalapeno flavor)
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix El Pato with brown sugar and pour over the top of chicken. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Chicken cooks really fast in the crockpot, so check on it after a couple of hours. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from crockpot and shred; add whatever sauce is left in the pot and mix together. Place chicken mixture on flour tortillas and top with your favorite taco toppings. This is good and easy! When I made it we had more of a chicken burrito because I didn't have smaller tortillas and I halved the recipe for our family.

Lasagna Sammy

So I saw this recipe on another blog and tweaked it a little bit for our family. It turned out so yummy. Since we've moved to Ohio, the only good food we can find is Italian food because there of the influence here. I think it's due to an Italian immigrant overflow from New York. It's been a lot of fun tasting and learning all the authenticities of real Italian food, not just the Americanized versions. Anyway, I incorporated all my new "Italian tips" into the recipe.

You will need:

1 lb. ground Italian Sausage (I prefer sweet over Hot, but either one will work well)

2 tbsp. EVOO

1 26 oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce. ( I think the 3 cheese combo. works best for this recipe).

8 leaves fresh basil, chopped (you can used dried if you want, just make sure to rub them around in your hands to release their flavors)

15 oz. container of Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (I always use Parmesano Reggiano when a recipe calls for Parmesan).

1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 package of Garlic Roasted Ciabatta rolls and/or 1 loaf of Garlic Roasted Ciabatta Bread. Both of these can be found in the Bakery section of the grocery store.

1 ball of fresh mozarella

Nutmeg


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat EVOO in a skillet over medium heat until sausage is browned.

3. Reserve 1/4 cup Sausage.

4. Reduce heat to low and stir in pasta sauce and basil leaves. Simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Place reserved 1/4 cup sausage, ricotta, parmesan, shredded mozarella, salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg and Italian seasoning into a bowl and mix together.

6. Split each roll and/or loaf and bread and place on a baking sheet.

7. Spread Ricotta mixture on bread. Then top with a pasta sauce and slices of fresh mozarella cheese.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and hot. Remove, sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese and serve.

Cherry Salad Mix

This is my new favorite salad to make! The flavors and bold and seem to have a party in your mouth. It's perfect for summer and I love to eat the leftovers for lunch paired with some homemade potato rolls. If you add the dressing to individual servings - it will keep longer.

You will need:
1/2 cups pecans
1 bag of Spring Salad mix
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 small red onion (finely diced)

Dressing:
4 tbsp. raspberry vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable and/or canola oil
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. parsley

1. Caramelize pecans with sugar by stirring them in a fry pan with sugar until the sugar melts. Let cool.

2. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Add dressing right before serving. Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese - grownup style

If you're in the mood for some real cheesy goodness, please skip the Kraft blue box and make this. It's delish, simple to make and downhome cozy.

You will need:

3 tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 cups whole milk

3 cups sharp cheddar

salt & pepper

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. paprika

1 cup chicken stock (a little pricey, but makes your food taste so much better!)

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 small onion

1 lb. chicken breasts and/or tenders chopped up in bite size pieces

1 lb. macaroni elbow noodles and/or cavatapi (pictured above) corkscrew noodles

2 1/2 cups broccoli florets

• 1.Boil pasta according to directions. Making it "al dente" is a little more preferable in my opinion.
• 2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil and chicken. Season it with s & p.
• 3. After a few minutes, add the onions and cook another 5-7 minutes until onions are tender and chicken is cooked through.
• 4. When your pasta has 3 minutes of cooking time left, drop your broccoli into the noodle pot.
• 5. Meanwhile, heat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter and melt, then add flour, cayenne and paprika and whisk together over heat until roux bubbles - then cook a minute more.
• 6. Whisk in milk and stock and raise heat a little to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Simmer sauce till thickened - about 5 minutes.
• 7. Add chicken to drained noodles and broccoli.
• 8. Add cheese to milk sauce and stir to melt it in. Stir in mustard and season sauce with s & p.
• 9. Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli and cooked pasta and stir to combine.
• After tasting this, your kids will never want the blue box again!
• Recipe taken from Rachael Ray

Taco Salad

You will need:
medium head lettuce
8oz-grated cheddar cheese
4-tomatoes diced
1-can kidney beans
1lb.-ground beef
1-pkg. taco seasoning
1-bag tortilla chips or Doritos

1-8oz bottle thousand island dressing

1.Brown ground beef, When I am browning the meat I add dehydrated onion to add flavor.

2.After draining grease from meat add taco seasoning reserving 1Tbs for dressing.

3. Cut up lettuce, tomato, and shred the cheese, and if you use canned kidney beans make sure you drain them before using.

4.Select a large salad bowl allowing room to toss salad. layer salad, starting with Lettuce and ending with cheese. Cover and refrigerate.

5. At serving time toss with dressing. This is so good, and is easily adjusted for how many you need to serve. Because of the lettuce it is not good the next day so I just adjust the recipe to the amount of people we are feeding.

DRESSING:
8oz-Thousand Island dressing
1/3 Cup sugar
1Tbs-taco seasoning
1Tbs-taco sauce

mix all ingredients pour over salad and toss to get dressing through out the salad. We keep chips separate. Put chips on your plate and top with salad mixture. You can also add salsa and sour cream on top if you like.

Crockpot Chili Beans

1 pound ground beef or round steak, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup diced green chilies (we use frozen...they are spicier)
1 (29 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cans pinto beans or 4 cups cooked homemade pinto beans (don't drain)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground black pepper

1. In a pan, brown meat with diced onion.

2. Add remaining ingredients to crock pot, except pinto beans. Mix and then add meat mixture.

3. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4 hours. During last hour add pinto beans.

The cayenne pepper really makes the chili spicy. If you want less heat, put in 3 tsp. of chili powder and omit the cayenne pepper. Also, if the chili starts drying out in the crock pot, add a little water.

We like to eat this on fryed bread (Navajo taco style), in tortillas, on top of bean burritos or in a bowl with cheese.

Honey Orange Chicken

We enjoyed this tasty dish last night for dinner. It's very quick. In fact, I managed to finish a Babybrags order and get prepared for mutual while cooking.

1. Combine 1 cup plain breadcrumbs (I store mine in the freezer for long keeping), orange zest from 1 orange (don't zest any of the white part - it's bitter) and 1 tsp. salt in a shallow dish.

2. Put 1/2 cup orange juice (I squeeze fresh from the orange I just zested and if I need more I add already made OJ) and 1/4 cup lemon juice (again I used fresh squeezed) in another shallow dish.

3. Take 1/2 bag (I had a 3.5 lb. frozen bag) of thawed chicken breasts and/or tenderloins. I prefer the tenderloins because they aren't as thick. Dip each piece of chicken in the juice, then into the crumb mixture, covering well. Pat on an even coating.

4. Place coated chicken into a greased 9x13 glass pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, combine 1/4 butter, 1/2 cup orange juice (again I prefer fresh squeezed - but already made will work too), all the leftover juice from coating the chicken, 1/2 cup honey, and 1 cube of chicken boullion. Heat on medium until honey and boullion are dissolved and then turn to warm.

6. After 20 minutes, pull the chicken out of the oven and pour the sauce on top. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake until chicken is cooked throughout. If using thawed tenderloins like I did - then 10 minutes will suffice. If unsure on the cooking time, read the directions on the back of the frozen bag of chicken and adjust accordingly.

We like to serve over sticky rice at our house. Having lived in Hawaii, Matt and I are quite fond of Calrose rice and like to cook it the old fashioned way on the stove. We follow the directions on the bag and add an extra 1/2 cup water for maximum stickiness.

I hope your family enjoys this tender sweet citrusy meal as much as mine does.