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Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

16 Nov

I am FINALLY getting around to using the pumpkin I prepared a few weeks ago.  It’s been sitting in my freezer patiently.  I took some out of the freezer earlier this week, so today was the day to use it.  And, I decided to make Pumpkin Gingerbread muffins with it.  This is a recipe that I got from my friend, Cyndy at Daily Cynema.  She has a lot of other great recipes too, in fact, I’m hoping to try out her pumpkin pancake recipe in the near future.

Here is the link to her recipe: Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins.  I follow it exactly, except that instead of 1 can of pumpkin, I used 1 3/4 cups of fresh pumpkin.  Such a great holiday treat!

 

Almost forgot, this made 2 dozen yummy muffins.

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How to Freeze Celery

15 Nov

This week for Bountiful Baskets, I got celery.  Normally, I just cut it into sticks for my kids to eat, but with Thanksgiving coming up, I need celery for bread and celery dressing.  Since I never know what I will get week to week from Bountiful Baskets, I decided it would be best to freeze this celery to have ready for Thanksgiving.  Celery doesn’t seem like a vegetable that can be frozen, but it can.  After you freeze it, it’s not going to be ready for a veggie tray once you thaw it, but you can use it for cooking, like in soups or dressing.

First, you want to wash and slice up your celery.  Then, you need to blanch it.  To blanch it, you boil water, then add the celery and allow it to boil for 3 minutes.  Drain.  Then, put in a bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.  Drain.  Store in vacuum sealed bags or zipper bags with the air let out.  To get the air out of a zipper bag, zip the bag leaving one end slightly open, then insert a straw in the opening.  Suck out as much air as you can.  Label with the date, and put in freezer until you are ready to use it.  I measured mine out into 1 cup portions and placed in snack size zipper bags.

 

Blanching is a process done with quite a few vegetables.  Last year, I did it for a bunch of green beans I had gotten.

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Bierocks

14 Nov

When I get cabbage, this is one of my favorite recipes to make.  This recipe came from a friend in my mom’s group, and everyone that has made it, loves it.

Bierocks

What you need:

1 lb ground beef
1 cup onion, chopped
2-3 cups cabbage, chopped
Seasoned salt
Ground pepper
Shredded cheese,  I usually use cheddar, but any kind will work
2 cans of Grands biscuits

How to make it:

Brown ground beef in a large skillet; drain. Return to skillet. Stir in onion and cabbage. Simmer, stirring frequently, until cabbage and onion are tender. Season with seasoned salt and pepper to your taste.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Stir in shredded cheese.


Roll out a biscuit.   Place a couple tablespoons of the filling in center of each biscuit.

Gather up the sides of dough and pinch shut over the filling.  Repeat for each biscuit.

Place seam-side down on greased cookie sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg white or olive oil.


Bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees, or until biscuits are golden brown.

If you don’t want to as many at once, you can freeze half of the filling to use at another time.

Casserole version:

Instead of 1 can of Grands biscuits, use 1 can of crescent rolls.  Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray, and spread half of the crescent roll dough in the bottom of the dish.  Add the filling mixture, then spread the remaining half of crescent roll dough on the top.  Bake at 375 F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

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Bountiful Baskets – 11/12/2011

13 Nov

Things are settling down with our move, so hopefully this week I will be able to make more with my basket.  This week I got the conventional basket, 5 loaves of organic 9 grain bread, and 2 wagon wheels of dinner rolls, 36 white and 36 wheat.

 

We of course had to try the rolls before getting a picture.  They are delicious!  So, we have oro blanco grapefruit, fuyu pomegranates, tangerines, kiwis, blackberries, apples, grapes, bananas, celery, russet potatoes, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, and yellow onions.

I used an onion in a recipe tonight for Bierocks, that I will share shortly.  The celery I am going to dice and blanch, then freeze to have for bread dressing for Thanksgiving.  The russet potatoes will probably be used for mashed potatoes.  The sweet potatoes, well, I still have sweet potatoes from a few weeks back, so I have a lot to work with now!  I think I will be making a sweet potato pie, my husband’s favorite, not sure what else yet.

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location, because of volunteering this week, and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Taste of Home Cooking School

11 Nov

I have been a fan of Taste of Home for a while.  My Papou (Greek for grandfather) introduced me to some of their cookbooks and magazines a while back.  He liked their Cooking for 2 recipes, and also subscribed to their Light & Tasty (now Healthy Cooking) magazine.  He got a gift subscription for me for the Light & Tasty magazine for a few years, plus, he gave me a few of their Best of and Cooking for 2 cookbooks.  So, when my friend Diana asked if I would be interested in attending a Taste of Home Cooking School show, the obvious answer was yes.  I have seen them advertised for the last few years, but never got around to getting tickets to go.  I am so thankful to her for inviting me to go and getting the tickets, it was a great opportunity to learn some new things and to have a night out with friends.  Especially the night out without my kids, which has become a rare thing for me.  As luck would have it, the night of the show was the night before our move to a new house in town, but that wasn’t going to stop me from going!

Before the actual show starts, there were vendor displays outside the theater.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get there early enough to see the vendor displays, but from what I saw, there were some neat things.  After entering the theater, I got a goodie bag full of coupons, a bottle of mustard, a couple clips, a wooden spoon, and ads for some of the vendors there that night.

Some of the nice things in the goodie bag from the show

Once I sat down, I filled out my info card for the drawings for prizes.  Yes, in addition to getting to see cooking demonstrations, they had all kinds of prizes to give away too, including the recipes that were made that night!  Awesome!  I did win a prize, I won a 3 month membership plus 3 personal training sessions to a gym here in town.  I guess that’s my hint that after making and eating all this yummy food, I need to get my butt to the gym!

This show, the host was Kristi Larson.  She demonstrated 9 recipes during the show, all of which looked very delicious.  This is definitely not a show to go to hungry, eat well before you go, or for the 3 hours you are sitting there watching recipes being made, you will be starving!  Kristi was very energetic, explained things very well, and made the show very enjoyable.  She had some neat kitchen gadgets, 2 of which I will be looking to get, salt & pepper mills you squeeze with magnets and flexible cutting mats.  I hope to get to try out the recipes we saw and to get to use the tips we learned, and then share them here on the blog.

Kristi having some fun with the emcees for the night

It was a very fun night, and I am so glad I got to go.  If you have a Cooking School show coming to a venue near you, I highly recommend that you go.  Very fun and informative.  Thank you again to Diana, I hope we get to go again next year!

Ground Beef & Cabbage Stew

6 Nov


Ok, I know at first glance, this doesn’t really look appetizing.  In fact, my good friend that I got this recipe from jokes that this dish should be called “Pig Food”.  I promise though, that it does taste good even though it doesn’t look very good.  And both of my girls eat it with no argument, so that says something if the kids will eat it.  It’s really easy to throw together, most of the time is spent on chopping vegetables to put in it.

Ground Beef  & Cabbage Stew

What you need:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1/2 lb of carrots, sliced
4 1/2 cups water
5 beef or chicken bouillon cubes
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 can peas, or 2 cups frozen or fresh peas

How to make it:

Brown ground beef in a large pot.  Add in carrots and onions, and cook until onions are translucent and carrots have started to soften.  Add the water, bouillon cubes and potatoes.  Make sure there is enough water to cover all of the meat and vegetables, add more if necessary.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to let it simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are both soft.  Add in cabbage, and cook until it begins to wilt.  Add in peas and cook for a few minutes longer to allow peas to cook.  Serve immediately.

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Bountiful Baskets – 11/5/2011

6 Nov

Sorry for the lack of posts over this week.  Life has been a little hectic, so not as much cooking going on.

Anyway, this week I ordered the conventional basket for $15.  Here is what was in this week’s basket.

Bananas, watermelon, pears, apples, kiwi, blackberries, fennel, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, and red peppers.  Working on ideas for all of it!

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Bountiful Baskets – 10/29/2011

30 Oct

This week I ordered the conventional basket for $15 and a bushel of fuji apples for $24.

The conventional basket had celery, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, black seedless grapes, bananas, apples, strawberries, avocados, pomegranates, and kiwis.  The cabbage I will use to make a stew with potatoes, carrots, ground beef, and peas.  Still working on what to make with the rest.

A bushel is approximately 40 pounds, so it works out to about $.60/lb of apples.  There are 125 apples in the box, thank goodness I’m sharing them with some friends!   With my part, I will be making Apple Crisp and Applesauce.   Yum!

 

Note: The amount of food may vary from another basket because of volunteering and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Spaghetti Pie

29 Oct

My mom makes this occasionally when we visit, and while I’ve always enjoyed it, I’ve never actually made it.  I finally got around to asking my mom for the recipe, and while they are in town visiting, we made it for dinner tonight.  Since we had 5 adults and 2 kids to feed, we doubled the recipe and made it in 2 8×8 baking dishes instead of a 10″ round baking dish.  So, while one of my pictures will show it in 2 8×8 dishes, I will give the directions for 1 Spaghetti pie in a 10″ round baking dish.

Spaghetti Pie

What you need:

1/2 box of spaghetti
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs, well beaten
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Hot to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain.  Stir in the butter, eggs,  and Parmesan cheese.  Spray a  10″ round baking dish and press spaghetti mixture into the dish along the bottom and sides, forming it like a crust.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef, drain.  Add spaghetti sauce and simmer.

Spread the cottage cheese over the spaghetti crust.  Top with beef mixture.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake 5 minutes longer, or until cheese melts.

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Parmesan Garlic Pull Apart Bread

29 Oct

Over the last 2 weeks of Bountiful Baskets, I have gotten a lot of garlic.  I don’t usually use fresh garlic, but since I have it, I needed to find ways to use it.  This recipe is a lot like monkey bread, a favorite of mine that my sister always makes for Christmas morning breakfast.  I had read a post about the Parmesan Pull Apart Bread at My Kinda Rain, and changed up the recipe a bit based on what I had and what pans I had.  Tonight I decided it was time to make it again with the fresh garlic I had, and oh man, I had forgotten how good this bread is!  It was the perfect complement to the Spaghetti Pie we had (which I will be writing about very soon!).

Parmesan Garlic Pull Apart Bread

What you need:

1 can Pillsbury Grands biscuits (not the flaky layered kind)*
1/2 stick of butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic salt

How to make it:

Preheat your oven to 375 F.  Melt butter in a small pan on the stove, and stir in the minced garlic. Pour the mixture into a 9 in round baking pan.  Sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese and garlic salt.

Cut each Grands biscuit into 4 pieces and gently roll each piece in your hands.  Drop into the pan.  It doesn’t have to be too tightly together, there can be small gaps because the dough will expand some while baking.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until tops of dough just start to brown.  Remove from oven and immediately flip bread onto a plate to serve.

* You can also make biscuit dough according to the package directions on a box of Bisquick.  With regular Bisquick, it is 2 1/4 cups Bisquick and 2/3 cup milk, then just mix together.  Roll the dough into balls, and follow the remaining directions above.

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