Pumpkin Muffins

I made pumpkin muffins this morning - to welcome October. They were low-fat and low-enough calorie that I had two! :)

Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 egg
• 1/2 c skim milk
• 1 15-oz can pumpkin
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• cinnamon & spices to taste

beat egg & milk and mix in pumpkin
add dry ingredients and mix
scoop into 12 muffin cups (I used a bit of non-stick spray in a stoneware muffin pan)
bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes

makes 12 muffins
each muffin has:

• 101 calories
• 0.4 g fat (0.1 g saturated fat, 0.2 g monounsaturated)
• 15.6 mg cholesterol
• 135 mg sodium
• 5 mg potassium
• 21.2 total carbs (1.9 g dietary fiber, 10.1 g sugar)
• 2.8 g protein
• 24.3% vitamin a
• 0.8% vitamin c
• 7.3% calcium
• 4.3% iron

Kelan pulled a container of whipped topping out of the fridge and put that on his. Then everyone else did. So I looked it up. Turns out 1 Tbsp had only 13 calories and 1 g of fat, so I put a bit on my last bite. YUM! It tasted like pumpkin pie!

(there's no picture, because I didn't think to take one when I first made them, and they didn't last long.... I'll have to make them again soon, so I can get a pic!)

Multi-Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies - Guest Chef

Here's another winner from my dear friend John Lansford. I really wish he lived closer to me. 

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I made a batch of Multi-Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies today and took them to the restaurant we eat at on Sunday. The manager came out and said "if you never make another kind of cookie again, please keep making these!" Our waitress and several others also came over and claimed these cookies were great!

Here's the recipe. It makes a very rich, chocolaty cookie with a brownie like texture, and a hint of mint flavoring.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa
1 lg pkg of instant chocolate pudding
8 oz semisweet chocolate
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbs creme de menthe
3 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa and pudding mix together in a separate bowl, and set aside.

Melt the semi sweet and unsweetened chocolate together with the butter and stir until well mixed. Add the brown sugar and stir. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture. Mix the vanilla and creme de menthe into the mixture.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the batter and stir until combined, then add the chocolate chips. 

Using a teaspoon, drop portions of the batter onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake for about 10-12 minutes or the cookies are firm. The batter will be very stiff, so you may need to use two spoons, one to scrape it off the other.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Haven't been cooking a lot lately...

...can you tell?

I've been very busy with my work, so I have enlisted the three kids to each cook twice a week. That just leaves me Sundays to cook. It's been a real blessing for me getting more stuff done, but it's taken a toll on this blog! Never fear, i will continue to add new things as they're created, but with the kids cooking, it's been a lot of repeats and bad-for-you chicken nugget nights.

Just wanted to check in. I haven't forgotten about you! :)

French Toast

Merrick made his first dinner for the family the other night. He made french toast! Our church has a food pantry that receives day-old bread from Panera, and often they have more bread than they can give out to food pantry clients in the week, so we take some home. This is the best kind of bread for french toast - not necessarily Panera, but any kind of bread that is a few days old - starting to get a little dry, but not crispy. We like white bread best for french toast, but wheat bread also makes very good french toast - just has a different flavor. Old hot dog, hamburger, or other buns also make great french toast!

Ingredients:
bread
eggs
milk
sugar
salt
cinnamon (optional)
vanilla (optional)
butter (for frying)

It's really pretty hard to mess up french toast. I use about 1 egg for every cup of milk, so for our family, I usually crack 3 eggs and add about 3 cups of milk. I throw in a bit of sugar (maybe up to a tablespoon) and a pinch of salt. Sometimes for fun, I'll add a bit of cinnamon (1/2 tsp or so) and some vanilla extract (1/2 tsp or so). These aren't really necessary, as just plain old french toast tastes great, too.

Beat the eggs and add the milk, then add any other ingredients if you wish. Preheat a large skillet or frying pan (I like to use an electric griddle) and run a stick of butter over the hot pan to get a bit of butter everywhere. Then dunk a piece of bread into the egg/milk mixture. Be sure it's completely covered, but don't leave it in there very long, or it will start to fall apart. Quick and gentle is the key here. Then take the bread out and put it on the hot pan. Fry for a few minutes until it starts to brown, then turn over to fry the other side.

Most folks like to eat it with butter and syrup. I happen to prefer butter & powdered sugar. Some even like brown sugar! Be creative! Enjoy! :)

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Yum! I can't wait to try this. This is from my best friend from junior high, De'Reen Vyleta.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 med onion chopped
• 2T chopped garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 lrg peppers-cubed
• 1 lrg can veggie juice (V8) plus 1 can water
• 1 lrg can petite diced tomatoes undrained plus one can water
• 2c rice
• 1T Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot on md/high heat, brown beef with onion and garlic.

Season with salt and pepper

Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir.

Bring to a boil stirring often.

Once it reaches a boil reduce heat to simmer (low) and continue to cook for 25 to 30 mins or until rice is cooked through.

Don’t forget to stir occasionally or rice will sink and stick to the bottom.

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Tater Tot Toppers

This is one of my family's favorite meals, though it's not necessarily the most healthy - it's super quick & easy. We have it every now and then as a fun meal.

1 regular-sized bag frozen tator tots

1 can chili with beans (just a cheap one is fine)

1 can kidney or pinto beans (drained & rinsed)

sour cream

cheddar cheese

onion or green onions

This is so easy... You cook up the tator tots according to package directions - usually about 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so. I cook them on a round (pizza-sized) stone, so you don't have to turn them over. Sometimes I do them on convection, to be sure they all get crispy!

While they're cooking, mix the can of chili together with the can of beans and warm up - I usually just mix them together in a microwavable container and warm it in the microwave, but you can heat it on the stove if you prefer. Chop up some onion or slice some green onions. Shred some cheddar (or whatever you like) cheese and put it in a bowl.

On the table you put your bowl of tator tots, a bowl of chili-n-beans, a small bowl of onions, a small bowl of cheese, and some sour cream. We put the tator tots on the plate, then pile with chili-stuff, cheese, sour cream & onions. Of course, different members of the family use different combinations of the toppings. I tend to add hot peppers to mine! :)

Serve it with a nice salad or green vegetable. We feed 5 and usually have a serving or two left-over for lunch the next day.

Snow Ice Cream - Guest Chef

Perfect recipe for a blizzard day - except you actually have to go outside to get the snow...

This is from my super-friend De'Reen Whitney Vyleta. Enjoy!

• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 gallon CLEAN snow

...In a mixing bowl, mix milk and sugar together until sugar is dissolved.

De'Reen used a hand mixer. I'm thinking about trying this in my KitchenAid.

Slowly add the snow to your mixture, stirring constantly until it is as thick as ice cream.

Absolutely the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe - Guest Chef

This cookie recipe is from my very dear friend, John Lansford. He is a master cookie maker - and sometimes even sends me boxes of cookies half-way across the country!

(yes, there's been some time off since I posted... I got myself into some kind of weird mind-set that it takes too long to put these together, and I never found time to do it. Well, it only takes time if I agonize over it, so please forgive me if you find the occasional typo. I'd rather get these out and not stress about perfection!!)

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This is absolutely the best chocolate chip recipe I've ever tried. The cookies are soft, chewy, tasty and do not dry out over time. Plus, you can vary the flavor and appearance of the cookies by changing what flavor of pudding mix you use.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 3.4 oz packages of Jello instant pudding mix
4 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Step 1: In a seperate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together and set aside

Step 2: Melt the butter in the microwave; 45 seconds should do it

Step 3: Add the brown and white sugar to the melted butter; mix together well.

Step 4: Add the intant pudding mix packages; I've used vanilla, cheesecake, or even lemon pudding flavors, as well as chocolate or chocolate fudge flavors.  More on the chocolate mix variation later.

Step 5: Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.  Add the chocolate chips and nuts (if you want them).

Step 6: Gradually add the flour/baking soda mixture to the dough a little at a time, stirring until it is completely mixed in before adding more.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Using parchment paper on your baking sheets, drop tablespoon-sized amounts of dough on the sheets, and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on the edge.  Makes  about 8 dozen cookies!

NOTE: I've had great results using chocolate pudding and white chocolate chips with this recipe.  Instead of a light colored cookie with dark chips, you get a dark cookie with white chips.  You can also add a tablespoon of creme de menthe to the standard recipe if you want a mint flavored chocolate chip cookie!