White Bean Vanilla 'Custard'

Don't be put off by beans being the main ingredient, this is good stuff!

White Bean Vanilla 'Custard'

Ingredients

• 3 cups white beans, drained and cooled
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup sugar, or other sweetener (a little less makes it less sweet) 
• 6 TB ground flax seed
• 12 TB water
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Pulse cooked, drained, and COOLED white beans in food processor until completely smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients, and blend til thoroughly combined and smooth.
3. Enjoy! Yum!

pumpkin bread...

Pumpkin Bread

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup pear or apple sauce
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups pumpkin puree

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. In one bowl, beat your wet ingredients: the oil, apple or pear sauce, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
4. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Add pumpkin puree. Mix carefully but thoroughly.
6. Spray TWO 8" X 4" loaf pans with cooking oil spray, then divide the batter between the two pans.
7. Place the pans into the preheated oven, and bake for about an hour.
8. Let them cool for about 10 minutes on the counter, then carefully remove them from the pans and let them come to room temperature.
9. Eat one loaf, freeze the other for later. :)

PS - you can use almost any type of fruit in place of the pumpkin - chopped pears, apple pieces, peach slices...

don't judge a pumpkin by it's shell...

This past October (2 months ago already?!) my sister-in-law & mother-in-law bought me a 'blue' pumpkin. It was more of a grayish tint and on the larger side as far as pumpkins go. They told me it was supposed to be a sweet variety. While cutting it up into chunks to cook it in the oven, I discovered the 'flesh' was pretty thick - about 2 to 3 inches.

Hmmm....in my limited knowledge of pumpkin the bigger it is = less sweet.

But I cooked it up anyway, and was SO glad I did. By far the sweetest tasting pumpkin we have ever come by! I was eating it by the spoonful as it was cooling off. My 6 month old son really enjoys it as well. One night we added some coconut milk with a little salt & pepper, heated it all up, and it was a lovely soup. Great as a coconut/pumpkin drink as well, cold or hot. Also great as a smoothie. Or in pumpkin pie. Or in pumpkin oatmeal muffins. Or as pumpkin bread. :) Yup, I've done a lot with my 'blue' pumpkin, and I am very much hoping to grow at least one this next year. I think I've been converted. :)

Coconut Pumpkin Soup

• Add equal parts pumpkin puree & coconut milk to sauce pan
• Add salt & pepper to taste
• Heat slowly
• Enjoy 

seasoning for tilapia...

simple, but we like it.

• little salt
• little pepper
• little honey
• little chili powder or chipotle
• if your feeling fancy, add some shredded coconut on top

Once you have one side cooked, flip the fillets & sprinkle with the above again. Cook till done. YUM!

pear cobbler...

When you get a 40 lb box of pears, you celebrate by having pear cobbler for dinner (with eggs, so it's a little more balanced).

Pear Cobbler

• 8 cups pears cut up (I cut them in bigger chunks, with the skin on. I'm lazy like that)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup 10 grain oatmeal or pumpernickel meal
• 1 cup butter

1. In a bowl toss pears with brown sugar and cornstarch.
2. In a separate bowl combine sugar, oats, flax seed, 10 grain or pumpernickel meal and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
3. Pour pear mixture in a 13x9 dish.
4. Sprinkle oat & flour mixture over the top of the pear mixture.
5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so.

lentils & kale for dinner, with rolls...

I used this recipe for dinner tonight, and despite the *strange* foods in the title we all really enjoyed it. Accompanied by the roll recipe below it was a great meal. The roll recipe makes almost 50 rolls (depending on size of each roll) - but don't be intimidated by that. Half it or freeze the extra to have rolls on hand for sandwiches & quick dinners. They freeze great; just thaw in the fridge then reheat in oven for 5-10 minutes.

I had a picture of the meal, but my phone ate it (guess it liked the recipe too). ;)

30 Minute Rolls ~ makes about 48 rolls

Mix in a LARGE bowl:

• 3 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 cup oil
• 1/2-3/4 cup cane sugar (or honey, or brown sugar...)
• 4 Tbsp. dry yeast

Then add:

• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 10-10 1/2 cups flour (any combination of white and/or whole-wheat)

Knead about 5 minutes. Shape into rolls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Let rise for 10-20 minutes. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 425.

...and chocolate muffins for breakfast.

When you have lettuce wraps for dinner the night before, it is totally acceptable to have chocolate muffins for breakfast. :)

They are SO good. The original recipe is from the King Arthur site, I only tweaked it a bit.

• 2/3 cup (2 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
• 1 3/4 cups (7 1/4 ounces) Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 1/4 cups (9 3/8 ounces) cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (8 ounces)  coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) butter, melted
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; there's no need to beat these muffins, just make sure everything is well-combined.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin; the cups will be heaped with batter, and the muffin will bake into a "mushroom" shape. 

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, allowing them to cool for about 15 minutes on a rack before peeling off the muffin papers or silicone cups. Yield: 12 muffins.

lettuce wraps for dinner...

I tried something new (to us) tonight & it was a HUGE success! I must give due credit to Lynn at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures for the idea. I tweaked her version a bit, based on what I had on hand & an online search for lettuce wraps. Here's what I ended up with (all quantities are estimates, as I just added things directly to the pan - yea, was feeling it tonight in the kitchen) ;)

• 1-1/2 lbs ground turkey (or any meat)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 teaspoons honey, plus some to taste
• 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• about 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 
• about 1/4 teaspoon chipotle
• about a teaspoon or so of ketchup
• 1 green bell pepper sliced, plus small orange & small red sweet peppers chopped 
• romaine lettuce leaves, or other type of lettuce

1. In a pan cook meat until almost completely cooked through.
2. Add in remaining ingredients and continuing cooking until done.
3. Serve with romaine leaves and enjoy!

I was not sure how it would go over - my husband is more of a 'meat & potatoes' guy. Also I have sometimes been accused erring on the bland side of things - I fear too much spice so I don't put enough in. (I figure you can always add more, but can't go back). With those two things against a meal like this, I was prepared for: myself to eat it, my husband to reach for the salt & pepper, & my daughter to endure some of it. Boy was I wrong - yay me!! I truly enjoyed this dinner, my husband did not add any salt or pepper (rare around here) & my daughter ate heapfuls of it! Score one for happy family dinner you get to eat with your hands. This recipe is going to be added into the monthly rotation for sure. :)

Easy (lazy?) Tomato Sauce in Crock Pot

1. Put washed tomatoes in crockpot, turn it on low.
2. Do whatever you need to do - piano practice with daughter, feed your son, get a bottle ready for your niece (your stuff will be different...)
3. Come back later (anywhere from 3 to 5 or 6 hours) & turn crockpot off, remove lid.
4. Allow tomatoes to cool a bit, spoon them into a colander & rinse lightly with cool water. Let water drain.
5. Peel tomatoes, then place in jar & use a stick blender to puree. (If you don't have a stick blender you can do this step in a food processor, but then you will have more dishes to clean) :)
6. Ready for the freezer (I'm sure you could also proceed with canning procedure, I just haven't canned yet)

When you want to use the sauce, heat it up in sauce pan with spices of your choice, onions, garlic, whatever you like. Enjoy! 

One sauce is lighter in color in the picture due to the tomato variety - a Japanese Blush tomato, I think. The dinosaurs were just fun. (if they were wanting a sample, they were disappointed.)

White Bean & Sausage Saute

I enjoy making/cooking my own beans, and this is an excellent recipe that uses cooked white beans:

In large skillet saute 4 Italian or polish sausages until cooked; slice & set aside. Heat TB olive oil in pan, add 1/2 cup chopped onion & saute, add 2 minced garlic gloves & saute. Add sausage back in, 3/4 cup chicken broth, 14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes. Mix in 4 cups cooked white beans and 1 tsp each of sage & parsley. Bring to boil, then simmer 5 minutes. Add 2 cups baby spinach and salt & pepper to taste. Cook till spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. Enjoy :)

I love that this is a one pot meal, and it is so pretty with all the colors too. Great with crunchy bread or home baked bead.

breakfast oatmeal cookie recipe

on the healthy side of things: (from Health magazine November 2008)

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar
• 1/3 cup oil (canola or extra virgin or grape seed)
• 1/3 cup soy milk or water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. oven 350
2. dry in one bowl
3. wet in another bowl
4. stir to combine
5. bake 25 minutes

I use whole wheat flour, brown sugar, grape seed oil, water - you can also add tons of different things after you mix the dry & wet; like 1/2 banana cut up tiny, walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins....


I also add 1 Tbs ground flaxseed as well, and to make them chocolate I add 1/4 cup or so cocoa powder and sometimes I add coconut too. Other suggested additions: raisins and pinch cinnamon, dried blueberries w/ sugar sprinkled on top, 1/2 tsp orange extract & dried cranberries, slivered almonds & 1/2 tsp almond extract cup oat or whole wheat flour

cobbler - yum!

A blog I follow had a cobbler recipe that looked ymmy, but we currently don't have any berries. We did just get apples from Costco that I am less than impressed with (my favs are pink lady apples, and they didn't have any. We got gala; texture too soft for me) So this morning we used 4 of the to make the cobbler, and it was awesome. I even guesstimated the ingredient amounts, and it is fabulous. (I also added ground flaxseed  because I add it to almost every thing I bake - extra omegas!) Bummer my hubby is allergic to apples, as I'm sure he'd love it. Already decided to have the neighbors over and share :)

From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures:

Blueberry Cobbler

• 4 cups blueberries
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup quick cooking oats
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup butter

1. In a bowl toss blueberries with sugar and cornstarch.
2. In a separate bowl combine brown sugar, oats, and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
3. Place blueberry mixture in a 8×8 dish.
4. Sprinkle oat,flour mixture over the top of the blueberries.
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
6. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Fried Rice for dinner

Super Easy if you have never made it - it's a 'what ever in the kitchen' type of recipe. Make your rice. Heat you veggies in boiling water or steam them or cook till tender in a pan. Scramble 2 to 4 eggs. Put it all in one pan and add soy sauce or oyster sauce to your taste preference. Enjoy. (We had no leftovers, even though I planned for them.)