Bread-maker Oatmeal Bread - a no egg recipe

It is late March in Los Angeles.  We are in the midst of the only Worldwide Pandemic that has been seen in generations.  We are "Sheltering in Place" staying in our homes to avoid getting and spreading Covid-19, a disease that is extremely contagious and that kills 2-3% of the people who get it. 

In these times of quarantine, I find myself cooking so much and looking back at our blog which was started to save and share family recipes and memories.  How we came together and cooked for each other will be a memory our family won't soon forget. I feel blessed to have food and bread machines and family.  Now seems like a good time to share again. 

This recipe was adapted from the Bread Machine Baking cookbook to accommodate a lack of certain ingredients.  Unlike at any time in my generation, it is difficult to shop and things like eggs run out quickly.  A quick trip to the store is not taken lightly so we adapt.  The adaptation was a success.  This hearty bread is crunchy on the outside and lighter-than-expected spongy on the inside.  The oats popped up as a nutty detail to chew.  It was good paired as a sandwich with savory insides salami and cheese as well as a sweeter snack with honey.

Bread Machine Oat Bread

1 cup Water
2 1/2 teaspoons Yeast
3/4 cup Steel Cut Oats
1 tablespoon Melted Butter or Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon Molasses
1 tablespoon of Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 cups of All-purpose Flour

Place the water in the bread-maker
Stir in the Yeast
Add the Steel Cut Oats and let sit for 10 minutes to soften the oats.
Add the rest of the ingredients in order.
Select basic, standard, or white bread on the machine and select start.

Recipe for a week of meals for 4 for $100.

As a woman who has had to stretch a paycheck or two on occasion, I have been thinking of sharing a menu for a family who has little to spend on the weekly grocery bill. I used a budget of $100 for the whole family of four for the week.  I tried to make somewhat balanced meals with fruits, veggies, dairy, and meats everyday. Many of the items on the shopping list can be purchased more cheaply, and you can always find ingredients for more.  I used an average price you would find at a California store in 2015 for most of the ingredients.

This menu is assuming you are starting from scratch as if there was no pantry.  If you have some staples like spices and flour, you are really far ahead of the game. Use this as a loose guide and improvise and improve as needed.  Please send comments and any corrections you see that need to be made.

Shopping List:

24 Eggs	$6.00
1.25 lb ground turkey	$3.50
1 lb ground beef	$3.50
1 lb of chicken breast	$4.00
2 cups fresh spinach (about 16 oz)	$2.50
1 bag panko crispy bread crumbs	$2.50
1 red onion	$0.75
1 bulb garlic	$0.50
Salt	$1.00
2 pears	$1.00
Black Pepper	$1.50
ketchup	$1.75
Pack of Burger Buns	$2.00
10 lb Sack of Potatoes	$4.00
Bag of Rice	$2.00
Box of cherry or grape tomatoes	$3.00
4 Apples	$2.00
8 Bananas	$1.75
2 cans of soup	$3.00
Spray oil (like Pam)	$2.25
1.5 - 2 Gallons of Milk	$5.00
1 lb Butter unsalted	$3.50
Old Fashioned Oatmeal canister	$3.00
Brown Sugar	$2.00
White Vinegar	$1.00
2 Tuna Cans	$4.00
Sliced cheap wheat bread	$1.50
Mayo	$2.00
Box of Corn Flakes	$2.00
Cheddar Cheese Bar	$3.00
Broccoli Crowns	$1.50
Bag of whole Carrots	$1.00
1/2 lb of sliced turkey	$3.50
3 lb chicken thighs	$4.00
5 lb Bag of flour	$2.50
1 lb bacon or turkey bacon	$3.00
Ranch dressing	$2.50
Romaine Lettuce	$2.00
Yogurt Cups 2 for a dollar	$2.00
Baking powder	$1.50
Splurge - 2 liter of soda or bag of chips	$1.00
	$100.00

Day 1

Breakfast

2 Apples sliced for all to shareOatmealBrown SugarMilk

Lunch

Egg Salad Sandwiches (4 eggs)Home made potato chipsCarrot sticks

Dinner

Meatloaf Cupcakes with Home Made Mashed Potatoes instead of packaged potatoes (use soy sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce).Home Made Mashed potatoes are: about 1-2 pounds of potatoes, 1/4-1/2 cup of milk, 2-3 TBSP of butter and salt as desired.  Boil potatoes for about 20 minutes or until soft.  Drain water and mash up potatoes with other ingredients.Meatloaf recipe makes 6 servings (2 cupcakes a person) - eat 8 cupcakes at dinner and reserve 4 for a brown bag lunch.

Day 2

Breakfast

Toad in the hole (4 eggs cooked over easy in a piece of toast with the center cut out.)

Lunch

Meatloaf cupcakesHome made potato chips - preheat oven to 450 degrees F, slice 3-4 potatoes very thin. Boil the potato slices in water for 3-5 minutes. Drain the water and sprinkle with salt and pepper (add chopped garlic if desired). Spray oil a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or so until chips are golden brown. (eat half, save half for tomorrow).

Dinner

Rice and soy sauce1/2 lb Chicken with sauteed spinach and garlic 

After Dinner Snack (dessert) 

Muffins

1-3/4 cups of flour

4 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup milk

1 egg

4 tsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Spray a 24 cup mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray (I use a silicone pan with spray)3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.4. In a small bowl combine egg, milk, and butter. Pour over the flour mixture and stir, just until blended (do not overmix).5. Spoon the batter into the cups, only filling the cups until they are just to the top, not over the sides.6. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Day 3

Breakfast

Corn Flakes (with brown sugar if desired) & Milk

Lunch

Wheat Bread and Tuna Sandwiches (2 cans of tuna, mayo, 1 hard boiled egg)Carrot sticks with Ranch

Snack

Leftover Muffins

Dinner

Baked potatoes with butter, broccoli and cheese topping.Romaine lettuce salad with a few tomatoes, a little shredded cheddar, and thin sliced carrots.Bananas sauteed in butter for dessert

Day 4

Breakfast

OatmealBrown SugarMilk

Lunch

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (Wheat bread, buttered, cheddar, and tomatoes)1 can of soup2 Apples sliced for all to share

Snack

Any leftover muffins

Dinner

1/4 lb Burgers made with garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce served on buns with lettuce.Homemade french fries with KetchupCarmelized 1/2 Red Onion.  Try simplifying a gourmet recipe like this: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_caramelize_onions/ by using what you have on hand, spray oil, white vinegar

Day 5

Breakfast

Jiffy Corn Muffins (need 1 egg +1/2 Cup milk)Yogurt cups

Lunch

Cherry tomatoesSliced turkey and mayo or ranch with lettuce sandwiches on hamburger buns or sliced bread.2 pears sliced and shared

Snack

Splurge items like soda or chips or if you did not have that extra dollar, try a simple rice pudding with rice, milk and brown sugar.

Dinner

Chicken Adobo - Recipe here - maybe make half if the chicken thighs are not cheap.  Borrow a bay leaf from a friend or skip it.rice 

Day 6

Breakfast

Corn Flakes with sliced bananas & Milk

Lunch

Rice and Soy Sauce, leftover chicken adobo

Snack

Biscuits - Here's a recipe http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013741-all-purpose-biscuits

Dinner

Quiche - Pie crust + 1/2 lb bacon, 5 eggs, milk, any spinach, broccoli, tomato and onion that is left over

Day 7

Breakfast

Spinach, tomato, and egg scramble (Spray oil into the pan, saute spinach and tomato until spinach is wilted.  Scramble up 4-5 eggs, a little milk, salt, pepper into the pan.  Cook until fluffy.)Toast with butter

Lunch

Bacon and Cheddar slices of whatever cheese is left on last of the hamburger buns, biscuits, or sliced bread - with mayo or ranch dressing. 1 can of soup

Snack

If you have enough butter left you can make shortbread cookieshttp://amydouglass.blogspot.com/2011/02/butter-brown-sugar-flour.html

If not, and you are hungry, have some oatmeal with brown sugar and milk.

Dinner

Carrots cooked in brown sugar and butter1/2 lb Chicken, sliced, dipped in a little milk and 1 egg, and coated with a mixture of panko crumbs, salt, and pepper.  Spray a lot of oil into a pan and cook or spray a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees F, 10-12 minutes on each side or until cooked through.Mashed potatoes or baked potatoes with butter.

Mmmmm Meatloaf Cupcakes!

My Mother saw a meatloaf recipe online and mentioned them to me.  A few hours later, this was born.  Meatloaf cupcakes! Thanks to Betty Crocker who posted the basic recipe here.  I happened to have all ingredients except parsley (which I replaced with spinach) and real mashed potatoes which are hard to cook to the right consistency.  I used an easy to make powdered potatoes package for the "frosting."  As usual, I put my own spin on it.

Here is the recipe as I made it.  Get creative with your own recipe!

Meat Loaf

2

eggs, lightly beaten

1.25

lb ground turkey

1

cup panko crispy bread crumbs

1/2

red onion, finely chopped

1/4

cup coarsely chopped spinach

2

cloves garlic, finely chopped

2/3

cup ketchup

2

teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

For the garnish

Idahoan Mashed Potatoes, Four Cheese

Panko and Parmesan mixture (about 2/3 cup panko and 1/3 cup parmesan)

Ketchup

Spinach cut into thin strips (chiffonade)

Cherry Tomatoes

Shredded Cheddar

Chives

Bread Machine Cornbread

I experimented with a Yogurt Cornbread in the Breadmaker.  It turned out sweet, more chewy than a non-yogurt cornbread on the sides, but pretty tasty, and pretty much like a sweet cornbread on the inside.  The flour on the edges are due to my breadmaker's quirks.  The reviews were positive, though.  After two helpings, my daughter said to post it!

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Corn Meal
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 TBSP Melted Butter
1/2 Cup warm water
1 tsp Yeast

From the Garden

From the garden today, two beautiful green peppers.  What shall I make with these?

Here are some possibilities:

Sideways Stuffed Peppers

Chicken Fajitas

Pizza topping

Cut up with Hummus 

Roasted Peppers

Kabobs

Stir Fried Pepper Beef

Chili

Wait a minute... It's Breakfast time...

I'll make Bell Pepper Toad in the Hole (aka Egg in the Hole or Rocky Mountain Toast)!

Here's what to do...
Cut the top off of the pepper, clear out the seeds.

Slice the pepper and saute on a medium heat in olive oil for a few minutes.
I used Salt, Ground Black Pepper, and 21 Season Salute from Trader Joe's to season.

Crack the eggs carefully as you can in the middle of the peppers.
Sprinkle with seasoning.

Gently flip the egg and cook to desired consistency.
Mmmmmm, Tasty and garden fresh!

Oster Quickbake Recipe

Experimenting with the "Quickbake" settings on my Oster bread maker.

This one turned out well, good texture, holds together when sliced, nice flavor.  Based in Brioche, it is a bit sweet and seems rich, but I replaced the butter with nonfat yogurt, so it's not nearly as sinful.  Next time I may lose the sugar, too.

Here is the recipe for the 80 min. Oster Quickbake setting - if you don't happen to have this machine, bake on white bread setting in other bread makers or try kneading and cooking in the oven like other white breads.

Load ingredients into machine in this order

3 Cups Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Plain Nonfat Yogurt

1/4 Cup Warm Water

1 TBSP Yeast sprinkled over water allowed to sit for a few minutes until bubbles start to form.

Start Machine

Breadmaking Again

Again, I attempt a bread-maker bread. This one tastes very good, but is filled with bad for you goodness with extra eggs, sugar and butter.  The texture is crisp and crusty on the outside and more flaky on the inside.  The recipe is close to the Brioche recipe that I make sometimes. It's OK to experiment.

Here is the recipe:

3 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup of Sugar (a bit less than this, really)
1 tsp Salt
3 Large Eggs
3/4-1 Stick of Unsalted Butter - Melted and Cooled
1 Cup Water
1 TBSP Yeast

Add these ingredients to the breadmaker.  Mine works Dry ingredients first, but some machines use the wet ingredients first. I add the yeast on top of the wet ingredients. Set to Basic or White Bread and push start.

Bread Machine Sandwich White Bread

I wanted a good sandwich breadmaker bread for lunch today.  I found a good Sweet Mexican bread recipe, but it seemed too sugary for a tuna sandwich.  I dialed back the sugar, added some yeast and it yielded a nice loaf with a thick crust, that sliced cleanly, and held together well for sandwiches.

Here's the recipe:

• 3 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar  
• 2 teaspoons yeast 
• 1 cup milk  
• 1/4 cup melted butter  
• 1 egg  

Layer the ingredients as your breadmaker suggests, mine uses dry ingredients first as listed.
Set to basic bread setting.

It was no Breadmaker Brioche, but I will surely make this one again.

Indian Chicken with New Potatoes, Simplified

I love Indian Food, but with two small children who do not like spicy foods, we often avoid this cuisine at home.  When looking for a dinner option, I happened upon a recipe that did not seem spicy and had fairly common ingredients that I already had in my pantry.  I did make a few modifications for simplicity and wound up with a dish praised by those of all ages in my household. In the spirit of recording recipes that my family liked, I am preserving this one for future dinners.

Chicken and New Potatoes
Serves 6

1&1/4 lbs of chicken breast cut up (I used Tenders for simplicity)
1 clove of garlic chopped fine
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh grated if you have it)
1 tsp ground corriander
1 medium onion chopped
3 TBSP vegetable oil
1 cup of hot water
1&1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cans of new potatoes (cut into quarters if whole)
black pepper to taste

Put chicken into glass bowl or dish, rub all over with garlic, coriander, and ginger.  Set aside for an hour or two to marinate.  Heat 2TBSP of vegetable oil in a large frying pan and saute chopped onions for 5 minutes or until softened.  Add chicken and fry until brown.  Add water and salt to pan, bring to a boil, cover and simmer until chicken is tender.  Meanwhile, in another frying pan, heat 1 TBSP of oil.  Add new potatoes to this pan to fry.  Turn the potatoes occasionally so they don't stick the pan.   During the last few minutes of cooking, sprinkle cumin and black pepper on the potatoes and stir to coat evenly.  Combine the potatoes and the chicken mixture and serve.

In addition to being pretty simple and family friendly, it turns out that this dish is fairly low in calories.  The Weight Watchers Points Plus total on this recipe is 6 points plus per serving.

Easy, Cheap, and Healthy Side Dish - Spinach Souflee

A friend asked for easy side dishes.  This is a super easy weekday recipe that is healthy and happens to be low cost.  This side dish is a great way to get those veggies.  This recipe is also open for experimentation, add an egg for more souffle, add 1/2 cup of cottage cheese for more creaminess, or add cooked bacon crumbles for more deliciousness.

Altered from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-spinach-souffle/

1 egg

1/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese or shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste 
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, or a bag of fresh spinach washed, dried, and lightly sauteed in 2 tsp of olive oil or steamed in the microwave until tender.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl whisk together egg, milk, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Fold in spinach. Place in a small casserole dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until lightly set.
4. NOTE: If you are in a hurry, use a microwave safe casserole dish, cover with plastic wrap, and cook on high for 3 minutes. Release the steam, recover, and cook on high for another 3 minutes. Enjoy!

 Serves 4 - about 90 calories and 2 WW points plus per serving

Lightened Spinach Queso Dip

This is a perfect Summer Party Dip.

Queso typically is a Tex-Mex Cheese and Salsa mix popular in parts of Texas.  The recipes shared by our Texas family and friends use Velveeta and Ro-tel Tomatos.  This is definitely a guilty pleasure.

I wanted to make a Queso with Velveeta without so much guilt, so I lightened up a recipe for Spinach Queso found right on the Velveeta Box. Mine turned out to be about a quarter of the calories of the original.

Here's what I used:

1 12 oz bag of frozen spinach
4 oz Velveeta
1 Can Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chiles
2 TBSP Philadelphia Whipped Cream Cheese
1 Can Black Eyed Peas (optional)

This also makes a nice side dish for a dinner. Split into four

Shout Out to Another - BitterSweet

While searching for a good barley recipe, I came across a nice little blog called BitterSweet.  This vegan cooking and craft blog hits me just in the right spot - creativity + food = my kind of thing.  Author Hannah Kaminsky provides a wealth of vegan recipes and a fine collection of food related knit and crochet patterns.

I may have to make some toast purses for my wee ones, and maybe a Cupcake Hat for myself.

Hannah's Barley Salad recipe can be found here: http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/simplicity-in-salad-form/

Yogurt Biscuits

If you are on the Weight Watchers Points Plus Plan, you may be hard up for very low point satisfying foods.
I have discovered one recipe that has been the perfect remedy for this problem, Yogurt Biscuits.
If you make them with Nonfat Yogurt they are one point a piece for 16 servings; with Lowfat Yogurt, split it into 18 servings and they will be 1 point a piece.  If you eat two, you might want to count it as 3 points total..
The great thing about these biscuits is that I can never overdo it, because my family gobbles these up before I can even come close to wrecking my point total.  If you are counting calories, this recipe is about 60 calories per biscuit.

One thing to keep in mind is that you need some forethought when making this recipe.  Do the first step before bed and wake up to an easy recipe for breakfast.

2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Plain Lowfat or Nonfat Yogurt
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
Spray Oil

Step 1:
If you have an electric mixer use it for this recipe, use the dough hook if you have one.
Take one cup of flour and mix it with the cup of plain yogurt until smooth.
Sprinkle the sugar on top of the mixture.
Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap.

Let the mixture sit for 4 hours or overnight.

Step 2:
Preheat the oven to 425°
Add the rest of the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt to your mixture.  Mix until you have a dough.

Step 3: Spray a cookie sheet with Spray Oil.  Lay out a piece of wax paper or lightly flour a hard surface.  Turn out the dough onto the prepared surface and pat into a rectangle.  Cut into 16 - 18 rectangles.
Place rectangles on the cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

Step 4:
Bake for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 400° and bake for 10 minutes more.
Serve hot.

Dish it Out - Episode 1 "Squash In Time"

Friend of Food Chris Gregson directed the pilot episode of "Dish it Out" and guess what, it looks great!
Give it a watch and pick up a couple of great vegetarian eggplant and squash recipes from chef Tony Spatafora.
Look out Food Network, a new dish is cooking.

Pastry Based Dinners

Early this week I made two pastry based dinners and let's just say they worked out.  No leftovers.  Couldn't even get a pic.  One was a pastry wrapped shredded barbecue beef, the other dish was chicken pot pie in individual casseroles. Here's the great thing... they were both deceptively easy to make.

I made the pastry from a Kitchen Aid recipe and once that was done, the rest was easy as pie.

Here is the recipe for the Kitchenaid Pie Pastry:
Makes 2 crusts

2 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening, well chilled
2 TBSP butter or margarine, well chilled
5-6 TBSP cold water

Place flour and salt in mixer bowl.  Attach bowl and flat beater to the mixer.  Turn to stir speed and mix about 15 seconds.  Cut shortening and butter into pieces and add to flour mixture.  Turn to stir speed and mix until shortening pieces are the size of small peas, 30-45 seconds.

Continuing on stir speed, add water 1 TBSP at a time, mixing until ingredients are moistened and dough begins to hold together.   Divide dough in half.  Pat each half into a smooth ball and flatten slightly.  Put in a ziplock or wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

In the recipe, the dough was split for a double crust pie, but for me that meant two dinners.

The first night was ridiculous in it's simplicity, here is the recipe for pastry wrapped barbecued beef.

Preheat the oven to  450° F
Roll one of the flattened dough balls out between two sheets of waxed paper into something like a rectangle, and then pile the pre-made barbecue beef (I used Jack Daniel's Pulled Beef) in the middle and wrap the dough around the meat. Bake for about 30-35 minutes.  That was it.  I served it with homemade mashed potatoes.

The second night was a little more involved, but that was my choice.  The nice thing about pot pie is that you add whatever you happen to have in the house, to the pot.  This recipe was made up on the spot, so the ingredient sizes are estimates.

Here are the ingredients used:

4 fresh Baby Potatoes up into small bites, a handful of fresh Broccoli cut up, 1/2 can of peas and carrots, and 2 chicken breasts.

For the chicken take 2 chicken breasts cover them with onion powder, garlic salt, and pepper.  Cook them through on the stove, then cut into bite sized pieces.  Saute a bit more if not cooked through.

Preheat oven to 450° F


Put the potatoes in a bowl with at least 1/2 TBSP of butter.  Cook the potatoes for a few minutes in the microwave to soften them.  You can add other vegetables to this bowl if they need softening, too.

Mix all the vegetables together in a big bowl, add some salt and pepper.  Add the chicken to the mix.

Add a can of Cream of Chicken Soup to the meat vegetable mix.  Add about a cup of milk.  Add some water if there is not enough liquid.  If you don't mind the calories, add a bit more more butter. Mix it all up.

Split mixture into 4 individual casseroles.  Something like this should work.



Mine look more like vegetables, like this





so go with what you have, exact shape and size is not important.

Split the vegetable, meat, sauce mix into each casserole.

Roll out the pastry dough between two sheets of waxed paper into an oval or rectangle shape.  Take the top piece of waxed paper off and then cut the dough into fourths.  Place each piece of rolled out dough on top of each casserole.  Beat an egg if you have one and brush it on the pastry for shine.

Put the casseroles on a baking sheet and bake at 450° F for 30-35 minutes.

A Gathering of Thanksgiving Posts

Thanksgiving Turkey Bento 

It is almost Turkey Day in America.  Are you cooking yet?  To help out, I've gathered some of our best Thanksgiving posts here.

Thanksgiving - Common problems, Simple Solutions
Advice from Father of Food .

 

Fresh Pumpkin Treats

This one has a Pumpkin Pie Recipe.

 

Whipper Info

 How to use a Whipper like this Isi Thermowhip.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Yams

A tiny recipe.

Family of Food Thanksgiving Food Drive
Donate to the LA Food Bank!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Got a pumpkin left uncarved?  Dig in and get those seeds out.

Wash the seeds thoroughly.

Dry the seeds on a paper towel.

Mix the seeds with melted 1 TBSP of butter and 1/4 tsp salt.

Optional: add 1/2 tsp of chili powder, garlic powder, or wasabi powder for some extra spice.

Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet.   Try gently shaking the sheet to spread them evenly.

Bake in a 350 ° F oven for 30 minutes turning the seeds over once or twice while they cook to get an even roast.

Enjoy!

Fresh Pumpkin Treats

Mother in Law of Food brought two pie pumpkins by for Halloween.  The girls wanted to carve them, but we all also wanted to cook them for pie and cookies.  Let me tell you this.  You can cook a pumpkin or you can carve a pumpkin, you really don't want to do both.  The good thing is that they are really easy to carve after cooking for an hour and a half, the bad thing is that they are not so structurally sound.  

Cooked Pumpkins do yield terrific mashed pumpkin for pies, cookies, and muffins.  We know because made them all!  We made all that and yummy roasted pumpkin seeds for snacking.  The pie was OK, but could have used a little more sugar, the muffins went fast and were solid, the pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips were fantastic.  

Here is the pumpkin pie recipe, straight from a sticker on the pumpkins:

Cooking the pumpkin

Cut Pumpkin in half w/o stem.

Scoop out seeds and Strings (set seeds aside for roasting later).

Place cut down on foil lined baking sheets.  Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 ° F 'til tender - 1&1/2 hours.   
Cool.  Scoop out flesh and mash with potato masher or food processor until smooth.
Drain if too watery.  

Beat together just until smooth: 1 1/3 Cup smooth pumpkin, 1 1/3 Cup Sweet Condensed Milk, 1 Egg, 1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp Nutmeg, 1/2 tsp Ginger, 1/4 tsp Cloves, 1 Cup hot Water.  Pour into 9" pie shell.  
Bake at  375 ° F 55 to 65 minutes
(Center will move slightly.)  Cool and enjoy.
(Mashed Pumpkin will hold 5 days in refrigerator.)


Here is the Pumpkin Muffin Recipe adapted and adjusted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (Better Homes &; Gardens Plaid), mine is the 1981 edition and the original recipe can be found on page 87:

1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 beaten Egg
1/2 Cup Fresh Cooked Pumpkin (see above)
3/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Cooking Oil
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 ° F


In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Make a well in the center.  Combine egg, pumpkin, milk, and oil.  Add all at once to flour mixture.  Stir till just moistened; batter should be lumpy.  Grease muffin cup pan or line with paper baking cups.  Fill each cup with mixture until 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 ° F for 20-25 minutes or until golden.  Remove from pan and serve warm.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
We used this recipe from Joy the Baker, and apparently originally from Big Fat Cookies
using fresh cooked pumpkin instead of canned and using mini chocolate chips.
Joy, this is a fantastic recipe.  I am quoting it here for my use in the future because I really want to make these again and I will not have it if you ever take your link down.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh see above)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips, or any chip you like

Position a rack in the middle of the oven . Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

Using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. You could also simply use a 1/4-cup measuring cup if you don’t have a scoop. Use a thin metal spatula to smooth and flatten the rounds.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool cimpletely.

Dust the cooled cookies lightly with powdered sugar. The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Roasted Pumpkin Seed recipe coming up next.  I have to trick or treat now.  Hope you enjoyed these treats.

We give thanks to G-D for Bread

One of the true gifts that G-D has bestowed upon the Jewish People is Challah.  With one crunch into the egg polished crust, the tongue lingering on the seeds before the teeth tear their way through the flaky light strands inside, a true believer is born. 

A slightly salty, yeasty aftertaste lingers, an almost buttery sensation, though no butter is used in Challah. 

A prayer is said. 

Baruch atah Adonai, Elloheinu Melech haolam hamotzi lechem meen haaretz, amen. 

I believe in Challah. 

A rich and complex taste for a bread, Challah is more simple to make than it seems.  My kindergarten class would make a couple of loaves every Friday.  It has been years since I made a Challah.  Today I showed my girls how the bread is braided. 

CHALLAH

6 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 packets of yeast or 4 1/2 tsp

1/4 Cup Sugar

Lukewarm Water

3 Eggs Beaten

1 Egg Yolk

1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

1TBSP Salt

Sesame or Poppy Seeds (optional)

Sift flour into a large bowl, or Kitchen Aid Mixing Bowl.

Make a well in the flour and add the yeast.

Add the Sugar and 1/2 Cup of Lukewarm Water to the well.

Let stand for 10 minutes.

Mix in Eggs, Oil, and Salt and 1 more cup of Water

If Flour is dry, add a little more water, but not too much.

Kneed the dough with your hands or a dough hook if you are using the Kitchen Aid.

Make sure to work in the dough that collects on the sides of the bowl.

Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, only a few minutes in the Kitchen Aid, but up to 15 minutes by hand.

Cover the bowl with a warm wet paper towel or clean cloth towel.

Let rise 45 min - 1 hour

Punch the dough down.

Put the dough onto a large floured surface.

Divide into 3 even pieces.

Roll each piece into a long rope of dough.

Pinch the three pieces together at the top and begin to braid.

Bring the outside rope to the middle and then the opposite outside rope into the middle until the braid is complete. 

Pinch the end together and tuck under.

Grease and lightly flour a cookie sheet.

Move the braided dough to the sheet.

Cover the dough and let rise until light.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Beat the Egg Yolk with a tsp of water and brush on to the outside of the dough with a pastry brush.

Sprinke Seeds on the bread.

Bake for 45 minutes at 400°F

Reduce heat to 325°F and bake for 15 more minutes.