Two Pumpkin Recipes

Yesterday was the first official day of autumn. The nasty hot droughty (is that a word?) days of summer are behind us. Today was actually a little cool and rainy so I felt compelled to make something to celebrate Fall's arrival. I had a big 30 oz can of pumpkin, so I turned it into two things:

• Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
• Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
For the past few years, we have found Pumpkin flavored coffee creamer at our local grocery. It's a seasonal item, so it would be a big deal when we were able to find it. I'd never even considered that flavored coffee creamer was something we could make at home. When I came across a recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer,  my mind was blown. It's a simple mixture of sweetened condensed milk, skim milk, a few tablespoons of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. I threw it all in my Ninja blender. A few whirls later, and we had Pumpkin creamer.

I didn't measure it exactly, but I think the recipe makes about three good cups of creamer. I don't know how long this will stay good. I divided the recipe into two containers. One for home and one to take to work. Aren't my work people lucky? When was the last time someone you worked with brought in homemade flavored coffee creamer?

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
I never seem to use the same recipe twice, unless it's a true home run recipe. I'm always on the hunt for the "ultimate" muffin recipe. After an Internet search, I decided to try this recipe for Healthy Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins.

This recipe was for 12 muffins, so I made a double batch. After taking a few tablespoons out of the 30 oz can for the coffee creamer, I figured I had pretty close to the 2 1/2 cups of pumpkin I was going to need. Actually, I probably had closer to 3 cups. So I skipped the orange juice/water part of the recipe because I figured it was moist enough. I used all dried cranberries, no raisins, and I didn't use pecans. I don't have anything against pecans, I actually had them... somewhere. I keep them in my freezer and after a few minutes of digging around, I just decided to quit looking and forget about them. Which means I'll find them tomorrow when I don't need them. When I'm looking for something else.

These are pretty good. They are very moist and dense, not like your typical "cake-like" muffin. They are more like mini quick breads, if that makes sense. And I bet they'd be really good with pecans in them.

I'm taking half the batch to work tomorrow. My coworkers can have them along with their Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer. They are so lucky, don't you think? I'll be sure to tell them that tomorrow.

And another little surprise...
This morning I was at Target with my nieces and I came across a new candy that totally blew my mind. I don't know if you can handle this. Are you ready?

PUMPKIN SPICE HERSHEY KISSES!!

They're a limited edition flavor. Needless to say, the nieces and I were VERY excited. And I immediately bought a couple of bags. We also bought some Candy Corn flavored M&M's. I'm always intrigued by those limited edition flavors. I wouldn't eat them every day, but hey, they're limited. They might be gone tomorrow. Might as well seize the day!

And, for the record, I am NOT taking the candy into the office. I'm keeping those all for myself.

Nacho Cheese "Soup"

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

NACHO CHEESE!

Sorry, couldn't help it. As I was putting this "recipe" together, I couldn't get that silly joke out of my head. 

Here's the story - a few weeks back, the Big Guy had a bunch of his guy buddies over for a Fantasy Football Draft Party. This is an annual event in my house. They all get together and spend several very serious hours putting together their fantasy football teams. Once it's all over, everyone can relax and enjoy some yummy refreshments.  This year, in an effort to keep things simple, I decided to put out a Nacho Bar. One "easy" ingredient that I decided to use was a large can of that liquid nacho cheese.

Did I say large? This can was HUGE. I don't know what I was thinking. Normally, I'm opposed to any form of liquid cheese - it just isn't natural, I tell you. But then to get the super-sized can? I must have had a serious lapse of judgement. Even worse, after the party, I still had massive quantities of this cheese left.  So, I decided to turn it into Nacho Cheese Soup. This is not for the gourmet chef, or the faint of heart. This is one of those "use up ingredients in the fridge" type experiences.


And have I mentioned that I have teenagers? This would get eaten.


The cast of characters goes like this:

• Liquid Nacho Cheese
• Salsa
• Milk
• Chopped or Shredded Chicken
• Onion

Pour a little oil in the bottom of a pan.  Please note - my pan is not dirty. It is well-loved. My friend Kathy gave me that pan. Thanks, Kathy!

 Chop up an onion.

 Toss into the bottom of the well-loved pan.

Stir to coat and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. By the way, see that wooden spoon? I bought it from a guy at a Farmer's Market. I don't remember his name. But I love that spoon. I need to get some more.

Toss in a little salt.

Pause to consider the incredibly large containers of salsa and cheese.

Six POUNDS of cheese. That's like the size of a baby. Okay, not a baby in my family. We grow them large in my clan. The Girl was almost nine pounds and 24 inches long. She was really hairy and had a huge head. I'm sure she'll be glad I told you that.

I was going to post the nutritional information for the Nacho Cheese. But we all know that's a bad idea.

You're going to need about 2 cups of chicken. I happened to have some already cooked and waiting for me in the refrigerator. It's like I planned it. I love it when a plan comes together.

Add the chicken to the onion in the pan. Admire the wooden spoon again. It has the guy's signature on it, but I can't read it. Think about going back to the Farmer's Market to find him.

Add about a cup or so of salsa to the chicken.

Let the chicken and salsa become friends.

Doesn't it look friendly?

Contemplate the cheese.

Add about two cups of cheese to the pan. I got this ladle at Weight Watchers. It is exactly a cup. Ironic, actually, considering the fact that this recipe is most definitely NOT a Weight Watchers recipe. So please don't ask me for the points value. I don't know. I don't want to know. We're all going to pretend for one day that this is health food.

Add the same amount of milk as cheese. In this case, two cups.

Stir it all together. Take a taste and see if it needs anything. I added pepper. Oh, and by the way, if the Big Guy is reading this, I did not fling my iPhone across the room as I was putting the milk away. That is just an urban legend.

The good news is that, if it HAD flown across the room, it did not break.

And sour cream. It just needed a little something.

As you're adding the sour cream, please try not to fling it across the kitchen. But sometimes, things happen. Iphones fly. Sour cream flies. Don't judge.

Call Daisy and George in for clean-up duty. If you look really closely, you can see sour cream on George's face. Thanks, George.

For the record, clean-up duty is not why I got dogs. But it's a bonus.

Anyway, let everything come together and heat up.

Dish up and serve.

There you have it. Easy dinner. Not health food. But still yummy. And a good way to use up a giant can of nacho cheese if you happen to have one sitting around.

Granola for the Girl

My daughter likes granola. And every single time we go to buy it in the store, I have two reactions.

The first is the to think, "Why does this cost so much?" How hard is it to make? I could make this. I should make this. You know, later. When I have all that extra time.

The next thought is "This is not health food!" Take a look at the nutritional facts. There has got to be a better/healthier way. Which I should find. You know, later. When I have all that extra time.

Well, recently, I came across a recipe that prompted me to give it a try. You can find it here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/megans-granola/. It seemed like something the Girl would enjoy. Turns out, it isn't all that hard to make. I could make this. I DID make this. And you know what? It didn't even take all that much time.

Megan's Granola Recipe - Modified for the Girl

The original recipe seemed like A LOT of granola, so I cut it in half. It's just me, the Girl, and the Big Guy, so we didn't really need all that much.  Also, the original recipe calls for a combination of maple syrup and honey. I use agave syrup instead of maple because that is what I had in the cupboard. But you could use maple or agave or honey, or whatever combination floats your boat.  My recipe looks more like this:

• 4 cups rolled (or old fashioned) oats
• 3/4 cups wheat germ
• 3/4 cups oat bran (the cereal... trust me, it took me a while to figure this one out)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons blue agave syrup
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil. 

Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. (For what it's worth, the original recipe says to "finely" chop the nuts - we like them left a bit chunkier in the recipe.)

Stir together the salt, brown sugar, agave, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat.

Spread the mixture on the baking sheet. Bake until crispy and toasted, about 25 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Now, depending on your oven, it might take more or less time. Keep an eye on it. There's a fine line between toasty and TOASTY, if you know what I mean.

Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries. The recipe, officially divided in half, calls for 1 cup of dried cranberries. The Girl says that is not enough. We add about 1 1/2 cups. Or 2 cups. Or the entire package and whatever we have on hand. What can I say? She likes her dried cranberries.

Once it's all cooled and mixed, store in an airtight container. We keep it in the pantry, and this batch will usually last us about a week.  We like to add it to Greek yogurt. It's good on ice cream. The Big Guy likes to add a handful to whatever breakfast cereal he is eating. Which is usually Cheerios. Because they're good for you and it's what adults should eat for breakfast. Which is what I tell him when he is whining that I didn't buy him Captain Crunch.

My next granola experiment is to figure out how to get the amount of oil down. I was reading somewhere that you could replace half the oil with applesauce. If that works, it would also add a nice flavor to the recipe.

P.S. Being that this is the first "official" recipe that I am posting, I feel compelled to remind you that I am still learning. If something is wrong or not clear, I'm sure we can work together to get it corrected.

P.P.S. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

So, obviously, if you look at the length of times between posts, you will see that my friend was probably right. I don't have time. In all honestly, summer kind of got away from me. Now it's Labor Day; school starts tomorrow. In less than 24 hours, my kid is going to start her senior year in high school. Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was watching her get on the school bus to head off to kindergarten. I distinctly remember how her new backpack seemed so big on her little body. Now she's seventeen and talking all about what will happen when she goes to college. It's not happening, by the way, I am in denial. She is going to stay with me forever.

But first - let's review what I DID accomplish this summer. We had a kick butt vacation on the East Coast on Martha's Vineyard. I had never taken a full two weeks of vacation time from work, and it was worth every minute. We also got in a few solid beach days on Lake Michigan. And we even worked in a few days "up north" in Traverse City.  Other than that, I worked. Drove a teenager to/from work. And I cooked. I cooked a lot. Unfortunately, I also failed to document most it. Shame on me. We will have to rectify that situation.  My next post, I'll document some of my successful culinary adventures from the past couple of months.

For the record, when I decided I was going to do this blog, I cracked open those recipe boxes and realized they didn't contain as much as I thought. (Guess I probably should have checked out the contents before I started this project.) The recipes from my paternal grandmother ("Nana") are actually kind of funny. They are very basic recipes. I think when my parents got married, she may have assumed that my mother was completely inept in the kitchen. The recipes are so ridiculously basic, I'm surprised there isn't one in there explaining how to boil water.

What I had been hoping for was more of Nana's classic recipes - the pesto, her gazpacho, creamed peas and onions.  I wanted the things that we had grown up eating at her house. Where were those recipes? I did a little research. Turns out, one of my cousins was fortunate enough to gain possession of Nana's actual recipe boxes after she passed away. So I contacted her, and she is going to send me the recipe boxes. (I had to swear that I would scan them, treat them kindly, and return them straightaway.) So hopefully I will have them soon and this adventure can commence.

Until next time, my friends. Go eat something delicious.