Spotlight On: Pumpkin

I've been more than a little addicted to pumpkin again this fall.  Pumpkin everything.  I can't get enough.

I just cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and baked it in the oven at 400 for about an hour or so.  Then puree the pulp and decide which heavenly recipe I'm going to put it in today.

Pumpkin waffles - a popular breakfast recipe.

Baked pumpkin donuts 

Pumpkin walnut biscuits - a frequent flyer at our dinner table.

Pumpkin toffee cookies with salted caramel glaze - divine!!

Crock pot steel cut pumpkin oatmeal.  Another VERY frequent breakfast.  This was more of a combination of recipes from ones I pinned and the one on Weelicious.

Pumpkin bread with pumpkin buttercream frosting.  OMG - this frosting is the best I've ever had.  EVER.  I want to put it on everything. 

Pumpkin pecan scones 

I have a handful more I'd like to try, and several pumpkins on deck waiting to be baked and put into recipes.

Such as:

brown butter pumpkin cupcakes with salted caramel frosting

pumpkin and chocolate granola bars

pull-apart cinnamon sugar pumpkin bread with buttered rum glaze

pumpkin cinnamon rolls

So look for a sequel to this post in the near future.  ;)

Spotlight On: Zucchini

We've had a ton of zucchini given to us once again this year.  And, once again, we feel like we're drowning in it.

Here are some of the recipes I've made (some of them repeatedly) to help use up this abundant end-of-summer vegetable:

Zucchini Cornbread

Zucchini Bread Pancakes 

Zucchini Orzo 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake  

Lemon Zucchini Loaf with Lemon Glaze 

And Frosted Zucchini Brownies (sorry - no pic).

The only recipe I wouldn't recommend is the chocolate cake.  It looks pretty and theoretically, it should be good.  The author of that blog does a very nice job with healthy recipes and great family meal ideas... but this just wasn't that great.  Made with applesauce, some whole wheat flour and very little sugar and oil... it just didn't have much flavor.  I'm sure my taste buds are spoiled to the overly sweet taste of most zucchini recipes with their excess of sugar and oil, but I think I'd just rather eat the sweeter stuff in moderation.  ;)

Blueberry Recipes

Most of our u-pick blueberries were eaten plain.  They are soooo much better than store bought when they're picked fresh from the bushes and we love them.  But I did make a couple of recipes that were worth sharing - one that I've tried before and one new one.

Lemon blueberry muffins are something I've made before.  The picture doesn't do justice to these little gems.  They are devine.  Lemon is always a good flavor pairing with blueberries so you'll commonly see them together, especially in dessert recipes.  The kids thought these were such a treat, but I ate them all week with some fresh blueberries for breakfast.

This next recipe sounded good in theory but I was skeptical of how I would like it in comparison to my beloved strawberry shortcake with drop biscuits.  Well, my skepticism was unfounded.  This dessert was SHOCKINGLY DELICIOUS!!!  I will definitely be repeating this!  The biscuits had lemon zest as I expected, but I would never have thought to add the chopped thyme!  It was fantastic!  Definitely the secret layer of flavor that tipped this dessert over the edge of deliciousness.  Also the blueberries were sweetened into a syrup using powdered sugar as opposed to regular sugar.  Another thing I wouldn't have thought to try.

From Bon Appetit:  blueberry shortcakes with lemon and thyme biscuits.

The above picture was one of the kids servings.  They loved it too.  :)

The biscuits were cut-outs but not difficult at all to make.  I loved the sprinkling of raw sugar on the tops.  Mmm!

The sweetened blueberries would have been delicious over ice cream or pancakes as well.

YUM!!!

I had intentions of going back for more blueberries, but just never got around to it.  Holding out hope that the insane heat and lack of rain haven't destroyed our opportunity for a first experience with fall raspberries this year!!!  That should be soon if it happens!

When Life Gives You A Bajillion Tomatoes...

...make every recipe you know that includes tomatoes...

and then you'll still need to Google some more ideas.

I know I've already posted a LOT of tomato suggestions in my dinner posts. And you can only imagine how much salsa we've gone through in this house. We are seriously OD'ing on lycopene.

So last weekend, with an enormous box of tomatoes that had accumulated over the past few days posing an impending doom over my kitchen... I decided to finally try my hand at homemade tomato sauce. Remember how psyched I was to find a recipe that didn't require a food mill? And how I returned the one I'd purchased to get the food scale (which I do still love)? Well, it turns out I hadn't read the fine print (the blurb she writes in preface of each recipe)... 'cause I don't think I'll be doing this again until I decide to spend the $50 on another food mill. Basically, the recipe didn't say anything about needing one at first, but then later stated something like "if you have a food mill, go ahead and skip steps 1, 2 & 3 because the mill will do them for you". Ha! The blanching and peeling of the tomatoes was no problem. It was the cutting and squeezing of the juice and seeds that seemed to take forever. In the end the flavor was fantastic and I would recommend it... but only if you actually do have a food mill to take some of the labor out of it. I'm all for taking time out to cook and I do enjoy even some labor-intensive recipes. But the reality is: I'm a full-time working mom (priorities in reverse order, though - mom first, work second) and this is just too much to attempt on any regular basis. My per diem co-worker cans a ton of tomatoes and peaches every fall. She tells me "I just get the kids back in school and then take a day to get it all done". Well that doesn't work for me because whenever I'm home, my kids are also home. So that means I'm either wasting precious few hours I have to spend with them doing this or I'm staying up till all hours of the night (which I already do anyway with my day-to-day list of to-do's) trying to attempt an unnecessary feat. I'm giving myself a pass on this one. I would LOVE to make all homemade tomato sauce to can for the winter/year... but I would have to quit my job or work part time to make that a practical reality.

Here's my experience:

Before blanching, you need to cut a small "x" in the bottom of the tomatoes to make peeling a breeze later.

The tomatoes are dropped into boiling water for 10-30 seconds (blanching) before removing and rinsing under cold water.

Then the skin peels off very easily.

Next, you have to cut all the tomatoes into halves (for Romas) or quarters (for all round tomatoes) and squeeze the juice and seeds out into a reserve bowl through a fine mesh strainer. It's not hard... it's just tedious with 4# of smallish tomatoes.

Finally, you're left with this: juice to add as a thinning agent if needed later (or to be saved for future use) and the pulp of all those peeled, squeezed tomatoes.

After that, the sauce comes together very easily. A standard base of onion, carrot, celery and garlic... plus a little addition of red pepper flake here per a suggestion.

And then I just used a tomato masher to break up the tomatoes once they were added. I later added a little bit of tomato paste (a tablespoon?) and whizzed it up with my immersion blender for a smoother sauce.

Later that week when I served some of the sauce, I browned 1/2# of beef and added 2 cups of sauce. I served it over rotini (a kid fave) and topped with fresh grated Parm. This was a happy night for me. We were eating a spaghetti sauce recipe that didn't involve a single can or jar. Exactly what I wanted.

Okay, just one more recipe because this is like world famous amongst my friends and family. It actually came from a friend of my mom's and I know I've shared it here before. No, it's not salsa. It's tomato bruschetta and it's THE BEST.

Tomato Bruschetta

4 1/2 cups diced Roma tomatoes
3/4 cup diced red onion
3 tbsp chopped garlic
12+ basil leaves cut into strips
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
some kind of Italian bread loaf
garlic powder or garlic clove for rubbing

shredded mozzarella or Parmesan cheese

Mix first 6 ingredients - cover and let set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400. Slice bread loaf into 1/2" thick slices and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle or brush with olive oil and either rub with garlic or sprinkle with garlic powder to taste. Toast to light brown in preheated oven (8-10 mins). Top each slice with tomato mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese (and or Parmesan). Place back in oven just long enough for cheese to melt. Serve and enjoy!

Sophie even liked it and generally I would consider balsamic vinegar a stronger flavor than my kids would tolerate!

We're eating BLT's almost every week, it seems. I think, come October, I will be good if I don't see another fresh tomato until after the new year. Well, maaaybe that's an exaggeration. :)

Spotlight On: Bananas

Here are a few new ideas of things you can do with your slightly overripe bananas (not too overripe, though).

I read this on a food blog a long time ago and jotted down the recipe but not where it came from, so sorry for no link. Also, sorry for the terribly dark picture.

Peanut Butter, Banana and Cinnamon Milkshake

This would be a fantastic school morning breakfast for those kiddos who drink much faster than they eat. When you're pressed for time, it's hard to squeeze in a substantial breakfast. Also, some kids just don't have a big appetite in the early, early morning, but also struggle to make it till lunch time to eat anything. If you're unsure of using cinnamon, just leave it out OR try sprinkling some on top of each drink.

Here's the recipe:

1 frozen banana cut into chunks

(this is so easy to do with bananas that are close to going bad but you're not ready to use yet... just peel, cut into chunks and put in a baggie/container in your freezer to pull out when you're ready to make this or another recipe)
1 cup milk

3 tbsp smooth or chunky peanut butter (more if you're really a PB fan)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

crushed ice (optional - depending on the consistency you like)

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Serves 2 (1 cup servings).

I also just tried the Wee Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and love them! No flour. No egg. Just bananas, oats, dates, oil, cinnamon, salt and your choice of chocolate chips, raisins or walnuts. We used chocolate chips and they're very good at satisfying a chocolate fix in a healthy way. ;-)

Or, you could do what my very clever friend Melissa did, and make Banana Ice Cream... using ONLY bananas!!! This is one of those try-it-to-believe-it things. You would never guess that frozen banana chunks thrown into a food processor could blend to create the exact consistency and texture of actual ice cream! So cool! And such a great way to use up your bananas that you stuck in the freezer!

Haha - the little black seeds almost make it look like vanilla bean ice cream. You could also try Melissa's genius idea of stirring in a little Nutella for a tasty flavor change. Nutella is going on my grocery list now that we've tried this recipe!

Will was ecstatic about this! LOL (Kidding - he was just being silly.)

Both kids loved it.

What do you do with ripe bananas, other than making bread?

Spotlight On: Peaches

Here's what we did with 1/2 peck of peaches from the orchard:

I'd torn this out of a Better Homes and Gardens (I believe?) a couple weeks before we actually got our peaches and could not wait to make them:

Peach Pancakes with Chai Syrup
Meijer carries the spiced chai-flavor black tea bags that the syrup recipe calls for.

And I don't mean to let you down, 'cause if you're like me you started drooling at the name of that recipe, but these were just okay. The batter was super thick - had to be pressed down on the griddle - and I'm not sure if using fresh peaches instead of the canned that are called for would have anything to do with that. Either way, they were so dense and you kind of needed a lot of syrup and a lot of milk to drink to get them down. I don't mean that they were bad, but they just weren't my fave. If you're curious to try them anyway, I'd suggest using the canned peaches as suggested and maybe a little greater ratio of all purpose flour to whole wheat flour and see if that doesn't help.

This next recipe was a surprising success! I just used the Wee recipe for strawberry muffins and substituted peaches for the strawberries and almond extract for the vanilla. I also left out the lemon zest. Very tasty... and another good breakfast to have on hand. I freeze almost all my muffins and pull out individual servings as needed.

I mentioned my peach salsa in the last dinner post and I know I've posted it here before, but I'll share it again below. It's a family favorite - Craig LOVES it and the kids eat it well too. I usually just give them plain diced peaches and red pepper with their chicken instead of the jalapeno salsa version.

Peach Salsa

1 cup diced fresh peaches
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
2 tbsp of sliced green onion
2 tbsp diced jalapeno pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp of fresh squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients and allow flavors to "marry" for at least 2 hours. *Side note: I never follow the recipe anymore. You can just eyeball it and add however much of each thing looks good to you. I also at least double (sometimes triple) it to serve the four of us because I like a lot of salsa.

And finally, more Peach Vanilla Cream Pops - still our favorite freezer pop recipe. And, once again, I add almond extract in place of the Amaretto. Just as good.