Pumpkin Bread

There's a blog I read, KERF, and the author blends pumpkin puree into her oatmeal. I'm a huge oatmeal fan, and a pumpkin fan, so I tried it. It is pretty delicious, especially with cinnamon mixed in and almond butter on top. However, a 15 oz. can of pumpkin goes really far when you only use 1/3 c. of pumpkin every morning. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat the whole can before it went bad, so I searched by cookbooks for a pumpkin bread recipe. I found on in Joy of Cooking.

Pumpkin Bread

(makes a 9x5 loaf pan)

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease your loaf pan.

Whisk together (in your medium sized glass Pyrex bowl):

1-1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

In your small Pyrex bowl, combine:

1/3 c milk

½ tsp vanilla

In your large Pyrex bowl, blend with a mixer until fluffy:

6 Tbsp (1/3 c) shortening or butter

1-1/3 c sugar

Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, to the butter/sugar mixture.

Beat in on low speed, 1 c. pumpkin puree

Add the flour and milk mixtures in two-three parts, alternating, until smooth.

Then mix in with a spatula:

1/2 c chopped pecans

1/3 c raisins

Bake in the loaf pan for about 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

As expected, our oven is off. I bought one of those thermometers that hangs from the oven rack. When the knob is set at 350, the thermometer only reads 325. It's a bit of a pain in the butt, because higher settings, like 400, read closer to 425 on the thermometer....   

Monday morning I expected to have a piece of pumpkin bread with my breakfast... but the pumpkin bread mouse a.k.a. the Hubs finished off the pan in the middle of the night! And he doesn't even like pumpkin!

Tweet

Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan

The original recipe may be found here. You'll notice the original doesn't contain salmon. But while I was preparing this, I thought the flavors would go well together and it would sneak in some Omega-3s. This really tastes like spinach artichoke dip.

Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan  

3 cups cooked brown rice
10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
5 oz container crumbled Feta cheese
1/3 cup Parmesan
Salt & Pepper
7 oz pouch boneless/skinless salmon
1/2 c shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook enough brown rice to make 3 cups cooked brown rice. (I used 5-minute rice and needed to cook 1-1/2 c rice with 1-1/2 c water.)

Put thawed spinach into a colander, then use your hands to squeeze out as much of the water as you can.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs and then mix in the milk, sliced green onions, thyme, salt, and Worcestershire sauce. When ingredients are combined, mix in the drained spinach. Then mix in the crumbled Feta and Parmesan, followed by the brown rice and salmon. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Then sprinkled about mozzarella on top and bake for another 10 minutes.

Tweet

Meals for week of 10/15

In addition to the below meals, we'll also eat a rooster that Mom, Grandma and I butchered on Saturday.

Leftover chili from the Chili cookoff at the Hub's work
Brown Sugar and Soy Sauce Salmon w/ veggies
Sausage and spinach casserole
Marsala chicken casserole

My lunches:
Spinach, Feta, Brown Rice casserole

Tweet

Meals week of 10/8

Dinners:
Grilled meats w/ leftover veggies: last night we had a beef rib roast rubbed with salt, pepper, Chicago Steak seasoning, brown sugar, and grilled to rare/medium rare, and cheddar brats
Enchilada casserole
Chicken w/ rice and broccoli
Chili- the Hubs is entering a chili in a competition for his work on Friday

Lunches:
Corn chowder
leftovers

Breakfasts: oatmeal!!!

Tweet

Corn Chowder

Something about cool weather makes me hungry for corn chowder. This recipe is loosely based on a recipe from a cookbook I borrowed from Mom awhile back, The Daily Soup. As usual, I tweaked the recipe, so only my version is below.

Corn Chowder
5 slices bacon, sliced into 1/2" strips
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
3-4 small sweet peppers, or 1-2 regular size sweet peppers, diced
2-3 jalapenos, seeded and diced
2 chipotles in adobo, diced
2-3 small potatoes, cut into 1/2" pieces
16 oz bag of frozen corn
1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 to 1 c of 1/2 & 1/2
handful of cilantro, chopped
2 scallions, sliced thinly

Fry the bacon in a large soup pot. I used my Lodge Dutch oven. If there is a lot of grease, drain it, otherwise leave it in there to saute the veggies.

Add the celery, onion, sweet peppers and jalapenos and cook until almost tender.

Add the potatoes, frozen corn, potatoes and vegetable stock. Simmer until potatoes are tender.

Add the chipotles, 1/2 & 1/2 and simmer for a couple minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro and scallions.

Notice I forgot to add any other seasonings, even salt and pepper... But the chipotles made additional seasoning unnecessary!

Tweet

Weekend

 This weekend we had a family reunion with my mom's extended family. I haven't seen most of these people since my uncle Will's wedding four years ago.

 There was a ton of good food, as always. I forgot to photograph my dessert plate, but it had almost as much food on it.

 Cousin Donnie built a playhouse for his children, complete with a zipline!!!

 They have a little dog named Moose; I think they breed is Teddy Bear? And a golden retriever that smiles on command. I'd love to teach this to Freddy.

While I was gone, the Hubs installed the dishwasher. (Yay - if you only knew how much I hate doing dishes...) He also uninstalled the garbage disposal (why on earth would you have a garbage disposal when you have a septic tank, if you can have a compost bin and put it in the garden?)

He also installed the door handles on the upper cabinets.

Tweet

Super Shrimp Salad

This recipe is loosely based on one found here. The original recipe is packed with "superfoods". This is the first time I recall ever eating a pomegranate. 

Our internet was not cooperating Sunday night, so I had to wing it. 

1 lb shrimp, peeled and veined

2 Tbsp butter

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

Seeds from one pomegranate

15 oz can black beans, drained

handful of cilantro, chopped

2 jalapenos, seeded and diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 cup quinoa cooked in 1 to 1-1/2 c water

juice from one lime

If you look at the original recipe, you'll see I forgot the red onion and corn, and some of the dressing ingredients. 

Saute the shrimp in butter and season with salt and pepper, garlic and chili powder. 

In the meantime, prepare the quinoa in a sauce pan and prep the remaining ingredients. 

Once the shrimp is cooked, add in the remaining ingredients and stir. 

Makes about 3 lunches.

Tweet