Pumpkin Soup

I've wondered for years what good is a pumpkin for other than carving? Are they actually edible? I noticed while Andrew carved his pumpkin this year that he kept popping pieces into his mouth like M&M's. He loved it! After carving a scary face into what is essentially a piece of fruit (they have seeds, making them part of the fruit family) he cut up a chunk and put the pieces into the steamer and then enjoyed some more of the "unedible" food.

I've used banana and butternut squash for years as a soup. So, I thought, why not pumpkin. Fresh pumpkin, not that canned stuff that resembles Gerbers. If you are really feeling Martha Stewartish, scoop out your pumpkin with care so you can pour your finished product back into the pumpkin for a beautiful center piece. I plan on doing this for Thanksgiving. I'll take a photo and post when accomplished. I saved the seeds and roasted them in the oven to use as a garnish. Go get your pumpkin and lets make some soup!

Ingredients:
About 4 lbs. of Pumpkin (or squash)

1 lg. Onion
2 TBS minced garlic
1 Yellow or Red Pepper
8 Cups of Water w/ 8 cubes of beef or chicken bullion cubes

Any seasonings you like. I used salt, pepper, basil, and nutmeg.

Directions:

Take pumpkin and spread it out onto a baking

pan. Add your onion and peppers that have been cut up into pieces. Salt and pepper to taste. Place in 400 degree oven and roast for about 20 min.

Remove from oven and let cool about 5 min. Place in blender, a few pieces at a time, with a little bit of water. Dump pureed pumpkin into the boullion water and turn on low to simmer for an hour or so to blend flavors. With your last mixture of pumpkin add the minced garlic and cilantro and nutmeg to blend. Add other seasonings as desired. While the soup is simmering, you can roast the pumpkin seeds. Rinse your seeds well and spread onto a baking pan to dry. I usually get out my blow dryer and set it too low to speed up the process. Spray with butter and, using a basting brush, spread on Worcestershire sauce, sprinkle with a lot of salt and then place in oven that is set at 250 degrees. They take about 30-40 min. Yummy!

Monster Pancakes

Saturday mornings. As a child, it brought pancakes, waffles, eggs, and home made maple syrup. At the time, I didn't have an appreciation for the home made stuff. I wanted it to come in a plastic container like at my friends house. I appreciate it now, although I rarely make it home made, as we need a sugar free variation for Andrew. I loved waking up to the smell of the fragrance that only pancakes can bring. It wasn't every Saturday, but enough for me to think about it nearly every time I make them for my kids. A good friend of mine makes a delicious variation of the pancake. She uses eggs as her base and bakes it up to a crisp. My boys love them, in all their glory; crispy, chewy and delicious. From the time you pull out the eggs from the refrigerator to when you are putting the first bite into your mouth, its only about 30 min. Mix it up, and while its baking, sit down with your kids and smile and laugh while you wait to enjoy a warm breakfast together.

Ingredients:

6 Eggs

1 C Milk

1/2 C white flour

1/2 C wheat flour

1 TBS brown Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

Dash of Salt

1/4 C Melted butter

Directions:

Place 1/4 c butter in a 9X13" pan and place in an oven and preheat to 400. Mix everything together with beaters except for the eggs. And them last, and mix them in by hand until incorporated...you don't want fluffy eggs. Cook 20 min at 400 Degrees. It will puff up in some areas, which is the part my kids love. This is why we call them "monster" pancakes. Variations: add Cinnamon, pumpkin spice, vanilla. We put maple syrup, fruit, cinnamon and sugar or jelly on top. Depends on what we have in the fridge.

This serves about 4. Goes perfect with a fruit smoothie.

Smoothies For Ice Cream

"Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having your ice cream fall from the cone."-Jim Fiebig.

Ice Cream has been a favorite of treats for a long time running. It's smooth, creamy, cold, and comes in so many varieties you'll never run out of ways to try it. But, unless you spend $6 a cartoon for the "milk, cream, eggs and sugar" kind, you get a cold mound of a bunch of words I can't pronounce crammed into a container that will eventually end up in your stomach. Even with the other, its full of fat. As Brian Regan, a favorite comedian says, "hey guys, come'mere...look, I put down the serving size of ice cream as a half-a-cup. I did it as a joke, but they're going out that way." 1/2 a cup is a joke, and I have never known anyone who sticks to that size.

Instead of ice cream for movie night this Saturday, try one of these smoothies instead. I make mine in a BlendTec blender. I cannot say enough good about this blender. Its worth every penny. Stuff you couldn't imagine would blend, blends. No fight, no 5 batches, just put it in, hit blend and it does what you had hoped. I use my blender for soups, to puree sauces, it whips real whipping cream in a matter of seconds, chops nuts, and of course, makes smoothies that are cheap, good and healthy. You can pick them up on eBay pretty cheap, or a specialized kitchen store for around $300. Insanely expensive, I know, but if I had to choose between it and a dishwasher, I'd enjoy a smoothie after I finished washing my dishes by hand. Heres my recipe. :-)

Directions

Take one banana, 1 1/2" slice of pineapple, 2 cups of ice, 1/4 c water, 2 packets stevia, 2 tsp. vanilla and put them all in a blender. Push blend. Pour into glass, top with real whipping cream. As you sip the sweet tasting goodness known as a healthy treat, smile knowing that you might have seconds tonight, and it's okay!

So easy a cave man can do it! My boys LOVE these smoothies, and rarely ask for ice cream anymore. We use whatever fruit we have. Steve likes banana and pears. I am looking forward to winter smoothies, as Oranges are finally cheap. I love oranges in combination with just about any fruit. The only fruit I don't like blended are apples. But be creative, try something new, and before long, you might be off ice cream too!

One more thing, just a quick cost comparison. An ice cream shake, regular size, on the way home from the video store for a family of 4 will cost you on average about $12. A cartoon of ice cream from the store will use the entire cartoon and provided you don't add any extras but the ice cream, will cost you anywhere from $4-$6 depending on brand. A fruit smoothie, 16 oz. for a family of four will cost you about $3. Eating fresh fruit as a delicious treat? Priceless.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My mom used tomato soup for just about everything, I swear. It was a base for pizza sauce, meatloaf, dinner, lunch...I have clear memories of going through tomato soup like nothing else. I use it often now too, and have made up a speggetti sauce that honors the tradition of the Merritts love of Campbells....umm umm good. It takes a bit longer than opening a jar of Prego, but, as always, is well worth the small effort. Make sure it going to cover up Whole Wheat Pasta.
Ingredients

1. 1 8 oz Can of Tomato Sauce
2. 1 small onion chopped
3. 1 green pepper chopped
4. A few Sweet Basil leaves or Dried Basil will do
5. 1 1/2 T of Worcestershire Sauce
6. 1/4 C Brown Sugar
7. 1 C cooked Italian Sausage...this isn't a must, I used it because I had it, but the sauce tastes really good without it too.
8. Salt and pepper to taste

Banana Bread Goodness

I love banana bread. I get giddy when I see bananas going bad. Ryan comes in at a close second as a fan. This morning I awoke to 6 bananas begging to be mixed, baked and eaten. This recipe is the best I have found, and after adapting it to my own tastes, it is, of course, THE BEST BANANA BREAD EVER! I figure if I'm going to make the effort, I might as well make a big batch. This recipe will make 4 loaves that are 6"X4" and about 2" high. Add some spray butter and you've got one yummy treat. Again, I'm slowly adding wheat flour to our diet, so I used 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat flour.
INGREDIENTS

1. 4 c Flour (1/2 of each kind)
   
2. 2 tsp Baking Soda
   
3. 1/2 tsp Salt
   
4. 1 c White Sugar & 1 c Dark Brown Sugar
   
5. 2 eggs
   
6. 1 c butter, or you can use 1/2 c Butter and 1/2 c Applesauce
   
7. 6 going bad bananas

Mix with beaters butter and sugars together. Add eggs and mix. Add flour, soda, salt and mix. In a seperate bowl, mix up bananas, just until combined and add into your other mixture. Use beaters and mix until barely incorporated. I like to add chocolate chips, 1 cup for a batch this size.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake bread around 30 min. All ovens vary, so watch it after 20 min to see where yours is at. I was able to cook all 4 loaves at once.

From when I pulled out my recipe to when I was holding a slice in my hand was 1 hour. Pretty fast for a great warm treat. The boys will be so excited to have something yummy to enjoy as they tell me about their day at school. I love being a Mom!

Almost Healthy Pancakes

Isn't it amazing that we have a society in which cake topped with grease and sugary brown substance has made it big as a "get your morning started right" breakfast?!? I, for one, love the pancake. I prefer it slightly cold. My husband likes them with peanut butter. My kids love them. Over the last few times I have served them, I have been adding wheat flour in place of white. This morning I am up to half wheat, half white. Soon, we'll be going the full monte. Add some fresh fruit for syrup, and what we have is some "Almost Healthy Pancakes."

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 c White Flour & 1 c Wheat Flour
2. 2 tsp. Stevia Sugar
3. 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
4. 1 tsp Baking Soda
5. 1 1/2 tsp Salt
6. 2 Eggs
7. 1 c Milk
8. 1 8 oz Plain or Vanilla Yogurt

Mix ingrediants all together in one bowl with a whisk until smooth. From pulling out my bowl to start to ending with a smooth batter took me 5 min. 3 sec. I used a stopwatch. Didn't take much longer than dumping that premix stuff from Western Family and the taste is well worth it.
Heat your pan at a low medium to cook these. Recipe will make about 10 4"X4" pancakes. Add blueberries, bananas, or whatever fruit you like to add some variety.

Syrup

1. 1 C of blueberries/rasberries/strawberries...whatever you have in any combo
2. Mirowave w/ a little sugar and lemon juice for about 2 min.
3. Puree in blender or with a hand mixer
   My boys combine the maple with fruit syrup and love it!
   
   

Salmon Stroganoff

First glance at this recipe made me think of a thick creamy mushroom sauce that was drowning meatballs in white enriched flour pasta, with a nice thick slice of french bread. Its what I grew up with, and a close friend of mine makes it weekly for her family. But, with our new life style of trying to eat healthy, I tweaked the recipe a bit and came up with what you see below. The original has you coat your fish in flour and milk, fry in oil and add a lot of butter. I skipped all that, added the beans for good measure and had a meal that both teen-ager and husband alike enjoyed. The 9 year old even ate it (though I had to seperate the fish, rice and beans into seperate piles.) Health nuts around the world will tell you to incorporate fish and brown rice into your diet at least once a week, if not two. Here you can kill two birds with one stone. :-)

1. 12 oz. Salmon
   
2. 3 C. cooked brown rice
   
3. 2 C. Beef Broth
   
4. 2 TBS fresh dill chopped. Yes fresh. Its worth it
   
5. 1/3 C. chopped Green Onions
   
6. 1 C. Chopped Mushrooms
   
7. 1/2 c. Kidney Beans.
   
8. 3/4 c sour Cream
   
9. Salt and pepper to taste

Cook Salmon in a separate pan and set aside. Spray a little Pam in pan, add fresh dill, onions, mushrooms and kidney beans with a little bit of beef broth and saute for about 2 min, then pour remaining beef broth in. Add in sour cream, mixing gently...place fish in the veggies mix and let simmer to mix the flavors together...about 5-8 min. Scoop out rice onto each plate so you'll know your portion, place fish on top, spoon out the veggies and sauce mixture and top the salmon. That's it. Yummy, Healthy, Fast. No tarter sauce, no fries. I served this up with a pineapple banana smoothie. We didn't even miss the bread. With my brand of rice and sour cream, total calorie count was 330.


Tips and Tricks

1. Don't use Minuet Rice. The real stuff has more substance to it, cost less and is better for you.
   
2. Real Dill costs about $2, and you can use it on potatoes, chicken and rice.
3. Make your own broth. 1 cube w/ 1 cup boiling water. One jar is around $3 and will make about 10 cups.
   
4. You can substitute white onion for green, black beans for kidney. Be creative. Don't be afraid to try something new.