Grain free pumpkin "brownies"

A friend of mine is doing the Primal diet and pinned a recipe (gotta love Pinterest!) for pumpkin brownies.  They are completely grain free, so they work for a lot of special diets, and only contain 5 ingredients so they're very easy to make.  I'm not quite sure I'd call them brownies, but they are a very moist, cake like, treat. 

 

The first step I took was to find some willing assistants and get them set up on step ladders so they could see the counter.  

I collected all my ingredients: steamed and pureed pumpkin or squash (I used some squash from the garden), nut butter (mine is a homemade combo of almonds and cashews), 1 egg, baking soda and honey

Then I gave the little girl a spoon full of nut butter as she loves it and kept screaming and pointing at it. 

Mix everything together.  (I added some cinnamon and clove to make it a little more pumpkin pie like, but I think chocolate chips would be a nice addition as well)

All baked and ready to enjoy!  

Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies  from This Primal Life

Feel free to get creative with substitutions.   Try other nut butters, other forms of squash, other sweeteners, spices, mix-ins, the possibilities are endless. I made several batches using either fresh squash that I steamed and mashed or canned pumpkin. I preferred the fresh squash to the canned pumpkin, but the latter worked perfectly well and seemed appropriate for the upcoming holiday.

Consider topping with applesauce and/or whipped cream for a delicious dessert.
Ingredients:
1 cup almond butter
¾ cup mashed pumpkin or other squash, canned or steamed
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well.  Pour into a greased 8 x 8 in pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Serves 8.

Food rut...

I've been in sort of a food rut lately.  I get towards the end of my meal plan and just don't feel like eating anything I have scheduled, or I get to the point where I'm just bored with things and need something new.  It happens every few months and I just need to look for some new things to try.  Mike reminded me about a vegetable cook book that we have so I decided to pull it out to get some ideas for our fall harvest from the garden.  I made a list of all the recipes I want to try, then made up a new menu for the next few weeks until we get our meat order in.  I'll try the new recipes and let you know how I like them.  Here are the new items I plan to try:
Roasted green beans
Sauteed green beans with garlic and tomatoes
Smothered pork chops
Pasta with kale and beans
Leek and potato gratin
Roasted leek tart (if we have enough leeks)
Mapled parsnips
Balsamic glazed parsnips
Glazed delicata squash rings
Maple whipped winter squash
Roasted butternut squash with apple cider glaze
Carmelized winter squash and onion pizza
Sauteed grated beets
Pickled beets

I also saw a delicious squash and white bean soup on a blog that I need to print out the recipe for.  I love squash soup and this one looked really good!  So, hopefully I'll have a few more food posts coming up soon!

Birthday cheesecake

Things have been a little busy here, we've been getting a lot of food canned for the winter and I just haven't had a lot of free time. I'm also finding that while I can easily cook dinner for the family every night, it takes a lot of extra time to get pictures of everything while I'm cooking.  Hopefully things will start slowing down soon and I can get some more meals posted. 

For my husband's birthday every year I make him a raspberry white chocolate cheesecake instead of a birthday cake.  It's our favorite dessert and I look forward to it every year!  I make one major change to the recipe, it calls for a chocolate crust but my husband doesn't like it so I make it with a plain graham cracker crust instead. If you've never made a cheesecake before, don't worry, it's really easy to do!  

The recipe calls for puree from the raspberries.   When I remember, I save some of the puree I use for making jam, however, I forgot this year....  So, I just took the berries and mashed them through a strainer to get the puree, without the seeds. 

Graham cracker crust all baked and ready for filling.

Mmmm, mixing up the cheesecake batter!  It tastes delicious even without baking (not sure a bowl of batter would make a good birthday cake though...)

The cheese cake is cooked in a water bath.  For this, you line your springform pan with foil, to keep the water out.  Then you place that pan in a larger roasting pan filled with an inch or so of hot water. 

There are 2 layers to this cake, the raspberry layer and the white chocolate layer.  The raspberry is cooked first, then the white chocolate is spread on top of it, and it's cooked for a bit longer.  Go slow so you don't mess up the layer below, as it's still pretty soft. 

All finished and decorated!

Double Decker Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake  Bon Appétit | March 2001

Crust
1 9-ounce package chocolate wafer cookies, coarsely broken
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 12-ounce package frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed, juices reserved  (I used fresh berries)
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate, finely chopped

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

White chocolate curls (optional)

For crust: Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Double-wrap outside of pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place cookies in processor and blend until coarse crumbs form. Add butter and process until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and halfway up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust 8 minutes; cool on rack.

For filling: Press raspberries and juices through fine strainer into small bowl. Measure 1/2 cup puree for filling (reserve remaining puree for another use). Stir white chocolate in small metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until just melted and smooth; set aside.
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in flour, then eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in whipping cream and vanilla. Transfer 2 1/4 cups batter to medium bowl; stir in melted white chocolate. Stir reserved 1/2 cup raspberry puree and almond extract into remaining batter in large bowl.
Pour raspberry batter into prepared crust; place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake until raspberry filling is softly set in center and beginning to puff at edges, about 50 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven; let raspberry layer cool 5 minutes to firm slightly.
Starting at edge of pan, spoon white chocolate batter in concentric circles onto raspberry layer. Smooth top. Bake until white chocolate filling is set in center, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate cake uncovered until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead; cover and keep refrigerated.)
Cut around pan sides with small knife to loosen cheesecake; release sides. Garnish cheesecake with white chocolate curls, if desired.

Meal Planning, step 2

Once I have my list of meal ideas in front of me, I get a calendar and look to see if there is anything I need to plan around.  Then I use my list to start filling in a meal for each day.  I have a very basic system that I like to follow:

• Sunday, my husband is home so I plan a more time consuming, family meal, because I have help with the kids.   
• Monday, I try to plan something easy because I never seem to be organized on Mondays.... 
• I try to plan larger meals with leftovers early in the week so we all have something for lunches
• Friday I tend to plan "eat out" sort of foods like pizza or tacos.  No real reason, I just got in the habit of doing it...  
• When planning, I try to get one of each meat type during the week, as well as a pasta dish and a veggie based dish, then fill in the rest with whatever seems to work.  I just make sure we aren't having the same type of meal (ie. chicken) several days in a row.  Some people like to plan it so that each day is a certain type of meal, like Monday is vegetarian, Tuesday is chicken, etc.  If that makes it easier on you, do it!  It just doesn't work for me.  
• I don't usually plan side dishes (I'm kind of lazy like that).  There are certain things that I always do specific sides with (Apricot chicken is always sushi rice and steamed broccoli) for everything else, I just play it by ear that night.  I go with what I have in the garden or pantry, and that works well enough for me.  Most of my sides don't require anything more than basic pantry items, so I have a variety of things to choose from.  If I know I'm craving something specific, then I'll put it on the menu so I make sure I have all the ingredients on hand.  

Remember that you can always change what your planned meal is if the day comes and you just don't have a taste for pork chops, or whatever.  When I change something, I usually pick a different dish using the same main ingredient (pasta, ground beef, etc) or I juggle things around in the week and plan to eat this dish later in the week. And when all else fails, I dig through the freezer for some leftovers... 

My sister found this awesome site with an excel template for making your meal plan.  There are a variety of printable pdf files if you want to hand write a weekly or monthly plan.  If you know how to use excel (even a little) there is a program that where you type in your list of meal ideas and then you can use that list to fill in your calendar.  I just used it tonight and I love it!!  Check it out: http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/meal-planner.html


Here is my plan for the week, just to give you an idea:
Sunday- Roasted chicken, steamed green beans and balsamic rosemary roasted potatoes
Monday- Eggplant parmasean
Tuesday- Pecan crusted pork chops
Wednesday- Alfredo chicken pasta
Thursday- "Jack's" chicken (trying a new recipe...)
Friday- pizza roll
Saturday- grilled sausage
 

Meal planning, step 1

In my house, I HAVE to meal plan.  It's the only way I can make sure we eat dinner every night.  I don't always stick to it 100%, but it helps me have ideas ready so I'm not stuck, mid afternoon, trying to think of something to make.    It also helps me to make sure I have all the ingredients ahead of time for the dishes I want to make.  I usually meal plan for 4-6 weeks at a time. We purchase all of our meat from a local farm and get deliveries every 4-6 weeks, so meal planning makes sure I know what meat I have available to use. 

The first step is to get all of your recipes together and make a list of the dishes you like to eat.  List everything!  Simple dishes, fancy meals, summer dishes, winter dishes, whatever, just write it all down.  You can then look over this list each time you make you meal plan to give you ideas of what to fill in each day.  As you come across new recipes that you like, add them to the list.  I like to organize my list according to food type (chicken, beef, pasta, etc) because it's easier for me when doing the meal plan. 

I finally typed mine up in a nice organized list, instead of the scribbled one that has been hanging on my fridge forever.  Below are a few of the dinners on my list, just to give you some ideas.  You can find a printable version of my full list here. 

whole roasted chicken
apricot chicken
lemon chicken
tacos
stuffed peppers
chili
pecan crusted pork chops
grilled pork chops
grilled sausaged
lasagna
basil pesto pasta
eggplant parmasean
ratatouille
beans and rice
shrimp scampi
grilled salmon
pizza

Get your list together and I'll tell you next time how I go about filling my meal plan in.  

Basil Pesto

This summer I have become addicted to anything with basil, garlic and tomatoes.  I tried pesto for the first time and I LOVE it!  It's fresh, flavorful and quick to make.  When I make up a batch of it, I freeze the leftovers in an ice cube tray, so come winter, I will still be able to have my yummy pesto!  

First off, ask your husband to get you some basil while he's out tending to the garden (or pick some up from the store or farmer's market)

Traditionally, pesto has pine nuts in it.  I don't often have pine nuts in the house, so I used walnuts instead. 

Place your fresh basil, chopped garlic, nuts and grated Parmesan cheese in the food processor and puree.  Drizzle in the olive oil while it's running, then add salt and pepper to taste. 

Cook the pasta of your choice and drain.  Add some pesto and enjoy!  I also added a handful of fresh diced tomatoes to mine, but I knew my husband and son wouldn't eat them, so I left theirs plain. 

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe  http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Yield: Makes 1 cup.

Ratatouille

 I watched Rachael Ray make ratatouille several years ago on her show and I had to try.  It's a simple, yet delicious dish, and it uses a lot of vegetables that we grow in our garden.  


I should probably point out that I am not a photographer, so bear with me while I learn to photograph food ;)

You start off by sauteing  your onion and garlic in a pan until soft.  The recipe says to add in jarred roasted red peppers, but I roasted one I had from the garden, so I didn't saute it in the pan with the rest of it. After it is all cooked, put the onion, garlic and red pepper in the food processor and puree it, along with some tomato sauce. 

Then you slice your green and yellow zucchini, eggplant and potato.  The recipe called for yukon golds, but I only had russet, so that's what I used. 

Spread your red pepper sauce in the bottom of your pan

 

 

And layer your vegetables on top of it.  You can try to make it look all pretty, I just try to mix them up so I don't have an entire row of one vegetable...  Sprinkle with thyme leaves, salt and pepper, and some olive oil. 

 

Cut a piece of parchment paper to put over the pan, then bake it for about 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.. 

I personally like to eat mine with goat cheese on it, but I have a weird obsession for roasted red peppers and goat cheese....

Ratatouille  http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/ratatouille/

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus additional for drizzling
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 2 jarred whole roasted red peppers, chopped
• 1 small (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 small yellow squash, thinly sliced
• 2 small green squash, thinly sliced
• 2 small eggplant, thinly sliced
• 2 to 3 small Yukon Gold potatoes or a handful of baby Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 sprigs thyme, leaves removed 

Yields: 4-6 servings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the onion, garlic and roasted peppers to the pan and cook until the onions begin to get tender, 4-5 minutes.

Set up a food processor or blender and add the contents of the pan to the machine. Add in the tomato sauce and puree everything up (it should be about the consistency of thin tomato sauce). Season with salt and pepper and pour it out into the bottom of a casserole dish or sauté pan.

Swirl your dish around so that the bottom is evenly coated with sauce then arrange your veggies on top in a spiral pattern, alternating each veggie type, until you've filled the pan.

Sprinkle the thyme leaves over the top along with some salt, pepper, and a drizzle of EVOO. Cut a piece of parchment paper into a round the size of the pan (if you're not feeling artsy-craftsy, you can also use a square sheet of paper: Cut four slits in from the corners towards the center of the sheet – this will lay over the top of the dish just fine too). Lay it over the top and place the whole pan into the oven. Bake the ratatouille until the veggies are tender, about 45 minutes.

Serve the ratatouille with some crusty bread alongside.