SPICED PUMPKIN LOAVES WITH WHIPPED CREAM

From my friend Amy

4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil two 9 1/4 x 5 1/4 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pans. Dust pans with flour. Sift first 6 ingredients into large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat pumpkin and next 4 ingredients in another large bowl to blend. Beat in dry ingredients just until blended. Stir in raisins and pecans. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pans.
Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, covering breads loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Transfer pans to rack. Cool 15 minutes. Remove breads from pans. Cool slightly. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Wrap in foil. Store at room temperature. Before continuing, rewarm in 350°F oven 15 minutes.)
Serve breads warm with cream. Makes 2 loaves.

Cheesy Broccoli Potatoes

It's been awhile, and anything I cook these days is in the easy-to-fix-in-a-few-minutes-with-the-assistance-of-a-toddler line. But this got such rave reviews I thought it was worth posting.

Scrub and bake 4-8 potatoes, depending on how big they are. (This is the toddler part. Dirt and water!)

When they're almost done, make a white sauce with:
2 T. butter
2 t. chopped garlic (Saute for a few minutes, then add):
2 T flour
2 c. of milk

Rinse the ice off a 1-lb package of frozen broccoli, and chop it a little smaller if needed. Toss into the skillet with the white sauce and 2-3 cups grated cheddar cheese. Cook just until the cheese melts. (The broccoli should still be bright green and crunchy.)

Serve sauce over the potatoes. Serves 4-6 or thereabouts.

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

This is a great fast, simple recipe. I found it in a cookbook and it is a favorite of Ben's.

1 lb chicken, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 t dried rosemary or 2 t fresh, chopped rosemary
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 C chicken broth
1 16-oz white beans (cannellini or other), rinsed
2 T sun-dried tomatoes (optional but they add a lot of flavor)

Coat non-stick skillet; place over medium heat until hot. Add chicken, sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add broth, beans, and tomato sprinkles; bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer 8 minutes.

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup

This is mostly from Cooking Light (Oct 2005) but I made a few substitutions when I made it and it turned out wonderful. It has a rich creamy almost-smoky flavor.

1 C vegetable or beef broth, divided
1 T brown sugar
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 C coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves
2 28-oz cans whole tomatoes, drained
Cooking spray
3/4 C half-and-half
Freshly ground pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Combine 1/2 C broth, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Coat a 13 X 9-inch baking with cooking spray and place onion, garlic, and tomatoes in it. Pour broth mixture over the top. Bake at 500 for 45 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned. Cool for about 10 minutes.
Place tomato mixture in blender and add remaining broth and half-and-half. Process until smooth. Garnish with pepper. Serves: about 4.

Ideas Please!

I realize this isn't really a cooking post, but it is along the lines of home organization so I thought I'd ask all you "Marthas" out there for your help.

I've been working on cleaning out the second bedroom of our house where all our "stuff" seems to get stuffed. I've been going through boxes of stuff that I packed up while I still lived with my parents. Yeah, I'm that bad. :-P Anyway, I've run across a lot of my papers, etc. from high school, college, HSLDA, and so on. Does anyone have any ideas for the best way to store this kind of stuff? I don't really want to shove it all in a box and have it fall apart or get smashed any further than it already is, but I also don't want to take the time and effort to put it all in scrapbooks for now. Help!

Free Cooking Magazine

If anyone is interested, Kraft Foods has a free food magazine, Food & Family, they mail out 5 times a year. (I just got the recent issue in the mail last week, hence this post.) You can sign up online here.

Most of the recipes are along the "quick and easy meals" vein. (i.e. lots of pasta) I wouldn't necessarily put it in the healthy foods category, but most of the meals could be adapted to your eating style. And, the pictures are great for inspiration.....Especially if you are hungry while browsing. (As I was! :-) )

Lunches that Travel

Hey, Marthas, rally 'round. We're planning a weekend trip, mostly because Darren has been traveling a lot lately and, since he can't be at home with us, we'll just join him on the road.

Here's what I need: to cut down on food costs, I want to pack breakfast/snack/lunch stuff to take with us. Lunch especially. Sandwiches are okay, but I'm looking for something a little more filling. And we can't be sure we'll be near a microwave, so I can't necessarily heat anything up. Any suggestions?

Also, I need your suggestions pretty quickly, since due to my usual forethought and planning, I didn't think of this until today. Thanks in advance for any help, and fie on you if there isn't any. That's all.

-- SJ

Does anyone have...

a recipe for haystacks?

At least, I think that's what they are called. I'm referring to those chow mein noodle things, usually butterscotch, sometimes chocolate. At worst, I can just melt some butterscotch chips and dump chow mein noodles in, but I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Enchiladas

Last night I was at the grocery store trying to figure out what to get for dinner (our fridge and cabinets are VERY empty right now) when suddenly I was inspired by the mexican food aisle to make enchiladas. After all our traveling and fast food lately, Nathan was very happy to actually eat a hot, home made meal. :-)

For those of you who like to wing it in the kitchen, here is the way I fix my enchiladas. (As learned from my sister in law) Adapt to your taste and spice level. This makes 6 large enchiladas last night in a 9x13 pan.

In a large skillet (enough to hold all the filling) brown 1lb. ground beef. Drain. Add 1 can refried beans and some salsa (about 1 c.) to taste. Mix well.

Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Pour some enchilada sauce over bottom of pan. I use the El Paso brand canned sauce.

On the side assemble your enchiladas as follows in the large flour shells: Meat & Bean mixture, a few diced fresh tomatoes, light sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Roll and place folded side down in pan. Repeat until pan is full.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce over top. I used 2 cans total for one pan. Sprinkle diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese and black olives over top as desired. Bake in oven at 350 until hot and cheese is melted. (About 20+ minutes.)

Spaghettini

Hey Marthas - It's been forever, I know. Here's a good one for either a main meal (I added grilled chicken, for Kev 'cuz he likes/needs protein in his meal) or a side dish (recently I used it for company and it was a great nontraditional side). I know it's more of a "spring" dish than a "fall" dish but since we enjoyed it - and it was easy - I thought I'd share it. Happy cooking!

Spaghettini with Lemon Zest and Chives

1 pound spaghettini or thin spaghetti
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup ricotta salata cheese or Parmesan, coarsely grated
2 tablespoons fresh chives or scallion greens, thinly chopped
Salt and pepper

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook 1 pound of spaghettini, or thin spaghetti, until al dente according to package instructions.

2. Grate the zest of 1 lemon into a large pasta bowl. Juice the lemon, and add juice to the bowl. Stir in 1 stick butter, cut into small pieces, and 1 cup coarsely grated ricotta salata cheese or Parmesan.

3. Add drained pasta to lemon sauce, and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons thinly chopped fresh chives or scallion greens. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well, and serve.

Supper in a hurry

This is a wonderful recipe I just discovered in Mrs. Garvis' excellent little booklet on saving time and money. It takes literally ten minutes from start to finish - prep time included - if you have the meat thawed out, is so easy to fix, tastes delicious, and is very cheap if you get the ramen and cans on sale. I've made it twice in the last week and a half, and it has now replaced spaghetti at the top of my list for emergency I-can't-think-what-to-make-for-dinner days.

Skillet Dinner
1 lb. ground beef (or ground chicken or turkey) [Note: you don't actually need a full lb. I use whatever quantity I have on hand]
1 can corn, undrained
1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 ramen package

Brown ground beef on stovetop. Drain grease; add vegetables, undrained (the liquid will cook the ramen noodles), and add the packet of seasoning from the ramen package. Stir in ramen noodles and stir until cooked, 2-4 minutes. Makes 3-4 servings.

When the cooking is over

And you have that big, nasty pan to scrub--especially if you've been frying or roasting meat--try this tip I just learned from my new stepmother. Soak the whole nasty thing overnight in dishwasher detergent (the powder that goes in the dishwasher) and water and it all will wipe right off in the morning. I tried it once on a hamburger frying pan and once on a roasting chicken pan, and it worked like a dream both times.

Funny, I didn't expect a retired career Army officer to be a great source for household tips, but I guess they get meat stuck on the pan even in the Army. :-)

Nice and Easy

Last night I fixed a tasty little dinner of grilled cheese, soup and freshly sliced strawberries. (I'm proud of myself, can you tell?) At Nathan's request the grilled cheese had a twist to it: thinly sliced apples inside with the cheese. I was skeptical at first, but this variation is actually quite tasty.

Another easy meal I fix often is Pita Pizzas. I use whole wheat pitas for my crusts. Top with sauce, mozzarella and your choice of toppings, then bake at 425 until the cheese is melted and golden. Very quick, healthy meal with a salad and great cold for lunch the next day.

Any other suggestions out there for easy meals? Oh, and cheap ones, too. ;-)

Roasted Green Beans

In my continual quest to find vegetables that we'll eat, I came across this recipe:

Toss fresh green beans with olive oil and some salt and roast in a 400-degree oven for 20-30-ish minutes until they're tender and slightly brown in places.

Make up a dressing along the lines of:

Vinegar
Oil
Sugar
Dill
Black pepper

Remove the beans from the oven, coat with dressing, and yummy! This is a "simple" one, Rachelle -- not a lot of ingredients. You may could try it with Ben. Our kids at least don't despise them.

-- SJ

Summer Quesadillas

I recently did this to make a dinner out of peaches and they were a hit.

Slice peaches and add some chives and a TINY bit of brown of sugar. Add this and feta or goat cheese to tortillas and let them heat in a pan or the oven for a few minutes. They are great with a sauce of honey, lime juice, and a little lime rind peel (lemon or orange works fine too).

What chicken can do for you

There were lots of adjectives that would have done for the title (cheap, cheery, etc.) but I dismissed them all as too cheesy (ha ha!); however, chicken is a wonderful dish and forms the building block for many a meal. So here's the overview for all the mileage I can get out of your average fryer chicken, bought in bulk on sale at $0.49/lb. and frozen for future use:

Roast Chicken
By far the simplest, cheapest, and one of Michael's favourite meals:

1 whole fryer chicken
Several cups water
Salt
Pepper

Pour water over chicken in roasting pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover; cook at 350 for 2-3 hours, at which point meat should be juicy and tender. I drain the broth (of which I have a lot because of all that added water) and make a quick and simple Stovetop Gravy:

Chicken broth
1-2 Tbl. cold water
1 Tbl. white flour
Milk (optional)

Stir broth in saucepan on medium heat. Shake up flour and water in airtight Tupperware; stir in gradually to broth; add milk if desired. If there are lumps, whisk vigourously. This makes a lot of gravy so I always save the leftovers for future recipes.

I always serve at least two sides with roast chicken: mashed potatoes (I assume you all have a recipe for this) and either open a can of creamed corn or make Candied Carrots:

Several carrots, sliced
Butter (like 1 Tbl., depending on how many carrots)
Brown sugar (ditto)

Boil carrots in a saucepan until tender. Drain. Add butter and brown sugar; stir and serve.

There are always lots of leftovers with just the two of us. Cooking up two chickens works great for company (and, I assume, a small but growing family). The best method of dealing with a leftover chicken carcass is to have your husband de-bone it while you read a book aloud to him. Let's assume you have all the leftover chicken meat tidily stored away in Tupperware. At this point I have several option for yummy follow-up meals:

Chicken Casserole
Cornbread crumbs (8x8 pan's worth - I usually bake a cornbread with the chicken just because I like to be efficient with my oven)
1 medium onion, chopped
Sage
Poultry seasoning (optional)
Salt
Pepper
Chopped chicken
1-3 cups chicken broth (leftover gravy)

Crumble cornbread into bottom of casserole dish; stir in chopped onions, sage, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle chicken over this; pour chicken gravy over the top. You can water it down with milk to stretch it, because it will usually thicken in the oven. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. (Not less, as the onions will be crunchy otherwise.)

Hearty Chicken and Rice Stew
Chicken broth (leftover gravy)
1 medium onion, chopped
1-3 carrots, chopped
Parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
Chopped chicken
2 cups cooked barley
1 Tbl. lime juice

Stir gravy in saucepan over medium heat until warmed up. Add onion and carrots and spices, and simmer until tender. Add chicken and barley; simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavours to absorb but not too long or the barley will get soggy. Add lime juice right before serving. The quantities are approximate, but this always does for at least two meals.

California Chicken Enchiladas
10 flour tortillas
Chopped chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup (cream of mushroom works, too)
1 can chopped green chilis
8 oz. sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese

Mix soup, chilis, sour cream, and most of the cheese. Save 1/2 cup; dice chicken and stir in to main mixture. Scoop mixture into tortillas, fold up, and place in 9x13 pan. Spoon leftover mixture over the top with the rest of the cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. (Not quite so cheap, I'm afraid, unless you get the cans on sale; but SO good!)

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

If any of you have any simple recipes, please post. I am looking for things I can cook for Ben and the less ingredients, the greater chance that he isn't allergic to something in it. Here is a good one that is so easy and was a big hit with Ben and his dad:

1 Cup baby carrots (or chopped carrots)
1 & 1/2 C lentils, uncooked
1 & 1/2 lb frozen chicken
2 T minced garlic
3/4 t salt
3/4 t tumeric
1/2 t red pepper flakes or ground red pepper
1/2 t ground cinnamon
2 cans (14 oz) broth (chicken is recommended)

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high setting for 5 hours. Or cover and cook on high for an hour and then switch to low setting for 7 hours. Makes 4-6 servings.

The Big Dipper

Lately I've begun serving a plate of raw vegetables and dip along with meals, in yet another attempt to get us to eat our veggies. I've come up with two or three different dips, but would love more suggestions -- especially ones lower in fat. I know, I know, we should be eating the vegetables without dip, or at most a light drizzle of low-fat vinagrette, blah blah blah. Any progress is good, in my opinion.

-- SJ

Vegetarian Cashew Chili

This can be used on a campout fairly easily. I have made it at home but made it on our recent church campout.

3 C chopped onion
2 & 1/2 C chopped red bell pepper
1 & 1/2 C chopped celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 C red wine vinegar
1 T molasses
1 & 1/2 t dried basil
1 & 1/2 t dried oregano
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t black pepper
1/8 t bay leaves (or 1 whole bay leaf)
2 T olive oil
2-15.5 oz cans red kidney beans, undrained
1-28 oz can diced or stewed tomatoes, undrained
1-15 oz can pinto beans, undrained
2/3 C cashews, coarsely chopped

Place first four ingredients together (in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag if camping). Combine the next 9 ingredients (vinegar through bay leaves) separately. (Also in a zip bag if camping.)
(At campsite): Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic; saute 8 minutes or until tender. Add vinegar mixture, beans and tomatoes; cook 20 minutes, stirring often. Stir in cashews. Serve. Yield: 7 large servings.

Two Random Tips

Fresh Pineapple: I did not realize, until someone told me, that everybody else hurts their mouth eating fresh pineapple, too. I thought it was some peculiar biochemical reaction of my own, but worth the payoff in fresh pineapple. But, according to my informer, if you put salt on the pineapple, it won't burn. I haven't tested this yet, as there haven't been any sales on fresh pineapple around here lately. But I pass it on for what it's worth.

Whole wheat baked goods: I actually prefer whole wheat for flavor as well as nutrition, but I admit the frequently crumbly-sawdust texture of quick breads made with whole wheat doesn't do much for me. Then I heard that if you mix up the flour and the sour milk part of the recipe several hours in advance (the blender was recommended), the product will turn out much more tender and fluffy. I've tried it so far on waffles and banana bread (banana bread batter was too thick for a blender, I may have to use my Kitchenaid instead), and the results were outstanding. Except for the extra-hearty flavor, you could hardly tell it was whole wheat.

Next I'm going to try it on biscuits. I don't have much hope, since whole wheat biscuits are so very, very far from their white flour equivalents, but the results so far have been so good it's worth a shot.

Apparently it has to be a sour milk type of product (buttermilk, yogurt, milk with vinegar), so if your recipe calls for regular milk and baking powder you'll have to adapt it.