Pumpkin Pie

I get asked for this recipe so often that I decided to share it here.  I got it from Mom, but I think she got it from the Mennonite Community Cookbook.  I've never made a different pumpkin pie so I don't know what makes this one better than any other recipe.  Possibly the spices.  Anyway, it's very easy and everyone enjoys it. 

I use Pioneer Woman's The Perfect Pie Crust recipe.  I use half butter, half Crisco and I mix it in my food processor.  

Pumpkin Pie

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 teas salt

2 teas. cornstarch

1/4 teas. ginger

1/4 teas. cloves

1 teas. cinnamon

1 15 oz can pumpkin

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. milk, scaled

Preheat oven to 425.  I usually put an empty cookie sheet in the oven at this point so it is hot when I am ready to bake the pie.  I also back pies on a lower rack than other things because sometimes the crust doesn't brown right even with the cookie sheet.  Any suggestions?

Mix brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, ginger, cloves and cinnamon together.  Stir in pumpkin. Add beaten eggs and stir.  Added scalded milk and stir.  (I usually add the milk a little at a time so it doesn't mess up the eggs -that could happen right?)  Mix well and pour into unbaked pie crust. Then (this is important!) sprinkle more of the spices over the top of the pie and swirl with a fork.  

Back at 425 for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking for 30 minutes (longer in my oven, but my oven is weird) or until crust is browned and pumpkin is stiff in the middle and does not move when you move the pan.  

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

No, I'm not really on a cooking kick. Two friends requested two recipes so I'm just posting them here in case any one else is interested. This recipe is awesome.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1/3 c. oil

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 c. mashed bananas

1 pkg. chocolate chips

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl whisk together oil, sugar and egg; stir in mashed bananas and half the chocolate chips. Combine dry ingredients and stir into banana mixture just until moistened.

Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips evenly over the tops of the muffins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

P.S. Not sure I like all these flowers all over my blog. I wanted something new, but I'm not sure this is what I was looking for. :(

Beef Burritos

Here is a simple recipe that my family, kids included, really likes. I like to make it ahead of time and freeze it. I hesitate to add my own comments especially after I was so hard on people commenting on recipes awhile back. :( Note: We love this recipe with or without the changes. There, now I feel much better.

Beef Burritos

1 lb hamburger, browned (I add onion)

1/2 pk taco seasoning (or more)

1/2 - 3/4 c. salsa

1 can refried beans (if I don't have them I just use a can a black beans)

Mix all ingredients. Serve with sour cream and salsa on warm flour tortillas.

Whoopie Cakes

Why is that when I ever I make whoopie pies they turn out as flat as pancakes? I've tried two recipes now, added flour, increased the oven temperature and chilled the dough, and still they are flat! Any suggestions? Rhonda, I might try the pumpkin recipe you posted about. This is so frustrating. I'm wondering if is my gas oven.

Craving

If I had the ingredients, the time and the energy and if I liked blue cheese and rare meat I think I'd make this salad.

Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake

Here is the recipe for the Gluten free chocolate cake I made the other night. I added a little vanilla to the batter. I think walnuts would be good too, but I didn't think about it in time. We ate it with cool whip. I'm sure ice cream would be even better, but if you're trying to be healthy...:) Let me know if you try it.

Odd Style

It's Sunday, so I guess it's time to post. I am so glad that God decided we needed a day of rest. we've had a very busy week. I'm hoping for a much slower pace this next week. I'm trying to find something wild and exciting to tell you, but I'm drawing a blank. Here are a few random highlights from things rolling around in my brain.

-The boy's new bedroom is finished! I'll try to post pictures soon. Now comes the fun job of moving them up there. The hardest part is going to be moving Nate from his crib to a toddler bed. I know, I know, he's 2 1/2 and should have been moved months ago, but why fix something that isn't broken right?

-Once the boys are moved upstairs Callie will be moving into the crib -finally. I had decide long before she was born that there was no need to redecorate the nursery for a little girl. I figured I'd wait until she got a little older and then decorate. I changed my mind. After Christmas I found a bumper pad and crib skirt 50% off -totaling $15. I decided for that price I would make the nursery look a little more girl friendly. It might look a little odd because nothing else in the room is pink, but oh well. :)

-Speaking of Callie, she is 3 months old now. I have no idea where the last 3 months have gone. She has stolen all of our hearts. Isaiah told me today that he thinks Callie likes him better than anyone else. He might be right.

-I made my own cream of chicken soup for the first time on Friday. I know a lot of you do this all the time, but it was a first for me. I don't think I'll ever buy the stuff again. I try not to make recipes that call for condensed soups because they are so unhealthy. This recipe will bring back some old favorites.

-Several weeks ago Jeremy was installed as an associate pastor at our church. We feel like this is where God is leading us. However, it is still a humbling, sobering place to be. We're part of an incredible church family. The support and encouragement we receive is overwhelming.

-I'm in the mood to sew something. I get hit with this notion (no pun intended) every once in awhile. I think Callie is bringing on the urge this time. Easter is coming up. we'll see if anything comes of it.

-Isaiah put his pants on backwards this morning. I realized it just before we walked out the door for church. It's now 5:21 and they are still on backwards.

-Speaking of style (which I wasn't, but sort of I guess) here are a few pictures that show off our style around here. I refuse to take credit for most of it.

Planning

One of these days I'll do a real post, but until then I thought I'd post a link to these cool free downloads that help you to organize and plan meals. I haven't done much with them yet, but hope to in the near future if I can ever get caught up after being sick a day last week and then dealing with a fussy Callie who was/is sick. I am realizing just how good of a baby she is when she's healthy. I feel very blessed and way overwhelmed with all that needs done around here. I know that sentence made no sense, forgive me.

Here's the link http://moneysavingmom.com/downloads

Robyn's Carrot Soup

Robyn gave me this recipe and since I don't know where she got it I'll give her the credit for it. :) I was a little scared to try this at first. Our family loves soups, but I wasn't sure about the carrot and curry part. I was very pleased with how it turned out and we all really like it.

Combine and fry about 30 minutes or until soft:
2 med. onions, chopped
1 lb carrots, sliced
4 Tbsp. butter

Add 2 tsp curry powder and stir will.
Add 6 cups chicken stock and bring to a boil
Add 1/2 tsp lemon rind
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

Simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Puree in a food processor. Serve with plain yogurt or sour cream.

Note: I am not sophisticated enough to have fresh ginger in my house so I just used ground ginger, but I imagine the fresh ginger would make it even better.

Read at your own risk.

More snow! I know it's not nice to complain, but I am getting tired of all the snow. I love how it looks from inside and I wouldn't mind it if we never had to go out in it or drag kids out in it. Come to think of it we have no where to go until Sunday morning, so maybe I will sit back and enjoy it.

Do you ever get the notion to do something really random and dumb? Like just drive off of an exit to see where it will take you, or throw nutmeg into an omelet to see if anyone notices, or drink those little creamers? Lately, my crazy desire is to post something really dumb on facebook. Don't worry I won't do it because if I did it would probably come out rather negative and I'd end up offending all 214 of my friends.

I'm amazed at how much poop I see in a day or how much it gets my attention. With a new born, well you know how that is, and a 4 year old trained-but-can't-wipe-myself, you get the idea, and a 2 1/2 year old that has some serious constipation issues. Please, do you have any advise? He eats the same stuff his brother eats and let me tell you both bodies handle the same food in totally different ways. Please don't tell me to feed him prunes because we've tried. He'll eat them once in awhile, but is not fond of them. I'm tempted to make PW's prune cake for him, but then I'd eat half of it.

I'm thinking of making carrot soup (Robyn's recipe) for supper. I've never made it before. I can just about see the looks I'm going to get (no offense Robyn), but I'd still like to try it. Did I ever tell you about the time I made cream of celery soup? It sounded good and only had 5 ingredients. That should have been my first clue.

I am not a big fan of new year's resolutions. For myself that is. You can do what you like and I hope you succeed at it, but I have not done well in the past. I have been thinking (a lot of good that does) about trying to memorize scripture. I have decided to try this. I am already a month behind so I'm just starting with February. This is not a new years resolution. I hope to keep up, but I may not. If you are interested in joining me let me know. Maybe if someone else holds me to it I will be more motivated to stick with it. The radio program "The Joy of memorizing scripture" is excellent if you need some encouragement.

I'm off to take a nap.

Sunday Night

I love it when we have a Sunday afternoon and evening free. We do make it a time of rest, or maybe laziness would be a better word. :)

Jeremy gave me the A&E Pride and Prejudice DVD for Christmas. I love this movie. We started it last Sunday afternoon and have watched little bits of it when we could during the week. It's over 5 hours long. We finished it this afternoon. Ah, what a love story.

Right now Isaiah is running around the house with 2 pieces of tissue paper. I have no idea what he plans to do with them. They kind of look like wings.

Nathan had been playing upstairs with the Legos, but he just got sent downstairs. That probably means he was taking all the visors off the helmets or hiding pieces. Now he's chasing Isaiah. Should I stop them now or wait until one of them gets hurt?

Callie is laying in the Boppy on the couch. I just heard her "talking". She is starting to be very responsive. She smiles and talks a lot. Last night I fed her at 11 and she went until almost 7 this morning before eating again. This isn't normal, but I hope it's a start to being normal.

Yesterday I made the Pioneer Woman's pie crust dough, but didn't have a chance to make it. I guess some would say baking a pie isn't restful, but I consider baking and cooking a hobby so it is relaxing for me to bake when I don't have other things pressing for my time. I rolled out the dough and threw in some frozen blueberries with sugar, flour and a little nutmeg and butter. I'm not sure if I've ever made a blueberry pie before and I'm curious if it will turn out with frozen blueberries or if it will be real juicy. Any ideas? Update: the crust was great, the filling was a little odd, but I liked it.

I think I can honestly say that life it slowing getting back to normal for us. My parents are still in town so my mom has been helping out a lot so maybe I really don't know. However, I am excited about tomorrow being Monday and being able to plan out my week and hopefully accomplish a few things other than laundry, cooking and changing diapers. Not that I mind those things, but...you know what I mean.

Well, I'm now holding Callie (I keep looking down to see her smiling at me) and trying to type. This doesn't work very well so I think I'll get off. Maybe we'll try the pie.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

I just found this recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup. I've been wondering if there was a way to make this stuff. I hate using the bought kind, but the easies, quickest recipes always call for cream of something. Have you tried anything like this? Maybe you all do this already and I am the last one to try it. I'm very excited!

Recipe

Here is the link for the Roasted Tomato Soup I mentioned in my last post. Let me know if you have trouble getting it. It was in one of the last issues of Taste of Home so I can't take credit for any of it. :) I added homemade croutons and cheddar cheese to it.

Homemade Yogurt

Awhile ago I posted about making yogurt in my crock pot. I was so excited about it. Now I'm even more excited because Karla suggested doing it like this and it works great! Plus it doesn't take 13 hours like the crock pot recipe. Just thought I'd share the love. Thanks Karla!

Chicken

Thanks for all the chicken ideas! We had chicken for lunch today and it was great. I did it in the oven while we were at church. I used a lot of spices and also shoved an onion inside the chicken. I just had to add that because Jolinda suggested it and it made me laugh. :) I also added carrots and potatoes. Jeremy and I liked it, Nate did alright with it, but Isaiah didn't even want to try it. That might have something to do with a comment Jeremy made. Just as we sat down to lunch Jeremy said "Look Isaiah, a dead chicken!" Then he went on to poke and wiggle the chicken and make weird chicken noises. Yum.

I'm trying to line up some sort of a menu for the coming week. What do you do when you are too busy to prepare food? I'd say that's too busy! It's not actually that bad. I'm just having trouble coming up with good ideas.

The boys are supposed to be going to sleep right now. There is all kids of yelling, laughing and talking coming from their room. I decided I'd better investigate when Nathan's cries started to sound rather desperate. I found him wedged between the wall and his crib. I have no idea.

For those of you that like plain yogurt you should try this. Add one cup of boiling water to a small package of jello. Stir until dissolved then add one cup of plain yogurt in place of the cold water. It's pretty good. I like to add more than just one cup of yogurt.

The picture of Nathan at the top of this post really has nothing to do with anything. I just like it. I should do a post dedicated to the outfits you'd see if you walked into our house on any given day. Isaiah has a couple of shirts he likes and wears them as often as I'll let him, even both together. I didn't think boys would care what they wear, but I guess they do!

How would you cook a chicken?

I've cooked whole chickens before, but I often wonder if there is a better way to do it. I can't even tell you how I do it because I don't think it's ever the same. How would you cook a whole (small) chicken? Crock pot? Oven? Spices?

Poppyseed Lemon Scones

This is Robyn's recipe. Robyn, I hope you don't mind me sharing it. I always thought scones were hard to make, but these are so simple. I think the key to making them good is to not stir or knead them too much and not over bake. Let me know if you try them!

Lemon Curd:
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
6 T. margarine, melted (I used butter)
1/4 c lemon juice
2 T. grated lemon peel (I didn't have any lemons, but I think this would make them even better)

In top double boiler, beat eggs and sugar. Stir in butter, lemon juice and peel. Cook and stir for 15 min or until thick. Cover and refrigerate until cool. (it thickens as it cools)

Scones:
2 c. flour (Melanie, I'd stick with white :))
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 T. poppy seeds
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. cold butter
3/4 c. milk
1 T. lemon juice (fresh-squeezed is best, but I never have lemons on hand)
Additional sugar for sprinkling

Combine first 5 ingredients. Cut in butter. Combine milk and lemon juice and stir into flour mixture just until blended (dough will be soft). Place on a floured counter and knead gently 6 times. Shape into a ball and pat into an 8 inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Place on greased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm with lemon curd.

Yummy

One of the light bulbs in our refrigerator has been out for a long time, but since there was a second bulb we didn't really think that much about it. Recently the last bulb died so Jeremy put two new bulbs in. Suddenly I could see so much. The fridge needed cleaned. As I was cleaning it this morning I thought about how often the question "how long does (fill in the blank) last if it's refrigerated?" My new answer: Anything will last forever in your fridge. I have yet to see anything get up and walk out on it's own. Stuff can grow hair and change color, but thankfully, it doesn't grow legs. "Yo, eggs, I'm out of here!"

Update

Just wanted to clarify something. On the site where I was reading about using plain yogurt in baking she said she substitutes yogurt for butter. She mentioned she has done this with some muffins and coffee cake recipes. I'm having my doubts about using it in cookies and the such. Just thought I'd mention that before someone totally destroys a good batch of chocolate chip cookies. :) However, if you do try this and it works please let me know!

Plain Yogurt

I made yogurt in my crockpot on Friday. I got the recipe here. I added unflavored gelatin and that did help to thicken it up, but next time I'll mix it a little bit better because I ended up with a chunk of gelatin on the bottom of the crockpot. yuck. I was impressed with the results. However, this is the only way I've ever made yogurt so I can't compare it with anything. Anyway, I've been reading about all that you can use plain yogurt for. I made waffles last night and replaced the buttermilk with the yogurt. They were great! I've read that you can replace butter with plain yogurt in a lot of baking recipes. Has anyone had success with this? What do you use plain yogurt for?

3/17 Update: I made this yogurt again a few days ago. I added the gelatin to the cold milk before I started the process and it worked much better than adding it to the warm stuff. I stirred it once during the first 2 1/2 hours too.