Three Sisters Soup

Yes, it's me with another soup recipe.  If you haven't figured it out, I love eating soup, and I love making it.  I especially enjoy a good hearty soup that fills me up.  This soup is super-yummy and surprisingly easy.  I found it on allrecipes and tweaked it according to what I had on hand.  I was especially glad to find a great new recipe, since most of the new stuff I've tried lately has ranged from disappointing to disastrous.  Mark, who adamantly dislikes squash and isn't a fan of meatless, loved it and is taking the rest to work for lunch.  Sarah, who doesn't love veggies, had a couple of bowls.

It's name comes from the Iroquois who planted the three sisters (corn, squash and beans) and believed they would only grow and thrive together.  Go here for a better explanation.

2 c. frozen corn-you could also use canned corn or hominy
2 c. fresh green beans trimmed and snapped. Frozen beans just don't quite taste as good.
2 c. peeled and cubed (bite-size) butternut squash
2 c. diced (bite-size), peeled potatoes- red or yellow potatoes work best
5 c. water
5 tsp. vegetable broth base-or the equivalent of whatever you soup base you like
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. melted butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt

Put everything but the butter, flour, salt and pepper in a pot.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer until vegetables are soft (about 30 minutes).  Blend the flour into the butter and stir into the soup. Add the salt and pepper.  Increase heat to medium and cook a few more minutes until soup thickens.

Crock Pot directions:  Put everything but the butter, flour, salt and pepper in the crock pot.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  After five hours stir the flour into the melted butter and add to the pot.  Add the salt and pepper.  Turn crock pot to high and cook until soup thickens.

We served ours with cornbread.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I found these muffins on Annies Eats. They are worth the extra effort!!







Filling:



8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar



Muffins:



3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cups oil



Topping:



1/2 cup sugar

5 tbsp. flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces



To prepare the filling, combine the sugar and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350*. Line muffin pans with paper liners. IN a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. The cream cheese filling gets hot.

Pumpkin Pie Squares

PLEASE NOTE: THIS RECIPE IS FOR A STONEWARE BAR PAN.
IT NEEDS TO BE REVISED TO WORK FOR EITHER A SHEET PAN OR A CAKE PAN.

I like this recipe, because I prefer to make these instead of pie.
They seem to be less work, and they are great for large gatherings.
Plus it’s easy to divvy them up to give away to the neighbors.

CRUST:

1-1/4 C flour
3/4 C oats (quick or old fashioned)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C pecans, chopped
2/3 C butter, melted

FILLING:

4 eggs
2 (15oz) cans pumpkin
2 (14oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and pecans. Add melted butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of a stoneware bar pan. Bake for 15 min. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and then add in the rest of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour over cooled crust and bake for 30-35 minutes or until filling is set and a knife comes out clean.

I top these with a dollop of whipped cream and they are just as tasty as pie. I even like the brown sugar oatmeal crust better than traditional pie crust.

The Absolute Best Pancake Syrup

Well, the title just about sums up how I feel about this pancake syrup. I promise I am not exaggerating. Over the past little while I have been on a quest to rid my pantry of all HFCS. It really has not been too hard to do but I have just had to be really good about reading labels. Did you know that some brands of applesauce have HFCS in them? I thought that was really crazy. I figured that the biggest one I needed to get rid of was the pancake syrup. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It is super easy and much better tasting then the fake maple syrup junk. A little goes a long way and since there is butter in the syrup I don't butter the waffles or pancakes. This batch will make enough for two breakfasts.


1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. buttermilk (I used 1 c. milk + 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Bring butter, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla, cinnamon to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Once simmering whisk in baking soda (make sure you cook this in a big pot because the baking soda really foams up) and cook for 10 seconds before removing from heat.

I like to make the syrup earlier in the afternoon so it has a chance to cool and thicken. Store leftover syrup in refrigerator.

French Toast Sticks

Okay, ladies.

I have a ton of recipes I want to post, but I don't have pictures of all of them yet. Here is a recipe with accompanying pictures that I do have, and I took pictures because we got these little trays at Target {for only 2.50 each. My kids have never eaten better, I swear, than off these things. Best money ever spent} and they told their grandparents about them, so they wanted to see them {run-on sentence}.

You can pretty much just use your favorite french toast recipe, but this one is a healthy version from 24 Hour Fitness' website.

see that little hand? that is a hand antsy with excitement.

French Toast Sticks

8 slices whole grain
5 oz. liquid or frozen egg substitute, thawed
2 1/2 T. skim milk
dash nutmeg
1/3 t. cinnamon
1 t. granulated sugar

Slice each piece of bread into 4 slices {I don't do this, I wait until after each slice is dipped and cooked to cut them, but whatevs}. Mix egg substitute with milk. Blend spices with sugar and add to egg mixture. Dip bread pieces into egg mixture and cook on a heated non-stick skillet until golden brown. Serve with powdered sugar and/or sugar-free syrup {or... regular syrup. Or whatever your kids will eat}.

I cut them up with a pizza cutter into even smaller pieces for my kids, and they had a lot of fun dipping them. And they really did eat these so well. David was so excited he had a hard time just letting me take a picture before he dug in.

Give these a shot for an easy Saturday morning breakfast or something!

Broccoli and bacon salad

I had a request to post this recipe, so here it is. A big pile of broccoli may not sound all that exciting, but trust me, once you add the rest of the not-so-healthy ingredients, it's down right yummy.

Broccoli and bacon salad

2 bunches of broccoli, cut up
1/4 c. chopped green onion (or red onion, if that's what you prefer.. personally, I prefer green)
1 lb. bacon, cooked and chopped
1 c. sunflower seeds
1 c. dried cranberries

Dressing:
1 1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. sugar
4 Tbl vinegar

Mix up dressing, add to the rest of ingredients and coat thoroughly.

Epic Waffles

I am a big fan of breakfast for dinner, which is what we did tonight.  We hadn't had waffles in a very long time, and I was really craving some.  So, I was happy when one of my new favorite food blogs (Real Mom Kitchen), posted this waffle recipe today.  With a name like "Waffles of Insane Greatness" how could I go wrong?  They are super light and the cornstarch gives a light crispiness to the outside.  They almost melt in your mouth. We had them with fresh peaches.  Lizzie felt the name didn't do these waffles justice, so she re-named them "Epic Waffles."


Turns out this recipe gets around, but I got it from Real Mom Kitchen.  I tripled her measurements as she recommended.  I also added whole wheat flour for part of the flour.  I thought about substituting applesauce for the oil, but ended up throwing caution to the wind.  Next time I might try half applesauce-half oil since I wonder if eliminating the oil all together might make them hard to get off the waffle iron.


Make Ahead Note: You let the batter rest for 30 minutes before making these.

3/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ cup whole milk (I used plain soy milk)
1 ½ cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/4 tsp. vanilla

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.  Whisk together to blend.  In another mixing bowl, beat together the whole milk, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and whisk just until incorporated and few lumps remain.  Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron.  Fill waffle wells and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Cook until crisp and golden.  Serve immediately. Yield: depends on the size/shape of your waffle iron.  We got about 12 Belgian waffles.
Note: To make your own buttermilk, just add 1 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk and let stand for 5 minutes.