Pumpkin spice muffins

• So we needed muffins for supper.  I decided to make pumpkin muffins.  (We have lots of pumpkin, and it doesn't have to be Thanksgiving for pumpkin!)
• Lillian helped me out with this recipe.  =D  The other kiddos were watching Little House on the Prairie.  
• I changed a few things from the original recipe....lol
• It really called for 1/2 water, but why add water to a recipe? And I happened to have a very ripe banana..why waste it? Ok so it made the muffins taste a little like banana. And they I think they would have been good with a little more oil.  But you can do whatever you want ;)
• 
  
• Pumpkin Spice Muffins
• 
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1-15 oz can pumpkin
• 1 ripe banana 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (If you don't have it, just use a little extra of the other spices)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease  muffin pan or use paper liners.
• Mix sugar, oil, eggs, banana and pumpkin. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture and stir in coconut.  (Walnuts, pecans, and chocolate chips are also good in these muffins. I added walnuts to just a few of mine)
• Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Mocha Cheesecake with raspberry sauce and ganache

Its been a long, long time since I posted.  Which is sad, and hopefully not happening again soon.  I plan to post more, but of course, that will also require me to cook or bake more, and take pictures of my cooking and baking.
Today I am posting a recipe I actually made back in October.  (No delicious cheesecake for me today; my sister and I were on a 'no sugar' week and the next few weeks are still supposed to be 'low sugar' Gotta cut back after Christmas junk food!)
But cheesecake is really good...and for this cheesecake I decided to have some fun and make some raspberry jam-ish topping, and some chocolate with cream (ganache) topping; it was yummy.
My original inspiration for this recipe was a cheesecake my friend entered in the fair.  Cranberry Mocha Cheesecake  Now here's a problem.  I made this so long ago, I cannot remember exactly how I did it...but I shall do my best!

Mocha Cheesecake

• CRUST:
• 18 oreo cookies, crushed finely
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• FILLING:
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• RASPBERRY TOPPING:
• 1 cup frozen red raspberries
• cornstarch
• cold water
• 
  

Directions

Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press onto the bottom and about 2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Combine sugar and flour; add to cream cheese and mix well. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve coffee in water; add cream and vanilla. Stir into the cream cheese mixture just until blended. Pour over crust. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.

In a small saucepan heat raspberries until bubbly.  Combine a spoonful of cornstarch with a little cold water. Add to raspberries and simmer to thicken.  (Just like gravy except with raspberries.  I meant for mine to sort of be sauce but it turned into a jam; it was still good!)

Ganache.  Ok I really can't replicate the way I made mine.  Because I think what happened was sort of like this...I had some chocolate in a pan already so I melted it.  Added some cream, and some more chocolate and some more cream until it tasted good and had the consistency I wanted. I don't think I used butter, and I know I didn't use any alcohol, but I thats not helping me.  So here's a recipe for ganache without either of those ingredients and looks pretty good.  Ganache  Now I skipped all the refrigerating stuff and just added cream till it was just the right thickness....but whatever works works.  :D

I put the jam and the chocolate on each piece after slicing it.  Looks pretty that way, and saved some of my poor siblings from having 'oh no!' jam on their cheesecake!  

Yummmm I think I'll make cheesecake for Valentines day because I got a heart-shaped spring-form pan a little while ago...but I'm gonna make chocolate cheesecake cuz thats still my fav!  But for now...less is more.  So not a lot of sugar for me!

Ciao my friends!

Coconut Pudding

It was amazing last night.

So good. 

So I guess I'll stop dawdling and type the recipe for ya.

Simple Coconut Pudding

2 cups coconut milk

1 cup milk

6 TBSP sugar

5 TBSP cornstarch

1/4 tsp vanilla

Heat the milk on medium-low. Combine the dry ingredients. Mix into heated milk...Keep it heating on low till thickened. Serve hot or chilled. :) You can add chocolate chips to it, like Anna did to one batch, and do another of just plain coconut pudding . . . toast some coconut chips like Anna did, and arrange and serve however you want:)

Original post here.

Chocolate Pecan Scones

Sorry to torture anyone.

*gasp* Alright, you can tell it's a beautiful day, right?--the blue sky is reflected in the glossy, warm, un-ordinary chocolate-coffee sauce. Mmmm:)

It's the perfect scone.

It was . . . amazing, that first bite. And all the ones that followed, till the whole, delicious, chocolate-coffee drizzled thing was fully consumed.

Yep, you can kinda tell we use whole-wheat flour, but gosh it turns out awesome either way.

Now, the dear Leanna was the wonderful lady to post this recipe first of all, and I am so glad, because the world has been made a better place. One of these on the plate in front of you, still warm, and world peace is possible.

So... thank you, Leanna. 

*sighs again*

Now, listen. I never sigh over food, do I? So go on and copy this down and scoot your booty into that kitchen and make 'em. 

Hop over here to get the recipe... You know you want it. ;)

 

Original post here

Lentil Stew

It comes in handy to have a camera and use it amidst those normal everyday adventures. 

Like cooking.

Lentils are generally not my forte, but in this case, vegan suits me just fine for one meal. (huge smile and waves to all the vegan lovelies out there)

There are two lentil recipes we have tried for our family, and this one is the best so far.

First of all: lentils. This time we had green ones, a good bit in bulk --haha, 5lbs.

I used 4 cups of water and 2 cups of these. But that's a meal and a half for a family of 9.

So maybe...split it in half, and you can freeze what you don't eat.

Then....ya want probably 6 peppers, all diced up. That's for our regular recipe, once again.

It's not that hard to halve it in your head, is it?

'Kay. Just checking. I mean, I don't like math either, but this isn't that difficult;)

Here's the recipe. That's Anna's handwriting and commands this time.

So. That's about 6 carrots, medium to large size. I sliced them longways into quarters, then chopped them like normal. Ya wanna let them mingle in some olive oil with those peppers.

Oh, yes, and don't forget a nice-sized onion, too. Dice that thing up.

Okey-dokey. Then, two things of chicken broth (or, probably any of your favorite broth would work) ...32oz each, these are.

Alright now...this is what it'll look like after a while steaming together. Make sure you salt this stuff enough, otherwise you'll just taste.....lentils. Ew. (laughs)

Pour in your lentils.

And yes. Your whole 64 ounces of broth gets poured in right about now, too.
Again, do the math for yourself.

Now before you turn the burner up to medium-high and leave it alone, pour these in. :)

Now you can turn up the heat...but don't completely forget about it:)

Now, toast your bread, a piece or two for everyone, and if you do it right, it might turn out half as well, good-lookin' and yummy as mine:

(Psh, don't trip over my sarcasm, I'm just kidding. Not that conceited about my culinary creations.)

Mmmmmm. Now, let me tell you. It tastes as good as it looks, if not better (well, depending on your train of thought, alright?;)

 Original post here

Potato Broccoli Curry

Take a few/several bunches of broccoli, chopped in bite-sized little-tiny bunches, and steam them in a pan. I did 'em in a drizzle of olive oil with a bit of water. 

Next, dice up some cooked potatoes. If you want to, peel them. We don't have picky eaters, so I left the skins on. Then...throw those potaters in with the broccoli, IN a big pot. Then sprinkle curry powder over that, don't worry, it takes quite a bit to actually taste the flavor, and let me tell you. Don't let the look of this fool you. It's good. Add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, too. When Rachel walked in the kitchen and heard what I was making, she made a gross face. But she ended up sneaking bites later, ya know? 

*sigh* What can I say. It turned out good. 

Then after the curry powder, while the stove is still warming it all, salt it good...and pour in one can of coconut milk. It's amazing. You don't even taste the coconut milk. It's funny. But that's what I looooove about curries. At least, the ones we've made so far;)

Link for the original post.

Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake

This is my favorite cheesecake.  Probably my favorite dessert too.  This is what I had for my birthday a few weeks ago.  It was originally a Taste of Home recipe.  They have some great recipes.
I had fun baking and taking pictures with my new camera.  If you like chocolate, Oreos, and cheesecake, you really should try this recipe!

Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups Oreo cookies (about 24 Oreos
4 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter, melted
4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
16 Oreos, coarsely chopped
whipped cream, optional

In a gallon zip-lock bag smash 24 Oreos until finely crushed.  In a mixing bowl, combine with melted butter.  Firmly pack mixture into a 10 inch spring-form pan.  Chill in freezer for several hours, until firm.

Preheat oven to 325° F.

In a small sauce pan melt chocolate chips, set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in chocolate and vanilla.  Add eggs; beat on low speed until just combined.  Fold in half of the cookies.  Pour batter over crust.
Sprinkle with remaining cookies.  

Place pan on baking sheet.

Bake at 325° F. for 50-60 minutes until center is almost set, and top appears dull.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer before removing pan sides.  Refrigerate overnight before serving.  Yield: 12 servings

Garnish with whipping cream, if desired.