Happy Healthy Halloween

Typically, any sort of bread (pumpkin bread, apple bread, zucchini bread, etc.) will instantly mean that my scale registers an extra 5 pounds (hmm, I wonder why?).  I've basically banned myself from making bread, but in this case I found a TOTAL WINNER OF A RECIPE.  And as you know from my earlier blogs, pumpkin is super healthy for you  and in this case bananas sweeten the bread and the Greek yogurt replaces the oil.  Before you judge, you should try it - YUM!!

HEALTHY BANANA PUMPKIN BREAD

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin glop
• 2 large over-ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl.
2. Mix brown sugar, pumpkin puree, bananas, eggs and yogurt in another large bowl.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients followed by the pecans.
4. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.
5. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes.

This recipe was inspired from a blog I follow called Closet Cooking.  This blog is fun because he highlights some really unique recipes.

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread

Our "I Spy" pumpkin turned out absolutely great.  The kids in Gus and Greta's class had a BLAST trying to find everything glued to the pumpkin.  Darcy, thanks again for the idea.

"I Spy" Pumpkin

And, if you missed the Easy Halloween Treats from my last blog, click here:  Kid Friendly Halloween Treats


And finally, we had fun Trick or Treating tonight despite the fact that I'm limping around like I'm 95 (my varicose vein surgery was a success, but I'm still recovering).     Graham handed out candy at one of the Trunk or Treats in town, but Gus and Greta and I went around collecting candy.  Believe it or not, they trick or treated for 3 hours and didn't ask for one single piece of candy.  I'm wondering if they are sick?  At their age I would've had a serious stomach ache from candy overload. 

Trick or Treat

What a great night - Happy Halloween!  What did you do?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

 

 

Simple Halloween Treats

As I'm recovering from my surgery, my mom came up to help with the kids (oh, I'm so grateful).  Right now she is assisting the kids with three simple Halloween projects as I supervise from the couch.  My kids love any sort of project, and since I can't be at Lambeau (boo!), the next best thing is crafting with my kids.

Every single year we make these witches hats because they are so super simple (3 ingredients) and  anyone can put them together.  I do not have the best attention to detail and even I can manage to pull these off.

1.   WITCHES HATS

Turn the stripped cookie upside down, frost, add a Kiss and you have witches hats - adorable!!!


Witches Hats with Pumpkin Seeds in the middle
Featured on my Grandma's platter

 

 

2.  BURGERS AND FRIES COOKIES:

 

Next we made these burgers and fries that my Aunt Paula made for us when we visited her in Manitowish Waters.  These are a little putsy, but the kids LOVE making them (and eating them).

INGREDIENTS:

1 box vanilla wafers
1 box Keebler grasshopper cookies
Coconut (mix with green food coloring)
Egg White - whipped
Sesame Seeds
White frosting colored orange (Red and Yellow make orange)
Shoestring potatoes (one large container)
Cup Cake Papers

Assembly:

1 wafer flat side down, frost top.   1 grasshopper cookie place on top.  Frost top of grasshopper cookie and put vanilla wafer on top.   Dip assembled cookie into green coconut.  Lightly brush top of vanilla wafer with egg white and add sesame seeds.  Add to cupcake papers and add shoestring potatoes - looks just like burger and fries.  Adorable!!!

Burger and Fries Cookies

 

 

Burger and Fries Cookies - on my Grandma's serving platter (I have a few)

 

3.  PUMPKIN SEEDS:

My mom carved pumpkins with the kids and later we made delicious and healthy pumpkin seeds.

Remove seeds from pumpkin and allow to air dry for 24 hours (this part if important).  Liberally drizzle with olive and oil and salt and cook for 1/2 hour turning every 15 minutes.  Yum!!!!




Pumpkin Seeds

4. HALLOWEEN FINGERS

I also saw these adorable Halloween Finger Cookies, but I'm running out of time and energy and we have enough junk in our house to last a month.  Here's a picture:

Halloween Finger Cookies - picture and recipe from All Recipes

 

I wish I could tell you I have some awesome Halloween costume ideas this year, but I haven't given it much energy so the kids have some store-bought costumes.  The boys really do not like to dress-up, but hopefully I can do it up big for Greta next year. 

What are you doing for Halloween this year?  Happy Halloween - thanks for reading,

Kristin

Healthy Pumpkin Pie

As you can tell, we've had a pumpkin obsession at our house.  Halloween happens to be one of our favorite times of the year. 

As I mentioned in my earlier blogs, pumpkin is super healthy for you and I found a way to make a healthy pumpkin pie.  Most of the time, the fat and sugar is in the crust, so I made a pumpkin pie without the crust and everyone LOVED it.

1 cup Stevia, Xylotol or Sugar
1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
one half teaspoon ground ginger
one half teaspoon salt (optional, I don't use any)
4 large eggs
3 cups of real cooked pumpkin
1.5 cans (12oz each) of evaporated milk (I used the 2% low fat version)

Mix well using a hand blender or mixer.  Poor until a well sprayed pan.  Cook at 425 for 15 minutes, reduce to 350 and cook for 30 minutes.

Now, I wasn't giving this recipe much hope, but I absolutely LOVED it!  It could be that I've been on a fast and haven't had anything sweet in about a week (ok, probably not that long), but I thought it was divine.  This recipe is also considered gluten-free. 

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie and the beginning of the Frane's I Spy Pumpkin

Earlier, I also blogged on the traditional pumpkin pie that I totally love - super easy and relatively healthy despite the crust, so here's the link:  Traditional Delicious Pumpkin Pie

Easy Pumpkin Pie from an earlier blog

But, today - I had enough of the mixture above to make a pie without a crust and one with - lucky us!


Our project of the day is to finish our "I Spy Pumpkin".  My long time friend (ok, amazing stylist too) Darcy told me how she made an I Spy Pumpkin with her kids so we followed suit.  We literally just picked up crap around the house and start gluing.  It was such a fun little project. 

Since ours is a work in progress, I'll show you the Chido's finished I Spy Pumpkin (thank-you Darcy):

Chido's - I Spy Pumpkin

I'm laid up and having a hard time staying still.  I had surgery on my veins on Thursday and I'm pretty much stuck to bed.  I had tickets to the Packers but I had to send Chad and his friend instead (boo hoo!).   Once in awhile I get up, do a few things, get stiff and then have to lay back down.  But, the good news is that I'm going to catch up on my blog AND I'm reading an absolutely thrilling book (Wild by Cheryl Strayed).

What's your favorite pumpkin recipe?  What are you up to this Saturday?  I have a bunch of Halloween ideas I'd like to work on with the kids, but we'll see.  My mom's coming up to help me out, and she might totally restrict me to bed (ha!).

Until next time,

Kristin

What's for breakfast: Healthy Quinoa Pumpkin Bake

You could say I'm totally obsessed with pumpkin - but what's not to love?  Low cal, good for your skin, and your heart and it's DELICIOUS!!!

And quinoa, well I love that too - there's nothing healthier and more delicious AND I love eating it for breakfast because it's like oats only with some texture.    Here's a link to the great benefits of eating quinoa:  Health Benefits of Quinoa

 In case you missed it, here's the link for the delicious Pumpkin Squash Risotto.

Here's a healthy way to enjoy (LOVE) pumpkin and quinoa for breakfast:

Healthy Pumpkin and Quinoa Breakfast
on my Grandma's Dishes -
I admired this China in her hutch for YEARS - she never used it but I always LOVED it.  So glad to have it and a piece of her with us :)
 

Healthy Quinoa and Pumpkin for Breakfast
serves 2
2 cups cooked plain quinoa (leftover quinoa works perfectly)
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tablespoons of agave nectar (or other sweetener)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
4 Tablespoons walnuts
Place all ingredients except nuts in a microwave safe bowl. Stir to combine. Microwave on --high for 2 minutes until warm.  Add nuts if desired.

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How sweet is that, and only 250 calories - awesomeness!!!!!  Trust me, you won't be disappointed with this amazingly delicious recipe - and I've had it 3 days in a row.  The nice thing about quinoa too is that it fills you up and you do not feel hungry for about 4 hours.  There's not many foods in the world that do that to me (aka hungry girl).

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Now, I must share the kids new "homework space" which has been a great addition to our family this year.  I used to struggle with keeping the kids attention, but we've been going into the homework room (Greta's closet) nightly now for 2 months with some great results.  It's super simple - just clear out a closet, add Christmas lights, a dry erase board, and a bulletin board.


Below you will find a panaramic picture and a super short video of the "homework space" - please take a look!

Picture of the homework room (aka Greta's closet)

 

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe?  I'm having a great hump day, how about you?  What ideas do you have to make homework fun?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

What's for Supper: Healthy Pumpkin Squash Risotto

If you haven't noticed, I'm all about the PUMPKIN these days, but the problem with many pumpkin recipes is that they are very fattening.  For about 2 years I've had problems with the veins in my legs, and since it's started to limit my normal activities, I'm about to have surgery.  What does that mean?  Limited exercise which means I really need to watch my calories.

PUMPKIN:

Well, if you read my blog by now you know the health benefits of pumpkin..

QUINOA:

I did a whole blog post on quinoa and I continue to LOVE quinoa.    Quinoa is a complete protein, full of riboflavin, low calorie, a smart carb, builds stamina, improves recovery time, gluten-free and much, more more.  Here's a full article about the tremendous benefits of quinoa:  the amazing benefits of quinoa

Quinoa

So, here you have it - a super short post (it is a Monday after all - whew).

Makes 4 servings

Recipe Ingredients for Quinoa Pumpkin Risotto

1 cup quinoa
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup water
1 cup broth
1 onion
2 cups of pumpkin
2 tsp fresh ginger (optional)
2 T thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan or goat cheese

Cooking Directions

Heat olive oil in pan, add chopped onion until soft and translucent, add thyme, then add quinoa, then water and broth, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until quinoa soft (but not tender) ~10-12 min- stir every two minutes or so, once desired texture is reached there should be very little if any water left, add pumpkin and stir, flavour as desired.  Add fresh ginger, thyme, salt and pepper stir to heat through, remove from heat, add cheese and let sit ~5 to thicken into desired risotto texture, to serve - plate and top with fresh herbs and/or a little bit of cheese (goat or Parmesan both sound yummy)

Pumpkin Quinoa Risotto in my Grandma's Dish - missing her tonight

Now, I love the idea of using quinoa instead of regular rice for this recipe and limited cheese.  Oh, this is so good AND healthy and this recipe tastes far better the next day.


How was your Monday?  Work for me has been nuts, and nights are so busy between after school activities and homework.  The kids kept singing an adorable song after I picked them up from the church tonight and the video will be loaded by the morning.  For some reason, it takes about 3 hours to load video onto blogger and I'm dreaming of my bed and a book, so it will have to wait. 


What's your pumpkin favorite?  Just because I'm pumpkin obsessed right now, I'll be pumping out quite a few this week.

Thanks again,

Kristin

Preserving Pumpkin

Just. Do. It.  Go to your local farmer (in my case, Barronnet Bob's) and load up on pie pumpkins.   As I wrote in my last blog, PUMPKIN is super healthy for you (your heart, your waistline and EVEN your SKIN).   

Why go to the extra effort of preserving pumpkin? 

• Healthier (no preservatives)
• Local product (not shipped from CA like your typical can of pumpkin)
• Cans are lined with BPA (yes, the BPA linked to cancer)
• Tastes better
• Saves money

How to preserve pumpkin:


To preserve pumpkin, you can either cook it and pressure can it, or you can cook it and freeze it.  This year, I'm choosing to can pumpkin mainly because I love displaying my glass containers and I'm trying to limit my use of plastic.

Step One:

Cut the pie pumpkins in half and scoop out the seeds.

Cutting the pumpkin - be careful - I added another scar this weekend

Step Two:

Place the pumpkin upside down into about an inch of water and cook until soft (hour to an hour and a half).

Cooking pumpkins

Step Three:

Peel the skin away and preserve by freezing in a ziplock bag or pressure canning (90 minutes at a 10 pound weight).   Here's where I learned everything about canning pumpkin:  the complete guide to canning pumpkin

Here's just 6 of the 14 jars - on my Grandma's platter - my Grandma's ghost peeking up

I bought 4 pie pumpkins from our local farmer (Baronnett Bob) and ended up with 14 quarts of pumpkin.  I'm set now until next the next pumpkin season - YAHOO!!  So, please:  just. do. it. :) 


THE WEEKEND

We had a FABULOUS time at the Badger / Gopher game and the Badgers won big time (always a plus).  I'd say the band almost trumped the game - amazing.  Now I'm dreaming that one of my kids will choose UW-Madison.  I love Madison and the campus - incredible.  My brother will be graduating with his Ph.D. from UW-Madison December 15th.  I'm so proud of him!

Me, Graham and my brother at the Badger game - my dad was there too :)

And, we also cleared part of our property for our new garden and new sauna.  Our garden was located at our neighbors (they weren't using it) but they moved so we're preparing for the Spring garden.  Oh, how I miss our garden of 2012). 

My goal is to share quite a few healthy pumpkin recipes.  If all goes well, I'll share my HEALTHY pumpkin risotto on tomorrow's blog.

What's your favorite pumpkin recipe?  What did you do this weekend?

Thanks for reading!  I'm so grateful to my faithful readers ;) 

Fall's Signature Food: Pumpkin

Pumpkins are the signature food of autumn and who doesn't love pumpkin?  Pumpkin is packed full of fiber, great for our skin (proven to reduce wrinkles), a food that can lower the bad cholesterol, and improve our vision.  And of course they are in season, so it's time to stock up.   Remember to buy local too - I'm annoyed when I see people buying pumpkins at Walmart when they are the same price from your local farmer.    Here's two of my favorite pumpkin recipes:


FIRST RECIPE:

Pumpkin Curry Soup

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup chopped onions

1 clove garlic, minced

3 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspooncrushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cup pumpkin from a pie pumpkin

1 cup light coconut milk

 

 

Heat the coconut oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the vegetable broth, curry powder, salt, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a gentle boil, about 10 minutes. Cover, and boil 15 to 20 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Whisk in the pumpkin and coconut milk, and cook another 5 minutes.

Pour the soup into a blender, filling only half way and working in batches if necessary; process until smooth. Return to a pot, and reheat briefly over medium heat before serving.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

 
RECIPE 2

This is my all-time favorite pumpkin dessert, and it's absolutely AMAZING!  The recipe is on my last year's blog right here:  The Best Pumpkin Bunt Cake

But, here's the picture on my Grandma's platter:

Pumpkin Spice Cake

I miss my Grandma this time of year.  Right before she died (2009) we took a trip to the pumpkin patch in Strum - she was so full of life that day.  One of these days, I'm going to look for the pictures of that day.

Good-by, sweet flowers!
Through bright Summer hours
You have filled our hearts with cheer
We shall miss you so,
And yet you must go,
For this is the Fall of the year.


Yes, that's right, I finally ripped out our window boxes and decorated them for Fall.  The window boxes on our house are my favorite (next to the screened in porch) because they make the house feel alive.  Here's what they looked like a month ago:

Window Boxes - August

And now today:

Same Window Box - October

What a great week, first a super fun class reunion, an amazing book club at Hollyberry Inn but I'm SUPER excited to be going to the Badger vs. Gopher game on Saturday with my oldest son Graham, my dad, and my brother.  Go Badgers!!!!

Share my blog, let me know, leave your address, and I have a little something fun to send to you :)  Who doesn't like free stuff?

What's your favorite pumpkin recipe?  I have waaaaay to many to share, most of them fattening.  I'm trying to avoid the unhealthy pumpkin recipes since I'm sidelined from exercising for a bit (varicose vein surgery coming up).

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

P.S. - I'm canning pumpkin tonight - I'll have to let you know how it goes :)

Apple Favorites

My Great Aunt Helen is a famous cook, quite literally. She started the Norske Nook, has a few published cookbooks and has been on the Letterman show. For my wedding shower, she gave me a recipe for this delicious and easy Pecan Caramel Apple Pie.

Pecan Caramel Apple Pie

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pecan halves

5 cups of apples

2 T flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup sugar

Pie crust for double pie

Pat melted butter in bottom of pie tin. Sprinkle brown sugar over bottom and sides and then pecans. Roll pie crust and lay on top of this. Place apples, sugar, cinnamon and flour over apples. Place pie crust on top, flute edges and bake at 350 for 1 hour till done.

Remember to use a large pie tin and also put a baking sheet underneath the pie because it tends to bubble over.  When I serve the pie, I like to flip it over so the caramel goodness is on top.  Delicious!!!

Caramel Pecan Apple Pie

I finally mastered apple butter.  The first time I attempted to make it I totally failed because I added apple cider vinegar instead of apple cider - duh!  All that time and all those apples wasted.  Luckily, my friend Heather Harrington shared some apples from her orchard and I tried a different recipe then the original apple cider recipe.  Here's the one I used:

Peel and core 30 apples
1 - 2 cups of sugar (I used 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of honey)
1/2 cup apple cider
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add apples to a crockpot.  Add sugar cinnamon and salt on top.  Cook on low in the crockpot for approximately 10 hours on low.  Continuously cook down until the apple mixture looks and tastes like apple butter.  Once it's done, either jar and add to your fridge or use the canning process (water bath canner - 10 minutes).

Apple Butter

Lucky me, I was able to spend some time at one of my favorite places on earth - the American Club.

 

 

American Club - the room

 

American Club

And I ate at my favorite Italian place EVER - Il Ritrovo's (if you visit Sheybogan it's a MUST).

Il Ritrovo's Pizza - to die for

I need to wrap this up because I'm on my way to a class reunion.

What's your favorite apple recipe? 

Thanks,

Kristin

Comfort Food: Squash Recipes

Squash is abundant and in season so now is the time to try some new squash recipes.    Below you will my 3 favorite squash recipes - perfect for warming you up now that the weather has turned. 

First off this soup is TO DIE FOR! 

Recipe #1

Curried Carrot and Acorn Squash Soup

1 Tbs vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped
24 oz. chicken or vegetable broth
5 carrots, washed and chopped
1 large acorn squash, or 2 smaller ones
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 large clove of garlic, or more if desired
2 Tbs curry powder (less if you don’t like spicy)
A dash of cayenne pepper
1 tsp fresh ginger, ground
Cut acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds, lay face-down
in a baking dish with water and bake at 350 degrees for
about an hour or until tender. Allow squash to cool.
Pull off the skin, chop, and set aside.
In a large pot, cook the onion in the oil, then add the
garlic, and cook until soft. Add the carrots, broth,
squash, milk, curry, ginger, and cayenne. Bring to a
boil, then decrease heat and simmer until the carrots are
soft.

Using an immersion tool or a blender combine.

Squash Soup

Squash Risotto is like heaven in your mouth.  Oh my, oh my.

Recipe #2

Follow this link for the best recipe:  The Best Squash Risotto Around
I actually use quinoa for my risotto.  And by the way - this picture is about 4 servings.  This picture does not do this justice.

Squash Risotto

Last but not least, my spaghetti squash ratatouille bears repeating because it's healthy, delicious, and my kids have been requesting it (always a good thing):

Recipe #3

Spaghetti Squash Ratatouille

1 medium-sized spaghetti squash

1/4 cup white wine
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 zucchini, sliced
2 cans stewed tomatoes (or make your own!)
1 cup spaghetti sauce
Oregano, basil, and pepper to taste

Prepare and cook squash as you would any other type of

winter squash (halve, remove seeds, place face-down in a
pan of water and bake in the oven @ 350 degrees for 45
minutes to an hour, until fork tender). Heat wine in a
skillet. Sauté onions and garlic in the wine for a few
minutes. Add both kinds of peppers and cook until tender.
Add zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes, cooking until soft.  Stir in spices and sauce dish on top of the spaghetti squash.  Kids hardly notice that they are not eating spaghetti noodles.  Delish.

Spaghetti Squash Ratatouille

What an amazing week.  Other than the usual difficulty of transitioning from summer to winter with 24 hours to acclimate, we've had a ton of fun.  Gus rode a mechanical bull:

Gus riding the mechanical bull

Graham blew us away with his football skills this year and we were sad to see the season end on Thursday.  He scored multiple touchdowns at every game except one.  Very proud.

Graham's last middle school game

And Greta worked very hard this week as she acted as Varsity Cheerleader for the Hayward Hurricanes.  She did a great job too!

Go Hurricanes - Greta is in the middle

 

 

In the beginning of the week, we took lots of walks and snapped lots of pictures of the leaves.

 

Gus, Graham and Greta - out for a walk

 

 

Then when the leaves blew off the trees we played in the leaves.

 

Playing in the leaves

 

 

 

And today, I'm making pumpkin bread and apple butter before we head out of town to Minneapolis.

What are you doing this weekend?

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Kristin