Pumpkin Oatmeal

Happy Halloween everyone!! I hope you're not all pumpkined out already, because there will be a bunch of yummy pumpkin recipes coming your way in November.

We're kicking off the pumpkiny goodness with this Pumpkin Oatmeal recipe. It reheats really well, so I made a big batch of it and had it for breakfast every morning for almost a week. Plus, it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, but without all the calories. It's a delicious way to start the day!

P.S. I found the original recipe here.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

INGREDIENTS

1 cup steel cut oats (note: rolled oats don't reheat as well)
15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 heaping teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, boil 4 1/2 cups of water. Once it boils, stir in the oats, then the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and spices. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. (it will thicken up more).

You can either eat it now, or put it into 5 resealable containers and refrigerate it. When you want to reheat it, put it in the microwave for about 1 minute 30 seconds. Top with chopped walnuts and a splash of milk.

Note: The refrigerated oatmeal should stay good for about 5-7 days.

Is it still good?

StillTasty tells you how long foods are good for. Good for letting you know if all that crap in the back of your fridge/freezer is still edible. Also tells you how to store foods for maximum freshness!

Chicken Lo Mein

Chinese food without the MSG! Woo hoo! Seriously, this stuff is better than take out. Plus, you can change it up with different veggies and meats every time, so you'll never get bored. Yum!

I based this recipe on another recipe found here. The basic recipe should feed about two people.

Chicken Lo Mein

INGREDIENTS

6 oz. lo mein noodles
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 cup snow peas
4 oz sliced baby portobello mushrooms
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

Cook the lo mein noodles according to the package. Set aside.

Make the sauce by combining the oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Whisk well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook through. Add the veggies a few minutes apart. Start with the carrot, then the mushrooms, then the snow peas. Cook until tender, but still retains a bit of a crunch. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add the sauce to the pan and then add the noodles. Toss the mixture well to coat everything. Drizzle with sesame oil and toss again. Serve immediately.

Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie

I used to think pot pies were really hard to make. That was until Amanda introduced me to this tasty Rachel Ray creation. The crust is Jiffy cornbread, so you don't have to worry about fighting with any pastry dough. My only problem with this recipe is that ol' Rachel didn't put enough hot sauce in it. If you like your buffalo chicken spicy, definitely add more than the 1/4 cup of hot sauce. Also, I left out the blue cheese when I made it and the pot pie still turned out absolutely delicious. So, if you're not a blue cheese fan, don't worry. But if you are a fan of blue cheese, Amanda says you should definitely add it in.

I used Rachel Rays's recipe, which can be found here.

Apple Crisp

This is another "My mom always made that when I was a kid" recipe. Mom took a classic apple crisp recipe from Better Homes and Gardens and, in her infinite wisdom, DOUBLED the topping. Way to get straight to the point, Mom. I mean, honestly, we all know the apples are just a garnish anyway.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine (NOT yogurt butter! It doesn't melt right)
2 lbs of apples (approx. 6 medium apples)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

Peel, core, and slice the apples and evenly place them into a 10x6x2 baking dish. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and dash of salt. Cut in butter with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the fruit.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream (and Cool Whip)

Slow Cooker Shredded Pork

You too can have this mountain of porky deliciousness in your kitchen if you follow my simple instructions:

Step 1: Purchase a pork roast. I typically get a 3-6lbs bone-in pork butt or shoulder roast. Why? Because it's big on flavor AND value.

Step 2: Cut as much fat off the roast as possible.

Step 3: Place the roast in your slow cooker.

Step 4: Add a cup and a half of beef stock (or water and beef bouillon cube) to the slow cooker.

Step 5: Season the roast with salt, pepper, and whatever else you like. Typically, I like to throw some paprika and garlic powder on there...maybe even some hot sauce too if I'm feeling especially sassy.

Step 6: Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8-10 hours

Step 7: When the roast is done, take it out of the slow cooker and pile it up on a cutting board. Shred the meat with a set of tongs and a fork.

The options are pretty endless from here:
1) You could eat the pork as is.
2) You could put it back in the slow cooker with a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce and cook it all together on high for 1/2 an hour. Easy pulled pork!
3) You could add some taco seasoning and make pork tacos out of it.
4) You could put it in ramen or potstickers or something like that.

Basically, this is a pretty great cheap, versatile way to keep yourself fed all week long. Love it!

Apple Coffee Cake

When I was a kid, my favorite mornings were the ones where my mom made coffee cake in the microwave. Yeah, it sounds kind of weird, but I can assure you it was terrific. It was light and fluffy and had a delicious topping on it. Ever since I left the nest, I've been hoping that coffee cake and I would cross paths again. Well, gentle readers, I'm thrilled to inform you that the coffee cake and I have been reunited....except now that coffee cake is all grown up as well (and not made in the microwave). This recipe is a tweaked version of this other recipe.

Apple Coffee Cake

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Topping:
1 apple - peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8 x 8 baking pan with cooking spray.

Put together the topping in a small bowl: Mash the the butter, flour, brown sugar, sugar, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon together with a fork until well combined. In a separate bowl, stir the apple, allspice, and remaining teaspoon of cinnamon together until the apple pieces are well coated.

Put together the cake in another bowl: Beat the egg and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt all at once and stir together until just incorporated.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan. Dot the top with the topping and sprinkle the apple pieces over the whole thing. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until until moist crumbs cling to a toothpick inserted into the center.

Slow Cooker Spiced Applesauce

As promised, here's another apple recipe! My favorite part of this recipe is that you don't need a food mill....cause I definitely don't own one of those, nor do I feel like buying one. I found this recipe here.

Slow Cooker Spiced Applesauce

INGREDIENTS

8 apples peeled, cored, and cubed (I used McIntosh apples)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)

DIRECTIONS

Put the apple cubes into the slow cooker. Mix in the other ingredients with a spoon until the apples are coated. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Mash with a potato masher. Enjoy.

Finnish Pasties

Hearty, portable meat pies, courtesy of Amanda:


Finnish Pasties

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
Dash of salt

Filling:
3/4 pound ground chuck or cube steak
3 cups diced potatoes
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup rutabaga
2 tablespoons dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

For the crust:
Cut shortening into flour and salt. Add water and knead until well blended. Form dough into four balls and chill for about an hour. Coat with plenty of flour and roll into circles.

For the filling:
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Divide into four equal portions and place in center of each crust. Fold over the crust and seal the edges. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

*Thanks for the recipe, Amanda!*

Apple Cider Cupcake with Caramel Frosting

I love fall baking! Even though this was my first shot at making cupcakes and frosting from scratch, I was impressed with the results. These are insanely delicious (and surprisingly rich)! Good thing I doubled the recipe, cause these things go fast. I found the original recipe here.

Apple Cider Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs (room temp)
1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup pasturized apple cider
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (softened)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a muffin pan or use baking cups. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Stir in baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add flour alternately with apple cider until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared pan, filling the cups 3/4 full. Bake 15-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool. Frost.


Caramel Frosting

INGREDIENTS

1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add milk and brown sugar, bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. Let cool slightly, then use and electric hand mixer to mix in the other 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (hand mixer helps get the lumps out). Frost cupcakes while frosting is still slightly warm. I found that I could just drop frosting on the cupcakes with a spoon and it mostly spread itself out.

MSG-laden Tapioca Puffs of Deliciousness (aka Shrimp Snacks)

These little snacks are fantastically delicious and I promise you will eat a whole bag (or 2...or 5) in one sitting. They are basically rice puffs flavored with shrimp and either onion, BBQ, or sour cream. Sour cream is the best by far. Anyways, we get these scrumptious little morsels at the Vietnamese bakery just down the road, but you can get them at Asian grocery stores as well.

If it weren't for the MSG, I would venture to say that they are actually not all that bad for you. Low fat and 300 calories for the whole bag.

Addictive. And sooo good.

Get some and experience the deliciousness.

Banana Crunch Muffins

The National Women Law Students Association (NWLSA) has been holding a bunch of bake sales at school lately to raise money for breast cancer research. I'm on the e-board, so I've been baking my face off lately. So, if you were wondering, that's why I've been posting an inordinate amount of baking recipes lately. Initially, I planned on donating these muffins to our third bake sale, but the bananas ripened faster than I had planned, so I just made them for Matt and myself.

Banana Crunch Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Dash of cinnamon

3 large over ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup sugar (white or brown both work)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup melted butter/oil

Dash of vanilla extract

Crumb topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

DIRECTIONS

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine bananas, sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla. Fold this mixture into the flour mixture. Line a muffin pan with paper baking cups and fill the cups 2/3 full with the batter.

Mix together the crumb topping by cutting the butter into the other ingredients with a fork until it has the consistency of coarse, crumbly cornmeal. Sprinkle generously over muffins before baking.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean). Makes 12 muffins.