Grain-Free Pumpkin Muffins (with Coconut Flour)

I've decided to do less wheat this year, so I went through my Pinterest pumpkin pins, searching for grain or gluten-free options for some pumpkin puree I'd thawed earlier in the week. Unfortunately, several of my pins didn't link to the correct recipe, but just the blog. Another required a password to access that blog. Ugh. Too much Pinterest traffic makes it harder and harder to find active links these days!

Anyway, I finally found one that worked, which I had pinned a while back. And though I thought I'd already made these, I couldn't find any evidence. So, I set out to make them again. You can find the original recipe over here, and my adaptation below.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. coconut flour (I use Nutiva organic)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs
2/3 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c melted coconut oil
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. pure maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup)
1/4 c. chopped pecans

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix coconut flour, baking soda and powder, and spices in a small bowl.
In a larger bowl, melt coconut oil. Then add pumpkin, eggs, milk, vanilla, and maple syrup. Stir until well combined.
Add flour to wet mix and stir until combined.
Line 12 muffin cups with liners or grease well.
Divide mixture between cups, then sprinkle with pecans.
Bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Slow Cooker/Crockpot Bean and Kale Soup

This past fall, my mom had grown Jacob's Cattle Beans, and we made them several times. They are the most delicious beans ever! Our favorite recipe was one for a bean soup. Over Christmas, she gave me a jar of the uncooked beans, and I've been waiting to use them. I wanted to make a meal in the crock pot, so I threw the same ingredients together and cooked it all together. I used frozen peppers, tomatoes and kale that I'd put up from my garden this summer.

• 2 cups dry beans of your choice (Jacob's Cattle Beans are the best!) soaked overnight & drained.
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, chopped 
• 1 green pepper, chopped 
• 2-3 cups chopped tomatoes (canned, fresh or frozen)
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 8 cups water 
• 1 bunch of kale leaves, chopped or sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Irish Lamb Stew

First of all, I must apologize for these and all future pictures. I only have an old iPhone for most of them, and the pictures are not very pretty. But this stew was quite tasty, so here goes.

You will need:

2 lbs. boneless shoulder of lamb (I'm not sure I used shoulder, but it was mutton and it turned out fine).
2 tbsp. butter
2 c. boiling water
1-2 c. sliced carrots
1-2 c. cubed turnips
1-2 c. cubed potatoes (I used my little purple ones, so I only had to slice them in half of throw them in whole)
1 onion, sliced
salt & pepper as desired


Instructions:
Melt butter in hot skillet
Add lamb and brown on all sides
Stand back some as you add boiling water
Cover and simmer 1 hr.
Add vegetables and simmer 30 minutes more.
Add salt & pepper to taste and serve.

I wasn't sure I'd like this, since it doesn't have much seasoning and I'm not a huge fan of lamb. But it was actually really tasty and everyone liked it. 
 

One Pot Chicken Rice Soup

I know this isn't a very Christmasy meal, but my husband and I both got a cold this week, so when my mother in law said she didn't have dinner plans, I offered to cook. When I looked up chicken rice soup recipes on Pinterest, they all had cooked chicken. Which is fine....if you have some leftover cooked chicken. But we didn't. And who wants to go through cooking the chicken separately, and the rice, and then adding it to the soup (when you're already sick and feeling like a soggy tissue)?

So I tried making it all in one pot.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 quarts water

1 cup brown rice

2 lb package of chicken (I used legs & thighs, but breasts would be fine, too).

1 bag frozen peas

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, add water, chicken, and rice. Add more water if needed to make sure all the chicken is covered. Bring to a boil and cook about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop vegetables.
3. Add carrots, celery, onions, oil, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme
4. Cook another 20 minutes, until vegetables and rice are tender. Pull some of the chicken off the bones. It should come off pretty easily.
5. Add the frozen peas, salt & pepper to taste.

This turned out really well! I wasn't sure because all the recipes I found called for cooked chicken and cooked rice. But I wanted to make the whole thing in one pan. And it worked out really well. The rice thickened the broth so it was nice and thick and stew-like, and the rice was perfectly done at the same time as the chicken and veggies. I have never made chicken soup before (except chili verde), but I will definitely make it again. It was super easy and really tasty, and everyone liked it, even my picky son.

Red Beans and Rice--Slow Cooker Vegetarian Meal

Now that it's winter, I've finally dusted off the crockpot. I love soups and stews, but for some reason, I never use a crockpot in the summer. This is the second time I used it in the past 2 weeks, and I love it!

The recipe I found for beans and rice used sausage, but I didn't have any, so I made it vegetarian this time.

Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
1 lb bag dry small red beans
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves

2 tsp Creole seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)
2 tsp original Tabasco sauce
2 tsp salt
1 cup dry brown rice

Instructions:

1. The night before, add the beans to the crockpot and cover with water to about 2 inches above the beans, and let it sit overnight.
2. Drain beans in morning, cover with water to cover about 2 inches above the beans, and turn the crockpot on low. If you won't be around all day, add the other ingredients. I was home, so I left the beans on for about 4 hours before adding the other ingredients, b/c I like my vegetables a little firm.
3. If you'll be around, after 4 hours, open the crockpot and add all ingredients EXCEPT salt & seasoning. You'll also need to add 2-3 more cups of water.
4. Cook 4 more hours or until rice is soft. 
5. Add salt & seasoning and serve hot.

Drunken Pears, aka, Pears in Port Wine

 This was a wonderful recipe I took to my book club this fall. Our pear tree was loaded this year, so much so that we were giving away pears by the bag-full. Sadly, Fannie only has a few pear recipes. But this one was very good. Would definitely make it over and over!

Ingredients:

• About 1 lb. pears, peeled, cored and sliced in quarters horizontally. I was using drops, so mine weren't perfect quarters, but large chunks. 
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• pinch of lemon rind, or dash of lemon juice
• Port wine/red wine

Instructions:

1. In a sauce pan, combine water and sugar and bring just to a boil
2. Add pears, cover and cook until tender but still firm
3. Place pears in a serving dish (I used my 8x8 pyrex bc I was transporting it to book club. A pie pan would work, too)
4. Pour wine over pears and let sit for at least 1 hr. Fannie calls for port wine, but I didn't have any, so just used a sweet red someone had given us that we had opened and not finished. 

It turned out great! Everyone loved it, even my mom, who doesn't drink wine. The pears really absorbed the flavor and were such a pretty color, too. It looked as good as it tasted. Now if only I can find my camera with the pictures on it...

Chicken Chili Verde

I made this with the green enchillada sauce I posted yesterday. I got a similar recipe from a friend which used pork, but I didn't have pork, so I went looking for a recipe that used chicken, then combined bits and pieces of several recipes until I had something I could make.

For this, I used:
2 lbs chicken legs (you could use whatever parts you have)
1 can green chilis
2 cans (or 3-4 c. cooked) white beans (I used 1 of navy beans and 1 great northern)
16 oz green enchillada sauce
3 c. chopped green tomatoes
1 can yellow hominy

In a large pot, add the chicken and enough water to cover
Cook until chicken is tender and falling off the bone
add remaining ingredients and cook about 10 mins until tomatoes are soft

Green Tomato Green Enchillada Sauce

I've had a plethora of tomatoes this year. It seemed like the crop would never end. But, it froze for the first time last night, so I had to pick all my tomatoes the day before, even if they weren't ready. Hence, a plethora of green tomatoes! I now have almost a bushel of green tomatoes, and have exactly 3 recipes for them.

A friend of mine has as chili verde that uses them, so I hit her up for the recipe...which called for green enchillada sauce. I didn't have any on hand (who does?) so I looked up recipes for it. I found one, which calls for tomatillos, which I also don't have. But remember what I do have?

So, I made green enchillada sauce using green tomatoes instead of tomatillos, and I have to say, it wasn't half bad! In fact, it was pretty tasty.

My recipe follows (makes about 20 oz)

ingredients:
About 3 c. green tomatoes (1 lb approx)
1 onion
2 jalepenos
1/4 c. cilantro
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions:
Put 4 c. water in a large saucepan on medium heat
Chop the tomatoes, or stem small whole ones and add to the water
Chop the onion and add to pot
slice the garlic and add to pot
seed jalepenos and add
add lemon and lime juice and cumin
cook until tomatoes are very soft
add salt & pepper & cilantro and let cool
process in food processor or blender.

This was pretty tasty. I'm not sure what green enchillada sauce is supposed to taste like, so I'm not really picky. But it tasted close enough to what comes on Mexican food in the restaurants where I've had it, and it was beyond easy, so I would definitely make it again.

Roasted Kale and Butternut Squash with Heirloom Jacob's Cattle Beans, Adobo Sauce and Feta Cheese

While researching the book I'm doing for NaNoWrimo, I looked for Puerto Rican recipes on Pinterest. This one, for kale salad, looked really interesting. However, I don't really like raw kale (I know, I know, I'm a freak of nature). I like the health benefits, though, so I thought I'd just cook the kale. The recipe was sort of strange, anyway, as it called for hot squash in a salad.

I have to say, making this was pretty time-consuming. I don't usually do 'fancy.' I do basic. So this made me feel quite accomplished. And it was sooo pretty (hence the photo overload) that I almost didn't want to eat it. It was really good though--and VERY filling. Even my husband couldn't finish a bowl full. It's a very fancy, filling vegetarian meal. The adobo sauce I made was good--I liked it heated up, although I guess it is supposed to be kind of the dressing for the salad. But it was a good seasoning for the dish, and I enjoyed it. I did sort of wing the adobo sauce, so if you're picky about that kind of thing, use canned stuff, or you can follow the link for my basic recipe.


Anyway, I adapted the recipe to make a vegetarian meal instead of a salad. Here's the full meal version.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (1/2-inch pieces)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tbsp adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 cups cooked Jacob's cattle beans (any other kind would do just as well)
• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed and torn into small pieces
• 1/2 c. feta cheese

Instructions:

Wash, stem and tear up kale and place in a large casserole pan (mine was the big pyrex pan, about 9x14 I think.

Seed butternut squash, peel if desired, and cut into approx 1/2 inch cubes. Mine weren't too exact. Also, I don't peel mine because I grew them and they're organic. But if you're unsure, peel. The skins are very soft and edible, so feel free to skip this step. Spread over kale in the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the squash and kale, as evenly as possible.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until squash is very tender. If you're like me and your pieces aren't uniform, test the largest pieces. When they're done, so is everything else.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together 1/2 tsp. salt, vinegar, mustard, honey, adobo sauce, garlic slices, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.

When squash is done, pour sauce over it and toss in the casserole pan. Some of the kale may be crispy, and that's fine!

Add beans and mix well. Return pan to the oven for a couple minutes until heated through.

Serve topped with feta or other crumbled goat cheese.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

This soup was not the most exciting bean soup I've had, but it was a fine meal and we ended up eating it all, so I guess I'd call it a success.

For this you will need,
4 c. cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In a cast iron skillet, melt butter.
Add onion and celery and cook until onion is translucent, stirring often.
Put black beans and onion and celery through a food processor.
Return to skillet and heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering.
Add mustard, lemon juice, salt & a lot of black pepper.

Serve in soup bowls with sour cream, cilantro, cheese, or whatever topping you like.

You could also add a ham bone and/or chopped ham to this.

Salmon Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 extra small onion (about 1/4 c.) I used red onion
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/4 c. minced parsley (or 2 tbsp dried)
• 2 c. cooked brown rice
• About 1/2 can of salmon (or 2 cans tuna)
• salt & pepper to taste

 
Directions:

1. Melt butter in cast iron skillet.
2. Finely chop onion and green pepper and add to skillet.
3. Cook until onion is translucent.
4. Add rice and salmon and parsley and heat through.
5. Add salt & pepper and serve

Warm Mustard Sauce for Fish, etc

This sauce would go well with any fish, but I've always used it for salmon loaf.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. prepared mustard
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. ground sage
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients in small sauce pan and heat over medium/low until hot but not boiling

Kale and Parmesan Frittata

Well, this was originally a spinach and cheese frittata, but since I have kale instead of spinach, it became a kale frittata, and I must admit, it's pretty good. The only changes I'd make next time is that I would add more kale. I'm not sure if Fannie meant frozen or canned spinach or fresh, but if it had been already cooked, it would have cooked down enough that it worked out. So next time, I'll start with cooked kale.

For this, I used:

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 c. whole milk
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 c. kale, sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped fine
• 1 red pepper, chopped fine
• 1/4 c. parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp. parsley
• salt & pepper

Instructions:
Melt butter in skillet

Add onion, peppers, and kale and cook about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent
 
Meanwhile, beat eggs, milk, parmesan in a separate bowl 
Add veggies to egg mixture, along with salt & pepper, and return to pan
Cook about 5 minutes, pricking the top and lifting the edges gently to let the egg mixture flow underneath.

Slide the whole thing out onto a plate and invert into frying pan and cook about 1 minute.As you can see, mine was a little overcooked on the bottom when I turned it, but I was so proud of myself for flipping the whole thing without breaking it to pieces that I didn't care a bit! This was tasty and as good as the other frittatas I've made. We had it for a quick week-night dinner.

End of Summer Vegetable Saute with Cheese

This is one of my lazy non-recipes, where I just throw together everything that sounds like it would go good together, smother it with cheese, and eat it in mass quantities. Though I've never used a recipe, I've decided to try to replicate my methods on some of the dishes that I make often but without following a recipe. So if it's not exact, that's because I never measure anything and just throw together most of my old standbys without much thought.

Here's what I used for this one:

• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small yellow crookneck squash
• 1 onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 c. shredded cheese
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.  Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet
2. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently
3. Meanwhile, chop bell peppers & garlic or shred in food processor
4. Add to pan and cook about 3 minutes, stirring frequently
5. Meanwhile, slice zucchini and squash, and chop tomatoes
6. Add to pan, cover, and cook about 10 minutes or until zucchini is tender, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove from heat, add salt & pepper and top with cheese, cover,  and let sit until cheese is melted.

Bean and Vegetable Soup with Kale and Jacob's Cattle Beans

 

This is another recipe I found on Pinterest when we were looking for recipes using Jacob's Cattle Beans. This one was soooo delicious, much better than the pureed bean soup. It was so good I got up in the morning and went to eat the leftovers, only to find that someone else had gotten there first. That's how good this recipe is!
 
 Like always, we adapted to use the things we had on hand. Below is our version. 

• 4 cups cooked beans of your choice (Jacob's Cattle Beans are the best!)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 can tomatoes, or 2 c. fresh chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 4-6 cups water 
• 1 bunch of kale leaves, chopped or sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat a large soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, and carrots. Saute about 5 minutes. Add a little water if they start to stick.
3. Add the peppers and garlic and saute until softened.
4. Add the tomatoes, thyme, basil, rice, beans, kale, and water.
5. Simmer about 30 minutes.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Corn Chowder

My husband loves corn, so I planted two good rows this year. Then I waited, and waited...and waited. Finally I thought, this stuff has to be ready! But the ears were all scrawny and pointy. An online resource told me to wait until they were rounded at both ends. I opened one up, just to make sure, and found that it hadn't pollinated correctly, and just about every ear was a dud. I ended up with about 2 cups of corn kernels from all the ears combined. Big bummer.

So, I had just enough from my whole crop to make one batch of corn chowder. Luckily, it was a big hit and everyone loved it, even Mr. Picky-Pants (that's my son, btw). He even ate it as leftovers (...twice!) despite his strict no-leftovers policy. So, it was a big hit. Too bad I don't have more corn to make it again! Oh, well, I'll bookmark it for next summer.

Here's what I used:
4 tbsp. butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped fine
4 medium potatoes (or 8 small) diced
2 c. corn kernels
3 c. water
3 c. milk
salt & pepper

Heat 2 tbsp butter in large soup pot. Add onions and cook 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

I used 8 small potatoes, and they are purple, so be prepared for weird soup colors!

Chop potatoes. I used food processor, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as it tended to stick.

Add potatoes and water and cook until potatoes are soft.

Add milk, butter, salt & pepper and corn. Cook 5 more minutes, stirring frequently.

Apple Sauce (applesauce)

Yes, I'm one of those cliche girls who just loves fall sooo much I have to post about it every year. But come on, what's not to love? Sitting by a toasty fire for the first time all year, and actually enjoying the heat instead of suffering it, as we do in summer? All the fun activities that come with the season, with the coolness that makes us want to get out and actually do something more than lie on top of the AC vent and sweat? Or the fact that we can wear jeans and sweaters again? But most of all, how can anyone not love all the flavors that come with fall--toasty pumpkin seeds, pumpkin lattes, hot apple cider, and of course, cinnamon and nutmeg in everything! I for one, embrace the cliche and wholeheartedly admit that I adore fall. And with opportunities to take pictures not just of leaves, but of the gorgeous, colorful food that comes this time of year, how can I not?

I made this recipe one morning because my mom had given me some drops off her apple tree. If you've ever gotten drops, you know that they spoil fast! So I had these bruised apples starting to go bad, and I needed a way to use them all up at once. Hence, a tiny batch of apple sauce (made about 1.5 cups after I cut out all the spots and cores and boiled it down to applesauce). I was stoked when I saw that it used a cinnamon stick, since I'd bought some recently for my son to try and because they reminded me of my own childhood, when my mom had these on her spice rack and on rare occasions, would let us kids have one (or maybe we snitched them when she wasn't looking, I can't remember).

I made a very simple sauce, leaving out the butter in Fannie's recipe. Don't get me wrong, I love butter, but in applesauce? Weird.

For this small batch, I used:
About 4 apples, cut, cored and spots removed
1/2 cinnamon stick
a bit of water

Peel apples if not organic. I use organic, and I like the extra fiber, so I leave the skins in.
Cut apples and put in a pan with a bit of water in the pan if it begins to stick, along with the cinnamon stick
Cook until apples are soft
Run through a foley mill or food processor. This will make it smooth even with the skins in. Also, leaving the skins in makes it a gorgeous pink color.