Talkin' Turkey

Hey All-

I gathered up some turkey thawing, cooking and hotline help information and posted it over at familyeducation.com today. Hope it helps if you have any nagging turkey questions!

SPC

A Whoopie Thanksgiving

If you ask G what he wants for Christmas, 9 times out of 10 his answer is "A Whoopie Cushion." I am not exactly sure how this item ascended to the top of his mental list (well, actually, he is in that anything-to-do-with-the-potty-is-hilarious stage, you know the 30 year stage that boys go through?) but when he recites that this is what he wants, people think it is hilarious, which just eggs him on to repeat the scenario next time.

So you can imagine the reaction when I was in the kitchen and the boys came sauntering in to see what I was whipping up and I replied, "Whoopie Pies." Severe hilarity ensued, which I have to admit, made me smile too.

These Whoopie Pies are a spin on the classic ones, which usually have soft chocolate "cookies" filled with a whipped cream in the middle. I don't usually replace chocolate when developing a recipe, but I made these for a new idea for Thanksgiving dessert. They are a Sweet Pea original recipe...I replaced the usual butter or oil with applesauce in the cookies and eschewed the usual butter and whipped cream for a cream cheese frosting. In the end, these are, in SPH's words, "fantastic!" and relatively light.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Orange Spice Cream

Cookies:
1-15 ounce can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream:
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
zest of one orange
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons orange juice
4-5 cups confectioners sugar

Make the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the pumpkin, eggs, and applesauce, until smooth. In a large bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients (flour through the baking soda). Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly to make a smooth batter.

On a cookie sheet, drop little rounds of the batter (will be somewhat like the consistency of a very thick pancake batter) in 2 inch circles. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookie is fully baked and the center is not jiggly.

Let cool.

In a large bowl, using a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese, orange zest, cinnamon and orange juice until well mixed. Add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, until the cream is spreadable and not too runny. Makes about 2 dozen pies.

SPC

Brittle Me This

I am sitting here typing, window open, at the kitchen table, wondering how on earth a late-November day in Ohio could be anymore beautiful. Blue skies, bright sunshine, a few brilliant leaves still hanging on the trees, and bird chirping. Oh, and G is napping and R is at school. Life is good.

The added bonus to this afternoon is that I am nibbling, check that, devouring, this recipe. Don't have any pumpkin seeds laying around your kitchen? Use the traditional peanut for this recipe, or get wild and crazy and use cashews, pistachios (shelled first, please) or sunflower seeds.

Pumpkin Seed (or Peanut, etc) Brittle

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (need a recipe to roast your seeds?)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon butter (or I used Earth Balance spread)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the sugar and corn syrup in a glass pyrex and microwave for 1 minute on high. Stir, microwave for another minute on high.

Add the seeds or nuts, and microwave one additional minute on high. Stir. Add the salt, butter, and vanilla. Microwave one minute on high. Stir, repeat (see a pattern here?).

Add the baking soda and stir quickly. Pour onto a Silpat liner, waxed paper or a very well greased cookie sheet. Do not spread (you want the bubbles/slight form from the baking soda to stay intact and spread too much will flatten them), but rather tip the pan from side to side slightly to spread the mixture. Let cool, break into pieces.

If you want to expedite the cooling process, pop the tray in the freezer. Mine was cooled in about 20 minutes. Another 20 minutes later, and the brittle was almost gone.

Makes about 1 -1 1/2 cups broken brittle pieces.

(hint: This would make a very nice gift for Christmas...)

SPC

Roses, Ribs and the Such

What a weekend! My beloved Buckeyes are going to the Rose Bowl and I couldn't be happier. Sure, the National Championship would be nice, but I love me the Rose Bowl and all its traditions. So a little shout out to my Bucks:



The weather was gorgeous all weekend so we had our neighbors over and SPH smoked a few racks of ribs. Oh. my. goodness. My man can cook, but he is brilliant at the smoker. Well done, honey.






(about 10 seconds after taking this picture of our leftover ribs, I ate another one.)









This week finds me trying out several new recipes to share with you here and at familyeducation.com. Our meals this week--

A new Meatloaf recipe, Asparagus, Spaghetti Squash
Orange Chicken, Green Beans and Orzo
Oven Fried Orange Roughy, Smashy Peas and Grits
Italian Bean Soup with Artichokes

Oh, one last note: I haven't forgotten about sharing a recipe to use any extra pumpkin seeds you have on hand. I just need to tweak it...so if you actually still have seeds on hand, hold on to them a few more days!

Have a great week all-
SPC

Another Great Slow Cooker Soup

I'm over at familyeducation.com posting about another great slow cooker soup. Perfect to come home to after a busy, busy day:

Actually, this soup would be perfect too after my morning...

I had an appointment today for G with a new pediatrician in our practice. He could have been a character sketch on SNL for "World's Worst Pediatrician." He actually told G (he's 2, remember!), "Dude, just relax" twice. He wrote out five different prescriptions for a runny nose. He lied to the nurse about how often has been treated for croup. If it hadn't been my kid, I would have been laughing at this doc. G actually said mid-appointment, out loud, "Mommy I want a different doctor!" Well said, G.

So, if you live in Columbus and have a pediatric practice you adore, please leave a comment. I have been mulling a change for months and today just sealed the deal.

SPC

Mom Withdrawal

I'm going through mom withdrawal. My mom was here for a good bit last week and this weekend while my dad was off on a man's trip with some family and friends. Life is especially good when my mom is here to help.

Mom probably logged a dozen or more hours of babysitting hours while here, affording SPH and I the opportunity to do more date nights in the last week than probably the preceding month. Oh, and don't think R and G don't like it when a grandparent visits:


While mom was visiting, I made this black bean soup in our slow cooker. It was really quite good and served as a good reminder that I really do need to add "immersion blender" to my Christmas list. (Side note: thanks to Rookie Cookie and Jersey Baby for their immersion blender recommendations) If you are like me and lack an immersion blender, don't fret, just simply plop a few cups of soup in a standard blender and give it a 'whirl.

One last thing before the recipe: this black bean soup sports a can of pureed pumpkin. Now don't go looking at the title of this blog and assume I have some unhealthy obsession with using pumpkin in my recipes. Au contraire. In researching recipes, I came across the idea of adding some pumpkin to give soup a little extra richness and body. It works beautifully in this recipe...taste for yourself!
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup with Corn Bread Crumbles

1 pound dried black beans (or alternatively, 3 - 15 ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed)
1 - 15 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilis, undrained
1 - 15 ounce can pureed pumpkin
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalepeno, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
hot pepper sauce to taste
Corn Muffins, crumbled
Cilantro, Cheddar Cheese and Sour Cream (optional toppings)

If using dried beans, pour them in a large stock pot, covered with water 3 inches above the beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour or until soft. You may do this a day or two before making the soup.

Combine the beans and all remaining ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low 8-10 hours, high 4-5 hours.

Once ready to serve, puree a bit of the soup to make it thick. Crumble some corn bread on top and toppings , if using.

Serves 6-8 (and tastes even better if you save some for leftovers the next day)

SPC

Halloween Recap, aka What do I do with all this Halloween Candy?!

Hope your Halloween weekend was a good one. We did our trick or treating early on Thursday night, and despite R and G being off-the-hook excited about our candy mission for the night, this was the best picture of them smiling together:
So, now what to do with all this candy:
I was brainstorming over the weekend, trying to figure out how to curb the candy overload. Last year, we did a "one or two pieces" a day quota and the candy lasted well into the New Year. So this year I put on my thinking cap and have come up with this idea...

...and it worked like a charm...

I told R and G that I needed to make a special dessert for our dinner Sunday night (true story). I explained that I was going to make a special cake and I needed some of their chocolate candy to make the (cheese)cake. They got really excited and started handing me their candy for the cake. This is all the chocolate R willingly gave up for the effort:

I used three snack size candy bars--a Kit Kat, Reese's Cup and Snickers Bar--for the filling of this cheesecake. The rest of the candy went into the "take your candy to work day" bag for SPH.

I used two more snack size Reese's Cups for the topping, and let the boys throw a couple M&Ms on top for good measure.

All in all, it was a very easy, very yummy way to rid our house of some candy without any protesting.

Halloween Candy Cheesecake

Crust:
3 cups Cheerios
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling:
3 - 8 oz light cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
gobs and gobs of candy (ok, only really 5 snack size chocolate bars, but you can tell your kids you need gobs)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, process the Cheerios and brown sugar until fine. Add the oil and vanilla, and process until fine and resembling cornmeal.

Press Cheerio mixture into the bottom and up 1/2 way on the sides of a springform pan (alternatively, you can use a pie pan). Bake for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and add one egg at a time, scraping the sides between eggs to ensure good mixing. Add the sugar, vanilla and flour, and mix until fully incorporated.

Take 3 snack size candy bars (Kit Kat, Reese's Cup, Snickers, Heath Bar, etc work well) and crumble.

Increase oven temperature to 365 degrees. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture into the pan with the crust. Sprinkle with candy. Cover with the other half of the cream cheese mixture.

Bake for 35-38 minutes or until the middle of the cheesecake is no longer jiggly. Cool and let firm in a refrigerator 8 hours or overnight before serving.

When ready to serve, crumble 2 or 3 more snack size bars on top of the cheesecake.



Serves 12.

*An idea I thought of after I already had the cake in the oven was that you could do something fun and take a certain color M&M and place it inside the cake and see who gets the slice with that special color M&M. Maybe they could even win a prize. Like having to do the dishes. :)

SPC

Perfectly Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Our costumes are ready, I am about to go dig up the glow sticks I saved for tonight and the tea lights are about to go into our jack o'lanterns. Before I know it, the boys will be collecting gobs of candy and the sugar rushes will be about to begin.

For some unknown reason, our city (and most of Columbus) has opted to do trick or treating tonight instead of Saturday. God love the teachers that will have to contend with the sleep-deprived and sugar-hang over little ones tomorrow.

This past weekend we craved our pumpkins, and roasted the seeds. I haven't always had perfect luck with roasting seeds, but after many years of trying, I think we nailed it this year. And since this blog has the word "pumpkin" in its title, I just had to share...

Perfectly Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds (duh) --we used about 2 cups for this recipe
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Place the pumpkin seeds, with most of the pumpkin flesh removed, in a large bowl filled with water for about 15 minutes or so:
This allows much of the flesh to sink to the bottom while the seeds float on top, making it much, much easier to remove the remaining flesh.

Next, let the seeds dry on a clean towel for a good bit, preferably overnight to make sure the seeds are very dry (and will roast better):
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Place the seeds on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, turning the seeds on the sheet after about 45 minutes to ensure even baking:
Remove from the oven once they are browned slightly:
Go ahead and enjoy--they are a healthy snack full of good antioxidants and other nutrients. If you can, save some because I have a recipe I am trying out this weekend using them, and I will post it if it passes muster.

Happy Halloween All!
SPC

Pizza Soup

This is soup weather. We've been enjoying at least one soup a week for the last month or so, and this week is no different. You see, our pre-trick-or-treating tradition is to fuel up on Chicken Fiesta Soup. The whole family loves it and I figure the beans, vegetables and lean protein provide the perfect foil to the candy and sugar overload that follows.

But a new soup contender for "favorite soup" has entered the Sweet Pea home. Again, in an attempt to use the gobs of tomatoes from our garden, I created a soup recipe I endearingly call "Pizza Soup." I could have called it Tomato Soup with Cheese Croutons, but my guess is that R and G wouldn't have been quite as excited about such a soup. Suffice it to say, if the word "pizza" is in the dinner menu title, they are excited.

Pizza Soup

4 cups roasted tomatoes (I used quite a bit from our garden, and the supplemented them with a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes)
5 cloves of garlic (if you are roasting your own tomatoes, throw the garlic in with them to roast too)
1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1-2 tablespoons fresh basil)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 - 15oz can chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 slices of french bread
sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1-2 cups)
optional: sliced pepperoni, olives, peppers

If roasting your own tomatoes, place them on a cookie sheet with a little bit of olive oil and roast at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until they go from looking like this:

To this:


Pour the roasted tomatoes into a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, basil, oregano, black pepper and chicken broth and cook for about 4-5 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a food processor and puree, adding the olive oil as it mixes:

Taste to see if the soup needs any extra salt and pepper and season if need be.

Return the soup back to the sauce pan over low heat to keep warm.

Preheat your oven broiler. Place the french bread on a cookie sheet and top with cheese and olive, peppers and pepperoni, if using. Broil for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.


To serve, place soup in the bottom of the bowl and top with 1-2 pieces of bread.

(this picture was taken for its beauty--when I serve up the boys' helping of pizza soup, I serve it in a smaller bowl and the two pieces of bread cover the top. Oh, and I don't do the parsley for the boys either!)

Serves 4

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm Good!
SPC

Back in the saddle

As I type R is at school and G is (not) napping. I feel loads better and am thanking the Lord that our trip down the H1N1/sick road was short.

While I was sick, these muffins were a lifesaver. Not wanting anything too big to eat, but needing to keep a little something in my tummy, they were the perfect snack. In fact, we just ran out of the last batch I made a week ago and I am thinking of whipping up some more. I have to work fast, because the secret ingredient in these muffins are a short lived garden item...

Green tomatoes.

Yes, these delicious muffins use all the unripened tomatoes I recently harvested from our garden tomato plants.

I could call them Green Tomato Muffins, but instead I call them...

Harvest Muffins

2 cups of pureed green tomatoes (do not drain)
3/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons molasses
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt

Puree the tomatoes in a food processor.


Measure out 2 cups worth of puree and add the other wet ingredients (applesauce through vanilla). Stir well.

In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Stir well. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix until just blended.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour batter into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Makes 36 muffins.



Finally a way to use all those green tomatoes without frying them (although fried green tomatoes are super tasty!).

SPC

I Interrupt This Week's Regularly Scheduled Blog Post...

...because our home has been visited by the H1N1 virus. We're hanging in there, but it may be a day or two before I can post my next recipe...

'Til Then,
SPC

Harvest Time

This weekend we pulled the vegetables out of the garden. It had to be done. Our October has been below-average cold and later this week we should have some frost at night. Bummer. But I just had to share how huge our one tomato plant grew this summer. This is *one* plant:



We celebrated the harvest time with a Fall Festival at R's school Friday evening, and then just for good measure, went to our city's Fall Fest on Friday too. We are celebrating fall out the wazoo.

R and G learned how to make apple cider:

And what would fall be without a hayride?:

Hope you had a happy weekend too. Its a busy day here so I leave you with a little menu planning inspiration...our meals for the week:

Baked "Fried" Orange Roughy, "Fried" Green Tomatoes and Grits
Chili in the Slow Cooker
Baked Burritos
Stuffed Acorn Squash and Green Beans
Bacon Mac and Cheese

Have a great week All-
SPC

Moo Shu Pork

I test, tweak and develop a lot of recipes, and about roughly half make the cut to be shared either here or at familyeducation.com. Some recipes I share because I think, "I bet someone would like this!" But other recipes I share thinking, "please make this, it is too good not to make!"

This recipe is too good not to make.* The fact that you use the slow cooker to make it only sweetens the deal.

My mom is my biggest fan and is always giving me ideas and recipes to try. Huge kudos to her for sharing a recipe for making Moo Shu Pork in the slow cooker. I took the recipe and kicked/jazzed it up a bit. This recipe is so yummy, so delicious and so healthful, it is going directly into our "make again" file.

The boys inhaled this dinner. They loved it. If I told them they were eating mushrooms, cabbage and carrots, I know they would have stopped in their tracks. But the beauty of Moo Shu is that everything becomes a yummy mess of goodness, and it is tricky to distinguish pork from mushrooms, especially for the young set.

R and I made a stop to our local Asian Market to pick up Moo Shu wrappers, but you can easily use tortillas. Traditionally you sort of half-wrap Moo Shu, but we rolled ours up all the way. "The better to hide the mushrooms with, my dear!"

Slow Cooker Moo Shu Pork

1 pound pork butt or shoulder, sliced very, very thin (I bought boneless pork "riblets" from the butcher, but chops or loin would work too)
1 - 16oz bag coleslaw mix
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 thinly sliced onion
1 pound of mushrooms, minced
1/2 cup hoison sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Assembly:
10 Moo Shu wrappers, or tortillas
1/4 cup hoison sauce for drizzling on top
several slices of green onion for topping
2 eggs, scrambled, to put into the Moo Shu wrappers

Place the pork in the freezer for about half an hour, if possible. This allows easier slicing of the pork.

Slice the pork in 1/8" slices. Set aside.

In the slow cooker, add the coleslaw mix, carrots, onion and mushrooms.

In a medium bowl, mix the remaining ingredients, the hoison sauce through the cornstarch. Add the pork and let marinate for 10-15 minutes. (The pork is so thin, it doesn't take long)



Add the pork and marinade to the slow cooker and toss to mix a bit.

Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours, LOW for 8-9 hours.

If using eggs, scramble two eggs before serving. Place about 1/3 cup of the Moo Shu mixture on one end of each wrapper, and roll like a burrito/egg roll. Use a bit of hoison to help "seal" the wrap if necessary.
Voila!

Seriously good-
SPC

*assuming you like Asian food, of course.

Big Weekend

What a weekend! SPH returned home late Friday from his week long trip to Dallas. Let me tell you, any weekend, no matter what happens, is sweet after flying solo for a week with little ones. I have such respect and awe for single parents.

Saturday we headed out to the country for a little:
and a little

We picked about G's weight in apples, and I realized that our eyes may have been bigger than my desire to peel all of the apples we now have in our kitchen.

Sunday was a big day! R and G's new baby cousin sweet baby boy I was born. Of 8 grandkids on this side of the family, we now have 7 boys! I can't wait to see this little pumpkin and give him some love...

And on the home front, R scored his first soccer goal at his game on Sunday afternoon! To celebrate, we cooked him up one of his favorites, fried okra. But instead of the traditional fried okra, we kicked it up new school style and fried them like this:

Very tasty, although I seem to recall the traditional fried okra tasting quite nice too.

A busy weekend, a busier week to come.

Our meals:
Grilled Steaks, Fried Okra, Roasted Tomatoes, Pistachio and Lemon Couscous
Tofu and Broccoli Stirfry with Brown Rice
Slow Cooker Moo Shu Pork (I can't *wait* to try this one...I'll share if it is yummy)
Indian Chicken Burgers and Roast Zucchini
Some sort of Soup...haven't decided yet!

Oh, and a couple of you emailed me for the Tandoori Chicken Slow Cooker recipe. Sadly, this recipe wasn't quite up to the SPC standard, so I will try, try again to seek out something a little tastier to share.

Have a great week all-
SPC