Category Archives: Recipes

Easy Pumpkin Bread

by Sarah

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the changing colors and Cary loves football.  Every fall I try a pumpkin recipe.  Last year it was pumpkin bars.  The year before that it was pumpkin whoopie pies.  This year I felt like making something to take to The Bug’s teachers at his daycare and decided upon pumpkin bread.

I was goofing off on pinterest…  (I’m seriously addicted.  Help me.) …  and found this delicious looking recipe.  I’ve made pumpkin bread before, but let me tell you, this was WAY, WAY better than anything I have ever made.  It’s also pretty easy too, which is always a plus in our house.

Here are the ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup butter, melted in the microwave
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla
  • 1 16 oz can of pure pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray either 2 medium loaf pans or 4 small loaf pans.

Mix the flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a smallish bowl. 

In a stand mixer, cream the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the pumpkin and mix until well blended (about another minute or so).

In a few small batches, gently add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.

Pour the batter into the pans and cook for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!  :)

Peanut Butter Pie

by Sarah

One of my favorite food blogs to read is Ezra Pound Cake (not to be confused with one of my favorite bands Better Than Ezra).  Her recipes are easy to follow, pictures are gorgeous, and food tastes delicious.  Around Father’s Day, she came out with a list of 15 Father’s Day recipes.  Since it was Cary’s first Father’s Day, I told him I would make him any recipe off that list.  Being the discerning person he is, he chose Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

Knowing we might have a newborn, I decided to make a few shortcuts.  Particularly, instead of making the black bottom cookie crust, I bought a pre-made Oreo crust at the store.

I made the ganache layer first, boiling 3/4 cup of heavy cream on the stove top.  I added the hot cream to 1 cup of chocolate chips and stirred vigorously.  After reserving about 3 tablespoons, I poured the ganache layer in the bottom of the pie crust.  To firm the ganache layer, the pie went in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Two cups of heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of vanilla was whipped to the soft peak stage in a stand mixer.  Half of the whipped cream was reserved for the topping and the other half of the whipped cream was placed in a bowl to be mixed with the peanut butter layer.

To make the peanut butter layer, 3/4 of a cup of peanut butter and 8 oz of reduced fat cream cheese was creamed in a stand mixer (same bowl as the whipped cream…  no need to clean it out, which is awesome).  A little less than a can of sweetened condensed milk (3/4 of a cup) and 1 tablespoon of vanilla was added to the peanut butter mixture and stirred until homogenous.  Fold in half of the reserved whipped cream and spread over the ganache layer.  Refrigerate the pie for at least an hour.

At this point, our pie was pretty full.  I decided to try to slice a piece of pie and top with whipped cream and chocolate ganache.   Unfortunately, it didn’t slice well…  I don’t know if it was because of the crust or the fact that I used 2 oz of extra cream cheese or reduced fat cream cheese.  There was just something off about the consistency.  According to Cary it tasted great though!

Lentil Salad with Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

by Sarah

One of my grandfather’s specialties is lentil salad.  This is a great side dish or main course, depending on your love for it.  Unfortunately, he hasn’t made it in quite a while because Bulgar wheat has become hard to find in his small town.  When I was checking out the new Whole Foods at Cool Springs, I was very excited to find the wheat and knew immediately what I wanted to cook!

Here is his recipe:

Lentil Salad

  • ¾ cup Bulgar wheat, boiled in 1 ½  cup water for 30 minutes
  • ¾ cup lentils, boiled in 2 cups water for 20 minutes
  • 2 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 1 small cucumber, diced
  • ¼ cup red onion, chopped
  • 20 – 22 black Kalamata olives, pitted
  • Feta Cheese to taste

We found cracked Bulgar wheat, which lead to a different cooking time.  We boiled the Bulgar wheat for about 10 minutes when all the water was absorbed.  We decided to let it sit for about 20 minutes.  We boiled the lentils for 20 minutes, where they also absorbed most of the water.  We added the lentils to the wheat in a large bowl and waited a few minutes for the mixture to cool.

Once cooled, add tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and olives to the mixture.

At this point, make the Greek Vinaigrette Dressing.

Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon oregano

Combine all the ingredients in a jar and shake well.

Pour the Greek vinaigrette dressing over salad mixture and toss.  Refrigerate until cold and serve with crumbled Feta cheese sprinkled over the top.

Mocha Crinkle Cookies

by Sarah

Our favorite cookie from the Puffy Muffin is the Mocha Crinkle Cookie.  Last Christmas, Cary bought me the Puffy Muffin cookbook, which has many lovely recipes.  Unfortunately, the Mocha Crinkle Cookie recipe was not included.  We searched on the internet for different recipes, finding two types.  One recipe called for black pepper, which was interesting.  I’m fairly sensitive to black pepper, so I was pretty sure it was not in Puffy Muffin’s cookies.  The other recipe from Betty Crocker seemed more appropriate, but was lacking the mocha portion.  So, I adapted the recipe just a tad to try to create the cookies we love.

The ingredients I used are as follows:

  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted according to directions
  • 2 cups of granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 heaping Tbsp of instant espresso powder
  • 1 cup of powdered sugar

Using a stand mixer (or large bowl and hand mixer), combine the oil, melted chocolate, sugar and vanilla.  Mix in the eggs one at a time.  Carefully, add the flour.  I got a little over zealous and subsequently spent quite a bit of time cleaning flour from my counter tops.  Stir in the baking powder, salt and espresso powder.  Chill the dough for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°C.  Even after chilling the dough, it is going to be pretty sticky.  Drop a spoon full into the powdered sugar and roll into a ball.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 11 minutes.

These cookies turned out a little lighter in color than Puffy Muffin’s and the espresso flavor was a little strong.   While these were delicious, next time I think I’ll try dark chocolate and less espresso.

Take One: Swiss Chard

by Sarah

Here’s our confession:  we’ve never had Swiss chard.  We were delighted to find it in our weekly CSA.  Since we had no background in this particular vegetable, a quick search led us to this recipe.  We had everything on hand so we made it as a side dish to omelets. We did modify the recipe to taste just a bit.

Here are the lovely ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp of butter
  • 2 Tbsp of olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp of minced garlic
  • 2 Tbsp of diced onions
  • 4 cups of Swiss chard
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 Tbsp of lemon juice
  • Parmesan cheese and salt to taste

Separate the center stems and the leaves and chop.  Saute the butter, olive oil, garlic and onions until the onions and garlic are soft.  Add a dash of the white wine and the stems.  Saute for about 5 minutes until the stems soften.  Add the leaves and cook until wilted.  Add the lemon juice, Parmesan cheese and salt.  Enjoy!

Easy Bread Pudding

by Sarah

Treme started this last Sunday.   Whenever we watch that show, both Cary and I miss New Orleans.  Unfortunately, there will be no trip in our recent future, so instead, I made bread pudding.  Bread pudding is one recipe that has failed me several times (see also: caramels… they make me curse).    I wanted an easy recipe that was pretty much fool proof.

The recipe that jumped out to me was one by Paula Deen.  I was a little surprised, as Paula Deen’s recipes generally aren’t my favorite.  I feel like everything she makes has a cup of mayo, a cup of sour cream or a stick of butter.  It’s not hard to make something taste good with any one of those ingredients.  Surprisingly, this recipe called for less butter than many of the others I reviewed.  The original recipe is here.  I adjusted it a bit.

The ingredients are as follows:

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 5 large beaten eggs
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 5 cups cubed Italian, allow to stale overnight in a bowl
  • 1 small box of raisins
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla in a large bowl.  Add the cubed bread and raisins.  Let sit for 10 – 15 minutes.  In another bowl, mix the brown sugar, butter, and pecans.

Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

We also made a lovely whiskey sauce (according to Cary) by Pioneer Woman to top off the bread pudding.  Personally, I thought the bread pudding was fantastic without any sauce, but I’m also avoiding booze currently.

Easy Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage

by Sarah

Saint Patrick’s Day is upon us!  In our household, that calls for corned beef and cabbage.  My favorite corned beef and cabbage recipe comes from the Cooking Light Slow Cooker recipe cookbook.  I’ve adjusted the original recipe a bit to taste.

The ingredients we use are as follows:

  • 2 Tbsp dried onion (If you don’t like dried onions, 1 pound of peeled boiling onions can be substituted.)
  • 1 lb bag of baby carrots
  • 10 petite red potatoes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cured corned beef brisket with a spice packet
  • 2 bottles of beer
  • 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard (yellow mustard with do if you don’t happen to have Dijon around the house)
  • 3 Tbsp of molasses
  • 2 Tbsp of minced garlic
  • 1 cabbage, cut into wedges

Place the onions, potatoes, carrots and bay leaves in a crock pot.

Place the brisket on top of the vegetables.  Combine the spice packet, beer, mustard, garlic and molasses in a small bowl and mix.  Pour the mixture over the corned beef and vegetables.

The first time we made this, it bothered us that the liquid didn’t cover the corned beef.  So, we rearranged everything and the liquid covered the beef.  This resulted in a roast type texture instead of the normal corned beef texture.  While it was still good, it wasn’t what we were trying to achieve.  The take home message here is don’t worry that the liquid doesn’t cover the beef.

Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 1 hour.  Reduce to low and cook for an additional 5 hours.  Add the cabbages slices under the brisket and cook for an additional 2 hours.

Cut the brisket into slices and serve with the vegetables. Enjoy!

Brownie Stew and Cornbread

by Sarah

With the hard freeze last weekend, I feel like winter is upon us here in Middle Tennessee!  For some reason, I am more likely to make Brownie Stew and Cornbread in the winter.  It’s just good warm comfort food.

When I was in Girl Scouts, my mom and I tried a recipe called “Brownie Stew”.  It was a surprisingly hearty mix of meat and vegetables that was perfect when served over cornbread.

The cornbread recipe is my great grandmother’s.  This recipe is one of the first that my Mom taught me how to make.  When I was in fourth grade, I entered this recipe in a school 4H contest, won, and competed in the regional contest.

To make my great-grandmothers cornbread, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Pour 1 to 2 tablespoons Wesson oil (enough to cover the bottom) in a #5 iron skillet (small).  Put this into the oven while it is preheating.

In a small mixing bowl combine:

  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar, optional
  • 1 ¼ cups plain cornmeal (about enough to make a medium batter)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup of creamed corn (My addition.  You can omit this and the cornbread still is excellent.)

Pour batter into the preheated, greased iron skillet.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

While this is baking, start the Brownie Stew.   The ingredients are simple.  All you need is

  • 1 pound of ground beef
  • brown gravy mix
  • 1 to 2 cans of mixed vegetables

Brown the ground beef.  Mix in the vegetables (do not drain).  If you really like vegetables, mix in two cans but do drain one of the cans.  Pour in the brown gravy, mix well and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the cornbread from the oven and immediately turn out onto a plate.  Now, this should work perfectly if your skillet is well-seasoned.  In the midst of moving, we have not been able to find our skillet, so Cary ran out and bought a new one.  You can see in the picture the crust is pulled away from the cornbread.  This shouldn’t happen if you have a well-seasoned skillet.

Pour the Brownie Stew over open-face cornbread.  This may not look beautiful, but I guarantee it tastes wonderful.

Pumpkin Bars

by Sarah


In the Fall, I always like to try to make a new pumpkin dessert.  Last year it was pumpkin whoopie pies.  This year, while wandering around in Williams Sonoma, I decided to try my hand at pumpkin bars.    All in all, it was a good life decision.

Here are the ingredients:

  • 1 box of yellow cake mix, 1 cup reserved
  • 1/2 cup of melted butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/8 cup of milk
  • 1 Tablespoon of flour
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 cup of softened butter
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 jar of Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter (can be purchased at Williams Sonoma)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, 1 egg and all the cake mix except the 1 cup that was reserved.  Press the mixture into a 9×13 inch pan that is sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix the pecan pumpkin butter with the milk and 2 eggs and pour over the cake mixture.  Combine the reserved cake mix, flour, sugar, cinnamon and softened butter.  Crumble the mixture over the pumpkin layer.

This scared me a little bit because the topping wasn’t as crumbly as I thought it should be. Bake the bars for 35 – 40 minutes.

This is what it looked like when I pulled it out of the oven.  The topping melded together quite nicely.

I was worried the pumpkin would be a little overwhelming and was pleasantly surprised with the light flavor.  These may make another appearance in our house around Thanksgiving!

Benton’s Bacon Pasta

by Sarah

Ever had one of those meals where you look through your fridge and piece something together?  We wanted to go simple and both seemed to be leaning towards just some simple pasta with a little butter and parmesan, but then came across some leftover Benton’s bacon (a birthday present for Cary).  Then the wheels started to turn……..

We’ve also been DROWNING in squash from our CSA.  People talked about the massive amount of kale and eggs, but no one mentioned the squash, so that went in the mix as well.

We started off by sauteing the the bacon which was cut into small pieces with kitchen scissors, which works much better than a knife.  We sauteed until the bacon was just slightly crisp on both sides, then transferred to some paper towels to cut down on the grease.

 

After wiping the pan mostly clean (a little bacon grease remained to cook the squash in), the squash was allowed to cook for a little while with only a little bit of salt added.  At the same time we were boiling the pasta (we chose tri-color rotini) and when the time was right we took about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water and added it to the pan.

After draining the pasta we added the rotini back to the pan.  After that, all that’s left to do is put everything together.

Add the bacon and a good bit of butter to the pasta.  We added 1/3 cup of butter.

Shake on a generous dose of Parmesan cheese and mix well, being sure to get down to the squash on the bottom of the pan to incorporate everything well.

Easy to fix, easy to serve.  I guess we’ll have to see what we get in the CSA next week, but this is an easy addition to your rotation that can use up excess veggies, gives you something different, and as long as there’s bacon, you know there’s going to be plenty of flavor!