Pumpkin and Red Lentil Curry

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

I have fallen in love with the Cooking Light site, it has such a wealth of recipes!  I needed a recipe to use up the leftover pumpkin from the pilau.  I originally wanted to puree the pumpkin but time got away from me and today the pumpkin began to scream from the fridge to be used up.  I found this recipe and I love that it had lentils in it because I am trying to find more recipes without meat but high in protein.  Mike and I loved it and the girls...well they are distracted by the mounds of candy they will recieve tonight.  I even tried to entice them by telling them that they needed to eat the magic pumpkin before 'trick or treating'...no dice but Ally did like the broth.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup dried small red lentils
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
6 lime wedges

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in pumpkin and next 7 ingredients (through jalapeño); cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pumpkin is just tender. Stir in lentils; cook 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in salt and black pepper. Ladle stew into individual bowls; sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Light Bites - Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pilau

This week's recipe was my choice.  I chose the recipe because I was intrigued by a 'pilau' it sounded very fancy and I am trying to make more dishes with squash and sweet potato/yams.  What is a sweet potato to you?  To me it is white and yams are orange, it seems like these two vegetables both go by sweet potato and it confuses me.  For this recipe I chose yams sweet potato because of their color to go with the pumpkin. 

 I didn't actually look at the directions before choosing the recipe.  It is a lot of work!  I am so glad that my mother-in-law had Ally and Zoe at her house because I don't think I could have made this with them here.  When I sat down to actually read the recipe, I was very scared.  I had never used fresh pumpkin and cutting it up seemed really difficult.  It actually wasn't that bad but it was more difficult for me because I had to break up the steps between nursing Georgia.  The best part is that it does taste delicious and makes all that hard work worth it.  And I am not even a huge rice fan.  So if you have fresh pumpkin and and afternoon to cook, I highly recommend this recipe!

I did make a few changes like using yams and I added some sliced almonds for a bit of crunch.  I also used jasmine rice because I have a ton of it and no brown rice.

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Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 medium)
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion (1 small)
1/3 cup diced celery (about 1 rib)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 - 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange pumpkin and sweet potato in an even layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes or until tender and just until vegetables begin to brown, stirring after 18 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth and remaining ingredients to onion mixture, stirring to combine; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until rice is done and liquid is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat; discard bay leaf. Add pumpkin mixture; stir gently to combine.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

A friend of mine mentioned these brownies and how delicious they were and that they actually replaced pumpkin pie at her families Thanksgiving dinner.  I thought I would make these this week because they are a little halloween-y looking.  I must admit that I preblogged these a couple weeks ago and....*blush* I didn't make them.  My mother-in-law was staying with us to help after Georgia arrived and she wanted something to do while everyone (me included) napped. 

This is a typical Martha Stewart recipe where it entails a lot of work.  I am not a huge fan of Martha but she is growing on me.  These brownies are really good but I don't like them for a couple of reasons.  1. I don't really like chocolate.  Blasphemy...I know...for me to like chocolate it has to be just right.  2. I like  my brownies to be chewy and these were rather cake-y 3. These are really sweet and I love sweet but this was just a bit too much.

Now everyone else loved them!  Mike agreed that they were too cake-y but he liked them and thought that they tasted very similar to Cheesecake Cafe's Pumpkin Cheesecake.  I do think I may be the only one who isn't a big fan of these brownies so please try them and let me know what you think.

Ingredients
adapted from Martha Stewart

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

Directions


1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter lining.

2.Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3.Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

4.Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.

5.With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts.

6.Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Week 5 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Pumpkin Cream Sauce

I had some leftover pumpkin puree from the muffins so I found this recipe. I was truly surprised at how good it was. And really nice over tortellini. Zoe ate it up and I loved it. Go on try it.


Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups pumpkin, canned or pre-cooked
1 1/4 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pine nuts (optional)


Preparation

If using fresh pumpkin, rather than canned, puree in a blender first until smooth.
In a medium-sized pot or large frying pan, sautee garlic and onion in olive oil 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and add broth, milk, pumpkin and sage. Stir gently to combine ingredients.

Allow to simmer until flavors are well combined, about 8-10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and walnuts or pine nuts, stirring to combine, then remove from heat.
Serve over cooked pasta and enjoy!

Pumpkin Craisin Muffins

Now these turned out fabulously! I can't remember the last time I made muffins. Oh how I have missed them. A nice fresh warm muffin with melted butter on top is my perfect treat. My husband had been gone for 4 days and left me with 2 children who were not sleeping well. I made these after being up at 4 am with one child or the other. They really helped the morning get off to a better start.
I found the recipe here.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups dried, sweetened cranberries


Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease or place paper muffin cups in a 12 cup muffin tin.
Mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl.
Beat the canned pumpkin, eggs, butter, buttermilk, and vanilla together in another large mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until well blended. Stir in the dried cranberries until evenly blended. Spoon batter into muffin tins about 3/4 full.
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. 3 minutes before turning out from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Amazing Pumpkin Muffins

We have decided to sell our house and one trick for showing your house is to have fresh baking. So in the mad rush to make the house perfect I also threw on some muffins. I decided to make these because they sounded delicious and I wouldn't have to change much. These muffins are fabulous! Full of flavour, moist and light. I left some for the potential buyers and also brought some to my good friend Laurie who kindly invited me and the girls over during the showing. Her and her husband loved them! Her husband ate 2!

Ingredients

 1 1/2 cups raisins

 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

 4 cups white sugar

 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

 5 eggs

 1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin

 1 cup unsweetened applesauce

 1 cup chopped pecans

 Directions

 Put raisins in warm water for about 10 minutes. Then mix applesauce, eggs, pumpkin and sugar. Add in the     dry ingredients and lastly fold in the pecans and raisins. Put in to greased muffins tins about 2/3 full and bake at    350 F for about 30 minutes. Makes 36 muffins

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

Today I used up the last of the pumpkin with this neat recipe.  I liked it because it used the pumpkin puree instead of butter.  I also cut down the sugar, added some vanilla and milk.  These turned out great!  Mike loved them, especially because I added more chocolate chips because he was complaining that there never is enough.

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 cups canned pumpkin puree 4 eggs, beaten 2/3 cup water 1/3 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips  DIRECTIONS: Makes 24 muffins.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine wet ingredient and then dry.  Then spoon into muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Muffins

I only had a huge can of pumpkin puree so I have a couple more pumpkin recipes to share.  I found these muffins awhile ago when I fell in love with butterscotch chips.  I have been getting bolder with cutting out the fat and sugar.  I cut half the sugar and all of the fat.  The muffins turned out amazing the sweetness of the butterscotch made up for the lack of sugar.  The butterscotch melted and made a neat candy coating on the top of the muffins.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup applesauce 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 (6 ounce) package butterscotch chips 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat to 350 F and grease 12 muffin tins.  Mix wet ingredients and then dry.   Put into tins fill 2/3 full.

Decadent Pumpkin Muffins

This are so full of calories I almost decided not to make them but I am so glad that I did.  Even I just eat one a week they are the most delicious things ever!  I had both girls sleeping so I decide to make these muffins because they was a lot involved and I didn't want to have Ally helping.  There is a fair bit to do but it isn't hard.  I have been wanting to make muffins with a gooey center for awhile but have been scared by the work and messing them up.  The nice thing about these muffins are that the cheese kind of bakes too so if you don't get it right in the center it doesn't over flow and burn.  I was a bit worried about over-flowing so I only put in a bit of the cheese mixture but I wish I hadn't because the cheese mixture is amazing and makes the muffins.

Ingredients

Cheese Mixture

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese ( I used light)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Topping

4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons white sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons chopped pecans

Muffin Mix

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin

1/3 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.

2.    To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.

3.    For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

4.    For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.

5.    Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Then add more of muffin mix on top. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.