Pumpkin Bread

It's Fall, and that means Pumpkin...all things pumpkin.  Rolls, biscuits, pancakes, muffins, cakes, pies, cookies, and of course...Pumpkin Bread.

This is one of my favorite pumpkin bread recipes.  It's not overly sweet, and it's not overly spiced - it's just right.  It's really versatile, feel free to use whatever flour, sugars, or nuts you have on hand...it'll still be fantastic! 

This recipe makes TWO loaves

Here's what you're gonna need:

DRY:
1 1/2 C. White Whole Wheat Flour (King Arthur)

2 C. Unbleached White Flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

WET:

1/2 C. Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1/2 C. unsweetned applesauce
3/4 C. brown sugar
scant 1/2 C. granulated sugar
 4 eggs
1 (15oz) can Pumpkin puree


Big fat handful of chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350, and lightly coat two ceramic bread pans with butter.


In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, oil and applesauce until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Whisk in Pumpkin and mix well. 


Using a rubber spatula, mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently turn over itself until it is just combined.  Gently stir in nuts.


Spread evenly into pans (batter will be thick) and bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove to rack.


Cool completely, or just dive in, slice off a steaming piece and slather on some real butter!!!! 

Oh YUM!!!! 

Homemade Cream of Whatever Soup

There are soooo many recipes out there that call for "Cream of Chemical Soup"...ok, did you catch that? I just don't eat canned soups, don't like puttin' strange stuff in my food if I can help it, and in this intance,... I can. :)

Here is an easy-smeasy recipe for making your own "Cream of Whatever Soup". "Why?", you ask, "am I using the term whatever?". Because this is a base for cream of mushroom, chicken, onion, or whatever you want it to be.

If you want it to be mushroom or onion, chop up and saute some mush or onion, set them aside and stir them in at the end.

Here is what you need:

1 Tbsp. Butter

3 Tbsp. Flour

1/2 C. Broth (chicken, veggie or beef)

1/2 C. Milk (2% is a good choice)

Salt and Pepper

In a small saucepan, melt butter of medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in the flour to form a roux...this is a roux...

Whisk in a very small amount of milk and broth, whisking all the time to keep it smooth. Slowly add the rest of the liquid and whisk to keep it smooth. Return to heat and bring just to a gentle boil, whisking all the time until desired degree of thickness.

Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper and any other add-ins (mushrooms, onions, etc...)

Use immediately, or pour into a dish, cover and chill until you need it (up to 2 days).

There you have it...easy-smeasy Cream of Whatever Soup! No Chemicals, No MSG, No gunk.

I used this to make King Ranch Chicken! YUM!

The Low Down on Beans, Brown Rice and Turmeric...

Good For Your Tastebuds ~ Good For Your Body!

Last night I was craving a "Meatless Main". I was in the mood for brown rice and beans, but wanted something hardier than a salad or a "side-dish", so I dug through the pantry, and this is what I came up with ~ Two Bean And Brown Rice Stew.

For the recipe, please click on the recipe title above. For the "low-down" on 3 of the main ingredients in this stew, read on...

Breaking it down...

Turmeric:

Briefly, here are some awesome reasons you should use this spice... It has all these properties and more ~ anit-inflammatory, antiseptic, antibacterial, liver detoxifier, may fight some forms of cancer, natural painkiller, known to boost metabolism (help with weight loss), speeds up wound healing and helps fight depression.

Beans:

They feed your body with complex carbs, the good ones. They won't make you fat; they actually make you feel full longer while they feed your muscles and brain with quick burning energy! If that's not a good enough reason to eat beans, check this out...

Beans are packed with calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, magnesium, folate, alpha-linolenic acid, antioxidants, and are also one of the only plant sources that have complete proteins. It's also been found that eating beans regularly will lower your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.

Brown Rice:

"I don't like brown rice, why can't I just eat white rice"...

sure go ahead, if all you want is to fill up your belly and get nothing in return.

Check this out...

Processing Brown Rice: Harvest; Run through huller/husker to remove the outer grain husks; Done.

Processing White Rice: Harvest; Run through huller/husker to remove the outer grain husks; Run through process to remove the germ and the bran (this is where all the good fiber and vitamins are); Polish the remaining grain using glucose or talc (yes, that's the stuff we diaper our babies with); add synethic nutrients to "replace" all the nutrients that were stripped away (our bodies don't absorb synthetic nutrients as efficiently as natural ones); Done.
Once this is done (even after being fortified, the nutrients are still lower than in brown rice, as well as the fiber content which is about 1/4 of brown rice fiber).

NOTE: Store Brown rice in the fridge or freezer, it doesn't stay fresh at room temp as long as white rice.

A lot of Mom's have a hard time going straight from white rice (or bread) to brown rice (or whole grain bread)...try making a slow transition, that's what I did many years ago. I began to cook a little of both and mix them slowly together until eventually we were eating only brown rice.

Don't be fooled by "instant brown rice". If it doesn't take 30-40 minuts to cook, it's probably not REALLY brown rice.

All beans are good for you, but here's a little tip: The darker the skin, the more antioxidants, so black beans are always a good choice. However, with so many beans out there, just find one that you really like!

Now whip out your wooden spoon and make up a batch of Two Bean and Brown Rice Stew!