I am such a sucker for Halloween marketing. Christmas too, but we're not quite there yet. Anyway, if it's black and orange I can't control my feet - they just walk me right on over to take a peek. Hubby's (legitimate) complaints that our holiday decorations are taking over our small storage closet have become an inner voice, which is probably for the better, and I haven't splurged on anything yet this year. Just a tiny bit of festive consumerism - I couldn't pass by the Halloween sprinkles at Williams-Sonoma.
I didn't even have any baking planned, or really anyone to pass off a bunch of baked goods to. Keeping them all in our house is just too dangerous. :)
I did, however, have a sugar pumpkin sitting around from our apple picking trip, and with a quick bit of internet browsing I found a cupcake recipe to let Kirah help me with. This one comes from the My Kitchen Addiction blog.
I'm not a big frosting fan. Not even a huge fan of sweets, really. But if it has 'pumpkin' in the name I'm sold, and these cupcakes are insane. I actually had to go and get a pumpkin spice latté from Starbucks to drink with one because I swear they taste exactly the same. Plus the pumpkin gives the cake the most wonderful fluffy texture that was almost enough to make me eat every last one before I sent Hubs off to work with them.
Don't they look....errr... well, at least KINDA cute?
I just made a few changes to the recipe. I made a simple vanilla cream cheese frosting instead of the one suggested, and I made my own pumpkin purée rather than using canned. If you haven't made your own before please give it a try! It is so much brighter and fresher tasting than the canned kind (which I hear is made from butternut squash and not pumpkin anyway), and it's nice to have some around to add to pancakes or yogurt or oatmeal or... anything else you can think of!
Pumpkin Purée
No ingredient list for this recipe - you'll just need one good looking sugar pumpkin! You can also do this with any variety of squash - just adjust the cooking time for the size.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut pumpkin in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp with a spoon (save the seeds for roasting if you're up for it!). Place both halves cut-side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of your pumpkin. When it is soft and the flesh comes away easily from the skin, it's done. Scoop all of the flesh out into a food processor and blend until very smooth.
To get a canned-like consistency you can strain it with a paper towel or cheesecloth lined sieve, but I just leave it as is.
Just a little trouble at home this week. I walked into the couch and broke my toe - just like that. Can you believe that's even possible? A broken toe just from stubbing it. I've been stuck at home on crutches since Tuesday and I've probably got another week and a half before I can start putting weight on my foot. It's not so bad really, but it is an inconvenience.
Trying to keep up with an energetic two year old on a hurt foot is laughably ridiculous. Thankfully I have had my wonderful husband with me more than usual this week, and my little helper has been very understanding that I can't play with her as much as we regularly do.
My broken bone has actually been completely worth the discomfort. I have some time off of work, during a time of year that is so slow for us that I wouldn't be doing much anyway, and I have gotten to spend a lot more time with my family. I've been quite productive in the kitchen, which is always fun for me, and I have been getting to do something I normally only can enjoy about once a week - sitting down to dinner with my husband and daughter - all together. I know I need to get back to work soon, but for now this is perfect.
In my extra free time I discovered the most wonderful cooking blog called that makes me feel really excited over healthy vegetarian cooking again. I have been hobbling around the kitchen trying out their recipes and stuffing my face and loving it. I have to say, the little one is loving it too, especially the little pumpkin seed "cookies".
From the left we have Spinach muffins, Nut crackers, my own white bean hummus (recipe below), and Pumpkin seed cakes.
The spinach muffins didn't turn out anything like I expected them to, but they're delicious - slightly sour from the yogurt, and filled with tasty veggies. The nut crackers are so toasty good, with a sandy texture, and they are a perfect vessel for some thick hummus. The pumpkin seed cakes are my favorite from this site, with only two ingredients and no oven. They are great with plain yogurt and honey, but next time I make them I will definitely try out the chocolate-avocado mousse that is posted with the recipe.
Check out their blog. It's just amazing to me that this couple comes up with so many unique and interesting recipes that are so consistently awesome. And while you're at it, make some of my yummy hummus!
White Bean Hummus
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
2 Tbsp capers
1 large clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
chipotle powder to taste (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
Add beans, lemon juice and zest, capers, and garlic to food processor. Blend for 20 seconds. Taste and add seasonings, blending well. When seasoned as you like, start blending and add olive oil in a slow steady stream until hummus comes together in a thick smooth mixture, being careful not to over-mix as this can cause the oil to develop a bitter flavor. Serve topped with olive oil and a sprinkling of chipotle powder.
Kids love burgers, Kirah loves burgers. As she said yesterday "Burgers are a special treat"!
As I may have mentioned once or twice, we are vegetarian. There are a lot of good veggie burger options out there. I am a big fan of Gardenburger's Portabella burger, and while they're not technically burgers, I'm crazy about Morningstar Farms' breakfast patties. While those are great every once in a while, there's nothing better than a homemade burger, and it's a sneaky way for us to get some more veggies into our little one's meals.
You can put whatever veggies you want into veggie burgers, but you're going to need something sticky to hold it all together. Mashed beans and potatoes are perfect, and this recipe uses both!
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers
My recipe is tweaked from this Cooking Books post.
We eat ours with a fork, but if you really want them to hold up on a bun you can use mashed sweet potato instead of grated. They also hold together better when they're slider sized, so this recipe will give you about 16 mini-burgers.
1 large sweet potato, peeled and shredded with a box grater
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small shallot, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 4.5 oz can mild Hatch chilies
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
breadcrumbs
In a large skillet heat a small amount of oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook for a few minutes without allowing to brown. Add sweet potato and a little bit of water to keep it from sticking. Cook for 5-7 minutes until sweet potato has softened.
In a large bowl mash black beans, leaving about 1/3 of them whole for texture. Add the rest of the ingredients, adjusting breadcrumbs as necessary to form a mixture that holds together, but is not dry. Roughly 2 to 2 1/2 slices of bread, run through a chopper and toasted slightly.
Form into small patties and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Heat your broiler to 450°F and cook for 7 minutes on each side, flipping carefully.
Kirah is crazy about salsa too, so we serve our burgers with a side of salsa verdé.
