creamy pumpkin pasta

I went for a stroll down town the other day and went into William-Sonoma. I must admit I love that store, however, just as inspirational purposes. Prices there are nothing but unfriendly!!

Anyhow, I came across this creamy pumpkin pasta sauce while in there, looked at the ingredient list and thought, I can make this? So the next day I did. I must admit I am not a big pumpkin fan but I always try to find ways to be able to eat it, as it is very high in Vitamin A.

Well, this is the pasta that I came up with. Not only this pasta is super easy to put together but it is really comforting. My family actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I am thinking about freezing my left over for future consumption :-)

One thing I must make note of is that my pumpkin sauce was sort of on the thicker side. Maybe because I added tons more cheese, who knows, but if you like a thinner sauce just add a bit more milk. I liked mine thick!

I hope you get to try this. I am not a big pumpkin fan but this pasta was superb.

Enjoy!

On the left picture you can see the garlic and pumpkin before I added the vegetable stock on the right picture.

After you add the chicken stock add the milk, heavy cream and cheese. Mix through. My sauce was sort of thick but if you like a thinner sauce just add more milk until you reach your desired consistency.

This was rather a very simple, fast and comforting pasta dish. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Ingredients:

Yields 6 servings

1 lb whole wheat penne
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups pumpkin puree, depending on your personal taste
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk, more if you like a thinner sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup parmigiano reggiano, I used about 2 cups, we like cheese! You can also use Parmessan
1 tsp pepper flakes, optional.

Cook pasta according to box instructions.

In a large skillet heat the oil over medium to high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Add the pumpkin puree, vegetable broth and mix through. Add heavy cream, milk, nutmeg and salt and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

Add the the cheese and pepper flakes if using. Stir, turn off heat and incorporate the pasta. Serve with some extra cheese and pepper flakes.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 6 servings.

Healthier monster cookies

I have been searching all over the internet for a healthier version of a monster cookie but I couldn't arrived to one that I really liked.

All monster cookies out there have tons of sugar, 2 cups to be exact, way too much in my opinion. I decreased the sugar content by 3/4 cups and I still found the cookie super sweet. I just didn't want to decrease the sugar any further because I thought the cookie recipe would get compromised.

Next time I will keep the sugar to a maximum of 1 cup, which is plenty, or even just 3/4 cups. I don't think the cookie recipe will get compromised because by using 1 1/4 cups the cookie came out perfect.

This recipe only has about 3 tablespoons of the milk chocolate colored candy M&M's, way less than what other recipes called for out there. I hate all of the artificial coloring these have. They didn't have trans fats, which was great, but the artificial color was just a bummer.

Maybe next time I will just used the M&M'S for decorating the cookie so that I could use even less of them! Next time I will use these which are made with natural ingredients.

I thought these monster cookies were sensational. A bit on the sweet side so if you make them I would suggest using 1 cup of unrefined sugar at most. I don't think your cookie recipe will get messed up by doing so.

I don't know if I will be including these monster cookies for my Christmas gift bag this year because I have other cookie recipes that I also like a lot. Will see because these cookies were a super hit.

Enjoy!

On the left picture you can see how the batter turned. I only used 2 tablespoons of M&M's in it but next time I will skip them and just add them on the top of the cookie before baking. Also, next time I will used 1 cup of sugar instead of the 1 1/4 cup. I thought they were still very sweet. All and all, these monster cookies were sensational.

Ingredients

Yields 34 large cookies

1 1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 cup unrefined sugar, next time I will do 3/4 cups
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 organic eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1 cup crispy brown cereal
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup craisins
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup cacao nibs
2 Tbsp unreal milk chocolate candies, or M&M's, an extra Tbs[ to decorate cookies over the top.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar and butter. Use an electric hand mixer to mix until well combined. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix through with a spatula.

With a medium cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, drop batter onto the prepared cookie sheets. Place a few extra M&M's on each cookie before baking. Flatten the cookies with your hands or a spoon a little bit before placing them in the oven.

Bake 10 to 14 minutes. Cool cookies for about 5 minutes on cookie sheets and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 34 cookies. 1 serving = 1 cookie

Banana and chocolate cake

How was your Thanksgiving? I am glad is over because I really can't wait for Christmas. We actually finished decorating our tree last night. Because it wasn't that big of a tree it hardly took any time at all.

I am really excited about this Christmas though, because for the first time ever it will be just the four of us. It is nice to be with family and friends but once in a while is nice to change things up. I want to have some Christmas memories just with my kids and husband so that is why we choose to stay at home this year.

Anyhow, this cake was originally going to be on my e-book but I decided to share it with you guys. As you can see the three layer cakes are rather thin, if you want a thicker cake just double the batch and bake for an extra 5-10 minutes.

For the frosting chocolate layers you can really use any chocolate frosting of your choice. I have given you a chocolate frosting option for this recipe but on the e-book I have come up with which what I think it is a much better alternative for chocolate cake frosting. It is a lot healthier and I think better all around so I hope you stay tuned for that.

I have to start Christmas baking very soon. I am going to add a new recipe for candied cranberries that I have seen all over the Internet that seems rather simple and super yummy so I hope they turn out and ship OK.

I will make a post on Christmas baking gift ideas probably on my next post or so. I am shipping some goodies to family and friends for the first time this year so I hope they like what I have in store for them!

Enjoy!

Here you can see the cake  batter. Just grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans and divide the cake batter between them. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. 

Here you can see the cakes right after I took them out of the oven. Just let them cool in the cake pans completely before taking them out. The cakes are rather thin so if you like them fuller double the cake batch for that effect. Just make sure you bake them for an extra 10 minutes or so.

Ingredients:  Miryam's original recipe
Yields 10 servings

4 riped bananas, mashed
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
1/4 cup apple sauce
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

Frosting:

16 oz reduced fat cream cheese

8 oz dark chocolate chips, any other chocolate will do 
1/4 cup honey, more if you like
1 Tsp cocoa nibs, optional
 
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans and set aside.

In a bowl, with a wire whisk, mix first 6 ingredients. Incorporate the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and baking powder and combine well.

Divide batter in between the three cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool cakes on a cookie rack before removing from the pan.

While the cakes cool prepare the frosting. In a bowl beat the cream cheese and honey. On a double boiler melt the chocolate chips and add to the cream cheese mixture.  Let it sit for 15 minutes until if firms up a bit.

Remove the cakes from the pan and place one of the cakes in a plate or decorative platter and place 1/3 of the frosting spreading all the way to the sides. Repeat layer and end with the frosting.

Sprinkle with cocoa nibs if using. Keep cake refrigerated.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 10 servings.

Jumbo Chocolate and banana muffins

I have been baking and cooking quite a lot lately, a lot more than usual. My husband is actually loving it because he is getting to try all of the new dishes and baking goodies I have  been making up!! I guess a kind of perk when you like cooking a baking so much

These jumbo muffins can be made in a matter 5 minutes. I actually made them because I wanted to have something for the mornings to come where I could just grab and be full for a little while. These jumbo muffins, with a giant glass of milk, and you are good to go....

You can put some walnuts in the batter or even some chocolate chips if you like. I thought there were good just like this but the sky is the limit with these ones...

I was going to post another chocolate recipe next but maybe I will go ahead and post the honey sesame chicken I made today in the crock pot that was superb!

Until my next post,

Enjoy! 

These are the muffins before and after baking. It took about 20 minutes at 400F to get them ready. These were simple to make and super yummy.

These are jumbo size muffins  but you can do regular size muffins if you like. I also placed the jumbo muffin pan on another jumbo muffin pan before placing it in the oven to make sure the muffins didn't get burnt on the bottom. I trick I learn over the years :-)

Ingredients: Miryam's original recipe

Yields 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular size muffins

3 riped bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/4 cup organic apple sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
 2 Tbsp cacao nibs, garnish

Preheat oven to 400F. Lined jumbo muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a bowl mix first 6 ingredients. Add cocoa powder, flour and baking soda and incorporate well. Place mixture in prepared muffin liners 3/4 of the way full.

If using, sprinkle cacao nibs over muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove muffins from the baking pan and place them in a cookie cooling rack to cool completely.

The right nutrition facts label is calculated based on the recipe giving 6 jumbo muffins, the left one giving 12 regular size muffins.

5 minutes german chocolate mousse

Chocolate is one of my favorite things even though I don't get to eat it too often. The next blog posts are going to be chocolate related, so stay tuned.

This chocolate mousse is really comforting, however the most important part about it is that it can be whipped in just 5 minutes.

I used walnuts because that is what I had on hand, plus I like them better than pecans but you can still use pecans. Which ever you prefer.  

I think if you like you can also add some liquor to the mix and make this even more festive. Maybe some coffee or chocolate flavored liquor?

Gosh, thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is in about six. Thank goodness I don't have a huge family to entertain because busy doesn't even begin to describe my life right now!!

Anyhow, this is the perfect dessert on the run. I know is not the most healthy choice but indulging once in a while is part of life. If you like you can even half the mixture with Greek yogurt and make it a better healthier choice.

Enjoy!!

Whipped the heavy cream with the confectioner sugar and add the cocoa powder and combine. I know this has quite a bit of calories and saturated fat. Indulging is part of life so having something like this once in a while is OK but If you like you can half the heavy cream and add Greek yogurt instead and make it a bit healthier, your choice.

Ingredients: Miryam's original recipe
Yields 4 servings

1 pint, about 2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioner sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon shredded coconut, toasted, optional
1 tablespoon cocoa nibs
1 tablespoon walnut, you can also use pecans

Whip heavy cream with confectioner sugar until soft peaks form. Add cocoa powder and combine. Place mixture in serving glasses and garnish with the shredded coconut, walnuts and cacao nibs.

Nutritional facts based on the recipe giving 4 servings.

Organic Apple chips

I have been wanting to make apple chips for a long time and after seeing my fellow blogger friends' recipe from Texanerin baking I just felt I had to go ahead and try them.

I am so glad I did because I will be making this for time to come. Not only because they were really good but because they were easy, healthy and trying with pears next time is something that I really want to do next.

I was press for time while making these so I kind of skipped the rotating and turning of the pans. They still came out great though so I think you can go ahead and do the same thingh I did.

I also did not have a mandolin, just a knife, so my apple slices could have been a bit thicker than normal, even still they turned out as chips and where really good.

I stored my chips on a zip log bag for a day. That is how long they lasted :-)

I hope you get to try these. They could be a great healthy gift for the coming holidays.

Enjoy!!

 

Here is the before and after pictures. You can see that my apple slices aren't that thin since I used a knife instead of a mandolin. Even still they were really good. These are the perfect snack for any one.

Ingredients

Yields 4 servings

6-7 large organic apples
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup, I think you could also use honey or just leave plain.

Preheat oven to 250F. Prepared cookie sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.

Slice apples thinly crosswise, using a sharp knife or a mandolin slicer.

Arrange slices on cookie sheets in one layer. Brush the first side of the apple slices lightly with maple syrup and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

Bake for 45 minutes ( bake for one hour if you think your slices are a bit thicker. I did since I didn't have a mandolin), then flip and brush the other side with syrup and sprinkle again with cinnamon.

Bake for another 45 minutes to an hour. Turn the oven off and let them sit in the oven until ready to serve. They will crisp up.

Store in an air tight container of zip log bag.

Recipe slightly adapted from texanerin baking

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 4 servings.

Chicken sausage enchilada casserole

I am not much of a casserole person but for Mexican food I will make an exception :-)

Before I went ahead and made this dish I went to the store to search for a good enchilada sauce. I actually wasn't able to find one so I just whipped some of my own. It was not bad, not bad at all!!

For the filling I kept it really simple but you can get more creative if you like. I actually used organic chicken sausages because it was all I had on hand but I think it would be much better with chicken breast. A veggie version would also be good.

On another note, I have been working really hard on the e-book but I am starting to get a bit overwhealm. There is a lot of prep that is required and making the e-book appealing and great looking takes a lot of time.

I hope to be done with the e-book very soon because I really want to share it with you guys.

By the way, there is only two weeks to thanksgiving!! Have you chosen your menu yet? I have. Mine is quite simple, as we don't really enjoy turkey...lucky for me because because I don't want to go ahead with all of the turkey and stuffing production :-)

We are having Cuban chicken, with a pear and Gongonzola salad and my honey upside apple cake. I don't think I will spend more than an hour in the kitchen, so I am pumped about that.

I have posted two savory dishes in the past two posts, a record so far right? since I tend to post desserts most of the time. I hope to post some desserts next time around but until then,

Enjoy!!

Here you can see the chicken sausage and peppers being sauteed for a few minutes. Just until peppers are soft. When this is done just place some enchilada sauce on the baking pan followed by the tortillas and refried beans. Next time I will use chicken breast instead of chicken sausage. This is what I just had on hand.

Place some of the chicken sausage and pepper filling over the refried beans followed by the provolone cheese and enchilada sauce. Repeat layers and bake.

Here you can see the before and after. Not bad :-)

Ingredients

Yields 6-8 servings

1 lb organic chicken sausage or chicken breast, cooked and chopped
1- 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb peppers, sliced
2 16 oz can refried beans
6 oz mozzarella cheese
8 slices provolone cheese
6- 8 whole wheat tortillas

Enchilada sauce

6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce
1/3 cup water, if you want a thinner sauce add some more water

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a sauce pan add the olive oil and saute the pepper for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add sliced chicken sausage and cook further for 2-3 minutes.

For the enchilada sauce, just mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 9x13 baking dish place some enchilada sauce followed by two tortillas, a layer of refried beans and some of the sausage and pepper filing. Place 4 slices of provolone cheese over the sausage filling and cover with some of the enchilada sauce.

Repeat the layer and finish with mozzarella cheese. (I did three layers but if you want you can be done just with two). Bake for 20-25 minutes and serve while warm.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe yielding 6 servings. To decrease the amount of sodium use reduce sodium refried beans.

Spanish chicken with almond sauce

Wow, when was the last time I posted a poultry dish in the blog?

I bet a long time :-)

Anyhow, while I work on my e-book I managed to make this dish that I actually used to love, and still do, while growing up. Granted it was really yummy but I think my unties used to make a better job than me!!

My family enjoyed this dish quite a bit. For once, because I hardly make poultry or meat dishes, and second, well, it was just really tasty!

You can use this sauce for meat balls or even fish. I think it will go great with any type of protein of your choice. Next time I am going to use the sauce with fish. I am more of a fish eater.

I am even thinking of making extra sauce next time and storing it in the freezer and then use it for another round when ever suitable because I really like the flavor of the sauce.

Anyhow, it is really getting cold out here in NJ so if you are in the east cost, bundle up and stay warm.

Enjoy!!

Place oil and bread cut into pieces into the same skillet you used to brown the chicken.  Brown the bread for a minute or so. Add the almond flour and garlic and cook further for another minute. Then add the wine and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Here you can see the chicken on the first step when it got browned. The right picture is the chicken and mushrooms being added to the almond sauce. 

Ingredients: Miryam's original recipe

Yields 6 servings

1.5 lbs organic chicken breast, cut into pieces
10 oz mushrooms, sliced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Almond sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 slice of whole grain bread
1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cup organic chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium to high heat brown chicken. About 5-8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

To make the almond sauce, heat the olive oil in the same skillet in which the chicken was brown and add the bread broken into small pieces. Add the almonds and garlic and cook for an additional minute or so. Pour in the wine and boil for 1-2 minutes.

Transfer the almond mixture to a food processor or blender. Add the chicken stock and blend until smooth.

Return almond sauce so the sauce pan and add the chicken and mushrooms. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Taste the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. You may use some green scallions or parley for garnish.

This is best served hot with some oven fried potatoes.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe yielding 6 servings and serving with oven fried potatoes.