Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 oz French bread, cut into small pieces, about 5-6 cups
• 2 cups half and half cream
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
• 3 tbs melted butter
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Butter a bundt pan.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl toss the bread with half and half; set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine eggs, sugars, pumpkin, melted butter, spices and vanilla, blend well.
4. Pour pumpkin mixture over soaked bread and stir to blend.
5. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.
6. Bake 45-60 minutes.
7. Serve with brown sugar sauce, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

Sorry I don't have a better picture of the bundt version.  I made this for Kyle's work party and never got to see the bundt, but I doubled the recipe so I could have some too!  This is the piece out of the little pan I made for myself :)  This is truly a delicious and easy dish! 

Banana-Oat Muffins

Banana-Oat Muffins

Adapted from Health.com

Yield: Makes about 9-10 muffins

(Depending on tin size.  I doubled this recipe and got 23 muffins total)

Ingredients

• 2 mashed ripe bananas
• 1 tbs coconut oil (melted)
• 3 tbs milled flax seed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine bananas, oil, flax, egg, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl; mix well, and set aside.
3. Whisk the remaining dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
4. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until they are just combined.
5. Spray muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners, and spoon 1/4-1/3 cup batter into each cup (cups will be full).
6. Bake 16 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Found this recipe when my poor bananas were on the verge of being tossed! These turned out very moist and yummy!  I modified it a bit to add some extra nutrition and they were great!  I put half the batch in the freezer so we'll see later how they freeze and then hold up when reheated.

Slow-Cooker Chili

Slow-Cooker Chili

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean ground beef (you can sub 1 lbs for pork sausage)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, un-drained
• 3 cans beans (kidney, pinto, black are the ones I used)
• 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili powder (more or less depend on your spice level)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Sautee onion and garlic and cook beef/sausage (drain off fat)
2. Combine all ingredients into a slow cooker. When adding the beans I reserve the liquid and add it at the end.  how much you put in is up to you and how thick you like your chili.
3. *you can also add bell peppers and carrots in if you wish for more nutrition.  Just make sure you sauté until tender.
4. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or 4 hours on high.

**Just make sure to taste your chili as you season it so you can adjust the spice level to where you like it!

Avocado Stuffed Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 2-3* (1-inch thick) boneless pork loin chops
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1/2 avocado mashed
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 2 tsp olive oil or butter
• 2 cloves galic (minced)
• 1/2 avocado diced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tbs olive or canola oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut a deep pocket into the side of the pork chops, be careful not to poke through the other side.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. In a bowl, combine mashed avocado, lemon juice, oil/butter, garlic and s&p to taste and mix well.  Stir in diced avocado.
3. Using a small spoon, fill the pockets in the pork chops with the avocado mixture.  Secure with toothpick if needed.  Dip both sides of the pork chops in the flour.
4. Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet and add the chops.  Brown on both sides and transfer to the oven.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes until done (meat thermometer reads 155 degrees).  Let stand for 5 minutes, then serve.

I loved this dish, it was easy to make and was a great way to have pork chops!  Even my husband who is not a huge avocado fan loved them! 

*I used 2 pork chops but had plenty of the filling to do a 3rd.

Chicken and Potato Soup

Chicken and Potato Soup

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 Tbl Butter
• 2-3 cups diced chicken breast
• 2 Leeks cut in half and sliced
• 2-3 medium potatoes, diced
• 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 (11 oz) can corn, drained
• 1 1/2 milk 
• 2 cans low sodium chicken broth
• water (add extra as needed to cover veggies, I ended up using about 1-2 cups)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (you can also use fresh garlic)
• Hot pepper sauce to taste (make sure you do taste it because it can get spicy!)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, add the chicken and cook 10 minutes, or until evenly browned and juices run clear.
2. Mix in leeks, potatoes, carrots, and corn.  Pour in milk, broth and water enough to cover all ingredients.  Season with hot sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 
3. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer, and continue cooking 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes and carrots are tender.

This was a great tasty healthy soup.  I used veggies from my Bountiful Basket I got and boy was it good!  I got to use 4 different color of carrots and that really made for a pretty soup. Fell free to experiment with the veggies you throw in whatever you have on hand really.  You could even use a frozen mixed veggie bag.

Parmesan Chicken Bake

Parmesan Chicken Bake
(modified from this blog)

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts
• 1 cup mayo  (I use olive oil mayo you can also sub with Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, plus a little more for the top (don't sub for the canned powdered stuff)
• 1 tsp seasoning salt (I used 1 1/2 tsp the first time and found it to salty for my liking so i reduced it a bit. You can add more or less depending on taste.)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease the inside of a 9x13 pan.  Lay the chicken in the pan.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients and spread the mixture evenly over each piece of chicken.  Make sure to cover all exposed meat, this will keep it moist.  Sprinkle a little more Parmesan over all the chicken.
3. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 

This is a definitely a winner for me!!  The first go around was to salty for my taste, but with a small modification it is now a family favorite!  Kyle gave this one 2 thumbs up!  Found out today at lunch that this makes awesome leftovers so go ahead make some extra!!!

Sorry I've neglected this blog so much!  I'll try and do better!  I wish I had a picture of this dish, but we were in a hurry to eat and I forgot to snap a picture.  Check out the link at the top and see how her dish turned out.  It is a very pretty dish!

Bavarian Pretzels

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 Tbs active dry yeast
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 2 Tbs butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs baking soda
• 3 cups water
• 2 Tbs butter melted
• Coarse sea salt to taste

Directions (READ INSTRUCTIONS all the way through first!)

1. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar, 2 Tbs of butter, and 1 1/3 cup water.  Let this mixture stand until bubbles begin to form, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the salt and gradually stir in the remaining flour until dough can be picked up and kneaded on the counter.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes, adding more flour if needed.
2. Divide the dough into 6 pieces (more if you like smaller pretzels) and let them rest for a few minutes.  Roll out one piece at a time into a rope about 15 inches long.  Loop and twist into that cool pretzel shape, or any shape you like!  Set on a baking sheet while you roll out the remaining portions. 
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Bring the remaining 3 cups of water to a boil and add the baking soda.  Remove from heat.  Dip pretzels into the water bath for about 45 seconds, flipping over about halfway through.  Place the soaked pretzels on a greased baking sheet.  Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.

When I first tried this recipe I got a head of myself and botched step 3 of the directions!  So please remember to read all the way through!  If done right these taste so awesome!  The water bath really gives them that unique pretzel taste!

If you don't like salt on your pretzels feel free to get creative with toppings!  I've also used a cinnamon sugar topping that turns out really yummy!

I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post!  I feel like I've disappointed you 3 faithful readers of mine!  All this pregnancy and baby stuff has kind of consumed my life these past months.  I've got a few yummy dishes I need to share with you all!  I'll try and get them updated before baby girl comes!