HALLOWEEN and such!

Great HALLOWEEN!!!

Zombie time!!

Yep...getting into character and all that goes with it! Party on, Zombie boy!

Lots of Halloween parties over the last week. All good! Our town hosts trick-r-treat from 4pm until 6pm...followed by cider and donuts and a costume parade for the little ones, downtown. Makes for a perfect Halloween and love that everything begins early in the day...no late night stuff.
So, our family had a nice yummy dinner of Pumpkin Corn Chowder and crackers. It was delicious. I must admit, I was sceptical, but, WOW! This was really a tasty Fall soup recipe.

We had what we call "dinner theater" and ate our dinner and watched the Halloween episode of Psych from last week----and for those of you who follow this series, you will understand our dessert choice----we cut up a fresh pineapple and boy oh boy was that delicious.

Now, these little pumpkin cookies may look like dessert. Not so fast! Ha! I made these pumpkin cookies fairly healthy...whole wheat, oatmeal, ground flax seed,wheat germ, raisins, walnuts, very low sugar...added some dark chopped chocolate for the fun of it. These actually became our appetizer...not intentionally. Just turned out that way as everyone arrived home from work, school, and Halloween doings----nearly starving to death. So, piping hot pumpkin goodness was enjoyed right away.

Hope your Halloween was sensational and that your holiday season, (which has begun here in our household ---even heard Christmas carols on the radio over the weekend and I don't seem to mind--ha!), will be wonderful and full of joy and happiness. I have got Thanksgiving thoughts running through my head. Watch out Olsen's....we will be to your house to celebrate and eat turkey and all the fixing's before you know it. And of course, GO LYONS! XO

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

In a large soup pot (Dutch oven works well), melt 2 T butter. Add in and cook for 5 minutes, 1/2 small yellow onion and 2 cloves minced garlic.

Stir in 1 t Curry Powder and cook for 30 seconds or so.

Add in 2 cups cubed sweet potatoes and 2 cups cubed potatoes.

Next, 1 14 ounce can of chicken stock, 1/4 each salt and pepper.

Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes.

When that is all cooked nicely, add in.....1 14 ounce can pumpkin, 1 14.75 ounce can cream style corn, 1, 10.75 ounce can cream of celery soup, 1 cup milk, 1 t dried thyme, crushed. YUM!

I let this soup sit for about an hour and 1/2 before serving...just like spaghetti sauce...this soup tastes better with a little aging. Can't wait to taste what little soup was leftover for my lunch today. Bet the flavor will be bold and divine.

Can serve with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds, sour cream or crackers.

Pumpkin Cookies

My mom makes excellent cookies. I do remember her making pumpkin cookies and applesauce cookies. These two cookies were always so moist and delicious.

Oven...375 degrees.

Mix 1 regular can of pumpkin, with 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup shortening. ( Can decrease sugar to about 1/4 and add in 1/4 cup applesauce and reduce shortening to 1/4 cup).

Add in....2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 t baking powder, 1 t baking soda, 1 t ground cinnamon, and 1/4 t salt. And, if your care to, here is where I add in a little ground flax seed, and wheat germ. I also use ground oatmeal with the whole wheat flour to equal the 2 cups.

Then, my favorites...add in raisins and chopped walnuts.....as much as you want. So good. Can add in chocolate at this point, as well. Mix and drop by teaspoon full onto greased cookie sheet.

Dough is very soft and fluffy. That is ok. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

SUPER delicious if you can manage to eat these cookies right out of the oven.

XO

Back from Vacation.... off the Porch!

Guess who is back? Old Man Winter paid us a mighty visit yesterday afternoon and into the night. No need to show you more pictures of our snow-ha! I heard on the news we got about 10 inches, coupled with freezing rain, sleet and...well, you get the picture. So, thought to celebrate the morning since my son is home from school and my husband is working from home...on a Conference call, at present. Might as well start this beautiful day with a good and delicious breakfast. YUM!

On Saturday our temps really dropped and I heard about the storm coming our way. I had such a hankering for homemade tomato soup. I have always thought or wanted to make homemade tomato soup, and shied away from it...thinking it must be to hard. Wrong! Found a recipe in Martha Stewarts newest Everyday Food Magazine...modified it a little bit. Here is what you will need to make a rich and nice tomato soup...serves 2-3.

Put one teaspoon olive oil into a small pan...heat...add 1/2 chopped onion and cook for five minutes. Add in one clove of smashed and chopped garlic. Cook for an additional minute. Pour in a can of tomato's (14.5 ounces). Simmer for 15 minutes.



Then, carefully pour hot ingredients into your blender. Add 1 tablespoon plain yogurt----or cream----or i guess you could use whole milk. Place a dish towel over the top because of the steam. Blend thoroughly.

Add a little salt and pepper, to your liking. And that is it. I think this is a good basic tomato soup recipe. I think you could add other little delights into your soup...different herbs that you like, perhaps. And, definitely pair your soup with some good home bread, rolls, bread sticks.....oh, grilled cheese would have been divine with this soup. Now, warning--because of the onions and garlic, this soup has a hot punch to it. Next time I make it , I will use only a 1/4 of an onion and maybe 1/2 of the clove of garlic. I like hot...my husband does not. So, I will find a happy medium.

For dessert we had fresh sliced peaches and these little beauties. Thanks to sister-in-law Barb Lane for giving us this recipe. It is one of our families all time favorite's--- Mrs. Burgoyne's cookies have been baked in our home for ...well, toooooooo many years for me to even count.
This is one of those standard recipes that you can add in what you like and it turns out every time. Really!

3/4 c brown and white sugar mixed, 1/3 c shortening (do not use butter), 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well. Add in

1 cup flour, plus 3 T., 1/2 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt. This is the basic recipe.

I changed things up with throwing in a small hand full of coconut, used 1/2 c of oat flour instead of all regular flour, a tsp of wheat germ ( to equal the 1 cup plus 3 T of flour), chopped walnuts, and I chopped and mixed in a bit of a Lindt chocolate bar. Drop teaspoon size bits of dough on your cookie sheet. I actually use my teaspoon measuring spoon.
Bake at 325 for about 10 minutes. The secret of this recipe is not to bake them until too well done. Enjoy.

"Seams" to be a good day for me to finish the last of my receiving blanket sewing, reading and maybe some baking, for me today. How about where you live? How are you spending your Presidents Day Holiday? xo

Christmas Treats

A perk about living in Las Vegas are the SHOWS!

This weekend we went with our good friends to see Andrea Bocelli on his Christmas tour. SO well worth it. Here we are with him..

There was a violinist alone who made the ticket price worth it as well as 2 other female soloists who accompanied Bocelli as he sang. A great night of music!

On Sunday it was time to get to work...


Time to send some goodie bags with Aaron to work..on the agenda this year was Ginger Snap Softies, Oreo Truffles and "Reindeer Feed" (only instead of white chocolate and peppermint I used peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar.
























Apparently, the Oreo truffles were a big success..I'll post the recipe later this afternoon! Or, if you have time now, it's on Sister's Cafe. On the left they have all of their holiday treats so be sure to check those out if you need more yummy holiday ideas.

Minty Mini Doughnuts

Minty Mini Doughnut

28 calories per cookie, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 5 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein

Now those are some numbers I can live with! Now the trick is to not gobble up handfuls of these and defeat the purpose....

ingredients

3/4 cup cake flour

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

vegetable oil cooking spray

2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar

2 tbsp. skim milk

directions

Whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy; add egg whites and vanilla, and beat until just combined. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture until combined.

Form dough into a log, wrap tightly in waxed paper and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Heat oven to 350°. Coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Cut dough into 4 equal pieces; cut each into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece between fingers to form a 1 1/2- to 2-inch-long log. Pinch together ends of each log to form rings and place doughnuts 1 inch apart on cookie sheets; bake 1 batch at a time until dough puffs, 5 to 6 minutes. Whisk sugar and milk in a bowl until smooth. Dip top of each warm cookie into sugar-milk glaze; press into crushed candy. Let set on wire racks.


Thank you justcookalready for this tasty treat!

SMILE!!!!!!!

Happy Monday! These just make me smile!!

These are such a favorite and have been since childhood. I made a zillion of these yesterday afternoon and had such fun giving them away to neighbors and friends.
I used my mom's sugar cookie recipe, rolled, baked and decorated. A little trick I discovered....I had rolled and cut about 40 cookies when it dawned on me that I could maybe do this in an easier way. I rolled cookie dough into small balls....just like you would do with peanut butter cookies....did the criss-cross press with a fork. Amazingly, the cookies turned out nice and round, without having to roll and cut. Hmmmmm. Maybe I am the last one to know about this-ha! Anyway, so, I made a bunch of plain sugar cookies using this method, as well.
All good. Have a good start to the week.
p.s. I had to use chocolate chips for the mouths. I usually use raisins. I think the raisins lay better on the cookie and look happier....if that is possible.

Cookie of the Week- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Today I am a little bummed. Tomorrow is Aaron's birthday and so I was planning on making him fabulous cupcakes to take to work today. So I get up this morning early and get the batter
almost ready before discovering that I only have 12 cupcake liners. Not enough time to run to the store to get more and have enough time for a few batches, cooling and frosting. Disappointed, I get back into bed as Aaron's alarm clock goes off. Turns out there are a lot of people on vacation at work so it would have been enough. Shoot. It is such a small thing but I did want him to have something festive for his birthday to share with his friends. Maybe on Monday. Or next year.


I left Madelyn on the couch while I went to the bathroom yesterday..facing AWAY from the computer..



Turns out she is a 'Psych' fan and was tuning in on the latest episode!

She's about ready to start crawling around the apartment too!




Well, almost.


Cookie of the Week is a little different this week but since I'm in the cupcake mood..! Cookie dough INSIDE of the cupcake! Delicious and very rich!

yields 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
2. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

**On Allrecipes.com there was a warning about consuming raw eggs:

This recipe contains raw eggs. We recommend that pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and the infirm do not consume raw eggs.

Have these warnings always included "the elderly and the infirm"?!


Later on I'll post about the wonderful experience I had at the grocery store when a kind lady went out of her way to help me. I was so GRATEFUL! But M is asleep and I should be too!

-J

Cookie of the Week- No Bake Friday!

CRISPY CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW TREATS

Makes 16
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 bag (10 1/2 ounces) mini marshmallows
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa (spooned and leveled)
6 cups crisp rice cereal
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted





Directions

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom and two sides with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both sides. Butter paper; set pan aside.
In a large saucepan, combine butter, marshmallows, and cocoa. Cook over medium, stirring frequently, until melted, about 6 minutes; stir in rice cereal. Press rice mixture into prepared pan; drizzle with melted chocolate. Let cool to room temperature; cut into 16 bars. (To store, keep in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 5 days.)




CONFETTI BARS


Makes 9
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
12 cups (2 1/2 bags) miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
6 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal
6 cups Froot Loops cereal
Vegetable-oil cooking spray


Directions


Lightly spray a 9-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with vegetable-oil cooking spray; set aside. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add salt and marshmallows; stir with a wooden spoon until melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies, Cap'n Crunch, and Froot Loops, and stir until combined.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. To prevent sticking, coat your hands with vegetable spray, and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
Cut into 3-by-3-inch bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


WHEATIES FUEL NO BAKE COOKIES

Or for a slightly healthier treat, my friend made these delicious no bake cookies with Wheaties Fuel cereal. I found that I liked them better than the original no bake cookies! Try them out!

For the recipe visit her blog here!

For other No-Bake Treats visit Foodnetwork.com! Happy Friday!

xo Jenna and Sydney

Cookie of the Week-Sees Delight!

With See's Scotchmallows and just a few extra ingredients, you'll create decadence in a matter of minutes. Scotchmallow® Rolls

• 2 (8 oz) cans refrigerated crescent rolls • 16 See’s Scotchmallows – cut in half (two halves in each crescent roll) • 1/4 cup butter – melted • Coarse sugar to sprinkle 1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line muffin pan with paper baking cups. 2. Separate crescent rolls into 16 triangles. 3. Place two half See's Scotchmallows towards the wide end of triangle. Roll triangles from wide to narrow point; pinch side ends and bring ends toward center. 4. Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place roll in lined muffin pan and bake 10-15 minutes until rolls are golden brown. 5. Serve warm. Two packages make 16 gooey rolls.

Even if you do not have these specific Sees candies, I think it's safe to say, that you could use any of your favorites! Maybe a Hershey bar and marshmallows?

Happy Weekend!

Cookie of the Week- Pizookies!

Today's Cookie of the Week is brought to you by The Little Red House!

Every Friday...

she posts...

Friday Feet!

I enjoy seeing her beautiful pictures and the creatively healthy recipes she posts. Here is her not-so-healthy but decidedly DELICIOUS recipe for Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Pizookies!

I love browned butter.

Please tell me you've tried it??

I really think it might be one of my favorite flavors....

...ever.

I love it so much, I'm always trying to sneak it into recipes....and I thought,

"why not a cookie?"

But then I remembered that we had vanilla bean ice cream, so I thought,

"why not a pizookie?"

Do you like hearing these conversations I have in my head?

enough chit chat.

let's get on with the recipe, shall we?

makes 6-8 pizookies

1 1/2c flour

1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 c brown sugar
1 stick butter, browned
1 egg
1 t vanilla (I used mexican vanilla in these...yum!)
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
chopped pecans

Mix flour, soda and salt. Set aside

To brown butter:

Heat pan on medium heat.

Cut butter in to pieces and melt in pan.

Stir continuously. Butter will foam up.

After foam subsides, small brown flecks will start to appear in bottom of pan.

Continue stirring, until butter has reached a nice brown color, and nutty aroma.

When you want to lick the spoon, you know it's ready.

Remove from heat--don't burn it!!

Add browned butter and sugar to stand mixer. Mix. (you will want to eat this up!)

Mix in egg and vanilla.

Slowly mix in flour mixture.

Mix in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough into individual ramekins. Sprinkle some pecans on top (they get all toasty in the oven!)

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes....remember you want the edges set, and the center nice and gooey!

Top with your favorite vanilla ice cream.....and enjoy!


::Jenna is currently offline right now making pizookies!::

Cookie of the Week- Pecan Sandies

Whew! It's Friday again! We made it to the weekend! This week has been incredibly wonderful with so many good things: being at home again, the company and generosity of good friends, and cleaning out my closet, finally! So this week's cookie is an all-around favorite, Pecan Sandies! Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart (you've done it again, Martha) and one I am dying to try out! There is nothing like a few Sandies and a tall glass of cold milk!

image courtesy of Martha Stewartc.com

Makes 18

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in vanilla and salt. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating just until combined. Fold in pecans.
2. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, and place on two baking sheets, 2 inches apart. With the dampened bottom of a glass, lightly flatten each ball.
3. Bake until cookies are golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 5 days.)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cookie of the Week- Skinny Bovines Kitchen!!

I am sooooooooo pleased to announce my friend and fellow blogger, Britt for today's Cookie of the Week. Without further ado......

Wow! I’m so excited to be guest posting on the Tree of Life!! Jenna is such an amazing person, homemaker and almost mommy and I’m thrilled to be featured on her blog.

I’m Britt of the The Skinny Bovine’s Kitchen (http://skinnybovineskitchen.blogspot.com). I’m a wife, mommy of 2 (so far!) and healthy chef on a tight budget. I started The Skinny Bovine’s Kitchen more than a year and a half ago to share my knowledge mostly with the other student-type young families we associated with, but now that we’re no longer students I find myself still trying to stretch my dollar and eat healthily while doing it – and have realized how many other people are trying to do the same.

My blog includes tons of recipes of all different flavors as well as budgeting tips, food facts to help us realize what we’re putting in our bodies and helpful hints for making your cooking life better. Here are a few of my favorite recipes you should test out in your kitchen:

· Burgers (any of them – burgers are my favorite food!)

· No Guilt Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Un-Frosting

· Guacamole Salad

· Chicken Lo Mein

· Pasta e Fagiloi Soup

· Quick Cream Cheese Spinach Penne with Chicken

· Moroccan Chili and 10,000 Grains of Sand

Even though I’m a healthy cook, I LOVE dessert! And I’m so excited to be able to share my favorite chocolate chip cookies in the world with all of you! They are not healthy. Not even a little bit. But they are amazing. Please just don’t eat all 6 dozen yourself. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies – The Best!

From: Cooking With the Crazy Lady

6 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (I made this a heaping cup)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla (I overflow this a little bit too)
1 teaspoon water
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 12oz package chocolate chips (I use less)
2 cups cooking oats

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs, vanilla and water. Stir in flour, salt, baking soda and then chocolate chips, oatmeal and nuts. Drop by well-rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. (Watch them super carefully and undercook quite a bit for a perfect cookie. They should be mushy in the middle when you take them out and the edges barely starting to brown.)

Q&A -Here are a few questions we asked Brit (follow the links to her blog for more info!)

1) What are some tips for eating healthy on a budget?

Here are 4 must-live-bys:

· Make a budget and stick to it. Enough said.

· Create price points – know how much is too much to pay for all of the things you commonly shop for.

· Eat lots of fruits and veggies – the more fruits and veggies you try and squeeze into your day, the less room there is for other less-desirable snacking! Also, try sneaking them into more meals.

· Plan a weekly menu according to what’s on sale – I love homemade guacamole, but it just doesn’t happen until I find them on sale for $0.33 a piece or less. If you want to put asparagus in your stir fry, wait to make stir fry until asparagus is on sale for less than $1/lb or leave the asparagus out. Be disciplined!

2) For those of us with a daunting amount of dried beans in food storage (like lentils!) how do you cook (with) them?

You know, I’ve never been much of a dried bean person (unless you count lentils!). I buy canned beans by the case/trunk load when they are on sale $0.50 a can or less. The convenience is worth it to me and they still make for very cheap meals. Check out these links for black beans , vegetarian meals and lentils from The Skinny Bovine’s Kitchen for some fun recipes to start with.

3) What are the 5 must-have ingredients (to you)?

You’ll never find my kitchen without:

1. Cheese – my favorite food in the world – ironically because it isn’t terribly cheap or healthy, but oh so worth it!!

2. Canned tomatoes – a base for so many things.

3. Canned beans – a great, hearty meat alternative.

4. A refrigerator full of fresh fruits and veggies – snack on the fruit and make sure you get a veggie or 2 into every dinner you make.

5. Boneless, skinless chicken breast – the best, most versatile lean protein you can eat. Buy it cheap in bulk and freeze it.

Thanks for inviting me to guest post, Jenna! I hope you all enjoy The Skinny Bovine’s Kitchen and stop by to share your healthy, budgeted cooking tips with me!