Kiwi Salad and bonus Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

Acorn Squash Supremeo!

A couple weeks ago, a lady at bountiful baskets asked about an acorn squash and what to do with it....and boy do I know how to make an acorn squash quite delicious....mmmm....I think I will go eat some now. :)

Brown Sugar Acorn Squash

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Using a strong chef's knife, cut the acorn squash in half.  Scoop out the seeds  stuff in the center of each half. Make cuts on the inside of the half several times with a  knife. Place each half in a baking pan, cut side down. Add about a 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the baking pan.  Cook for 40-50 minutes, depending on size...just check by poking a fork in to see if it is soft.

Flip the squash over, add in a pat of butter and a Tbsp of brown sugar into each half and cook again for 5 minutes, until butter and sugar are melted and bubbly. 

Serve and eat!!

Wind+Rain+Lightning=Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

Yes, I am a soupaholic.  I find that it is the perfect meal when you are super busy and need super fast, filling and healthy food.  I also like barley, like a lot and loads of vegetables.  So on this, pretend like this is fall, evening, I souped it up! (oh and I have been grading for several hours, and the rule is, grade, cook, grade, bake, grade, nap, grade, hot bath, grade, swirly.....etc....so I am in the first round...this will be an interesting weekend  5 papers done...70 left to go!!!!  So soup it up!!

Sara’s Best Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

To make the meat:

Preheat oven to 400

1 2.5 chuck roast, salt and peppered and browned                              

1 onion sliced

1 Serrano pepper, chopped in large chunks

4-5 garlic, crushed and stuck into meat

Place meat in roasting pan add onion pepper around the roast.  Fill halfway up the roast with water.

Put the roasting pan in the oven and turn down to 300 and cook for 2.25 hours.

Vegetable Soup

 

Chop and sauté one onion and a couple cloves of garlic.

Chop up roughly:                                                                                                

3 carrots

2 stalks of celery                                                                                         

2 zucchini

1 peppers

1 medium bunch of fresh green beans snipped into thirds

Add to the onions and cook down for 7-8 minutes on medium-high heat.

 

Add to it:

5-6 cups beef broth

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

2 small cans v-8 or 1 large

¼- ½  cup barley (depending on your barley preference)

1 small head of cabbage chopped into quarters                                     

Simmer together for 20 minutes.

When roast comes out, chop or shred it, and add it to the stew, then add ice to the broth and skim off fat and add broth and Serrano pepper chunks to the stew.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Delish!    

                                                     

'Tis Fall!!! 'Tis Pumpkin Season!!!

I made my first pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins last week.  Oh, my house smelled so delightful!!!  I actually first started making pumpkin bread a couple years ago, after someone gave me a pumpkin pie candle.  The smell inspired me to make pumpkin bread.  I couldn't stop experimenting with making the perfect pumpkin bread recipe, every time I lit the candle, I had to make bread!  So, I worked pretty hard on the development of this recipe, because I really like to light candles.  I again do my usual excessive adding of baking spice and molasses.  I also did two different toppings, a streusel and just adding demetra sugar to the top.  So here it is, just in time for fall baking season!  :)  Have fun!!

Sara’s Pumpkin Molasses Bread

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup water

3 cups white sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt          

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon                                                

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.  2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, molasses, vanilla and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended.  Fold in walnuts.  Pour into the prepared pans. 

3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Optional crumb topping

1 1/8 cups flour                                                                       

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ cup margarine or butter softened

¼ cup chopped walnuts

Mix together into course crumbs.

Add frosting zigzagged across the top. 

Mix powdered sugar and milk in a thick consistency. 

Sunday Dinner

I haven't been able to food blog much this last couple weeks, I have been working between 65 and 70 hours, and that kind of shuts down the ability to make food.  However, thanks to a friend, I had a lovely dinner tonight, that I would like to share.  I call it the  Anxiety Attack Recovery Dinner. :)  Can also be made at any time of the day or night, as needed!!   Enjoy!!!

Anxiety Attack Recovery Dinner

Fill a fancy glass, bowl, trough, full of Count Chocula (leave some room for the milk to almost overflow the cup)
Add milk until the Chocula almost overflows,
Eat the chocula and milk together,  trying to leave some milk leftover at the end.
Add more chocula to the milk, eat together, while leaving extra chocula at the end.
Add more milk to the chocula, perhaps a little more milk than you need for the amount of chocula that is left.
Continue cycle of adding milk and chocula until you are left in a sugar coma...then brush your teeth and find somewhere to sleep.  Goodnight!!!!  :)

Chocolate Banana Bread

Ever wake up on Sunday morning...look around at the lack of food in your house...see a pile of bananas and say to  yourself (or anyone who might be listening)  "hmmmm....chocolate banana bread sounds delightful."  So chocolate banana bread it is.  I didn't have any chocolate chips so I had to make due with what I had, and I actually did not have to run over to my parents house to borrow eggs or butter.  Awesome.  I added Demetra sugar to the top for an extra bit of crunchy sweetness, and I considered adding marshmallows at the end and experimenting with rocky road bread...but, I was getting ready for church at the same time, and forgot, in the attempt to decorate my bathroom with all the shirts in my closet that didn't look good....So party on!!!  by the way I dreamed that my followers count jumped to 31 in one night!  I was so excited...so my dream interpretation:  friends are exciting.  Thanks for being my friends!!!  :)

Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe:

1/2 cup (55 grams) toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder                                                             
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (85 grams) white or dark chocolate chips ( I didn’t have any chips, so I chopped 3 oz of semi-sweet baking chocolate.)  2 oz I mixed in, 1 oz I put on top)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
**! Tbsp molasses (I always add this to fruit/vegetable breads, add an extra richness of flavor)
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Banana Bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan.  Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.   In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.  Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse brown sugar (optional). Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.                                      

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/ChocolateBananaBread.html#ixzz10eLbfhqV

Carrot Cake...the world's best air freshner.

I met my new manager at my part-time job, and she was totally cool, and she found out that I liked to bake for the office.  She mentioned that she liked cream cheese frosting. I told her that I would make her carrot cake, if I would be her favorite employee, she laughed, close enough...I made her cake.  I am not a big cake maker, but I love me some carrot cake, and love the cream cheese frosting the best...and I have to test it a lot....I mean a lot...just to make sure it is perfect!!!  :)

Carrot Cake

 

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla                                                                          

1 Tbsp molasses

2 cups flour

3teaspoons cinnamon (I use Santa Cruz factory baking spice…and it is GENEROUS helpings)

2teaspoons soda

1 teaspoon salt                                                                                           

3 cups grated carrots

1cup chopped nuts

Mix  wet ingredients together until a lemon color.  In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients and add to egg mixture.  Add carrots and nuts.  Bake in two 9-inch layer pans at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.