Autumn Pumpkin Bisque~

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato (chopped and boiled)


1 small onion (chopped)


1/2 red bell pepper (chopped)


1 cup pumpkin (canned or homemade puree)


1 carrot (chopped)


1 celery stalk (chopped)


4 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock)


1 cup heavy cream


1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (I use a large freeze dried mix) sage,thyme,rosemary etc.


In a large stock pot saute chopped veggies in about 2T olive oil or butter until veggies are soft.


Add remaining ingredient except heavy cream and simmer for about 10 minutes.


With a hand blender, blend soup down until somewhat smooth or desired consistency.
(I like some chunks left)


Add heavy cream.......stir and serve!


I dished out mine with a grilled cheese sandwich on my homemade wheat bread!


This bisque would be a great Thanksgiving Day starter~


You could even serve it up in a large hollowed out pumpkin~boy that would be a show stopper!
Or give each guest their own small mini pumpkin filled with bisque!


Blessings and Happy Autumn~

Pumpkin Shortage On Store Shelves~Not Mine!

Pumpkin Puree Tutorial:1.Cut pumpkins in 1/2 and seed.

2. Place cut side down on a lined cookie sheet and bake @350 for about 1 1/2 hrs! Its done when its fork tender! 3. Let cool for about 20 min. or so! Then scrape the pumpkin meat out of the skins in to a bowl! If your pumpkin flesh is wet or soupy it will need to be strained or run through a mill. (I just pored the liquid off mine)


5. Put pumpkin in freezer safe containers....I just used my wide mouth jars! I ended up with 4 pint jars plus 2 cups I left aside to make a double batch of pumpkin scones!
My scones turned out a bit heavy.....but I think it was because my towel recipe did not say to add baking soda and/or powder! I think next time I will go ahead and add some.....that should make them lighter and rise a bit!
Also I added some ingredients to the pumpkin puree that I used for the scones....pie spice,cinnamon,salt and 3 teaspoons brown sugar. (store bought canned pumpkin has similar things in it)

I want to add, it is not safe to "can" pureed pumpkin.
Only whole pumpkin chunks can safely be canned to be shelf stable.
I froze my puree. (in the jars)


Happy pumpkin season to all~
There is no shortage @ my house!

Blessings,
Georgiann

Homemade Granola

Little Miss Olivia loves to cook (as do all my kiddos)! The other day it was her turn to help me in the kitchen! We loaded both bread makers, made banana bread and some homemade granola bars!

I found a really neat recipe for the granola bars using coconut oil instead of butter or veggie oil!

You can go here, here and here to read more about the health benefits of coconut oil!

Granola Bar Recipe:

* 2 cups rolled oats

* 1/2 cup wheat germ

* 1/4 cup ground flax seed

* 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

* 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

* 1/4 fresh ground nutmeg

* 1/2 cup honey

* 1 Lg egg beaten

* 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil (you could use peanut butter for a change)

* 3/4 cup dried fruit ie: raisins,currants,chopped apricots,cherries!(optional)

* 1/4 cup nuts ie: almonds,walnuts,pecans,peanuts or sunflower seeds! (optional)

* 1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Mix dry ingredients together then make a well in the bowl and add the wet stuff!

Mix well!

Press mixture into baking dish.

Bake for 3o-35 minutes until the edges are golden brown!

Cool for about 5 minutes then cut! The bars will harden as they cool so cut while still warm!

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Georgiann

Garden Fresh Salsa

Garden Fresh Tomatoes
Cilantro
Red Onion
Jalapeno
Salt and Pepper
Chop everything (I used a salsa maker)

The salsa was a beautiful red color and sweet from the tomatoes I used! We just used what we had on hand in the garden!
I freeze my jalapenos (from the garden) if I'm not going to use then right away so they stay fresh!
Soon I will have sweet onion from the garden to use but for now the store bought will have to do!

Getting Kids To Eat Their Veggies!

Eating For Healthy Skin~

Getting Enough Calcium In Your Diet?

How to Store Fresh Ginger

Quick Biscuits and Strawberries With Whip Cream~

Needed:
1 can of biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups strawberries
1 tub of whip cream
A pinch of salt
A bucket of LOVE!

Dip top of biscuits in sugar! Then bake until golden brown.


Now its time to chop the strawberries, add a pinch of salt and the unused sugar left in the bowel. Mix together with LOVE!

,



To assemble...pull warm biscuit in half,add whip cream and a laddle of strawberries! Top with other half of biscuit!
Make a few...then call everone to the kitchen! Yummo!
Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee or tea!

Blessings

Homemade Quesadilla Sammy~

Today was a fun day in the kitchen. I found this really yummy tortilla flour mix made by Quaker. It was on the flour isle and....you just add warm water to make the dough.

I used a dinner plate that was flipped over as my template for my tortilla size.
You can use a rolling pin or just your hands to flatten a 1 inch ball of dough.

Then cook in dry skillet on Med/Hi heat. No need for oil!

I topped the ones for the girls with cheddar cheese. For my little sammy I put canned turkey,cheese,cilantro and spinach! You can get creative! They taste way different than a store bought tortilla.

Last Friday I made a crock pot of homemade re fried pinto beans and the homemade tortillas for our meatless dinner. It was a hit! My teenager wanted to know when I was going to make it again!

I love being a mom! God has truely blessed me...in more ways than I can count!
It is right to give him thanks and praise!

I have such a great time cooking with the girls! I love making special meals and treats for ALL my kiddos! My children are such a blessing to me!
The girls and I also made a multi grain fruit muffin bread for the boys after school snack! I will post the pics. of that in a few days.

The sun is out today so its time to play outside for a bit before dinner!


Warmly,

Homemade Ginger Soda!

I was digging around in one of my many cookbooks and stumbled upon this old family recipe. Its a natural and refreshing ginger ale recipe without any of the high fructose corn syrups or added coloring.

Its a very simple recipe to make and I can just picture my Grandma making this for one (or more) of her 11 kiddos when they were sick!

Ginger is a spicy root that has a wonderful aroma and taste. It can help settle a upset tummy. Tis the Flu season!

When choosing ginger, remember that quality, fresh ginger should have smooth, light brown skin with a light sheen and white flesh. Pick the roots with the least number of knots and branching.


Ginger Simple Syrup:

1/2 cup *light agave nectar
1 (4-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup cold water

Place agave nectar, ginger, and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until ginger aroma and flavor are strong—about one hour. Let cool. Strain and refrigerate for up to one week. To make the Ginger Soda, use 1/2 cup of the ginger syrup and combine it with 3 cups of sparkling water. Pour over ice to serve. Enjoy!

*Agave Nectar is a natural sweetener and can be found in the health food section of REG. grocery store next to the honey! Or at your local Whole Foods store!

Organic Black Bean Nachos

1 can organic black refried beans
1 teaspoon taco seasoning

Chopped Veggie Salsa
1/2 cucumber
1/2 onion
1 red bell pepper
1 tomato
1 handful of cilantro
Salt/Pepper

Corn chips
Colby/Jack cheese

Top with a few drops of Franks hot sauce or your favorite taco sauce!

Rustic Paella

3 cups cooked rice (I used a saffron infused rice) I cooked mine in chicken broth instead of water. There was no need for me to add saffron later in the recipe because I bought saffron rice.

Saffron is very expensive and is what colors the rice yellow. Most store keep the spice locked up in the back....because it is about 18$ for just a small amount of threads. If you used white rice in the recipe you will need a few threads of saffron.

1 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 of a onion chopped
1 lg carrot shredded
2 stalks celery chopped
10 mushrooms sliced
1 cup frozen peas (save those for the end)
You can really use any veggies you have on hand. ei. tomato's or zucchini etc.

Saute the veggies (except the peas) in a bit of olive oil on med/hi heat.

The meats you use in this recipe can very, but should include seafood,pork,and chicken.

I used 1/2 a smoked rope sausage, 12 frozen shrimp and 5 boneless skinless dark meat chicken pieces.

You might choose to add clams,churiso,scallops,chicken breast,left over turkey,ham,bulk sausage....the list goes on. But should contain at least 3 meats

Add the meats to the sauteing veggies in the order it will take to cook. For me it was chicken,shrimp the rope sausage. Cook meats thoroughly. Drain off any liquid that comes from the this step.

Add cooked rice,salt,pepper and frozen peas to the pot...stir and serve.