Reese’s Peanut Butter Spread

YUMMY!

I was super excited to receive a jar of Reese’s Peanut Butter Spread from Influenster!  Despite my first inclination to eat the entire jar with a spoon, I restrained myself and shared with my kiddos.

Connor my picky eater, regularly requires lunch from home while in school.  We review the weekly school lunch calendar and I do encourage him to try things I think he might like, often times I know that he will just refuse and spend the day in school hungry. Sending him peanut better and jelly sandwiches in his lunchbox has become our staple.  It is hard to find things that a kindergarten can eat that 1) he can open by himself, 2) doesn’t require refrigeration or 3) doesn’t need to be heated.

A Reese’s Peanut Butter Spread and strawberry jam sandwich was the perfect twist on the classic!  It gave me an opportunity to give him something a little special in his lunch.  He gave it RAVE reviews!

One cold snowy day I also made grilled Reese’s Peanut Butter Spread and banana sandwiches for Amelia and I.  Fortunately she couldn’t finish hers (and this Mama got a few extra bites)! Super yummy but oh how decadent…. with the right bread, this could be dessert!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Spread may find a permanent place on our grocery shopping list!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Apple Pumpkin Squash Soup

My favorite thing about fall is flavors of fall food.  Having a farm share at an organic farm also means that veggies don’t always last as long without chemicals and preservatives so sometimes it is all about using up what you have quick!  Looking at what was on the counter, I made some Apple Pumpkin Squash Soup!

I baked some delicata squash and  a few apples.  I baked them all whole and then cut cut the squash to scrap out the seeds.  I totally should have cored the apples first…. Then I tossed in the squash, apple and some leftover pumpkin (from the cookies) in a saucepan with some chicken stock.  Since all the veggies and fruit were well cooked, this was really just to warm everything up to the same temperature and to mix in the flavor from the chicken stock along with some spices.  I added a smidgen of curry, but mostly cinnamon and ginger.

Then I pour the whole pot of apple, pumpkin and squash, along with some whole milk (we were out of heavy cream) into the blender until it was nice and creamy soup.

Apple Pumpkin Squash Soup is super yummy!

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cooking is a great way to spend time with my children.  October is a perfect time for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I had blogged about making these a few years ago, but to my dismay, the link back to the recipe I used was entirely different!  Booo!  But it gave me a chance to come up with my own.

Connor and I first roasted a few sugar pumpkins.

A good strong knife and a pumpkin scooper with a handy serrated edge are very helpful!  After cleaning them out, I placed them open side down on an aluminum foil baking sheet and let them bake until soft when poked with a fork (maybe 45 minutes to an hour).  Any flesh that was exposed I coated with vegetable oil so it wouldn’t dry out.

I scraped the flesh out after the pumpkins had cooled and mashed with a potato masher and stored in the fridge to use for baking.  We made the cookies the same day, but I have more in the fridge to add to soup or to make pie.  I find that roasting your own pumpkin, while super yummy is really tricky when baking because the water is so inconsistent.  Good for most baking, but tricky with pie, especially when serving it to guests!

I also roasted the seeds from these sugar pumpkins along with the seeds from the other seeds from the other Kakai pumpkins we had.  The color difference is amazing and so was the taste.  Both were yummy!

While we were munching on the pumpkin seeds, Connor, Amelia and I came up with this recipe for pumpkin chocolate cookies!

• 2 cups of mashed pumpkin
• 3 cups of flour (give or take, depending on the consistency of your pumpkin)
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (maybe could have used more – or maybe some baking soda too)
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips (minus a few for each kiddo)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• A sprinkle of ginger and nutmeg

A spooned them on to a cookie sheet and baked at 350 for 20 minutes or so, depending on the size.  I tend to make bigger cookies and they take longer!

Connor loves them!  Unlike the last batch that I couldn’t get him to eat more than one.  Shhhh……… don’t tell him that pumpkin is a vegetable!

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

 

Pumpkin Seeds

Our farm share grows Kakai pumpkins, specifically for the pumpkin seeds! They are not pretty solid orange pumpkins and the flesh isn’t tasty for cooking.  These pumpkins are all about the seeds.  However, when you have two small kiddos – any pumpkin can be turned into a jack-o-lantern!

They loved being able to pick put their own pumpkins are the farm and they were both very excited to help cut into them.  Connor found some Christmas cheese spreaders he was sure was going to help!

The pumpkin seeds are buried deep in the flesh, it isn’t easy to scoop just them out without a whole lot of the flesh.  The most tedious task is separating them out from the ooey, gooey flesh, of which neither of my kids wanted to help!

Then we gave them a super good soak and rinse to get off as much slime as possible.  I coated them in a few tablespoons of melted butter and some salt – that was it.  They are super yummy!  Very nutty!  Even Connor liked them and Amelia didn’t – which flies in the face of both children’s usual behavior.  Amelia keeps trying them though… and then spits them out which just breaks my heart – they are so yummy! There are two pumpkins on the deck just waiting to be cut up next!

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Dinner time at our house!

Just like every other family, we struggle with dinner time.  Everyone is tired and cranky, not to mention hungry!

I wish I could offer 10 tips on making dinner time successful with two small kids.  But I don’t think I could come up with a single suggestions!  What might work one night with one kid, might not work another night and probably not with the other kid on any night!

We struggle with food prep.  The kitchen is always chaotic as I try to get snack and milk packed for the next day, prepare dinner plates for the kids while my husband is cooking our dinner, cooking extras for our lunches and unloading the dishwasher from the night before.  The kids are whiny and underfoot.  The cats either trying to steal whatever food we are cooking or fighting with each other.  We try to do this all while renovating the kitchen!  We have no floor, the walls are a mess and the only counter and cabinets are what is holding the sink together! Yeah!

Sometimes it is helpful to engage the kids in our activities.  Connor made the table arrangement pictured above.  Sometimes they both are interested in setting the table and sometimes we end up with a dozen napkins and no forks! Often they are running around throwing plates like frisbees and stealing the utensils from the dishwasher to have sword fights.

As I have mentioned a bazillion times, Connor is my picky eater who is also super tiny so we are constantly struggling to get him to eat dinner.  I remember a time when we couldn’t even get him to sit at the table.  Thanks to preschool and school lunches he is open to a few more different kinds of food – FISH STICKS! Amelia’s is usually a pretty good eater, but takes forever at the dinner table.  She will most anything, but often makes unreasonable demands – like apple milk or steak knives!

But dinner time is one of the few times we have to connect as a family, talk about our days and get our heads on straight about what the next day has in store for us, chaos and all!

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of my favorite fall soup recipes.  We have started to see some squash in our farm share and I am hoping we to see butternut soon!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion
2 or 3 stalks celery
An apple or 2 depending on sweetness
1 inch  or more fresh ginger (grated)
2 tsp curry powder (or more to taste)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 butternut squash
1/2 cup apple cider
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 can broth (chicken or veggie)
1/2 to 1 cup heavy whipping cream (depending on taste)

Curried Butternut Squash Soup Directions

I roasted the squash instead of just boiling it.  It was definitely more work and a bit messy, but I love that flavor that you get.  Plus it makes the house smelled yummy!  The best tool my husband brought home was a pumpkin scraper!  It made short work of the squash goop and seeds.

Cook the onion, apple, celery and ginger in the olive oil until golden brown. I use a ginger grater for fresh ginger.  Generally the are small ceramic dishes with a very sharp spiked surface that allows you to rub the ginger and get out the good stuff, living the stringy bits behind.  I use a little liquid from whatever I am cooking to rinse of the grater into the pot so every little bit gets in there.

Add the salt, pepper and curry. Sometimes I throw in a little cinnamon!

Add cider, broth, water and squash. Cook until everything is nice and mushy.  This would take a while if you didn’t roast the squash first. I try to add more cider or broth instead of water if I need to add more liquid.

Through the whole mess into a food processor or blender until a preferred consistency.  I like to get it nice and creamy.

Put it back in the pot, add the cream, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

Sometimes I throw a little garnish on top, like coconut for fun!

---

 

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Apple Crisp

Making apple crisp

My desire to bake kicks up in the fall  and my favorite fall recipe is apple crisp!

This is my grandmother’s apple crisp recipe. For me, all other variations are not quite right.  Some foods I am happy to try different versions.  Not apple crisp! My grandmother’s recipe card makes one square (is it 8 by 8) baking dish.  I never make a single batch so I decided to just double the recipe when I posted it – to save you the math!

Apple Crisp Topping:

• 6 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 and 1/3 cup powered milk
• 2/3 cup of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter – or olio as my grandmother writes!

Apple Crisp Filling:

• 8 cups peeled and and cut apples (My grandmother writes tart – I say any kind goes)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar

Put the apple mixture into a greased baking dish – I use the big Pyrex lasagna dish. Spoon the topping on spreading evenly.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes and the apples are soft and the topping is golden brown.

My mom told me that this was the only dessert that my grandmother let them eat for breakfast, so she let us eat it too!  Guess what my kids will have for breakfast this weekend!

This post originally posed as part of a Stop, Drop and Parent 31 Days Challenge!

---

 

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Rainbow Birthday Party

I am all about birthday party themes!  This year I decided to do two parties for the kids, one for family and one for kids.  So naturally, I needed two entirely different themes!  For the family, I did a Rainbow Birthday Party.

For our families, summer birthdays are really just big cookouts with presents for the kids so all of my rainbows were focused on food and decorations.

Rainbow Birthday Party Menu:

• Chicken and beef kabobs with red tomatoes, orange, yellow and green peppers and purple onions.
• A big fruit and vegetable tray with red strawberries, orange carrots and cantaloupe, yellow pineapple and green broccoli, blueberries and purple grapes with white fruit and veggie dips.
• Clear bowls full of bright M&Ms and rainbow fishy crackers.
• Pasta salad with tricolor rotini, shredded orange carrots and purple cabbage. We looked in three different grocery stores and couldn’t find tricolor tortellini!
• Pink lemonade with sliced lemon, limes and oranges

Rainbow Birthday Party Decorations:

• Rainbow bunting made with colored copy paper
• Our collection of tissue paper flowers left over from last year’s birthday parties and that have been decorating the top of the curtains in Connor’s play room.
• Bright colored plastic silverware, napkins and paper plates.

Rainbow Birthday Party CAKE!!!!

We have all seen some variation of this on Pinterest – and it really was inspiration of the whole party! It wasn’t quite as time consuming as it looks.  The more pans you use the better! And about twice the frosting that you think you will need.

Happy Rainbow Birthday to my sweet babies!

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Banana Bread Cupcakes

I decided to make some banana bread cupcakes for a family brunch to celebrate my sister’s birthday and Mother’s Day.  We don’t usually do cakes at our family birthday brunches, something that distresses Connor to no end.  I thought that making some muffins topped with frosting might be nice addition.  Connor has also been asking for banana bread lately and our collection of ripe bananas was growing.  Thus… banana bread cupcakes!

Inspired by this recipe at Savory Simple. I came up with this version to make 18 cupcakes.

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup of wheat germ
1/2 cup of oatmeal
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 single serving container plain Greek yogurt
3 eggs
1 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

As per my usual methodology, I throw all the ingredients in one bowl and mix together.  I poured into muffin tins lined with baking wrappers and baked for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tip:  I keep our ripe bananas in the freezer and when I need them for baking I thaw in hot water (or the microwave) chop off the top and squeeze them into a bowl.  Looks less than appetizing, but works like a charm!

For the frosting I used the following:

1 container cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners sugar

I softened the cream cheese and butter in the microwave before blending with the vanilla with a mixer.  I slowly added the confectioner sugar until I felt it has enough body to hold it’s shape when I piped it on. Some time in the fridge could help firm it up too, but we were running out of time!

The banana bread cupcakes seemed to be a big hit with everyone.  Connor and Amelia particularly enjoyed the frosting! I made extra hoping to entice them at breakfast.

---

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //

Teacher Appreciation Week: Saltine Toffee

We are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week at the daycare center where both Connor and Amelia attend.  As both a member of the board of directors and a parent of children in two different classrooms, we made a big batch of our favorite treats.  I have seen it called Saltine Toffee Crackers, Cookies or even Christmas Crack. There is a bazillion recipes online and my husband did remind me that I had blogged about it before, but this is my latest version with the actual recipe!

I used a little bit of a different recipe than i have in the past:

Saltine Toffee

1 and 1/2 sleeves of saltines
2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 bag of chocolate chips
3/4 bag peanut butter chips
toppings: peppermint chips and toffee chips

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
The kids and I laid out the saltines on a cookie sheet with a nice tall edge.  I have learned that a quick coat of baking spray first  makes it so much easier to pop it out of the pan later.  I also learned that it is okay to not fill the pan edge to edge.  A little wiggle room lets the butter/sugar mixture really ooze in and get soaked up by the crackers.

Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil for a few minutes.  Be careful not to burn.  I use a small pan and a mini whisk to make sugar that I am stirring it all through constantly. You want it to be well mixed and nice and thick.

Pour the mixture over the entire sheet of crackers.  Make sure that all crackers are covered.  If they aren’t they burn quickly.  I take my time and make sure the crackers are well covered and the crackers have a minute or so to soak.  Then the whole pan goes into the over for about 5 minutes.  It should be golden brown and bubbly – and not burnt!

Then I sprinkle a hefty amount of chocolate chips on top. Usually I use one bag of chips for on cookie sheet.  This time I used about 3/4 a bag of chocolate chips and 3/4 peanut butter chips. I put the pan back in the oven for about 2 minutes to melt the chips.

After I take it out I use a silicon spatula to spread the chips out , again covering every cracker.  Because I used two different chips, I used two different spatulas and that kept them from combing too much.  Then I sprinkled a bit of peppermint chips on one corner of the chocolate section and some of the toffee on the peanut butter.

In the winter, I can leave the whole tray out on the porch and it gets nice and cold and I can break it up quickly.  Ideally it would go in the fridge to cool, but I don’t have that much room!

The teachers at the school gobble this stuff up quickly and it is a simple way to show them all how we appreciate them!

 

---

 

 

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js //