Halloween Recipes

Check out Better Homes and Garden's website for fun Halloween ideas. They're great for kids and ghouls alike!

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/gallery/halloween-recipes/

Julia Child online

Happy Friday!

Ever wonder how Julia Child made some of her fabulous recipes?

Check out her cooking videos (link courtesy of Goller) and get some new ideas for dinner tonight.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1166576965/program/1073557581

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...

So why not check out these quick and healthy ideas?

Quick and Easy Breakfast Ideas

Helpful Resources

Coupon Mistakes

7 Mistakes the Cost You Money

Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

This recipe comes with a story. It's a story of how even though it was late, I still got my butt to the gym only to return home to find that my husband did not take the brownies out of the oven as directed. As a result, they were in for AN HOUR past the correct time. So, no picture of my yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip BRICKS. :)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparations:

Mix the wet stuff - pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, egg, butter. Separately mix flour, pumpkin-pie spice, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Combine both sets of ingredients and add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (AND NOT AN HOUR AND 35 MINUTES -not that I'm bitter or anything. :)

Pumpkin Pie

This is another recipe from Better Homes and Garden. I have made pie crust from scratch one time and it convinced me that it wasn't worth the time or effort that went into making it. So if you buy a pie crust pre-made, you can make this pie in about ten minutes. My husband must have thought it was really good as he ate the entire thing. :)

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust
15 ounces of pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 slightly beaten eggs
3/4 cup half-and-half

Preparations:

Mix pumpkin, sugar, and eggs. Then add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and half-and-half. Beat really well (on high if you have a mixer). Pour mixture into pie crust.

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes. Buy this cookbook from Amazon.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

'Tis the season for pumpkin y'all!

Okay, that's about as much enthusiasm as you'll ever see me muster for the holidays. When it comes to a holiday that requires decorating, I'm totally the Scrooge-ette of my block. Chalk it up to childhood trauma and you've got one gal who hates crafts and never decorates the Christmas tree. (I hand Ken the box and say - Have at it, pal)

But alas, times are changing and I'm trying to be less "Scroogy" about Halloween and Christmas. In an effort to be more festive, here's my first recipe of the pumpkin season. I took the recipe for pumpkin bread from Better Homes and Garden and added a bag of Nestle chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

1 cup cooking oil

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2/cup water

15 ounces of canned pumpkin

Preparations:

Combine oil, sugar, eggs, water and pumpkin. Mix well. Separately, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix well. Combine both sets of ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.

Servings: 3 loaves

Amazing Taco Soup - Crock pot Recipe

I found this recipe via Petite Chef and it is so good and easy! I adapted the recipe from the Dunkins cooking blog.

Ingredients:

1 Can (15 oz) - Chili
1 Can (15 oz) - Whole Corn, with liquid
1 Can (14.5 oz) - Diced Fire Roasted Tomato, with liquid
1 Can (8 oz) - Tomato Sauce
1 Can (15 oz) - Black Beans, with liquid
1 Packet - Taco Seasonings
2 Tablespoons of chopped onion

Preparations:

Dump everything into your crock pot. Stir really well. Cook on high for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Top with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Better Homes & Garden - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats

Preparations:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Separately, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and rolled oats.
4. Combine both sets of ingredients.
5. Bake for 12 minutes.

Roasted Garlic Lamb with Rosemary Potatoes

This is a modified version of a recipe that I got off Cooks.com . I had never had Rosemary potatoes before but these were awesome!

Ingredients:

Leg of Lamb
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3 tablespoons of Olive oil
2 tablespoons of chopped Rosemary
1 1/2 lbs of chopped potatoes

Preparations:

Mix the garlic with 2 tablespoons of Olive oil and 1 tablespoon of Rosemary. Place lamb in baking pan. Cover the lamb with the garlic/Olive oil/Rosemary sauce. Take remaining Olive oil and mix with one tablespoon of Rosemary. Mix with potatoes. Place potatoes around lamb at bake at 425 for one hour.

If the lamb isn't quite done, you can do what I did and throw it in a skillet and brown it a bit on medium heat for a few more minutes. Be sure to season with salt and pepper.

Check out a couple of new places to get healthy recipes

http://en.petitchef.com/index.php

I've been looking for healthy recipes and came across this site that sends me a newsletter -

http://www.qualityhealth.com/recipes

This site is like you're one stop shopping not just for recipes but for all things health related like diet, exercise, medical info. It's really cool and worth a look around.

Green Bean Casserole

The holidays are just around the corner and who doesn't love a good green bean casserole?

Here's my take on the casserole without the casserole dish.

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of green beans (drained)
1/4 cup crushed Lay's potato chips
1/4 shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp salt

Preparation:

Mix cream of mushroom soup with half a can of water. Add drained green beans and salt. Cook on medium for about ten minutes. Top with potato chips and mozzarella cheese.

It's yummy!

Easy Spanish Rice from AllRecipes

This is a super easy recipe. So easy in fact that I drafted my husband to make it last week when we had company for dinner. He was a little confused about frying the rice rather than boiling it but it all worked out and it was really good.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup chunky salsa

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Mix rice into skillet, stirring often. When rice begins to brown, stir in chicken broth and salsa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed.