Pumpkin muffins

Here's a little recipe to get the most out of your pumpkin carving. We used 2 small pumpkins which we deseeded as per usual. We then scooped them out a little further so we had around a small saucepan of flesh which we boiled for a few minutes and then mashed. And then in order...

3/4 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of melted butter

1/2 cup of milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups of self raising flour

Bake at aroun 190/200 degrees for 20 minutes. Ish.

If you're feeling particularly crafty you can decorate them. Ours kinda got eaten before we could decorate them :-)

Cookin' with the Kids

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Valentine's Day is Monday, so why not bake up something this weekend in honor of this special day.  From cookies to pizza, I am sure your kiddos will have a blast experimenting in the kitchen... especially when their creation taste so darn good.

So, what are you waiting for?  Choose a recipe and get cooking with the kids.

A Hearth Witch's Valentine Cookies: Pagan Household Post... Italian cookies that sound scrumptious.

Valentine Cookie Pops... Perfect for kids to help make.

Sweetheart Strawberry Banana Pancakes... Who wouldn't eat this cute heart shaped pancake?  Plus, it is a healthier alternative.

Heart Shaped Pizzas... Use ready made dough or make your own.  Before topping the pizza use a large cookie cutter or a knife to cut the dough into a heart.  Top as usual and bake.

Nutella Stuffed French Toast... Too good to be true.  Nutty, chocolaty goodness all rolled into one.

Lemon Cranberry Muffins with Chocolate Chips... Little bits of red show through these yummy homemade muffins.

Peppermint Hershey Kiss Cookie... This pink and white cookie is perfect for Valentine's Day.  The chocolate kisses adds the final touch of yumminess.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Tortilla Soup

I love this soup on a chilly autumn day.  Hope you love it too!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2-4 cloves of garlic minced
• 6 cups of 98% fat free chicken broth
• 2- 14 oz. cans of rotel tomatoes
• 1-   4 oz. can of chopped green chilies
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro chopped
• ½-1 tsp cumin (add more to taste if necessary)
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (very little pepper is needed)
• 1 tsp sugar
• juice of two limes
• ½- 1 cup shredded cooked chicken (or 1 large can-12.5 oz. Tyson premium chunk chicken breast)
• ½-1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Asadero cheese
• 1 cup broken tortilla chips

**Don't let the number of ingredients scare you.  I stink at cooking and this is one of the easiest recipe I have ever cooked.**

Directions:

Pour all ingredients into a large stockpot except for the cheese and tortilla chips.  Only drain the can chicken.  Leave the liquid in all other ingredients.

Stir well and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, stir well again and simmer an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

If the liquid cooks down to much add water to desired level in ½ cup increments. 

To serve, place broken tortilla chips in the bottom of soup bowl.  Pour desired amount of soup in bowl and top with desired amount of shredded cheese. 

Enjoy!

Fall season breakfasts

When we talk about food for a particular time of year, it seems that we focus on dinner, and sometimes lunch ideas. Here are a couple of fall breakfast ideas:

I'll start with something I recently learned about oatmeal... instant oatmeal is totally unnecessary unless you like the very even texture of it. I don't... so one day (maybe the idea came from Hestia, because I can't imagine where else I would have got this idea) I put boiling water in regular old organic oatmeal (I get mine from Trader Joes, but I'm sure you can use any oatmeal). It takes longer than instant to absorb the water, but it gets soft with no cooking and is completely palatable. Of course, there are ways to dress it up, and here is one especially fitting for the season:

Oatmeal (maybe 1/2 to 2/3 cup)
Cinnamon (just a bit - like 1/8 of a tsp in a single bowl)
Pumpkin pie filling (maybe 1/4 tsp)
Brown sugar (a big spoonful)

Or, here's a family recipe that I like a lot - but it's pretty sweet, kinda like having dessert for breakfast!

Baked Oats
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cup oats
1 cup milk

Topping
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (I do more... but I like cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together 1 tbsp butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, salt, and baking powder (I actually put in extra cinnamon here too). Add milk and oats alternately. Pour mixture into a 9x9 or 9x11 greased baking pan. To make the topping: over low heat melt the 1/2 stick of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until the butter melts. Pour over oat batter. Bake 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

If you want to improve the nutritional value of the dish you can add any of the following:
2 tbsp flax seed
1/8 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup applesauce (replacing an egg)
1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit
1/2 cup chopped apples

Cinnamon Apples Recipe

This is a timely recipe for Mabon!
It is also a good activity along side the 'Spice Table' activity.

Ingredients (to serve 4):
5-6 apples, peeled and cored
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Method:
Combine all ingredients.
Place in a non-stick saucepan and cook slowly (keep stirring!) until soft.
Done!
Good to serve with cream or porridge.

Learning opportunities include early science themes of transformation. Talk about how the apples change on cooking. Taste apples before and after and ask children to vocalise how they are different. Young children can use the apples for a brief counting exercise.

Rosemary Bread Recipe

This a lovely bread to bake as part of Lammas festivities. It is also a good recipe to try along side the 'Spice Table' activity.

Ingredients:
1 cup of warm (not hot) water
1 sachet of dried yeast
1 tbsp of white sugar
2 tbsp of rosemary
2 tbsp of softened butter
3 cups of bread flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of salt.

Method:
Mix sugar and then yeast to warm water.
When yeast has started to foam you can add the salt, rosemary and butter.
Gradually add the flour. You may need a little less or a little more than 3 cups. Experiment!
Grease a bowl with olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking and then place dough in bowl and leave in a warm place to rise for roughly an hour (or less sometimes if you're using fast acting yeast)
After an hour knock the air out of the dough and divide (this is enough to make 2 loaves, or you might decide to make rolls instead).
Leave dough again to double in size then bake at 190 degrees until cooked.

Learning opportunities here are for early science themes of transformation - talk about how the heat changes the ingredients.
To extend the activity for older children (particularly around Lammas) you could look at how flour starts as grain and the process it goes through to become flour. Alternatively your child may be more interested in the frothy yeast and you might look at learning about what yeast really is!
This is also a sensory activity particularly good for young children and children at a younger level of development. Encourage children to describe how the sticky dough feels!

Chocolate and Ginger Truffles Recipe

This recipe is great for Yule celebrations and gifts - equally as wonderful as Christmas celebrations and gifts! This is fun and yummy recipe to make along side the 'Spice Table' activity.

Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate
1/4 cup of thick cream
1/2 cup of finely chopped glace ginger

Method:
Melt chocolate in a non-stick saucepan and add cream.
Stir in the glace ginger.
Chill overnight.
In the morning you can roll the mixture into little balls. Provide children with a few different options to roll the truffles in. Cocoa powder, grated white/milk chocolate, and candy sprinkles are a few ideas.

Learning concepts found in this activity include early science ideas - talk about how the ingredients change as they are heated and cooled.

This is also a sensory activity for young children to explore different textures i.e the cocoa power, sprinkles etc. Encourage your child(ren) to vocalise and describe how the different ingredient feel.

Slightly older children can practise reading skills while reading the recipe and early math concept can be incorporated while measuring out the ingredients needed.

Older children can be encouraged to experiment with different spices instead of ginger to explore their creativity!