How to make pumpkin dump cake
So today I made a pumpkin roll. I love pumpkin rolls ever since my very good friend Erin introduced me to them, I crave them. Sadly unless I make two it only uses up 1/2 of a can of pumpkin leaving me with a bunch to either throw out (and my frugal nature makes that near impossible) or to stick in the refrigerator where I will find it two weeks from now and then throw it out. So I decided I would make an additional pumpkin yummy treat. I looked up cookies, cakes, and then stumbled upon pumpkin dump cakes.
Dump cakes are one of our families favorite deserts. So I thought I would give this one a try. I adopted the recipe for what I like and what we had around the house.
You need:
1/2 can pumpkin puree
1 can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar---I used 2/3 brown sugar 1/3 honey---was really good!
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cardamon
(or you could simply put in pumpkin spice for all three)
1 box of yellow cake
2 sticks of butter
Pretzels to crush up
Coconut flakes
So this is how I did it. Feel free to improvise of course. The recipe I looked at called for almonds and graham crackers on top. I did not have those soooo
1. Set oven at 375, grease a rectangular cake pan
2. Beat together sugar, eggs, pumkin, spices, evaporated milk, and then pour into pan
3. Gently sprinkle yellow cake mix on top, the crushed crackers (or in my case crushed pretzels), then the nuts
4. Melt and evenly (or as best as you can) distribute the two sticks of butter
5. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour--it is ready when the knife comes out clean.
I put whipped cream on it too---oh so yummy. I bet Ice cream would be amazing.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Kefir Chocolate Ice cream
Everyone knows yogurt is generally good for them, and those familiar with kefir know that it is like yogurt only better on the probiotics. I got my kefir grains about 2 weeks ago and have been making very nice kefir (about 2 cups a day) for the past week. I have used it in smoothies and to make various bread items and in oatmeal, but I was looking for a new use for it. Since obtaining my $5 garage sale ice cream maker I have found a tasty one.
ICE CREAM!
Who doesn't like chocolate ice cream? So now instead of being a completely decadent waste of calories I am now getting something back for my effort. (Makes 1.5 quarts)
What you need
3/4 cup of kefir
3/4 cup of coconut milk
3 bananas (some people use a avacado, but then you would have to adjust the sugar a bit)
1/2 cup of whole milk
1/2 cup of half and half
1/2 cup of sugar (you could probably use another sweetener like honey but then you would need to adjust the liquid to fit your ice cream container)
1/2 cup of baking cocoa
dash of cinamon (optional)
dash of cardamon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Put everything in your blender and blend well.
Process for your ice cream maker's requirements. Mine I just put it in the frozen ice cream bowl and turn it on for 45 min. (Pay attention to the liquid requirements of your container--mine I can only have 4 cups in at a time--yours may vary)
ICE CREAM!
Who doesn't like chocolate ice cream? So now instead of being a completely decadent waste of calories I am now getting something back for my effort. (Makes 1.5 quarts)
What you need
3/4 cup of kefir
3/4 cup of coconut milk
3 bananas (some people use a avacado, but then you would have to adjust the sugar a bit)
1/2 cup of whole milk
1/2 cup of half and half
1/2 cup of sugar (you could probably use another sweetener like honey but then you would need to adjust the liquid to fit your ice cream container)
1/2 cup of baking cocoa
dash of cinamon (optional)
dash of cardamon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Put everything in your blender and blend well.
Process for your ice cream maker's requirements. Mine I just put it in the frozen ice cream bowl and turn it on for 45 min. (Pay attention to the liquid requirements of your container--mine I can only have 4 cups in at a time--yours may vary)
Monday, August 29, 2011
Lemonade/Limeade
Does anyone else LOVE fresh lemonade or even better fresh limeade. A tall cool refreshing balance of sour and sweet. There is precious little my husband I like better than this. A few years ago Chris and I came across a fellow making fresh limeade and it was perfect! A casual conversation with him and he gave up some of his secrets. So I share them now with you.
What you need
4 cups sugar
4 cups water
lemons or limes
ice
sparkling water
1. So to start you need to make a sugar water solution. What I do is I heat about 1 cup water to 1 cup of sugar and make a little over a quart of sugar water. Heat the water till boiling then pour in the sugar and stir till it is dissolved.
2. Fetch a glass of ice
3. Juice the lime/lemon and leave 1/2 of the juiced citris fruit in the glass with the ice
4. Add the sugar water until about 1/4 of the way up the cup
5. Add the sparkling water
6. transfer back and forth a few times to a different cup or if in a sealed container shake vigorously.
7. Enjoy! Really it is best enjoyed with straw.
What you need
4 cups sugar
4 cups water
lemons or limes
ice
sparkling water
1. So to start you need to make a sugar water solution. What I do is I heat about 1 cup water to 1 cup of sugar and make a little over a quart of sugar water. Heat the water till boiling then pour in the sugar and stir till it is dissolved.
2. Fetch a glass of ice
3. Juice the lime/lemon and leave 1/2 of the juiced citris fruit in the glass with the ice
4. Add the sugar water until about 1/4 of the way up the cup
5. Add the sparkling water
6. transfer back and forth a few times to a different cup or if in a sealed container shake vigorously.
7. Enjoy! Really it is best enjoyed with straw.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Roasted Tomato Sauce
I....Love... tomatoes. I... LOVE... tomato gardens! But what do you do when you have eaten tomatoes in every fashion you can think of, and your beautiful plants are giving you a bumper crop? Canning tomatoes takes forever, and is a complicated process really only worth it if you are canning 25lbs plus. So what do we tomato lovers do when we have 10 beautiful tomatoes on our kitchen counter and can't figure out what to do with them ? I have the answer. ROAST THEM!
I discovered this a few weeks ago. It is super easy, yet yields an amazingly robust tomato sauce.
How to make this sauce.
Preheat oven to 225
Ingredients
Tomatoes
olive oil (I use cold pressed Extra Virgin)
garlic powder or chopped garlic
thyme
salt and pepper
1. Take however many tomatoes you have and cut them into pieces. If you have big beef steak tomatoes I suggest 1/8ths, if you have little cherries 1/2 will do fine.
2.Put them in a bowl, drizzle a bit of EVOO over the top. Dust them with garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and mix it up. I just use my hands for this. You could use other spices. I just like these.
3. Put them on a cookie tray skin sides down and bake for at least 2 hours. I like to bake them until they are browning just a bit on the edges and are still a little wet. The longer you bake the the thicker the sauce--but don't wait too long they can burn :*(
4. Let them cool (don't ask how I know to do this!)
5. Put them in a blender (skins seeds and all!) and puree.
6. Enjoy or freeze for later use.
I have found that this makes a great sauce to serve over pasta with browned Italian sausage as the meat.
I discovered this a few weeks ago. It is super easy, yet yields an amazingly robust tomato sauce.
How to make this sauce.
Preheat oven to 225
Ingredients
Tomatoes
olive oil (I use cold pressed Extra Virgin)
garlic powder or chopped garlic
thyme
salt and pepper
1. Take however many tomatoes you have and cut them into pieces. If you have big beef steak tomatoes I suggest 1/8ths, if you have little cherries 1/2 will do fine.
2.Put them in a bowl, drizzle a bit of EVOO over the top. Dust them with garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and mix it up. I just use my hands for this. You could use other spices. I just like these.
3. Put them on a cookie tray skin sides down and bake for at least 2 hours. I like to bake them until they are browning just a bit on the edges and are still a little wet. The longer you bake the the thicker the sauce--but don't wait too long they can burn :*(
4. Let them cool (don't ask how I know to do this!)
5. Put them in a blender (skins seeds and all!) and puree.
6. Enjoy or freeze for later use.
I have found that this makes a great sauce to serve over pasta with browned Italian sausage as the meat.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Peanut Pork Stir Fry
Ever start out making one recipe then figure out you don't have an ingredient (or in my case just can't find it) and it is the essential spice? Sometimes it is a blessing in disguise.
I started out making what I thought was going to be a Koren based stir fry. I got the rice going in the broth. Put in the sesame seed oil and the coconut oil and fried up the garlic put in the carrots, and the pork (sliced pork chops). Then I went to make the sauce---and where did I put that ginger--not the spice cabinet. Maybe it is on the kitchen counter--nope. Hmmmm--do I have any fresh ginger--not this time. Time to rethink this! What do we have here, soy sauce, honey, and ---crunchy peanut butter! So what came out was a very nice Thai-ish peanut sauce. It is really good!
Both the husband and all the kids ate it so fast that next time I am going to make double.
So here is how to do it!
4.5 cups chicken broth
2 cups basmati rice
1. Cook rice in chicken broth. You could use water--but chicken broth tastes better especially if it is homemade.
2 pork chops cut into strips and then cut in half
1 clove of garlic
2 carrots
1 TBL coconut oil (if you think you need more--put more in)
1 TBL sesame seed oil (this is strong stuff I would not use alot more than that!)
Broccoli (I used a quart sized freezer bag that I had filled with costco frozen broccoli) Prob a head would do
In a different pot
2. Saute the garlic for a min or two with the oil, then put in the carrots and the pork.
3. Stir the pot every once in a while to ensure that nothing sticks or burns
Peanut Sauce
1/3 cup of soy sauce
2 TBL honey
2TBL crunchy peanut butter
Dash of ground cayenne pepper
4. Mix sauce together in a small bowl--you don't have to whip it--just mix up
5. When pork is done pour sauce over pork, add the broccoli. Let it simmer for a few minutes (I think it was about 10 minutes on med/low). You could probably simmer it for less--just make sure your broccli is done.
5.1 Call the kids in, and make them wash their sandy hands
5.2 Set the table
5.3 Settle the fight about who gets to put the forks on the table tonight
5.4 Get yet another fork to replace the one that the two year old threw on the floor
5.5 Call husband downstairs to wrangle the youngest while you and the oldest get the cups on the table.
6. Serve the pork peanut sauce over the rice!
Amount this serves....well it served my family of 5 with about 1.5 cups of rice left over, but no peanut sauce left over so adjust the recipe accordingly.
Hope you like it as much as we did. Let me know if it turns out for you!
I started out making what I thought was going to be a Koren based stir fry. I got the rice going in the broth. Put in the sesame seed oil and the coconut oil and fried up the garlic put in the carrots, and the pork (sliced pork chops). Then I went to make the sauce---and where did I put that ginger--not the spice cabinet. Maybe it is on the kitchen counter--nope. Hmmmm--do I have any fresh ginger--not this time. Time to rethink this! What do we have here, soy sauce, honey, and ---crunchy peanut butter! So what came out was a very nice Thai-ish peanut sauce. It is really good!
Both the husband and all the kids ate it so fast that next time I am going to make double.
So here is how to do it!
4.5 cups chicken broth
2 cups basmati rice
1. Cook rice in chicken broth. You could use water--but chicken broth tastes better especially if it is homemade.
2 pork chops cut into strips and then cut in half
1 clove of garlic
2 carrots
1 TBL coconut oil (if you think you need more--put more in)
1 TBL sesame seed oil (this is strong stuff I would not use alot more than that!)
Broccoli (I used a quart sized freezer bag that I had filled with costco frozen broccoli) Prob a head would do
In a different pot
2. Saute the garlic for a min or two with the oil, then put in the carrots and the pork.
3. Stir the pot every once in a while to ensure that nothing sticks or burns
Peanut Sauce
1/3 cup of soy sauce
2 TBL honey
2TBL crunchy peanut butter
Dash of ground cayenne pepper
4. Mix sauce together in a small bowl--you don't have to whip it--just mix up
5. When pork is done pour sauce over pork, add the broccoli. Let it simmer for a few minutes (I think it was about 10 minutes on med/low). You could probably simmer it for less--just make sure your broccli is done.
5.1 Call the kids in, and make them wash their sandy hands
5.2 Set the table
5.3 Settle the fight about who gets to put the forks on the table tonight
5.4 Get yet another fork to replace the one that the two year old threw on the floor
5.5 Call husband downstairs to wrangle the youngest while you and the oldest get the cups on the table.
6. Serve the pork peanut sauce over the rice!
Amount this serves....well it served my family of 5 with about 1.5 cups of rice left over, but no peanut sauce left over so adjust the recipe accordingly.
Hope you like it as much as we did. Let me know if it turns out for you!
My New Blog
So my husband says I need a place to store my rants, philosophies, stories and recipes. He kindly set up a blog for me. Isn't that nice! So here it is! Perhaps we will start with recipes as I am all ranted out today :)
So follow along if you wish as I trace the bouncing directions my mind races while I do laundry, dishes, and otherwise try to be a mom and a wife. Comma splices and run-on sentences are just a fact of life around here. Perfection in grammar is just not going to happen with toddlers bouncing on me. So lets start the adventure!
So follow along if you wish as I trace the bouncing directions my mind races while I do laundry, dishes, and otherwise try to be a mom and a wife. Comma splices and run-on sentences are just a fact of life around here. Perfection in grammar is just not going to happen with toddlers bouncing on me. So lets start the adventure!
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