Crockpot meatballs with fall veggies.

I don't know about you, but I love fall veggies. Almost as much as I love cold weather and hoodies. And ragweed dying.

The veggies in the fall are tasty as well as nutritious.  They are packed with vitamins, and come in a variety of vibrant colors.  I feel like every year I discover a veggie I never heard of before, and I fall in love all over again. Last year I found watermelon radishes which are amazing. This year.... Purple sweet potatoes stole my heart.  I love purple carrots, so I figured, why not? I wasn't wrong :)

Today I decided to make meatballs and sauce, but to put a fall spin on them.  I have some purple carrots from my South Shore Organics delivery, as well as purple sweet potatoes that I bought in their store (if you don't get delivery from them you need to stop reading and set it up, if you're in this area. You will not be disappointed!!). I also had pumpkins that I roasted and pureed.  So exciting!









First, I cut up the raw veggies and put them in the food processor with the egg and pureed pumpkin.







Then added this to the grains and rolled into balls.



After they came out, I knew I was onto something :)














Then I put them in my homemade sauce that was in the crockpot already. I put a fall spin on that too with the extra pumpkin I had left.





I can't wait until dinner time tonight.  I plan to serve this over spaghetti squash for Daddy, D and me. Anth might want them without sauce and with sweet potatoes on the side. So I put some aside for him. We'll see how that goes!




Meatballs:

1 lb ground bison/buffalo/venison/extra lean beef
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup whole oats
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup cooked brown rice
1 medium purple sweet potato
1 large purple carrot
1/2 cup pureed roasted pumpkin
2 cloves garlic
1 farm fresh egg
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 tsp sea salt



Preheat oven to 400.
Combine meats and grains in a metal bowl. Set aside
Place veggies and egg in food processor. Process until finely ground and combined.
Add to meat mixture.
Combine by hand (with gloves if desired) until fully combined.
Roll into small balls and place on broiler drip pan.
Cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
Add to sauce in crockpot. (See below)





Sauce:

1 small can tomato paste
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 cup water
2 large cans crushed or kitchen ready tomatoes
2 large cloves garlic
Salt, pepper and basil to taste

Combine paste, pumpkin and water in crockpot and wisk together.
Add crushed tomatoes and spices.
Cook on high for 1 hour prior to adding meatballs.
Once meatballs are added, turn to low for 4 hours.

Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash.

Easy chocolate chip cookies.

I wanted cookies tonight. I wasn't going to stop til I got them. But I have a headache and I'm exhausted. Being a full time student, full time nurse and mom will do it to you. I was out of baking soda. This was very much a tragedy. Til I realized that pancake mix has leavening in it and I started thinking.

I had recently made cinnamon rolls with my favorite pancake mix, as well as pumpkin bread. This was gonna be awesome!!!

I threw this together based on my chocolate chip cookie recipe, without the egg substitute and gluten free flour, and of course since those are double chocolate cookies, I made other adjustments. Also, I adjusted for what was already added to the pancake mix, and created a recipe.  I decided since I had just made apple butter recently, that I could eliminate an egg and add that.  It usually makes things so moist.

Holy canoli, I wasn't wrong!!

It surprised me that the first time I made them, they were awesome, and I don't want to change anything about it.

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup palm oil shortening
2 tsp bourbon vanilla
1 egg
2 tbs apple butter
2 cups Immaculate Baking Co. Organic Pancake & Waffle Mix
1 cup whole rolled oats
1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chunks

Cream brown sugar and palm oil. Add egg, vanilla and apple butter. Continue to blend with hand held or standing mixer. Add pancake mix and oats. Blend on low til well combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Fold in chocolate chunks.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on edges.

Cinnamon Buns. The easy way.

Want something sweet for breakfast?  Something warm and gooey?  Me too.  Sometimes.

This was quick to make, and DELICIOUS!  No one complained that it took too long. Such a rare occurrence in a house with kids. Gotta love them, though, right?

Trust me. This was AMAZING.

Ingredients

Dough:
3/4 cup almond or coconut milk
1 egg
3 cups Immaculate Baking Co. Pancake & Waffle Mix

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs pureed pumpkin

Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs almond milk


Mix dough ingredients. Turn out onto floured surface. Roll into 1/2 inch thick rectangle (about 7 inches by 10 inches.  Combine filling ingredients. Spread over dough.  Roll starting from wide side, from right to left. Slice into 1/2 inch rolls, and place on side on cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Pour glaze over tops while still warm.

Apple Butter. My way.

Ingredients

10 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 tbs cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

2 tbs maple syrup

1/4 cup water

Put all ingredients in crock pot. Turn on low for 8 hours.  After 4 hours, blend until smooth in blender, food processor, or using immersion blender. Return to crock pot and take cover part of the way off to vent. Once all liquid has cooked off, turn off crock pot.  Allow to cool. 

I put my finished product in small half pint jars.  If you process as you would process apple sauce, this makes a GREAT holiday gift!

Enjoy Life adventures.

I woke up a few days ago to a box of Enjoy Life cookies at my door. All pretty in their new packaging. Along with a link to their new recipes page.


Needless to say, we were excited.
We decided we'd make the frozen s'more cookie sandwiches from the site the next day.

As soon as I got home from work, Anth put on his apron and got ready to work.

 He began by spreading out the cookies for me. He was very excited to count out 12 on his own.





Anth added the chocolate chips to the ice cream, and I started spreading the coconut ice cream on the cookies to make sandwiches. We put them on a cookie sheet to freeze and even made 2 sandwiches with the double chocolate cookies (Anth's favorite kind).

Anth ate the rest of the ice cream

Then we waited over night while they froze.














The next day we used a double boiler to melt chocolate chips and palm oil, then dipped half of each sandwich in. They had to freeze for one more hour to set.

Time to enjoy!!

For those of you who don't know Enjoy Life, they are a company who makes foods that are free of the 8 most common allergens. They make these foods for people like Anth and others with multiple food allergies, so they can enjoy eating the foods you and I take for granted. Their foods are all free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, gluten, dairy, soy, fish and shellfish.

This dessert, as I made it, is also free of those 8 allergens.

****Of note, the cookies pictured above come in flavors such as double chocolate, chocolate chip, honey graham and sugar crisp. The only one of them that is certified vegan is the sugar crisp. The others are not because of the sugar they contain.


The recipe from the Enjoy Life website is linked above. Mine is below, with a few changes that I made, based on our dietary needs.














S'more Ice Cream Sandwiches
(makes 6 sandwiches)

Sandwich Ingredients
1 pint vanilla bean So Delicious Coconut Milk ice cream, softened
4 T Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips
12 Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Crunchy Cookies

Chocolate Coating Ingredients
¼ C Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips
2 t Spectrum Sustainable Palm Oil Shortening


Directions:
1. Mix the Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips in with the softened coconut milk ice cream.
2. Scoop about ¼ C onto 6 of the Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Crunchy Cookies.
3. Top with another cookie.
4. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer overnight.


The following day:
1. Melt the ¼ C Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips with the 2 t palm oil.
2. Remove the cookie sandwiches from the freezer and dip about half into the chocolate.
3. Place on parchment lined baking sheet in freezer
4. Freeze until relatively firm, about another hour or so, and then cover until ready to eat.

 

Best.ever.blondies.

I have been on a kick lately. A kick where I eat clean and exercise regularly. But I love dessert.  A lot. I needed something sweet today and I decided to combine a few recipes I have seen lately for blondies. And to make them healthier.

They were deeeeelicious.

Here goes:

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/2 cups coconut palm sugar
2 tsp ground chia seeds
2 tbs warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup oat bran
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (with an additional 1/4 cup for topping)
1 cup dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cacao)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix oil, apple sauce and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer. Combine chia and water until a gel forms and add to sugar mixture, along with vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine quinoa flour, oat bran and baking powder. Add to sugar mixture and mix on low until combined. Fold in chocolate and coconut.
Pour into 13x9 in pan and sprinkle with extra coconut. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges slightly brown and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool completely and slice into 16 bars. 

Tell me they're not great. Oh.em.gee.

You're welcome.

*Sorry there are no pictures.... they were gone too soon.

The best season of the year. Pumpkin season.... wait, fall, yeah, fall!!!

Pumpkin season has now officially begun, and we are in the throes of apple season.  This couldn't be a better season, as far as I'm concerned!

I visited the Farmer's Market this morning, and was very disappointed that one of the ladies working at the booth selling pumpkins didn't know how to roast a pumpkin. Or toast the seeds. Or make a pumpkin pie without the cans. The cans are great. They are easy, tasty and available all the time. But... they are $1 to $3 depending on where you go, when you can roast and puree a fresh pumpkin for $.59 a pound (and I paid $1.18 for my pumpkin today, and I got the equivalent of about 5 cans of pumpkin. It's a no brainer to me..... And it's healthier, less processed, tastier, you also get the seeds (which are high in zinc) and roasting pumpkins make your house smell so gooooood!






Here's how:



Cut a pumpkin in half (sugar pumpkin, not the ones used to decorate)
Take the seeds out (set them aside. I will tell you what to do with them). Put pulp side down in a greased roasting pan, cover with tin foil.
Cook on 400 for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size.
It is ready when you can stick a fork easily through the skin.
Once it cools, you can scrape the pulp out of the skin, place it in the food processor, and there you have it......

The seeds: 

Once you get them all out, you're gonna need to clean them off. So, put them in a strainer, get all the orange pumpkin strings out, and rinse them completely.

Fill a pot with water and salt at a ratio of 1 cup seeds to 3 cups water, 1 T salt.
Bring to a boil, add the seeds and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
Drain, do not rinse, and allow to dry off for a few.
Spread them out on an olive oil greased roasting pan, or lipped cookie sheet.

Cook at 400 for 10-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool completely before eating or covering.
(I leave the shells on the seeds because they help to maintain the level of zinc in the seeds. Plus, it's so hard to get the seeds out without making a huge mess, so, I just don't bother. Also, don't brown for more than 20 minutes, that is considered the threshold for maintaining the maximum amount of minerals in the seed.) 








Now for the fun stuff!  What do you make with all this pumpkin?!? 

1. Mix a tablespoon of pumpkin into your oatmeal in the morning.
2. Add a cup of pureed pumpkin to tomato sauce in place of tomato paste.
3. Use as a substitute for eggs in most baked goods. Use 1 tablespoon pumpkin for each egg.
4. Add to meatballs or meatloaf
5. Stir into your favorite macaroni and "cheese" recipe

And tons of baked goods!!!!

For example: Breakfast cookies or Vegan Brownies

Here are a few:



Apple pie pancakes (the healthy way)

2 cups flour (I use Trader Joe's all purpose, but any kind is fine. GF even)
1 T cornstarch (optional, but makes pancakes less dense)

1 T brown sugar

1 T baking powder

1 T olive oil (coconut would be good too, melted)

1 t salt

3 T pureed pumpkin

1 1/4 cups coconut milk (if using canned, 1/2 cup coconut milk: 3/4 cup water)

2 t cinnamon

(if using GF flour, use 1/2 t xanthan gum)

2 apples, cored, not peeled, diced

Wisk together everything but apples. Fold in apples. 

Cook on medium heat on a griddle, or frying pan on high, sprayed with coconut or olive oil (coconut tastes better).

Once sides bubble flip (after about 2 minutes), cook for 3 more minutes, or until cooked through. 

Serve with dairy free butter, or coconut oil and Grade B maple syrup 

Crockpot Pumpkin Butter

Meat of 2 Sugar/Pie Pumpkins
2 apples, cored, diced 
1/2 cup Water

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (I used light brown)
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves(you can also use pumpkin pie spice, and add extra 1/2 tsp cinnamon)

Peel and chop the pumpkin, removing the seeds (set aside for later). 
In a large bowl, or using the Crockpot itself, toss the pumpkin, apple, sugar and spice.

Once combined, pour water over the top. 
Set to medium or low for 8 hours. When soft enough, transfer to a blender or food processor and puree. Return to Crockpot.
Cook on high, uncovered, til no liquid remains. This typically takes me 4 hours or so, but keep an eye on it, so that it doesn't burn.
Allow to cool completely, and if you would like a smoother texture, blend a second time. I transfer mine to canning jars and refrigerate, but it can be canned as well. I've kept mine in the fridge up to 2 months without an issue. 

Pumpkin Apple Pie Bars

Crust Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

8 tablespoons palm oil shortening, coconut oil or dairy free stick butter

Filling Ingredients:

1 cup coconut cream (cold, water removed. See below)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 T coconut flour

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 T cinnamon

1 t pumpkin pie spice

1 t vanilla 

1 1/2 cup diced apple (including skin)

Topping extras

2/3 cup crust mix

1/2 cup brown sugar

Cinnamon and sugar to taste

Mix crust ingredients in a food processor til crumbly. Set aside 2/3 cup for topping. Press into the bottom of 2 8x8 pans (if using a 9x13 pan, cooking time will be longer, and the results are really better in smaller pans). Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, and allow to cool.

Mix filling ingredients, except apple, with an electric mixer. Fold in apple. Pour into cooked and cooled crust mix. For topping, add the remaining crust mix to the brown sugar. Sprinkle on top. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until set.

Allow to cool before cutting, and once cut, refrigerate to allow them to set completely.

There will be more. I promise. Just wanted to give you a good start!