Baked pumpkin seeds

Craving pumpkins is my favorite part of Halloween. Something about the smell of a freshly cut pumpkin and touching the slimy goo inside, I just love. Also don't forget the fun designs and creative ways to turn your pumpkin into something special. I always save the seeds when I carve my pumpkins to bake. They are a really tasty healthy snack I look forward to having each year. To make them, I gather all the seeds and clean them. Then I soak them in salt water over night. I strain them and pat them dry and layer them on a cookie sheet. I pour about a tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with salt, then toss them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 mins or until browned. I leave them in a little longer because I like them really crunchy. I sprinkled a little curry powder on these for an added flavor.

Witches finger cookies -- gluten free

This weekend I was at my friends Crystals party and she made these amazing witches finger cookies. I thought they looked really cool and creepy. So for Halloween I made some for my office mates. They are just the right amount of creepy and yumminess to go with our office decorations. Thanks to Crystal and Martha Stewart (where I got the recipe from) I love these cookies and they were a blast to make.

recipe:

red icing
32 blanched or roasted whole almonds
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

 Pinch of salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mills flour, Love this stuff!!)

 

Mix butter, sugar, beaten egg, almond extract, vanilla extract, salt and flour and refrigerate after for about 30 mins. Then shape the fingers out of the dough score with a knife. Press almonds into the tips of the fingers and bake for 20-25 mins at 350 degrees until lightly brown. Let cool on wire rack, then add the icing around the nail beds for the blood look. I found out that the almonds tend to pop off, so I ended up icing the nail beds to help keep them on.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Turkey pot pie -- gluten free

Today I made a gluten free turkey pot pie, fall is in full swing and the craving for comfort food is strong. For this I used a gluten free pie crust recipe that was used on a pumpkin pie that was incredible. 

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cup gluten free all purpose baking flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)

2 tbsp cold water

1 tsp fine sea salt

2 tbsps sugar

Mix it together and chill until you need it. I got this recipe from www.simplygluten-free.com I really like their recipes.

For the filling this is the recipe I used.

1 lb cooked turkey breast

1/2 medium onion onion - diced

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

2 celery stalks - diced

2 carrots - diced

1/3 cup frozen peas

3-4 yellow potatoes 

4 cloves of garlic - minced

2 tbsp gluten free flour

1/2 c cream

1 c chicken stock (I made my own)

2 tsps rosemary

salt + pepper

Cook veggies and meat, mix together with stock, cream and flour in a greased pie dish. Top with pie crust, make sure to add 3-4 slits in the crust. This is to make sure your pie doesn't explode all over your oven. Brush with an egg wash to help crust brown nicely and bake for about an hour at 375 degrees. If you see your crust browning too fast cover with aluminum foil. 

M&M Rice Krispy squares

Tonight I am going to a Halloween birthday party my friend Crystal is throwing, very excited. I thought it would be nice to bring a treat, so I made m&m rice krispy squares yum! Who doesn't like rice krispy squares? Crazy people! Anyway, it's the standard 3 tbsp of butter, 10 oz package of marshmallows, rice krispies and of course m&m's. I found brown rice rice krispies that happen to be gluten free, they actually taste really good (almost better than the original ones). Then I packaged them up with some cute bags I found at Michaels and a trick or treat bucket I found at the dollar store. It's going to be a fun night.

holiday skeleton all ready for Halloween 

PBJ

Today I was lazy and didn't feel like cooking. My friend Viv brought me some homemade jam his wife made, it is prefect. I slapped that on a toasted English muffin with some organic peanut butter... lazy meal heaven <3

Butternut squash pumpkin soup

As you can see I am still on my soup kick. It's been raining and cold here, I find this so comforting. Something I never really understood while I was living in LA, soup was soup. Anyway, I had a squash and some pumpkins laying around after thanksgiving, also the rest of my pink veggie stock. So I thought what the heck. This isn't something I normally would cook, very happy I did :)

recipe:


2 tbsp butter
1 leek (white and green parts)
1 apple (Any kind)
1 large carrot
4 cloves garlic
1 butternut squash (cut into 1-2 inch cubes)
1 pound sugar pumpkin (cut into 1-2 inch cubes)
2 tbsp curry power
1/4 tsp ground all spice
1 cinnamon stick
6 cups veggie stock (made my own)
1 cup water
1 cup half and half
Salt to taste (I ended up using like 2 tlbsp,)

Melt butter in pot, put in leek, garlic, apple and carrot cook about 15 mins. Add pumpkin, squash, all spice, cinnamon stick, curry, stock and water cook until pumpkin and squash is tender. Then take off heat and puree it (I use a hand held mixer) then add in half and half, salt to taste and pepper. Heat up, don't boil and serve hot

Potato and leek soup

This soup is like a warm potato hug, especially now that the weather is getting really cold. I made veggie stock first (tomato, carrots, onion, garlic, celery, green pepper and beats simmered 45 mins and strained). For the potato soup I cut up the potatoes and leek, then cooked them down in the stock. It was kind of funny, the beats made my veggie stock bright pink and it turned the potatoes pink.When I added the cream to it, it turned bright baby pink. I thought I was going to have pink soup. Once I blended everything together and added a little more cream it was the right color. Added some salt and there it was a bowl of potato happiness.  Topped off with some chives.

Turkey soup

So after the big dinner I took the left over turkey, bones and everything and made turkey stock. I hate with a passion store bought broth and stock, so having a turkey carcass laying around is fantastic. I cleaned the carcass of as much meat as I could and put it in a pot with carrot, onion, garlic and celery. The turkey was already seasoned so it didn't really need anything else. I simmered it for about 4 hours and strained it. I let the stock sit over night and the next day I made my soup with it.  Chopped up turkey, carrots, onion, celery, added cream and a little corn starch to thicken it up simmered it until veggies were tender. mmmmm

Canadian Thanksgiving

First Canadian Thanksgiving and I thought it would be nice to have a dinner party, potluck style. I was in charge of the turkey and stuffing. I wish I took pictures of the table and party, but I was running around making sure everything was going well and not burning. Dinner parties are a lot of work. So I did the turkey, (sorry the pictures are not the most flattering) it turned out freaking amazing. I was very proud of it for being my very first turkey ever. The key is in the brine. Might make another one for the US Thanksgiving now :)

holiday skeleton got in on the action as well

Caprese salad with bacon on a quinoa patty

 I had some bacon sitting in the fridge that really needed to be cooked before it went bad. I was also craving a caprese salad, so this is what I came up with. It was quite yummy, the quinoa patty was a last minute idea because we didn't have bread in the house. The quinoa patty was made with cooked quinoa, mozzarella cheese, Italian herbs and an egg. I used a muffin tin to bake the little patties. Healthy and light :)

Chickpea cauliflower curry

This dish is where I fell in love with coconut oil. I think this stuff is amazing. I picked up some for the strawberry coconut breakfast bars and thought what the heck, lets see it in action in the frying pan. Soo fragrant and combines with the curry so well, very happy with it. This is chickpeas, cauliflower and kale with an Indian curry sauce (garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, cumin and ginger)

Peanut butter cheese cup cakes

For my friend Derek's birthday I wanted to make him cup cakes, I love baking. He said he wanted something peanut butter flavored and this is what I came up with (with the help of the internet). I came across this recipe and thought it would be fun and different from plain old cup cakes. These little babies where crazy good.

recipe here:

http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2012/09/recipe-peanut-butter-cup-cheesecake.html