Give Thanks

Have a wonderful day tomorrow
taking time to give thanks.

The big things I'm thankful for: that God sent His son, Jesus to rescue me from this world and that He loves me, that God gave me an incredible husband who is truly my best friend and confidant, that God blessed and untrusted me with two wonderful miracles of His creation, and the rest is just icing on the cake.

I'll be back here on Monday....

Homemade Butter

This is another fun thing to do. We always did this on Thanksgiving day when I was a kid. The kids get a kick out of it and I still do too...

Pour heavy whipping cream into a large canning jar.
Put the lid on tightly and start shaking.
Pass the jar around and let all the kids do some shaking.

It will first turn to whipped cream inside.....

and before long, it starts to separate and you've got a chunk of butter and buttermilk in there.

Take the butter out and save the buttermilk for a later use. You can add salt if you'd like to.

Here is a pretty good tutorial on it.

Frost on the Pumpkin

It's looking like I won't get that caramel pumpkin pie made in time to post it on here before Thanksgiving. But if it turns out well I'll post it afterwards because it would be nice for any fall day. Meantime, here's something else.

I made this recipe a few years back for Thanksgiving as a treat for the kiddos and so I wanted to share it with you. I'm afraid it isn't healthy other than the pumpkin! But it's a yummy treat that's for sure. I got this recipe from a friend, Lynn. Thanks Lynn! I still love this little dip.

1 can vanilla frosting
8 oz. sour cream
1 can pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
8 oz. Cool Whip (thawed)
Ginger Snaps

Mix all ingredients together (except Ginger Snaps of course!) and chill until ready to serve. Serve with Ginger Snaps as a dip!

When I made this I served it up in a little pumpkin just like the one pictured. The one pictured isn't this exact recipe but you get the idea.

Popovers

Okay, I know these are basic to some, but I truly had never made them till this week. My mom has talked so many times of how she made them as a little girl and I've always wanted to try them. They are simple and fun.

A few weeks back, a friend, Sugar Coma, introduced us to Yorkshire Pudding. Thinking that this must be the same thing mom was talking about, I started to research...what is the difference between Yorkshire Pudding and Popovers? Nothing really. They are the same thing except Yorkshire Pudding are the ones usually baked in the meat drippings. In fact you can pour the batter right into the drippings of a roast while it's cooking the last 30 min. and bake up the Yorkshire Pudding all around the roast. Who knew? Popovers are done without meat drippings, just with butter. That's what my research concluded but I'm far from an expert on this so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm totally wrong.

Regardless, these puff muffins are yummy! Mine in the picture didn't pop up as high as Sugar Coma's did and I think I know why. You're supposed to let the batter come to room temp. and well, I just didn't have time, I mean patience, to do that. So, let the batter come to room temp and here is a link to some great popover tips.

1 c whole milk (whole works best)
1 c flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
butter cut into little chunks

Whisk/beat eggs well. Combine flour, milk, and salt with the eggs. Let batter come to room temperature. Put a little chunk of butter into each muffin cup of a muffin tin. Place the muffin tin in oven while it is pre-heating to 435 degrees. This way the butter will melt. When the butter is melted, use a pastry brush to dip in each cup and brush the sides of the cup with the butter to prevent the muffins from sticking. Pour batter into muffin cups filling them about 1/2 full. This recipe should make about 12 regular popovers. Bake at 435 degrees for about 30 min. Popovers will bake up very puffy and will lightly brown on top. Remove from oven. Serve immediately with butter, jam, honey, etc. They are a bit hollow inside so you can also fill them.

They don't look like much but let me tell ya, the taste is so good!

Give Thanks

With Thanksgiving this week I'm posting a few recipes (for what I'm bringing to Gram's house this year) and some other recipes I've done in the past.

I'm responsible to bring the bread rolls and a pumpkin pie. For some reason I just can't do anything traditional and I keep looking for something "different" to do every holiday...so my "different" twist on rolls and pumpkin pie are going to be:

Popovers
and
Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Pie

I've done a trial run of the popovers....okay we did two trial runs because the first night I made them my family loved them so much that they begged me to make them again the next night. Nope, I don't think it's possible to get tired of them. I'll post those tomorrow.

So, to start you off, here are some of the links to some fun things to make with the kiddos....
Acorn Treats
Oreo Turkeys
Pilgrim Hat Cookies
Pilgrim Hats with Marshmellows
Turkey Cake Pops
Children's Thanksgiving Table (turkey stand up coloring book and silhouettes)

CENTERPIECES: Here are some recipes for simple table centerpieces. I've done some of these and they are simple and usually cheap!

Vase of Fruit: fill a very large vase (clear glass and they are cheap at wal-mart) with a selection of oranges, green apples, pomegranates, and fill all the nooks and crannies with cranberries. I've done this and they are beautiful and full of fall color.

Pumpkin Pedestal: place a pumpkin on a cake pedestal, (click on that one to see a friend's lovely display) urn, or large candle stick. Tie stem with a bow or wrap with ivy.






Pumpkin Candle: Hollow out a pumpkin and place a large pillar candle in it. Drape with fall leaves or ivy. Stuff with leaves or berries and twigs like this one pictured. You can cut a bigger whole and put an even wider candle in it.










Pumpkin in a Wreath: Place a pumpkin in a wreath of fall leaves.












Pumpkin Vase: Hollow out a pumpkin and use it as a vase for a full bouquet of flowers in fall colors.









Mini Pumpkin TeaLights: Hollow out mini pumpkins cutting a circle the size of a traced tea light. Stick a tea light snuggle in to the cut hole.







Bundled Indian Corn: tie in a bunch with a large ribbon and set them standing on end. (sorry the picture is so small)






And be sure to check Martha Stewart's ideas for Thanksgiving tables which include name place cards, napkins, and centerpieces....flip through the pictures:
table decor
the kid's table


See ya tomorrow for popovers. =0)

Tuna Melts

Growing up my mom always made tuna melts for us. In an effort to get some fish down our family I tried making them again the other day. I love tuna melts! One of our kids wouldn't have anything to do with the tuna though so we made a few Chicken Melts for him.

1 package of tuna (I buy the white packed in water)
mayo
2 chopped pickles or 4 tbsp relish
1/4 c grated cheese
sliced cheese
3 whole wheat english muffins
dash salt
dash pepper

Split the english muffins in halves. Mix the tuna, mayo, pickle, and grated cheese together. Use as much mayo as desired to moisten. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture on English muffins. Top with sliced or grated cheese. Bake at 435 degrees for about 15 or until heated through and cheese is melted.

~variation
use canned chicken instead of tuna.

Answering Questions- Costco or Coupons

I was asked about the savings difference between using Costco or coupons. I'll answer it here for anyone else that is interested.

The state we live in doesn't have very many grocery store chains and of those chains none will double our coupons (that I'm aware of). Of all the "good deal" kind of stores, Walgreens is about the best there is here and the only one that I can think of that has super good deals (that I'm aware of).

We do have a discount grocery that is cheaper than the rest and you bag your own groceries and can pay cash or check only. I know many gals that shop there but I'm unable to find all of our purchase needs there which requires driving to more stores. And it's not exactly close to my house.

So, with all of that, I have found for us personally it makes more sense to shop as much in bulk at Costco (plus I love the quality there) and then do the rest at the grocery store the best I can with sales and coupons (even though they aren't doubled). I could drive around and go to several stores in order to get better deals I think but my time is precious to me and with gas prices the way they are, I'm not interested in driving far between our spread out stores. I'm a one stop kind of girl. So, in general I go to Costco once a month or less and then a grocery store twice a month.

Those are my reasons for using Costco because if I do things the way I want to do them, Costco does actually save me money in the long run. It did take a bit of time to switch over to buying at Costco because it's a lot of money up front but once I got most of our things in bulk now it's just a matter of replacing them when we run out. If I was willing to drive to several stores instead and if our grocery stores doubled coupons then I would probably save even more money. But for now, this works for me. Shopping at Costco (because most of it is bulk) prevents me from having to grocery shop as often...I go 2 times a month instead of once a week like a lot of people.

I hope that cleared the mud a bit on why I do as much shopping at Costco as possible.

What to make for lunch today....

I've been working on coming up with a list of easy lunches that are healthier and provide some variety to our diet. I like to cook them from scratch as much as possible but keep them easy and it's all in an effort to avoid feeding my kids lunch meat, peanut butter and jelly, and hot dogs on a three day rotation! =0)

Here is the list that I made today and taped to the inside of my pantry door next to my dinner list.

tortilla wraps
simple tacos
macaroni salad and toast
pasta salad
grilled eggplant sandwiches
zucchini cakes
salad bar
homemade soup
grilled tomato & cheese sand. and tomato soup
grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches
tuna and crackers
tuna melts (recipe coming soon)
pita pockets filled with good stuff (goodwich; chicken salad, salad, veggies, etc.)
chicken salad and crackers
english muffin pizzas
toasted peanut butter and honey
bagel sandwich
stromboli
quiche
bakeover
fritta

Have more lunch ideas....share them in the comments! I'd love more!

Two Beef Pot Pies

You can make these pot pies with regular pie crust or you can use phyllo dough as a healthier option. These directions are for the phyllo crust version. If using pie crust just pour the filling into an unbaked pie crust and top with another pie crust.

Filling:
3-4 cups cooked meat
6 yukon gold potatoes or 3 large russet bakers
2 c chopped carrots
3 celery stalks
1/2 a chopped onion
1 tsp italian seasoning
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 tsp pepper
salt to taste
olive oil

Gravy:
You can make a gravy out of the meat juices using butter, flour, the juices and water as needed. Be generous with the gravy amount because the pie will soak some of it up and you want some gravy with it when it's served.

If you don't have the juices from your meat cooking, you can make a simple beef gravy by using these ingredients:
2 beef bullion
4 cups water
no salt (because the bullion is high in salt already)
pepper
garlic

Pie Crust:
1 package phyllo dough...about 10-15 layered sheets for each pie.


Using a clean counter space, layer the phyllo dough spritzing it with olive oil in-between each sheet of dough. Be sure to separate each sheet of thin phyllo. It's a good idea to have another spray bottle of water to spritz the dough to keep it moist. If it starts to dry it will get crispy and you won't be able to fold it. It will just crumble. So, keep it moist.....another idea is to lay a wet cheese cloth or towel over it till you are ready to use it. Lay the phyllo dough sheets in alternately turned directions so that you get a large pile that will cover a pie dish well.

Cook the meat, set aside. Cook the veggies and seasonings in the olive oil (top list of ingredients) until cooked. Add the meat to this mixture. Make the gravy and add the gravy to the meat and veggie mixture.




Place the phyllo pie crust that you made into a sprayed pie plate. This recipe will make enough for TWO pies. Once filled, fold over the phyllo dough that is hanging over the edge. Spray the top with olive oil.












Bake 350 degrees for approx. 30 min.
Freeze the other pie uncooked for another night.

Hubbard Squash

I'd never cooked or eaten a hubbard squash before so this is a first.

Cut the thing in half..which is not easy to do.

Scrape out the insides and steam like you would any other squash or put in your crock for 6 hours on low. This turned out yummy just like other squash. =0)



Serve with brown sugar and butter.

Favorite Gadget Thing - Silicone Mat

This is a new product that I got recently. I've always wanted one of those (okay 4 of those) nifty silpats that Martha Stewart has. You know the ones that cost $20 each!

Then one day I saw this at Target....it's made by Wilton and it's a silicone baking mat. I think I paid $11 for it but AMAZON has it for $9.99.

It truly is wonderful! I use it every time I use a cookie sheet. Nothing sticks to it. It's easy to wash and is more cost effective than buying parchment paper.

Best part is, it's very flexible, unlike the silpats...so I can easily roll it up tight and store it in the drawer with the foil and cling wrap.

Now, if you're considering buying it off Amazon, I'd appreciate you clicking on Amazon through my link on the right side bar to show your love and support of What's Cooking! =0)


And that's my Favorite Gadget Thing for this month! See ya Monday!

Featured Product- Asian Pears

This is my new favorite fruit. I had never tried one until this past year with our organic produce deliveries. Yum. I wasn't a big fan of pears to start with but this pear eaten cold and while it is still crisp like an apple is wonderful. My kids love them too! Haven't tried one before? Go ahead and give it a try! I hope you like it!

Getting Creative with Soup

Some good-for-you things I'm putting in my soups lately.....
cabbage
leeks
lentils
beets
kale
spinach
beans (sometimes mashed)
squash
garlic
split peas
tomatoes
brown rice


What are you putting in soups lately?

For tips on starting a base for most soups...click here and read the Soup 101 part.

Beets

Beets are good. Red beets stain. But beets are good. =0)

High in iron, beets are worth cooking. Wash them, cut off the ends, and then steam them with the skins on till fork tender. Once cool enough to handle, skins peel off with ease..in fact, they practically fall off. Serve them hot with butter and salt or let them cool and slice them for salads.

Instead of steaming them, cook them in your crock-pot on low for 4-6 hours or until fork tender.

(the beets pictured are red beets and white beets fresh from my dad's garden)

Down in the Dumps Cake

When I was a little girl, my mom made this recipe and when she was a little girl, her Grandma and Aunt Neetsa made it. My mom has told me her memories of eating this yummy dessert while watching slides and 8 mm movies of their latest family vacations (camping trips usually) with their friends the Zimmers. Mom is one of 10 kids and the Zimmers had 6 kids so these two family picture-nights were no small gatherings. This dessert is so rich it can feed a small army. My memories of it are at home with our family and sometimes with company. I remember my own Grandma making chocolate pudding with ice cream so it also reminds me of her. =0)



Nothing healthy about it unless you use the chopped nuts! This chocolate cake is made by pouring hot water over top of it and then the cake bakes up on the top and the rest turns into a hot pudding underneath waiting to be uncovered. I've made this many times in my oven according the directions below but this time I made it in my crock-pot while we were out to dinner. We had company coming back to our house for dessert and when we got back it was ready and waiting for us! Crock-pot directions are at the bottom of this post....



but first just to be sure this is the longest recipe post EVER, my early married story of making this dessert was taking it to a church meeting which we were late to. My ever so skillful driving husband was taking turns quite sharply in order to make up for our being late and I cringed as I knew my hot pudding would most likely not withstand all the tipping while it was sitting on the back seat of our car. Somewhere in the world, that car probably still has a chocolate pudding stain on the back seat....try as we did, we could never soak it all up. So, consider yourself warned before trying to transport this dessert! My lesson learned, DON'T transport a dessert with the word "dump" in the name of the recipe!

Original Recipe:



BATTER:

Mix together-

2 c flour

4 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt



Blend in-

1 cup milk

4 tbsp veg. oil

2 c chopped walnuts (optional)



Pour batter into an ungreased glass 9x13 baking dish.



PUDDING:

In another bowl mix together-

2 c brown sugar

1/2 c cocoa powder

Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the batter.



Pour 3 c hot water over the top of brown sugar and batter.



Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. Let cool about one hour. The water makes a chocolate pudding underneath the baked chocolate cake. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream while watching family videos.



Crock-pot cooking instructions:

Coat crock with butter before putting batter in.

Cook on high heat for 2-2 1/2 hours. (it's very forgiving so if you cooked it for 3 hours it would probably be fine)

Let cool for about 30 min. or so out of the heating element.



You can make this in a dutch oven over coals as well!

1 year old

What's Cooking just turned 1 year old today!

Our eating has really changed this year thanks to this blog! I'm excited to see what new and healthy recipes we find to make this coming year!

If you're new to What's Cooking be sure to check out our category list to the right.

If you've followed What's Cooking for a long time, thank you for your dedication to follow us!

Oh, and the cupcakes are on us today so please take one and enjoy! You can pick off the nuts if you don't like them. =0)

(in case you are wondering, I'm sure the cupcake is totally good-for-you! I'm sure it's made with squash and pasta and then frosted with a cauliflower icing. j/k)

Butternut Squash

Tis the season for squash! I know some of you are cringing as were my husband and kids when I told them I was cooking squash. But after preparing this smooth and mild butternut squash drenched drizzled in a butter maple syrup glaze that I made, they were all pleasantly surprised and ate it.

How do you cook it?
Well, there are a couple of ways you can cook it......
1. Roast it in the oven: Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, place it face down on a cookie sheet and bake @ 350 degrees until fork tender.
2. Steam it: Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, steam it on the stove in a pot with water and a steaming basket till fork tender.
3. My new way: Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, place it face up in crock-pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until fork tender.

When it's done top with butter and brown sugar....or a mixture of 2 tbsp of butter melted with about 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup and a tbsp or so of brown or white sugar.

This also makes great pureed baby food and you can also sneak it into things like mac and cheese!

Sharing Tips

Today YOU get to share your KITCHEN tips! Do you have a great tip to share? Link us to your own post about your tips! Don't be shy! The more tips we share the more tips we'll have!
Don't have a blog to link your tips to, just share with us in the comments section of this post! =0)

Kitchen Tips

Leave the avocado seed with the cut avocado to slow down the browning process.

Put a heal of bread in your hardened brown sugar to soften it for a few hours. Just don't forget it and leave it in there because it will mold.

Burn a candle close to where you are chopping onions to help burn up the fumes of the onion.

Use a baggy on your hand like a glove to coat a pan with butter. Turn it inside out to throw away without the mess.

Throw your dish scrubbing sponge and brush into the dishwasher for easy and hot cleaning. Or, place wet sponge in microwave for 3 min. to sanitize it.

Add a tbsp of olive oil to your boiling pasta to help prevent sticking.

Cook pasta ahead of time by storing in a large ziplock with olive oil to keep it from sticking together. Refrigerate and use when ready.

Keep apples separate from other fruits because they cause them to ripen quickly.

Make freezer meals for company coming so that you can spend your day getting the house ready and the meal is already made. All you have to do is throw a salad together, slice some bread and put together a simple dessert.

Warm serving dishes by placing them in the sink with hot water or in your preheated oven on low. This helps keep food warm longer so that your dishes don't cool the food.

Keep a list on your fridge of your favorite company-is-coming meals or potluck meals for easy planning.

Snowflakes

My daughter insisted that I put this recipe on my blog for her. We checked out some fairy cookbooks from the library and decided to make this recipe on our vacation this summer. Even though it was summer, she wanted to make snowflakes! She loves snow and loves winter which is the opposite of me...I love summer and heat. Now that we are headed into winter soon, I thought I'd go ahead and post it.

Directions:

Fold flour tortillas in half and then half again. Trim with scissors like you would making paper snowflakes. Open back up and lay on a cookie sheet covered with foil. Brush with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixed together. Bake till just crispy. Let cool. Lightly dust with powdered sugar.