Pumpkin Cranberry Bars

This Recipe comes from the Joy of Baking and I will be making it this weekend.. All I can say is yummm I cant see how these wont be a hit for any occasion.. Pictures to come.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bars:

1 cup pecans

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup dried cranberries or cherries

Frosting: (Optional)

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup mascarpone or cream cheese

2 teaspoons granulated white sugar

Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from oven, cool completely and then coarsely chop.

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and butter and flour an 9 x 9 inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, ground ginger, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2 – 3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Beat in the pumpkin puree until incorporated (the batter will look curdled at this point). Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing only until combined. Stir in the chopped toasted pecans and dried cranberries. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Cut into 16 – 2 inch bars.

Frosting: In a bowl beat the whipping cream and mascarpone cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar to taste. Spoon a dollop of cream on top of each bar. Top with fresh pumpkin seeds.

 

Rolled Fondant

A month ago I decided that I would make an attempt at rolled fondant as I wanted to make a cake for a friends baby shower. This recipe is fairly simple and tastes great. It was my first attempt and I am happy to say there were no major issues I encountered ( well other than not having the right cake pans ). So I am posting the recipe as is. To dye the fondant I bought a gel food coloring and kneaded a drop or two into the fondant just before I used it to get the color I wanted.

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) package unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup glucose syrup
1 tablespoon glycerin
2 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick. Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat until dissolved.
Add glucose and glycerin, mix well. Stir in shortening and just before completely melted, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Mixture should cool until lukewarm.
Place 4 cups confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and using a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Mix in sugar and add more a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in fridge. When ready to use, bring to room temperature and knead again until soft.

I'll be back

Its been almost 7 days since I have posted and thought that I would just let everyone know that yes I am still here.. I have recently started a new job and by recently I mean Monday and am still currently working part time at my old job until this coming Monday.. Confusing yes, tiring yes lol … I am still alive and kicking and will be posting some more recipes and life adventures as of next week.. So have no fear I am not far just out of order for the week 

 

The Terrible Twos ??

 As I was leaving the supermarket today the cashier looked at my son and said " I remember you from yesterday your a mischievous one aren't you ?"  then she looked at me and said " you are going to have your hands full" and laughed. I then thought ,Going to have my hands full?  Nathaniel is a wonderful little boy dont get me wrong he is well behaved most of the time and most people say I am lucky.  But recently he has been a little more into everything than usual. Hes now climbing on everything and anything and if he can climb in it guess where you will find him, yelling when he gets frustrated and cant do something, hitting other children and my favorite looking at people and throwing his cup or whatever he has at the time at them to see if they will pick it up for him.  Is this the start of the terrible twos? and if so how do I stop it lol..
 I have tried time outs and well to be honest with an 18 month old putting them in a chair for 30 seconds seems like eons but doesn't seem to get the message across. I have tried the distraction method which doesn't work anymore like it use to, the take away method leaves you with a screaming toddler.  So far the only thing that works is bringing out the vacuum and let him push it around or give him the broom and he is content and not into anything for a good 15 - 20 minutes.  The only downside is when I have to take that away.   I have now started getting in the habit of telling him the broom or vacuum needs to go night night and we will see it later, and that seems to be working for now but for how much longer.
The terrible twos? Probably .. Now excuse me while i get my son off of the kitchen table.. Guess who figured out how to push the chairs back up to it ;)

Cabbage Roll Casserole

So this recipe is originally from my boyfriends Mother.  If you dont want to go through all the trouble cooking cabbage rolls but want all the taste then this is definitely for you.


1 1/2 lbs. ground beef                            
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 14oz can tomato sauce
1 can water
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
4 cups of shredded cabbage
sour cream


Saute onions and garlic, brown ground beef.  Drain fat from beef.

 Add salt, pepper, tomato sauce and water.
Bring to a boil and stir in rice.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

 The rice mixture will thicken during this time if its too thick add more tomato sauce or a touch of water.
Place 1/2 of the cabbage in a greased baking dish; cover with 1/2 of rice mixture. Repeat layers.

Cover and bake in oven at 350 degrees for one hour.

Serve with sour cream
( can be refrigerated before baking if needed)

Serves 6

Please come into my office

I am not sure when it happened but somehow it did. Somewhere in between the time I got pregnant and now my office has slowly moved into the kitchen. And now my kitchen table is covered with notes , books and my laptop. Or as it stands right now my kitchen counter is my desk; my little boy has discovered the joy of laptops and how fun it is to push buttons so I had to move to higher ground. Gone are the days of flowers, tablecloths, candles or anything for that matter on the kitchen table. I am looking forward to the day when I can have a vase or my lucky bamboo on the table again, but i guess being a mom you give up those privileges for a little while. Oh well totally worth it. Now I must go clean up Cheerios on my living room floor  And so the day begins

Chocolate Cake

This recipe comes from a recipe book called Joe's Notebook ( 50th Anniversary Edition) its an amazingly good chocolate cake and really easy to make.

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate melted
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl , stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in melted chocolate, then eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth.  Add flour mixture; beat to make a smooth batter. Spread evenly in two 9 inch, round cake pans, greased and floured. Bake for about 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes our clean. Let pans cool on wire rack for 5 minutes; run knife around edge and turn onto wire racks to cool.

To assemble cake: place one layer on serving plate. Spread with frosting. Top with second layer and spread frosting over top and sides of cake.
Serves 8 :)

Shortbread

 So again from the Canadian Living 93 holiday edition book comes a great shortbread recipe.

1 cup butter softened
3 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour

In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy;gradually beat in corn starch,then sugar.  With wooden spoon, beat in flour, about 1/4 cup at a time.
On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Using floured fluted 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Place on waxed paper lined trays; prick each cookie three times with a fork. Freeze until firm.  ( can be stored for up to 1 month in freezer)
Place frozen rounds on baking sheet;bake in 275 degree oven for 40 - 50 minutes until firm to the touch. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on racks. ( can be stored in airtight containers for up to 2 weeks)
Makes approx 24 cookies

Please come into my office

   I am not sure when it happened but somehow it did.  Somewhere in between the time I got pregnant and now my office has slowly moved into the kitchen.  And now my kitchen table is covered with notes , books and my laptop.  Or as it stands right now my kitchen counter is my desk; my little boy has discovered the joy of laptops and how fun it is to push buttons so I had to move to higher ground.   Gone are the days of  flowers, tablecloths, candles or anything for that matter on the kitchen table.   I am looking forward to the day when I can have a vase or my lucky bamboo on the table again, but i guess being a mom you give up those privileges for a little while. Oh well totally worth it. Now I must go clean up Cheerios on my living room floor ;)  And so the day begins

Pasta Salad

Easy and delicious … Add different veggies to keep it new and exciting

Ingredients:

1 long English cucumber

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

4 stalks of celery

2 carrots

1 avocado ( optional)

Black olives halved (optional)

1 cup of dried cranberries

1box of whole wheat Rotini of Fuseli

½ cup of  Italian dressing

Directions:

Boil Pasta until al dente, drain put aside

 Wash and chop all veggies. Combine veggies and pasta. Add Italian dressing and cranberries and toss.

Serve J

May add  different veggies or cheese based on taste.

The Mysterious "Healthy" Granola Bar

  So I have been searching for a while for a recipie for granola bars one that is healthy as well as nut free. Finally I have found one!!! thought I would share it incase others are searching as well ..


2 ½ - 3 cups rolled oats                          ¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup ground or whole flax                      ½ cup raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries                           1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon                            ¾ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp baking powder                               ½ cup honey
1 egg beaten                                         ½ cup canola oil or ( ¼ oil / ¼ applesauce)
2 tsp of Vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 baking pan
In a large bowl mix together the oats, brown sugar, flax, cinnamon, flour, raisins, cranberries and salt. Make a well in the center; pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well. Pat the mixture evenly into the pan.
Bake for about 25-30 mins or until golden. Do not over bake or they become hard. Cool for 5 mins then cut into bars then allow to cool completely.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

This is an absolutely lovely pumpkin pie recipe. Yes I did use the word lovely... Its a rich pumpkin pie so so so good .. Give it a try you wont be disappointed.
 Recipe makes enough for two pies

Ingredients:

2 cups canned pumpkin
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tbsp fancy molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp fine salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
3 tbsp brandy or Orange liqueur

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk pumpkin with brown sugar, molasses spices and salt. Whisk in eggs, then whipping cream and brandy or orange liqueur. Pour into chilled pie shell. Bake for 10 mins, then lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 mins, until filling puffs just a little around edges but still has a bit of jiggle in center when moved. Allow to cool to room temperature, and then chill completely. To serve pumpkin pie warm, it is recommended to bake and chill completely, then re-warm in a 300 degree oven for 15 mins before slicing.

Butternut Squash Soup

A quick and easy recipe for Butternut squash soup from Canadian Living.  Makes 8 servings..

6 cups of cubed peeled butternut squash
3 1/2 cups of chicken stock
1 1/2 cups of chopped onion
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup plain yogurt


In a large saucepan , combine squash , stock , onions and bay leaf; bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low; simmer for about 20 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove bay leaf.
In a blender or food processor, puree soup in batches until smooth.  Return to pan and reheat if necessary; season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. ( soup can be cooled and frozen for up to 2 months just thaw and reheat)

To serve ladle into bowls; swirl 2 tbsp of yogurt into each.

Coupons and Freebies

I just wanted to post  a few freebies that I have come across this week.    Yay for freebies


1.   http://www.glad.ca/bag_giveaway_promotion/index.phpGlad® Canada garbage  bag giveaway get a coupon for free Glad® garbage bags just fill out your mailing address ..


2. http://save.ca/coupons   M&M'S PRETZEL FREEwith purchase of M&M's OR Maltesers yummy on Save.ca...

3. https://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/en_CA/home  New samples added to P&G brand sampler®

4. http://www.mariobadescu.com/questionnaire.aspx  And last but not least Mario Badescu, If you sign up to their site and take the skin consulting questionnaire a pack of free samples of their products will be sent to your home to try. They are fabulous products that are worth a try.

Oreo Cookie Cheesecake

An Awesome Desert that I found in the Canadian Living Christmas Book in 1993.. That dates me a bit doesn’t it? Anyhoo its a great recipe, something a little different for the holidays 

Filling
1 – 1/2 lb cream cheese
3/4 granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp all-purpose flour
15 Oreos broken

Crust

15 Oreos
3 tbsp butter

Garnish 
Oreos

Crust: In a food processor or blender, crush cookies to fine crumbs; stir in butter until crumbs are moistened. With back of spoon, press into bottom and 1/4 inch up side of lightly greased 8 1/2 inch springform pan. Refrigerate.

Filling:
In bowl, beat cheese;beat in sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition;beat in vanilla. Beat in sour cream and flour
Pour one-third over prepared crust; sprinkle with half of the broken cookies. Repeat once. Top with remaining batter, smoothing top.
Set pan in larger pan;pour in hot water to come 1 inch up sides. Bake in 325 oven for 60 mins or until edge is set but center still jiggles slightly. Turn oven off.
Quickly run knife around edge of cake;let cool completely on rack. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days/

Garnish: Just before serving, cut cookies in half and arrange on top. Makes 10 -12 servings

 

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Toddlers who knew?

You have your baby and its so small so helpless. The first smile ,the first laugh and the first time that you know that they really see you. And then they start crawling , and then walking and before you know it talking. Its such a great journey but now i see why parents of toddlers look so tired lol.
Toddlers, now that I have one all I can say is if I only knew what I know now I would of never owned bookcases, would of made sure everything was at least 4 feet off the floor from the start and would of invested in The Wiggles franchise lol . Its hard enough keeping your eyes on one,. I have no idea how anyone who has two young children do it. I mean seriously by the end of the day I am ready to fall over. Picking up all of Nathaniels clothes off of his floor, cleaning poo off of his hands, chasing him around the house just so i can change his diaper then god forbid I want to change his clothes and thats only within the first half hour of his waking up. Everyday hes saying something new and every day hes learning something else like going stiff like a board when he wants to slide out of your arms. I cant believe that he even figured it out. Its like he had some natural instinct on how to do that and throw temper tantrums. I am hoping I can nip it in the bud but I am sure alot of other parents have said that as well. I wonder if they have had any luck? But even though its alot of work and sometimes I just want to hide in the bathroom for a couple extra minutes its so worth it. He now says pees ( for please ) and when we come home from a walk says ,kitty home. and runs around looking for the cats. He gives me kisses even when I haven’t asked for them and when he looks at me and puts his arms up and says mama, I know he loves me and just wants to be cuddled. Its the best feeling in the world to be loved by a child and to know that I brought him into the world still amazes me to this day. I am so thankful for him , hes the best thing that has ever happened to me.

mmmmmm Meatloaf

The original recipe was from my boyfriends family. I decided to tweak it a bit and this is what I have come up with. The topping is still from the original and it just makes the meatloaf that much better

1 lb ground beef
1 small red onion chopped
1/2 of a red pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/4 cup of large baking oats
1 egg
1/4 can undiluted mushroom soup
approx 2 tbsp Worcestershire
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp pepper

meatloaf topping
3 tbsp Brown sugar, 1/2 tsp prepared mustard, 3 Tbsp Ketchup mixed together.

Mix together. Put in a greased loaf pan. Add topping. Bake in oven at 350 for approximately one hour.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I came across this recipe on the homepage of spud.ca and of course had to make it that night .. I have made a few modifications as I found the original recipe too bland. Very filling and soooo good  Perfect for a fall dinner party. Pictures to come soon 

INGREDIENTS
3 good-sized acorn squash
4 to 6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, strings removed, and diced
1 cup cubed squash (pumpkin, acorn, butternut, hubbard, or kabocha)
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup red pepper, diced
3 to 4 cups stale French,country bread, or whole grain bread. torn into bite-sized pieces
2 eggs, lightly beaten (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley ( I use flat leaf parsley which worked really well )
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage can substitute 3 – 4 tbsp ground sage
2 tsp black pepper
2 cups (or more) vegetable broth, salted
1 cup (or more) hot apple cider or sweet white wine (optional)
1/2 lb of ground turkey, pork or beef (optional)
(Try substituting 2 cups of chopped kale for the cubed squash, and corn bread for the stale French bread)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Wash the whole acorn squash and cut them into halves lengthwise. (This will make six bowls.) Remove the seeds and stringy stuff and set aside the cleaned acorn halves.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, brown the ground pork until no longer pink. Remove meat from pan and heat the butter or margarine. Add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, cubed squash, and mushrooms. Saute this mixture over medium-high heat until vegetables are tender.

In a large bowl, mix the bread pieces, eggs (these give great texture to the final product), parsley, sage, and chopped nuts, if desired.

Add the bread mixture to the sauteed vegetables and stir to mix thoroughly, then add the vegetable broth (salted to taste). Continue to mix, squishing with your hands if you like, and adding broth as necessary, until the stuffing is very moist and soft.

Mound the stuffing into the squash halves, place the stuffed squash bowls on a large baking sheet, cover with foil, and bake until the squash is tender and the stuffing is done, about 1 1/4 hour. Or you could place stuffed squash in a baking dish into which you have poured a cup or more of hot apple cider or sweet white wine, leave halves uncoverd, and baste every 15 minutes with pan juices unitl done.

Serve hot.

A few of my favorite things

    We all went to a friends baby shower a couple of days ago.  It was great although Nathaniel was quite the handful at the end of the party.  It made me reminisce about when I had mine, all the excitement and really not knowing anything but somehow knowing it would be ok.   Its been a wonderful ride so far with so many firsts. I have learnt so much along the way about myself and about caring for Nathaniel.  One thing I have always wanted to do is write a list of all of my favorite products so that maybe it will help someone else one day. There are so many unnecessary things that you get or HAVE to have because you just dont know. And of -course there are all the things that you get that you want to use with the best of intentions but just never do.    But of course each person is different and what I didnt use another mom may never have been able to live without.
Anyhoo without further adoo here are some of the items that I loved!!

Free Nestle backpack - This was awesome I signed up with Nestle and they sent me a free backpack and a container of formula sadly i broke one of the straps :( . If there was one thing I learnt quickly is the big nice diaper bag was a pain in the arse to carry around. Now I carry all Nathaniels items in a bag from roots. Small , compact and easy to just take with me.

Onsies that have buttons not the ones that go over the babys head.  Easy to get on and off and esp great for late night diaper changes. I found alot of these at places like superstore, or wallmart.  ( george brand are a great price and are durable )

Avent bottle warmer- Fair enough you can just heat milk in the microwave but I found as he got older its was easy just to get the bottle put it in the warmer and continue on with getting him ready for bed then by the time I was done the milk is perfect temp :) Plus its nice for sitters who have little experience with how warm milk should be.

Spectro eczema care body wash for children.. - sadly my son has eczema so soap to wash him is out of the question. This stuff is wonderful its gentle on his skin and he has alot less breakouts then he use to. I highly recommend it.

Eucerine cream - awesome cream for eczema , keeps Nathaniel moisturized and gentle on his skin. we use it after every bath on him and he loves it.

Born free soft spout sippy cups - we tried tons of them and this is the only one that Nathaniel could drink from at first. I have ran into many other mothers and they have said the same thing.
Playtex no drip twist lock cups- Now that he is older I find he loves these. They are great as well as they are leak proof :)

Baby monitors- Fisher Price sounds and lights monitor - Love it.. I could even hear Nathaniel breathing which I personally loved.  We have had it since he was a couple months old and its still going strong at 14 months later. The only downside to it is that I kept it plugged in all the time and ruined the rechargeable battery on the  clip on monitor. But I just keep it plugged in all the time when in use now so really not too big of a deal.

Heinz baby basics first feeding set -  This comes with a non slip bowl with a removable divider tray. It also comes with a snap lid that houses a small spoon. The spoon is perfect for a little one to learn with and is soft so they cant hurt themselves with it.  Its a great item to take with you on road trips as well.  I personally thought this set was the best one I have come across so far.

I am sure I will come up with some more items but for now this is all I can think of lol .. Its 11pm and Mommy should probably get some sleep 7 am comes early ..

Frustration

   I am getting pretty frustrated lately and here is why.  I work part time as a barista and stay at home with my son the majority of the time. Now dont get me wrong I love staying at home with Nathaniel but sometimes I wish there was more. Or that there was some way that I could stay at home and make some money so that things are not just so tight around here. I am trying to find ways to save on things , find coupons, look for sales even entering contests i see here and there but to be quite honest I am not that good at it lol .  So how does a mom stay at home and still help with the bills. That is my dilemma.

  I am sure that alot of other moms are feeling the same way and really wonder what they do.   I guess what it really comes down to is i have to find something that people want that I can do or a skill i have that people need to have done for them. I guess at this time all I can do is continue to brainstorm .. 

How times have changed..

  This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee listening to my son and boyfriend  play with some old cars that my son had fished out of a box.  " brmmm brmmm, beep beep " my sons says.  I am so excited because this is the first time my son has said beep beep.   Crazy how just four years ago I didn't even want to be around children. I was so positive that having children was something that I didn't want. Now I couldn't imagine my life without Nathaniel.  Of course parenthood has had its ups and downs. No sleep, the cash flow is slowed down a bit,  my social life has has done a complete 180 and my body has defenately seen better days. But on the bright side I know what its like to love someone 100% unconditionally, I get so excited and proud  every time he does something new or learns something, I get to be a child again and see things through a child's eyes and of course I get unlimited cuddles.  Life is good.