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 ..