Sides Archives • Page 12 of 15 • New Nostalgia

Easy One Bowl Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

***This is a re-post from last fall. Enjoy!

I found this great recipe at Kitchen Stewardship.

I have made it TWICE this week and I really love it. It is a “dump all ingredients into one bowl in no certain order and stir” recipe, so it takes minutes to whip up. It is super moist, makes the house smell like fall, and fills up little tummy’s when they need a snack. Another great thing about this recipe is that it has a few different options to make the original recipe healthier. Love that!

Easy One Bowl Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

1 ½ c. sugar ½ t. cinnamon

2 eggs ½ t. nutmeg

¼ t. baking powder 1 2/3 c. flour

1 t. baking soda ½ c. oil

¾ t. salt ½ c. cold water

½ t. cloves 1 c. pumpkin (about half a 15 oz can)

Mix all ingredients together. Put in greased loaf pan or muffin tin. Bake at 325 degrees.

Bread (one loaf) = 75-90 minutes
12 Muffins = 45 minutes
24 Mini muffins = 25 minutes

Cost: about $1.50 !!!

Get this…I was at my neighborhood natural market this weekend and they were selling freshly baked pumpkin bread for $7.99 a loaf! That’s just craziness!! They were skimpy little loaves, too. I walked away smiling to myself, thinking about how I can go home and whip up a generous loaf of my own pumpkin bread that would be just as healthy as theirs!

To make my loaves healthier, I cut the sugar down to a cup, and used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2/3 cup unbleached white flour. Next time I will try honey instead of sugar and applesauce instead of oil. I also want to add some dried cranberries (got that idea from those crazy $7.00 loaves at my market:))

Easy Ways to Make It Healthy:

Level one: decrease the sugar by 1/4 or even 1/2 cup (1 c. sugar total)
Level two: use half whole wheat flour
Level three: make the “oil” melted butter or applesauce

One Bowl Pumpkin Muffins Healthy Remake

3/4 cup honey ½ t. cinnamon

2 eggs ½ t. nutmeg

¼ t. baking powder 1 2/3 c. whole wheat flour

1 t. baking soda ½ c. melted butter or coconut oil

¾ t. salt 1/4 c. cold water

½ t. cloves 1 c. pumpkin (about half a 15 oz can)

1 Tbs molasses

Baking Change:Only bake muffins for 30 minutes – honey browns faster!

Both recipes call for only a half a can of pumpkin. I wondered what to do with the other half, until I saw how quickly my family ate up the first loaf. I made a second loaf the very next day. You could double the recipe and freeze a loaf. I knew we would be home quite a bit this weekend and I love to have something yummy baking in the oven, so I made the loaves on separate days.

Oh, one more thing…make sure your spices are not dated and tired. I could not believe the difference in my 2 loaves, the first one I made with spices I know have been in my cupboard since last fall, and although the texture was awesome, I wondered, “if the spices were happy, would taste any different?” For the second loaf, I went to my market where they sell spices in bulk (you can help yourself to whatever amount you need and they charge you by weight). DO THIS IF YOU CAN, the second loaf was AMAZING! I love the buy spices in bulk option. Lately, I have been buying a small amount for whatever recipes I am going to make in the next week or two. I did this for 2 recipes that I make all the time, chili and chicken curry, and both recipes tasted like they had a makeover, when all I did was buy super fresh spices. It is very economical, and so very worth it!

RECIPES/ Sides

Baked Kale Chips

Kale is a super healthy food. When I read up on treating cancer nutritionally, kale kept coming up everywhere I read, so I knew I had to find a way to get more kale in out diet. I remember reading on a few different blogs about making homemade Kale Chips. I gave it a try and I like them! My kids were apprehensive, but after crunching on some and tasting the salt I sprinkled on them, it grew on them and the pan was gone by the end of the night. I think I tore mine into pieces that were too small, which ended up making some of the edges over cooked, which then made those spots taste a little weird.

Next time, I will try to get kale that is straight leafed and bake it flat and whole like she did here at Roost

The recipe I used is from The Little Red House. I loved that it called for lemon zest, yum!

Baked Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale, rinsed, dried and bottom (thickest part) of the stems cut off.

olive oil

lemon zest (a few tsp)

coarse salt and cracked pepper

Cut (or tear) kale into smaller, bite sized pieces.

Toss with olive oil, lemon zest, and s & p.

Spread onto lined baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until light and crispy.

Here is one more recipe for kale chips that intrigued me from Bonzai Aphrodite. She adds a whole bunch of yummy ingredients, I would love to try this recipe sometime.

From World’s Healthiest Foods:

What’s New and Beneficial About Kale

Kale can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they’ve been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it’s easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw kale still has cholesterol-lowering ability – just not as much.
Kale’s risk-lowering benefits for cancer have recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. These types include cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) made from glucosinolates in kale play a primary role in achieving these risk-lowering benefits.
Kale is now recognized as providing comprehensive support for the body’s detoxification system. New research has shown that the ITCs made from kale’s glucosinolates can help regulate detox at a genetic level.
Researchers can now identify over 45 different flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, kale’s flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in way that gives kale a leading dietary role with respect to avoidance of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

RECIPES/ Sides

Cleansing Chicken Soup

It is very important to me to use food as another way fight this cancer. I am so blessed to feel good enough to eat a variety of foods right now. The week after my first chemo session, I struggled with a sensitive stomach, but by day 5, I was good to go, and I’ve been loading up on super healthy foods ever since!

My aunt sent me this recipe. It is usually used as part of a cleansing/detox program, but that is not really how I am using it. I love that everything in it is super good for the body, so for me, it is an easy way to get some very nutritious food into me! I’m all about putting on some weight during the weeks that I feel good, so I don’t feel like a true detox is right for me, but I am making sure 80-90% of what I eat is beneficial to my health, which I think is cleansing in and of itself!

This last week I found myself running to my local health food store and eating at their deli for lunch. It is only a block away, and I know everything they make is super healthy. I ate their Salmon burger twice, with sides of cabbage salad, and broccoli salad, (yum!) but knew I had to come up with a different plan, since lunch there is $6-$8 bucks each time I go. Ouch. I thought this soup would be an easy lunch option for me, and will help keep me out of the expensive deli. I am adding additional foods with it at lunchtime, because it is pretty low calorie, and right now I need EXTRA calories.

It makes a TON! I am going to freeze it in smaller mason jars and pull them out to thaw as needed. I was very happy with the taste of it, although next time I will use a little less onion.

If you make it, plan ahead!

It takes 8-12 hours of cooking time. That long cooking time is what extracts all the healthy stuff from the chicken bones. By cooking the heck out of the bones, you are extracting the gelatin, which is a nutritious source of protein, as well as collagen, calcium, minerals and amino acids.

**I used a very large crock pot, and it barely all fit! I started it at 10:00 pm and it was ready the next day for lunch. I also pureed mine after removing the chicken and bones, I was not too into all the chunky vegetables, so I used my hand blender, then added the shredded chicken, peas, and parsley in at the end for texture.

Cleansing Chicken Soup

1 Whole Chicken (free-range, pastured or organic)
1 Tbsp, raw apple cider Vinegar
3-4 qts of filtered water
4 medium size onions coarsely chopped (I will only use 2 next time)
8 carrots peeled, coarsely chopped
2-4 zucchinis coarsely chopped (I used 2)
4 Tblsp of extra virgin coconut oil
½ c frozen green peas (I added these at the end after pureeing)
4 inches grated ginger
¼- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
6 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 lb green beans
1 bunch parsley
5 garlic cloves
2-4 Tblsp Celtic-Sea Salt (I added 2 tsp pepper)

Directions:

If using whole chicken: make sure to remove gizzards, and fat glands from cavity.
Place chicken or chicken pieces in large stainless steel pot (I used a large crock pot) with water, vinegar, garlic, ginger, salt, cayenne pepper, extra virgin coconut oil, and all vegetables (except parsley). Let stand for 10 minutes before heating. Bring to a boil, remove the scum that rises to the top. Cover and cook for 8-12 hours. The longer you cook the Stock the more cleansing it will be. **See my notes above about pureeing. 15 mins before finishing the stock, add parsley.(this imparts additional mineral ions to the broth)

Remove from heat, take out chicken. After it cools, remove chicken meat from carcass, discarding bones. Drop meat back into the soup.

RECIPES/ Sides

Homemade Pesto

Pesto is one of my most favorite foods, so basil is something I knew we had to have in our garden this year. It did quite well, and I made this batch of pesto a few weeks ago. It was gone within the week. My kids loved it! I put most of it in ice cube trays to preserve and freeze for later. Just pop them out and put them in a freezer bag or mason jar, and you have ready to use pesto! My girls know how to boil noodles, so they loved making their own lunch on the weekends. They boiled and drained noodles, then added about 3-4 pesto cubes of pesto per pound of pasta, stirred them into the hot pasta and lunch was served! They loved this plain, but I loved adding some sliced cherry tomatoes, leftover shredded chicken, and shavings of fresh parm to make it a bit more filling and special. I also kept some in a jar in the refrigerator to use as a spread on sandwiches. Delicious!!

This recipe at “Thy Hand Hath Provided”caught my eye because you can use any type of nuts. Pine nuts can tend to be expensive, so I used almonds.

Pesto

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nuts (whatever you have on hand: pine nuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc. or a combination)
3-6 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil

a pinch of nutmeg

Combine all but oil in a food processor. Process, slowly adding oil until desired consistency.

I’ve been a bit busy lately, so my basil is growing like crazy out in the garden, quite neglected. I am hoping to get a few more batches made before the cool weather hits, as basil hates to be cold and will die on me. I’d love to make a huge batch and give some away in jars with these super cute printables from Givers Log. How cute are they??

Cancer Journey/ FUN/DIY/ RECIPES/ Sides

Easy, Homemade Freezer Salsa

See the larger jar of salsa in the background? My husband has just about finished off the jar, and I just made it 2 days ago! This is a super easy & quick way to make salsa for the freezer. If you like a chunky salsa, then freezer salsa is not for you. Chunky salsa tends to get mushy in the freezer, but we prefer ours thick, but all chopped up, so this is perfect for us.

I have an abundance of little cherry tomatoes growing in my garden. My larger tomato plant is slow to ripen, but that is ok since we are up to our heads in cherry tomatoes.

I saw this mix (Mrs. Wages Create Salsa Mix) when I was at the grocery store and I was happy to see that the ingredient list was short and familiar. I wanted homemade salsa, but my peppers are not ripe yet, so this mix was the perfect answer.

There are 3 different options on the back of the package-Freeze It! Can It! or Serve It! Love that.

I washed my tomatoes and threw them into the food processor. I DID NOT skin and core my tomatoes. Too lazy, plus they were so small…

Then I dumped them in a pan on the stove (no pic, sorry!) and added the dry mix and 1/2 cup of vinegar, and then simmered for 10 minutes.

I let the mixture cool a bit, then poured it into jars.

We have not eaten the salsa that I froze yet, but like I said earlier, the one jar that was left out is almost gone. It really is a tasty salsa, not too expensive (2.59 for the mix, tomatoes were free from my garden), made about 21/2 quarts, and took very little effort!

**I ordered the salsa mix on Amazon, but can also be found in the canning goods in most grocery stores and Walmart.

{for your pinning pleasure}

RECIPES/ Sides

Rosa Maria Bread Dipping Seasoning

We had bread with our Spinach, Tortellini, & Grilled Chicken Salad tonight for dinner. It was store bought Italian bread (cuz’ that’s how we roll in the summer…I’m ready for fall, routine, and BAKING!) but what made it extra special was Dean Jacob’s Rosa Maria Blend Dipping Seasoning.

Is that confusing to anyone else? Having 2 names in a name? Who’s dip is it? Dean’s or Rosa’s?? Hmm…

Regardless, I liked it. It was a nice change from butter. You use 2 tsp. of the mix (which is mostly dried herbs and garlic) and 2 Tbls of oil. Easy!

I am determined to
~find a recipe
~make my own bread dipping mix
~put it in the smallest mason jars I can find
~make a fun little tag with instructions and my name (not Dean’s or Rosa’s)
~tie it on with jute or bakers twine
~and give it away as gifts
I’ll let you know when I do!

Anyone got a similar recipe? Wanna share it?

Meals/ RECIPES/ Sides

Spinach, Tortellini & Grilled Chicken Salad

In the summer, many of our dinners consist of a main salad and bread. I just use what I have on hand and throw it together, making sure I have some sort of protein, which helps keep us full. Tonight the protein I used was grilled chicken, but I have also used hard boiled eggs or beans/lentils. We use whatever dressing we have on hand, or just keep it simple by drizzling it with a good olive oil and some fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Here is what I used tonight, my family loved it. Another no recipe, recipe.

Spinach, Tortellini, & Grilled Chicken Salad

Spinach

“Almost Naked” Grilled Chicken

Tortellini

Tomatoes

Green Pepper

Cucumber

Corn

Mandarin Oranges (I’ve also used Craisins)

Croutons

My family loved the salad, but see that grilled summer squash in the background? My youngest cried about eating it, then gagged on it. Thought you would like to know…:)

Older Posts

Newer Posts