Pumpkin Time

   Thanks to my graphic teacher I am now the new proud owner of a baby medium pumpkin.  I am calling it that because it’s not a mini pumpkin but it’s about the size of medium pumpkin so it's not huge, but I love it.  In my boyfriend words "its fun size" just like me because it’s just the right size not to big not to small.  It's perfect, it looks like the perfect pumpkin it’s the right color but it has a little spot on it that looks like a heart.  My grandmother once told me that she had made a pumpkin pie with a real pumpkin, that was about 2 years ago when she had told me that.  I beat that it was actually more like 30- 40 years ago when she really did. At the time it seemed really impressive to me that she did that but now that I have gotten more experienced, I have now decided to take on this challenge myself. 

  

 I feel as if I can do this now maybe a year ago I would never be able to but, for the last month I have been baking all kind s of squash; butternut, spaghetti, and sweet potato.  This was really fun for me one because it wasn't too hard and I didn't have to do much with it.  One thing I learn is that it has an earthy taste but I like it but I don't know much of it I can take with having butter, salt, and pepper.  I feel that they just need some spicing up sometimes or need to be thorn into a soup or something with things that have other textures like; nodules and veggies.   

   

   I didn't know how to go about this at all.  I thought maybe I could make the pumpkin like I did to the squashes or was I going to have to do something completely different. So I refereed to the world wide web to find my answer on how one cooks a pumpkin.   A lot of the ones I came across I was going to have to cut it up and put into a pan and peel later and cutting into a hard uncooked pumpkin; one seem like to much work, and second I didn't want to menipulate my hand in the process.  I then came a across the best way ever to cook a pumpkin on Heavenly Homemakers .  Basically you put the whole pumpkin in the oven and bake it for an hour and a half.  Then cut the pumpkin and deseed it and then peel it.  Basically you do everything in reverse then all the other websites.  

   I am going to try this when I get home after I go to the store.  I am making pumpkin cookies out of these.  I will give a review tomorrow.

This is my Pumpkin!

 

New ways

I hate that my school has decided to block pinterst from our browser I love that sites and that's where I spend most of my time online.  I go on there to find all my recipes and make most of my food from there but I also use it for other things besides just that. I wanna be able to look at recipes to put in my cookbook from online but, right now that's not really possible till the school relies that people have other hobbies beside sports and learning.   I wanna be able to be inspired by recipes and new ideas from all around the world and other bloggers and that's what pinterest does for me. so scenes i have been resorted to  finding new ways to inspire my self  for my cookbook.  One way I found was going on Google+, now I don't really like this one because  its not well organized very well as fair having categories and people to follow over allow its not my favorite.  One website that I found that has started to be a favorite of mine and all most in the running for my new favorite its call FoodGawker, its also an app.

One recipe that I found that sounds good to me is http://spicysouthernkitchen.com/cajun-pastalaya/
  Ingredients

• 12 ounces linguine
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• ¾ pound shrimp
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into ½-inch dice
• ¾ pound Andouille sausage, cut into thin slices (about 3 links)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• ½ cup diced green pepper
• ½ cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 3 green onions. sliced

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta liquid.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season shrimp with salt and pepper and add shrimp to skillet. Sauté 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp and set aside.
3. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until no longer pink in the middle, stirring once or twice, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and place with shrimp.
4. Add 1 tablespoon butter and Andouille sausage, onion, green pepper, red pepper, and celery. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until Andouille is browned and vegetables are softened.
5. Add garlic, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and thyme and cook 30 seconds. Then add Worcestershire sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth. Let simmer 3 minutes.
6. Add cream and simmer 3 minutes. Return shrimp and chicken and add cooked pasta plus reserved cooking liquid. Simmer another 2-3 minutes. Check for seasoning and add salt to taste.

New Restrictions

   I love food there's no denying that, I always have and will. Ever scene I was six years old I have been sitting on my counter making cookies with my dad out of jiffy mix.  From that day on I have know that is something I truly love.  I have never had any issues with any form of food.  This was great for me because I was able to eat just about anything I wanted, and gave me lots of creativity.  Finding out that I am no Lactose Intolerant has been hard on because it tightens what I can eat and the ingredients that go into my recipes. I am not letting my new "restriction" get in my way of the one thing I love.  Cooking!
   Thanks to new products coming out to help accommodate the increasing mass of people's allergies to common ingredients can now enjoy the food that they love.  This Also gives people the ability to be as creative as people who don't have such allergies. New products like milk and flour made from nuts and other natural products are new things that have help people who love to cook and love to eat.   I have found out that I don't care for the taste of soy milk to much and nor do I care for almond milk or anything almond flavor but, that's off topic.  I have never tried any types of flours made from nuts just simple cause I haven't have a use for them.  You can get almond, coconut...ice  


Baked Pumpkin Dugouts
1 3/4 cup flour 
1 1/2 t baking powder 
1/2 t salt 
1 1/2 t pumpkin spice
1/3 c oil
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla 
3/4 can pumpkin
1/2 c soy milk

Sift the first four ingredient together and whisk the other together slowly fold in the flour mix to the pumpkin mix put in greased baking sheets and bake for 15 mins at 350 

My Dest to Dutch Pancakes

Something that I just learned about a few months ago is called a Dutch baby pancake.  The first time I heard about it was when we were going to make them in a culinary class,  I was upset because I had miss the day that we were going to make them cause I had to go some where else so I missed class that day.  Later that week I came across the recipe on Pinterest and and had decided to make it that morning because it was a Saturday and I didn't have class.  So ran to my kitchen and grabbed everything that I would need in order to make it.  I was hoping that it would taste like a pancake but to my surprise it tasted more like an egg dish.  I had one piece and add some berry.  The one piece that I tried was like a fritata but sweet and a little bit more like a pancake which i guess where it gets its name from.  I tried to have another piece but i couldn't get my self to do it.  I hated the taste of it, I can understand why some people might like it but, i just don't like things that are a mix of pancake, and and egg dish its not right.  I think if your going to try anything that's made from a majority of eggs you should try a quiche i love those thing especially the one with bacon and spinach or a cheese one.       

I dont understand how people can consider this a pancake it doesn't taste like one to me at all.  I believe if your going to make something that taste like a pancake and is made in a over then make it actually taste like one.  If your like me then try this baked pancake.  it kind of seems like a cake to me but, the word cake is in the word pancake so maybe this will be better.

Santa Fe Stuffed Bell Peppers

I love stuffed peppers but I don't always like just the meat and rice.  I started to feel that they need some freshening up, they need some more flavor and needed to be a little healthier.  I used those peppers from when I went down to niles to make this recipe.  Instead of using beef to make it healthier I used chicken breast and cut that up.  To add some color I used cream corn but I strained it first before I added it in to the mix or you can use normal caned corn.  I also add in so tomatoes and red beans to give it even more color.  

I love this recipe and so does my family it was  something different from what I normal make.  It had the taste of some type of mexican or spanish dish or maybe even tex-mex.  I will defiantly be making this recipe again because it was a hit in my house and maybe in yours.  

3 green peppers

1 cup Brown rice

2 chicken breast

1/3 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup shredded Coby Jack cheese

2 roman tomatos 

1/2 can red kidney beens drained

1 can corn

1 1/2 teaspoons Paprika  

salt and pepper

1 cans cream of chicken

1 1/2 cups of milk 

Cut peppers in half long ways and remove the top. Then cook your chicken and rice.  Dice the tomatos in to 1.2 inch.  Once chicken is done cooking sheered the chicken.  Place the chicken, rice, tomatos, beens, corn, sour cream, 1 cup of cheese and paprika and salt & pepper in a bowl and mix together.  Then place the mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes.  Then stuff the peppers with the mixture.  Mix together the milk and can of cream of chicken, pour over then top of peppers and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or till peppers are soft at 350.  

Or you can try the tradition stuffed peppers 

 http://southernfood.about.com/od/stuffedpepperrecipes/r/bl30220q.htm 

Alfredo Spaghetti Squash

I recently went down to a town about 20 miles south of where I am from called, Niles Michigan.  It located about 5 miles north of the Michigan boarder to Indiana.  My boyfriend lives down there so I am down there pretty offended.  One of the things That I love about him is his family one because they love me and too which is more important, his mom works at popular farm stand right outside of the town.  I was able to go over there last Friday and pick up a few things.  2 Butternut squash, 2 spaghetti squash, 1 sweet potato squash, and 3 green peppers.

One thing that I wanted to try was to make a Alfredo with the spaghetti squash, because I thought it might taste a little better then what most people do which is to top it off with a tomato sauce.

       

First you need to make the spaghetti squash before you can do anything with it 

Once squash is cooked place inside in a bowl and make sauce

Recipe 

2 tablespoons of butter 

1 tablespoon flour 

1/2 cup milk 

1/4 cup Parmesan

1 teaspoon garlic

once you have made the sauce go ahead and mix it with the squash. Then place back in the squash and sprinkle cheese on top and bake in the oven for 8-10 min or till browned at 300 degrees.  

This is also a recipe that is also good that could be used instead 

Herbed Spaghetti Squash

Dark Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

I know this has nothing to do with fresh produce but I had found a recipe like this one that sound really good to me.  I was really in the mood to bake tonight, I had one egg left in my fridge and just a little bit of shorting left that I needed to use up.  So I thought to my self I should make cookies tonight.  I didn't want to make normal chocolate chip cookies cause one I didn't have enough semi-sweet chocolate chips and second I had a full bag of dark chocolate chips self  that I need to use up.  So I thought This might just be the perfect recipe to make tonight considering I had some time on my hands and I was home by my too, which is always a plus, cause tonight I didn't really feel like spending time with people.

The reason I love this recipe so much is because it bring my too favorite things together salty and sweet.  Although these were a little bit more sweet then salty but, they still had the little bit to them which makes me happy.  The reason these cookies happen to be a little more sweet then salty was because I had decided to roll them in sugar before baking them.  They may have happened to be a little to sweet but I didn't care.  I think next time I  wont thought Because I would had liked to taste the salt from the pretzel more.

Although they might not be a fall cookie I still think that they are going to be perfect for a cold last night in September.

Recipe
1/2 cup shorting 
1/4 cup Butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla 
2 cups flour 
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 
1/2 cup crushed pretzel

Cream butter, shorting, and sugars together. Then add in egg and vanilla. Sift the flour, corn starch  and baking soda together.  Then fold in, then mix in the chocolate chips and pretzel.  Roll into balls place on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 mins on 350.  

Seasonal Items

I know my blog is suppose to be all about fresh ingredients and turning them into great recipes but, I wanted to show case some of the great produce that I have a round my area.  I live all around farms, no matter where you drive around here, even in St. Joseph you will at least find one farm.  St. Joseph next store neighbor Stevensville has some of the pest produce around, and even some of the best wines as I have been told.  You cant really even drive less than 2 miles with out seeing one farm.  Here is a  list of some of the produce u can find around my area.  

• Apple
• Corn
• Butternut Squash
• Sweet Potato Squash  
• Pumpkins 
•  Bell Pepper
• Gypsy Peppers 
• Spaghetti Squash 
• Gourdes 
• Watermelon
• Tomatoes
• White Potatoes
• Red Skin Potatoes 
• Cucumbers
• Acorns 

Sweet Honey Catalina Chicken Pasta

The other day I had to make dinner for myself, which is not unusual in my house at all cause no one is ever home.  I really only had some chicken and pasta and some other stuff in my fridge that didn't think was very useful to me till I thought about.  I saw the sweet honey Catalina in my fridge.  I thought it would make a good pasta and chicken dish if I added them together.  The fresh part that comes in with this recipe is the tomato it doesn't matter what kind as long as there ripe.  Around me in the summer and in the begging of fall we have tomato around here. So I thought this was a great use for them.  They don't have to be cooked you could just mix them in at the end.  I love this recipe because it’s not too spicy and has a sweet taste too.  I am sure that this would be a great recipe for families or just anyone who wants to try something new.  

Ingredients 

2 T olive oil

2 garlic cloves minced 

5 medium Tomato’s

4 Boneless chicken breast 

1 1/2 c Sweet Honey Catalina Dressing 

1/2 c Half and Half 

1/4 c water 

1c sliced mushrooms

1/3 c parmesan cheese 

1 lbs. of Rotini Pasta a

Salt and pepper to taste 

  Boil water in large pot, once boiling salt the water, and then add in pasta.  Mince the garlic and deseed the tomatoes and cut into strips about 1/2 inch then cut the strips in half once ( if you want them larger you do don't have to cut again)

Place the olive oil, garlic and tomatoes in a large skillet.  Cook for 2 mins.  Place chicken on top and brown each side just a little bit.  After that add in the dressing, and half &half.  Place lid over the top of skillet and let cook for 5-7 minutes or till chicken is cooked.  Check the sauce every so often, if the sauce begins to thin add in the water.  Once chicken is cooked add in the salt, pepper, and cheese.  Remove chicken and Place on plate to be served. Drain pasta and add in sauce place in different bowl. 

Enjoy 

Introduction

Food to some people is just a way to receive energy or to fill there stomach but, to me it something completely different.  Food to me is something more important then just something to fill that empty feeling in your stomach it a way to create something new or to get the people around you to try something new.  One way I have done this is by being able to go local farm stands and buy fresh produce.  

Map of MI http://www.city-data.com/city/St.-Joseph-Michigan.html

This is my hometown St.Joseph, Michigan.  Its a little spot on the lake as they say that has brought me close to the produce around me 

There is more place just like this one all around my area of southwest Michigan.  I cant wait to go visit lots of them so I can come up with great new recipes