But Canned Pumpkins Are So Much Easier…aren’t they?

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I am a recycling nut. When I was a teacher, I started a paper recycling program for the whole school. At home, we have separate bins for food waste, paper and plastics/cans. Because of my neurotic tendencies, I cringe when Halloween is over and there is a perfectly good pumpkin drooping on my front porch. Even though canned pumpkin is so affordable and convenient, would it be possible to recycle the pumpkin that I already have?

Here is the scoop (forgive the pun!):

There are special “Pie Pumpkins”, which are smaller, sweeter and smoother in texture than the one you purchased or harvested this Halloween. They are about 8-inches in diameter and are typically available from September through the early part of December. If you wish to purchase one of these specifically for cooking, look for one that is bright orange in color, firm and has no bruises or soft spots.

However, if you are eager to recycle your Halloween pumpkins and make them a part of your culinary festivities, you can easily do so! You may simply need to add some additional brown sugar or maple syrup to your recipe to compensate for its lack of sweetness.

How To Make Your Own Pumpkin Puree:

1. Cut out top of your pumpkin and clean out all seeds and strings from inside.
2. Slice pumpkin vertically into 3 inch wide strips.
3. Place strips onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour.
5. Once done, scrape the pumpkin from the skins, then beat with a mixer or puree in a food processor until smooth.

Save The Seeds:

1. The seeds can be used either to plant pumpkins next year, or roasted to eat this year!
2. Place them in a bowl of water and rub them between your hands. Pick out the orange pieces that are floating, and discard them.
3. Drain the water.
4. Spread the seeds on a dish towel or paper towel to dry…and voila! They are ready for next year’s planting or to roast.

Give It A Try:
Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread

2 cups flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup mashed cooked fresh pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
6 (1 ounce) squares BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices until well blended; set aside.
2. Beat eggs, pumpkin, sugars, milk and oil in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended.
3. Add dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.
4. Stir in chopped chocolate.
5. Pour into greased 9×5-inch loaf pan.
6. Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Cut into slices to serve.

Servings: 15

CALL THE KIDS:

• Measure cinnamon and nutmeg
• Crack eggs (in a separate bowl, so it is easier to fish out stray egg shells)
• Measure sugar, brown sugar, milk and oil
• Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices
• With adult supervision, use a hand mixer to blend eggs, pumpkin, sugars milk and oil
• Fold wet and dry ingredients together until combined

Nutrition (per serving): 253.6 calories; 28% calories from fat; 8.6g total fat; 35.5mg cholesterol; 239.9mg sodium; 141.7mg potassium; 41.8g carbohydrates; 0.8g fiber; 20.8g sugar; 41.0g net carbs; 4.4g protein.

Is Deceptively Delicious too Deceptive?

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You will find this article there

Creepy Cuisine and Potent Potions

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While preparing for some upcoming kids Halloween Cooking Classes, I realized that you might appreciate a few recipes for Creepy Cuisine and Potent Potions that weren’t quite as sugar and fat laden as the majority of recipes you’ll find online.

Vampire Drool

Red Juice, your choice (cranberry, pomegranate, cherry etc)
Bubble Water
1 pkg frozen organic cranberries
1 latex glove
1 cauldron

1. Pour water into a latex glove. Tie the end, and put it the freezer (be sure to store it flat, so that it retains the shape you want).
2. When frozen, remove from the freezer and peel off the glove.
3. Combine juices and bubbly water in a cauldron
4. Add the frozen “hand” to complete the brew

Worms and Eyeballs

1 small onion, grated 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 large egg 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs 3 Tbs ketchup 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1 lb ground dark turkey meat 3 Tbs olive oil marinara sauce 1 can black olives, pitted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey.
3. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs.
4. Place on baking sheet.
5. Use an egg slicer to slice the olives into rings.
6. Place one olive ring on top of each meatball, pressing lightly. This makes it look more like an eyeball!
7. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the inside is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

CALL THE KIDS:

Peel paper off the garlic cloves. Crack egg. Squeeze ketchup Grate and measure cheese Pick parsley leaves from the stem and tear into small pieces.

With clean hands, combine all of the ingredients and shape into balls Wash hands afterwards Slice black olives and press onto meatballs Wash hands again.

Strawberry Monsters

Strawberries
4″ sucker sticks
Candy Melts (your color choice)
Black decorating gel

1. Insert lollipop stick into strawberries and place them in the freezer for about 15 minutes, until they are cold.
2. While the berries are chilling, heat one cup of candy melts, in a double-boiler, stirring constantly until completely melted.
3. Remove the berries from the freezer and dip them lightly in the melted candy for a thin coating.
4. To get a Mummy look, swirl them a bit to look like layers of white wrapped around it. Ghosts can be dunked to make a little twisted peak on top. Frankenstein can be dunked and a spoon used to flatten the candy on top.
5. Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment to cool and harden. You can refrigerate them if you would like to speed this up.
6. After they harden, you can add faces. Using black decorating gel and a toothpick (as your brush), draw a spooky face.

Tips

Use green melts for Frankenstein, Orange for Jack-O-Lanterns & white for ghosts and mummies

Homemade Granola…Crunch!

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As seen on View From The Bay, (Healthy School Lunches segment) on October 3, 2007

Everyone would make their own granola if they knew how simple and inexpensive it was! The sky is the limit on the variations you can do with this recipe. Simply follow the basic formula and let your imagination do the rest. Don’t forget to Call the Kids into the kitchen to help you with this culinary creation.

Ingredients
4 cups oats (not quick cooking)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbs sesame seeds

Optional Ingredients:
1/3 cup Dried Fruit, such as cranberries, raisins or currants
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (without shells)
1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds
3 Tbs flax seeds
1/4 cup dried and shredded coconut
1/2 cup nuts: chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans or cashews

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
3. If using, add shredded coconut, nuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds and flax seeds.
4. In a separate bowl, combine honey, oil and vanilla.
5. Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
6. Pour the granola mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven.
7. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes, stirring gently every 10 minutes, so that the mixture doesn’t burn.
8. After the mixture comes out of the oven, add any dried fruit of your choice: currants, raisins, or cranberries
9. Once the mixture has cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Cooking Tips

• Flax seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts and dried fruits can both be purchased in small quantities in the bulk section of many grocery stores. They are much less expensive this way.
• Flax seeds and walnuts are high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids which play a crucial role in brain function as well as growth and development.
• By making your own granola, you are saving lots of money. Granola and granola bars can be expensive. Plus, there are no wrappers to dispose of!

Call The Kids:

• Measure oats, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
• If using coconut, sesame seeds, flax seeds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, have the kids measure these too.
• Measure oil, vanilla and honey and stir to combine
• Using clean hands, mix wet and dry ingredients together in a large bowl
• Spread granola onto a rimmed baking sheet
• Add dried fruit to cooled granola and stir to combine

Recipe Source: What’s Cooking (www.whatscooking.info)

Preserving the Basil Season…

 

 

 

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There is nothing like fresh basil to brighten up a recipe. This time of the year, it is easy to find basil, whether it is growing in a pot in the kitchen or yard or is in bunches at the farmer’s market. But in about a month or so, the basil will be gone. All you will be able to find will be some fairly unappealing basil that has traveled a huge distance to reach you in the grocery store. Yuk – it’s almost worth waiting until next year.

 

Preserve the basil season all year long by blending bunches of fresh, locally grown basil leaves with some olive oil, and putting it in the freezer. Many people like to put pesto or other leftover sauces into ice cube trays, freeze them, and then store them in freezer containers. However, my freezer doesn’t seem well suited to stacking unstable piles of freezer boxes, and they usually come tumbling down when the door opens! Instead, I pour leftovers or home-made sauces (fresh marinara sauce, pesto, blended basil, lemon juice, coconut milk, etc…) into zip-top bags and freeze them flat. That way, I can have lots of thin frozen bags that hardly take up any room and stack neatly. When I need some of the frozen item, I just break off what I need and put the rest back in the freezer.

 

If you would prefer to turn your basil into pesto and freeze it that way, try this recipe:

 

 

Add the following ingredients into your cuisinart, and blend until smooth:
3 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts (pignolia)
1 dash salt and pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

Come winter time, you will be glad you did!

Lunch Lessons

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Ann Cooper is on a mission to change the way our children eat. She’s out to reform school district spending policies and commodity-based food service organizations to ensure that kids across the country have wholesome, nutritious, delicious food at school.Her National School Food Challenge, Oct. 15-19, 2007, is a week-long opportunity for schools, families and advocates to work together to provide healthful, nutritious foods for kids at school and at home. Families and advocates are challenged to ask local administrators about the foods served in school lunches and help their kids make strong nutritious meal choices. Schools are challenged to find sources of local, fresh foods that can be served in cafeterias.

“Together, we can keep nutrition at the head of the class,” Cooper says.

Check out her informative website at lunchlessons.org to learn more and take a look these recommendations you can put to work right away in your own family.

Lessons from Ann Cooper’s Lunch Lessons:

• Eat breakfast.
• Encourage exercise.
• Don’t make food a reward or a punishment.
• Don’t be a short-order cook; make the same dinner for everyone.
• Involve your kids in shopping and meal preparation.
• Grow food with your kids, even if it’s just in a window box.
• Take your kids to the farmers’ market so they’ll understand that food doesn’t come from a grocery store.
• Practice what you preach—eat well yourself.

Recipe from Lunch Lessons For more of Ann Cooper’s recipes—from Apple Date Bars to Breakfast Polenta Casserole—go to lunchlessons.org/html_v2/recipes.html

Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients

1/2 cup onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 pounds ground turkey
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/2 cup Japanese bread crumbs (panko)
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons ketchup, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Heat oil in a small skillet. Add onion, garlic and carrot and sauté until soft. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3. Combine carrot mixture with turkey, parsley, bread crumbs, eggs, salt and pepper; mix well.
4. Pack mixture into an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 140F. Slice and drizzle with ketchup, if desired. Serves 8.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Lunch Lessons by Ann Cooper and Lisa M. Holmes (Harper Collins, 2006).

 

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 169 calories, 9g fat, 17g prot., 4g carbs., 0g fiber, 366mg sodium.

To purchase her book, please visit: Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children

 

Cooking with Kids 101…(ages 5 and under)

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Let’s face it…parenting doesn’t usually come with a lot of positive reinforcement. Nor does it come with a handbook on even the most basic concepts, such as getting our kids to eat! Even though I run a successful business cooking with children, my own daughter staged frequent protests at dinner time. Finally a light went on in my head. It was time that I started to practice more of what I teach to my students and their families. She needed to participate more in both the selection and preparation of our family meals!

Here are some tried and true suggestions to help you feel more confident in bringing your kids into the kitchen:

How Do I Start?

• Read recipe names to your kids and see what sounds good to them.
• Decide which 3-5 of the approved recipes you plan to make for the following week.
• Make a master grocery list, so that you only have to go to the market once.
• Purchase produce at your local farmer’s market. Kids love to eat food they have tasted and approved!

When and How?

• Select a time of the day when your kids are well fed, happy, and eager to be with you.
• Start meal preparation earlier in the day, instead of right before dinner. For working families, do this for several meals at a time on the weekend.
• Before calling kids into the kitchen, get out all of the ingredients and tools required to make the meal.

What Can the Kids Do…even if they are young?

Even toddlers can help you in the kitchen! This list includes tasks for children ages 5 and under. Please use your discretion, as you know your child best.

• Rinse and dry fruits and veggies
• Tear up lettuce for salad
• Break the tips off beans
• Stir and mix
• Help to measure
• Pull cloves of garlic from bulb, and peel the “paper” (skin) off
• Slice mushrooms, olives and other soft foods with a child-safe knife or with an egg slicer.
• Crack eggs (do this into a separate bowl, in case you have to fish out bits of shell)
• Dip chicken or fish in egg and then again in bread crumbs (this is called “dredging”). Kids love when food is “crispy” on the outside!

Some amazing things happened to me (and my family) when I started implementing these concepts. My meals were prepared and ready to go into the oven up to 2 hours (yes, hours) earlier than before. I was relaxed and able to spend quality time with my kids before dinner, after our prep work was finished. And my daughter was very proud of her work and started eating dinner with gusto! I love spending quality time together with my family in the kitchen, as I am sure you will enjoy with yours.

 

 

What’s Cooking: Cooking Classes, Birthday Parties and Gifts for Children
What’s Cooking Weekly: A Healthy and Seasonal Online Menu Subscription for Families
www.whatscookingweekly.com ~ 415-342-4353

 

 

Meal Planning Made Easy – Recipes in your Inbox

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A lot of us find that the main reason we go to the farmer’s market is to take our kids to the jumpy house and to get a bag of kettle corn. But as we walk through the aisles, enjoying the flavors and colors of the seasonal produce, we wonder how to include these treasures into our repetitious dinner menus.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if someone could just tell us what to make for a healthy dinner every night, and how to do it? And how about including an organized grocery list, at the same time? To be honest, it would be hard to imagine a shopping trip that didn’t include the grocery store shuffle – going up and down the aisles, only to return to fetch several forgotten items.

As if planning meals isn’t challenging enough, we have to figure out how to keep the kids occupied while preparing dinner. Send them outside to play? Park them in front of the television for some “educational programming”? What else are we supposed to do? It can be such a challenge to cook a meal with miniature cars speeding between our feet, and listening to a chorus of: “I’m telling!”

There are a variety of tools to help busy families get healthy meals on the table. Take-out menus and meal assembly facilities are two that we may be familiar with. But a third and more exciting option is now available. Online recipe subscription services address people’s biggest issue head on: Lack of Time. No time to plan healthy meals, no time to write a thorough grocery list, no time to cook elaborate meals, and perhaps worst of all, little quality time with our children. Imagine a service that solved the time dilemma and enabled us to spend more time with our families.

Real Simple magazine says that “online dinner-strategy services…manage to alleviate the stress of deciding what to make for dinner.”

How They Work:

Most of these types of services are subscription based. Some of them send their customers a weekly e-mail, complete with recipes and grocery lists. Others send you an e-mail that summarizes that week’s meals, and remind you to login to their website for the details. Subscription costs vary from $4 to $10 per month, and are usually available in 3, 6 or 12 month bundles, with price breaks for longer subscriptions. (In case you are not a numbers person that translates to 6-months worth of meal plans for less than the cost of one take out meal!)

Which One is Right for Your Family?

The one you choose will most likely be based on how easy their style, format and recipes are for you and your family to digest (pardon the pun!).

If the following options are important to you, be sure that they are addressed by the service you are considering:

• Affordable cost
• Healthy recipes
• Seasonal ingredients
• Clearly written recipes
• Recipes for Main Dishes, Sides and Vegetables for every meal
• Organized grocery lists
• Nutrition Label for each recipe
• Tips on what your children can do to help prepare each recipe

Yes, you read the last feature correctly! Believe it! There are fun and simple tasks that your kids can do in the kitchen while you cook the meal. Even if you are the type of cook who burns water, your kids CAN participate in your meal preparation. Helping you cook may even encourage your kids to expand their horizons and try something new or green every once in awhile!

Ready to look forward to meal time again? Now that you know about the knight in shining armor who can tell you: a) what to make for dinner; b) how to do it; c) what ingredients to buy; and d) what kids can do to actively participate, what are you waiting for? Get online and find the right one for your family!

Michelle Stern owns What’s Cooking, a business that offers cooking classes and gifts to children of all ages. She recently launched What’s Cooking Weekly, a healthy family menu subscription service for families.