October brings Pumpkin Waffles

It's October and Fall begins! I always feel like using pumpkin in my recipes during this time of year. This morning, I decided to try the recipe we had recieved at my W.O.W. weight loss support group last Fall. After all, this recipe is 173 calories a serving and the pumpkin combines with spices and an orange twist which is mouth-watering to say the least! I'm glad I saved this recipe & I think you'll be happy to try it too.

Even better, I found it shared online from CraftyLady13 on Food.com:

Pumkin Waffles with Orange Syrup

I did make a few slight changes which made it seem more filling by using only one and a half cups of white flour and a half cup of 100% whole wheat flour. I used eggs and not an egg product. I didn't have pumpkin pie spice so I made my own blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.

Hope you'll like it!

Sister Johnson's No-Fail Pizza Crust

I love this pizza dough recipe and it hasn't failed me yet. In fact, it seems to get better the more I use it! I hope you think so too.

Pizza Crust
by Melanie Johnson

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients for 1 pizza(approx. size 16 inch round):

1 cup warm (room temp.) water
1 T yeast (or one packet)
Sprinkle of sugar

Let sit while doing the next step. In a large bowl sift or stir together:

2 cups flour
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1 T olive oil


Ingredients for 3 pizza's for a party or a big family:

3 cups warm (room temp.) water
3 T yeast (or one packet)
Sprinkle of sugar

Let sit while doing the next step. In a large bowl sift or stir together:

6 cups flour
1 T sugar
1 T salt
3 T olive oil

Add the now activated foamy yeast to the flour mixture. Stir until well-blended. Add just a little flour at a time until the dough isn't sticking to the bowl. Flour the counter well, dump out the dough and knead for 5-8 min. Knead the dough only until it is smooth and a few air bubbles start to appear. Add additional four only if needed to prevent sticking to your hands and counter top. At this stage, less flour is better than more.

It is OK to use right now OR the dough can rise for about 30-45 min., punch down and roll out into pizza shape. If you let it rise the dough is a little softer. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin just to the size of the pan. Spray the pan with a no-stick spray. Lightly flour the pan, with cornmeal if desired.

Lightly four the 1/2 dough circle. Fold in half. Place the 1/2 circle in pan against the edges and unfold. About 1/4 - 1/2 cup tomato/pizza/pasta sauce is spread on top to the near edges. Then add the grated mozzerella/cheddar/colby jack/monterrey cheeses of your choice. Add other toppings as desired: meat toppings include pepperoni, ham, sausage, hamburger etc... vegetable toppings include mushrooms, peppers, olives, artichoke, spinach, pineapple, etc... as you like!

Bake in the oven for 16-20 min. Carefully check the bottom of the crust for the crustiness that you may like. Let stand 2 min. before slicing. I slice on a breadboard counter top never on the pan. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Almost My Mom's Potato Cheese Soup

My children love this soup and it is just about my mom's recipe from growing up which I loved so much. Since it has finally been cold enough to make soup, we just can't get enough of our favorite so I thought we'd share this recipe with you.


Potato Cheese Soup

1 cup chopped onion(optional)
4 cups cubed potatoes
1 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can milk
1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 bar of cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
tiny dash of nutmeg(a.k.a as my secret ingredient)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste


1. Brown onions in a pat of butter or TBS of olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add potatoes, and only enough water to cover. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Stir together soup, sour cream and milk until smooth; add to potato mixture. Heat, but do not boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in tiny dash of nutmeg.
4. As desired use crumbled bacon, cheese or green onions to sprinkle on top to garnish.

Useful tips:

For a little more taste, I have been known to throw in a chicken bullion cube but I don't add much salt if I do.

[Photo credit from blog: From Single to Married and it's a good overall step by step process for making the soup in photos if you'd like to take a look.]

Just a Different Type of Pan Pizza

In the picture my crust is traditional and not folded up because my husband wanted it that way. It seems like a fun idea to do it like they suggested below.

I used Jay's Signature Pizza Crust recipe from allrecipes.com for my crust but buying from the stor is probably easier but I like the tast of this crust recipe so for me it's worth it.

I discovered this recipe from one of my friend's Shelfari pages of all places. It turned out well and pretty fun to do with my kids so I thought I'd share it!

Buy 1 pizza crust (in the cans--like pillsbury biscuits come in)
1 pound of ground beef (or sausage)
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 package mushrooms (I used fresh, optional)
1 container blue cheese (or another kind of cheese like feta or mozzerella)

I use a cookie sheet and put tin foil on it and grease/oil the tin foil.

Lay the pizza crust on the tin foil
Put the cooked ground beef, chopped onions, peppers, and mushrooms on the beef/pizza crust
Curl / fold the sides of the pizza crust up over the meat and other toppings (will not completely cover them)
(the middle should not be covered by crust)

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes

Top with blue cheese(as desired or you can substitute another cheese like mozzerella) and eat!

Make it kid-friendly:

Use beef and sliced american cheese.

For extra taste:
I brush olive oil on the folded up part of the crust and sprinkle with parm cheese.

Oh, and you could substitute the beef for cut up (cooked) steak pieces and it's really good also.

As always, with pizza, you have lots of options! Enjoy!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Do you like the pretzels in the mall or at Sam's club? If so, here is a recipe you might enjoy. My children love to help me make this recipe that my daughter brought home after making it in her Home Ec. class. It is a fun family activity! My children have a blast making the snakes, buttering with the brush, and thinking up pretzel toppings instead of only salt. Their favorite is cinnamon sugar. These are best made in a small batch and eaten hot & fresh right from the oven. I'll rewrite the ingredients below and the method is shown above. It's a fairly standard method for commonly used for making breads or rolls. If I need to type out more information then what I have please let me know in the comments & I'll update it. Let us know how it turns out if you'd like. I hope it is fun and simple!

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

1 1/3 cups warm water (105 - 115 degrees F)

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 - 4 cups unsifted, all-purpose flour

1 egg

1 Tbs water

2 Tbs course ground salt

Basic Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease 2 large baking sheets.

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water; dissolve.

Gradually add in sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and about 3 1/2 cups flour until the dough is soft and sticky.

Turn dough onto a floured surface; Knead about 5-7 min. Add up to 1/2 cup flour as needed. Dough should be smooth now and not stick to board.

Cut dough in half and then into 6 pieces. Flour your hands and roll dough into snakes. Place snake on baking sheet. Fold to form a pretzel shape.

In small bowl, mix egg and Tbs water; brush on pretzels. Sprinkle with salt. Other sprinkle ideas include cinnamon sugar, lemon or orange zest or herbs like Italian blend, garlic or dill weed.

Bake 15-20 min. until lightly golden brown. Warm is best! Makes about 12.

Recipes from Around the World

Recently, two of my children were involved in a multicultural fair at school. Nessa did a report on Denmark and Zayah did a report on Sweden. Part of their report was finding and making a recipe from their culture. Here's what we found and made! It turned out so yummy that I thought I'd share.

Danish Cheese Bread - Ostebrod

Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake - Kladdkaka

Chicken (Nut) Stir-fry

My daughter, Hopie, recently made this recipe in her Home Ec. class at school and she wanted to make it last night for dinner. So we did! It really turned out yummy and so I couldn't wait to share it with you here. Remember the use of the cashews or peanuts is optional. We used cashews.

You can find the recipe here at Family Fun.

Enjoy!