An Autumn Pumpkin Smoothie

This is a favorite family recipe! For an 'on the go' breakfast, I serve these to my family in plastic, disposable cups with a straw. What a delicious way to get Vitamin A! This smoothie was garnished with pineapple mint and spearmint.

1 cup vanilla flavored soymilk or other milk alternative
1 medium banana, frozen and broken into pieces*
1/3 cup solid pack pumpkin
a dash of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. stevia (or to taste)

Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until very smooth. Delicious! 

Serves 2.

*if you don't have a frozen banana ready to to, use a fresh banana instead and add about 3/4 cup of ice cubes to the ingredient list.

Grandma Kathrina's Pumpkin Pudding

October is a great month to share the recipe for Grandma's Pumpkin Pudding. It's an all-time family favorite. Yummy!

3/4 cup granulated sugar (Florida Crystals)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 - 15 oz. can pumpkin
12 oz. soy milk
2 - 3 Tbsp. cornstarch thinned with water

Mix all ingredients together in kettle and bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch, stirring constantly until well blended. Cook three minutes and remove from heat. Chill completely.

To serve, mix the pumpkin filling with equal amounts of non-dairy whipped topping. Spoon into parfait glasses and garnish as desired.

*This makes excellent pie filling as well.   Simply mix with non-dairy whipped topping (50/50) and spoon into a pre-baked pie shell.  Garnish as desired and serve.

Cashew Stuffing in Winter Squash

Cashew Stuffing in Winter Squash

1 cup diced sweet onions
1 cup finely diced celery
1/3 cup parsley
1/2 cup sliced black olives
3 quarts cubed bread, toasted (gluten free if necessary)
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup chicken style broth*
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped raw cashews (oven roasted)


1. Mix all ingredients together.

2. Stuff into a whole, half-baked pumpkin or winter squash that has 

been cleaned out inside.

3. Bake 45 minutes at 350 F. Continue baking until pumpkin is tender 

when poked with a fork.

4. Makes a beautiful, edible center-piece for your autumn dinner table.

*For chicken style broth, add 1 tsp chicken style seasoning to 1 cup water.  

May use water or vegetable broth.

Pumpkin Smoothie

Pumpkin Smoothie

This is a favorite family recipe! For an 'on the go' breakfast, I serve these to my family in plastic, disposable cups with a straw when they need it 'on the go'. What a delicious way to get Vitamin A! This smoothie was garnished with pineapple mint and spearmint.

1 cup soymilk

1 medium banana, frozen and broken into pieces

1/4 cup solid pack pumpkin

a dash or two of cinnamon

a dash of nutmeg

1/2 tsp. stevia (or to taste)

Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until very smooth. Delicious! Serves two.

***We enjoy this recipe year around. There's supposed to be a shortage of pumpkin this year because of flood conditions where pumpkins are grown. So --- to be prepared, we bought a case of pumpkin! It was even on sale for the holiday.

Aunt Mabel's Potato Pancakes

Sometimes it takes some thought to come up with interesting and new ideas for family meals. My husband loves potatoes and could eat them three times a day! Although I like them too, I will admit to getting bored with them sometimes. Recently I remembered a recipe that my Aunt Mabel has always been famous for ~ Potato Pancakes! They are delicious served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We prepared them as 'cabin fare' and served ours with catsup and a dairy-free ranch dressing, but Aunt Mabel always served hers with creamy cucumber dressing (also very tasty). Here's an adapted recipe of her famous pancakes.

Aunt Mabel's Potato Pancakes

8 medium potatoes, raw and grated

1 1/2 medium onions

1 package silken tofu, firm*see note below

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

oil

Heat oil in a large skillet to fry the pancakes.

Shred raw, peeled potatoes using a carrot grater. Put in a large bowl. Mince the onions. Add to the potatoes. Next add the tofu, salt, and baking powder. Mix well.

Use a large spoon and spatula to add the potato mixture to the oil. Brown on one side, flip over, brown the other side. Repeat if necessary (so the potatoes are cooked through) then remove to a plate covered with paper towels to drain. Serve with your favorite dressing or maple syrup.

*Instead of tofu (or with the tofu), use a flour for binder such as soy flour, fava bean flour, a gluten-free flour blend, or all-purpose flour. It works nicely. For a non-vegan version, add eggs and omit tofu.

Cabin Packet Potatoes

Cabin Packet Potatoes

1 sheet heavy-duty aluminum foil
1 onion, sliced thinly
4 potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1" slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon mineral salt
1/2 teaspoon dill weed

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Mix ingredients together well and then place in aluminum foil. Make a packet and seal edges. Bake about 30 minutes, until fork tender when tested.

Green Pea Soup for Spring!

Simple suppers on blustery spring evenings should be easy, warm, and vibrant to match the weather. At least that's how I see it! Green pea soup is just the thing to center a menu around on days like today. Fast and easy, it utilizes dried green peas that have been flaked and packaged by the bulk package person at the health food store. Seasonings like onion, salt, and garlic have been added along with plenty of pure, fresh water. So simple, yet so good! Garnished with cilantro leaves and radish circles, this tasty soup is served with fresh gluten-free biscuits for a wholesome and delicious ending to a busy day. My bag of little green pea soup flakes cost $6.00 and has prepared three meals for two or three so far. It looks like there's still one to go. Yum!

Mushroom and Tofu Stuffed Tomatoes

Recently Rylan watched a cooking show on Food TV and was inspired to try a new recipe. When I called home today while running errands, he asked if I could bring home a few ingredients to make Mushroom and Panko Stuffed Tomatoes. What fun it was assisting him as his sous chef this evening as he created a yummy supper (with many alterations to the original recipe). Here is his altered-enough-to-be-an-original-recipe:

Mushroom and Tofu Stuffed Tomatoes

1 1/2 cups white mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 cups brown mushrooms, chopped
1 sweet onion, large, chopped
2 Tbsp. shallots, minced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
3/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 block extra-firm tofu (15 oz.)
3 cups white grape juice (or water)
1 1/4 cups dried bread crumbs*
2 - 3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
6 tomatoes, cored and seeded, plus 1 tomato chopped

Place sweet onion, shallots, garlic, and mushrooms in skillet with olive oil and saute' until tender. Add salt, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and balsamic vinegar. De-glaze with white grape juice, adding one cup at a time. Add tofu, crumbled. Stir in bread crumbs*. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Prepare tomatoes by cutting off the tops and scraping out the seeds and pulp. Reserve and chop to add to the filling mixture. Chop last remaining tomato and add it an the tomato centers to filling. Stir and cook long enough to heat through.

Place filling in hollow tomatoes. Put in a casserole dish and broil for 2 - 3 minutes until golden brown on top. Garnish as desired. Serve with basmati rice and cucumber slices. Enjoy.

*The original recipe called for panko, a dry Japanese-style bread crumb (wheat). To make this gluten-free, we replaced it with brown rice bread that we broiled in the oven and then crumbled to make bread crumbs.

Golden Summerhill Roasted Potatoes

Golden Summerhill Roasted Potatoes

6 Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and cut into wedges
salt to taste
4 or 5 springs fresh rosemary
5 or 6 springs fresh lavender
olive oil

Place potatoes in baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. Add rosemary and lavender. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees F. for about 40 minutes, stirring half-way through.

Delicious!