Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Waffles

In honor of Halloween, I made these delicious waffles for breakfast this morning. I found the recipe on Pennies on a Platter and then adopted to fit my pregnant needs (hehehe). The pumpkin and spices mixed so well with the chocolate. And they were light and fluffy, not hard and dense like premade waffles. Certainly a treat. This makes a lot of batter so it's great for a crowd or leftover snacks. Two were plenty for me for breakfast, and considering the amount of butter in them, that made me happy. :)

1 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 large eggs
2 cups 1% milk
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Cooking spray for coating the waffle iron

Preheat waffle iron. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

Spray the cooking spray on the waffle iron and spoon batter (about 1 cups for each waffle) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Cavatelli with Veggies and Ricotta Sauce

This I made based on some suggestions from fellow bloggers as to what kind of sauce to pair with the cavatelli and veggies. I decided the ricotta sauce would be best and it was certainly good. It was just enough cheese and sauce but not too much that it was overwhelming. It allowed all the other flavors to come through which I really liked

1 package frozen cavatelli, cooked to instructions
2 TBSP olive oil
3 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 head of broccoli, chopped
5-6 baby bella mushrooms, sliced thinly
2 TBSP part skim ricotta
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 ladles starchy pasta water
Salt & pepper to taste.

Boil the water for the cavatelli and cook according to package instructions.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the bacon to it. Cook the bacon thoroughly. Drain and set aside.

To the same skillet, add the garlic, onion, broccoli and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Add the bacon bacon into the veggie mixture. Ladle in two servings of the starchy pasta water. Add in the ricotta and parmesan cheese and stir well until everything is combined. Drain the cavatelli and add that to the skillet. Mix it all together and serve, topping with extra parmesan, salt & pepper if desired.

Chicken Pot Pie for a weeknight

Okay for those who like things only from scratch, please stop reading here because I used (gasp) Bisquick Heart Smart in this one. We love it though anyway. Yes, I've made a chicken pot pie completely from scratch and if you do believe me, click here. But for a weeknight meal, it's just not possible. And this hits the spot for us. So if you aren't anti-some help, click here and try it out. I think you'll really like it!

Healthy Chicken Marsala

Chicken marsala is usually made with lots of butter and cream. So it's delicious but not something I'm willing to splurge on when I'm making it at home. So I found this great recipe at Cooking Light that delivered both on taste and ease tonight. But since I didn't have any peas, I left that step out, as well as the half and half. The family still enjoyed it and we felt good about eating it.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce

I got the inspiration for this meal from Proceed With Caution but I put my own spin on it. I prepared the dough a bit differently from her way because I didn't have quite long enough to bake the potatoes and I made my own version of a bolognese sauce with what I had in the house. I think they came out pretty good and I even froze the leftover gnocchi to use another time.














Sweet Potato Gnocchi

1 large sweet potato
2 large russet potatoes
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Scrub the potatoes thoroughly and submerge in a pot of boiling water for 30 minutes. Remove from the pot and cool. Removed the skins and shred each potato using a potato ricer into a large bowl.

Add in the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, kneading the potatoes and the dough. At the end, knead in the parm cheese. The consistency should be sticky, not dry. Divide the dough into workable amounts (about 5-7 small balls) and roll them out between your hands and a cutting board into long, thin strands. Cut the gnocchi into bite-sized pieces and mark indentations in them with a fork. Place them on a floured cookie sheet to dry, approximately 30-45 minutes.

Boil a pot of water and place 1/2 the gnocchi in it and let them rise, about 3 minutes. Once they have risen immediately remove them with a slotted spoon and drain.

Sauce

2 large cans (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes with basil
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic diced
4 oz. baby bella mushrooms, chopped
Olive oil, 1 TBSP
2 TBSP dried oregano
1 TBSP dried basil
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot. Add in the onions, garlic and mushrooms and saute for approximately 5 minutes. Add in the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and the spices and mix well. Bring to a low simmer and cook 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Cream Cheese Brownies

I was bored Monday night and needed something to do. So I pulled out my Best of Cooking Light cookbook and made these fabulous cream cheese brownies. Unfortunately my oven is a little hotter than what the temp says because the cream cheese topping got a little browner than I would have liked. They still tasted wonderful though!

Barbecue Meat Loaf

Another great Cooking Light recipe. Perfect for a Sunday dinner with family. I served it with Scalloped Potatoes and some broccoli and cheese. I am not posting a picture because the one I took was frankly gross looking. Meat loaf just doesn't photograph well for me so you'll have to use your imagination. But anyway, what a great way to end a beautiful fall weekend!

Scalloped Potatoes - Sunday Dinner

These are courtesy of my friend over at A Taste of Home Cooking. I love scalloped potatoes and have made these before. Now that the weather is cooling down, I was ready to heat my kitchen up again with them. They are simple and delicious. The oven does most of the work. I do recommend having a mandolin slicer because without it, you will be doing a lot more work. With it, it's a dream!

2 1/2 pounds of russet potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup light cream
1-3/4 cups 1% milk
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove of minced garlic
Shredded cheddar cheese, 2-3 oz.

Combine all the ingredients into a large pot. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2 quart dish with cooking spray. Add the potato and milk mixture to the dish, spreading out the potato slices. Shred the cheese on top and cover with tin foil and bake 40 minutes. Then uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Foil Packet Potatoes

I'm always a little leary of potatoes. I think it's because it scares me how long it takes them to cook. But I saw this recipe at Adventures in Home Cooking and it inspired me to try it on a weeknight. Well, we loved them. So thanks for helping me to conquer my fear!!

I did make a few changes and they are here below but really I bet they'd be good with anything!

1 potato per person
Sheets of tin foil
2 T. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter per person
1 or 2 T. milk
Salt and pepper (lots)
Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 F.

Dice the potatoes.

Grab your tin foil and roll up the sides a bit to create a boat. Add the potatoes to the packet and top with pats of butter. Season generously with salt and pepper, and splash in milk.

Roll up sides of the packets and seal the edges tightly. Bake in oven for 60 minutes and top with the cheese and serve.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I had some pumpkin leftover from my last batch of muffins that I needed to use and I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins in my google reader at My Baking Heart and knew I'd love it. I did make a couple small changes to make these a little healthier and they came out delicious. My brother actually ate 3 at once. I know there is a shortage of pumpkin out there but if you have some and need to use a cup, this is a great way to go.

Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Muffins

1-1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside

Whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl; set aside. In a larger bowl whisk the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, milk, yogurt and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients until moistened. Then add in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and cool an additional 5 minutes before serving.