Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

2 C pumpkin puree (or squash, or sweet potato)
7-8 eggs
1/2 C whole wheat flour (all-purpose would work too)
scant 1/2 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg

Mix everything well with an electric mixer. It should be about the same consistency as regular pancake batter. Make 1/4 C sized pancakes on a hot, greased skillet. Flip when they are dry around the edges, they will not bubble.

They don't particularly need anything on top, it's kinda like eating pumpkin pie filling for breakfast :) And they are good cold too...

Instant Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 can tomato sauce (8oz)
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t thyme
1 t basil

Stir it all together and spread on your crust. Also works as pasta sauce if you don't mind something kind of thin.

GREEK SEVEN LAYER DIP

I made this the other night for Relief Society and it was a hit. The recipe says that it serves 8. It could always be doubled for larger groups. It is yummy!

7 oz. container hummus

1 cup chopped baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup feta-cheese

2 Tbs sliced kalamata olives (or black olives)

1/2 cup shredded cucumber

Spoon half of the hummus into the bottom of a serving bowl. Layer on the spinach, tomatoes, onion, feta cheese, and olives. Top with remaining hummus and layer the shredded cucumber over the top. Serve with pita chips.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

These cookies are lemony-chewy goodness! Dad and I loved them.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

makes 2-3 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softenend

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 tsp lemon zest (I used all the zest from a large lemon)

1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

powdered sugar to roll the cookies in

Preheat oven to 350. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. (I like to use parchment paper for baking cookies, so it didn't matter whether the pan was light or dark)

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on prepared cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Note: I made teaspoon size balls and ended up with 45 instead of 2-3 dozen. I guess I could have made them larger!

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. If using a non-stick darker baking sheet, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Wannabe Larabars

Thought I'd share this link for home-made Larabars. I just dumped everything into my blender all at the same time and stopped blending when it was all mostly stuck to the side of the blender. Also, I made mine with pre-chopped dates (which are coated with oat flour to keep the pieces from sticking together), so I had to add just a little bit of vegetable oil (maybe a teaspoon?) to get the mixture to stick together after I took it out of the blender.

Double-Decker Butterscotch Brownies

This is going to be the last dessert you ever make.....Shalane, this is for you. Actually as I eat them I can't help but think of my dad. When I was little and had to stay up all night for a EEG? the next day I remember going to the store with him and getting butterscotch pudding. Butterscotch will always remind me of that. So here they are:

Brownie

3/4 Cup butter
2 Cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup all-purpose flour

Butterscotch Glaze (recipe below)
Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds or until sugar is incorporated. Turn mixer to medium high and beat until creamy about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stop and scrape bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour into 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch jelly-roll pan that has been lined with foil and greased. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Remove from oven and cool in pan 2 minutes. Invert onto cutting board, remove foil, and flip right-side up onto wire rack; cool completely.

While brownies cool, prepare Butterscotch Glaze. Pour glaze onto brownes and spread evenly. Before glaze sets, slice brownie layer in half and stack one half on the other. Cool until glaze sets. Drizzle with Chocolate Ganache. Slice into bars.


Butterscotch Glaze

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1 package (11 ounces) butterscotch flavored baking chips

Bring water, sugar and corn syrup to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour over butterscotch chips and stir constantly until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly but use while still warm; mixture sets as it cools.


Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat cream in small saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbles appear around edge of pan. Pour over chocolate chips and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and begins to thicken. Use while warm; mixture thickens and sets as cools.

I wish I had a picture to show you...unfortunately they got eaten too fast...by me.....I'm going to vomit...

BEST DINNER EVER!

My friend Suzzane came over last night. Our husbands were both working late. So we decided to make a nice dinner (with the boys) and enjoy a new recipe. I may eat this everyday for the next month....it's that good.

Cornflake-Crusted Halibut with Chile-Cilantro Aioli

Aioli:
2 T minced fresh cilantro
3 T mayonnaise
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced

Just throw it all in a food processor.

Fish:
1 C. milk
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 C. cornflakes, finely crushed
1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 T. olive oil
4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
4 lemon wedges

To prepare fish, combine milk and egg white in a shallow dish, stirring well with a whisk. Combine cornflakes, flour, salt and black pepper in another shallow dish.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Dip fish in milk mixture, and dredge in cornflake mixture. Add fish to pan, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Serve fish with aioli and lemon wedges.

Ok. Now I didn't have cornflakes. So we crushed up some RITZ crackers instead....SO GOOD! And also didn't have halibut. But did have Tilapia. We served it up with rice. For the rice cook it and when it's done throw in some chopped peppers and fresh cilantro. Yummy side. We also tried this other side:

Green Beans and Red Onion with Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing

1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
1 Cup sliced red onion
3 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. olive oil
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Cook green beans in boiling water 8 minutes or until tender crisp. Drain beans. Combine green beans and onion in large mixing bowl.

Whisk vinegar, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper together in microwaveable bowl. Cook mixture on high 1 minute. Remove from microwave and whisk mixture.

Drizzle dressing over bean mixture. Toss well to coat.

These were the BEST green beans EVER!

Seriously love having friends that love to cook as much as me. Thanks again Suzzane!!!

Layered Banana Awesomeness

Another creation of mine that Ben wanted to make sure we remembered the recipe for. I had over-ripe bananas but *gasp* didn't want banana bread.

Layered Banana Awesomeness
4 graham crackers, crushed to pea sized pieces
2 T butter, melted
6 spoonfuls of sugar
~1 C plain yogurt (vanilla would work too, but maybe use less sugar)
2 over-ripe bananas
1 C frozen strawberries, thawed (optional)
1 (small?) package of vanilla pudding, cooked as the package directs

Mix the graham cracker crumbs with about 3 spoonfuls of sugar in a 9x9 baking pan. Drizzle butter over the crumbs, mix with your fingers, and press into the pan. It will still be very crumbly. Spoon little dollops of yogurt all over the crumbs. Smooth it down with the back of the spoon and try and mostly cover the crumbs. Slice the bananas into the pan, spreading them evenly. Add the strawberries too. Sprinkle the fruit with 3 spoonfuls of sugar. Pour the pudding over the fruit. Chill until the pudding is set.

Pasta Sauce That Kaylee Loves Too

Ben is a big fan of pasta. Kaylee is not a big fan of pasta sauce. We've been experimenting for years to find a sauce that is delicious to both. This one wins.

1 lb. sweet italian sausage
1 tomato, diced
1.5 cups frozen lima beans
flour
cream/milk
handful of shredded cheese

cooked noodles

Cook the sausage in a big pan, breaking it up into pieces with the spatula. When the sausage is cooked, add the tomato and lima beans and heat through. Add two spoonfuls of flour to the pan and stir it up until the oil has absorbed the flour. Pour in the cream a bit at a time, stirring after each addition, until you get the consistency of sauce you want. Add in a handful of cheese and stir until it's melted in. Serve over noodles.

Mahi Mahi with Coconut Rice

This is so good! You could make it with any mild white fish. We had it with the Mango Thai Sweet Chili Sauce posted below. Found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. I put some chopped veggies in the marinade with the fish for the last 5 minutes and broiled them with the fish. You can see from the photo that the original recipe has sauteed mangos on top, but try the chili sauce!

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion (optional)
• salt to taste
• 4 (4 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
• 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 cube chicken bouillon
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• 3/4 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, ginger, green onion, and salt in a bowl. Add the mahi mahi and toss to evenly coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
3. Bring the rice, water, chicken bouillon, and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Stir, and simmer uncovered until the rice has absorbed most of the coconut milk.
4. While the rice is cooking, remove the mahi mahi from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Place fish in a large baking dish in a single layer. Broil in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes. If the fish browns too quickly, cover the baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Serve the fish on the coconut rice and drizzle with the chili sauce.

Mango Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Have you ever been to Iggy's and had the sweet dipping sauce they serve with their bread? Love that stuff. And I had a mango version on some blackened fish & coconut rice recently. So I decided I would try to find a recipe. This one is adapted from shesimmers.com.

I have made this twice, once without mangos (I made the recipe as found on the website) and once with mangos. Be sure and buy red chili peppers, they make the sauce look so pretty! You can buy green jalapenos and let them turn red, but they get rather limp and the red is not really pretty. Leaving the seeds in the chilis makes the sauce much hotter. The original recipe also had more garlic, more vinegar and more salt (too much for my taste!). This sauce keeps in the fridge for a really long time.

This is also good on spring rolls, edamame, and whatever else you dip in sauces.

2 large cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 cup diced mango

4 large red chili peppers

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 Tbs. cornstarch

4 Tbs. water

In a blender, puree together all the ingredients, except the last two. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until the mixture thickens up a bit and the garlic & pepper bits begin to soften, 3-5 minutes.

Combine the cornstarch and water. Whisk this into the sauce and continue to simmer one more minute. The cornstarch will help the sauce to thicken slightly thereby causing nice suspension of the pepper bits. Otherwise you get a thin sauce with all the little pieces floating on the surface.

Let cool completely before storing in a glass jar and refrigerate. Makes about 2 1/3 cups sauce.

Roasted Broccoli with Orange

This recipe came from Prevention Magazine. I had never thought of orange with broccoli, but it was quite tasty! I thought it was little too much garlic, but that is just me. And don't make the orange zest optional - it is really good. After I made it, I thought of throwing on some pine nuts. I'll have to try that next time.

Serves: Prep: 5min Cook: 20min Total: 25min

• 1 lb broccoli, tops cut into florets and stems peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 2" lengths
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp grated orange zest (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp orange juice (from 1/2 sm orange)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line baking pan with foil. Put broccoli on pan and toss with oil, garlic, zest, and salt. Spread in single layer and roast until edges brown and stems are tender, about 20 minutes. Toss with orange juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ken's Awesome Fish Recipe

Shalane had this fish when she was here in Utah and asked for the recipe. As you can see, there is not a formal recipe, but it is an easy, yummy way to fix fish. So in Ken's words, here it is:

I have used this recipe for halibut, mahi, tuna, and tilapia--probably would work for any fish that you don't have to worry about bones.

Saute vegetables of choice in olive oil--only need to cook for a few minutes, since they will finish cooking in the oven. I have used onions, celery, red and yellow bell peppers, squash, and mushrooms.

Place sauted veggies in aluminum foil in baking pan--leave room for fish.

Coat fish with Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends (pick your choice of blend). I use quite a bit of seasoning and then sear each side of the fish in the pan I just sauted the veggies in.

Add fish to aluminum foil (I add some pats of butter but it probably is OK without it), wrap securely, and bake in oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes.

We like it served over any kind of rice, even 5 minute rice works great.