Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup small semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.grease muffin tins or line muffin pans with paper bake cups / set aside

2. combine dry ingredients in bowl/ set aside

3. mix in separate bowl melted butter, pumpkin, eggs

4. combine the dry ingredients with pumpkin mixture/ mix until blended, fold in chocolate chips

5. fill cups 2/3 full, bake 350, 20-25 mins. do not overcook

excellent right out of oven

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

INGREDIENTS
.one medium sized pumpkin
.salt
.olive oil

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out
the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

2. In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds.
Add a half tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

3. Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown. 10-20 minutes. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed or eat whole.

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Karen's Favorite Pumpkin Spice Cake

3/4 cups butter softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 nutmeg

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and set aside.
Mix puree, buttermilk, and vanilla and set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients together.

Combine all ingredients together in thirds, blending until smooth.
Bake in 3-8inch parchment lined cake pans
Bake 35-40 mins. in 350 oven

cool and frost with pumpkin cream cheese frosting

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
1-8oz. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup butter softened
1 Tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
add 4 cups powdered sugar

Shrimp Ceviche

Art loves Ceviche. It goes back to Port Arthur, Texas. We had dinner with Dianne and Fred on the beach at a very fancy restaurant. Between the company and the beauty of the sunset on the water it is a memory we both hold dear. Art has been trying to find the perfect recipe ever since. This is a simple recipe usually they have different kinds of fish, but it was really good, and fairly inexpensive.
Ceviche makes a nice appetizer.

The acid of the lime juice is what cooks the fish. Sounds weird, but it really works and it is good.



INGREDIENTS

• 1pound medium-small shrimp,peeled and deveined
• 2 Tbsp. salt
• 3/4cup lime juice ( juice from 4-6 limes)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice ( juice from 2-3 lemons
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 Serrano Chile, ribs and seeds removed, minced, (Art used 2 jalapenos instead)
• 1 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1 cucumber, peeled diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 avocado, peeled, seed removed, cut into 1/2 inch chunks.

Art used this bottled lemon and lime juice.

METHOD:

1. in a large pot, bring to a boil 4 quarts of water, salted with 2 Tbsp. salt. Add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute to 2 minutes max. depending on size of shrimp. (over cooking the shrimp will make it rubbery.) Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

2. Drain the shrimp. Cut each piece of shrimp in half, or into inch long pieces. Place shrimp in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix in the lime and lemon juice. cover and refrigerate for a half hour.

3. Mix in the chopped red onion and pepper. Refrigerate an additional half hour.

4. Right before serving, add the cilantro, cucumber, and avocado.

Serves 4-6, Serve with chips or crackers.

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Smoothies....

I have to tell you about my Smoothie Maker. I got it at QVC.http://qvc.com/. Go to kitchen electronics, and it is A Chris Freytag Personal Fitness Blender.
What makes this better than a regular blender is that it chops the ice and frozen fruit really well and really fast.Blenders don't always do this. It also was not expensive, it is small, and easy to clean.

SMOOTHIE RECIPE :

1 cup of no fat milk

shot of fruit juice, whatever I have around, this is not necessary.

handful of ice

1 no fat yogurt, I like vanilla or berry of some kind

handful frozen berries I use a mixture of blueberries,blackberries,rasberries.

Mix and enjoy... it is only about 4-5 weight watchers points.

St. Patrick's Day Fare.....

Corn Beef and Cabbage is one of our favorite meals.
We usually boil it, and it is goood..
But this year Art came up with this yummy recipe.
Enjoy!

BAKED CORNED BEEF

• 3lbs. corned beef (in package)
• 10 whole cloves
• 1/4 cup hot sweet honey mustard (Art used chipotle hot sweet mustard)
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1.Preheat oven to 350 f. Drain the corned beef from the package and discard the spice packet. Lay corned beef, fat side up, on a large piece of wide, heavy duty, aluminum foil.

Insert the cloves into the top of the slab of corned beef, evenly spaced. Spread the top with the hot sweet honey mustard. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top.

2. Wrap the corned beef with foil in a way that allows for a little space on top between the corned beef and the foil, and creates a container to catch the juices. Place foil-wrapped corned beef in a shallow roasting pan and bake for around 2 hours.

3. Open the foil wrapping, spread a little more honey mustard over the top of the corned beef, and broil it for 2-3 minutes, until the top is bubbly and lightly browned. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then place on cutting board and cut at a diagonal, across the grain of the meat, into 1/2 inch thick slices.

serve immediately
serves 5

CABBAGE (SAUTEED)

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil (enough to coat the pan)on medium high to high heat in a large wide saute pan. Add chopped onions, cook for a couple of minutes, then add garlic.

2.Add a third of the sliced cabbage to the pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and stir to coat with oil and mix with onions. Spread out the cabbage evenly over the bottom of the pan and do not stir until it starts to brown. If the heat is high enough, this should happen quickly. The trick is to have the burner hot enough to easily brown the cabbage, but not so hot that it easily burns. When the bottom of the cabbage is nicely browned, use a metal spatula to lift it up and flip it, scraping the browned bits as you go.

3.Once the cabbage in the pan has browned on a couple of flips, add another third of the cabbage to the pan. Mix well, then spread out the cabbage and repeat. You may need to add a bit more olive oil to the pan to help with the browning, and to keep the cabbage from sticking too much to the pan. Once this batch has cooked down a bit and browned, add the remaining third of the cabbage and repeat.

Serve with the Corned Beef, and boiled new potatoes. http://simplyrecipes.com/

The next day I took the corned beef and chopped it in squares.

In large saute pan, I browned until crispy in a little olive oil. I added 1/2 large white onion and browned until cooked, finished with beets chopped, and 1 cup frozen home style hash browns. Season with salt and pepper to taste, heat until completely warm.

I got this recipe at Weight Watchers web site, and it was supposed to be 3 points for a cup. I think that this was probably about right. Joanne and I finished the whole pan we easily had more than one cup a piece.

I used 3 fresh beets that I baked the day before chopped in squares, but you could use canned beets.It was really good.

Art's Salsa

This is how I make my salsa. It varies depending on my mood at the time. Sometimes I am in the mood for a chunky salsa , or sometimes I am in the mood for smooth salsa. Sometimes I am in the mood for a very hot salsa ,or sometimes I am in the mood for just a hot salsa. I have never had a desire for a mild salsa so I won't go to that mythical place at this time. I am writing the basic ingredients and a general method for the chunky style. You can put it in the blender to make it smooth if that is the mood that you find yourself in.



INGREDIENTS...

Tomatoes .. Fresh chopped if you can get some that are not like cardboard. If you can't get good fresh ones I like to use canned Muir Glen Diced Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chilies.

Green Chilies .. canned or frozen chopped. I use a cup or so.

Jalapenos .. Fresh chopped fine with or without seeds depending on the desired heat level.
Less seeds Less Heat.

Habanero Pepper .. To kick it up if you are in the mood. This one is REALLY HOT a little goes a long way so be careful.

Cilantro .. Fresh chopped. I use about 1/2 a bunch.

Onion .. chopped. One small to medium is enough.

Garlic ... Not to much. Maybe 1/4 teaspoon, so little I don't always put it in.

Lime juice ... to taste I like lots.

La Morena Home Style Chipotle Sauce (secret ingredient never before shared:)
You can find it at http://www.mexgrocer.com/ You can get it for $1.99 a can. I usually buy 12 cans with postage it is about $32.35. phone 1-877-463-9476.

Cumin .. 1/2 tsp. this can be left out.

Black Pepper... to taste about 1 tsp.

Hickory Smoked Sea Salt ... to taste or plain sea salt if you can't find the smoked.

OPTIONS:

1. Put all of the chopped up stuff in a bowl and add the dry stuff and the wet stuff. Let it gurgitate in the fridge for a while and enjoy.
2. Put all of the stuff in the blender and puree it. Put it in a container in the fridge and let it gurgitate for a while and enjoy.
3. Sometimes I add tomatillos. Sometimes I add about 1/2 cup of pineapple juice. Sometimes I use grapefruit juice instead of lime juice. Sometimes I rub my eyes after I chop up my Habanero and cry :)

Enjoy...ART

I can't believe I finally got him to put this in writing..
Joe and the boys love this stuff. Enjoy!!!
Karen

Joy comes in the Morning....

"When you wake up in the morning,Pooh, 'said Piglet at last' what's the first thing you say to yourself?'
'What's for breakfast?; said Pooh.
'What do you say, Piglet?'
'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
'It's the same thing,' he said"
A.A. Milne, ' The House at Pooh Corner"

This is Art and my approach to eating. No wonder we can't seem to loose weight, but with this attitude we are thankful that we don't weigh more. Art favorite place is the grocery store. If you know us you know that we could probably say we have a grocery shopping addiction. I will not tell you how much we spend on food. Though with our financial situation changing this will probably change also.

"Please create a place for recipes." some have asked.

So for those who have asked I present......

Our FAVORITE RECIPES blog. I can't say how often I will post, but this will be the place when I do.

Now that Art is home more he is spending time cooking. Now we can all Enjoy!!!

Karen