Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup..Brussels Sprout Bruschetta and Cheesy Garlic Bread

I am all for comfort food and for me fall is all about comfort.  I went to our local farmers market this past weekend and while there we also stopped in to the indoor market.  Anyway, while I was there I came upon a soup that was Pumpkin and Sweet Potatoes.  I thought to myself, Delicious!  Of course, then I thought, I can make that.  So seems how today is a good day for comfort food I decided to try my hand at a new type of soup.  This is what I came up with. 

P.S.  You can't have soup without bread! So I decided to make a brussels sprout bruschetta and cheesy garlic bread, (that ones for my daughter. :) 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup

2 Tbs. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 c. chopped onion

2 Tbs. brown sugar

2 c. pumpkin puree

2 c. sweet potato puree

6 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp.  cinnamon

1/4  tsp. nutmeg

pinch of sea salt for taste

In a large pot saute' oil, garlic, onion and brown sugar for a couple minutes or until sugar has dissolved.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.  Puree the soup a couple of cups at a time and then continue to simmer for another 30 minutes.  Serve right away or move soup to a crock pot to keep warm until ready to eat.  I garnished mine with bacon and mozzarella.  

Brussel Sprout Bruschetta

12 oz. cooked brussel sprouts, finely chopped

1 lb. bacon, cooked and chopped

1/3 c. onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

french bread, thinly sliced

mozzarella, optional

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Spray each side of bread with cooking spray.  Lay then out on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until crispy.  In a frying pan, saute' brussels, bacon, garlic, and onion for about 8 minutes.  Evenly distribute the brussels mixture over the bread and top off with cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

I've used the brussels sprout recipe before only I made egg rolls out of them.  I thought they would be good as a bruschetta too....I was right. ;)

Cheesy Garlic Bread

1/3 c. butter

3 cloves garlic, crushed

mozzarella 

french bread

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Spray each side of bread with cooking spray.  Lay then out on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until crispy.  In a small sauce pan melt butter with garlic.  Brush garlic sauce over bread, top off with cheese and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Pumpkin Breakfast Bars

Pumpkin Breakfast Bars

2 c oats

1 c wheat flour

1/2 c wheat germ

1/2 c brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c canola oil

2 egg whites

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c peanut butter

3/4 c honey

1 c fresh pumpkin

1 c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.  In a large bowl stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Next, add in the canola oil, egg whites, and vanilla.  Stir until completely incorporated.  Then, add peanut butter, honey and pumpkin, stir until well blended.  Finally, sir in the cranberries.   Now, spread the mixture into your prepared pan and bake for 24-28 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Let the  bars cool completely before cutting them into slices and removing from the pan.

Apple Cider Donuts and Pumpkin Donuts

I love fall, best time of the year and in my opinion the best food.  At our house we started making our own donuts and I wanted to make some for the weekend.  I had apple cider and fresh cooked pumpkin laying around and decided to play around with a recipe that I often use.

Go to this web site for the main recipe:  http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/homemade-doughnuts/  Now before you add the flour to the mixture split it in half and place in separate bowls.  In one bowl add 1/2 c. cider and in the other add 1/2 c pumpkin.  One bowl at a time put cider mixture back into the electric mixer and add 3 1/2 c. flour and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  Repeat process to the pumpkin mixture.  Follow directions of the original recipe to complete the dough.

Stacey's Junkyard Dog

In our home town we have a hog dog place that my family frequents called The Dog Pit.  They have a hot dog called the Junkyard Dog and it's my favorite.  So when we do hot dogs bars at our house I do it up my way, my version of a Junkyard Dog.  Enjoy!

2 hot dogs
2 hot dog buns
chili
cheese
caramelized jalapenos and onions
sour kraut
relish
spicy mustard
splash of hot sauce

This stuff will fill you up!

Teigan's Birthday Cake (Oreo Sponge Cake)

My niece just celebrated her third birthday and of all the cakes that she would request, it would have to be a purple, worm, dirt cake.  Her more was taken aback a bit and wasn't sure what she she do.  So, of course I stepped up, because I love making cakes and of course my niece, and volunteered.  So this is what I had to work with, purple, dirt and worms.  Well, Teigan is a huge fan of oreos, thanks to her father, I thought why not make a oreo cake and then throw in some dirt pudding as well.  Enjoy!

So I used this recipe for my sponge cake: http://www.cakeboss.com/CakeBossSpongeCake.aspx and then added crushed oreos to it.

For the filling I took :
-2 pkg. instant chocolate pudding ( follow package instruction to make)
- 1 tub of cool whip.
   - Mix the two together. You're only going to be using a little bit so I made dirt cup with the rest.  If you're   going to do this make sure you have two packages or Oreos, one for the cake one for the dirt cups.

For the frosting I used my famous butter cream recipe and added purple food coloring.

1 c butter, soften
4 c powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3  Tbs creamer 


In an electric mixer, cream butter.  Add in powder sugar at a half cup at a time until well blended.  Beat in vanilla and creamer until well blended.

Portabella Burgers

Portabella Burgers

2 portabella mushrooms
2 pretzel bread buns
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tb. olive oil
1 small red onion, sliced
2 Tbs. brown sugar
pesto
mayonnaise
tomato, sliced
spinach
smoked gouda, sliced

In a frying pan, add 2 Tbs of olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and mushrooms.  Saute' mushroom, both sides, for 5-8 minutes or until mushrooms are juicy.  In another frying pan, add 2 Tbs. of olive oil, s cloves of minced garlic, onion and brown sugar.  Saute' for 5-8 minutes or until onions are translucent.  On both sides of the pretzel bun, add a generous amount of mayonnaise and pesto, spreading evenly.  Then, add mushroom to the bottom bun, followed by two slices of cheese, onion, tomato, and spinach.  Top off with bun top and enjoy!

Omelet Stuffed Pepper and Good ole Fashion Fries

Don't you just love breakfast for dinner? I know that I do. I'm not a big breakfast person but when if comes to eating it for dinner, I don't know, there is just something about it that I can't resist! This recipe is quite tasty but the hubby and I both agree that it is tastier with out the pepper.  The pepper takes away from the omelet just a little bit.  So, I'll let you be the judge.  Enjoy!

Omelet Stuffed Pepper

3 Chivalatte Italian Sausage Links, taken out of it's casing
2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Small Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed
1 c. Spinach, Chopped
1 c. Mushrooms, Lightly Chopped
2 tsp. Brown Sugar
1 c. Tomatoes, Chopped
8 Eggs
3/4 c Milk
1/2 c. Smoked Cheddar, Shredded
1/2 c. Mozzarella, Shredded
6-8 Bell Peppers, sliced in half

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a frying pan, ground and brown the sausage, set aside.  In another frying pan, saute' olive oil, onion, garlic, spinach, mushrooms and brown sugar for about 5 minutes.  In a large bowl whisk eggs and milk until completely beaten.   Stir in sausage, veggies and cheese.  Fill each pepper half with egg and place into a baking dish.  Bake for about 45 minutes.

Good ole Fashion Fries

8 Red Skin Potatoes
Canola Oil
Sea Salt

This recipe is thanks to the magazine Bon Appetite.  I was skimming through the magazine and saw this and thought, sure why not!  Cut potatoes Julian style.  Put about an inch of oil into a large pot.  Heat up the oil for about 8-10 minutes on the stove, then carefully add potatoes, only two layers deep.  Continue cooking for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove fries with a slotted spoon and let excess oil drain a paper towel lined plate.  Season a with sea salt.

Beef Stew w/ a Few Surprises

Well Fall is coming and so is the cooler weather.  Surprisingly, with it being Labor Day, the weather was quite cool.  It was perfect weather for some beef stew and fresh baked bread.  Hope you Enjoy!

Beef Stew

1 lb bacon, cooked and chopped
1 1/2 lb beef for stew
4 carrots, slices
6 celery stocks, slices
1 small onions, chopped
4 garlic gloves, crushed
3 sweet potatoes, cubed
8 fresh sweet basil leaves, minced
1 16 oz can tomato paste
2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 15.25 cans black beans, drained
12 oz beer of choice
32 oz beef broth
olive oil
sea salt and pepper for taste
2 tsp  Chicago steak seasoning

crock pot
bread for dipping
cheddar cheese

In a fry pan seer beef in 2 Tbs on olive oil for 5-10 minute or until all sides are brown.   In another fry pan saute 4 Tbs olive oil, garlic, onion, carrot, and celery for about 10 minutes.  Once the beef and veggie blend is finished, combine that with sweet potatoes, basil, tomato paste, tomatoes, black beans, bacon, beer, beef broth, salt, pepper, and steak seasoning into crock pot.  Set crock pot on high and let stew cook for 5-7  hours or  until veggies are tender.
We enjoyed our soup in pretzel bread bowls and topped with cheddar cheese.