Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

All the credit for the picture and recipe go to Amy
she got this recipe from her awesome mother in law.
Having said that I will tell you that Christian has made these cookies more than anyone in these parts and is becoming famous for them.
I realize we have not made cookies in this house in a very long time but these are so easy and only 77 calories each (yes we figured it out)
also only half a WW point. How can you beat that?!!
Enough gay banter... here's the recipe:

One spice cake mix (calorie calculations based on Betty Crocker)
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Mix dry cake mix with pumpkin and add chocolate chips.
Spray cookie sheet with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 12 minutes (Christian likes his baked a little longer)

Makes 30 cookies. (We usually make a double batch with a large can of pumpkin)

Pumpkin Bread

(recipe taken from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 2/3 c sugar
2/3 c vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs
3 c flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. baking powder
chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans.
2. Mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips. Stir in chocolate chips. Dive batter evenly between pans.
3. Bake loaves for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.
4. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire reack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Curried Butternut squash apple soup

This soup is all about fall. It's great warm or cold and the mix of flavors is a feast for the palette.
Mark and I are the only ones who eat it so I usually make half or 2/3 of the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 TBL. unsalted butter
3 cups fat free chicken broth
2 cups finely chopped onions (a little less is fine, chop in food processor)
1 TBL curry powder
2 medium butternut squash (about 3 lbs)(You can get this already peeled and chopped)
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 cup apple juice

Melt butter in a medium soup pot. Add 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, the chopped onions, and the curry powder; stir together and cook, covered, over low heat until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, peel the squash (use a potato peeler), scrape out the seeds and strings, and chop the flesh coarsely. (You can buy the squash already peeled and cut up which makes it quicker)

When the onions are tender, add the remaining chicken broth, squash, and apples and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until the squash and apples are very tender, about 25 minutes.

I use a ladle to transfer the hot mixture to a blender. This must be done in batches. Process until smooth. Put the processed mixture in a serving bowl. When all is processed add the apple juice and stir. (You can use the apple juice to wash down the sides of the blender, blend for a second to get out all the goodness and then pour into soup and stir) Season the soup to taste with the salt and pepper, serve immediately. You can warm again if necessary. Serves 4 to 6. Only 165 calories. You can eat this hot or cold, the flavors are more intense when it’s cold - be careful as you will come to crave it! If you want the gourmet look you can put some sour cream in a squirt bottle and swirl a little on top.

Credit for picture goes to rawfoodsdiet.wetpaint.com
If Amy was here I'm sure she could take a lovely one for me...

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

I know, I know, I just posted a cookie recipe. But, hey, it is fall and these cookies are not to be missed!

Ingredients
3/4 C butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 C molasses
2 1/2 C flour
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/4 t. salt
Additional sugar

Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses.
2. Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in separate bowl. Gradually add to creamed mixture.
3. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls, then roll in sugar.
4. Place two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Makes: 2 1/2 dozen

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I had the challenge of making a treat for a friend who had some allergies: milk, wheat, and corn. The corn-free part was easy, but the rest was a bit tricky. This is what I found...

The hard part is that the batch only makes about 12-14...so, they are gone very quickly, but they are super easy. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 C crunchy peanut butter
1 egg
1 C sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together.
Form dough into 1-inch balls.
Press flat on greased cookie sheet with fork.
Bake 10 minutes.

Terryaki Chicken

Terryaki Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup water

1/4 tsp garlic (or two cloves garlic)

1/2 tsp ginger

Thicken with corn starch

Variation: add juice of mandarian oranges and add oranges with the chicken

Normally, I would chunk the chicken and cook it in a frying pan and then make the sauce and put them together. But, today, I put the raw chicken breast into the crockpot and poured the sauce on it and cooked it on high for 4 hours. Poured the sauce into a pan, thickened it w/cornstarch. I roughly cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces. (it was super tender and easy to cut, not quite falling apart, so that was good). Put them together and served over rice. It was a hit! Yum!

If you like it spicer, I'm sure you could put some red pepper into it. I thought it was fine, and super easy!

I think I would do 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts to sauce. I quadrupled the sauce and had 9 breast. We had leftovers.

Sunday Edition

When we got put into the new ward, we were blessed with a new church time...2pm. Oh yeah, don't be jealous. So coming home at 5pm, everyone is hungry and tired, so I am using my crockpot every Sunday. When I make something that is good, I decided to share it, so here you go.

Low-Fat Glazed Chicken in Crockpot
From the Kitchen of: Paz
Source: Jo Anne Merrill

6 oz. orange juice, frozen concentrate - thawed
3 skinless boneless chicken breast halved - split
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 dash ground nutmeg
1 dash garlic powder

1/4 c. water
2 tbsp. cornstarch

*Garlic is optional. (I put it in)

Combine thawed orange juice concentrate (not regular orange juice) in bowl along with the marjoram, garlic powder and nutmeg. Split the chicken breasts to make 6 serving sizes. Dip each piece into the orange juice to coat completely. Place in Crockery Pot. Pour the remaining orange juice mixture over the chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or cook on high for 4 hours if you wish. Precise cooking time is not important in crockpot cooking.
When chicken is done, remove to serving platter. Pour the sauce that remains in crockpot into a saucepan. Mix the cornstarch and water and stir into the juice in pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

I made with rice and green beans. It was quite "orange-y", but I liked it with the sauce. Maybe because it is different and easy. Sorry no picture. It looks like chicken with orange stuff on it.