1 box lemon cake mix

1 stick butter, melted

1 egg

8 oz cream cheese

1 lb. confectioners sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon flavoring

Mix cake mix, butter and 1 egg.  Spread in well greased 9×13 pan.  Mix together confectioners sugar, cream cheese, extracts and 2 eggs.  Spread over dough mixture.  Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown.  Cool completely before cutting.

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 txp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup sugar

1 cup grated apple

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 egg

1/4 tsp. finely grated lemon peel

1 tsp lemon juice

In a small mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg.  Ina a bigger bowl combine sugar, apples, oil, egg, lemon peel and lemon juice.  Mix well.  Add flour mixture.  Stir just unitl combined.

Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 for 55-60 minutes until tooth pick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool for 10-15 minutes and remove from pan to finish cooling.  Wrap and store overnight before cutting and it won’t fall apart when you slice it.

It’s fall and it’s time to bake with pumpkin.  I love it!!  No pictures sorry… what didn’t disappear into our mouths disappeared into the freezer.

2 cups pumpkin

2 cups sugar

2/3 c butter, softened

1/2 c water

3 eggs

2.5 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

You can add raisins or nuts

Combine pumpkin, sugar, butter water and eggs.  Beat 1 minute at medium speed.  Mix dry ingredients together and then add to pumpkin mixture.  Beat at medium speed for about another minute.

Pour into two greased pans.  Bake 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pans about 5 minutes and then turn out to finish cooking.

I was typing some of these recipes for a friend and figured I’d post them here for everyone.

Pumpkin Pie:

Cut pumpkin in half without stem.  Scoop out seeds and strings.  Place cut down on foil lined baking sheets.  Cover with foil.  Bake 350 til tender 1.5 hours aprox. Cool.  Scoop out flesh and mash with potato masher or food processor until smooth.  Drain if too watery.  Beat together just until smooth;

1 1/3 cup smooth pumpkin
1 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup hot water

Mix.  Pour into 9″ pie shell.  Bake 375 for 55 to 65 minutes.  (The center will still move slightly)  Cool and enjoy.  (Mashed pumpkin will hold 5 days in refrigerator)

Pumpkin Soup

This is a Emeril recipe that I got in 1999 and has been our “Halloween” recipe every since.  I give credit where credit is due so here’s to you Emeril.

• 2 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oat (Quaker Old Fashioned Oats)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs (or Egg Beaters to cut some calories)
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 medium overripe bananas, mashed (the riper, the sweeter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups shredded zucchini

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together wheat flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add in the sugar and bananas and applesauce.
4. Add the vanilla.
5. Combine the wet and dry mixtures. Stir until just combined.
6. Fold in the zucchini.
7. Pour into 2 lightly greased loaf pans (9×5-inch).
8. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

I got this recipe from the internet and love it.  I have it with unbleached flour and wheat germ half and half for the flour.  I have done it with one banana and more apple sauce.  I think that you could change it up even more than that if you wish.  I have used powdered eggs and it still comes out great.  I love it that there isn’t much oil in it.  I love the flavor and how my kids inhale it.  Give it a try at your house!

8 cups cooked brown rice

3 cups cooked black beans

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups rehydrated beef TVP

1/2 can evaporated milk

3 cups grated cheddar or cheddar blend cheese

Mix rice, black beans, cream of mushroom soup and milk in a pot over low heat.  When well blended add salt and pepper.  Put half of rice in 9×13 pan.  Spread 1/2 of cheese on top of rice.  Spread TVP on top of cheese.  Layer the rest of the rice mixture and then top with remaining cheese.  Bake uncovered for 30-45 min at 350 until cheese is starting to brown and it’s very bubbly.

This dish everyone really liked and it was made with everything out of our food storage with the exception of the cheese.

Ok, I know that it’s been awhile since I posted and I know that I don’t have a picture for this post but trust me it’s worth baking this cobbler.  Like most of you I sometimes, ok frequently, have fruit laying around my kitchen that is just about out lived it’s usefulness.  Yesterday I had 7 small peaches, 1/3 pint of strawberries and 1 1/2 bananas in this state.  I couldn’t stand to throw them away so why not make dessert out of them?  Everyone loves a good dessert right?? I know I do anyhow. I have no idea what you’d call a cobbler like this so it’s just going to be called no name cobbler until someone wittier than I comes up with something appropriate.  I love it because the fruit layer is a little tart and the topping is crunchy sweet and I don’t have any guilt about eating it because there is very little sugar in it and also very little fat.

No Name Cobbler

Filling:

1/3 package of strawberries, diced small

7 small peaches, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 T whole wheat flour

Mix all the above together and put in the bottom of an appropriately sized baking dish.

Topping: (These are all approximates so make the texture you like)

1 cup oats

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 T butter cubed

1.5 ripe bananas

Put the oats, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and cut in the butter with a pasty cutter or knives.  When the butter is well blended cut the banana into chunks into the bowl and then mix with the pastry blender or your fingers.  The topping will have a thick and slightly sticky consistency.  Cover the fruit with chunks of the topping.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until the top is set and well browned.

I got this recipe from one of my favorite cooking websites www.101cookbooks.com  After a provident living class at church where they sucessfully substituted beans for oil in a cake mix I just knew that I had to give it a try.  I loved the brownies an dso did my kids which is a huge bonus.  I did make a few amendments to the recipe so I will publish it that way here. There is a note on the original recipe that honey can be substituted 1:1 for the agave nectar if you can’t find it or find it too pricey.  You can store them in the fridge as they are easier to handle when chilled.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 cup unsalted butter

2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well (you can use canned if you like)

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 T vanilla extract

1/4 tsp sea salt

4 large eggs

1.5 cups agave nectar

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line a 11 by 18 rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.

Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl in the microwave.  Heat 30 seconds and stir repeating until all is melted and mixed.  Place beans, 1/2 cup of walnuts, vanilla extract and 1/2 of chocolate and butter mixture in a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth.  The batter will be thick, set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the remaining walnuts and chocolate butter mixture along with the salt.  Set aside.

In a seperate mixer bowl beat the eggs until light and creamy about 1 miutes.  Add the agave or honey and beat well.  Set aside.

Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the chocolate/walnut mixture.  Stir until blended well.

Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup.  Mix well.  Pour the batter in the the prepared pan.  Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy.  Drizzle over the brownie batter.  Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture thorugh the batter, creating a marbled effect.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set.  Cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares.

1 pound precooked pinto beans

1 cup or less canola oil

1-2 T whole wheat flour

milk for consistency

In a large heavy skillet heat canola oil until hot.  Add whole wheat flour and stir until it has browned.  Add beans but try not to add too much of their cooking liquid.  Let this mixture come to a boil then reduce heat and cook for about 20 minutes.  Mash beans until they are desired consistency.  Use fresh or canned milk to thin the beans to desired consistency and heat through.  Serve and enjoy.  Maria shared that the best way to store the excess beans is in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Aug 2009 – I have been consistently cooking these for several months now and I think that I need to put an amendment to the recipe here.  I tried in vain for over a month to get my beans to turn out like Maria’s and finally found that I had to do a few things differently.  First I soak my beans for almost 24 hours prior to rinsing and boiling them.  Then I end up having to simmer them for 4-5 hours to get them soft enough to make really creamy refried beans.  The way to tell when they’re done is if they’re soft but also moist in the middle.  When the beans get to this point add 2 cloves of garlic peeled, a good drizzle of olive oil and a heavy handed shake of sea salt.  Bring the beans to a boil again and then turn them off and let the whole pot sit to cool on the stove.

You only need a little bit of canola oil to fry the beans.  I use a pasta pot and put about 1/4 inch in the bottom.  Heat the oil and add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour and stir till brown.  Add the beans with a little of the cooking water and let them heat through (don’t add the garlic cloves).  Smash the beans well.  Add 1/2 can evaporated milk and heat through again.  They store great in quart canning jars in the fridge.

I have found a new website that I love.  The address is www.joythebaker.com and the recipe below came from there.  I made a few changes but it’s pretty close to the original and my pumpkin hating son loves these cookies.  My pumpkin loving son loves these cookies and I had to freeze the remainder of the double batch as I love them so much I couldn’t keep them out of my mouth.  They have to be one of the softest cookies that I’ve had in a long time that still had heaps of flavor.  Give them a try.  I used the large pampered chef scoop to portion them and I did bake them on parchment which made it really easy to transfer them to cooling racks.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Big Fat Cookies

2 cups soft whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Position a rack in the middle of the oven . Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

I used a large baking pan and each batch of eight cookies took 18 minutes to bake.  Allow plenty of room for the cookies to spread because they’re going to.  Allow to sit on pan for about 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.