Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
1 Cup Oil

3 Cups Sugar

3 Eggs

1 15 oz Can Pumpkin

3 Cups Flour

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Baking Soda

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 Tsp. Nutmeg

3/4 Cup Choc Chips, Nuts, or Cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

Mix Oil & Sugar, Add Eggs and Pumpkin

Sift (or just mix) Dry Ingredients

Add Wet Ingredients to Dry Mixture

Add Chocolate Chips, Nuts, or Cranberries

Pour into 2 Greased Loaf Pans

Bake 1 hour and 15 min.

My family makes a few batches of this bread every Fall and freezes them so we have some all year long! We all disagree on the best added ingredient. I think the chocolate chips are the best, my brother loves it with cranberries, and my mom with nuts. It ends up being who ever initiates the baking gets to choose! Most often, chocolate chips win! The bread has been used as both breakfast and dessert and has acted as a gift to many family and friends. Pumpkin bread is one of the reasons Fall is my favorite season! Enjoy!

Submitted by Donna

Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1/2 lemon (juiced)
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 dash of Salt
1 dash of Pepper
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and enjoy!

This quick and easy recipe is great for a healthy snack! Lately, I have been making this dish as an appetizer to pot luck dinners and have received so many compliments on it!

Toasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:
19-24 oz. chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1 dash of sea salt
1 dash black pepper or chili flakes
any desired seasoning
bunch of parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:
Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
Add the olive oil to a medium-sized skillet.
Heat the skillet over medium heat.
Add the chickpeas to the skillet.
Add the garlic.
Heat on medium for about 15 minutes or until the chickpeas are toasted.
Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Add any other desired seasonings.
Toss the ingredients together.
Garnish with parsley.
Serve and enjoy!

This is a simple dish that my family and I enjoy cooking and eating
together. It's so quick and easy to make! We discovered it as an
alternative to unhealthy snacks. It can be served as a snack or a
side dish. I've even tried it over brown rice and drizzled with
balsamic vinegar and a bit of olive oil! Depending on the seasoning
that is added, the chickpeas take on a different flavor each time. It
keeps the dish interesting, adds variety, and has so much flavor!

Submitted by Annie

Sweet and Savory Smokies

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bacon
• 1 (16 ounce) package little smokie sausages
• 1 cup brown sugar, or to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cut bacon into thirds and wrap each strip around a little sausage. Place the wrapped sausages on wooden skewers, several to a skewer. Arrange the skewers on a baking sheet and sprinkle them liberally with brown sugar.
3. Bake until bacon is crisp and the brown sugar melted.

Sometimes a meal amongst your favorite girlfriends can be a form of a family meal. This is one of the most liked recipes for Ladies Nights.

Submitted by Alayna

Crispy Tofu

Ingredients:
Extra firm tofu
Extra virgin olive oil
Corn Starch
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take tofu out of package and wrap in paper towels and squeeze lightly to drain as much water out of it as possible. Cut tofu into approximately 1-inch squares and put in a large bowl. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper over them to lightly coat each piece. Carefully mix with hands (tofu tends to fall apart very easily). Finally, shake corn starch over mixture to also lightly coat the tofu (this is what will cause the tofu to have a crisp. Mix lightly with hands to make sure they are all coated. Lay out all the pieces on a baking pan and put into the over for approximately 30 minutes (you can leave them in for longer or shorter based on the desired crispness). I like to take them out half way cooked and drizzle just a little bit more olive oil over them and mix them around so that all side bake evenly.

This recipe is very easy to make. I made it up after realizing that frying the tofu used way too much oil. When I was a child, my mom used to give me a bit of tofu for protein. I have been eating it ever since. Although this recipe is listed as a snack, this can also be turned into a dinner by adding rice, vegetables, etc.

Chocolate Citrus Biscotti

Ingredients:
* 2 cups all purpose flour
* 3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
* 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 3 large eggs
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tbsp orange zest
* 1 tbsp lemon zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer the eggs and sugar in another bowl until the mixture is a pale yellow. Add the citrus zest and flour mixture slowly. Dough will become sticky. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough in half and make two mounds on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Make sure hands are moist when handling the dough. Each mound should be approx. 11x4. Bake until light brown, approx. 35 mins. Remove, cool for 15 mins, and cut into 1/2" slices.

Arrange biscotti on the same baking sheet, cut side down. Bake again for about 20 mins.

Remove and cool for 5 mins. In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Dip each cut side of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Refrigerate the dipped biscottis until chocolate is hardened. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the chocolate for presentation. Enjoy with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

I really like this recipe for family baking because its easy, quick, and everyone can help. The ingredients are simple but the taste is amazing. Best part is, you can enjoy it as a family at the table over a hot drink.

Submitted by Kara

Italian Rice Balls

Ingredients:

• Contents of recipe for "Parmesan Risotto," cooled (the colder it is, the easier it will be to form)
• 1 1/2 cups of Italian style breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup of mozzarella, cut into 3/4" cubes
• Vegetable oil

Directions:

Place 1 cup of breadcrumbs in a bowl and put aside. Take the remaining breadcrumbs (1/2 cup) and mix together with eggs, Parmesan cheese, risotto, and basil. Dampen hands and form about 1- 3/4 inch diameter balls. Insert a cube of cheese into the middle of each ball and enclose it with risotto. Roll each ball into the separate bowl of breadcrumbs.

Fill the bottom of a pan with vegetable oil. Wait for it to heat and then drop balls into the pan. Turn them occasionally until they are golden brown all around. When they are finished cooking, place them on paper towels to drain oil. Enjoy!

During my first year of graduate school, I made these rice balls for my class to signify a food from my culture. Everyone loved them and encouraged me to add them to this blog! Rice balls are a fun food to make with children, as rolling the rice balls is everyone's favorite part! When you eat them, make sure to look for the melted mozzarella cheese surprise in the middle!

Tuna in Tomato Cups

Ingredients:
Tomatoes (plum shaped or larger)
1 can of tuna fish
Mayonnaise*
Celery*
Pepper*
Garlic powder*
Onion powder*
*add to taste

Directions:
Cut the top of the tomato open and scoop out the middle part (if you own a grapefruit knife, use that!). Cut the very bottom of the tomato just so slightly that it is flat and able to stand up. Chop up celery. In a bowl, mix tuna, mayonnaise, chopped celery, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Fill tomato with mixture and serve!

Growing up, my grandmother always made this for me. Not only is this a healthy snack, getting in a serving of vegetables AND protein, but it is also fun to eat with the tomatoes serving as a neat edible bowl!

Ranch Pretzel Pieces

Yummy Last Minute Superbowl Snack!

Ingredients:
1 bag of sourdough pretzel nuggets
1 large ziplock freezer bag
3/4 cup of olive oil
1 packet of dry ranch seasoning
Lemon pepper
Dill seasoning
Garlic powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place pretzels in a ziplock bag. Crunch up pretzels into medium size pieces by either squeezing or hitting bag. In a large bowl, mix olive oil and ranch seasoning. Add pretzel pieces and mix so that they are evenly seasoned. Add lemon pepper, dill seasoning, and garlic powder (all to taste). Continue mixing the seasoning throughout the pretzels. Place pretzels on a baking sheet and put in the over for 10 minutes. Take out pretzels, mix around and place them back in the over for another 10 minutes.

You can serve this tasty treat either warm or cold! Kids enjoy crunching up the pretzels into bite size pieces!

Crispy Kale

Ingredients:
1 bunch of fresh kale (ripped up into bite size pieces and without stems)
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter ripped up kale in a baking dish. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on top (to taste). Make sure kale is well coated with all ingredients by mixing it around in the baking dish. Place in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until all leaves are crispy, but not burnt. Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!


Children enjoy helping to create this snack by ripping up the leaves of kale. It is a healthy snack, but also incredibly tasty! It could not be any easier to make, either, which helps out a lot!