Spicy Chickpea Potato Stew

So yummy! And I love the spiciness of it.

Ingredients:

2 15-oz. cans chickpeas
2 cups water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1-2 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric
12 oz tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 lb yellow potatoes, cut into cubes
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
1 small cucumber, sliced
chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Place 3/4 cup of chickpeas and 3/4 cup water in a blender and process until smooth, set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno, and saute until the onion is lightly browned on the edges. Add cumin and turmeric and stir to distribute evenly.
3. Transfer to a stockpot or crockpot, add tomatoes and chickpea puree, bring to a boil.
4. Add potatoes and remaining water, simmer covered until potatoes are nearly done.
5. Add the remaining chickpeas. Simmer covered until the potatoes are tender but not mushy.
6. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Garnish with cucumber slices and cilantro, and enjoy!

Delicious Veggie Soup

Up to your ears in zucchini? Try this soup! If you're a meat-eater, chicken would be a good addition. This recipe was modified from a recipe found on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow squash, thinly sliced
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 1/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 (15 ounce) can white hominy
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas
• 3 cubes vegetable bouillon
• 5 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 yellow potatoes, cubed
• 2 jalapeno peppers, julienned
• 8 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine zucchini, yellow squash, onion, green beans, corn, hominy, chickpeas, bouillon, tomato sauce, garlic powder, potatoes, jalapenos, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until flavors are well blended, about 1 hour.

Harvest Vegetable Stew

Love this hearty vegetable stew! So good. You can even make it in a dutch oven!

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

3 medium onions, chopped (3 cups)

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 19-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, 4-6 minutes. Add squash, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add broth, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and chickpeas, return to a simmer. Cover and simmer until squash is tender but not mushy, 8-10 minutes.

Season stew with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

I'm not a big lover of Pumpkin Pie...something about the texture gets me every time. But I love pumpkin flavored everything else, so this sounded like a fun option! And it's pretty good. I'm a bit of a Pecan Pie snob, and would rather have it unadulterated, but I'd make this pie again!

1 unbaked pie crust (see recipe here: Cherry Raspberry Pie)

Pumpkin filling:

1 1/4 cups solid pack pumpkin

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp half and half (I used soy creamer, and it worked great!)

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

Pecan filling:

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

pecan halves for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pumpkin pie filling by combining all of the ingredients and stirring well. Prepare the pecan pie filling in a separate bowl by combining the corn syrup, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a bowl, mixing well. Then stir in the pecans.

Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie crust. Carefully spoon the pecan filling over the pumpkin. Decorate the top with pecan halves (this is my favorite part!). Bake on a cookie sheet, to prevent spillage in your oven, for 65-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 1 hour. Chill 3 hours before serving.

You end up with a caramelized crunchy pumpkin filling that's super delicious.

Peanut-Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is delicious! It's especially yummy if you eat it in a bread bowl. :)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cups unsalted peanuts
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 ribs celery
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp thyme
6 cups vegetable broth
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (4-6 cups)
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in stock pot over medium heat. When hot, add cumin and peanuts; saute until peanuts begin to brown and cumin is fragrant. Increase heat to medium-high, and add onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and seasonings. Cook until vegetables are soft.

Add broth and squash, cooking covered until squash is very soft.

Puree mixture in blender, and return to the pot. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Roll

So for about a month, I had heard my brother talk about his wife's "AMAZING" pumpkin rolls. They made like 5 of these things in the last month and it was all I heard about. So I called her up and got the infamous recipe. Enjoy.
3 eggs
1 C sugar
2/3 C canned pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Combine eggs and sugar, beat well. Add rest of ingredients until well mixed.
Get greased cookie sheet and put a piece of greased wax paper ( I used parchment paper) on cookie sheet. (We don't want this baby to stick) Pour mix on paper and spread evenly.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

While that is baking, make the filling/frosting.

Filling:
8 oz softened cream cheese
4 T butter
1 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix cheese and butter well then add sugar and vanilla. Then set aside.
-----------------------------------
This is the fun part and it may sound kind of crazy but it works - get ready.

Get an old dish towel. Lay it on the counter and sprinkle LIBERAL amounts of powdered sugar over the entire towel. I mean LIBERAL, you don't want this baby to stick.

When pumpkin roll is done baking, immediately pick up dough by the parchment paper and flip upside down on dish towel, that is LIBERALLY sprinkled with powdered sugar. Then roll up the dough, in the dish towel and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Once roll is almost cooled, unroll dough and evenly spread the filling. You are now going to roll it up again, but this time without the dish towel. Try to roll as tight as you can, but it will be tough because you are working with cooked dough.

Once it is all rolled then use floss to cut your rolls into individual servings and enjoy!!!

*This frosting/filling was super yummy, but WAY to rich for my taste. I think next time I will use a milder frosting.

(This recipe is courtesy of my wonderful sister in law, Rachel - fill free to add anything Rach!! Thank you!)

Apple Crisp

Disclaimer: This recipe wasn't as good as it could be. If anyone has any suggestions - please, PLEASE let me know.OK - so I just realized my recipe got wet somehow and I can't read any of it!!!! PLEASE comment with your recipes and suggestions.

This is what I could remember - good luck.

1 C sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1/2 tsp (later)
3-4 peeled and sliced large apples
1/2 C flour
1/2 C oatmeal
1/4 tsp salt
6 T butter

Combine about 1/2 C sugar, lemon juice, water and cinnamon in bottom of small baking pan. Slice in apples. Blend with remaining sugar, flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, salt, and butter until crumbly. Spread over apples and give a gentle stir. I like to incorporate all the ingredients because it makes for a moister crisp.

Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes, until apples are tender and crust browned. Serve with ice cream!!