Week 26: Creamy Pumpkin Penne

To say that I've been a little obsessed with pumpkin lately would be an understatement. I see all of the beautiful pumpkin kitchen creations that are possible. And I want to make them all! (Actually, I would settle for just EATING them all...)

My sissy made pumpkin butter. Delicious.

I printed off a recipe for "Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes" that I will hopefully be tasting soon. Looks delicious.

And when I saw a recipe on a food blog for a SAVORY pumpkin dish, I was all over it.

It was pretty good. I liked the flavor of the sauce, and that it was healthy. I was really stepping outside of my box with the sausage, and I didn't really love it. The taste was pretty good, but I couldn't get over the texture.

INGREDIENTS

4 ounces whole wheat penne pasta

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 links cooked chicken sausage, sliced

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese (1% milk fat)

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup skim milk

pinch of nutmeg

5 ounces torn spinach, thick stems removed

grated parmesan cheese (optional...but I'm judging you if you opt out)

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook gently for about 10-15 minutes, until softened and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and chicken sausage, continuing to saute.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to pasta directions.

In a blender, combine pumpkin, cottage cheese, and milk. Blend until no lumps are present. Add to sausage mixture in the skillet and continue to cook over low heat. Season to taste with salt and freshly-ground pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.

Drain pasta and return to pot over low heat. Add sausage mixture and baby spinach, and toss together. cover for a few minutes to let the spinach wilt. Serve with parmesan cheese.

More Week 25: More Spaghetti Squash

I've been in my kitchen a lot more than usual lately. I think part of it is the autumn-y, cool weather that makes me want to make warm, comforting food. Last week spaghetti squash was on sale, so I picked one up. I made a yummy dish consisting of spaghetti squash, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, etc. It was pretty good, but not photo-worthy.

Every time I've made spaghetti squash I've been amazed by it. It is just such a cool phenomenon! I DID get some pictures of that...

Week 25.5: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Last week, a sweet friend invited me over for chili for our semi-regular Wednesday dinner. I was deciding what to bring, and it occurred to me that the only reasonable choice would be cinnamon rolls. I don't know WHY cinnamon rolls go so naturally with chili, but the fact that this is how the school cafeteria always served it must make it right.

I was feeling (perhaps overly-) ambitious, and I decided that I would not get a can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, but rather I would make them from SCRATCH. Unless using a bread machine to make the dough doesn't count as scratch...

It took longer than planned, but they turned out to be SO yummy. I enjoyed snacking on microwaved leftovers for days!

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup warm milk
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans (I left these out because some people just don't like nuts, okay?)

1/2 package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons milk

DIRECTIONS
In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour, and yeast. Set machine to dough cycle; press START.

When dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough.

Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 1-inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

Week 25: P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Sometimes I just don't know what do cook. And it's weird. Because most of the time, I find myself reading through all of my food blogs, drooling over all of their kitchen creations, and itching to make some of my own. But when it comes time for me to actually choose something to make for my weekly dinner date with Abby, I find myself drawing a blank. That happened this week, and a special friend gave me the great idea to make lettuce wraps. Perfect!

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushroom
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
leaves of iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce
1/4 cup sugar (we used Splenda!)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil (I didn't find this...so I didn't use it!)
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1-2 teaspoons garlic and red chili paste

Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.

Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil.

Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.

Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.

Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.

Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.

Saute chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes per side or done.

Remove chicken from the pan and cool.

Keep oil in the pan, and keep it hot.

As the chicken cools, mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.

Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.

When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.

With the pan still on high heat, add another tablespoon of vegetable oil

Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts, and mushrooms to the pan.

Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce "cups."

Top with the Special Sauce.

Week 24: Butternut Squash Soup

Have I mentioned how great Abby is at not only finding foods that we don't have experience cooking, but also choosing foods that we haven't EATEN? She sure is.

This week she showed up with some beautiful butternut squash, and I was so excited to hear that we were making butternut squash soup!

INGREDIENTS
6 tablespoons chopped onion (we probably used more than this, knowing us)
4 tablespoons butter
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups water
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, saute onions in the butter until tender. Add squash, water, bouillon, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Cook 20 minutes, or until squash is tender.

Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to the saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

Week 23: Buffalo Chicken Calzones

This week Abby and I were also planning on making cupcakes for Bunco, which I was hosting this week, so I wanted our dinner to be something semi-easy. When I stumbled across a recipe for buffalo chicken calzones on one of my food blogs that I follow, it seemed like the obvious choice. I love calzones. I love buffalo chicken. And refrigerated pizza dough makes everything easier.

I loved this easy, yummy recipe so much that I made mini versions for Bunco a couple of nights later. Abby and I dipped ours in ranch instead of the usual blue cheese dressing. Next time I might try to stick some veggies in there... (Also, please note how lovely and perfectly-shaped Abby's calzone is. Mine is the blog of dough next to it.)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb pizza dough

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

2 tsp plus 1/2 cup hot pepper sauce, divided

2 tbsp butter

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup pizza sauce

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt butter in a hot skillet and cook chicken thoroughly until opaque throughout and no pink remains.

In a bowl, mix together pizza sauce and 2 tsp hot pepper sauce; set aside.

When chicken is cooked through, reduce heat and add 1/2 cup hot pepper sauce, tossing to coat.

Let simmer for 10 minutes. Drain chicken if necessary.

Divide dough in half and roll out into circles.

Place half of pizza sauce mixture, chicken, and mozzarella cheese into each calzone, close, and seal edges by pinching the dough.

This wasn't in the original recipe, but Abby and I brushed some egg whites on top of each calzone, and we sprinkled them with coarse salt, fresh ground pepper, and a little grated Parmesan cheese. This made them prettier and added some good flavor to the bread.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dough is browned. Serve with dip.

**A sad reality: Typing these recipes often makes me realize that I didn't do a very good job of following directions. For example, I put the pizza sauce/pepper sauce mixture in the skillet with the chicken instead of just pepper sauce. Both times I made them. With the previously mentioned cupcakes, I erroniously completely omitted the egg yolks that it called for. It's possible that my reading comprehension isn't as good as it should be...