Jack-o-lantern Spectacular

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, this year however I did not do terribly much. No dressing up, and we did not even buy candy. Last year we bought candy and didn't get any trick-or-treaters, so of course this year we didn't buy any, and low and behold – we got a group! I told Jordan to stay away from the windows/ doors so they wouldn't bother to come to our house (since there are three houses at our driveway)—so of course he kept sticking his big-old-head right out the window. Doh! Nonetheless the kids departed without knocking on our door… I had managed to find a bag of unopened raisins if need be.

No one else made the long trek up our driveway, thankfully.

My best friend from home, Ariane, who I've known since kindergarten, is an artist, and was hired to help decorate and carve pumpkins for the great jack-o-lantern spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo. I had never heard about it before, but apparently it is a big deal. My sister (who lives in Rhode Island and went to Roger Williams University) said it is quite the happening time and people wait for hours to get in!

Since we were “with the artist” we got VIP treatment and got to skip the 2 hour long line! We also got to go in a back entrance and snuck a peak at some of the sleepy zoo animals (which were not technically on display at the time.) I haven’t been to a zoo in so long! It was very interesting hiking off the beaten path of the zoo walk ways (Though my sister kept referencing that it seemed like the beginning of a bad horror movie, trucking through the pitch black woods behind some angry goat creature’s (Aoudads) lair.) 

For the past month or two she had been working at “The pumpkin house” where they get 100+ pound pumpkins and draw on them with sharpies (which when you see the size of the pumpkins and how much black is on some of them – its pretty amazing all they used was sharpies, and of course the carving). So anywhere you see black, they had colored it with sharpie, versus anywhere light looking was carved out and that is where the LED lights shine through.

Here is a 100+ pound pumpkin pre carving! 

This year’s theme was Hollywood so the zoo was set up by movie categories including classics/ musicals such as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone with the Wind” and “The sound of Music” followed by comedy with Betty White, Bill Cosby, Eddy Murphy etc,

Here are some of Ari's Chicago Pumpkin that she was just working on when I harassed her for some pictures! 

Then horror with Pan’s Labyrinth, Jason, Chucky, Freddy

There is Alien or Predator or one of those movies I have never seen. 

 and kids movies and lots of puppy pumpkins that I am not sure what they were representing but they sure were cute! My sister requested a Snuggles pumpkin be made. Whether that will happen or not is yet to be seen.

This was a Hyena from the Lion King group of pumpkins, you can see the monkey in  the back ground 

Along the road there were also lots of regular old jack-o-lanterns lighting the way.

 In Ariane’s case she was in charge of creating “intricate” pumpkins versus just jack-o-lanterns, so she was drawing and carving out faces, and scenes.  Another fun fact I would not have thought about, is since they are jack-o-lanterns, they do start to rot, or sometimes people poke them, or they somehow fall down and break. Considering it is a month long exhibit, many of the pumpkins need to be re-carved many times. Ari mentioned that it obviously gets boring the re-draw and re-carve the same thing, so she had 4 different Bill Cosby pumpkins carved throughout the month.

Jello Pudding! 

This one was on display when we went to the show 

So many pumpkins!

Jordan decided to use some of the pumpkins in his Halloween video too…

Any fun Halloween plans for you?

Pumpkin Alfredo

I am having some technical difficulties the past few days. My computer has been going really slow and keeps giving me the 'magic beach ball of death' so all typing and computer activities has been taking longer than I would like. 

Secondly, my camera decided that working was over-rated. While I was making the below recipe I started with my real camera, but it decided to stop working and not turn on so the pictures below are all from my phone. I apologize for the poorer quality and missing the beginning steps of the recipe. 

My motivation for this recipe was SHOCKINGLY not Pinterest... I don't actually remember how I stumbled upon the website- but I wound up on Organic Authority   looking at pumpkin recipes
that all looked amazing.. especially this one for Dairy Free Pumpkin Alfredo

Since it is already a free recipe I think it is ok that I share it with proper citations. I barely changed anything from the recipe - and it came out awesome!

Ingredients:

•  1 spaghetti squash
• ½ pound whole grain fettuccini **(You can omit this and do all spaghetti squash to cut down the carbs if you want.)
• 1 pound spinach or other green (kale, chard, collard greens, mustard greens) 
•  3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons flour (All purpose, brown rice, whole wheat, whatever)
• 4 cloves of garlic minced 
•  1.5 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened, plain almond milk)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste
•  Nutritional yeast or parm cheese (optional: note parm cheese if not doing a vegan version!!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. Half and seed the spaghetti squash. Drizzle with olive oil and put on a baking sheet. Roast for about 1-2 hours.

3. Near the end of the roasting, boil fettuccini.

4. Add in the greens vegetable of your choice to the boiling fettucini near the end.

5. Drain pasta/ greens into a colindar and set aside.

6. In a pan over medium heat, heat olive oil

7. Add flour to olive oil, mixing CONSTANTLY until smoothish

8. Add in garlic and cook ~ 1 minute to flour and oil mixture, continuing to stir.

9. Add in the milk slowly.

 

10. Then add pumpkin, salt and pepper. Continue to stir. Mixture will thicken.

 

11. Add in extra milk/ pumpkin as needed to adjust consistency.

12. Remove from heat.

To Serve:

Portion about half spaghetti squash with half fettuccini/ greens mixture and serve with pumpkin alfredo sauce. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese.

I found it was also very good with a splash of hot sauce, but that is pretty much my opinion on every food.

 Of course my favorite Sous Chef was there to help supervise!

October-Cake

 One inspired evening (after a bottle of wine or so) Jordan and I devised the name for a dessert named Octobercake!

After coming up with the name, we then proceeded to develop the ingredient list:

(Note: Jordan wrote. My spelling is minimally better.)

The next morning I woke up with the urge to create said Octobercake, which required coming up with a slightly more defined recipe.

So the plan became that we would make an oatmeal/ gingersnap cookie crust, with a layer of pumpkin pie and a layer of pumpkin cake and then possibly top it with some sort of frosting.

I would like to pre-cursor that this is NOT a healthy recipe. I tried to make some healthy substitutions, and in theory since pumpkin is a vegetable, you are getting in a veggie, but nonetheless this is definitely a “sometimes” food :P

We began with a gingersnap cookie crust:

To make the gingersnap cookies I used:

·      1 stick butter, unsalted

·      1/2 cup white sugar

·      1/3 cup brown sugar

·      1 egg (or ¼ cup egg substitute)

·      ¼ cup molassess

·      2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

o   (all purpose flour is fine too—I keep the whole wheat on my counter so it is the easier option for me)

·      ½ teaspoon baking powder

·      1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

·      1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·      1/8 teaspoon salt

1.     Pre-heat oven to 325*

2.     In a medium to large bowl: Cream together slightly softened butter and sugars.

3.     Add egg and molasses and mix.

4.     In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, spices and salt.

5.     Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.

6.     Roll dough into balls and place on a greased or lined cookie sheet.

7.     Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Since I made the cookies with the intention of smashing them up to make pie crust, I just made a few large cookies. Feel free to make them whatever size you want.

Pie Crust:

·      1.5 cups smashed gingersnap cookies.

·      ½ cup plain, dry oatmeal

·      4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

·      1 teaspoon cinnamon

·      Pie tin

1.     Either using the gingersnap cookies you just made, or store bought ones, crush them up using a food processor or squishing them with a blunt object.

I personally added mine into a food processor, which I discovered did not work, so I proceeded to crush them with the end of my immersion blender – because when I tried to use that as a blender, it turns out the cookie bits just get stuck inside of it.

2.     Add oatmeal, cinnamon and melted butter. Continue the swishing together process until combined.

3.     Once the crumbs are relatively evenly crumby and moist, spread crumbs over the pie tin. (You may wish to spray with a nonstick spray first, I did not do this, and it stuck.) Using your hands (Wash them first!) spread the crumbs out evenly along the bottom and the edges of the tin. Voila!

Alternatively to this step, you could just use a premade graham cracker crust pie, but the gingersnap really does add something!

Then for the pumpkin pie layer:

·      1 large can plain pumpkin, or 2 cups of pureed, baked sugar pumpkin

·      1- 12 oz can unsweetened evaporated fat free milk

·      ½ cup brown sugar

·      ¼ cup white sugar

·      2 eggs (or ½ cup egg substitute)

·      1 tablespoon cinnamon

·      1 teaspoon ginger

·      ½ teaspoon nutmeg

·      ¼ teaspoon cloves

1.     Preheat oven to 425*

2.     In a large bowl mix sugars, spices and eggs.

3.     Add in pumpkin and evaporated milk and mix.

4.     Pour into pie crust you made (or bought). Fill only about half way.

5.     Begin baking in oven for 30 minutes.

6.     Start making your pumpkin cake batter!

Pumpkin Cake layer

·      ¾ cup sugar

·      ½ cup applesauce

·      2 eggs (or ½ cup egg substitute)

·      1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (again, all purpose can be used instead)

·      1 teaspoon baking soda

·      ½ teaspoon baking powder

·      1 teaspoon cinnamon

·      ½ teaspoon ground ginger

·      1 cup pumpkin (OR I justed used ~1 cup of the left over pumpkin pie mix from above!)

1.     Check on your pumpkin pie layer, after about 30-45 minutes the top should look relatively “set”. If the crust starts to burn, cover it with tin foil.

2.     Once the pumpkin pie layer is semi-firm, pour the cake layer on top of it, filling up the pie tin.

3.     Turn oven down to 350*

4.     Bake Octobercake for about 40 minutes at 350*, or until cake layer is cooked through (you can do the toothpick test for this.)

And now you have an October Cake! 

It is particularily good served with either: vanilla ice cream, light whipped topping or a cream cheese frosting.

I tried this cream cheese frosting on it (I honestly prefer just the ice cream on it though. )

·      1 cup light cream cheese

·      1 tablespoon vanilla extract

·      4 tablespoons butter

·      ~2 cups confectioners sugar

1.     add all ingredients into a bowl and blend with mixer (or shear arm power!) You may need more confectioner’s sugar.

2.     Add to cooled cake. 

Vegan Chili

It's hard for me to post recipes, as I tend to not use them...

I've had a week off before I go back to the grind of working two jobs, starting classes full time, and starting internship again, so I decided with my free time it might be a good idea to make some food and freeze it. Today I made one of my staples: Vegan Chili.

I love making chili and soup type of dishes because they really do not require a recipe at all, you just throw in whatever you have on hand. I pretty much always have dried beans, and canned tomato around, so I generally always have the basic ingredients. the recipe below is what I happened to use today, but definitely feel free to add/ take away anything you like, dislike or just don't feel like buying. This makes a really big batch, but its great for dividing up and freezing for the future.

Vegan Chili
2 large cans whole tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can pumpkin
1 onion (I used red today)
2 hot chili peppers
1 cup/can chickpeas
1 cup kidney beans
2 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1 cup peas
1/2 cup edamame
green and red bell peppers (I just used 1 whole bag of frozen chopped mixed peppers)
2 tb olive oil
garlic
oregano
chili powder
black pepper
red pepper
hot sauce

Prepare any beans by cooking them if they are dried.
chop any raw vegetables (be careful with the hot peppers, getting hot pepper juice underneath your nails is no fun. I usually wear gloves.)

heat oil in a large pot, add garlic and onion, and cook for about 5ish minutes.

Add all other ingredients to pot.

Simmer for an hour or longer. The longer you simmer it the softer all of the ingredients will be and more blended together.

Viola! Vegan Chili!

It makes a great meal on its own, or I personally love to use it as an extra chunky spaghetti sauce. It can be topped with low fat cheese or sour cream/ regular or nondairy versions, to add a little bit of creaminess to it and cool it down if you made it a bit to spicy.

A Kinda College Kid Dinner

I have a guilty pleasure:

boxed macaroni and cheese.

Horribly unhealthy, very calorie dense and low in nutrients... but soo tasty.

I do generally add some veggies to it, since eating an whole bowl of macaroni just doesn't really appeal to me, but lately I've been trying out a new "recipe"- Pumpkin Mac and Cheese.

What I added was:

1 box macaroni and cheese (I made it with nonfat soy milk, and some brommel and brown yogurt based margarine.)
1 can pumpkin
1 cup peas (frozen, defrosted)
1 cup carrots
2 cups Oriental Mixed veggies - broccoli, waterchestnut, peppers, snappeas etc.


The pumpkin added a very nice creaminess to it, and also it made me feel a little better about the fact that the mac and cheese was an unnatural orange color, since the pumpkin was orange. Adding the pumpkin and other veggies helps to add nutrients, fiber, and filling qualities, so that you don't eat quite as much mac and cheese!


It was especialy good with a bit of hot sauce on it for an added kick. and on the side I had a serving of Trader Joe's soy nuggets.

Macaroni and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets... kinda a college kid meal.

Semester 1 Internship Down!

This past Tuesday was the last day of my internship for this semester. I had been interning at Caritas Carney in Dorchester, working in outpatient counseling.

Overall, it was a great experience. I had previously done most of the work I done at my internship through school or other jobs, but practice makes perfect. Also, my preceptor was AMAZING. She is just one of the nicest women, and was constantly full of great advise. Since I was about the same age as her kids she seemed to form kind of a maternal bond and kept giving me words of encouragement and advice for the future.

Since I was leaving, I wrote her a Thank You card and decided to make some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!


I basically used this recipe from allrecipe.com (check out the link):

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• y f1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

I did not add the walnuts, and used less chocolate chips. I also used a about 1/2 white unbleached flour, and half whole wheat pastry flour.

I usually never measure ingredients, and I generally barely follow recipes. but since these were a present, I followed more carefully to ensure they came out good.


I packed up about 20 cookies for my preceptor and kept a few for Dan and myself (have to taste test them!)

Despite decreasing the chocolate chips - they were still a little too chocolatey. I generally love chocolate, but these were just a bit too squishy.

Also, they were a little bland for a pumpkin pastry product. If I were to make them again I would add more cinnamon and some pumpkin pie spice. They were very soft and tasty. THey also weren't very pumpkiny tasting despite having a whole can of pumpkin (they were very orange, but I think the excess chocolate drowned out the pumpkin) so these would be a good option if you were just trying to sneak in a vegetable but were not persay that interested in a pumpkiny taste. I personally love pumpkin, so in my opinion I would want to taste it a little more.

Sookie as usual was being very helpful in the process. She had a fun time trying to play with one cookie as a hockey puck, so I tried to catch her in action. The first time she got her head in the way :

And then she decided to look up just as the flash was going off.

I need to work on my photography skills, and she clearly needs to work on her modeling.