Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Pancakes

 

  What do you do when you want pancakes, cinnamon rolls and something with pumpkin for breakfast? Well this morning I was leaning towards pancakes because I knew I could add the pumpkin to those and then I thought why not add a cinnamon swirl.......so I did and they were absolutely divine!

Swirl:

1 freezer quality zip lock bag

1/2 stick butter melted

1/2 C brown sugar

1 T cinnamon

 Mix these things together then set in the fridge so the butter starts to harden again while you work on the pancake batter.

3/4 cup of pumpkin puree 

1 1/2 cups of Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake mix

3/4 C Milk (add a little more if too thick)

1 T pumpkin pie spice

Mix these things together in a bowl and get your griddle all hot and ready. I put a small pat of butter down and let it melt then pour on  a little pancake batter. Grab your ziplock of goodness ( the cinnamon and butter filled bag you put in the fridge) and snip the corner just a bit. now you are going to use it like a pastry bag and squeeze the goodness out that little corner. Then start in the center of the pancake and make a swirl pattern on the pancake with the cinnamon goodness. when pancake bubbles at the edge you are ready to flip it! flip it over and let it the sugar and butter melt into that pancake! when it has browned just a tad pull if off and you really don't even have to butter these babies! However I do recommend that you make the cream cheese Topping below and drizzle it on top!

Cream Cheese Topping:

3oz Cream cheese

1/4 C powder sugar

2 T Milk

soften cream cheese and blend with sugar the slowly add milk to the consistency you would like!

Pumpkin Spiced French Toast

Well September rolled in and everything in my life gears up for Fall. I cant help but just love everything about it! I also begin to cook a lot of things with pumpkin and what better way to kick off September than to make some French toast?!
here is what you'll need:

6-8 slices of bread ( i toast them, I like them dried out so they soak up the batter better. I also use a good nutty grainy bread. I like Arnold's)
1/2 can of pumpkin
1/4 cup of half and half
4 to 5  eggs ( i have fresh yard eggs and they are kinda small so i used 5)
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
1tsp of vanilla
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 T of honey
5 T butter
Powdered sugar or whipped fresh cream, or syrup for topping!

whisk everything from the pumpkin to the honey together! Heat a griddle pan up nice and hot! place a dab of butter in the pan and let it swirl around. dip a piece of toasted bread into your batter and place in hot pan. let cook 3 min or so ( depends on how hot you got that pan) and then flip. I like mine to get just golden on each side then remove from heat and top how ever you desire!! I am a fan of alternating all three toppings. sometimes you want maple syrup.....sometimes you want some powdered sugar (this makes me think New Orleans and beignets) sometimes you want to whip up a think fresh cream and put in a touch of sugar and cinnamon and really just go to heaven!
I sure hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does!!!!

Creamy Chicken Marsala

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Needed a twist on Chicken Marsala. I love the stuff dearly but just wanted to play with it a bit. So here is what I did.

Boil a whole bag of Rigatoni in salted water drain but save about a cup of the pasta water.

3 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

1 onion chopped

1 pacage of chopped mini portabella mushrooms

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 cup of marsala cooking wine

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 cup of parmesan cheese

1 cup of mozzarella cheese

1 stick of butter

salt and pepper

Minced fresh parsley

salt and pepper your chicken and melt 2 tbs of butter in large pan. cook chicken till browned and remove from skillet and set aside.

throw in 1 more tbs of butter and add the onions, mushrooms and garlic. cook about 5 minutes and then add your Marsala wine. cook an additional 3 minutes. add your chicken back to the pan and let soak in some of that goodness. add your cream into the pan and a little pasta water and stir. Add half of your parmesan cheese and stir again.  

Place hot pasta and rest of butter into a large pot and stir it a little then pour in the contents of your pan that contained the chicken and sauce. add the rest of your cheeses and stir well. if pasta looks to dry add a little more pasta water. sprinkle with pepper (taste it before you add more salt) and sprinkle a little parsley over the top! enjoy!!!

Hurricane chicken and spinach Alfredo casserole

Of course hurricane Isaac rolled in today and I of course was hopping for power just so I could cook supper. So here is what I threw together. This little casserole has all the food groups rolled into one and before you say it has no fruit, think again those sundries tomatoes totally count!

3 chicken breast seasoned with salt and peppers and  seared and cooked through. Roughly chopped.

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

1 can quartered artichokes

1 package of defrosted and squeezed dry spinach 

3 tbsp of pesto

1jar bertolli garlic Alfredo sauce

1 package  of julienned sundried tomatoes

3oz of crumbled feta cheese 

8 oz sour cream

3/4 can of cream of mushroom soup

1/3 cup half and half

Salt 

Pepper

1 package boiled linguine noodles
1 bag of mozzarella and parmesan mixed bag cheese

cook your diced onion and chopped garlic in the pan you cooked the chicken in let onions get translucent and then remove from heat. everything except for the bag of cheese, can be thrown into one big bowl and stirred to mix well. Then pour all of it into a very large casserole dish. I used one bigger than a 9x13 but I'm not sure what size it was. sprinkle the cheese onto the top and cover with foil then bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Makes quit a good bit so plan to share! The taste is quite phenomenal and this casserole can't get much easier than that!

Blueberry Crisp

So i got a request for my recipe for Blueberry Crisp about a week or so ago. Since joining the world of kindergarten I have not had a moment to myself it seems. I managed to get some things done this morning and then remembered I still had not  posted that recipe! So here it is and I hope you enjoy it!

Blueberry Summer Crisp
3-4 cups of fresh or Thawed frozen blueberries
1 c of sugar
1/2 c of brown sugar
1 C of flour
1 C of Oatmeal
 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter melted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c of half and half or heavy cream
1 half gallon or vanilla bean ice cream

place berries in a 9x13 dish that is coated with butter. sprinkle about 1/4 -1/2 cup of white sugar over top of berries and kinda stir to coat them. now in a separate bowl mix up the flour, the oatmeal, the salt and cinnamon then pour the butter over the top and stir it till it has blended together. set aside. now pour the half and half or heavy cream over the top of your berries and begin sprinkling your oatmeal crust mixture over the top. I press it down just a tad to kind of set the crust down in there. but leave holes because you want that berry juice to bubble up and through. bake at 350 for about 45min or till crust is nice and deep brown. remove from oven and let cool while eating supper just a tad and then dish it up with a huge scoop of that ice cream and ENJOY!!

* tip for the future: when freezing summer blueberries it is such a pain when they burst or they come out tasting bitter. Do this and the berries do NOT burst and taste just as sweet as the day you picked them!!! ~~make a sugar syrup by using 2 cups water and 1 cup of sugar and bring it just to a boil. let cool to room temp  and then place berries in quart bags and pour a little cooled sugar water on top. Freeze and you are good to go!!!

Shrimp linguine Alfredo

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I wish I could say this is low fat (it's not) but it is phenomenal! It's so rich and creamy that I am positive that it is sinful. It most certainly hits the spot! Don't be afraid of making Alfredo sauce. It's joy nearly as hard as some think it is. And it most certainly taste better than that store bought jar stuff! Give it a try!

1 stick of butter

 2 garlic cloves minced

1 shallot minced

1 1/2lbs. Peeled shrimp sprinkled with salt, pepper, pinch red pepper flakes, and a squirt of lemon to coat them.

3 tbs. lemon juice

2 C heavy cream

1/2 cup half and half

8 oz block of Parmesan cheese shredded( do not get the bag stuff)

16oz of whole wheat linguine boiled aldente in salted water and drained.

Chopped parsley (optional)

Melt butter in large fry pan on med. high heat. Throw in garlic and shallots and let them begin to soften.

throw in your shrimp and let them cook till pink. Remove with a slotted spoon. And keep warm. 

 Add lemon juice to pan and swirl it around. Let sizzle for a min or two. 

Pour in your heavy cream and whisk.  Then add the half and half . Keep whisking till it starts to come together and boil. Let boil on med. low and reduce for 20 min. Stirring occasionaly. Add your grated parmesan and wisk till smooth. Add your al dente pasta. It needs to be al dente so it will soak up some of the sauce and flavors. Let set for a 10 minutes to give it time to do this.

 Dip up a nice big bowl of creamy pasta then toss shrimp on top and sprinkle with parsley. Enjoy!

squash fetta-chine

This is a great little summer squash recipe for those who need something to do with all those summer squash you have left out the garden.

4 small yellow squash. cut in half inch wedges with seeds trimmed out

1 small zucchini cut in half in wedges with seeds trimmed out

2 oz pine nuts (optional)

3 garden fresh tomatoes chopped and seeded

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 yellow onion chopped

2 T of parsley chopped

1 T of chopped chives

1 tsp of thyme leaves

1 T crumbled feta cheese
2 T philly cream cheese 

2 T of good Parmesan

salt and pepper

salt water boiled whole wheat pasta
in a saute pan heat a tbs of oil and throw in your onion and garlic. let it begin to soften and then add your squash and zucchini and let them cook down on a med-high heat. Then as they begin to soften you can add your tomatoes and herbs. While that is cooking down you want to have you pasta boiled but don't drain it dry. save just a little of that pasta water because if your pasta is to dry it will help the cream cheese work its way into a sauce better. After the tomatoes and softened up a bit ( 5min or so) your going to stir in your cheeses and then add your noodles and stir it all together. if it looks to dry then you add a tablespoon or so of the pasta water and stir it gently.  it should look sorta creamy and a little damp. Salt and pepper it then toss on top a few pine nut (if you like) and enjoy it hot!!!