Pumpkin Patch

Bug Shot, or how I didn't make a casserole

Monday Jenni had a headache, and so it was time for the hubs to step-up to the plate and take on dinner. Here is the highlight reel (in text form anyway).

After logging off from work, I head to the fridge to see what I could come up with. Hmm. Okay. Looks like Pops is calling an audible.

In the fridge I find eggplant, some green onions, left over rice from the night before, a few mushrooms, and some shredded cheese. A plan is forming. Okay, head to the cabinets. Here I track down a couple of cans of beans and a can of Italian style tomatoes. Now we're cooking ... well not yet, but we are certainly getting close. I pull out an 8x11 glass pan, and commence to chopping.

Here is the rundown of ingredients (please note some measurements are guesses, as I'm making it up on the fly):

1 Medium Eggplant
2 Cups of Rice (roughly)
2 Green Onions
3 White Mushrooms
1 Can of Black Beans
1 Can of Red Kidney Beans
1 Can of Tomatoes (with Basil, Oregano and Garlic)
Shredded Cheese
Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
Seasonings (I used Oregano, Basil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt and Pepper)

Chopping board and knife ready, I peel and then cube the eggplant into small pieces (maybe 1/4"). From there I do my best to cut the mushrooms and green onions to match. Toss it all into the glass dish. Open the container for the rice, and dump it into the dish. Can opener in hand, I head for the beans and tomatoes. Black beans, kidney and tomatoes - all land square in the dish. I don't drain the cans or rinse. Deal with it.

There is now a pyramid of food in the middle of the dish, and the back of a spoon ends that dynasty. I'm getting close. The oven is set for 350 and preheating. I pull the seasonings from the cabinet and start to get a "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On." Step the next: mix it all up. The aforementioned spoon get's called back to active duty and I'm on the way. A couple of small handfuls of gluten free bread crumbs, a hefty sprinkle of shredded cheese, and into the oven it goes. Forty minutes later I up the temp to 450 to bubble and brown the cheese, and 5 minutes down the line I yank that sucker like a bad tooth.

Hi-ho, hi-ho it's off to the table we go.


So at this point, were I you, then I might be asking myself: "Self, why is this post called Bug Shot? There were no bugs, and he didn't shoot anything." You know what. You're right. We allowed our nearly 4 year old daughter to name the dish as a bribery to eat dinner. It worked. Sort of. She chose the name Bug Shot, and so it shall forever be know.


Jenni and I both enjoyed the dish greatly, and she even said it could make a nice replacement or alternative for chili. I was surprised by the amount of eggplant flavor the dish had. Which is nice; if you like eggplant.

If you try it, we would love to hear your comments on how it turned out,

any changes you made, etc -

Pumpkin Butter

One of my favorite fall flavors is pumpkin pie.  I am having a blast coming up with fun ways to get as much pumpkin flavor in my life as possible.

Pumpkin Butter:

1 15oz can of Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Sugar
1Tbs Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Cloves (ground)

I mixed everything together in a pot over medium high heat and let it come up to a boil, then turned it way down and let it cook together slowly, stirring often.  After about 30 minutes I took the pumpkin butter off of the heat and let cool so I could store it in the refrigerator to go with pancakes this week.

In an attempt to make mornings a little easier I decided to dedicate my Sunday to cooking ahead.  It's times like these I really miss affordable convenience food but I find comfort in the fact I know exactly what is going into my children's mouths.  For this weeks pancakes I chose Bob's Red Mill's pancake mix and followed the directions on the package plus I added 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  I'm storing them in the refrigerator and plan to try different methods of reheating - I will report back on which we found to be most successful.

Udi's Pizza Crust

After waiting... and waiting... and waiting... I finally gave up on our local Martin's ever getting in the Udi's Pizza crusts.  I went into our local specialty grocery store Cranberries and had them order us a case.  I was a little nervous ordering a whole case having never tried the product before but I decided to put my faith in the Udi's name and bite the bullet.


We went with our normal toppings with the dinner pizza.  Ricotta Cheese, Pepperoni, Kalamata Olives, Mushrooms, Bacon, and Shredded Cheese.  I wasn't disappointed by the crust but while eating I was already thinking of other ways I would prefer to enjoy it - flat bread sandwiches, cheese sticks, substitute for Naan?






We chose to make a dessert pizza with the second crust in the package.  I had seen a lot of different people posting about using Nutella and a base and putting apples on the top.  When we took the pie out of the oven we drizzled Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel sauce on top.  Delicious.






Now we're all going to snuggle up on the couch and watch The Princess Bride.  I love seeing the girls faces the first time they see movies I loved growing up.

Life is good.

One of those days...

The morning started a little rough. Got everyone up, dressed, fed, on our way to school... made it half way there and told the kids we were going home. It wasn't so much that I felt I couldn't handle dropping them off... it was the anxiety over where my stomach was headed and would I be able to pick them up at noon?  So home we came. Luckily Jeff rented Rango last night so they were able to enjoy that little treat while I got the kitchen prepared for all of the goodies I had planned.  I would love to hear from anyone out there reading this who has had their gallbladder removed and suffered from gastritis, esophagitis, and or bile reflux after the procedure.




Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

3 Large Eggs
2 Cups Light Brown Sugar
1/2 Oil
15oz Canned Pumpkin (Not Pumpkin Pie Filling)
2tsp Gluten Free Vanilla
2 Cups Gluten Free Baking Flour (I chose to use Bob's Red Mill but I'm sure this will work fine with whatever baking flour mix you are comfortable with using)
1tsp Baking Soda
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Nutmeg
1/2tsp Ground Cloves
1/2tsp Ginger
1/2tsp Cardamom
1/2tsp Salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer beat 3 eggs until they are slightly frothy. Add 2 Cups Brown Sugar and mix until smooth. To the mixture add 1/2 Cup Oil, 15oz Canned Pumpkin, 2tsp Gluten Free Vanilla, and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the pumpkin mixture very slowly. Mix until well combined. Fill lined cupcake tins 3/4 and bake for 20 minutes.

Yeilds: 20 cupcakes.

Maple Icing

8oz Package of Cream Cheese - softened
4 Tbs Unsalted Butter - softened
5 Tbs Maple Syrup
1 tsp Gluten Free Vanilla
3 Cups Gluten Free Powdered Sugar

Beat together Butter and Cream Cheese until they are smooth and well incorporated. While mixing slowly add Maple Syrup and Vanilla. Mix until well incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and then slowly add the Powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix until fluffy and smooth.

We had a friend over for dinner and a viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I find it to be a crime that anyone can make it to their 30's having never seen this film!  We tried this Fish and Chips recipe from Gluten Free Spinner.  I also used the tartar sauce recipe that accompanied the fish and chips but ended up modifying slightly.  I did not add fresh dill, or onions, and thought the outcome was delicious.  We will definitely use this recipe again.  I did have a little bit of a problem with the breading sticking in the pan I used but I believe that had more to do with the oil temp than the batter.  Maybe next time we make this dish I'll be able to get a few nice pictures.

New Spin On An Old Favorite

We spent most of the day without internet. This fact left me so distraught I had no other choice but to stress bake. I went to the cabinet and pulled out the bag of Pamela's Products baking and pancake mix. Luckily on the side is a very simple banana bread recipe which proved to be just enough to get me through my "moment" and make a perfect snack for the kiddos when they got up from their naps.





Everyone decided they wanted pizza for dinner so I decided to try something a little different. I used Bob's Red Mill pizza crust and lined muffin tins in order to make crust cups. The centers of the crust rose slightly but I was able to use the back of a tablespoon to push it back down to make room for "toppings". We chose to fill our cups with ricotta, pepperoni, mushrooms, broccoli, and kalamata olives. These pizza muffins are perfect for dipping into pizza sauce and would be wonderful along side a bowl of tomato soup.

Now off to rest ... many experiments planned for tomorrow.

Autumn Day

Today began with a rude awakening by the native short people banging on the foot board of our bed. In my deep sleep it seems I forgot the true use of a foot board is that of a tribal drum for the native short people... I have been spending the rest of the day trying my darndest to wake up. I miss the days where a cup of coffee would have proven a simple solution to my foggy headed woes... alas a wonky tummy prevents me from indulging in the beautiful richness of The Java. While getting the kiddos off to school I was very happy to take a minute to stop and take in the beauty of a tree. I also had the pleasure of talking to a very dear friend of mine on the phone. I always enjoying keeping up with my favorite Boulderites.



Had a fun time this evening hanging out with Sydney playing with our food. I made a trip to Cranberry's Grocery today to pick up a container of Udi's chocolate chip cookies in order to participate in the Cookie Challenge on Twitter  ~


Cookie Challenge 2: Upload a photo of Udi’s cookies dressed in costume for Halloween. Include the hash tag #spookycookies