A Butternut Squash Extravaganza.......

First, let me apologize for my infatuation with soups & muffins lately.....this cooler weather has me so excited I just can't help myself.

Part 1 of my Butternut Squash Extravaganza..... and it was so super simple!  I pulled out a hidden ziploc freezer bag from my freezer this morning filled with the golden goodness.  I had totally forgot about it and it was such a nice surprise to not have to make dinner tonight.  That should tell you that the following soup recipe freezes very well...I made it about 3 months ago.  :)

This creamy butternut squash soup recipe is adapted from my Grandpa Ray's recipe.  Well....he doesn't really have recipes, but it is his "estimation" of what goes in it.  However, I've of course lightened it up a bit by decreasing the whole stick of regular full fat yummy butter down to a half stick of light butter.  As well as, using fat free half-n-half instead of cream.    Feel free to reverse this because as some of you may know, my Grandpa Ray is the best damn cook in the entire world.  He puts the Bobby Flay and Emeril to shame.  So...his version this soup is out of this world.  However, my version won't give us a heart attack....so I think that's pretty damn good too.  :)

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

SERVES 4 - Approximately 1&1/2 cups per person (4WW points)

I tried to get all girly swirly with a little extra half-n-half on top, but it didn't work so well :(

INGREDIENTS
10 oz. butternut squash, peeled & cubed
32 oz. chicken broth
8 oz. white wine
2 T fresh ginger root, sliced
1 medium vidalia onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup light butter (or even just 1T of olive oil is good too)
1 cup fat free half-n-half
2 tsp. Wyler's instant chicken bouillon granules (I season a lot of soups with this/found in the soup aisle)
1 tsp. black pepper


DIRECTIONS
In a stockpot bring squash and chicken broth to a boil.  Reduce heat to med-high and cook approximately 9-10 minutes or until squash is fork tender.  While squash is cooking steep ginger root with white wine in a small saucepan over low-med heat.  In a seperate small skillet saute onion, celery, and garlic with 2T of the butter until vegetables are soft.  When squash is tender; drain ginger slices from wine.  Combine wine and onion mixture into the pot of squash.  Puree soup in a blender (or a stick blender works well too) and return to pot.  Add half-n-half and remaining butter.  Stir until half-n-half heated through and butter has melte.  If needed season with chicken bouillon and black pepper.


Part 2 of my Butternut Squash Extraveganza was dessert tonight, snacks and possibly breakfast tomorrow and of course Ethan's lunch box treats for the rest of this week.  I found this recipe on the WW website.  They are 3 points each.  You may remember a while back I mentioned how sad I was about the pumpkin shortage and that I was going to use butternut squash in place of it for a pumpkin muffin recipe I had.  Well, I bought a butternut squash....and then found this recipe which actually called for it...so I decided to make it instead. :)

They turned out really moist and yummy.  Great fall spice flavor...it warms your heart.  As usual, I substituted half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour and I didn't have ground ginger so I used 2T of grated fresh ginger instead.  (BTW, fresh ginger is one of my favorite ingredients).  I imagine this recipe would work well for a spice cake and would be absolutely AMAZING with a schmear of cream cheese frosting too!  So here is is folks........

GINGER-SPICE MUFFINS

Makes 12 muffins - 1 Muffin per serving = 3WW points

Served with a piping hot after dinner cup of coffee...Mmmm! (I promise I really am only 31 years old)

INGREDIENTS

Cooking spray

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup pureed cooked butternut squash

3T canola oil

1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt

3T molasses

1 large egg

DIRECTIONS

Prehat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 12 muffin tin with cooking spray or use cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whish together flour, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, combine sugar, squash puree, oil yogurt, molasses, and egg.  With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix for 1 to 2 minutes.  (I used my magic bullet, but you can also do this by hand)

Make a well (a scooped out indention) into the center of the dry ingredients; pour in liquid mixture and gently fold to combine (batter may be lumpy).

Evenly pour batter (approx 1/4 cup) into prepared muffin tins.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 - 25 minutes. 

Note:  The best way to make squash puree from whole squash is to peel and cube the squash.  Place into a microwave safe dish with 1/4 cup of water.  Cover with plastic wrap and cook for approximately 8 minutes or until tender.

Just in case you needed to know.....this is a butternut squash.  They can be substituted for any pumpkin recipe....so instead of buying some overpriced pie pumpkin...just get one of these instead.  :)  Enjoy!

OH......and one more thing.....if you happen to have a six year old little boy running around in your house....hide your muffins or this may happen. :)

Ehhh...nothing a dollop of cool whip can't fix, right?

As you can also see he doesn't know how throw away his stolen cupcake paper either...typical male...gets caught every time...geesh!!!

Beer Muffins

Yes, I said BEER Muffins!  Well, really it is beer bread, but you know how I am about the servability of muffins. :)

More than anything, I'm here to ask you a question.  Please please please STOP spending your money on those wonderfully overpriced beer bread mixes that every in-home party company is selling these days.  It is so super simple to make your own.  I do highly suggest using a good beer, but just a good ole' can of Bud Light will work just fine.  Play around with the types of beer for different flavors.  Some of my favorites for this time of year are Samuel Adams Octoberfest or Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.  I haven't tried this, but if you live in the St. Louis area and come across some Schafly Oatmeal Stout try it out for me, would ya?  This almost black beer I bet would make some really wonderful bread!!!

WARNING:  If you are not a beer drinker you may not like these muffins.  The yeasty beer flavor really does shine through.  However, don't be too afraid...it's nothing that a creamy pat of butter can't tone down.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

I'm a fan of muffins...that is no secret.  I usually make some sort of muffin almost every weekend.  I pack them in my son's lunchbox, I sometimes have them as a quick breakfast or take one along to work for my afternoon snack.  I mainly use quick bread type recipes, but I decrease the cooking time by about half.  I love that muffins are a single serving.  I could bake 12 muffins and easily only eat one.  I couldn't bake one loaf of bread and easily eat only one slice.  Why is that?  They also freeze easily which keep me from eating them all and when packed in my son's lunch they are perfectly thawed by lunch time.  :)

Kid Friendly Fare...

MINI CORNDOG MUFFINS.....yep that's right.  Tonights dinner was corn dog muffins!

I know, I know...it is a little kookey, and so rediculously easy so why blog about them?  I say....how could I not blog about these....I mean really....look how freakin' cute they are:

This is so super simple that just posting the picture below and telling you to follow the baking directions on the package of corn muffin mix should do it.  Just in case you are wondering though...3 hotdogs, each cut into 8 equal pieces.  Enjoy!

Green Tomatoes!!!!

With our 6 plants my hubby planted this year we STILL have green tomatoes popping up in our garden.  So, last week I decided to make a recipe that I shared the page with in the Fall 2010 edition of ACRES magazine.  See my Welcome! blog entry for more information on that. :)

The recipe was submitted by a lady named, Lucy Martin, from Dundee, New York.  The orginal recipe called for 3 Cups of all-purpose flour and 2 cups sugar BUT like usual I don't follow directions very well and I made a few changes. 


I should also mention....I made the bread again today (picture below) and I "weight watched" it a tad by simply substituting applesauce for the oil.  It wasn't quite as moist, but it did save a HUGE amount of calories and fat.  The substitution saved 152 calories and 18 grams of fat PER SERVING - WOW!!!!  Totally worth it in my book.  :)  From 9 WW points down the 5 WW points per serving!!!  Amazing!

GREEN TOMATO BREAD

CLICK HERE FOR NUTRITION FACTS

 

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup white granulated sugar
1 Cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup canola oil (or light olive oil)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Cups finely chopped green tomatoes
1 1/2 Cups chopped pecans (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Set aside.
3. In another bowl combine eggs, oil, vanilla, green tomatoes, and pecans.  Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture.  Stir just until moistened.  Batter will be thick, and lumps will remain.
4. Spoon batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

SERVES 12

NOTE:  You could also make this into muffins (my favorite because it is portion controlled) or mini loaves.  You will just need to decrease the cooking time down to 30 - 40 minutes.