Ben's Super Secret Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp  chopped onion
4 Tbsp butter
6 cups of pumpkin or squash
3 cups water
4 cubes of chicken bullion
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/8 tsp cayenne
2 pkgs of cream cheese
Optional: Super Secret (gives soup a sweet and spicy flavor)Add:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup agave syrup

Directions:

Saute onions and butter.  Add all other ingredients except cream cheese.  Remove from heat and add cream cheese (do not cook the cream cheese).  Blend everything in a food processor or blender.  Serve.

Apple Dumplings

My daughter was anxious to try these apple dumplings that she found on allrecipes. They were delicious. They didn't last the afternoon at my house.

Ingredients:
2 large Granny smith apples, peeled and cored
2 (10oz) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
12oz of sprite

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 inch baking dish. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Sprite over the dumplings. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Meal in a Pumpkin

My mother-in-law introduced me to this recipe many years ago. It is a fun one to make for Halloween. We have had this every year since the kiddoes were very small. I personally love it.

Ingredients:

1 10" pumpkin

1 onion, chopped

2 T oil

1 1/2-2lbs ground beef

2 T soy sauce

2 T brown sugar

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained

1 4 oz can mushrooms, drained (I like fresh)

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

Directions:

Saute onion in oil, add meat and brown. Drain and add all ingredients but the rice, water chesnuts and mushrooms. Simmer 10 minutes. Add rice, water chestnuts and mushrooms. PUt in cleaned out pumpkin. Bake at 350 for 1-1 1/2 hours with lid on. You'll know it's done when the pumpkin is soft.

Pumpkin Seeds

This is such an easy, yummy, good for you snack.

Ingredients:
pumpkin seeds
Tony Chacheries
Cooking Spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300. Take the pumpkin seeds out of your pumpkin and rinse them off. Pat them dry. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Lay the pumpin seeds out in a single layer. Spray the seeds with the cooking spray. Sprinkle with Tony Chacheres. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. About halfway through stir the seeds so they can get browned on both sides.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie

This cookie was sooo yummy and sooo easy to make. Fall foods are really my very favorite type of comfort food. I love making all the pumpkin, apple treats this time of year. I needed a fast and easy yet yummy treat to serve to my daughter's girl scout troop and this fit the bill. The girls all raved about how delicious they were and came back for more and more.

Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
chocolate chips to taste
Optional: (I used these)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1/4 cup softened butter

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together adding chocolate chips last. Place heaping Tbsp on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

Pumpkin Muffin

I made these muffins and thought they were delicious. One of the reasons I thought I'd like them so much was the cream cheese filling--but that part was really disappointing for me. My cream cheese filling was just like a disc of cheese--not melty or even soft. I used 1/3 less fat type so I'm wondering if that is why? If anyone knows let me know. If the cheese was softer I still think that could be a really good filling. As it is for me right now I would just totally skip the cream cheese filling. The rest of the muffin was delicious. I found this recipe on Annie's Eats.

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil
For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)
Source: adapted from BakeSpace

Easy Pumpkin Waffles (or pancakes)

This is an easy way to make a pumpkin pancake or waffle when you don't have too much time! Plus they are really good! I adapted this recipe from ourbestbites.com.

Ingredients:
2 cups pancake mix (the kind where you just add water like Krusteaz)
1 1/2 cups water (I added 2 cups--I added flax meal and wheat germ)
2/3 cups pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oil (only if you make waffles)
optional add-ins: 1/4 cup flax meal and 1/4 cup wheat germ

Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Add more water if batter is too thick (if pancakes are still gooey in the middle after outside is browned). I try to make mine "healthier" by adding the flax and wheat germ.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I got this recipe from my niece, Lia. She's kind of a picky eater so the recipes she post on her blog are usually pretty good. At least I haven't tried a bad one yet. These pancakes were very good and so great as I'm trying so hard to bring on my favorite season, Autumn. Even though it very much feels like summer still, I'm still going eat like it's fall. She had a buttermilk syrup with hers, but I didn't have buttermilk when I made the pancakes. Next time I plan to try it because Lia said it was really good.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cup milk
4 eggs separated
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup canned pumpkin

Directions:
Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, salt, and brown sugar. Combine the pumpkin, milk, and egg yolks. Add the flour mixture and melted butter. Stir to blend. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and fold into the batter to blend. Preheat griddle at 350. Pour batter and cook until richly browned

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup canola oil
3 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin (2 cups)
2/3 cup water

Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 lb powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp Nestle's quik (not vital for the recipe)

Directions:
Sift flour, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and baking soda in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs-one at a time, pumpkin, and water. Add the first mixture to the second. Pour into a Bundt pan you've coated with baking spray (I love Baker's Joy). Cook at 350 for 60-70 minutes
Frosting:
Allow cake to cool. Soften 1/2 pkg (4oz) cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter to room temperature. Cream together with 1/2 lb of powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tsp nestle's quik. Add more powdered sugar if the frosting seems too thin. Frost cake.

Apple Dip

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Ingredients:
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup + of caramel ice cream topping
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions:
Place cream cheese, caramel sauce, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix together until smooth. Stir in toffee bits and then sprinkle a few on top. Serve with sliced apples and enjoy!

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Ever since my oldest started kindergarten I've had this cake ready for my kids to eat when they came home from their first day of school.

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use more)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and allspice with fork in ungreased square pan, 8x8x2. Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips. Sprinkle chocolate chips over batter. Bake 35-40 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
4 cups sliced tart apples (abt 4 med)
2/3-3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:
Heat oven to 375. Grease square pan 8x8x2. Arrange apples in pan. Mix remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over apples. Bake abotu 30 min or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups canned pumpkin
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4/3 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil, and eggs. Beat until well mixed. Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and ground cloves into a separate bowl, then stir until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth. Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans and dust them with flour. Evenly divide the batter between them. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 min. Then remove the pans by inverting them onto a rack and tapping the bottoms.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
32 oz chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.