Category Archives: Recipe

Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

So you go to carve a pumpkin and you first cut out all the guts and throw it all away. Wait… we can use some of the guts. The seeds, once separated from the rest of the guts, are quite tasty when roasted in an oven.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups whole, raw pumpkin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons of butter
  • Pinch of salt

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Then, in a large bowl, mix seeds with butter and salt until all seeds are covered. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and (after the oven is preheated) place in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Stir the seeds occasionally while baking.

Recipe: Pumpkin Puree

Making pumpkin bread (or other pumpkin flavored goods) with fresh pumpkin is just as easy as using canned pumpkin, just with a little extra step of making the pumpkin into pumpkin puree.

 

Directions:

Cut pumpkin in half and discard guts (but save seeds for roasting!). Place the pumpkin, 1 half at a time, in the microwave and turn microwave on high for 7 minutes, turning occasionally to cook evenly. Then, scoop out the insides of the pumpkin and mash it until it have an even, puree-like texture. Now, this puree can be used in all sorts of baking dishes such as in pumpkin bread. You can store it in the fridge for 3 days or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Recipe: Ham and Bean Soup

Ok, so you you have some beans, and some leftover ham. What shall you ever do with these ingredients? Well, as my dad always did with leftover ham, you make some ham and bean soup. A great side for his ham and bean soup was his cornbread (made proudly from a box of Jiffy cornbread mix), which was great when I dipped it in the broth.

 

Ingredients:

Soup:

  • 1lb of beans
  • ½ lb of ham (leftover ham works just fine), cubed
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots
  • 1 tablespoon of parsley, minced
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Cornbread:

  • Jiffy Cornbread mix

Directions:

Follow directions for cornbread on Jiffy mix box. If using dried beans, add beans to a pot of boiling water and with a few pinches of salt and remove pot from heat. Let beans soak for an hour and then drain. (Just use fresh beans as you would these soaked beans in the recipe) Add beans to large pot with 1-2 cups of water along with onion, salt, and pepper. Bring pot to boil for 20 minutes and then reduce to simmer. Add carrots, ham, and parsley to pot. Simmer for 60-90 more minutes. Serve soup hot with cornbread.

Recipe: Chili

One of my personal favorite winter meals in my dad’s repertoire is his chili. It is super easy to make, is a perfect winter meal to keep you warm, and you can eat for a whole week and not get tired of it.

Ingredients:

 

  • 1 lb. of ground beef (or 2 cups of corn for veggie chile)
  • 2 lbs. of beans
  • 1 large can diced tomatoes
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 can of tomato sauce
  • 1 packet of chili spice (or make your own)

Directions

 

Start by browning the beef in a pan and draining the grease (If not using ground beef, skip this step). Then add all of the other ingredients except the beans to a pot with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Then add the beans and continue to simmer for 1-3 hrs.