Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

From the kitchen of Jim Rich
These cookies are soft and very yummy.

4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
2 cups vegetable shortening
2 cups granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.)  spiced LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups Chocolate chips or Butterscotch chips

PREHEAT oven to 350°F.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice in medium bowl. Beat shortening and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl for 30 seconds. Add pumpkin, eggs and 3 teaspoons vanilla extract; beat until blended.  Gradually add flour mixture into pumpkin mixture at low speed until combined.   Stir in Chips.   Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Spread each cookie with frosting.

FROSTING:

4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
? Orange juice measure by eye .

Mix Vanilla and Orange juice gradually into powdered sugar in medium mixing bowl until smooth (frosting will be thin).  Adjust OJ so its not to thin – just so it stays on cookies – NOT run off.

Lasagna

Recipe from Mueller’s Lasagna box from the 1970’s (don’t know how long it was on the box before or after that).  As a teenager, when I went to my friends’ homes, their Moms would ask me to make this for dinner.

1 lb. ground beef (I use turkey now)
3/4 c. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. salad oil (I use Olive Oil)
1 (1 lb.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tsp. salt (I use 1 tsp. salt)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano leaves

8 oz. lasagna noodles (9 unbroken noodles)
1 lb. ricotta cheese
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced, or shredded
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles as directed.  While these are cooking:

In large pan, lightly brown beef and onion in oil.  Add tomatoes, paste, water, parsley, salt, sugar, garlic powder, pepper and oregano; simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

In 13 x 9 x 2 pan, spread about 1 cup sauce.  Then alternate layers of lasagna, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan, ending with sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.  Allow to stand for 15 minutes.  Serves eight.

Eden Foods – Five Bean Soup

Last week I wasn’t feeling well and my Mom gave me some of her soups, one of which is this new found recipe “Five Bean Soup” from Eden Foods.  It is really thick and nourishing and made me feel like I was eating really good food.  I just finished making it for myself for the week.  I substituted in Enrico’s Spaghetti Sauce (no salt), and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of the Soy Sauce.  I also added in 3/4 tsp of basil and 3/4 tsp of oregano, as the batch my Mom made was kind of bland.  I also don’t crush the Bay Leaves (I didn’t think you were supposed to eat bay leaves).

Eden Foods Five Bean Soup

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Eden Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 medium organic potato, diced
2 Tablespoons organic barley, rinsed
3 cups water
1 can Eden Organic Pinto Beans, do not drain
1 can Eden Organic Black Beans, do not drain
1 can Eden Organic Kidney Beans, do not drain
1 can Eden Organic Navy Beans, do not drain
or Eden Organic Cannellini or Eden Organic Great Northern Beans
1 can Eden Organic Aduki Beans, do not drain
or Eden Organic Small Red Beans
1 cup organic sweet corn, fresh or frozen, cooked
1 1/2 cups Eden Organic Spaghetti Sauce
or Eden Organic Spaghetti Sauce – No Salt (I used Enrico’s Spaghetti Sauce)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Eden Shoyu Soy Sauce, or to taste (I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (I used 3/4 tsp.)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (I used 3/4 tsp.)
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed bay leaf (I didn’t crush the bay leaves)

Directions

Heat oil in a pot, and sauté garlic and onion until the onion is translucent. Add water, celery, carrot, potato, and barley. Cover, bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes. Add the beans, corn, spaghetti sauce, shoyu, and herbs. Cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Serve. Great the next day. Leftovers may be placed in individual containers and frozen for a quick meal anytime.

Nutritional Info

Per serving: 242 Calories, 5g Fat (16% calories from fat), 12g Protein, 40g Carbohydrate, 9g Fiber, 0mg Cholesterol, 277mg Sodium

White Bean Dip

From my Aunt Avie

Makes 12

3 cloves garlic, chopped in a food processor, then add:
3 15 oz. cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. olive oil
2 1/4 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, mix in, pulsing on/off

Serve with veggies and tortilla chips.

Salmon Noodles Romanoff

Adapted from Cook.com’s Salmon Noodles Romanoff recipe

8 oz box Eden Organic Artichoke Ribbons (or egg noodles)
1 container Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1 container Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1/2 c. finely chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 7.5 oz. cans salmon, drained
1 c. peas
Nutritional Yeast

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Cook noodles for 5 mins.  Mix everything together.  Put into greased 2 qt. casserole dish.  Sprinkle with nutritional yeast.  Bake for 20-25 mins.

Creamy Tomato Soup

Adapted from recipe on Herbal Legacy contributed by Fawn Christopher

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 28 oz. cans tomatoes
2 1/2 c. vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. basil
2/3 c. almond milk or soy milk

Heat oil in a soup pot.  Add onion and cook until onions are transparent.  Add tomatoes and garlic.

Add stock and paste and stir to combine.  Simmer for 1 hour.

Let soup cool for a few minutes (this is important!)  Ladle into blender and process until smooth.  Pour back into a pot.  (You can strain the soup while putting it into the pot, but I don’t).

Add basil and milk.  Heat gently while stirring.  Add more milk if necessary.  Enjoy!

Making an Herbal Ointment

1 bottle Olive Oil (first press, high quality)
Herbs – dried & cut, or fresh
Beeswax (I was able to get local beeswax – yay!)
Canning jars, sanitized

Pour the entire bottle of olive oil into a pyrex measuring cup.
Put in an equal amount of herbs.

Put the mixture into the oven on the lowest setting possible, for eight hours.
After eight hours, melt beeswax in a double boiler.

Strain the olive oil through cheese cloth or linen towel into another measuring cup and pour into the melted beeswax in the double boiler.

Drop a drop of the mixture onto a cutting board to make sure it is the consistency you desire.  If it is too thin, add more beeswax.  If it is too thick, add more infused oil.

Pour mixture into sanitized canning jars and cover with sanitized canning lids.

When the jars cool, label with the name of the ointment, your name, and the date.
Store in a cool place or in the refrigerator.

Directions by Pamela Priest, Master of Herbology

My Mom’s Baked Beans

My Mom throws her beans together without a recipe, and one day I stood by her and wrote it all down.

1 lb. great northern beans, soaked overnight. Rinse them off and put them in a big pot and cover with water. Bring them to a boil, without the cover. Then simmer, with the cover, for 1 1/2 hours. Drain bean liquor into a bowl.

1 large onion, sliced

Mix together:
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. maple syrup granules or 1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. pepper.

Fill bean pot with 1 1/2″ beans. Put 1/2 of the sliced onions in. Saturate with ketchup.

Put 2″ of beans in pot. Cover with the rest of the sliced onions, molasses mixture and ketchup.

Put the rest of the beans on top. Put enough bean liquor in to cover the beans.

Bake for 8 hours in 300 degree F oven. After 4 hours, check to make sure beans are still saturated with liquid. If not, add more bean liquor to cover beans.

Here’s my Mom’s bean pot, sans lid, that I ended up with somehow! (Don’t look at that stupid pot-holder. It was a freebie I got from somewhere).

And here’s the beans I made a couple of weeks ago. I made another pot yesterday, mmmmm. They’re great for picnic lunches!

Almond Milk

1 cup raw almonds, soaked in plenty of water, overnight.

Pour 4 c. water in a blender, rinse off almonds and put into blender.  Blend for a minute.

Strain milk through a nut bag and save the nut sqeezings in the refrigerator to make more milk when you need it.

Winter Vegetable Chowder

Modified from Good Housekeeping, March 2008, Double-Duty Dinners, pg. 207

6 med. leeks (3 lbs.), quartered and cut into 1/4″ slices
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 med. stalks celery, chopped
3 med. parsnips, chopped
2 med. potatoes (1 lb.), cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 c. (1/2″ pieces) butternut squash (from a 2 lb. squash)
7 1/2 c. water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
3/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 c. almond milk

In a large soup pot, heat oil on medium until hot. Add leeks, celery and parsnips, and cook 10 mins or until all veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.

Add potatoes, squash, water, bouillon, thyme and pepper. Heat to boiling on medium-high. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 mins. until veggies are tender.

Stir in almond milk and heat through for 10 mins.

Enjoy!